France adopts tough new law on asylum, immigration
France's parliament Wednesday signed into law a controversial asylum and immigration bill despite opposition on the left which decried an effort to limit arrivals while the far right saw the measure as not going far enough.
The bill is designed to accelerate asylum procedures by cutting the maximum processing time to 90 days after entering France from 120 currently.
The text was adopted on a final reading by 100 votes in favour to 25 against with 11 abstentions.
The senate had rejected the bill on Tuesday, but the lower house passed the text as President Emmanuel Macron's La Republique En Marche party holds a large majority, even if the law has exposed divisions within his own camp.
As well as slimming down the time taken to overcome administrative hurdles the text cuts to six months, from 11, the time limit to make an asylum claim while facilitating both the expulsion of those rejected and the acceptance of those whose bid succeeds.
"We are giving ourselves the means of preserving a right to asylum which, had nothing been done, could rapidly have been called into question as one fears may happen in a number of European countries," Interior Minister Gerard Collomb told parliament.
Rajasthan becomes 1st Indian state to implement biofuel policy
Rajasthan has become the first Indian state to implement the national policy on biofuels unveiled by the centre in May this year. High-power Biofuel Authority approved this implementation.
Soon, the State Government will release Biofuel Rules for 2018.
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE BIOFUEL NATIONAL POLICY:
The State Government will be putting emphasis on increasing production of oilseeds
Further, the State Government is promoting research in the fields of alternative fuels and energy resources
Biodiesel plant with a capacity of eight tonnes per day has already been installed in the state
There would be further emphasis on biofuel advertisements by the state government to create awareness about the same
Women's self-help groups (SHGs) will be created by the State Rural Livelihood Development Council to encourage the use of biofuels.
If would also help farmers to dispose off their surplus stock in an economic manner and would also reduce the country's dependence on oil imports.
Also read: Seaweed energy could help save the world more than solar or wind energy
It encourages setting up of supply chain mechanism for biodiesel production from non-edible oilseeds, used cooking oil and short gestation crops.
WHAT IS BIODIESEL?
Biodiesel is an alternative fuel which can be used in place of fossil fuels
It is manufactured from vegetable oils, recycled grease, algae, and animal fat
USES OF BIODIESEL:
It can be used in diesel-powered cars, trucks, tractors, boats, shipping equipment, irrigation systems, mining equipment, electrical generators and all those applications where diesel is typically used.
Representational Image
SOME MORE FACTS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT BIODIESEL:
Biodiesel can be used in diesel engines with little or no modification
It is a renewable fuel
It can be produced locally
It is produced through a chemical process called transesterification, in which glycerine is separated from the fat or vegetable oil
The process of transesterification leaves behind two products -- methyl esters and glycerine -- which can be sold for the preparation of soaps and other products.
It is biodegradable
It is non-toxic
While burning, it emits 60 per cent less carbon dioxide
The energy that biodiesel produces is approximately 90 per cent of the energy produced by petroleum diesel
It is also used in non-engine applications such as to remove paint
Also read: How are fuel prices calculated in India and why are they sky high?
Interested in General Knowledge and Current Affairs? Click here to stay informed and know what is happening around the world with our G.K. and Current Affairs section.
To get more updates on Current Affairs, send in your query by mail to education.intoday@gmail.com
Neeraj Chopra wins javelin gold at Savo Games
Javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra won gold with an impressive performance, beating his Chinese Taipei rival Chao-Tsun Cheng at the recently concluded Savo Games in Finland on Sunday.
Neeraj, the reigning Commonwealth Games gold medallist and Asian season leader, threw 85.69m in the event held at Lapinlahti, Finland, where he is undergoing training as part of preparations for the upcoming Asian Games.
Cheng managed 82.52m to take the second place.
23-year-old Cheng is the only Asian to have thrown the javelin beyond 90m. He threw 91.36m during the World University Games in Taipei last year to shatter the previous Asian record of 89.15m set by Zhao Qinggang of China at the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon.
But this season, his best so far has been a 84.60m effort, made earlier this month in Sweden. Neeraj, on the other hand, has a personal best -- and national record -- of 87.43m, which he registered during the first leg of the Diamond League Meeting in Doha in May.
Neeraj is leading the Asian charts so far this season, ahead of Cheng and Ahmed Bader Magour of Qatar (season best 83.71m).
