Luxembourg becomes first country to make public transport free

1.Luxembourg becomes first country to make public transport free

Luxembourg has become the first country with a free public transport system, with all fares for trams, trains and buses abolished as of February 29 2020.The one exception is first-class train travel, which will cost £2.60 (€3) per journey.

The scheme was originally announced in 2018, with a summer 2019 launch planned, but delays pushed the move back to this year.

Luxembourg has just over 600,000 inhabitants, but 214,000 more travel in for work every day from neighbouring Germany, Belgium and France, causing heavy traffic jams as the majority of workers commute by car.

2.Sri Lanka to lead science, technology and innovation sector in BIMSTEC

Sri Lanka will lead the science, technology and innovation sector in the BIMSTEC and a facility for technology transfer is planned to be opened in the future. This was agreed during the 20th Session of the senior officials’ meeting chaired by Sri Lankan Foreign Secretary Ravinatha Aryasinha in Colombo.

Sri Lanka,will also appoint a Director to the BIMSTEC secretariat in June.

Sri Lanka is mandated to lead the sector on Science, Technology and Innovation under which cooperation in Technology, health and human resource development is also included.

Bangladesh was mandated to lead Trade, Investment and Development, Bhutan – Environment and Climate Change, Myanmar – Agriculture and Food Security, India – Security (Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime, Disaster Management & Energy), Nepal – People to people contact (culture, tourism, forums of Think Thanks, Media etc) and Thailand – Connectivity.

3.Janaushadhi Week being celebrated from March 1 to 7

Janaushadhi week is being celebrated across the country from the 1st of this month through more than 6200 Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Kendras.Jan Aushadhi Kendra owners are organising different types of activities for making awareness about health and hygiene.

Free distribution camps for Suvidha Sanitary Napkins were held at about 2000 places and more than 50,000 Sanitary Napkin packets were given free of cost to the women.

Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana is a noble initiative of the Government which is now making an impact on masses in its endeavor to provide quality medicines at an affordable price.

The total sales in the financial year 2019-20 till February have crossed 383 crore which led to total savings of about 2200 crore rupees of common citizens.

4.Setu Bharatam scheme: All level crossings on NH to be replaced by Over/under Bridges

Government has envisaged replacement of all the level crossings on National Highways by Road Over Bridges or Road Under Bridges under the Setu Bharatam scheme.The programme is being implemented by the Road Transport and Highways Ministry to ensure safe and smooth flow of traffic and reduce road fatalities by 50 percent by 2020.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Setu Bharatam scheme on 4th March in 2016 for building rail over-bridges or underpasses for safe and seamless travel on National Highways.

Setu Bharatam programme was launched to make all National Highways free of railway level crossings in order to prevent the frequent accidents and loss of lives at level crossings.

208 places were identified for construction of rail over-bridges or underpasses under the project at a cost of nearly 10,200 crore rupees.

The Ministry of Road Transport Highways and Ministry of Railways have signed an MoU to replace all level crossings by Road Over Bridges or Road Under Bridges.

5.Thinlas Chorol sets up first women’s travel company in Ladakh

The International Women’s Day will be celebrated on the 8th of March.In Ladakh, a young woman Thinlas Chorol has introduced a woman trekking guide in the male dominated trekking industry.

To train the other women as trekking guides, she setup the first women’s travel company fully operated by women only.

 Every trekking season from April to September, she trains 20 to 30 rural women to work as trekking guides.

6.Western Railway announces bonus of 5% for every recharge to R-Wallet

As an incentive to promote mobile ticketing, Western Railway had announced a bonus of 5 percent for every recharge to the R-Wallet until 24th August 2020.The existing bonus scheme, which expired last week, has been extended to encourage more and more users to use mobile ticketing.

Western Railways has said that passengers are requested to patronize the use of UTS Mobile Ticketing App and avail the enhanced benefits attached with their use.

The Western Railway is one of the 18 zones of Indian Railways and is Headquartered in Churchgate, Mumbai.

7.Cabinet gives nod for FDI policy on civil aviation

The Cabinet approved Foreign Direct Investment, FDI policy on civil aviation.FDI policy was amended to permit foreign investment in Air India.

The Non Resident Indians can acquire up to 100 per cent equity in Air India under automatic route.

The Minister said, earlier only 49 per cent were available for sale to NRIs but now they can purchase 100 percent.

8.IRDAI asks insurance companies to design policies to cover coronavirus

Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India, IRDAI has asked insurers to expeditiously settle hospitalisation claims related to novel coronavirus disease under health policies.In a circular, the Regulator has instructed insurance companies to come out with policies to cover treatment costs for coronavirus infection.

It said, the costs of admissible medical expenses during the course of treatment including quarantine period, should be settled in accordance with the applicable terms and conditions.

9.Ajay Bhushan Pandey appointed as the new Finance Secretary

The Government of India appointed the current Revenue Secretary Ajay Bhushan Pandey as the new Finance Secretary.Pandey replaces current Finance Secretary Rajiv Kumar.

The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the appointment.

Pandey, a 1984 batch Indian Administrative Service officer of Maharashtra cadre, had earlier worked as chief executive officer of Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), the organization behind the Aadhaar.

10.Former Indian spinner Sunil Joshi named BCCI’s selection committee chairman

Former India spinner Sunil Joshi was named chairman of the national selection panel by the BCCI’s Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC).The 49-year-old Joshi played 15 Tests and 69 ODIs between 1996 and 2001, taking 41 and 69 wickets respectively.

The CAC, comprising Madan Lal, RP Singh and Sulakshana Naik, picked the two selectors with Joshi replacing South Zone representative MSK Prasad. 

The CAC will review the panel’s performance after one year and make recommendations accordingly.

11.Badminton Asia Championships moved from Wuhan to Manila over coronavirus outbreak

Next month’s Badminton Asia Championships have been moved out of the novel coronavirus outbreak epicentre,Wuhan, to the Philippines capital Manila.The Asia Championships will be staged in Manila from the 21st of next month.

The Coronavirus has forced the postponement or cancellation of several badminton tournaments, disrupting the build-up to the Tokyo Olympics.

Numerous other sports events have also been cancelled, postponed or moved in recent weeks all over the world because of the deadly virus.

12.Shafali Verma at top spot in ICC women’s T20I rankings

Shafali Verma, the teenage Indian batting sensation, has gained the top spot in the ICC women’s T20 International rankings.She has become only the second India batter after Mithali Raj to top the women’s T20 International rankings.

She jumped 19 places and surpassed New Zealand captain Suzie Bates to grab the top spot with 761 points.

The 16-year-old Shafali has replaced New Zealand’s Suzie Bates, who had been at the top of batting charts since October 2018.

During the ongoing ICC Women’s T20 World Cup, Shafali has scored 161 runs in four innings demonstrating an explosive batting performance at the top of the order.