Researchers have discovered a new species of moth from the Talle Wildlife Sanctuary in Arunachal Pradesh.
The new species, scientifically named Elcysma Ziroensis, be commonly called Apatani Glory, named after a local tribe called Apatani.
This species has only been seen during autumn, notably in the month of September, indicating that it is a univoltine species, meaning it has one brood of young in a year.
INTERNATIONAL
Romania to have first female prime minister, Viorica Dancila
Viorica Dancila has been named as Romania’s first female PM following the sudden resignation of Mihai Tudose.
Ms Dancila, a member of the European Parliament, is regarded as an ally of the governing Social Democratic Party (PSD) leader Liviu Dragnea.
Ms Dancila, 54, is Romania’s third prime minister in seven months.
· Google awarded 72 lakh for finding bugs in Pixel phone
Google awarded nearly 72 lakh to researcher Guang Gong for finding bugs in its Pixel devices.
The exploit chain consisted of two bugs which together could inject arbitrary code into system server by accessing a malicious URL in Chrome.
Around 67 lakh of the reward was given from Google’s Android Security Rewards program, the highest in the program’s history.
NATIONAL
· India Ratings Projects Economic Growth at 7.1 Next Fiscal
India Ratings and Research have projected the country’s economic growth to improve to 1 percentin 2018-19 from 6.5 percent in 2017-18, buoyed by robust consumer demand and low commodity prices.
In its outlook for 2018-19, according to the agency, there will be a gradual pickup in growth momentum owing to structural reforms like GST and Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code in place.
The projection is a tad lower than 7.4 percent growth estimated by Asian Development Bank and International Monetary Fund for next fiscal.
Government to set up $350 million fund to finance solar projects
Government will set up a $350 million fund to finance solar projects, as the country steps up efforts to achieve its ambitious target of adding 175 gigawatts (GW) in renewable energy by 2022.
India will need at least $125 billion to fund a plan to increase the share of renewable power supply in the country’s grid by 2022.
The country, which receives twice as much sunshine as European nations, wants to make solar central to its renewable expansion.
Installed renewable power capacity is currently about 60 GW
· HDFC Bank Becomes 1st Indian Bank to Cross Rs5 trillion Market Capitalisation
India’s most-valued lender HDFC Bank Limitedcrossed Rs5 trillion capitalization action for the first time, making it only the third Indian company to achieve this milestone.
In intraday trade, the stock touched a fresh record high of Rs1,53.75 on the BSE, up 3.31% from its previous close.
Tata Consultancy Services Ltd (TCS) and Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) are the other two companies which crossed market capitalisation of Rs5 trillion.
· NPPA fixes retail price of 30 drug formulations
Drug price regulator National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA)fixed retail price for 30 drug formulations, including those used for the treatment of Diabetics, bacterial infections, and high blood pressure.
NPPA is an independent body under Department of Pharmaceuticals, Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers. It was set up in 1997.
Its mandate is to fix/review.
Essential medicines are those that satisfy the priority health care needs of the country’s population.
· Maharashtra becomes first state to unveil Public Cloud Policy
Maharashtra became the first state in the country to unveil Public Cloud Policy that virtually mandates state government departments to shift their data storage.
The State Government had formed a four-member committee to draft policy framework on cloud usage.
The policy will result in additional private sector investments worth the US $2 billion for cloud industry as the government is one of biggest creators.
· Virat Kohli named as Captain of ICCs Test and ODI Teams of the Year
Virat Kohli was named the captain of the International Cricket Council (ICC) Test and One-Day International (ODI) teams of the year that included four other Indians as well.
Kohli scored 2,023 runs at 77.80, including eight centuries and three half-centuries in 18 matches during the qualification period.
He surprisingly pipped Australian skipper Steve Smith for the ICC’s Test team captaincy.
The Test team also comprises Cheteshwar Pujara and Ravichandran Ashwin.
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.
