China mulls faster travel permits for visit to Tibet
Amid a bitter row with the US over a new law banning Chinese officials who deny US citizens, government officials and journalists access to Tibet, China has approved a plan to cut time for issuing travel permits for foreigners visiting remote Himalayan region from this year.
President Donald Trump had signed the Reciprocal Access to Tibet Act of 2018 into law which was passed by US Congress and the Senate.
At present, foreign tourists need a special travel permit to visit Tibet in addition to a Chinese visa.
It normally takes at least 15 days to receive the permits. This extra requirement is based on Tibet's unique ethnic traditions, cultural heritage, reception capacity and ecological protection needs.
UAE shrinks job categories for expats to 700 from 3,000
UAE employers hiring expat workers now have to meet requirements of the new 'job occupational classification scheme', which has reduced the number of job titles to 726 from the earlier 3,000.
Firms can apply for new work permits for their expat employees with job titles selected from the new list, which was introduced late last month.
Immigration experts say the new classification is in accordance with International Labour Organisation standards and meets current requirements.
Each job title belongs to one of the five levels of professional skills that determine whether the work permit application must be accompanied by a degree certificate.
Union Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change Dr Harsh Vardhan launched the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) aiming to reduce toxic particulate matter by 2024, taking 2017 as the base year.
The Environment Ministry has announced a budget of Rs 300 crore for two years to tackle air pollution across 102 cities, identified by the Central Pollution Control Board.
In a "massive relief" to small businesses, the GST Council doubled the limit for exemption from payment of goods and services tax (GST) to Rs 40 lakh and announced that the higher turnover cap of Rs 1.5 crore for availing composition scheme of paying 1 per cent tax will be effective from April 1.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the taxpayers with an aggregate turnover of Rs 40 lakh would now be exempted from GST.
The earlier limit was Rs 20 lakh. For the north-eastern states, the exemption limit has been hiked to Rs 20 lakh from earlier Rs 10 lakh.
Jaitley said the GST Composition Scheme, under which small traders and businesses pay 1 per cent tax based on turnover, can be availed by businesses with a turnover of Rs 1.5 crore, against the earlier Rs 1 crore, with effect from April 1.
Businesses opting for the scheme would have to file just one return annually and pay taxes once every quarter.
Free accounting and billing software will be made available to small assessees up to Rs 1.5 crore turnover.
IIP growth slows down
India's factory output growth crashed to its lowest in 17 months at 0.5% in November, the outcome of an unfavourable base effect as well as contraction in manufacturing.
The index of industrial production (IIP), announced by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) is the last set of key economic data to be released before the interim budget is presented on February 1.
During November, manufacturing production shrank 0.4%, while electricity and mining output grew 5.1% and 2.7%, respectively.
Items that recorded the highest negative growth included television sets; bodies of trucks, lorries and trailers; and active pharmaceutical ingredients.
NHPC signs MOU with NTNU Norway
NHPC signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) to facilitate cooperation in research and education of hydropower during India-Norway Business Summit 2019 in New Delhi.
The objective of the MoU is to facilitate cooperation in research and education of hydropower that are of mutual interest and to undertake studies and research in the areas of dam construction and safety, sediment handling, variable speed operation, pump turbines in existing power plants, future market structures, etc.
The Indian Space Research Organization announced its plan to send Indian astronauts to space in December 2021 under India's flagship human space mission programme Gaganyaan, at a cost of ~100 billion.
The crew will include a woman and will orbit in space for up to a week.
ISRO chairperson K Sivan announced that a Human Spaceflight Centre will come up in Bengaluru to train crew and make systems safe for space missions, starting with Gaganyaan.
The centre will be headed by S Unnikrishnan Nair and the Gaganyaan programme will be headed by R Hutton.
ISRO also made a slew of other big-ticket announcements.
This year will see 32 space missions, double the number from last year, including 14 vehicle launches and 18 spacecraft missions.
Primary among them will be the launch of Chandrayaan-2, India's second moon mission, at a cost of ~8 billion.
Panoramic View of Moon's Far Side
China broadcasted pictures taken by its rover and lander on the moon's far side, in what its space programme hailed as another triumph for the groundbreaking mission to the less-understood dark side of the lunar surface.
The pictures on CCTV showed the Jade Rabbit 2 rover and the Chang'e 4 spacecraft that transported it on the first ever soft landing on the far side of the moon, which always faces away from Earth.
The pictures were transmitted by a relay satellite to a control centre in Beijing.
Space research officials from China and the US have exchanged data for the mission, the first such collaboration since the 2011 US law banning space exchanges with Beijing.
United Arab Emirates recorded a 2-0 win in the AFC Asian Cup. UAE moved top of the table in Group A with four points from two matches, while second-placed India still remained in the hunt for a knockout berth with three points from two outings.
BCCI Suspends Hardik Pandya and KL Rahul
Hardik Pandya and KL Rahul were suspended by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and ordered home from Australia pending an inquiry for sexist and inappropriate comments made on a TV chat show.
The glare has been mainly on Pandya for boasting about success with multiple women in the show hosted by director-producer, Karan Johar.
The Committee of Administrators had issued a show-cause, and initiated the inquiry after the players tendered their apology.
