National 

Union Cabinet approves Medical Termination of Pregnancy Amendment Bill

The cabinet has approved new amendments to the Medical Termination of Pregnancy bill that will increase the upper gestation limit to 24 weeks for special categories of women, including vulnerable women such as rape survivors, minors and victims of incest.

BSE signs licensing agreement with ICE Futures Europe

•    The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) has signed a licensing agreement with Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) Futures Europe. 
•    Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) Futures Europe is an operator of global exchanges and clearinghouses.
•    This agreement will serve the needs and interests to the Indian energy commodities space and market participants to access Rupee-dominated Brent benchmark prices.

India's first underwater metro expected to be complete by March 2022

•    The country’s 1st underwater metro project is set to complete its East-West Project of Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation, which runs partly under the Hooghly river, West Bengal, by March 2022. 
•    74% of the East-West Metro project is owned by India’s Railway & remaining 26% by the nation’s Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs.

CM Uddhav Thackeray inaugurates Nagpur Metro's Aqua Line

•    The Chief Minister of Maharashtra Uddhav Thackeray inaugurated 18.5 kilometre-long stretch of Nagpur Metro Aqua line of Maha Metro Rail Network. 
•    The newly inaugurated Nagpur Metro Aqua line passing over the Ambazari lake in the city will connect the east and west parts of the city. This Line will have six stations starting from Lokmanya Nagar to Sitabuldi Interchange Metro Station.

Indian Railways opens its 1st waste-to-energy plant; here’s why it’s a welcome move

Indian Railways has commissioned the country's first governmental waste to energy plant in Mancheswar Carriage Repair workshop at Bhubaneswar under the East Coast Railway zone.It has been built at a cost of Rs 1.79 crore and has the capacity to dispose of 500 kg waste, including plastic and e-waste.
This waste-to-energy plant uses a patented technology called ‘Polycrack’, which is the world’s first patented heterogeneous catalytic process to convert multiple feedstocks into hydrocarbon liquid fuels, gas, carbon and water. This process will produce energy in the form of light diesel oil which is used to light furnaces.


International

Qatar’s Emir appoints new Prime Minister

•    Sheikh Khalid bin Khalifa bin Abdulaziz Al Thani has been appointed as the new Prime Minister of Qatar, succeeding Sheikh Abdullah who has resigned from the post. 
•    Sheikh Khalid is a close associate of Qatar’s Emir and has played an influential role in the royal court.

Awards

India’s Pavan Sukhdev wins 2020 Tyler Prize

Indian environmental economist Pavan Sukhdev has jointly won the 2020 Tyler Prize along with conservation biologist Gretchen C Daily. Sukhdev has been honoured with the award for his work towards enabling a green economy.

Science & Technology

ISRO launches Bhuvan Panchayat 3.0 to aid gram panchayat development

•    Union Minister of State for PMO Jitendra Singh launched the Bhuvan Panchayat V3 web Portal in Anthariksh Bhavan, ISRO Head Quarters in Bengaluru. 
•    This web Portal will enhance network application of gram panchayats. The Portal will function with the help of satellite technology developed by ISRO.

Obituary

Former women’s hockey team captain Sunita Chandra passes away

•    Former Indian women’s hockey team captain Sunita Chandra died here on Monday, her son said. Chandra, an Arjuna awardee, was 76 and is survived by her husband Yatish Chandra and two sons.
•    She had played for the Indian women’s hockey team between 1956 to 1966 and served as skipper from 1963 to 1966

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