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NDTV Ban put on Hold, SC to Wait till Dec 5

The ball is now in the government’s court as the Supreme Court on Tuesday refrained from hearing NDTV’s petition against a one-day telecast ban — now put on hold — on November 9.
●    What is there now? We have read in the newspapers that the ban is already put on hold,” Justice A.K. Sikri, the lead judge in the Bench also comprising Justice N.V. Ramana, remarked.
●    Both NDTV counsel and senior advocate Fali Nariman and Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi confirmed the position to the Bench.
●    The court did not issue notice or indulge further in the case, which had come up for hearing as a mentioning matter.
●    The channel had filed the petition on Monday morning while the ban order was still in place. By evening, the government had made it known the ban was “on hold.”
●    Mr. Rohatgi indicated to the court that certain channel representatives had met the Minister concerned.
●    The court posted the matter for December 5.
●    The ban was imposed for allegedly broadcasting sensitive details of January’s terror attack on the Air Force base in Pathankot.

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India Makes Fresh Push to gain NSG Entry

India’s bid for membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) will be the centre-stage again this week as the group meets for the Consultative Group technical meeting on September 9-10.
●    The government hopes its application will be considered again, five months after the last unsuccessful round.
●    A flurry of diplomatic activity since then has focused on all the countries, including China, that didn’t back India’s bid.
●    Amandeep Singh Gill, joint secretary (Disarmament), travelled to Dublin to soften Ireland’s position, and also met with Chinese nuclear negotiator Wang Qun in Beijing on October 31. Other contacts have been made by Ministry of External Affairs officials and missions abroad in the 48 member countries of the NSG.
●    However,China made it clear that its position hasn’t changed.
●    This Friday, in Vienna, a plenary session of the NSG will be held. 
 

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Archaeologists plan to use LIDAR to study ancient Rajgir Hills

Indian archaeologists are planning to use high-end lasers to map Bihar’s ancient city of Rajgir. 
●    The plan is a part of their inter-disciplinary Rajgir Archaeological Survey Project (RASP), which includes surveying the archaeological evidence and the flora and fauna of the area.
●    To achieve the same, archaeologists are planning to make use of a remote-sensing technique, Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR), which uses laser light to survey the earth’s surface. 
●    The LIDAR device will have to be mounted on drones or helicopters to get the expected result, for which necessary permissions are required.
●    It is a collaborative project between the society and Nalanda University in co-ordination with Bihar’s Ministry of Art, Culture and Youth.
●    It aims to establish a better understanding of the historic city’s landscape by studying the existing archaeological remains through a comprehensive survey. 
●    It will examine the multi-phased development of Rajgir as an urban, political and religious centre. 


 

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More than 1 crore Free LPG mark crossed under PMUY

The number of rural households provided with free LPG connections under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) has crossed the 1 crore mark. 
●    Under the scheme launched six months ago, each below-poverty-line rural household without LPG is being given an LPG cylinder, a stove and regulator.
●    The NDA government’s flagship programme aims to make 5 crore rural households smoke-free during its tenure by offering clean cooking gas, at a cost of R8,000 crore (R1,600 per household).
●    Among the states, poll-bound Uttar Pradesh has received the lion’s share with 34 lakh connections provided under PMUY. 
●    Other states that benefited the most from the scheme are Madhya Pradesh (13 lakh), Rajasthan (12 lakh), Bihar (10.2 lakh), West Bengal (7 lakh), Gujarat (5 lakh), Odisha (4.8 lakh), Chhattisgarh (3 lakh), Maharashtra (2.7 lakh), Haryana (2 lakh) and Tamil Nadu (1.4 lakh).
●    The connections under the scheme are given in the name of the woman head of the family.

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CII launches Startup Mentorship Circle Platform

The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has launched ‘Startup Mentorship Circle’, a unique platform to help in connecting start-ups with the global marketplace. 
●    The platform was launched in view of Union Government’s vision of nurturing entrepreneurship under the Startup India Initiative. 
●    Under this Platform Large corporate houses are planning to mentor about 100 start-ups over the next two years. 
●    Initially it will focus on start-ups in the Western part of the country and will be soon scaled to other parts. 
●    It seeks to provide platform to create strong ecosystem to nurture innovation and startups to drive sustainable economic growth and generate large scale employment opportunities. 
●    CII is an association of Indian businesses which works to create an environment conducive to the growth of industry in India. 
●    The headquarters of CII is located at New Delhi.

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Palaeo-channel of Chandrabhaga river found in Odisha

Scientists from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur have claimed to discover evidence of lost river Chandrabhaga in Odisha. 
●    Earlier, KS Valdiya led expert committee had found out that Saraswati River did exist and flowed through India and Pakistan before meeting Arabian Sea through Rann of Kutch.
●    Chandrabhaga River is an ancient mythical river believed to have existed at a distance of about two km from the 13th century Sun Temple at Konark, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Odisha. 
●    It has been mentioned prominently in ancient literature. Besides, almost all lore regarding Konark, including illustrations and photographs, indicate presence of the river in proximity of temple. 
●    At present, no trace of any water body is at present visible in proximity of temple.
●    The IIT study was conducted through an integrated geological and geophysical exploration in conjunction with historical evidence and analysis of satellite data. 
●    Imagery from US’s Landsat and Terra satellites and those obtained by NASA Space Shuttle Endeavour’s Radar Topographic Mission in 2000 were also used.

