PM Modi inaugurates Bundelkhand Expressway in Uttar Pradesh

• The 296-kilometre long, four-lane Bundelkhand Expressway passes through seven districts, Chitrakoot, Banda, Mahoba, Hamirpur, Jalaun, Auraiya and Etawah.
• The 296-Km, four-lane expressway has been constructed at a cost of around 14,850 crore rupees. It can later be expanded upto six lanes as well.
• It extends from NH-35 at Gonda village near Bharatkoop in Chitrakoot district to near Kudrail village in Etawah district, where it merges with the Agra-Lucknow expressway.
• Work on the creation of industrial corridor in Banda and Jalaun districts, next to the Expressway, has already been started.
• Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said that this expressway will help in establishing Jhansi and Chitrakoot node of Defence corridor. He said that Jalaun district is also on number one in completing Ghaarauni of the villages in Bundelkhand region.

PM Modi says ‘revri culture’ of freebies for votes is ‘very dangerous’

• Speaking at the inauguration of Bundelkhand Expressway in Jalaun in Uttar Pradesh, Mr. Modi said the “revri culture” would take the new India towards darkness.
• “There are some governments which are indulging in revri culture to secure votes, while the double engine government is working towards creating new expressways and rail routes,” Mr. Modi said.
• Responding to the revri culture jibe, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said that providing a free education and healthcare system doesn’t amount to distributing freebies.
• Kejriwal took on Mr. Modi following his comments equating State-sponsored free schemes to citizens as part of ‘revri culture’ which, the PM said, was “very dangerous” for the country.

Anti-venom for big four ineffective in treating other snakebites

• The monocled cobra, the banded krait, the lesser black krait, the great black krait, the mountain pit viper and the redneck keelback are among 15 venomous snakes out of 64 recorded so far across Northeast India.
• Most of the snakebite cases in the region involve different species of the green pit viper, making up the other venomous snakes.
• The antivenom derived from the “Big Four” snakes are ineffective on the toxin injected by the green pit viper, or for that matter, most other venomous snakes found in the region.
• Neurotoxin is a poison that acts on the nervous system. Cytotoxins kill the cells in a body.
• World Snake Day is celebrated every July 16 to raise awareness about snakes and their importance in our ecosystem.
• There are more than 1.4 million cases resulting in 1,25,000 fatalities annually.
• More than 46,000 people — the highest on earth — die and thrice the number are disabled due to snakebites every year with 77% of the victims dying outside healthcare facilities, indicating that people go for alternative treatment.
• Most snakebite cases in India are reported between June and September and 58% of the victims are farmers and labourers.

Govt extends RoSCTL scheme till March 2024 for exports

• The Ministry of Textiles stated that the rates of exports of apparel and garments will continue the same as earlier notified by the Ministry.
• The RoSCTL Scheme helped in improving cost efficiency and export competitiveness in the international market. The scheme has provided a stable and predictable policy regime, helping boost exports and employment.
• The scheme has also promoted the incubation of start-ups and entrepreneurs in the domain. The scheme also led to a large number of MSMEs joining the apparel export business.

Women and Child Development Ministry issues guidelines for Mission Shakti Scheme

• This scheme has been launched for the safety, security and empowerment of women.
• It seeks to realize the government’s commitment to women-led development by making them equal partners in nation-building.
• The key objectives of the mission are to provide care, support and assistance to women and to put in place quality mechanisms for the rescue, protection and rehabilitation of women who are victims of crime and violence.
• The scheme is also aimed at improving accessibility to various government services available for women at various levels.
• Mission Shakti has two sub-schemes - Sambal and Samarthya. While the Sambal stresses on safety and security of women, the Samarthya focuses on the empowerment of women.
• The components of the Sambal sub-scheme consist of schemes including One Stop Centre, Women Helpline, Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao and Nari Adalats.
• The components of the Samarthya sub-scheme consist of schemes of Ujjwala, Swadhar Greh and Working Women Hostel.
• In addition, the existing schemes of the National Creche Scheme for children of working mothers and Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana have now been included in Samarthya.

Govt issues standard SOP for e-commerce exports of jewellery via courier.

• The framework keeps in view the need for uniformity of action by Customs that brings certainty for the trade. It also addresses a unique requirement of the e-commerce Eco-system for re-import of rejects in certain cases to the prescribed extent.
• The Ministry said, the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs has issued the simplified regulatory framework in the form of a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP).
• The SOP details the handling, movement, and procedural aspects of exports, based on electronic declarations, through International Courier Terminals.
• The Ministry said, a period of one month has been provided for transition. The first phase begins with exports through Bengaluru, Delhi and Mumbai locations.

Defence ministry sets up apex committee to carry out performance & efficiency audit

• This kind of audit is expected to provide valuable inputs to the top management of the Ministry in planning and execution of projects, and suggest systemic improvements in internal controls, soundness of financial procedures and identification of risk factors.
• It is a major shift from the existing transaction-based compliance audit to carry out an outcome-based Performance and Efficiency Audit aimed at enhancing overall efficiency.
• The members of the committee include Vice Chiefs of the three Services, Secretary Defence (Finance), Chief of Integrated Staff Committee, Controller General of Defence Accounts, Director General (Acquisition) and other senior officials of Ministry of Defence and Defence Research and Development Organisation.
• The committee chaired by Defence Secretary will identify specific areas for the conduct of performance and audit by Controller General of Defence Accounts and monitor performance audit reports and action taken thereon.

Department of Consumer Affairs launches ‘Jagriti’, a mascot to empower consumers and generate awareness towards consumer rights

• Jagriti will be projected as an empowered consumer who is spreading awareness about consumer rights and addressing solutions to the problems faced by the consumers.
• The “Jagriti” mascot will be used to generate consumer awareness about various themes of the Department.
• The Themes include provisions of Consumer Protection Act 2019, Hallmarking, National Consumer Helpline toll-free number 1915, provisions of weights and measures Act, decisions of the Central Consumer Protection Authority and testimonials by consumers on grievance redressal.
• Jagriti mascot shall be shown along with tagline “Jago Grahak Jago” in all its media campaigns.

MHA portal ranks No. 1 in service delivery assessment

• Digital Police portal of National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) placed at two in the assessment under the Central Ministries Services Portal.
• All Government portals that were evaluated were divided into two main categories, states and Union Territories and Central Ministry service portals.
• There were four main parameters of assessment, Accessibility, Content Availability, Ease of Use and Information Security and Privacy for Central Ministry Portals.
• An additional three parameters were also used for the Central Ministry Services Portals - End Service Delivery, Integrated Service Delivery and Status and Request Tracking.

Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Singh Thakur has stressed upon the Mantra for effective communication to guide government communication for India at 2047.

• Addressing the opening ceremony of the 3rd Annual Indian Information Service Officers Conference in Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi today, the Minister gave the Mantra of effective communication in the form of five Cs.
• These are –
  • Citizen Centric and Compassionate,
  • Co-creation with target audience,
  • Collaboration,
  • Contemplation and
  • Continuous capacity enhancements.
• He said that these would be very important for future communication campaign.