Union Government announces project to strengthen Namami Gange programme

  • The 11th Executive Committee meeting of National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) has approved the project which will make use of GIS technology.
  • The project to strengthen the Namami Gange programme will have a total budget of Rs. 86.84 crore.
  • For Ganga rejuvenation, the National Mission for Clean Ganga has tied-up with the Survey of India.
  • GIS stands for Geographic Information System technology.
  • The project includes use of Digital Elevation Model (DEM) technology which ensures accurate data collection.

RBI to buy Rs10,000 crore of government bonds

  • The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced that it would buy Rs. 10,000 crore of government bonds via open market operation (OMO).
  • The RBI made this announcement after failing to sell all the debt it had offered to bidders earlier.
  • After the RBI made this announcement, there was a spike in bond yields.

India, Sri Lanka agree on information exchange for drug control

  • India and Sri Lanka announced that the two nations will cooperate to tackle smuggling of drugs in both countries.
  • This decision was taken at the third bilateral meeting between delegations from the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) of India, and the Police Narcotics Bureau (PNB) of Sri Lanka.
  • The meeting focused on narcotics, drugs and psychotropic substances and related matters.

2018 Nobel Prize in Literature cancelled

  • The Swedish Academy has decided not to give out the Nobel Prize in Literature this year.
  • This is because of the sexual and financial scandal at the Swedish Academy.
  • For the first time since 1949 the jury will not award the Literature Nobel.

Indian wins 50 medals at South Asian Junior Athletics Championships

  • India retained it top spot at the South Asian Junior Athletics Championships, winning 50 medals in the championships.
  • At the meet, Indian junior athletes bagged 20 gold, 22 silver and 8 bronze medals.
  • The 2018 South Asian Junior Athletics Championships were held in Colombo in Sri Lanka.
  • The hosts (Sri Lanka) took second spot with 12 gold, 10 silver and 19 bronze.
  • Indian athletes created new records in the men’s long jump, triple jump, women’s triple jump, 100m hurdles, javelin throw and 1500m events.

Skill India organises Ajeevika and Kaushal Vikas Mela in Bhubaneswar

  • The Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) and the Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD), joined hands to amplify the “Gram Swaraj Abhiyaan” of the government.
  • The Kaushal and Rojgar Mela was organised at New Women’s College in Khordha, Bhubaneswar.
  • More than 29 state-of-the-art multi-skill ‘Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Kendras’ were also launched digitally across the country.
  • The mela helped participants understand various opportunities available in the skill development ecosystem.