The Daily Brief – 10th July 2018

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1. The 17th World Sanskrit Conference was inaugurated by Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar at Vancouver, Canada on 9th July, 2018. The purpose of this 5-day (9-13 July, 2018) conference was to promote, preserve and practice Sanskrit language all over world by the people. The World Sanskrit Conference is being held in various countries across the globe once in every three years and so far it has been held thrice in India.

   

2. India’s leading gymnasts Dipa Karmakar created history by becoming first Indian gymnast to win gold medal in the vault event of FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Challenge Cup at Mersin, Turkey. This is her first medal in World Challenge Cup. In August 2016, she scripted history by becoming first Indian female gymnast to qualify for final vault event at 2016 Rio Olympics, with score of 14.833. Government of India has honoured her with Khel Ratna award in August 2016 for her commendable performance in Rio Olympics 2016. She was also awarded Padma Shri, India’s fourth highest civilian award in 2017.
3. The Supreme Court on July 9, 2018 ruled that all private hospitals in Delhi, which were given land on concessional rate, must provide free treatment to certain percentage of poor patients. The court added that the provision of free treatment to the poor was one of the clauses in the lease deed due to which land was given to hospitals at a very cheap price. A bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra said any resistance by the hospitals in providing free treatment would lead to cancellation of the lease.
4. The sixth edition of biennial World Cities Summit with the theme “Liveable & Sustainable Cities: Embracing the Future through Innovation and Collaboration”, was held in Singapore from July 8 to 12, 2018. The summit was held together with Singapore International Water Week and CleanEnviro Summit Singapore. The summit was jointly organised by Singapore’s Centre for Liveable Cities and Urban Redevelopment Authority. It is biennial international conference series on public governance and sustainable development of cities.
5. The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) is going to launch Global Housing Construction Technology Challenge as part of technology sub-mission of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Urban (PMAY-U). The challenge aims to accelerate PMAY-U’s target of providing “housing for all” as the scheme is moving at pace far slower than its rural counterpart. Under PMAY-U, around 8 lakh houses have been constructed since its launch in June 25, 2015. It does not even account for 10% of revised MoHUA target of providing 1.2 crore houses by 2022. Under rural component of the scheme, PMAY-Gramin, 48.26 lakh houses have been built, with pace almost on course of meeting target of 2.95 crore houses by 2022.
6. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami announced that a sum of Rs. 150 crore would be earmarked for preventing pollution of Noyyal River within Tirupur Corporation limits. The river was polluted primarily due to effluents discharged by industrial units and residential houses in Tirupur Corporation
7. The government is open to the idea of having a permanent exhibition of Air India’s art collection. The national carrier’s artistic treasures comprise works by stalwarts such as K.H. Ara, M.F. Husain, S.H. Raza and V.S. Gaitonde. The National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA) under the Ministry of Culture will take custody of Air India’s artworks at a time the airline is looking to cut costs.
8. World’s largest mobile factory to be set up in Noida. With this plant, set up on an investment of Rs. 4,915 crore, the South Korean electronics major plans to make India an export hub, with 50% of its overall production coming from here in the next three years from the present 10%. Speaking at the event, Mr. Modi said that 30% of the phones made at the Noida plant would be exported.
9. India and China have reached an agreement to reduce tariffs on Chinese imports of Indian medicines, particularly cancer drugs, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said, days after a Chinese movie on a leukemia patient highlighted the need for paving the way for import of cheap Indian drugs. Indian drugs are in big demand in China as they are far cheaper than their western counterparts.
10. The Four Queens FIDE-rating chess tournament (below 1600) will be held at the Rajiv Gandhi indoor stadium, Kadavanthra, from July 13 to 15. The tournament, which has the approval of AICF and Chess Association Kerala, is being organised by the mothers of chess players, and hence the name “Four Queens”. The event carries a total prize fund of Rs. five lakh.

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