The increase in Minimum Support Price (MSP) for Raw Jute for 2018-19 season was approved

by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) chaired by Prime Minister Narendra
Modi. The increased MSP was based on recommendations of Commission for Agricultural Costs
and Prices (CACP) which had taken into account cost of production, overall demand-supply,
domestic and international prices before recommending MSP for Raw Jute. MSP is form of
agricultural market intervention undertaken by Central Government in order to insure agricultural
producers are protected against any sharp fall in farm prices. It is announced for certain crops by
Central Government prior to sowing season. The MSP for Fair Average Quality (FAQ) of Raw
Jute was increased to Rs.3700 per quintal for 2018-19 season from Rs. 3500 per quintal in 2017-
18 season.
2. A MoU was signed between National Physical Laboratory (CSIR-NPL) and Department of
Telecommunications (DoT) on technical knowledge sharing for establishing nationwide
Time Stamping and Time Synchronization network (TSTSN) and traceability of Time signal
to UTC NPL Time. The establishment and implementation of pan India TSTSN across Indian
Telecom Network will eliminate problem of Time Synchronization among TSP/ISPs. This will lead
to better efficiency of Telecom Network and reduce Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) call drop,
improve Quality of Service of network, Voice, Video. It will help to curb cybercrimes and also help
to identify and correlate various digital financial transactions.
3. Under National Biopharma Mission, the Union Government has entered into agreement
with World Bank for flexible financing arrangement to accelerate research towards early
development for biopharmaceuticals. It aims to make India hub for design and development of
novel, affordable and effective biopharmaceutical products such as vaccines, biologics and
medical devices for combating public health concerns. The mission was launched by Ministry of
Science & Technology in 2017 at total cost of US $250 million for five years with 50% funding
through World Bank Loan.
4. The Union Cabinet has given approval inclusion of certain areas in Rajasthan under Fifth
Schedule of the Constitution. he areas to be included comprises three complete districts
Banswara, Dungarpur, Pratapgarh, nine tehsils, one block and 46 complete gram panchayats
covering 227 villages in Udaipur, Rajsamand, Chittorgarh, Pali and Sirohi districts of Rajasthan.
5. A MoU signed between India and Sao Tome and Principe for Cooperation in field of
Traditional Systems of Medicine and Homoeopathy was approved by the Union
Cabinet. The MoU will enhance bilateral cooperation between two countries in areas of
Traditional Systems of Medicine.
6. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved restructured National
Bamboo Mission (NBM), a Centrally Sponsored Scheme under National Mission for
Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA) during remaining period of 14th Finance Commission
(2018-20) with an outlay of Rs. 1290 crore. The restructured mission will ensure holistic
development of bamboo sector by addressing complete value chain and establish effective
linkage of producers (farmers) with industry.
7. The renewal of long-term agreements (LTAs) for export of iron ore (lumps and fines) of
grade +64% Fe content to Japan and South Korea for another five years (2018 to 2023)
through state-owned trading firm MMTC has approved by Union Cabinet. Export of iron ore
under LTAs will help India to strengthen its bilateral ties with long-standing partner countries,
Japan and South Korea by securing export market and result in inflow of foreign exchange.
8. The Union Human Resource Development Ministry launched the second edition of Unnat
Bharat Abhiyan in New Delhi. Under the program, students from 750 higher educational
institutions from across the country will adopt nearby villages and visit them to get acquainted
with the regular lifestyle of village people and the problems faced by them in their day to day life.
The main objective of the program is to enable higher education institutions to work with the
people of rural India in identifying development challenges and evolving appropriate solutions for
accelerating sustainable development in rural areas.
9. Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) has granted First Licence to Gujarat Alkalies and
Chemicals Ltd for Liquid Chlorine on all India basis as per Indian Standard (IS) 646:1986.
This is the First Licence granted on All India basis. The licence has been made operative with
 effect from April 2018 for a period of one year. Liquid Chlorine is in liquid form and stored in metal
containers. It is usually used as gas obtained by evaporating liquid from metal container.
10. The Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi launched the Van Dhan Scheme of Ministry of
Tribal Affairs and TRIFED during the celebrations of Ambedkar Jayanti at Bijapur,
Chattisgarh. While speaking at the launch, the Prime Minister said that the Van Dhan scheme
along with others like Jan Dhan and Gobar-Dhan schemes had the potential to change the tribal-
rural economic system. Hence, he stated that all the three schemes need to be promoted by the
state governments.
11. The state government of Meghalaya on April 26, 2018 installed a software at Shillong
district jail to integrate information about its inmates, as a part of its initiative to
modernise correctional homes in the state. The e-prisons software, developed by
the Union government, aims to keep a tab on prisoners of all states. It is a
significant step towards digitization and modernization of prisons.It will digitize
the jail records and ensure transparency and accountability in the system. It
will be implemented in all the correctional facilities across the state.
12. Vistara has become the third Indian carrier to be a member of the International Air
Transport Association (IATA), the trade association of more than 280 airlines. The move
will help the airlines to provide a seamless travel experience through an
extended global network of travelers to and from India. The two other Indian
carriers that are IATA members include Air India and Jet Airways. The IATA
advocates for the interests of airlines across the globe, establishes standards to simplify process
and increase passenger convenience, and helps airlines to operate safely, efficiently and
economically.
13. The Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare has launched seed import-export
portal to facilitate export-import of seeds and planting material. It has been developed for
making trade process easy. With the launch of this portal, all organisations importing-exporting
seeds will not be required to submit their applications in 20 copies. The import export of seeds
and planting material is controlled under Import Export Policy 2002-2007.
14. India was placed at 138th rank out of 180 nations surveyed worldwide in terms of press
freedom in 2018in recently released World Press Freedom Index (WPFI) 2018 by Reporters
Without Borders. It was ranked at the 135th in WPFI 2017.
15. The 23rd meeting of Western Zonal Council was held at Gandhinagar, Gujarat under the
chairmanship of Union home minister Rajnath Singh. The meeting was attended by chief
ministers of Maharashtra and Gujarat, ministers of Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, administrator of
UTs of Daman & Diu and Dadra & Nagar Haveli and senior officers from Central and state
governments