MADHYA PRADESH

• Narmada-parvati link project approved
• After Narmada-Kshipra Link Project, Narmada-Gambhir Link Project and Narmada-Kalisindh Project, this is the fourth ambitious project for Malwa region. With this project, irrigation facility will be made available in 2 lakh hectare area. Chouhan instructed to complete work of irrigation projects within the time limit.

• The construction of Narmada-Gambhir Link Project of 50,000 hectare irrigation capacity is in progress. The construction of Narmada-Parvati will be completed in four phases.

• At least 50,000 hectare irrigation capacity will be created in each phase. This project will benefit farmers of 369 villages of Sehore and Shajapur districts.

• For this project, nearly 1.08 million acre feet water will be lifted from Indira Sagar Reservoir. Water for irrigation for the project will be supplied through underground pipelines. Water will be available for each farmer with nearly 20 metre pressure up to 2.5 hectare. Through this system of supply, farmers need not level their fields.

INTERNATIONAL

·        Saudi Arabia announces lifting of ban on movie theatres after 35 years

• Saudi Arabiawill have its first public cinemas in more than 35 years after the government announced the lifting of the ban on movie theatres. Minister of Culture and Information Awwad bin Saleh Alawwad in a statement said that opening cinemas will act as a catalyst for economic growth and diversification.
• The government statement said that the licensing process for cinema operators will start within 90 days and the films will be subject to censorship according to media policy standards of the kingdom.

·        Mount Hope Becomes UK’s New Highest Mountain

• Britain is a new highest mountain after new satellite data revealed the peak was almost 400 metres taller than previously thought. Mount Hope, in the British Atlantic Territory, was recently re-measured and found to be 377 metres taller than previous calculations.
• This takes it to 3,239 metres, meaning it knocks Mount Jackson, the current title holder at 3,184 metres, off the top spot.

NATIONAL 

• India proposed $1 billion credit for connectivity with ASEAN

• India has proposed USD 1 billion line of credit to promote sea, air and road connectivity projects with ASEAN, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said.

• Apart from this, India has set up a project development fund of USD 77 million for various developments.

• He was addressing the ASEAN-India Connectivity Summit jointly organised by CII and ASEAN India Centre.

• WB announces life insurance of Rs. 5 lakh each for pilgrims

• West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee announced that pilgrims coming to Gangasagar next year will be covered by life insurance amounting to Rs 5 lakh each.

• The premium in this regard will be borne entirely by the state government.

• Around five to six lakh pilgrims attend the Gangasagar fair on the occasion of Makar Sankranti.

• J P Nadda launches new initiatives on Universal Health Coverage Day, 2017

• The Union Health Minister J P Nadda has launched “LaQshya – Labour Room Quality Improvement Initiative, a Safe Delivery Mobile Application for health workers who manage normal and complicated deliveries in the peripheral areas.

• The goal of this initiative is to reduce preventable maternal and new-born mortality.

• He also released the Operational Guidelines for Obstetric High Dependency Units (HDUs) and Intensive Care Units (ICUs).

·        Electronics and IT Ministry Launched First NIC-CERT

• Electronics and Information Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad launched first NIC-CERT, a setup of National Informatics Centre to prevent and predict cyber attacks on government utilities.
• They launched in New Delhi.
• NIC-CERT has been set up with the objective of creating a comprehensive framework that integrates world-class security components and inbuilt threat intelligence for detection, prevention and incident response.