INDIA - SWEDEN VIRTUAL SUMMIT
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Prime Minister of Sweden H.E. Stefan Löfven held a Virtual Summit where they discussed bilateral issues and other regional and multilateral issues of mutual interest.
About:
- The Prime Minister Modi recalled his 2018 visit to Sweden for the first India-Nordic Summit, and the India visit of Their Majesties the King and Queen of Sweden in December, 2019.
- The two leaders expressed satisfaction at the implementation of the Joint Action Plan and Joint Innovation Partnership agreed during Prime Minister Modi’s visit to Sweden in 2018.
- Prime Minister Modi welcomed Sweden’s decision to join the International Solar Alliance (ISA).
- The leaders also noted the growing member-ship of the India-Sweden joint initiative – the Leadership Group on Indus-try Transition (LeadIT) that was launched during the UN Climate Action Summit in September 2019 in New York.
FIRST STRATEGIC, COUNTER-TERRORISM DIALOGUE BETWEEN INDIA-NIGERIA
The National Security Adviser (NSA) of Nigeria visited New Delhi for the First Strategic and Counter-Terrorism Dialogue between India and Nigeria at the level of NSA.
About:
- Within the framework of the close and strategic partnership between India and Nigeria, the National Security Advisors held in-depth discussions on the threats and challenges faced by democratic societies from terrorism, extremism, and radicalization.
- The two sides identified specific areas of cooperation to enhance their fight against all forms of terrorism, reaffirming their firm belief that there can be no justification for terrorism in any form or manifestation.
INDIAN MEDICINES PHARMACEUTICAL CORPORATION LIMITED (IMPCL)
Indian Medicines Pharmaceutical Corporation Limited (IMPCL) has entered into a tie up with the Government e-Market (GeM) portal for selling its products online.
About:
- The deal between IMPCL and GeM was finalised on 03.03.2021, when GeM created 31 categories covering 311 medicines, which are live in the marketplace and IMPCL can now upload these medicines on GeM Portal.
- With this decision of GeM, the Ayurvedic and Unani medicines of IMPCL will figure on the GeM portal to hundreds of government sector buyers, at prices finalised by Ministry of Finance, Department of Expenditure.
NATIONAL COMMITTEE TO COMMEMORATE 75 YEARS OF INDIA’S INDEPENDENCE
The Government has constituted a National Committee headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to commemorate 75 years of India’s Independence.
About:
- The committee has 259 members and includes dignitaries and eminent citizens from all walks of life.
- It will provide policy direction and guidelines for formulation of programs for the commemoration of 75th anniversary of Indian Independence, at the national and international levels.
- The Government intends to commemorate 75 years of India’s Independence in a befitting manner at national and international level in the form of ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’.
BLACK-BROWED BABBLER
Long-Lost Babbler Bird Documented in Borneo for the First Time in Over 170 Years. The Bird was last recorded between 1843 and 1848, when a scientist collected the first and only museum specimen.
About:
- The black-browed babbler (Malacocincla perspicillata) is a songbird species in the family Pellorneidae.
- The species is endemic to Borneo.
- Its IUCN conservation status is Data Deficient. Formerly, it was classified as Vulnerable by the IUCN.
- Only a single specimen, collected in the nineteenth century was known, until the bird was rediscovered in Indonesia during 2020.
EA GARDEN WORKERS IN ASSAM
Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra visited tea gardens in Assam. One of the five promises Priyanka announced if Congress comes to power was increasing the per day wage of tea garden workers to Rs 365.
About:
- Assam accounts for over half of India’s total tea production.
- Tea garden workers were brought by the British from states like Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal afterwards of 1860.
- Till today it is marked by exploitation, economic backwardness, poor health conditions and low literacy rates.
- The tea tribe community — comprising 17 per cent of the state’s population — is a deciding factor in almost 40 Assam assembly seats out of the 126.
- Last month, the Assam government increased the wages of tea garden workers from Rs 167 to Rs 217. Tea gardens workers’ bodies have already expressed their dissatisfaction with the hike, which they consider inadequate.
INCOME TAX RETURNS
The latest government data shows a 6.6 per cent contraction in the number of income tax returns (ITRs) filed by individuals earning up to Rs 50 lakh in financial year 2019-20.
About:
- The latest data on ITRs showed a 9.8 per cent contraction in filings of ITR-1 offline and 4.5 per cent contraction in filings of ITR-1 online for FY20.
- ITR-1 Sahaj can be filed by a resident individual, who is not included in the Hindu Undivided Family (HUF), having an income of up to Rs 50 lakh.
- Total income includes income from salary or pension, income from one house property, income from other sources such as interest from a bank account (excluding winnings from lottery and income from racehorses, income taxable under section 115BBDA, or income of nature referred to in section 115BBE) and where agricultural income is up to Rs 5,000.
QAnon
Some of former US President Donald Trump’s followers, who believe in the QAnon conspiracy, thought that he will return to power on March 4. Last year, the FBI said fringe political conspiracy theories including QAnon are a domestic threat.
About:
- QAnon is a pro-Trump conspiracy theory that took shape around 2017 when an anonymous user called “Q” or “Q Clearance Patriot” started posting conspiracy theories. “Q” refers to a security clearance given by the US Department of Energy for access to top-secret information.
- The followers of this movement believe that the world is being run by a cabal of paedophiles who worship Satan and that one of Trump’s aims as US President is to unmask the cabal and punish them. According to the conspiracy theorists, Trump is secretly preparing for a day of reckoning, “The Storm”, when members of the “deep state” will be executed.
- The conspiracy theorists believe that Democrats such as Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, and Hollywood actors Tom Hanks and Oprah Winfrey, are part of a global child sex-trafficking ring.
HARYANA’S QUOTA LAW
Haryana government notified a new law that requires 75% of private sector jobs in the state, up to a specified salary slab, reserved for local candidate.
About:
- The Haryana State Employment of Local Candidates Bill, 2020 requires private companies to set aside for domiciles 75% of jobs up to a monthly salary of Rs 50,000 or as may be notified by the government from time to time.
- The law is applicable to all the companies, societies, trusts, limited liability partnership firms, partnership firms and any person employing 10 or more persons and an entity, as may be notified by the government from time to time shall come under the ambit of this Act.
- While constitutional guarantees for reservation has been limited to public employment, attempts to extend it to private sector are not new either. In July 2019, the Andhra Pradesh government had passed a similar law, which was challenged in court.
GAIRSAIN
A year after announcing Gairsain in Chamoli district as the summer capital of Uttarakhand, Chief Minister declared in the state assembly the town as a new administrative division of the state, a third commissionerate after Kumaon and Garhwal.
About:
- Gairsain division would be comprised of four hill districts, including Almora and Bageshwar (both in Kumaon) and Rudrapyarag and Chamoli (in Garhwal). A commissioner and a DIG will be deployed in Gairsain.
- On March 4 last year, CM had announced in the Budget Session of the Assembly held in Gairsain that the town will become summer capital of the state. Three months later, Governor had given her assent for declaration of Bhararisen (Gairsain) as the summer capital.
- Gairsain, a tehsil in Chamoli district, is located nearly 270-km from the existing temporary capital of Dehradun.
- Even when Uttarakhand was carved out as a separate state from Uttar Pradesh on November 9, 2000, statehood activists had contended that Gairsain was best suited to be the capital of the mountainous state since it was between both Kumaon and Garhwal regions.
- But it was Dehradun in the plains that was named the temporary capital.
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