CHHATTISGARH

Mahanadi Water Disputes Tribunal has issued notice under Rule 4 of the Inter-State River Water Disputes Rules, 1959 to the State Governments of Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra to nominate their representatives for adjudication of Mahanadi River Water Disputes latest by August 6, 2018.

The notice also mentioned that if no nominations were received by the due date, the case may be decided in the absence of any representation of State Government.

Earlier on the request of Government of Odisha made under Section 3 of Inter-State River Water Disputes (ISRWD) Act, 1956, the Central Government constituted Mahanadi Water Dispute Tribunal on March 12, 2018. The Central Government made reference for taking up adjudication to the Tribunal under Section 4 of the ISRWD Act, 1956 on April 17, 2018.The Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation has issued a notification on constituting the Mahanadi Water Disputes Tribunal in the month of March this year, the Central Government has informed.

The Tribunal has been constituted following orders of the Supreme Court dated January 23, 2018 in a suit filed by the Government of Odisha.

The Government of Odisha had sought to refer the water dispute regarding the inter-state river Mahanadi and its river valley to a Tribunal for adjudication under the Inter-State River Water Disputes Act, 1956.

Notably, the Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi on February 20 this year had approved the proposal for adjudication of dispute on Mahanadi River waters.

The Tribunal would determine water sharing among basin States on the basis of the overall availability of water in the complete Mahanadi basin, contribution of each State, the present utilization of water resources in each State and the potential for future development, the Central Government had informed.

It is expected that with adjudication of dispute by the Tribunal, the long-pending dispute between States of Odisha and Chhattisgarh on Mahanadi river will come to a final settlement, it informed.

INTERNATIONAL

· World No Tobacco Day is celebrated on 31 May

Every year, on 31 May, World Health Organization and partners mark World No Tobacco Day (WNTD).
The theme of World No Tobacco Day 2018 is “Tobacco and heart disease.”
The day highlights the health and other risks associated with tobacco use, and advocating for effective policies to reduce tobacco consumption.

India has taken the lead in seeking to revive WTO discussions on issues related to preventing theft of traditional knowledge.

Government of India, along with the Centre for WTO Studies, Indian Institute of Foreign Trade and the South Centre (an inter-governmental organisation based in Geneva), are organising an International Conference on TRIPS- CBD Linkage in Geneva on 7-8 June 2018.

Brazil and South Africa are some of the other countries that have joined hands with India on this crucial initiative.

Ministry of Railways conducted a one day workshop “Mission Raftaar” aimed at raising the average speed of freight trains and coaching trains in New Delhi.

The workshop was inaugurated by Shri Rajen Gohain, Minister of State for Railways & Shri Ashwani Lohani, Chairman,Railway Board.

All the members of Railway Board along with General Managers of Zonal Railways & Senior Railway officers were present on the occasion.

· Microsoft is third most Valuable Firm Globally

Software giant Microsoft surpassed Google’s parent company Alphabet in market capitalization for the first time in three years.
Microsoft becomes the third most valuable firm globally after Apple and Amazon.
Microsoft had a market cap of $753 billion at the close of trading, almost $14 billion ahead of Alphabet.
While Apple leads with a market cap of nearly $924 billion, Amazon is at a distant second, with nearly $783 billion.

The Government of India and the World Bank signed a $500 million loan agreement to provide additional financing for the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) Rural Roads Project, implemented by Ministry of Rural Development, Govt. of India, which will build 7,000 km of climate resilient roads, out of which 3,500 km will be constructed using green technologies.
The World Bank has supported PMGSY since its inception in 2004.
The World Bank has built and improved about 35,000 km of rural roads and benefited about eight million people with access to all-weather roads.
The $500 million loan, from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), has a 3-year grace period, and a maturity of 10 years.

NATIONAL

Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched three Indian digital payment systems – RuPay, BHIM app and UPI by SBI at the ‘Business, Innovation and Community Event’ in Singapore.
With the launch, India’s RuPay digital payments system was linked up with Singapore’s 33-year old Network for Electronic Transfers (NETS).
The move will enable RuPay users to make payments at all of NETS acceptance points across Singapore.
Whereas, holders of Singapore NETS will be able to make an online purchase on any National Payment Corporation of India (NPCI)e-commerce merchant website in India, using 2.8 million RuPay point of sale terminals in India.

India released10 Crore rupeesto Nepal towards the cost of two road packages of Birgunj-Thori Road being implemented under Postal Highway Projects in Nepal with Government of India’s grant assistance.
The amount has been released towards 25% of the tendered cost (including 10% mobilization advance) of the Postal Highway Projects.
The Government of India has so far released a total of 117.63 Crore rupees to the Government of Nepal for implementing 14 packages of the Postal Highway Projects.
The construction of Dhangadhi-Bhajaniya-Satti road and Lamki-Tikapur-Khakraula road has been completed.

Indian Oil Corporationemerged as India’s most profitable state-owned company for the second consecutive year.
Indian Oil posted a record profit of Rs21,346 crore in 2017-18, followed by ONGC, whose profit stood at Rs19,945 crore.
Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries is the most profitable company for the third straight year, posting highest ever profit of Rs36,075 crore.

Yoga guru Baba Ramdev’s Patanjali launched a new swadeshi messaging application called‘Kimbho‘ to compete with WhatsApp.
Kimbho caters to private and group chats with free phone and video calling.
The tagline of Kimbho is“Ab Bharat Bolega”.
Patanjali has recently tied up with Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) to enter the telecom sector by launching Swadeshi Samriddhi SIM cards.