Notes:
The Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has launched a new pension scheme Pradhan Mantri Vaya Vandana Yojana (PMVVY) for the senior citizens in New Delhi on July 21, 2017. The scheme can be purchased offline as well as online through LIC and is exempted from Service Tax or GST. The PMVVY scheme will be available till 3rd of May next year and will provide an assured return of 8% per annum payable monthly for 10 years. Loan upto 75% of purchase price will be allowed after 3 policy years to meet the liquidity needs. The scheme also allows for premature exit for the treatment of any critical or terminal illness of self or spouse. On such premature exit, 98% of the Purchase Price shall be refunded. On death of the pensioner during the policy term of 10 years, the purchase price will be paid to the beneficiary.

Notes:
The Arunachal Pradesh State Civil Secretariat has become the India’s first secretariat to be fully under wireless coverage enabling end-to-end wireless connectivity. Chief Minister Pema Khandu has recently inaugurated the Wi-Fi Local Area Network (LAN) at the State Civil Secretariat in Itanagar.

Notes:
The 5th North East Connectivity Summit- 2018 will be held in Arunachal Pradesh. This was informed by Ranjit Barthakur, the Chairman of North East Advisory Council (NEAC) of Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI). The summit organised by the FICCI is one of the most important forums for action oriented deliberations on sub-regional economic integration and connectivity between North East India and South East Asia. The 4th North East Connectivity Summit will be held in Nagaland in the month of September 2017.

Notes:
The 5th Global Conference on Cyber Space (GCCS) will be held in New Delhi from November 23-24, 2017. The GCCS is one of the world’s Largest conference on Cyber Space and related issues. The theme of the conference will be “Cyber for all: An Inclusive, Sustainable, Developmental, Safe and Secure Cyberspace”. The GCCS is a prestigious international conference that aims at encouraging dialogue among stakeholders of cyberspace, which has been taking place since 2011. India is the 2nd Asian country, after South Korea, who will be organizing such conference.

Notes:
Sanjay Kothari, a 1978 batch IAS of Haryana cadre, has been appointed as Secretary to President elect Ram Nath Kovind. Currently, he is the Chairman of Public Enterprises Selection Board (PESB). Beside this, Bharat Lal, a forest service officer, has been appointed as Joint Secretary to the President. Ashok Malik, the senior journalist and distinguished fellow at Observer Research Foundation (ORF), will be Press Secretary to the President.

Notes:
Brenda Marjorie Hale, the senior-most judge of United Kngdom (UK) has been appointed as the first female President of the Supreme Court (SC). She will take charge as the head of Britain’s top judging panel in September following the retirement of current President, Lord Neuberger. She has served as Neuberger’s deputy since 2013. Three new justices have also been appointed to the Supreme Court – Lady Justice Black, Lord Justice Lloyd Jones and Lord Justice Brigg – who will take up the role when Lady Hale is sworn in officially as President on 2nd October. The Supreme Court is the final court of appeal for civil cases in the UK, and criminal cases from England, Northern Ireland and Wales – which means it considers cases where an order had already been made in a lower court and is being challenged.

Notes:
The 5th edition of South India Writers Ensemble (SIWE) will be held at Chengannur in coastal Alappuza district, Kerala from July 24, 2017 with ‘Tolerance’ as the core theme. The 3-day annual literary will be organised by People for Performing Arts and More, an art-cum-cultural outfit. The purpose of the SIWE is to bring about an enriching interaction between writers from different languages and regions. This year, Hindi has been selected as the main language and related creative writers, journalists, theatre and film personalities and other personalities would take part in it.

Notes:
Karamjyoti Dalal from India has won bronze in the women’s F55 category of discus-throw at the 2017 World Para Athletics Championships. She won the medal in the F55 category, with her best throw of 19.02m outscoring Baharain’s Alomari Roba, who managed a throw of 19.01m. Dalal belongs to Haryana and was an active member of Indian national kabaddi team before she was forced to leave the sport due to a mishap when she fell from her terrace.

Notes:
In a first of its kind, Telangana State will have eco-friendly bridges over a canal cutting across the tiger corridor linking the Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR) in the Chandrapur district of Maharashtra with the forests in Telangana’s Kumram Bheem Asifabad district. It requires the laying of fertile soil to grow grass and plants over the structure, so that fragmentation of the reserve forest is camouflaged. The ‘eco-bridges’ will be constructed at key spots along the 72 km-long, and at some places over a kilometre wide, right flank canal of the Pranahita barrage in the Bejjur and Dahegaon mandals.

Notes:
The Mouling National Park (MNP) is a national park spread over the Upper Siang district and parts of the West Siang and East Siang district of Arunachal Pradesh and covers an area of about 483 km². It is home to takin, goral, Indian leopard, Bengal tiger, barking deer, serow and red panda.