Notes:
Sushil Chandra, an IRS-IT officer of the 1980 batch, has assumed charge as the new Election Commissioner (EC) of India on 15th of February 2019. Prior to joining ECI, he was the Chairman of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT).With his appointment, the Commission now has Sunil Arora as the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and Ashok Lavasa and Mr Chandra as the two commissioners. The Commission is expected to announce the date and the schedule for the Lok Sabha polls by the end of this month.

Notes:
The President of India, Ram Nath Kovind will present the Tagore Award for Cultural Harmony to Rajkumar Singhajit Singh; Chhayanaut (a cultural organization of Bangladesh); and Ram Sutar Vanji for the years 2014, 2015 & 2016 respectively on 18th of February 2019 at Pravasi Bhartiya Kendra, New Delhi. Tagore Award for Cultural Harmony was instituted by the Government of India from 2012 recognizing the contributions made by Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore to humanity at large with his works and ideas, as part of the Commemoration of his 150thBirth Anniversary in 2012, for promoting values of Cultural Harmony. It is awarded annually and carries an amount of Rs. One Crore (convertible to foreign currency), a citation in a Scroll, a Plaque as well as an exquisite traditional handicraft ( or handloom) item.

Notes:
On 15th February, the Government of India (GoI), Government of Himachal Pradesh (GoHP) and the World Bank signed a $40 Million Loan Agreement to help bring clean and reliable drinking water to the citizens of the Greater Shimla area, who have been facing severe water shortages and water-borne epidemics over the last few years. The Shimla Water Supply and Sewerage Service Delivery Reform Programmatic Development Policy Loan 1 is expected to improve water supply and sanitation (WSS) services in and around the iconic hill city of Shimla. The $40 Million Loan from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), has a 4-year grace period and a maturity of 15.5 years.

Notes:
The World Sustainable Development Summit (WSDS) is The Energy and Resources Institute’s (TERI) annual flagship event. The 2019 edition of WSDS was held in New Delhi with theme ‘Attaining the 2030 Agenda: Delivering on Our Promise’ on 11th-13th February. It was inaugurated by the Vice President of India, M. Venkaiah Naidu. The WSDS brings together Nobel laureates, political leaders, decision-makers from bilateral and multilateral institutions, business leaders, high-level functionaries from the diplomatic corps, scientists and researchers, media personnel, and members of civil society; on a common platform to deliberate on issues related to sustainable development.

Notes:
Frank Bainimarama, Prime Minister of Fiji, has been conferred with ‘Sustainable Development Leadership Award 2019’ at the World Sustainable Development Summit (WSDS-2019) in New Delhi. He won the award for his outstanding contributions towards sustainable development in Fiji. The summit reiterated India’s vision for a greener tomorrow and to focus on energy transitions, clean oceans, mobilising development finance, environmental sustainability and sustainable mobility. Over 2000 delegates and speakers from over 40 countries participated in the summit. The summit was organised by The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI). At the event, the Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has collaborated with TERI to set up a Resource Efficiency Cell to help frame blueprint for national integrated resource efficiency policy. The cell will enable inter-ministerial and inter-departmental synergy in promoting material resource efficiency in India while helping frame the blueprint of the integrated resource efficiency policy for India.