Notes:
The think tank to Indian Government, NITI Aayog has ranked the aspirational districts on the basis of incremental progress made across six developmental areas in December 2019.
As per the list, Chandauli district of Uttar Pradesh has been placed in the top position, followed by Belangir district of Odisha. Andhra Pradesh’s YSR district is in the third place. The six developmental areas which are taken into account are: Health and nutrition, agriculture and water resources, financial inclusion, education, skill development and infrastructure.

Notes:
The Union Cabinet has recently approved the ‘Medical Termination of Pregnancy (Amendment) Bill, 2020 and increased the upper limit for legal abortion to 24 weeks. Prior to the amendment, the upper limit was only 20 weeks.
The existing act of ‘Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971’ has been amended and the ‘Medical Termination of Pregnancy (Amendment) Bill, 2020’, which was drafted by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare was approved by the Cabinet. The bill is expected to be introduced in the upcoming session of the Parliament.

Notes:
The Indian Coast Guard has recently commissioned its ‘C-448’ high-speed boat at Mangaluru, Karnataka. The Chief Secretary of Karnataka attended the ceremony of commissioning the Coast Guard vessel.
C-448 is a water-jet-propelled interceptor vessel, which is set to be deployed in for patrolling and rescue operations off the coast of Mangaluru. The boat also comprises of world-class navigation and communication equipment systems, which helps in search operations and maritime surveillance.

Notes:
The 85-year-old veteran social worker and educationist Tushar Kanjilal passed away recently in Kolkata. He was the recipient of the prestigious ‘Padma Shri’, the fourth highest civilian honour of India, in 1986.
Fondly called as ‘Mastermoshai’, he worked as the head of a high-school in Rangabelia village of Kolkatta and strived for promoting education among the local population. He also authored a book titled ‘Who Killed the Sunderbans?’, which is based on the issue of destruction of the Sunderbans’ mangrove forests.

Notes:
The World Sustainable Development Summit (WSDS) is the annual flagship event organised by The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI). This year, the global summit is scheduled to be held at the India Habitat Centre, New Delhi.
The three-day event was inaugurated on January 29, 2020 with the theme, ‘Towards 2030 Goals: Making the Decade Count’. The summit has been organised for 18 years from 2001, to provide a platform for global leaders to discuss climatic issues. This year, the event focusses on the global efforts to meet the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations.