It recognizes exemplary individuals and organisations whose actions created positive impact on environment.
It recognizes laureates in the following categories,
Lifetime Achievement
Policy Leadership
Action and Inspiration
Entrepreneurial Vision
Science and Innovation
In its 2018 edition, Indian Prime Minister and France President has been awarded under Policy Leadership category for their International Solar Alliance (ISA) initiative.
Indian PM Modi has also been awarded for his pledge to eliminate single use plastic in India by 2022.
Cochin International Airport has also been honored with the award for Entrepreneurial Vision, for its leadership in the use of sustainable energy.
The awards will be presented during the Champions of the Earth Gala in New York City, on the sidelines of the 73rd UN General Assembly.
Goods and Services Tax Network (GSTN)
GSTN provides the technological support to the GST.
It handles massive amounts of data and deals with crucial data sets such as indirect tax returns and refunds.
Union Cabinet has recently approved increasing the government stake in GSTN to 100 per cent.
At present, The government holds a 49% stake, with Centre and states share of 24.5% each.
The balance 51% is held by five non-government institutions.
Thus, the government will acquire the entire 51 per cent equity held by the non-government institutions.
The stake will be acquired equally by the Central and state governments.
The Cabinet also decided to allow change in the existing composition of the GSTN board.
It will have a total of 11 directors including a Chairman and a Chief Executive (CEO).
While 3 directors each will be nominated by the Central and state governments, 3 other independent directors would be nominated by the board of directors.
Astra Missile
Astra is the indigenously developed Beyond Visual Range Air-to-Air Missile (BVRAAM).
It was successfully test fired from Su-30 aircraft.
Astra is the best in class weapon system.
It comprises a launcher and a missile and it is designed as a BVR missile with a long range of 110 km and short range of 20 km.
Opportunity Rover
NASA's mars orbiter has recently spotted Opportunity Rover on the red planet for the first time since it went into hibernation after a dust storm.
A high-resolution camera aboard NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter captured the image of the rover in Perseverance Valley in Mars.
Opportunity Rover was launched by NASA in 2003 to land in red planet Mars.
It was originally planned for 90-day mission. But it has far outlasted its planned mission by 55 times longer than originally planned.
It is a mobile application launched by the Finance Ministry as a part of Financial Inclusion.
It is jointly developed by National Informatics Centre and Ministry of Finance.
The app provide a citizen centric platform for locating financial service touch points across all providers such as banks, post office, CSC, etc at a given location in the country.
Police Forces Rules
Ministry of Home affairs has recently notified new rules amalgamating police forces in six Union Territories.
The rules effectively mean that officers who are not direct IPS recruits could be posted in any of the six UTs and will be at the disposal of the Ministry.
It would include personnel currently employed in the Delhi Police, A&N Islands Police, Lakshadweep Police, Daman & Diu Police, Dadra and Nagar Haveli Police and Chandigarh Police.
The Rules will come into effect upon the promotion or direct recruitment of Inspectors to the post of ACP.
It is being viewed as the first step towards the creation of a central police cadre allowing for the posting of police personnel across the country irrespective of the force they are initially inducted into.
