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Recently, the Union Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba has launched an online ‘e-Sahaj’ portal for grant of security clearance to businesses. The portal will facilitate an applicant to submit application online and also to view the status of his application from time to time. The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) is the nodal authority for granting security clearances in certain sensitive sectors before issue of licence/permit, permission, contract etc, to companies/ bidders/individuals by the administrative Ministry. The purpose of national security clearance is to evaluate potential security threats, including economic threats, and provide risk assessment before clearing investment and project proposals in key sectors.

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The West Bengal government has rolled out a scheme “Swayangsiddha” in different districts of the state to combat human trafficking. The aim of the scheme is to empower young boys and girls to make informed choices so that they are less vulnerable to trafficking and child marriage. Swayangsiddha, which means self-reliance, will be executed by the West Bengal Police. As the per the NCRB data West Bengal has highest recorded case of trafficking among the States.

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In New Delhi, the Government of India (GoI) along with Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has recently launched the Green Agriculture project that seeks to bring transformative change in the farm sector through conservation of biodiversity and forest landscapes. The $33.5 million project is being funded by Global Environment Facility (GEF) and implemented by GoI’s Agriculture and Environment ministries, and FAO.It will be implemented in five states viz. Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram, Odisha, Rajasthan and Uttarakhand. The aim of the project is to transform agricultural production to generate global environmental benefits by addressing biodiversity conservation, land degradation, climate change mitigation and sustainable forest management.

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On 2018 World Ozone Day (WOD), the Union Environment Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan released a draft India Cooling Action Plan (ICAP) and a booklet on ‘Montreal Protocol – India’s Success Story’. With this, India has become the world’s first country to develop such a document (ICAP), which addresses cooling requirement across sectors and lists out actions which can help reduce the cooling demand. This will help in reducing both direct and indirect emissions. The thrust of the ICAP is to look for synergies in actions for securing both environmental and socio-economic benefits. The overarching goal of ICAP is to provide sustainable cooling and thermal comfort for all while securing environmental and socio-economic benefits for the society. The Montreal Protocol is the only environmental treaty, which enjoys universal ratification of 197 UN numbers countries, to protect the stratospheric ozone layer by phasing out the production and consumption of ozone-depleting substances (ODS).

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Bollywood stars Varun Dhawan and Anushka Sharma have been signed as ambassadors of Skill India Campaign to promote and endorse the Skill India Mission. The actors will next be seen in “Sui Dhaaga – Made in India”, which highlights the untapped potential of India’s talented craftsmen and skilled workers at the grassroot level and the challenges and issues faced by them. Varun plays a tailor named Mauji and Anushka essays the role of his wife and embroiderer Mamta. The film, which is directed by Sharat Katariya, hit the theatres on September 28, 2018. The Skill India Mission was launched by PM Narendra Modi on July 2015 to train over 40 crore people in different skills by 2022. It includes various initiatives of the government like “National Skill Development Mission”, “National Policy for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship 2015”, “Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY)” and the “Skill Loan scheme”.

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ISRO has recently launched its first Space Technology Incubation Centre at the National Institute of Technology (NIT) Agartala via remote from Bengaluru. It was jointly launched by ISRO Chairman Dr. KV Sivan and Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb. The incubation centre was launched at the first edition of ‘Spacetronics’ organised by the India Electronics and Semiconductor Association (IESA). Through such incubation centres, ISRO is looking to incubate start-ups that would build applications; offer services and products that it can use internally and help them scale up so that these firms can exploit opportunities globally. Within the next 6 months, ISRO plans to set up five more space technology incubation centres at Jalandhar in Punjab, Bhubaneswar in Odisha, Nagpur in Maharashtra, Indore in Madhya Pradesh and Tiruchirapalli in Tamil Nadu. Each centre will be set up at a cost of Rs 2 crore, and will help the start-ups develop prototypes of components required for space technology, in partnership with the industry. ISRO will also provide the necessary mentorship and guidance to individuals and businesses at the incubation centres.

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The 5th edition of the Track Asia Cup cycling will be held at the Indira Gandhi Cycling Velodrome in New Delhi from September 21-23, 2018. This was recently announced by the Cycling Federation of India (CFI). The event also serves as a qualifying tournament for the World Cup, World Championship and the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The tournament which is a UCI (International Cycle Union) class I accredited event will see participation from about 150 cyclists across from across Asia and Australia. India will field a 17-member team comprising senior and junior cyclists. The junior team will be led by Esow Alben, who is currently the top ranked individual in the Kierin event in the UCI world rankings. Esow had won three gold medals in the Asian Track Cycling Championship, the only male cyclist to achieve the feat in the event, held in Malaysia in February 2018.

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India has signed a financing loan agreement with the World Bank for $74 million for Uttarakhand Workforce Development Project (UKWDP). The purpose of the project is to improve the quality and relevance of training at priority Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) and to increase the number of labour-market-relevant workers through short-term training in Uttrakhand. The project has 3 components — improving the quality and relevance of ITI training; increasing the number of skilled workers certified under National Skills Qualification Framework (NSQE); and policy and institutional development and project management. The project has a 5-year grace period & a maturity of 17 years. The closing date for the project is June 2023.

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Anna Rajam Malhotra (91) was the India’s first woman IAS officer after Independence, who passed away in Mumbai, Maharashtra on September 17, 2018. Born in July 1927 in Kerala’s Ernakulam district, she joined the civil services in 1951 and had served in the Madras cadre under then CM C Rajagopalachari and in the central government. Besides serving under Rajagopalachari, she had worked closely with Rajiv Gandhi when he was in charge of the 1982 Asian Games in Delhi. She had also accompanied late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on many state trips. She married RN Malhotra, who had served as the Governor of RBI between 1985 and 1990. Anna, who retired in 1996, was also responsible for building the country’s first computerised port Nhavasheva in Mumbai. In 1989, she was honoured with the Padma Bhushan award.

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Kamlesh Nilkanth Vyas, the renowned nuclear scientist, has been appointed as the new Secretary of Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), and Chairman of Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) till May 3, 2021. He succeeded Shekhar Basu. At present, Vyas is the Director of Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), Mumbai. The DAE is under the direct charge of the Prime Minister.