All cities and towns in Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Chattisgarh, Jharkhand and Haryana became ‘Open Defecation Free’ as the Swacch Bharat Mission (SBM) completed three years.
Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh had already declared all cities and towns ODF.
Chandigarh is the only UT to have become ODF under Swachh Bharat Abhiyan (Urban).
ODF Rural
Rural Gujarat has been declared as ODF, marking the completion of three years of Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin).
The state joined the league of Sikkim, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Uttarakhand and Haryana, which were the first 5 states to be declared ODF rural states.
SBM (Gramin) is implemented by Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation and SBM (Urban) is implemented by Ministry of Urban development.
National Waterway – 4
National waterway – 4 connects the state of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu and the Union Territory of Puducherry.
It runs along Krishna, Godavari Rivers and Commanur, Buckingham Canals along the Coromandal Coast.
It is proposed to be developed in three phases.
Phase-I: Muktyala to Vijayawada (Krishna River)
Phase-II: Vijayawada to Kakinada (Eluru canal & Kakinada canal) and Rajahmundry to Polavaram stretch of Godavari
Phase-III: Commamur Canal, Buckingham canal and balance stretches of Krishna & Godavari Rivers.
Work on the first phase from Muktiyala to Vijayawadastretch has already commenced and the foundation stone will be laid today.
Commission to Examine Sub Categorization of OBC
The President has appointed a Commission to examine the sub-categorisation of Other Backward Classes.
The commission is formed in exercise of the powers conferred to the President under the Article 340 of the Constitution.
The five-member panel will be headed by retired Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court G. Rohini.
Sub-categorisation of OBC is done to ensure that the more backward among the communities can access the benefits of reservation.
The terms of reference of the commission are
Examine the extent of inequitable distribution of benefits of reservation among the castes or communities included in the broad category of OBC.
To work out the mechanism for sub- categorisation of OBC with reference to such classes included in the Central list.
Article 340 - Appointment of a Commission to investigate the conditions of backward classes.
Friends of Fish
It is an informal group of members in WTO which includes Argentina, Australia, Chile, Colombia, New Zealand, Norway, Iceland, Pakistan, Peru and the US.
The group is formed following the discussions on curbing fisheries subsidies in the WTO.
The group has pointed out that subsidies to the fisheries sector have led to over-capacity and over fishing.
However some countries including Japan, South Korea and China has expressed scepticism over the link between subsidies and over fishing.
Many developing countries such as India and the Philippines have been seeking flexibility in granting subsidies to their fisheries sectors.
Chinese ink for Cancer therapy
Photothermal Therapy (PTT) is an emerging non-invasive treatment option for cancer.
It involves injection of nano-materials and accumulates it in cancer cells.
A laser heats up the nano-materials and kills the cells.
Many of the nano-materials are expensive and difficult to make.
However, a traditional Chinese ink called Hu-Kaiwen has similar properties to the nanomaterials used in Photothermal Therapy.
The Chinese ink is also capable of absorbing near infrared light, which will be useful in locating tumours.
Crude Oil Shipment from US
India got its first shipment of crude oil from US in 42 years.
India Oil Corporation (IOC) became the first PSU refiner from India to source US crude oil.
It will process the crude at its east-coast base refineries located at Paradip, Haldia, Barauni and Bongaigaon.
