HIMACHAL PRADESH
- Himachal Pradesh to offer government stocks to raise Rs 400 crore
- Already under a debt burden of Rs 50,000 crore, the BJP government in Himachal Pradesh is going to take Rs 400 crore loan beginning of the financial year, with the sale of Himachal Pradesh Government Stock (securities) of 12-year tenure for an aggregate amount of Rs 400 crore.
- state government securities will be utilized for the development of state government and consent of central government has been obtained for this loan as required by Article 293 (3) of the constitution of India.
INTERNATIONAL
Iran to continue nuclear enrichment despite U.S. move-parliament speaker
- The United States acted on Friday to force Iran to stop producing low-enriched uranium and expanding its only nuclear power plant, intensifying a campaign aimed at halting Tehran’s ballistic missile programme and curbing its regional power.
- Under the (nuclear accord) Iran can produce heavy water and this is not in violation of the agreement. Therefore we will carry on with enrichment activity.
NATIONAL
National Maritime Day- April 5
- The theme of the National Maritime Day 2019 celebrations is “Indian Ocean-An Ocean of opportunity”.
Anti-dumping duty put on saccharine
- The Finance Ministry has, on the recommendations of the Commerce Ministry, imposed an anti-dumping duty of $1,633.17 per tonne on the import of saccharine from Indonesia.
- Saccharine is a compound most commonly used in sugar-substitute sweeteners.
- India imported $4.36 million worth of saccharine from Indonesia, which is 43% of the total imports of the sugar-substitute compound.
National Clean Air Program (NCAP)
- It has the tentative national level target of 20%–30% reduction of PM2.5 and PM10 concentration by 2024 is proposed under the NCAP taking 2017 as the base year for the comparison of concentration.
- Overall objective of the NCAP is comprehensive mitigation actions for prevention, control and abatement of air pollution besides augmenting the air quality monitoring network across the country and strengthening the awareness and capacity building activities.
- City specific action plans are being formulated for 102 non-attainment cities identified for implementing mitigation actions under NCAP. Cities have already prepared action plans in consultation with Central Pollution Control Board.
- The national plan has proposed setting up an apex committee under environment minister, a steering committee under secretary (environment) and a monitoring committee under a joint secretary. There would be project monitoring committees at the state-level .
Isro will launch its latest radar imaging satellite (Risat-2BR1) on May 22
- The new imaging satellite will boost all-weather surveillance capabilities of Indian security forces.Risat’s X-band synethic aperture radar (SAR) possesses day-night as well as all-weather monitoring capability. The radar can even penetrate clouds and zoom up to a resolution of 1 metre
- It can help keep an eye on the activities of jihadi terror camps in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
Missile destroyer ‘INS Ranjit’ decommissioned
- Frontline missile destroyer of the Indian Navy ‘INS Ranjit’ was decommissioned at the Naval Dockyard, Visakhapatnam, after serving the Indian navy for 36 years.
- INS Ranjit is a Kashin-class destroyers built by the erstwhile USSR.
India generated 1.45 mt waste per day till Feb, only 53% processed
- Chandigarh came first in Union Territory category by processing 89 per cent of the 420 MT waste generated a day.
- Chhattisgarh topping the list by processing 84 per cent waste followed by Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Telangana.
- Maharashtra, which tops the list of municipal solid waste generators, produced 22,570 MT waste per day, but processed 57 per cent.
- Under the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) the Government aims to attain 100 per cent scientific management of solid waste, and also make the country Open-Defecation Free (ODF) by October 2, 2019.