The Daily Brief – 26th September 2018

Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu inaugurated two coastal tourism circuit projects in Andhra Pradesh taken up under Swadesh Darshan Scheme. These projects are aimed at boosting beach and coastal tourism by leveraging bountiful coastlines along the state. Two coastal tourism projects are First coastal circuit: It includes beautification of Nellore tank and Pulicat Lake and Second coastal circuit: It is aimed at developing Kakinada port.

Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu inaugurated Indian Culinary Institute (ICI) in Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh. It is promoted by Union Ministry of Tourism. The ICI building was designed by National Building Construction Corporation (NBCC). The main objective of ICI is to institutionalize mechanism to support efforts intended to preserve, document, promote and disseminate Indian Cuisine.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated Sikkim’s first-ever airport at Pakyong. Prior to this airport, Sikkim was only state in India remaining without functional airport. Pakyong airport is India’s 100th functional airport and one of the country’s five highest airports at 4,500 feet above sea level. The airport is spread over 201 acres and was constructed by Airports Authority of India (AAI).

Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has joined SDG Media Compact aimed at advancing awareness of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It is among more than 30 organisations from across the world that have come together to form global media compact. SDG Media Compact is initiative of United Nations, in collaboration with UN Foundation. It seeks to inspire media and entertainment companies around the world to advance SDGs adopted by all world leaders at UN in 2015.

The 21st Central Zonal Council meeting chaired by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh was held in Lucknow, capital of Uttar Pradesh. Total 22 issues were discussed out of which 17 were resolved and on three issue directions were given, rest 2 issues between the states will also be resolved very soon. Zonal Councils were set up under States Reorganization Act, 1956 (thus, they are not constitutional bodies unlike Interstate Council, but are statutory bodies) to foster Inter-State co-operation and co-ordination.

Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, on September 24, 2018 won the Maldives Presidential Election 2018, defeating incumbent President Yameen Abdul Gayoom, who will stay on in the presidency until his term ends on November 17, 2018. Solih will be only the sixth President in the country’s five-decade old electoral history. Solih will be sworn in as President on November 17, 2018 and his term is expected to continue until 2023.

President Ram Nath Kovind on September 25, 2018 conferred the National Sports Awards 2018 at the Rashtrapati Bhawan in New Delhi. Cricket captain Virat Kohli and world champion weightlifter Mirabai Chanu were conferred with Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award 2018, India’s highest sporting honour.

The state of Andhra Pradesh has topped the first-ever ‘Ease of Living Index’ rankings launched by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs. It was followed by Odisha and Madhya Pradesh. The three states were awarded best-performing states at the National Dissemination Workshop on Ease of Living Index, 2018, which was held in Delhi on September 24, 2018. The framework mainly comprises four pillars including Institutional, Social, Economic and Physical, which are further broken down into 78 indicators across 15 categories.