Current Affairs 31st August 2018

Current Affairs 31st August 2018 - Important Points

• PM Modi arrived in Nepal in - 4th BIMSTEC Summit kicks off
• Union Cabinet approves Earth Sciences Ministry’s umbrella scheme ‘O-SMART’ on - 29th August 2018
• India, ADB sign USD 346 million loan to improve state highways in Karnataka on - 30th August 2018
• Kathmandu Declaration adopted by Member States in - 4th BIMSTEC Summit
• Atal rankings for Higher Education Institutions launched by - HRD Ministry

 Current Affairs 31st August 2018 - Details

PM Modi arrived in Nepal in - 4th BIMSTEC Summit kicks off

The 4th BIMSTEC Summit started on 30th August 2018 in Kathmandu, Nepal. The two-day Summit will be held on 30th August and 31st, 2018 with the main focus on countering terrorism, to boost trade and enhance regional connectivity.

Did you know?
The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation is an international regional organisation of seven nations of South Asia and South East Asia was founded in 1997.

Union Cabinet approves Earth Sciences Ministry’s umbrella scheme ‘O-SMART’ on - 29th August 2018

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs gave its approval for implementation of an umbrella scheme ‘Ocean Services, Technology, Observations, Resources Modelling and Science (O-SMART)’ on 29th August 2018.

The CCEA, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved the scheme to implement during the period between 2017-18 and 2019-20 with an overall cost of Rs 1623 crore. The scheme covers a total of 16 sub-projects, which address ocean development activities such as technology, observations, services, resources and science.

Important Details

• The Ministry of Earth Sciences has proposed to continue the existing schemes towards the ocean sector in a focused way as a part of the umbrella scheme -O-SMART.
• India is aiming towards creating a blue economy for effective and efficient use of the vast ocean resources in a sustainable way, which would be requiring a great deal of information on ocean science, technology development and providing services.
• The Ministry envisages the continuation of coastal research and marine biodiversity activities, which are important in the context of achieving United Nations Sustainable Development Goal-14 to conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development under the (O-SMART) scheme.
• The ocean advisory services and technologies being rendered and developed under the scheme will be playing a significant role in the development activities more than dozen sectors,  working in the marine environment including Indian coastal states, contributing significantly to the GDP.

India, ADB sign USD 346 million loan to improve state highways in Karnataka on - 30th August 2018

India and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) signed a USD 346 million loan agreement to finance improvement of more than 400 kilometres of state highways under the KSHIP-lll Project on 30th August 2018.

The loan agreement was signed by Sameer Kumar Khare, Joint Secretary (Fund Bank and ADB) in the Department of Economic Affairs, Union Ministry of Finance, and Kenichi Yokoyama,
Country Director of ADB's India Resident Mission signed this agreement.

Naveen Raj Singh, Chief Project Officer of KSHIP also signed a separate project agreement on behalf of Karnataka Government.

Kathmandu Declaration adopted by Member States in - 4th BIMSTEC Summit

The 4th BIMSTEC Summit concluded in Kathmandu with the signing and adoption of the Kathmandu Declaration by all the seven members on 31st August 2018. The Summit started on 30th August 2018 in Kathmandu in Nepal. It started with the aim'Towards a Peaceful Prosperous, and Sustainable Bay of Bengal Region'.

The 18-point Kathmandu Declaration is expected to boost the effectiveness of BIMSTEC Secretariat by engaging it in many technical and economic activities in the region. Foreign ministers of BIMSTEC member countries signed a Memorandum of Understanding on the Establishment of BIMSTEC Grid Interconnection during the summit.

Current chair of BIMSTEC, Nepal PM KP Sharma Oli gave a closing speech after handing over the Chairmanship of the next BIMSTEC Summit to President of Sri Lanka Maithripala Sirisena . Thus Sri Lanka will going to conduct the fifth summit of the BIMSTEC.

Atal rankings for Higher Education Institutions launched by - HRD Ministry

The Union Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar launched the Innovation Cell and Atal Ranking of Institutions on Innovation Achievements (ARIIA) in New Delhi on 30th August 2018.

The development is aiming to promote a culture of innovation and research in higher education. While speaking on the occasion, the Minister mentioned that India  lacks innovation, it is a challenge for India to innovate and innovation will be making it prosper. He further mentioned that new thinking must
be encouraged and every college must have an innovation cell.