MAHARASHTRA
- State to promote startups with competition
- The State government will organise a Business Plan Competition (BPC) to give a boost to industrial and economic growth and promote budding entrepreneurs and startups.
- Organised by the Maharashtra State Innovation Society (MSInS), the State issued guidelines for conducting the BPC. Each district will have one such competition in every financial year.
- In the districts, the BPC will be organised annually by the respective District Innovation Councils. Applications will be invited through the MSInS web portal in various sectors. The competition will be divided into three categories wherein applicants will suggest an innovative solution to an existing problem, or come up with an innovative product/process or service for the growth and betterment of the district.
- It also aims to provide a platform to schools, colleges and other institutions or individuals to propose innovative business ideas to address issues faced by local communities and society. The Maharashtra State Innovative Start-up Policy, 2018 provides for organising various events and competitions throughout the year to provide global exposure to the startup ecosystem and to further deepen the engagement between the Government of Maharashtra and the startup ecosystem.
INTERNATIONAL
- Iran is to restart the activities at the Arak heavy water nuclear reactor, western Iran
- Iran is to restart the activities at the Arak heavy water nuclear reactor,western Iran. The anouncement was made byAli Akbar Salehi, the head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization.Heavy water are used in reactors to produce plutonium. Plutonium is a fuel used in nuclear warheads.
- Regarding this US Sanctions on Tehran, a meeting was conducted between Iranian officials and the UK, France and Germany, in Vienna. In the meeting Iran persuaded the European states to provided more effective relief from US sanctions.
The move is after the US’s withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear deal and the introduction of sanctions on Tehran, Iran stopped complying with some commitments in the 2015 nuclear deal.
NATIONAL
- Kargil Vijay Diwas: 26 July
- The 20th Anniversary of Kargil Vijay Diwas is being celebrated on 26 July 2019.
- The day is named after the successful Operation Vijay in 1999 when India regained the control of the high outposts which had been stealthily taken over by Pakistan.
- The Kargil war was fought for more than 60 days and ended with India regaining control of all the previously held territory.
- The central theme of this year’s celebrations is ‘Remember, Rejoice and Renew’.
- WhatsApp and NITI Aayog partner to promote women entrepreneurs in India
- NITI Aayog and Facebook-owned WhatsApp, under the aegis of its Women Entrepreneurship Platform (WEP), have announced a partnership to support the growth of a robust ecosystem to promote women entrepreneurs in India.
- They will announce an annual calendar of events aimed at capacity building of women entrepreneurs.
- The initiative would target the registered users of WEP.
- WhatsApp will also partner with the Women Transforming India (WTI) Awards 2019, the flagship initiative of NITI Aayog.
- WhatsApp has decided to provide support amounting to $100,000 to WTI winners.
- UP becomes No. 1 in implementation of Pradhanamntri Suraksha Beema Yojna
- Uttar Pradesh has become number one in implementation of Pradhanamntri Suraksha Beema Yojna in the country.
- 95 crores people have been given insurance cover under the scheme till 31 march 2019.
- The implementation of this ambitious central government scheme started in the state from January 2018 under which people between the age group of 18 to 70 get an accidental insurance cover of rupees 2 lakh by paying a nominal premium of 12 rupees annually.
- Railway’s first printing press heritage gallery opened
- The Western Railway (WR) has thrown open to the public the first printing press heritage gallery of the Indian Railways at Mahalaxmi, Mumbai.
- Western Railway Mahalaxmi General Stores Depot (GSD) has become the first in Indian Railways to portray a heritage gallery of the printing and allied machines used in the Western Railway Printing Press since 1948, which are still in working condition.
- Parcel waybills and railway receipts for all zonal railways of India, along with stationery and money value items required for the Western Railway were printed at this press.
- Centre has approved Deep Ocean Mission
- Centre has approved the Union Ministry of Earth Sciences’ Deep Ocean Mission (DOM). The project plans to explore the deepest recesses of the ocean. It is afive year The cost estimated for the project is Rs.8,000 crore.
- DOM will commence from October 31, 2019. A blueprint of the programme was unveiled by the Ministry last July. One of the proposals is offshore desalination plantthat will work with tidal energy. The projects also proposes to develop a submersible vehicle that can go to a depth of at least 6,000 metres with three people on board.
- The main objective of the mission is to explore the deep ocean. The mission aims to look for metals and minerals. For this project, India has been allotted a site of 75,000 sq. km. in the Central Indian Ocean Basin (CIOB)by the UN International Sea Bed Authority for exploitation of polymetallic nodules (PMN). Various estimations says that 380 million metric tonnes of polymetallic nodules are available at the bottom of the seas in the Central Indian Ocean. India’s Exclusive Economic Zone spreads over 2.2 million sq. km. and in the deep sea, lies unexplored and unutilised.
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