Notes:
Arvind Kejriwal, the Chief Minister of Delhi, launched the ‘Happiness Curriculum’ for students of nursery to Class 8 in government schools on July 2, 2018. The curriculum was launched in the presence of the Dalai Lama. Students across schools can expect a ‘happiness’ period of 45 minutes. Each class will begin with a five-minute meditation session. The Happiness period was designed and prepared by a team of 40 Delhi government teachers, educators and volunteers over a period of six months. It will also include value education and mental exercises.

Notes:
Major General Jose Eladio Alcain of Uruguayan Army has been appointed new Head of Mission and Chief Military Observer for UN Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP). He will succeed Major General Per Gustaf Lodin of Sweden, who will complete his two year assignment in July 2018. In 1948, the UN Security Council (UNSC) established the UN Commission for India and Pakistan (UNCIP) to investigate the dispute between India and Pakistan regarding the disputed state of Kashmir. In 1949, UNCIP was absorbed into the UNMOGIP, which supervises the ceasefire between India and Pakistan and to monitor the peace in Kashmir.

Notes:
P.K. Shrivastava has taken over charge as the new Director General of Ordnance Factories (DGOF) and chairman of the Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) with effect from July 1, 2018. Previously, he was Additional DGOF and member at OFB, and was in charge of Armoured Vehicles, headquartered in Avadi, Chennai. The OFB is an industrial organisation, functioning under the Department of Defence Production of Ministry of Defence. The headquarters of OFB is located in Kolkata, West Bengal.

Notes:
India’s first-ever state-of-the-art e-waste recycling unit will come up in Bengaluru, which produces an estimated one lakh tonne of electronic waste a year. The Central Institute of Plastics Engineering and Technology (CIPET), a research institute that comes under the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers, will set up the unit in the next four months. The purpose to set-up an e-Waste recycling unit is to provide a complete solution for recycling of plastics wastes generated from Waste Electrical & Electronic Equipments (WEEE). Bengaluru, which accounts for about a third of India’s software exports and is home to about 7,000 startups, occupies 3rd place in the country in producing e-waste after Mumbai and Delhi. Currently, e-waste generation in India is estimated to reach 52 lakh tonnes in 2020, with India being ranked as one of the top five generators of e-waste.

Notes:
The famous cultural festival “Behdienkhlam 2018” was celebrated at the small peripheral town of Jowai, the District headquarters of Jaintia Hills District in Meghalaya with joy and religious fervour. The festival witnessed a colourful display of 12 rots or ‘rath’ at the sacred pool ‘Aitnar’. It is the most celebrated religious festival among the Pnars Tribals. It is celebrated mid-July every year after the sowing is over. The festival ends with a final salutation to the divine powers when the women of the tribe offer sacrificial food to their almighty. The festival is also known as the festival for chasing away the Demon of Cholera.

Notes:
Major General Vikram Dogra has become the first serving Indian Army officer and the only General across the world to have successfully completed a gruelling ‘Ironman’ competition held in Klagenfurt, Austria on July 1, 2018. The Ironman is an international triathlon consisting of three consecutive events- 3.8 km of swimming, 180 km cycling and 42.2 km of running (a full marathon). It is considered one of the toughest one-day sporting events in the world.The competitors have to complete the events in sequence within 17 hours to earn the title of ‘Ironman’. Maj Gen Dogra completed the event in 14 hours and 21 minutes. More than 3000 athletes from 50 countries participated in the event. Maj Gen Dogra, who is currently posted as Director General Resettlement, was one of the participants.

Notes:
India will host the 19th edition of IUFoST World Food Science and Technology Congress 2018 in Navi Mumbai from October 23-27, 2018. The IUFoST stands for ‘International Union of Food Science and Technology’. The 5-day event will bring together researchers, academicians, professionals, policy makers and industry leaders from across the globe to showcase innovation, exchange breakthrough ideas and drive policy issues. The focal theme for the 19th edition of the prestigious World Congress of Food Science and Technology is ’25 Billion Meals a Day by 2025 with Healthy, Nutritious, Safe and Diverse Foods’. IUFoST 2018 will provide insight on key concepts on recent advances in food sciences, food processing and agriculture technologies.

Notes:
The Sunil Mehta committee which was formed with a view to tackle Non-Performing Assets (NPAs) and creating credit capacity submitted its report with recommendations to Union Finance Minister Piyush Goyal on July 2, 2018. The Sunil Mehta panel presented project ‘Sashakt’ and has recommended a five-pronged strategy to deal with NPAs in the country’s banking system. The five-pronged strategy includes — SME Resolution Approach (SRA), Bank Led Resolution Approach (BLRA), AMC / AIF led resolution approach, NCLT / IBC approach, and asset-trading platform. The report recommends a five pronged approach for loans from Rs 50 crore, Rs 50-500 crore and loans above Rs 500 crore. The committee has also suggested an asset trading platform for both performing and non-performing assets. The plan focuses on turning around assets in a manner that will create additional jobs by reviving businesses and prevent job losses from foreclosures.

Notes:
The Madhya Pradesh government has launched an outstanding power bill waiver scheme and subsidised power scheme ‘Sambal’ for labourers and poor families. The purpose of the scheme is to make sure that all the households have power facility in the state. One crore 83 lakh workers registered under Sambal Yojana in the state till now. Under this scheme, outstanding electricity bill worth five thousand 179 crores rupees is to be waived off. Under the subsidised power segment of this scheme, registered labourers of the unorganised sector and Below Poverty Line (BPL) families would be provided electricity at a cost of Rs 200 per month while Power connection would be provided free of cost to the beneficiaries. In case the bill is lower than Rs 200, the beneficiary will have to pay the actual bill amount and if the bill amount crossing Rs 200, then the difference amount would be subsidised by the state government.

Notes:
Nagpur, the second capital of Maharashtra, is set to host the Monsoon session of the state Legislature today after a gap of 47 years. This will be the fourth time that the monsoon session of the state Legislature, normally held in Mumbai, will take place in Nagpur. The session will commence in Nagpur from July 4 to 20, 2018. Traditionally, Nagpur hosts the winter session of the legislature in December every year whereas the budget and monsoon sessions are held in Mumbai. According to an official of the Vidhan Bhavan, the monsoon sessions of the state Legislature were earlier held in Nagpur in 1961, 1966 and 1971. As per the Nagpur Pact-1953, the district in the Vidarbha region was accorded the status of second capital of Maharashtra. The pact also required one session of the state Legislature to be held in Nagpur every year.