NATIONAL NEWS
1.PM rejects allegations of rising unemployment; says crores of new jobs created in formal & unorganised sectors:-
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that crores of new jobs have been created in the country in formal and unorganised sectors including transport, hotels and infrastructure.
Replying to the Motion of Thanks on the President’s Address in the Lok Sabha, Mr Modi rejected the opposition’s allegations of rising unemployment. He said, jobs have been created both in informal and formal sectors in last four and half years. He said, informal sector accounts for 85 to 90 per cent while the formal sector provides only 10 to 15 per cent employment in the country. The Prime Minister said in 15 months till November 2018, 1.8 crore people got enrolled in the Employees Provident Fund for the first time. Of these 64 per cent were below 28 years of age. He said, about 6 lakh 35 thousand new professionals have filed income tax returns in the last four years. Mr Modi said, the government has launched several initiatives like Skill India, Stand-Up India and Digital India aimed at promoting self employment in the country.Taking on Congress over its criticism on Rafale deal, Mr Modi said, the opposition party does not want the Air Force to be strong and questioned whether it was bidding for a company. He said, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has answered all questions on Rafale deal but the Congress is still misleading the nation. Mr Modi also accused the Congress of rendering the Army handicapped. The Prime Minister said that the armed forces were adversely affected due to delay in procurements under the Congress rule and its personnel did not have bullet-proof jackets, proper shoes, communication equipment or even helmets. He wondered why advanced jets were not procured for 30 years when India’s neighbours were equipping themselves with latest weaponry. He said, the nation will not forgive the Congress party for this sin. Taking a swipe, Mr Modi said, Congress party is surprised that there can be a defence deal without kickbacks. He said, they assume that a defence deal cannot happen without commission. The Prime Minister said, the country has been progressing in all sectors including agriculture, milk output, steel sector and aviation in the last four and half years. Mr Modi said, his government is known for its honesty and transparency and for being sensitive to the poor. He said, tackling corruption is the focus of the government and it is accountable to the people of the country. He said, the government is not running away from the challenges and the fact is that it is tackling the challenges to fulfill the people’s aspirations. Mr Modi touched upon the achievements of his government, focussing especially on the welfare measures like providing LPG gas connections, housing to all, bank accounts for the poor and electrification in all villages. Mr Modi hit out at the Congress on various issues and emphatically denied its charge of destroying the constitutional institutions. The Prime Minister said, the Congress should look within as to how it had undermined these institutions during its rule at the Centre. Mr Modi said, the Congress had imposed emergency, bullied the judiciary, questioned the Election Commission over EVMs and insulted the Army over its surgical strikes. He recalled it was Congress- led government at the Centre which had invoked Article 356 of the Constitution over 100 times to topple the democratically elected state governments. He said, the proposed grand alliance of the opposition will not succeed because of their inner contradictions. He said, the people have seen how development has peaked under the NDA government with a full majority. The Prime Minister said in their 55 years rule, the sanitation coverage was just around 38 per cent while it has risen to 98 per cent in just 55 months of the NDA rule. Mr Modi said, LPG Gas connections in their 55 years was 12 crore and during the present dispensation, 13 crore LPG gas connections were given. He said, this government has worked at a greater speed. The Prime Minister said, the government has worked towards the good health and well-being of the people of India and due to the steps taken by it, the prices of stents, knee surgeries and medicines are coming down which are helping the poorest of the poor. Later the House adopted the President’s address negating the opposition amendments.
2.Indian scientists get success in generating laser light from carrots:-
Until now you may only know about the benefits of carrot eating. But you must be surprised to know that the scientists have acquired information about one of its benefits. The scientists of IIT Madras have had success in generating laser light from carrots.IIT Madras has stated in a release that the research team of Phisix Department Professor C. Vijayan and Assistant Professor Shivram Krishnan and PhD Scholar Venkata Shiva Gumuluri have done this feat. The research team has found in its experiment that carrot can be an effective medium for producing biocompatible lasers. In this experiment a laser laser was applied to the processed carrot and the light was split into many colors.
According to scientists, this is the first and small step towards developing photonic technology using the green materials. He said that no one has ever created laser light using biological materials.Actually, it is a similar incident to the Raman effect of physics. Nobel prize winner CV Raman told in the year 1922 that when light passes through some medium, the wavelength of all the colors present in it is changed. It goes as a Raman effect. For this, the CV Raman was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1930.
It awakes the hope of significant progress in scientific and industrial research on optical spectroscopy and sensing. This system is completely natural and bio-friendly which can be used with other biotechnologies and processes.
Strong and highly dependent this kitchen laser can be used for temperature sensing because it makes good and uniform response against temperature. Carrot also contains cellulose fibers in addition to carotenoid, which helps to spread the photon. This leads to optical amplification of Raman Random Leasing.Vijayan said that now with the help of photonics, various applications are moving towards development of green and continuous materials. There is a great need of green photonic technology in the present environment where the importance of easily depleted, continuous and bio-friendly processes is important. There is a direction and speed in the laser and it is compulsory for various products and techniques like communication, lithography, medical, military operation, scientific research, engineering, display and data storage.
