HIMACHAL PRADESH

Heli-taxi starts between shimla and Chandigarh

In a bid to facilitate the visit of tourists to the hill state, Himachal Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur on Monday flagged off the Heli-taxi service between Shimla and Chandigarh from Jubbarhatti Airport near here, reducing the distance between the two cities to mere 20 minutes.

The Heli-taxi would start from Shimla at 8 am and would reach Chandigarh at 8.20 am and take-off for Shimla at 9 am, the same day. The price of the ticket is Rs 2,999 per person inclusive of taxes.

Officials said tickets can be purchased from Pawan Hans website www.pawanhans.co.in and also from the special counter at the airport for sale of tickets.

Providing air connectivity to far-flung areas and popular tourist destinations would boost tourism in the State. In the first phase heli-taxi service would be available for two days in a week– Monday and Friday between Shimla and Chandigarh.

The Government would also introduce heli-taxi service between Manali and Rohtang in first phase. In the second phase UDAN scheme of the Union Government would be started to connect exquisite areas of the State. He said that possibility of starting heli-taxi joy rides for Shikari Devi, Dharamshala, Chamba etc. would also be explored.

Under UDAN-2 three airports of the State were being connected with one each helipad of Mandi, Kullu and Solan and three helipads of Shimla district for heli-taxi service.

INTERNATIONAL

India ranks 137th on Global Peace Index 2018

According to a report by an Australian think tank, India has moved up four places to the 137th rank among 163 countries on the 2018 Global Peace Index.

Iceland remains the most peaceful country in the world, a position it has held since 2008. New Zealand, Austria, Portugal and Denmark also sit in the top five most peaceful rankings.

Syria remains the least peaceful country in the world, a position it has held for the past five years.

· World Oceans Day 2018 observed across the world

The World Oceans Daywas observed across the world on June 8, 2018, to highlight the major role of the oceans in everyday life.
The action focus for the 2018 World Oceans Day was ‘preventing plastic pollution and encouraging solutions for a healthy ocean’.
The agenda also coincided with the theme of 2018 World Environment Day –‘Beat Plastic Pollution’.
Plastic pollution is causing tremendous harm to the marine resources:
Around 80 percent of all pollution in the ocean comes from people on land.
There are 8 million tonnes of plastic ends up in the ocean every year, causing damage to wildlife, fisheries, and tourism.
The Plastic pollution costs the lives of 1 million seabirds and 100000 marine mammals per year.

The Plastic pollution costs the lives of 1 million seabirds and 100000 marine mammals per year.

· Central Government seeks explanation from Facebook over users’ data sharing without consent

Union Government sought an explanation from Facebook over reports of data sharing without explicit consent.
Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology asked for a detailed factual report from the Facebook by 20th of this month.
Recently, there were media reports claiming that Facebook has agreements which are allowing phone and other device manufacturers’ access to its users’ personal information including that of their friends without taking their explicit consent.
The IT Ministry it is deeply concerned about reports of such lapses and violations.
They earlier notices about breaches of personal data relating to the Cambridge Analytica episode, Facebook had apologized and given strong assurances to the Government of India that they will take sincere efforts to protect the privacy of users’ data on the platform.

However, such reports raise uncomfortable questions about the assurances made by Facebook.

FDI Inflows to India Fall by $4 Billion Last Year: UN Report

Foreign Direct Investmentto India decreased to 40 billion dollars last year from 44 billion dollars in 2016 while outflows from India, the main source of investment in South Asia, more than doubled, according to a new trade report by the UN.
According to the World Investment Report, 2018 by the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) global foreign direct investment flows fell by 23 percent in 2017, to USD 1.43 trillion from USD 1.87 trillion in 2016.

NATIONAL

· Prime Minister Narendra Modi to embark on 2-day visit to China to attend SCO Summit

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will leave for a two-day visit to China to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation- SCO Summit. Briefing media in New Delhi, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said, regional issues will be discussed during the summit.
He will hold bilateral talks with the Chinese President Xi Jinping followed by the summit event on Sunday.
The objective of the SCO summit is to further deepen the existing relationship between the member countries.
India’s focus will be on strengthening cooperation to fight terrorism, improving connectivity among member countries and bringing peace and stability in the region.

· Short-Term Subsidised Crop Loan To Be Implemented Through DBT Mode

Reserve Bank of Indiastated that interest subsidy scheme on short-term crop loans of up to three lakh rupees will be implemented through the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) mode from the current financial year.
The Centre has earmarked 15,000 crore rupees for 2018-19 towards interest subvention for short-term crop loans.
The notification adds that the scheme will be required to be settled as applicable in Plan Scheme namely Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe and North East Region among others.

Mithali Raj becomes first Indian to score 2,000 T20I runs

Star batswoman Mithali Raj has became the first Indian cricketer to amass 2,000 runs in Twenty20 Internationals (T20I).

Mithali achieved the landmark after scoring a knock of 23 during India’s seven-wicket win over Sri Lanka in the Women’s Asia Cup T20.

She now has 2,015 runs in 75 matches. Mithali is the seventh woman to reach 2,000 runs.

· Himachal Pradesh Government to scrap semester system in under-graduate courses

Himachal Pradeshgovernment decided to do away with semester system in undergraduate courses and revert to annual examination system.
Education Minister Suresh Bharadwaj yesterday that the decision has been taken on the recommendation made by a review committee on the issue.

Asserting that the thrust of the government was on qualitative improvement in education, that a decision has also been taken to start nursery classes in 3,000 schools from this year.

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