The Daily Brief – 28th March 2019

Social Media giant, Facebook has launched two new India-specific tools viz. “Candidate Connect” and “Share You Voted” to boost civic engagement on its platform during the Lok Sabha elections 2019 that commence in April. Both these tools will be made available in 12 local languages. Share You Voted feature will provide people with polling information and enable them to announce and celebrate the fact that they have voted.

President Ram Nath Kovind during his visit to Croatia

President Ram Nath Kovind has been honoured with Croatia’s highest civilian award the Grand Order of the King of Tomislav during his visit to Croatia to strengthen the bilateral ties. The award is presented to heads of state for their important contribution towards the development of state relations between Croatia and their respective countries. President Kovind is the first-ever Indian head of state to visit Croatia. Croatia declared independence from Yugoslavia on 25 June 1991.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that India has successfully test-fired an anti-satellite (A-SAT) missile by shooting down a live satellite in 3 minutes. The project named as Mission Shakti led by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) was aimed at strengthening India’s overall security. India is only the 4th country to acquire such a specialised and modern capability.

The Multi-dimensional Poverty Index 2018 report was prepared by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Oxford Poverty and Human Development. As per it, India has reduced its poverty rate drastically from 55% to 28% in 10 years, with 271 million people moving out of poverty between 2005-06 and 2015-16. India still had 364 million poor in 2015-16, the largest for any country.

The Global Energy & CO2 Status Report has been released by the International Energy Agency (IEA). As per it, China, the US and India together accounted for nearly 70 per cent of the rise in energy demand and energy demand worldwide grew by 2.3 per cent last year. Global energy-related carbon dioxide emissions increased by 1.7 per cent to 33 gigatonnes (Gt) in 2018.

First Indian Army Mountaineering Expedition to Mt Makalu (8485m) was flagged off by Director General Military Training on March 26, 2019. Expedition team comprises five Officers, two JCOs and eleven other officers. Mt Makalu, the fifth highest mountain in the world at 8,485 metres (27,838 ft) is considered amongst the most dangerous peaks and summiting the peak is considered extremely challenging due to inclement weather conditions and freezing temperatures.

The Government of Nepal is organizing “Nepal Investment Summit 2019” on March 29 -30 in Kathmandu with an objective to project Nepal as a favourable investment destination. The forum will also be utilized to unfold a range of policy reforms and legal initiatives taken by the Government to attract investors.