RAJASTHAN

• State sets up body for ensuring CSR activities

• The state government has set up an exclusive agency, Rajasthan Corporate Social Responsibility Authority (RCSRA), to ensure effective implementation of the corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities in the state by offering better coordination with industrial groups, giving them guidance and monitoring the proper utilisation of CSR funds.

• Rajasthan is one of the few states in the country to have such an authority.

• Gujarat also have a CSRA authority. It was constituted in June 2015.

• Under the authority, a 19-member advisory board headed by the chief minister; an 18-member CSR authority headed by the Chief Secretary; and a 6-member executive committee headed by the commissioner Industries will be constituted.

• The authority will work in coordination with various industrial groups in the state and guide them as per the provisions and activities of the Corporate Social Responsibility under the Indian Companies Act, as well as conduct CSR activities in mutual coordination. On the basis of the priority of the state, basic facilities will be developed and augmented by the amount available in the CSR fund at the authority level in the state.

• The authority will coordinate with district collectors and various departments and prepare an action plan after assessing the requirements; publicise success stories, programmes and projects; prepare database of companies; and organise workshops and seminars.

INTERNATIONAL

·       Scientists declared a climate emergency

• Scientists have declared aclimate emergencyacross the world. 11,258 signatories from more than 153 countries, including 69 from India, presented the trends in climate change. They also provided a set of effective mitigating actions.

• The declaration was based on the scientific analysis of more than 40 years of publicly available data. The data covered a broad range of measures, including surface temperature, energy use, deforestation, population growth, polar ice mass, land clearing, fertility rates, gross domestic product, and carbon emissions.

·       India and Russia to set up cyber security

• India and Russia are to set up cybersecurity cooperation in the backdrop of cyber-attack on the Kudankulamnuclear power plant. The plant was built by a global nuclear major, Rosatom.

• Earlier in the year 2019, a part of a network at the Kudankulam in Tamil Nadu was breached during a hacking attack. The authorities believed that it is to have originated on foreign soil. The plant is India’s largest civil nuclear facility. The attack compromised the facility’s administrative network, but it did not compromise critical systems linked to the functioning of the plant.

·       India, Russia, China to explore an alternative to SWIFT

• India, Russia, and China have partnered to explore an alternative to the US-dominatedSociety for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) payment mechanism. The move aims to smoothen trade with countries that face American sanctions.

• The countries have decided to link Russia’s Financial messaging system of the Bank of Russia (SPFS) with the Chinese cross-border interbank payment system Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply (CIPS).

NATIONAL

• Italian movie ‘Despite the Fog’ to open at 50th IFFI this year
• Italian movie ‘Despite the Fog’ will be the opening at the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) this year.

• The film is directed by Europe’s noted filmmaker Goran Paskaljevic.

• The 50th edition of IFFI, beginning 20th of this month in GOA, will witness the screening of over 200 best films from 76 countries.

• Indian Coast Guard conducted ReSAREX-2019

• The Indian Coast Guard conducted the Regional level Search and Rescue Workshop and Exercise – 2019 (ReSAREX – 2019).

• It conducted this exercise to check the preparedness and response measures for search and rescue at sea in a coordinated manner.

• The two days event organised by the Coast Guard District Headquarters – 11 (Goa) comprised of search and rescue workshop and tabletop exercise followed by search and rescue exercise at sea.

• The ReSAREX – 19 tested the efficiency of operations of various SAR agencies in Goa.

·       Prakash Javadekar attended SACEP Meeting at Dhaka

• Union Minister for Environment, Forest and climate change Shri Prakash Javadekarparticipated in the15th governing council meeting (GCM) of the South Asia Co-operative Environment Programme (SACEP) at Dhaka,  

• Issues of plastic waste management, biodiversity, and other issues related to the environment were discussed among south Asian Member countries.

• The South Asia Co-operative Environment Programme (SACEP) was established in 1982by the South Asian governments.The programme aims to promote and support the protection, management, and enhancement of the environment in the South Asian region. The member nations of SACEP are Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Bhutan, Pakistan, Nepal.

·       2011-12 to 2015-16: Gujarat had fastest SDP per capita growth

ð A new report has revealed that among Indian states Gujarat recorded the highest growth of 61.76% in per capita state domestic product, between 2011-12 and 2015-16.

ð The report ‘National Health Profile 2019’ by the Central Bureau of Health Intelligence of the Union ministry of health and family welfare mentioned that Gujarat’s per capita state domestic product (SDP) grew from Rs 87,481 to Rs 1,41,504 between 2011-12 and 2015-16.

ð In absolute terms, Goa was at the top position with per capita SDP of Rs 3.27 lakh among states whereas Delhi was number one among Union territories with Rs 2.73 lakh.

ð Among major states, Gujarat ranked behind Haryana, Karnataka, Kerala and Maharashtra in terms of absolute SDP for the year 2015-16.