Notes:
The 2018 ASEAN-India Pravasi Bharatiya Divas will be held in Singapore on 6-7 January, 2018 to celebrate the 25 years of strategic partnership between India and ASEAN. The theme of the 2018 PBD Convention is “Ancient Route, New Journey: Diaspora in the Dynamic India-ASEAN Partnership”. The 2-day event will feature discussions on a broad range of issues with outcomes that deepen diaspora’s relations with India and their role in promoting closer ties between India and ASEAN; events to engage the diaspora youth; business, finance, technology events; and, a gala dinner with cultural show. In it, apart from India’s External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari and chief ministers of Andhra Pradesh and Assam, N Chandrababu Naidu and Sarbananda Sonowal, will also attend the function. The Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) is celebrated every year to mark the contribution of overseas Indian community in the development of India.

Notes:
Partha Mukhopadhyay (70), the veteran Bengali film actor , has passed away in Kolkata, West Bengal. He had portrayed a number of roles in Bengali classics like Atithi, Balika Badhu, Amar Prithivi, Baghbandir Khela, Agniswar and had made his mark as a character actor in 1970s and 1980s. He had the distinction of having acted in films helmed by renowned directors such as Tapan Sinha, Tarun Majumdar and Goutam Ghosh.

Notes:
The Uttar Pradesh government has recently launched a free household power connection scheme ‘Prakash hai to vikas hai’ for the poor in the state to mark former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s birthday. Initially, the two village Lohban and Gausana of Mathura district have been covered for 100% electrification. Under this scheme, the state government has a target of covering 16 million by the end of 2018. Apart from this, the UP government has also introduced Kisan Uday Yojana, scheme for farmers in which existing 5 HP/7.5 HP submersible and coupling sets of farmers will be replaced free of cost. The scheme, which would cover 10 lakh farmers by 2022, would lead to 35% saving on power consumption.

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The Government of India (GoI), the Government of Tamil Nadu and the World Bank (WB) has signed a $318 million loan agreement for the Tamil Nadu Irrigated Agriculture Modernization Project to promote climate resilient agriculture technologies, improve water management practices, and increase market opportunities for small and marginal farmers. About 500,000 farmers, of which majorities are small and marginal, are expected to benefit from improved and modernized tank irrigation systems.The project will rehabilitate and modernize about 4,800 irrigation tanks and 477 check dams, spread across 66 sub-basins, in delivering bulk water to irrigation systems. The $318 million loan from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) has a 5-year grace period and a maturity of 19 years.

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The world’s tallest and longest glass floor bridge has opened in Shijiazhuang, China to the public. The bridge stretches 488 meters long and two meters wide. It stands at 218 meters above the valley between two steep cliffs in Hongyagu Scenic Area in Pingshan County. It is made of 1,077 panes of transparent glass with each being four centimeters thick and weighs a total of 70 metric tons. The sky bridge is designed in a such a way that it swings a little when visitors walk to its center. As per reports, the bridge can support up to 2,000 people, however, only 500 people will be on it at one time.

Notes:
India’s first runway on ‘Sea Bridge’ will come up in Lakshadweep because the Airports Authority of India (AAI) has recently got a green nod to extend Lakshadweep’s Agatti Airport. The task will be carried out by building an RCC platform on the beach and shallow area which will allow bigger ATRs to operate on the island. The entire project is likely to cost about Rs 1,500 crore. The move will allow ATR-72 aircraft to land comfortably.

Notes:
The Uttar Pradesh government has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with South Korea on December 23, 2017 to enhance cooperation in the field of tourism, skill development, culture and farming. For this, a delegation from Gimhae city of South Korea met chief minister Yogi Adityanath in Lucknow and discussed ways to improve cooperation between the two countries. Earlier, in year 2000, an agreement was signed to develop Ayodhya and Gimhae as sister cities, following which a memorial was constructed in Ayodhya which is visited by a large number of tourists from South Korea every year. The people in South Korea believe that 2,000 years ago, an Ayodhya princess had married Korean King Kim Suro. At present, their descendants are members of the ‘Crock Clan’.

Notes:
The Union Environment Ministry has launched a pilot project ‘Blue Flag’ for beach clean-up and development. The purpose of the project is to enhance standards of cleanliness, upkeep and basic amenities at beaches. Under the pilot programme, each of the coast of the state/UT was requested to identify/nominate a beach, which is to be funded through the ongoing Integrated Coastal Management Programme (ICMP). Till date, all the coastal States have nominated the pilot beaches in their receptive territories including Goa. Formal nominations are, however, awaited from the coastal UTs viz., Daman & Diu, Puducherry, Lakshadweep and Andaman & Nicobar”. This information was given by Minister of State in the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Dr. Mahesh Sharma, in reply to a written question in Lok Sabha on December 22, 2017. The ‘Blue Flag’ is a certification by the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE) that a beach, Marina or sustainable boating tourism operator, meets its stringent standards.

Notes:
The book “The Way I See It: A Gauri Lankesh Reader” has been edited by writer and sociologist Chandan Gowda. The book containing selected writings by late journalist Gauri Lankesh was launched at the Mumbai Press Club on 22nd December 2017, three months after she was gunned down outside her home in Bengaluru by unidentified men. The six sections of the book comprise Lankesh’s early reportage in various publications and selected articles she wrote for the Kannada language “Gauri Lankesh Patrike”.

Notes:
The National Sugar Institute (NSI) is located in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh and is involved in research, training and advisory services to the sugar and allied industry, and functions under the Department of Food and Public Distribution of the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution. The institute provides technical education and training in research in all branches of sugar chemistry, sugar technology, sugar engineering and allied fields. It also provides assistance to central and state governments in matters relating to sugar and allied industries.