India and China resolved Doklam through 'diplomatic maturity without losing ground': Sushma Swaraj
On Wednesday, a Special Border Personnel Meeting between India and China held at Nathu La (Sikkim) to celebrate 91st anniversary of foundation of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA). The picture was shared by news agency ANI hours after External Affairs Minister in Lok Sabha said that the India-China face-off over Doklam was resolved through "diplomatic maturity without losing any ground" and status quo has been maintained, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said on Wednesday
US designates three Pakistanis linked to Lashkar-e-Taiba as global terrorists; Abdul Rehman al-Dakhil specially designated
Washington: The US has designated three Pakistanis linked to the LeT, the outfit responsible for carrying out the 2008 Mumbai attack, as global terrorists to shut down the militant group's financial network and curtail its ability to raise funds to carry out violent terrorist attacks. LeT commander Abdul Rehman al-Dakhil was named as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) by the Department of State.
Separately, the US Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) took action on Tuesday to disrupt the LeT's fundraising and support networks by designating two of the group's financial facilitators, Hameed ul Hassan and Abdul Jabbar, as Specially Designated Global Terrorists (SDGTs). A longtime member of the US designated Foreign Terrorist Organisation (FTO) and Lashkar e-Taiba (LeT), Dakhil was an operational leader for LeT's attacks in India between 1997 and 2001.
Gopalkrishna Gandhi to be honoured with Rajiv Gandhi National Sadbhavana Award
The 24th Rajiv Gandhi National Sadbhavana Award to be given to Gopalkrishna Gandhi for his outstanding contribution towards the promotion of communal harmony, peace and goodwill
The Congress party announced that the the 24th Rajiv Gandhi National Sadbhavana Award will go to former West Bengal Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi “for his outstanding contribution towards the promotion of communal harmony, peace and goodwill”.The Rajiv Gandhi National Sadbhavana Award is awarded on the occasion of the birth anniversary of late former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.
It was instituted to commemorate the lasting contribution made by him to promote peace, communal harmony and fight against violence. It carries a citation and cash award of ₹10 lakh.
RBI hikes repo rate again, raises inflation projection
Mumbai: The Reserve bank of India’s (RBI’s) monetary policy committee (MPC) on Wednesday raised repo rate by 25 basis points (bps) to 6.5% on account of inflationary pressures arising due to hikes in minimum support prices for the crop. The six-member committee voted to maintain a neutral policy stance, thus keeping its options open for further rate hikes. A majority of economists surveyed by Mint was expecting a second consecutive RBI rate hike in today’s policy.
The RBI also raised its average inflation projection for the second half of the year to 4.8% from the 4.7% it had projected in June. The central bank expects inflation to edge higher to 5% in the first quarter of the next fiscal year.
BEML, HEC sign pact for making mining equipment
Two oublic sector units -- BEML and Heavy Engineering Corporation Ltd (HEC) -- signed an MoU to to produce heavy mining equipment leveraging the capabilities of each other.
"The MoU will result into additional Rs 150-200 crore revenue for both PSUs. The collaboration will entail re-entering rope shovels and walking draglines manufacturing with higher indegenisation " BEML chairman and managing director D K Hota said after signing the pact.
BEML had not participated in tenders for the last 3-4 years in these two products, officials said.
Government launches free software for editing text on scanned images
New Delhi: The IT ministry has launched a desktop software e-Aksharayan to enable editing of text printed on scanned documents and it can be downloaded for free from its website. "e-Aksharayan is a desktop software for converting scanned printed Indian language documents into a fully editable text format in Unicode encoding. The text can be also saved separately," Swaran Lata, programme head and director technology Development for Indian Languages (TDIL) said after unveiling the software at a FICCI event.
The software supports editing in seven Indian languages - Hindi, Bangla, Malayalam, Gurmukhi, Tamil, Kannada & Assamese.
There exist some gap in Internet accessibility and 90 per cent of the gap is due to non-availability of content in Indian languages, Electronics and IT Secretary Ajay Prakash Sawhney, at the event organised to push development of content in local languages, said.
"We all know about India Stack. We should now come up with 'India Language Stack', which will help in overcoming the barriers of communication," Sawhney said.
Modi’s Digital India campaign lands India in the UN’s E-Government rankings to 96th rank, DENMARK topped
Scaling 22 places in 4 years to 96th rank, India under Prime Minister Narendra Modi has managed to break into the top 100 of United Nations E-Government Index (EGDI).
The comprehensive survey released once in two years, assesses among others, government development at the national level based on telecommunications infrastructure, human capital, and national online presence. It maps how digital technologies and innovations are changing the public sector and people’s lives for the better.
India has managed to jump 11 ranks from 107 in 2016, in the list topped by DENMARK(0.9150) followed by Australia, Republic of Korea and the United Kingdom.