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9th International Regulatory Cooperation Meeting for Herbal Medicines Inaugurated by AYUSH Minister 

The Minister of State for AYUSH (Independent Charge), Shri Shripad Yesso Naik  inaugurated  the 9th Annual Meeting of International Regulatory Cooperation for Herbal Medicines (IRCH) in New Delhi today. The three-day meet has been organised by the Ministry of AYUSH in New Delhi from 8-10 November, 2016. Over 33 delegates from 17 countries are participating in the three day-long Annual Meeting of IRCH.
●    Addressing the delegates, Shri Shripad Naik said it is very essential to develop evidence based remedies in the field of traditional medicine. It is for this reason that since long we are working on pharmacopoeias and formularies and have laid down quality standards of Ayurvedic drugs including herbal extracts, the AYUSH minister added. He said that Pharmacopoeia work has been given lot of importance and Pharmacopoeia Commission of Indian Medicine is set up to develop quality standards of Indian medicine drugs matchable with global requirements of quality. Shri Naik said that regulatory laws for education, practice and drugs are in place and are amended and reinforced from time to time in accordance with the emerging needs and requirements.
●    He further added that the traditional systems of medicine in India have reached a stage wherefrom we are able to look ahead for globalisation of these systems and offer technical support and inputs to other countries in developing guidelines or norms for traditional medicine. India has signed 6 MoUs with other countries over the last two years for improving collaboration in the field of traditional medicine, Shri Shripad Naik explained.  


 

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Government of India and Asian Development Bank (ADB) sign $48 Million Loan to improve Assam’s Power Distribution System 

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Government of India yesterday signed a $48 million loan to help Assam state continue its drive to improve access to efficient and reliable power in the national capital.
●    This is the second tranche loan of the $300 million multi tranche financing facility for the Assam Power Sector Investment Program that was approved by the ADB Board in July 2014. The project will help Assam to enhance capacity and efficiency of its power distribution system to improve electricity service to end users. The first tranche loan of $50 million was signed in February 2015.
●    “Increased access to reliable and modern power supply for remote communities can help meet growing demand. This loan will help strengthen the state’s distribution system, improve energy efficiency and reduce technical and commercial losses,” said Ms. M. Teresa Kho, Country Director of ADB's India Resident Mission, who signed the loan agreement on behalf of ADB.
●    “Given that a sustainable power supply is critical for facilitating growth and creating employment opportunities, this project will help Assam attract investment and tap its economic potential, in addition to reducing power outages,” said Mr. Raj Kumar, Joint Secretary (Multilateral Institutions) in the Ministry of Finance, who signed the agreement for Government of India. Ms Z. Rahman Ahmed, Secretary (Power), Govt. of Assam, signed the loan agreement on behalf of the state government along with Mr. P. Gupta, MD, Assam Power Distribution Company Limited (APDCL).
●    The project, which is expected to be completed by December 2019, will help APDCL add an additional substation capacity, expand and improve medium voltage network, reduce system losses by 3% and enhance energy efficiency through renovation and modernization of existing 33/11 kV substations. Part of the loan will be used to strengthen institutional capacity of APDCL through setting up independent meter testing laboratories, load dispatch centers and installing centralized uniform billing system to 1.2 million customers.
●    The loan of $48 million from ADB’s ordinary capital resources makes up to 80% of the total project cost of almost $60 million, with the Government of Assam providing counterpart finance of $12 million. The loan has a 25-year term, including a five-year grace period with an annual interest rate determined in accordance with ADB's LIBOR-based lending facility.
 

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Army's Demchok Mission a success

The Army has completed laying an irrigation pipeline for residents of villages in the Demchok region of Eastern Ladakh despite a face-off last week with Chinese troops over the work.
●    The irrigation project was being built under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme to link a village with a “hot spring”.
●    While the three-day face-off ended on Saturday, the Army engineers continued the work on laying a pipeline for nearly a kilometre and completed the work on Sunday.
●    Last Wednesday, the Chinese side objected to the work saying that no construction was allowed on the border as per earlier agreements.
●    However, the Indian side countered it, saying the restriction applied only to defence constructions. A face-off ensued.
●    This is the first time since 2014 when the Chinese Army had come deep inside the Indian territory in Demchok in protest against an ongoing irrigation project.

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India, UNISDR sign Statement of Cooperation on Sendai Framework

India and United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction signed a Statement of Cooperation during the second day of the Asian Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction (AMCDRR) 2016 here today.
●    India will partner with UNISDR to work towards strengthening the capacity of Asian countries in ensuring risk resilient development. 
●    It will also facilitate the sharing of knowledge and experiences, and collaborative efforts towards addressing critical regional challenges.
●    The cooperation aims to ensure effective implementation and monitoring of the Sendai Framework through Training and capacity building for Asian countries.
●    The statement was officially signed by Shri. Bipin Mallick, Additional Secretary, Government of India and Mr. Robert Glasser, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction.

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