NORTH-EASTERN STATES

• Northeast states report spike in HIV rate in those injecting drugs

 

• Close to 20% injecting drug users (IDUS) in Mizoram have HIV, compared to a nationwide prevalence of 6.26% among drug-users, shows data from National Aids Control Organisation’s (NACO) HIV Sentinel Surveillance 2017 released last month.

 

• Six states in the region account for 43.5% of IDUS who tested positive for HIV in India.

 

• The states in the region with higher than usual national prevalence among IDUS are Mizoram (19.81%), Manipur (7.66%), and Tripura (8.55%).

 

• Needle-sharing among IDUS is one of the reasons driving the HIV epidemic in the region, with seven north-eastern states accounting for about 6% of all new HIV infections.

 

• The health ministry began an epidemiological investigation in December last year to understand reasons why HIV prevention and treatment programmes are not working in the region.

 

• The virus has spread in the general population through drug use and controlling its transmission now has become a huge challenge.

 

• For India to meet the goal of ‘End of AIDS’ as a public threat by 2030, it is imperative to bring the numbers down. 

   

  INTERNATIONAL

   

  ·        Melbourne To Host Final Of 2020 World T20

   

  • Melbourne Cricket Ground will host the final of both the men’s and women’s World Twenty20when the tournaments come to Australia in 2020.
  • It will mark the first time the tournaments are held as stand-alone events in the same year in the same country.
  • The women’s final will coincide with International Women’s Day (8th March).

   

   

  ·        Google Introduces A New App Named as Bulletin

   

  • Google introduced a new app named “Bulletin”that allows anybody to submit stories for and about their communities.
    
  • This is a free, lightweight app for telling a story by capturing photos, video clips and text right from your phone, published straight to the web.
  • The app is made for contributing hyperlocal stories about your community.
  • The application has been launched as a limited pilot project and is available in Nashville, Tennessee, and Oakland, California.

   

   

  NATIONAL

   

  ·        New e-way bill system comes into force to bring uniformity across the states

   

  ð  New e-way bill system comes into force to bring uniformity across the states for smooth inter-state movement of goods

   

  ð  A new e-way bill system will come into effect.

  • Under the new system, every transporter will have to carry a system-generated bill to move goods from one place to another.
  • The e-way bill systemintroduced to bring uniformity across the states for seamless inter-state movement of goods.
  • Under the Goods and Services Tax, interstate transportation of goods beyond 10 kilometers with a value of 50,000 rupees and above, will mandatorily require the e-way bill.
  • Last month, the GST Council decided to implement the e-way bill mechanism throughout the country from 1st of February, 2018.

   

  • PM Narendra Modi writes a book titled ‘Exam Warriors’ for students

   

  • Prime Minister Narendra Modi has written a book for students who battle stress and anxiety during examinations.

   

  • The book, slated to be released on February 3, talks about the ways in which students can tackle the stress.

   

  • The book has been titled ‘Exam Warriors’ and mentions various means such as practicing yoga.

   

  ·        Union Government launches GeM 3.0

   

  • The Ministry of Commerce & Industrylaunched the third version of the Government e-Marketplace (GeM 3.0).
  • The earlier version GeM 2.0 was launched a GeM 2.0 was launched as pilot project in August 2016.
  • GeM 3.0 will offer standardized and enriched catalog management, powerful search engine.
  • GeM is an Online Market platform to facilitate procurement of goods and services by various Ministries and agencies of the Government.

   

  • Wi-Fi hotspots for rural areas proposed

   

  • The government has proposed to set up five lakh Wi-Fi hotspots which will provide broadband access to five crore rural citizens.

   

  • Allocation of Rs 10,000 crore has been provided in 2018-19 for creation and augmentation of telecom infrastructure.

   

  ·        Govt proposes key amendments to PMLA

   

  • The Central government has proposed changes to various provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) through the Finance Bill, including a crucial amendment that empowers the Special Court to restore confiscated assets to the rightful claimants even during the trial.

   

  • The government has introduced a new Sub-Section (2) of Section 66, making it mandatory for the ED to share relevant details with other agencies.

   

  • A key proposed change is in the definition of “proceeds of crime”, which now also allows the ED to proceed against assets of equivalent value located even outside the country.

   

  • A further limit of ₹1 crore involved in the alleged offence would allow the court to apply bail provisions more leniently to less serious PMLA cases, said the government.

   

  • Another suggested change is the inclusion of Section 447 of the Companies Act in the list of scheduled offences under PMLA. It will allow the Registrar of Companies to report suitable cases to the ED for money laundering probe.

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