Maharashtra
- Maharashtra short of 45% of modern weapons it needs: Govt auditor
ð There was a shortage of 65,026 modern weaponsin the state, accounting for 45% of the requirement by March 2015, the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) for 2016 tabled in the state assembly.
ð It also found that the supply of 1,834 weapons, accounting for 41% of the total order, were pending from the Ordnance Factory Board for periods ranging from six months to 4.5 years. And vital police equipment worth Rs 28.76 crore, including bullet-proof jackets, night vision binoculars and bomb disposal suits, which the state planned to buy, had not been procured till September 2016.
ð The report also revealed that only 8% of the planned residential buildings including police stations could be constructed or upgraded between 2011 and 2016.
INTERNATIONAL
- China bans imports from N. Korea.
- China will halt iron, iron ore and seafood imports from North Korea, following through on new UN sanctions after U.S. pressure for Beijing to strong arm Pyongyang over its ally’s nuclear programme.
- China, which is suspected of failing to enforce past UN measures, accounts for 90% of North Korea’s trade.
- Among the latest banned products, China imported $74.4 million worth of iron ore in the first five months of this year, almost equalling the figure for all of 2016.
- Nepal and China sign three agreements to boost energy, economic ties
- China and Nepal signed three agreement to further boost their ties in power, energy and economic sectors.
- The agreements signed cover oil and gas resources exploration, economic and technological cooperation and promotion of investment.
- These agreements were signed after visiting Chinese Vice-Premier Wang Yang held discussions with Nepal’s Deputy Prime Ministers Bijaya Kumar Gachhadar and Krishna Bahadur Mahara.
NATIONAL
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi launches website to Honour Gallantry Award Winners.
ð Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a website to honor all the gallantry award winners since Independence.
ð The portal will preserve and tell the stories of bravest men and women, civilians as well as armed forces personnel.
ð The website gives details of the Chakra Series awardees i.e., Param Vir Chakra, Maha Vir Chakra, Vir Chakra, Ashok Chakra, Kirti Chakra and Shaurya Chakra. The portal contains information such as name, unit, year, citations and photographs of awardees till date.
- Ministry of Culture Organizes ‘Sankalp Se Siddhi Program’ in Coimbatore
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched New India movementfrom 2017-2022, a Sankalp Se Siddhi (Attainment through Resolve) Program was organized at Coimbatore.
- The New India Movement 2017-2022 organized an India free of Poverty, Corruption, Terrorism, Communalism, Casteism, and Un-cleanliness.
Minister of State for Culture and Tourism (Independent Charge), Dr. Mahesh Sharma graced the occasion
- India raises veg oil import taxes to protect farmers
- India, the world’s biggest buyer of vegetable oils, has raised import taxes on crude and refined edible oils to protect local oilseed farmers from cheaper imports from top
suppliers Malaysia and Indonesia.
- New Delhi doubled the import tax on crude palm oils to 15 percent and raised the import tax on refined palm oils to 25 percent, increasing the differential in duty by 10 percentage points to encourage local processing.
- The government also raised the import tax on crude soyoil to 17.5 percent from 12.5 percent previously.
- Centre spends about $10 billion a year to import palm oil from Malaysia and Indonesia and relatively smaller quantities of soyoil from Brazil and Argentina.
- Large inventories and lower prices have fomented a wave of protests by farmers in the big agrarian states of Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh.
- Nearly two-thirds of India’s 1.3 billion people depend on agriculture to scrape a living.
- Indian Oil Buys First Shale Oil from United States.
- State-owned Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) brought the country’s first shale oil from the United States of America and is looking to step up imports from America as part of its crude diversification strategy.
- IOC bought 1.9 million barrels of US crude in its second import tender seeking oil from the America.
- India, the world’s third-largest oil importer, joins Asian countries like South Korea, Japan, and China to buy US crude after production cuts by Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) drove up prices of Middle East heavy-sour crude, or grades with a high sulphur content.
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