CHHATTISGARH

The proposal for a total of 1028 mobile tower locations have been approved by the Central Government for Chhattisgarh in 16 Left Wing Extremist (LWE) infested districts, the Central government has informed.

The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved the “Universal Service Obligation Fund [USOF]” supported scheme to provide mobile services at 4072 tower locations identified by MHA in inhabited uncovered areas affected by Left Wing Extremism [LWE] of 96 districts in 10 States including Chhattisgarh for Phase-ll project. The total project cost would be Rs.7,330 Crore.

This network would be used by the security personnel deployed in LWE affected areas. Project will also provide the mobile services to help the residents in unconnected inhabited villages which would improve the economic activities in the region. It will give impetus to the e-Governance activities in the backward and LWE affected area with the availability of digital mobile connectivity.

The LWE phase-l project for providing the mobile services using 2G technology in LWE Areas with a total sanctioned cost of Rs, 4080.78 crore is on completion.

A total of 2335 sites are radiating out of total 2355 as on date. MHA in consultation with the concerned states has identified 4072 tower locations for the communication need of the security personnel deployed in 96 districts of 10 states and provided to DoT on October 27, 2017.

Technology proposed in the Phase-ll project has been upgraded according to the requirement of Stakeholders. Now 2G and 4G technology is being deployed in this project for providing the mobile connectivity, the Government informed.

INTERNATIONAL

India ranks 145th among 195 countries in terms of quality and accessibility of healthcare in 2016, behind its neighbours like China, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Bhutan, according to a Lancet study.

In 2016, India’s healthcare access and quality scored at 41.2 (up from 24.7 in 1990).

It said that Goa and Kerala had the highest scores in 2016, each exceeding 60 points, whereas Assam and Uttar Pradesh had the lowest, each below 40.

The five countries with the highest levels of healthcare access and quality in 2016 were Iceland (97.1 points), Norway (96.6), the Netherlands (96.1), Luxembourg (96.0), and Finland and Australia (each with 95.9).

In association with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Directorate of Film Festival is organizing the ASEAN India Film Festival in Delhi from 25th to 30th May 2018, celebrating completion of 25 years of ASEAN India Relations.

Minister of State (I/C) for Information & Broadcasting and Sports & Youth Affairs, Col Rajyavardhan Rathore will inaugurate the Film Festival in Siri Fort Auditorium on 25th May 2018.

The Film Festival will be non-competitive. The tagline of the Festival is proposed to be ‘Friendship through Films’.

NATIONAL

Cabinet nod to ordinance to set up country’s first sports university in Manipur

The Union Cabinet approved an ordinance to set up the country’s first national sports university in Manipur.

Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said a bill to set up the university in Imphal (west) is already pending in Parliament.

The proposal to set up the national sports university in Manipur was initially announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while Rs 100 crore funds for it were allocated in the 2014-15 budget.

Janata Dal (Secular)’s H D Kumaraswamy took oath in Bengaluru’s Vidhan Soudha as the 24th Chief Minister of Karnataka.

· Samajwadi Party richest among regional parties with ₹321.03 crore income

The total declared income of 32 regional political parties in 2016-17 was ₹321.03 crore and their cumulative expenditure stood at ₹435.48 crore, according to an Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) report.
The Samajwadi Party reported the highest of ₹82.76 crore during the period, about 26% of the total income of regional parties. The Telugu Desam Party had an income of ₹72.92 crore and the AIADMK ₹48.88 crore.
The ADR said the most common and popular source of income for regional parties in 2015-16 and 2016-17 were grant, donations, contributions, gross receipts and interest income.

· EC to launch app to help voters share malpractice proof

The Election Commission will launch a multi-lingual mobile application empowering people across the country to share evidence of malpractice by political parties, their candidates and activists ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, directly with the electoral body.

The application, part of the steps taken by the Commission to prevent abuse of money and muscle power, allows for sharing of photos and short audio and video clips from the spot itself.

The growing abuse of social media bots for influencing public opinion has emerged as another major challenge for the Election Commission and plans are on to devise a counter mechanism.