Notes:
The Uttarakhand government has decided to form a Special Tiger Force (STF) for Corbett Tiger Reserve (CTR). The force will have 85 posts & will help serve as the much needed second layer of protection for the big cat at the CTR. The STPF will be effective in checking illegal human intrusion into the reserve through villages located on its fringes. The decision was taken by the State Cabinet in line with Government of India (GoI) guidelines for providing 3-tier protection to tigers at reserves. The first layer of protection is provided in the inner range by beat level forest guards through regular patrols. The second layer of protection is what the STPF will take care of. The third layer of protection comes from intelligence-gathering mechanisms in which forest, police and central intelligence agency personnel work together to prevent crimes like the poaching of tigers.

Notes:
Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma has launched Walk to Work on Wednesdays (WWW) campaign in the state. The campaign is a part of the nationwide Fit India Movement, which has been launched in the country by the Prime Minister. The idea of ‘walk to work’ will have multiple benefits like cost cutting of fuel including reduction of CO2 emission, reduction in congestion in the city and the most important “health and fitness” for the citizens.

Notes:
The Safe Cities Index (SCI) 2019 has been released by Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). Tokyo has been ranked first in the SCI index, followed by Singapore and Osaka. The index ranks 60 countries worldwide across five continents and measures the multi-faceted nature of urban safety, with indicators categorized as digital, infrastructure, health and personal security. From India, Mumbai has been ranked as the 45th safest city on the SCI, while Delhi stood at the 52nd position.

Notes:
The Delhi Cabinet has given “in principle” approval to the free-ride scheme of providing free rides for women in city buses and metro trains. For this cause, the Delhi Assembly also passed Supplementary Demands for Grants of Rs 290 crore. Of the Rs 290 crore, Rs 140 crore is for free rides for women in buses and Rs 150 crore for rides in metro trains. The free-ride scheme is slated to begin from October 29. Though, women employees of the Delhi government, local bodies and undertakings will not be entitled for transport allowance if they opt for free ride in Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) and cluster buses. Both DTC and Delhi Integrated Multi-Modal Transit System (DIMTS) will strengthen their ticket checking mechanisms prevent “misuse” and “pilferage” of single journey passes.

Notes:
Aparna Kumar, a 2002 batch Uttar Pradesh Cadre IPS officer, has been honoured with the Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award 2018. With this, she became the first IPS officer to be bestowed with this prestigious award. Currently, she is posted as DIG in Indo Tibetan Police Force at Dehradun. This is the highest National award at par with Arjuna award for Adventure sports in India. The award is given in 4 categories – Land, Water, Air Adventure and Lifetime achievement. The awards are given by the Government of India (GoI) with an aim to encourage young people to develop the spirit of endurance, risk-taking, cooperative teamwork and quick, ready and effective reflexes in tough situations. Besides Aparna, five more personalities also received the award. The other personalities are late Dipankar Ghosh, Manikandan K, Prabhat Raju Koli, RameshwerJangra and Wangchuk Sherpa. The awardees received a statuette, certificates and cash award of Rs. 5 lakh each.