The CoA in accordance with the BCCI has decided to suspend Pandya and Rahul from playing any form of cricket after their comments on a TV show.
The duo will now return to India and an inquiry and proceedings will be made against them for misconduct and indiscipline that have been initiated.
Virat Kohli and Ravi Shastri Receives SCG Membership
India skipper Virat Kohli and coach Ravi Shastri received the honorary life membership of the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) for their contribution to cricket.
Apart from Kohli and Shastri, the only other international cricketers to be granted the honorary membership of the SCG are Sachin Tendulkar and Brian Lara.
India and Nepal reviewed bilateral ties spread across many sectors, especially progress on three transformative initiatives in agriculture, railways and inland waterways, besides ongoing bilateral development and connectivity projects.
Both sides expressed satisfaction at the significant progress made in different sectors of cooperation as a result of intensified bilateral exchanges at all levels.
Delhi to Get Tallest Fountain on Republic Day
The national capital will get its tallest fountain this Republic Day when officials inaugurate the feature at the Windsor Place roundabout near Janpath.
The fountain will be 90-foot high, dwarfing the current tallest one that reaches 50 feet and is located at the Lodhi Gardens Lake.
This Republic Day, the New Delhi Municipal Council will inaugurate the city's tallest fountain in the heart of the national capital.
NATPOLREX-VII conducted at sea off Mumbai harbour
The seventh edition of the National Level Pollution Response Exercise (NATPOLREX-VII) was conducted at sea off Mumbai harbour.
The highlight of the exercise was participation of ICG Pollution Control Vessel (PCV) ICGS Samudra Pavak and integration of other stakeholders i.e Mumbai Port Trust, JNPT, ONGC and SCI.
A total of 11 ICG ships, five assets of MBPT and JNPT, two tugs of ONGC and one tanker from SCI along with ICG Dornier maritime reconnaissance aircraft and Chetak helicopter participated in this mega exercise.
International observers were also present to witness the oil spill response drill.
The high-powered selection committee headed by PM Narendra Modi gave marching orders to controversial CBI Director Alok Verma after a marathon meeting.
The other members on the panel were Justice AK Sikri of the Supreme Court and Leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge. The latter opposed the move.
Verma, a 1979-batch AGMUT-cadre IPS officer, was removed from the post on charges of "corruption and dereliction of duty". He is the first CBI chief to face such an action.
Additional Director M Nageshwar Rao has been given interim charge till the appointment of a new Director.
Kuldeep Rathore Appointed as Congress Chief
Kuldeep Singh Rathore has became the first non-MLA to become Himachal Congress president replacing Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu.
The appointment of Rathore, an organisation man, as Himachal Congress chief was cleared by Congress president Rahul Gandhi after all factions of the state Congress backed him.
Rathore has never contested elections and is the first non-MLA to head the state Congress.
He was also chosen to balance a skewed regional representation in the Himachal Congress leadership. Until now the CLP leader Agnihotri and state chief Sukhu were both from lower Himachal (Hamirpur and Kangra parliamentary segments).
Rathore belongs to upper Himachal and hails from Shimla Lok Sabha segment.
Rathore has been a three-term AICC member. By profession Rathore is a lawyer and was the senior standing counsel of the Government of India for 15 years besides being senior advocate of the armed forces.
Netaji's Gunman in INA Passes Away
A freedom fighter, Bhale Ram Kuhar, who was a gunman of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose in the Indian National Army (INA), died at his native village Hasangarh, Hisar. He was 99.
Bhale Ram had taken part in the Battle of Pegu in Burma as an INA soldier. He was a gunman of Netaji. He last met Netaji during the battle in 1945.
Rajeev Sharma, Chairman and Managing Director, Power Finance Corporation (PFC) received the prestigious CBIP Award 2019 for 'Best Power Finance Company' from Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Power and New and Renewable Energy (NRE) RK Singh, at a function organised at SCOPE Convention Centre, New Delhi.
In a decision expected to benefit students not keen on pursuing maths after Std X, CBSE has decided to offer them an easier version of the question paper from the 2019-20 session.
Students will have the option of choosing from the 'Basic' and 'Standard' versions for their exams.
CBSE said those intending to appear for JEE must opt for the 'Standard' version.
The syllabus and teaching format will be the same for all students, only the question paper's difficulty level will be different.
The move follows suggestions for reforms in exam papers as part of the National Curriculum Framework.
In a bid to promote rural tourism, a Rs 10.46-crore project, being funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), has been mooted for Sirmaur district.
Deputy Commissioner Sirmaur, Lalit Jain, said places like Haripurdhar, Nohradhar, Churdhar and Rajgarh-Habban in the district would be developed from the tourism point of view.
A team of ADB officials has already inspected the proposed sites where tourism promotion activities have been planned.
The amount would be spent on constructing a path from the picturesque Nohradhar to Churdhar peaks, facilities like a cultural platform, parking spaces, toilets, etc. in the Bhagyani Temple complex in Haripur, constructing an approach road to a historic fort at Haripur, beautification of the coveted Shirgul temple, developing an artificial lake on Giri river near Karganu, setting up a cafeteria, water sports and landscaping of the area, developing a new site for paragliding, etc.
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