HIMACHAL PRADESH
- Himachal Pradesh bets big on eco-tourism to boost revenue
- The state government has identified 113 sites to be developed as eco-tourism destinations.
- The Eco-tourism Society and state forest department are organizing the conference with an aim to promote eco-tourism as a major source of income for the state. Besides officials from the forest department and Eco-tourism Society, experts from the US, UK, Finland, South Africa and Brazil are participating in the event to explore tourism potential in the state.
- The CM said 47 sites to be developed as eco-tourism spots had been handed over to the state forest corporation, 16 to the forest department and five to parties to be developed under a public-private partnership.
INTERNATIONAL
· US withdraws from United Nations Human Rights Council
- The United Stateswithdrew from the United Nations Human Rights Council, accusing it of a “chronic bias against Israel,” a move that activists warned would make advancing human rights globally even more difficult.
- The United Nations Human Rights Council consists of 47 member states,with a specific number of seats given to each region of the world.
- Members are elected by the U.N. General Assembly for three-yearterms and cannot serve more than two terms in a row.
· India, Russia to hold military exercise Indra 2018 during the second half this year
ð The tri-service joint Russia-India military exercise Indra-2018 will take place in an Indian military base in the second half of this year.
ð Russia has been a long-standing defence partner of India.
· Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos became the Richest Person in the World
- Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezoshas become the richest man in the world with a net wealth of USD 141.9 billion, as per the Forbes World’s Billionaires list.
- Bill Gates, the principal founder of Microsoft Corporation, is the second-richest man in the world with USD 92.9 billion.
- Warren Buffet ranked third place with a total of wealth of USD 82.2 billion.
· World is celebrating 4th International Yoga Day
- 4th International Yoga Day is celebrated across the world.
- On December 11, the United Nations General Assembly declared June 21as International Day Yoga.
- 800 differently-abled persons from across the country attempted Guinness World Record in Ahmedabad for ‘Largest Silent Yoga Class’ on International Yoga Day 2018.
- The theme for Yoga Day 2018 is “Yoga for Peace.”
NATIONAL
· India may not sign international pact on child abduction
- The government is unlikely to sign in near future an international treaty that makes inter-country abduction of children by parents a punishable offence.
- Signing the Hague convention on civil aspects of international child abduction would be against the interest of women who flee bad marriages.
- There has been a steady rise in parental abductions as more and more Indians go abroad to work or study. Children bear the brunt of parents’ marital disputes and are often forced to return to India by one of the quarrelling parents. In most cases, it is the mother who returns with the child.
- The ministry is setting up a panel headed by the chairperson of the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR). Its members will include a representative of the embassy of the country from where the parent has fled with the child.
- Shillong gets selected as the 100th Smart City
- Shillong, the capital city of Meghalaya has been selected as 100thSmart City after evaluating the proposal submitted by it.
- Till now, 99 smart cities had been selected in four rounds of competition and with today’s announcement, selection of 100 cities has been completed under the Smart Cities Mission.
- Previously, 20 cities were selected in January 2016, 13 cities in May 2016, 27 cities in September 2016, 30 cities in June 2017 and 9 cities in January 2018.
- With the selection of Shillong, the total proposed investment in the finally selected 100 cities under the Smart Cities Mission would be Rs.2,05,018 crores.