JHARKHAND

·         Re 1 stamp duty scheme misused, Jharkhand loses Rs 1.07 cr

ð  The Jharkhand government has suffered a loss of Rs 1.07 crore due to widespread misuse of a scheme that allows registration of property worth Rs 50 lakh by women at only Re 1 stamp duty.

ð  Launched by the state’s Raghubar Das government in June 2017, the scheme made registration of immovable property worth Rs 50 lakh in the name of women free of stamp duty save for a token amount of Re 1. For property above Rs 50 lakh, women had to pay Rs 50 lakh as registry charges.

ð  The stamp fee was waived only if the property was registered in the name of women.

ð  The scheme, which aimed to empower the women in the state, has also been misused. Till now 238 cases have come to our notice where women have benefitted from the scheme more than once. The state government has suffered a loss of Rs 1.07 crore.

 

 

INTERNATIONAL

·         Saudi Arabia allows women to travel abroad without permission from male guardian

• Indian Coast Guard and the Sri Lanka Coast Guardunder the provisions of the MoU signed between the two sides for the establishment of a collaborative relationship to combat transnational illegal activities at sea and develop regional cooperation.A four-member delegation of the Sri Lanka Coast Guard led by its DG Rear Admiral Samantha Wimalathunge Director General (DG).Both sides agreed to strengthen the cooperation in addressing a spectrum of maritime issues concerning safety and security.

 

• Sri Lanka involved in drug trafficking based on the information exchange undertaken by Indian Coast Guard invoking the MoU recognised as an important enabler for pursuing further collaborative response to emerging situations at sea.
  Sri Lanka Coast Guard by Indian Coast Guard, training of Sri Lanka Coast Guard personnel and mutual cooperation in the multilateral forums discussed and agreed by both sides.

 

·         US test fired a new ground based cruise missile

• The United Statestested a new ground-based cruise missile that is capable covering 500 kilometers in the range at San Nicolas Island, California, the US. This range of missiles was banned in the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty signed between the US and Russia. This is the first missile test done by the US after withdrawing from the INF treaty.
• Also, the US has said that the Country will fully pursue the development of ground-launched conventional missiles of such kind as a prudent response to Russia’s actions and as part of the joint force’s broader portfolio of conventional strike options.
• The United States exitedthe INF treaty on 2 August 2019. The country earlier announced its decision to withdraw from INF treaty in 2018 as it said that the treaty no longer benefited American interests. 

 

 

NATIONAL

• Google signs MoU to promote Hindi and Telugu content with  Navlekha tool

 

• Google has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Telangana government to get more local language content online by using the technology giant’s digital publishing tool, Navlekha.

 

• According to Google, Navlekha will help digitise the government’s content in Telugu to make it easier for people to get access to all the information and services on government sites in their local language.

 

• Navlekha, launched in 2018 at the fourth edition of ‘Google for India’ event, is currently open for Hindi and Telugu offline publishers. It helps registered Indian language publishers create an online presence by rendering any PDF with Indian language content into editable text. This would overcome issues that usually occur when one tries to copy text in Indian languages from a PDF.

·         Power Minister Shri RK Singh launches SARAL State Rooftop Solar Attractiveness Index

• Shri RK Singh, Union Minister of State for Power and New & Renewable Energy (IC)and Skill Development & Entrepreneurship,launched the State Rooftop Solar Attractiveness Index–SARAL. The State of Karnataka placed at the first rank in the Index. The Indian states based on their attractiveness for rooftop development. Telangana, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh have got 2nd, 3rd, and 4th rank respectively.
  Shri RK Singh would incentivise rooftop solar by creating healthy competition among the States.
• The states to channelize investments eventually help the sector grow.

 

• The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE)set a target of 175 GW of renewable energy capacity by 2022, of which 100 GW solar power is to be operational by March 2022. It has 40 GW is expected to come from grid connected solar rooftops. The Indian Grid Connected Rooftop PV (GRPV) segment is slowly gaining momentum with substantial interest from entrepreneurs, developers, financial institutions, development banks, end users and government entities.
  The MNRE has developed the State Rooftop Solar Attractiveness Index–SARAL that evaluates Indian states based on their attractiveness for rooftop development.

 

• SARAL is the first of its kind index to provide a comprehensive overview of state-level measures adopted to facilitate rooftop solar deployment.

 

·         DRDO delivered the new Mobile Metallic Ramp to Army

• Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) delivered the design of the newly innovated Mobile Metallic Ramp (MMR) to the Indian Army at a ceremony held at DRDO Bhawan, New Delhi. The design of MMR was handed over by Secretary Department of Defence R&D and Chairman DRDO, Dr. G Satheesh Reddyto Vice Chief of Army Staff (VCOAS), Lt Gen Devraj Anbu.

 

• The MMR will reduce the Strategic Mobility time of mobilizing Armoured Fighting Vehicles. The requirement was projected by the Indian Army. The new MMR will provide the strategic mobility for Armoured and Mechanized units and formations of the Army. It will drastically reduce the time required for operational mobilization.