Indian Government and World Bank sign $125 million loan agreement for technology for Public Health

  • The Government of India and the World Bank have signed a $125 million loan agreement for affordable public healthcare.
  • The agreement is for the Innovate in India for Inclusiveness Project (I3) and will support the Indian Government’s Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Program (BIRAC).
  • It will help in the development of the country’s innovative biopharmaceutical and medical devices industry.
  • BIRAC was set up five years ago to support innovative start-ups and collaborations.
  • The agreement for the Project was signed by Sameer Kumar Khare, Joint Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance; Mohd. Aslam, Managing Director, Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC); and Hisham Abdo, Acting Country Director, World Bank India.

India tying up with US and Finland for pollution detection/forecast system

  • The Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) is tying up with the US and Finland to develop new pollution-forecast system.
  • The system will help anticipate particulate matter (PM) levels at least two days in advance.
  • According to Madhavan Rajeevan, secretary at the MoES, they plan to have the system in place by winter.

Indian Government and World Bank sign $210 million loan agreement for Madhya Pradesh rural road development

  • The Government of Madhya Pradesh and the World Bank have signed a $210 million loan agreement for the Madhya Pradesh Rural Connectivity Project.
  • The Project aims to improve the durability, resilience and safety of the gravel surfaced rural roads.
  • The Project will increase the capability of the state to manage its rural roads network.
  • The ambitious project cover 10,510km of rural roads in Madhya Pradesh that fall under the Chief Minister’s Gram Sadak Yojana programme.
  • Of this, 10,000km of existing gravel roads will be upgraded to bituminous surface roads, while 510km of new roads will be built up to the same bituminous surface standard.
  • The Project is expected to reduce the carbon footprint of the transport sector and be more cost-effective, because it will use alternate sealing options for road construction such as asphalt blended with plastic waste.

Nitin Gadkari Inaugurates 29th Road Safety Week in New Delhi

  • Union Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari inaugurated the 29th Road Safety Week at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi on Monday, April 23, 2018.
  • In his address, Gadkari said that India is exploring an agreement with South Korea for introduction of Highways Information System in the country.
  • This system will be similar to the Express Highways Information Corporation of South Korea, and it will have integrated monitoring of a highway at a centralized control room.
  • Gadkari also revealed that the target is to bring down the number of road fatalities to half of the around 1.5 lakh accidental deaths when he took over.
  • The Ministry organizes the Road Safety Week every year to create awareness among general public and improve upon the safety of road users.
  • This year’s focus is on schools and commercial drivers.

EU, UN host international conference on financial aid for Syria

  • The EU and the UN are co-chairing a two-day international conference that aims to deliver financial aid for Syrians.
  • The conference is the second of its kind. The first was held in 2017.
  • In the 2017 conference, donours pledged 5.6 billion Euros in aid for 2017 and 3.47 billion Euros for 2018-2020.

India Wins 8th South Asian Judo Championship

  • India has clinched the title of Team Champion in the 8th series of South Asian Judo Championship held in Kathmandu, Nepal.
  • In the men’s team category, India defeated arch-rivals Pakistan 3-2 in the finals. In the women’s team category, India blew hosts Nepal out of the water 5-0.
  • In the tournament, India secured a total of 12 Gold medals and 3 Bronze medals.
  • India was crowned champion, with Nepal coming in second and Pakistan taking third spot.
  •   The next event will be held in Bangladesh in 2020.

Dadasaheb Phalke Excellence Awards 2018

  • The Dadasaheb Phalke Excellence Awards 2018 are out, and Shahid Kapoor, Ranveer Singh, Aditi Rao Hydari, Raj Kumar Rao and Kriti Sanon make waves.
  • Shahid Kapoor bags award for Best actor (male), while Ranveer Singh takes the people’s choice award for Best actor.
  • Aditi Rao Hydari wins the award for Best actress (critics), while Simi Garewal was conferred with the Lifetime achievement award.
  • Raj Kumar Rao and Rana Daggubati win for Outstanding performance (male), and Tamannahh Bhatia and Kriti Sanon pick up the award for Outstanding performance (female).
  • Also, Karan Johar wins the Best talk show host award, and Sanjay Dutt picks up the Pride of Indian cinema award.

Malvi’s adder’s-tongue fern is world’s smallest land fern, found in India’s Western Ghats

  • The world’s smallest land fern, called the Malvi’s adder’s-tongue fern, was discovered in the Ahwa forests of the Western Ghats of India, in Gujarat’s Dang district.
  • The new species is the size of a fingernail and belongs to the group of adder’s-tongue ferns named because they resemble a snake’s tongue.
  • The Malvi’s adder’s-tongue fern is just 1 centimetre tall, when other members of the adder’s-tongue fern group are about 10cm tall.
  • What is unique about this fern is that its spores have a thick outer layer, which similar species lack.

Giant mosquito with 11.15cm wingspan found in China

  • A gigantic mosquito with a wingspan of 11.15 centimetres has been found in China’s Sichuan province.
  • It was discovered in August last year during a field trip to Mount Qingcheng in Chengdu, the capital of south-west China’s Sichuan province.
  • The large mosquito belongs to the Holorusia mikado species, and the species was first found in Japan but it normally has a wingspan of about 8cm.