Swachhata Excellence Awards 2019

The Raigarh Municipal Corporation of Chhattisgarh has won the “Swachhata Excellence awards 2019”. The municipal corporations of Ambikapur of Chhattisgarh and Kumbakonam of Tamil Nadu have bagged the second and third prizes respectively. All of these are AMRUT cities.

A total of 40 awards were distributed to the Area Level Federations (ALFs), City Livelihoods Federations (CLFs) and Urban Local Bodies (ULBs). These Awards were given by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) as part of the Shehri Samriddhi Utsav.

• Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation has been awarded the first prize for the Million Plus Cities.
• Nagar Palika Parishad of Jashpur Nagar (Chhattisgarh), Malappuram Municipality (Kerala), and Nagar Palika Parishad Surajpur (Chhattisgarh) claimed the prizes in the “Statutory Towns” category.
• FromAspirational Districts, Chas Municipal Corporation (Bokaro district of Jharkhand) has been awarded a consolation prize.

Swachhata Excellence Awards were instituted by Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs (MoHUA) in 2017, to encourage Area Level Federations (ALFs) of SHGs formed under DAY-NULM, for their initiatives to make their communities Swachh and help their cities achieve the outcomes of Swachha Bharat Mission – Urban (SBM-U).

The City Swachhata Livelihoods Awards for Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) was introduced this year for the ULBs for creating an enabling environment for dignified livelihoods in the sanitation sector.

President Trump Declares National Emergency in USA

The US president Donald Trump on 15th February 2019 had declared a national emergency to fund the US-Mexico border without congressional approval. This step has been described by the Democrats as unconstitutional and they have vowed to challenge it.

Key Facts:

• President Trump had promised to construct a wall along the USA-Mexico border to stop illegal migration if voted to power.
• This requires fencing of 322 km which costs about $ 5.7 billion.
• The proposal was rejected by the US Congress and the country went into a 35-day partial government shutdown.
• However, Congress passed a compromise bill providing President Trump with a mere $1.4 billion for a barrier along 90 kilometres of the border.
• The declaration of the National emergency by President Trump would enable him to divert money from elsewhere from the federal budget, including funds for the U.S. military for the purpose of the construction of the wall along the border.

India Inks Security Protection Agreement with Sweden

India and Sweden signed a security protection agreement that will enable the two countries to share classified information with each other. The agreement was signed during the visit of the Indian Defence Minister  Nirmala Sitharaman to Sweden.

Sweden has similar agreements with over 30 countries around the world, as well as with the EU and NATO. The salient features of the agreement are:

• The agreement will regulate how sensitive information is to be handled, processed and protected.
• The pact will provide a framework for greater cooperation on the high end and cutting edge technology and manufacturing.

Indian has proposed dialogue to enable a greater understanding of the successful model of collaboration between government, industry and academia in building technologically advance ecosystem.

India also thanked Swedish PM Lofven for his support to India’s bid for the permanent seat in the United Nation Security Council (UNSC) and the multilateral export control regime–Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) .

UN Appoints Chandramouli Ramanathan as Controller & ASG

The United Nations has appointed Indian official Chandramouli Ramanathan to one of the topmost positions in the Department of Management Strategy, Policy and Compliance (DMSPC).

Chandramouli Ramanathan will take over as the Controller, Assistant Secretary-General for Programme Planning, Budget and Finance in the management strategy, policy and compliance department from Bettina Tucci Bartsiotas of Uruguay.

• Ramanathan has served as the Assistant Auditor General, India (1993-1995), and Director of Accounts for the Auditor General of India (1989-1993).
• He has also held the post of Deputy Controller, Director of Accounts Division, and Chief of Service, IT Services Division.
• Since September 2018 he was serving as the Acting Controller along with the post of Assistant Secretary-General for Enterprise Resource Planning which he held since 2016.
• He has nearly 40 years of executive international experience in diverse organizational settings in finance and budget, management and information technology.

The Department of Management, Strategy, Policy and Compliance (DMSPC) launched on 1 January 2019 aims to provide strategic policy leadership in all areas of management through a clear, integrated global management strategy and policy framework. The Department will represent the Secretary-General in the relevant intergovernmental/interagency bodies and staff-management mechanisms. Budgetary and financial reporting, as well as human resources policy and strategy, including conduct and discipline, will be consolidated in DMSPC.

Guidelines on Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure

The government has issued a set of guidelines to upgrade the charging infrastructure in the country to boost the electric vehicles. The Union Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry has made amendments to the Model Building Byelaws (MBBL) 2016 and Urban Regional Development Plans Formulation and Implementation (URDPFI) Guidelines 2014, making provisions for establishing EV charging infrastructure.

• A public charging station should be on both sides of the highways or roads on every 25 km.
• For long range and heavy-duty electric vehicles, there should be at least one station on each side of the highway every 100 kilometres.
• The guidelines also advocate for charging points in residential areas.

Hina Jaiswal becomes the First Woman Flight Engineer of IAF

Flight Lieutenant Hina Jaiswal broke the glass ceiling and became the first woman flight engineer of IAF which was till now an exclusive man’s club. The flight engineer branch was opened to women officers in 2018. Flight Lieutenant Hina Jaiswal Commissioned into the IAF’s engineering branch in January 2015. She had created history by becoming the first woman candidate to pursue the elite course. Flight Lieutenant Hina Jaiswal will serve at IAF’s operational helicopter units and serve in demanding and stressful conditions from the icy heights of the Siachen glacier to the seas of the Andamans.

BCCI Acting President Khanna requests CoA, IPL teams to donate to martyrs’ families

BCCI acting president C.K. Khanna on Sunday appealed to the Committee of Administrators (CoA) chief Vinod Rai to sanction at least ₹ 5 crore for the families of the Indian soldiers martyred in the Pulwama terror attack. The acting president also requested the State associations as well as the IPL franchises to make generous contributions to the cause.Mr. Khanna also requested that a two-minute silence be observed in the memory of the martyred soldiers during the opening game of the India vs Australia series as well as the IPL.

Jammu and Kashmir government withdraws security cover of 5 separatist leaders

The Jammu and Kashmir government has informed the Ministry of Home Affairs that it has issued orders to withdraw security cover and any other government facilities provided to five separatists leaders – Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, Abdul Ghani Bhat, Bilal Lone, Hashim Qureshi and Shabir Shah.

The move comes after 40 CRPF personnel were killed by a car suicide bomber in Pulwama on February 14. The attack was claimed by Pakistan-based terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM). Police headquarters will review if there are any other separatists who have government security or facilities and will withdraw these immediately.