3.Sena medals awarded to 92 army men, including Lance Naik Wani:-
In Udhampur, 92 army men were awarded Sena medals at an investiture ceremony for their gallantary and distinguised services. Lieutenant General Ranbir Singh, GOC-in-C of Northern Command presented 76 medals for gallatry services, 7 medals for distinguised services and 8 for Vishist Seva. Lance Naik Nazir Ahmed Wani, a recepient of Ashok Chakra was also awarded Bar to Sena Medal poshthumously which was received by his wife.Twenty units of the army were also awarded appreciation for their outstanding performance in the Command Theatre in 2018.
4.Approval of Plan of Use of Space Technology in Border Management:-
The government has approved the use of space technology in border management to stop infiltration. In response to a written question in the Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju said that more than three thousand incidents of intrusion in the country’s borders have occurred in the last four years. He said that 27 incidents of intrusion has been reported from the 24th of last month.
5.Ujjwala celebration was celebrated on the role of different stakeholders in making PMUY successful:-
PMUY Gan-Ujjwala Bharat Ujjwala compiled by Kailash Kher 
Oil industry celebrated Ujjala festival This celebration was celebrated for appreciating the role of all stakeholders , district nodal officers , policy makers, distributors and beneficiaries, who successfully made the successful Prime Minister Ujjwala Yojna (PMUY) .It was organized by PMUY under the aegis of Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas to honor the outstanding contribution of advance personnel.On this occasion, the compiled and developed PMUY song – Ujjwala Bharat Ujwala – was launched by renowned singer Padmashri Kailash Kher. PMUY songs are available on Amazon, Apple, Hungama, Wing, Google Play and other online music platforms. The purpose of this song is to bring Ujjwala message to the country’s house.Three top performing states have been recognized for achieving the number of LPG dispersion in three states and the officials of the concerned Oil Marketing Company, in charge of Central Petroleum and Natural Gas, Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Minister, Shri Dharmendra Pradhan, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas Secretary, Dr. MM Kootty and Chairman and Managing Director of three Oil Marketing Companies Were awarded by trucks. Top 24 district nodal officers were honored for the commendable work in the Gram Swaraj campaign in more than 50,000 villages across the country.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
6.Trump nominates US treasury diplomat David Malpass to head World Bank:-
In the USA, President Donald Trump has nominated senior Treasury official David Malpass as the next chief of the World Bank. He would replace Jim Yong Kim as the president if voted by the Directors of the World Bank Group. The position of Managing Director of International Monetary Fund has gone to Europe.Announcing his nomination, Trump said Malpass was eminently qualified for the position. In his current capacity as the Under Secretary of the Treasury for International Affairs, 62-year-old Malpass oversees the working of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
SPORTS NEWS
7.Mirabai Chanu notched up gold at EGAT Cup in Thailand:-
World champion Indian weightlifter Saikhom Mirabai Chanu notched up a gold medal at the EGAT Cup in Thailand.
Chanu won the 48kg category gold with an effort of 192 kg in the silver level Olympic qualifying event. Making a strong comeback from the lower back injury that kept her out of action for nearly nine months, the 24-year-old Manipuri lifted 82 kg in snatch and 110 kg in clean and jerk to finish on top of the podium. Points earned from this tournament will come in handy when the final rankings for Tokyo 2020 cut are done.
8.Vidharbha lift Ranji Trophy for second time in a row:-
Vidharbha lifted the Ranji Trophy for the second time in a row, defeating Saurashtra by 78 runs at Nagpur. Requiring five wickets to defend their title, the home team bundled out the visitors for 127 with more than two sessions to spare at the VCA stadium of Nagpur.Chasing the 206 runs target in the second innings, top order of Saurashtra collapsed. They required 148 runs on the fifth and final day, but Aditya Sarwate’s six-wicket haul denied them their maiden title. Left arm spinner, Sarwate was adjudged man of the match.Overnight batsmen Vishvaraj Jadeja who scored 52 and Kamlesh Makvana at 14 batted resolutely for the first hour but once the partnership was broken, other wickets fell in quick succession. Jadeja was the top scorer of the match.In the first innings, Saurashtra made 305 runs in reply to 312 of Vidarbha.
BUSINESS NEWS
9.Bankers welcome 25 basis point rate cut announced by RBI:-
Bankers have welcomed the 25 basis point rate cut announced by the RBI in the sixth bi-monthly monetary policy review yesterday. SBI Chairman Rajnish Kumar said, the policy rightfully signals that rates may further soften going forward, with the headline inflation numbers consistently undershooting the RBI inflation mandate and inflation expectations materially down.Reserve Bank of India in its bi-monthly monetary policy reduced repo rate by 25 basis points to 6.25 per cent yesterday. RBI’s six-member Monetary Policy Committee also brought down reverse repo rate to 6 per cent.
