CHHATTISGARH

Chhattisgarh is ranked ninth in the country in its performance on Water Resource Management with a Composite Water Index Score of 49 with the reference year as 2016-17, a NITI Aayog report on water management in States has revealed.

Gujarat is the highest performer, closely followed by other high performers such as Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh. Most other States are clustered around the 40-60 band. Seven states have scores between 50- 65 (including two North-Eastern and Himalayan states) and have been classified as medium performers. However, 60 per cent of states (14 out of 24) have achieved scores below 50 and have been classified as low performers.

The action taken by these states, and their subsequent good performance on the Index, are likely driven by necessity in the face of looming water shortages. This correlation shows, positively, that corrective action is starting in at least some of the areas that need it the most. More worryingly, the low performers on the Water Index are home to 50% of the country’s population, thereby highlighting the significant water risk faced by the country.

The low performers are, worryingly, comprised of the populous northern states of UP, Bihar, Rajasthan, Haryana, and others, and are home to over 600 million people, it observed.

The poor performance of these states on the Index highlights a significant water management risk for the country going forward. Further, these states also account for 20-30% of India’s agricultural output. Given the combination of rapidly declining groundwater levels and limited policy action this is also likely to be a significant food security risk for the country going forward, it observed.

It is critical to move agricultural water use towards a more efficient and sustainable path. Currently, the populous northern states, which account for 20-30% of India’s agricultural output, face high to extreme water stress, posing a significant food security and livelihood risk for the country. The government can mitigate this risk and improve the country’s water-efficiency in agriculture by accelerating the proposed DBT scheme for micro-irrigation subsidies

Several states did not have data on the number of water bodies restored and its corresponding data on the increase in area irrigated by the restored units. States such as Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, provided a list of projects (scheme wise) under which water bodies were planned to be restored. However, most states shared the total area that was targetted and the achievement of improved irrigation potential.

INTERNATIONAL

Putting aspotlight on the latest European cinema, the European Union Film Festival (EUFF) will premiere in New Delhi on 18^th June, 2018 at the Siri Fort Auditorium.

With a selection of 24 latest European films from 23 EU Member States, this years’ film festival brings some unusual stories for the world cinema enthusiasts.

The European Union Film Festival is organized by Directorate of Film Festivals, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India partnering with the Delegation of the European Union and embassies of EU Member States in various city film clubs.

The festival will traverse through 11 cities in India including New Delhi, Chennai, Port Blair, Pune, Puducherry, Kolkata, Jaipur, Visakhapatnam, Thrissur, Hyderabad and Goa from 18^thJune till 31^st

· McDonalds to ban plastic straws in all of its restaurants in UK and Ireland

As both the UK government and the EU are considering restrictions on single-use plastic products, McDonald’s plans to ban plasticstraws at all of its UK and Ireland restaurants by next year.
The company had found two suppliers to meet its needs for paper straws, the start-up Transcend Packaging based in Wales, and Huhtamaki, a global company which will produce the straws at its plant in Belfast. They will use paper coming from certified sustainable sources.
Other companies making the move away from plastic versions include Burger King, JD Wetherspoon, Costa Coffee, Pizza Express and Wagamama.

The World Cup is to return to North America for a fourth time after FIFA members voted to award the right to host the 2026 tournament to a joint bid from the United States, Canada and Mexico.

The North American bid beat competition from Morocco, which was hoping to become just the second African country to host soccer’s biggest international tournament.

The “United” bid received 134 of the 203 votes cast at the FIFA Congress in Moscow, while Morocco polled 65.

· India and Nepal To Have Four New Air Gateways

India has agreed to open four new air entry points to Nepal in the eastern and western parts of the country.
This aims at facilitating movement of international traffic.
The four routes that India agreed to make two-way are
1) Kathmandu-Biratnagar-Dhaka,

2) Kathmandu-Janakpur-Kolkata

3) Kathmandu-Janakpur-Patna in the eastern part of Nepal and

4) Kathmandu-Mahendranagar-Delhi (L626) in the west.

NATIONAL

Indias exports hit 6 month high of 28.86 billion dollar in May. Costlier crude also caused imports to grow 15% in the month, leaving a four month high trade deficit of $14.62 billion, or about Rs 99,975 crore.
Major commodity groups of export showing positive growth over the corresponding month of last year included petroleum products (104.47%), organic and inorganic chemicals (34.21%), drugs and pharmaceuticals (25.67%), cotton yarn (24.7%), and engineering goods (14.77%).

States have collected taxes worth ₹10,000 crore online since the rollout of Transport Mission Mode Project (MMP) under the Centre’s e-Governance initiative.
Over 19 crore vehicles and 10 crore driving license records have come under the National Register.
Two flagship applications under Transport MMP — “Vahan” and “Sarathi”are implemented.
Vahan — deal with vehicle registration, taxation, permit, fitness and associated services;
while Sarathi is related to driving licence, learner licence, driving schools and related activities.
Over 50 lakh national permits have been issued online.

The government will bring single solar bid of 1 lakh MW, which would also include storage and solar equipment manufacturing components.
The biggest (renewable energy) tender was floated in Spain.
Indian Government also brought out single tender of 10,000 MW which would be opened in July.