CM Fadnavis launches SMART project for sustainable farming

  • Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has launched a project in 10,000 villages with the objective of achieving sustainable farming within the next three years.
  • The ambitious project is titled State of Maharashtra Agribusiness and Rural Transformation (SMART).
  • The World Bank will provide assistance to the SMART project, which is expected to cover a quarter of the state.

CCEA approves strategic sale of Rural Electrification Corporation

  • The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has given its ‘in principle’ approval for the strategic sale of the Government of India’s existing 52.63% of total paid up equity shareholding in Rural Electrification Corporation (REC).
  • The sale will be to the Power Finance Corporation (PFC), and along with the equity, there will be transfer of management control.
  • Both the REC and the PFC are Central Public Sector Enterprises under the Ministry of Power.

FAO Council approves India’s proposal for International Year of Millets

  • Food and Agriculture organisation, FAO Council, has approved India’s proposal to observe the International Year of Millets in 2023.
  • India has also been approved as a member of the Executive Board of the United Nations World Food Program for 2020 and 2021.

Indian Coast Guard conducts ‘Clean Sea 2018’ exercise off Port Blair

  • The Indian Coast Guard has conducted the Regional Level Marine Oil Pollution Response Exercise titled ‘Clean Sea 2018’ at sea off Port Blair.
  • The preparedness of all agencies during the exercise was conducted under observation of Inspector General Maneesh V Pathak, Commander Coast Guard Region (Andaman and Nicobar Islands).

UN launches new framework to combat terrorism

  • UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has launched a new framework called the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Coordination Compact.
  • The aim is to combat international terrorism.
  • The UN Global Counter-Terrorism Coordination Compact Task Force will replace the Counter-Terrorism Implementation Task Force, which was set up in 2005.

Second largest Ebola outbreak in the world in Butembo, Congo

  • The second-largest Ebola outbreak in history has spread to Butembo, a major city in eastern Congo.
  • The city has more than one million residents and is reporting cases of the lethal hemorrhagic fever.
  • This Ebola outbreak is second to the West Africa outbreak that killed more than 11,300 people.
  • The Ebola virus is spread through bodily fluids of those infected, and even the dead can pass on the virus.

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