TELANGANA
- Telangana stays out of liquor biz, booze gets costly
Liquor consumers will have to pay extra to buy their favourite brands with the new excise policy for 2019-21, which was unveiled on Thursday, effecting big changes in the slab and tax payment structure for traders and shop owners. The new policy has retained the private licensee system, putting an end to speculation that Telangana may go the AP way and take over liquor business. The old policy had expired on Sept 30 and was extended for a month by the state till it brought in a new one.
The latest changes in the policy for auction of 2,216 liquor licences, which would be held soon, would help government rake in Rs 132 crore extra income.
Instead of four slabs to bag licences, traders will have six slabs now to negotiate the deal. The licence fee will range from a minimum of Rs 50 lakh to a maximum of Rs 1.10 crore. The earlier slab of Rs 45 lakh had been divided into two slabs — Rs 50 lakh and Rs 55 lakh — and the previous Rs 55 slab into Rs 60 lakh and Rs 65 lakh.
INTERNATIONAL
- Indo Maldives joint Exercise ‘Ekuverin – 19’
The tenth edition of the Joint Military Exercise ‘Ekuverin’ between the Indian Army and the Maldives National Defence Force will be organised from 07 to 20 October 2019 at Aundh Military Station in Pune, Maharashtra.
The Indian Army and the Maldives National Defence Forces have been conducting Exercise Ekuverin meaning ‘Friends’ in the Dhivehi language since 2009.
The 14 days Joint Exercise held alternatively in India and Maldives.
The last exercise was held in 2018 at Northern Area Headquarters, Lh Maafilaafushi of Maldives.
- Indo-Mongolian Joint Exercise Nomadic Elephant 2019
14th edition of Indo-Mongolian joint military training, Exercise Nomadic Elephant-XIV, being conducted over a period of 14 days, will commence from 05 Oct 2019.
The exercise will be conducted from 05 Oct 19 to 18 Oct 19 at Bakloh in Himachal Pradesh.
The Mongolian Army is being represented by officers and troops of the elite 084 Air Borne Special Task Battalion while Indian Army is being represented by a contingent of a battalion of Rajputana Rifles.
The Joint Exercise will enhance defence co-operation and military relations between the two nations.
It is an ideal platform for the armies of both nations to share their experiences & best practices and gain mutually during the joint training.
NATIONAL
● India gets its first Floating Basketball Court
India got its first-ever Floating Basketball Court in the Arabian Sea near Bandra Worli Sealink. It was installed by the National Basketball Association on 2 October.
On 20 December 2018, NBA India had announced that the first-ever NBA game would be organized in the country in October in Mumbai. The NBA India Games 2019 has been prepared to feature the Sacramento Kings and Indiana Pacers, who will play two pre-season games on October 4 and 5 at the Dome, NSCI, SVP Stadium.
- ISRO to celebrate ‘World Space Week’
As a part of World Space Week program, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has joined hands with seven academic institutions across Karnataka to spread information and knowledge about the benefits of space science and technologies to the student community.
The programme will start on October 4 and will continue till October 10.
The one day program consists of various competitions for students, an exhibition of satellite models, posters, videos and talks depicting the past, present, and future of Indian space program.
Over the years, World Space Week has emerged as the largest space event with thousands of programs being organised all over the world.
● MietY launched automated real time performance Smart board
The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) unveiled an Automated Real-Time Performance Smart-board for effective monitoring of the key programmes of the government including Digital India, Aadhaar, Digital Payments, etc. The smart-board is in line with PM’s vision for a New Digital India.
The smart-board was launched by the Minister of electronics and IT, communication and law and justice. The Smart-board was developed by MeitY. He also inaugurated the Digital Charkha, a grand art installation at MeitY.
The performance Smart-board is aimed to be single window access for the Central govt., State govt. or District for specific projects implemented by MeitY.
The smart-board will provide real-time, dynamic analytical project monitoring for critical and high priority Programme of the ministry.