 According to the Public Affairs Index 2018, Kerala is the best-governed state in the country, released by a Bengaluru think-tank, Public Affairs Centre. As per the report, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Karnataka and Gujarat are among the top five states delivering good governance. Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Odisha ranked the lowest on the index, indicating higher social and economic inequalities. Among smaller states – with the population less than two crore – Himachal Pradesh topped the list of states with good governance, followed by Goa, Mizoram, Sikkim and Tripura. Meghalaya performed the worst in this list. Manipur, Nagaland, Delhi and Jammu and Kashmir were the other poor performers. This year’s index also measured how child-friendly each state is. Kerala, Himachal Pradesh and Mizoram topped this index. |
| Source- The Scroll |
 Los Angeles Times and Pulitzer Prize-winning restaurant critic Jonathan Gold passed away at 57. He became the first restaurant critic to win a Pulitzer for criticism in 2007. Gold died of pancreatic cancer after being diagnosed with the disease. |
| Source- The Hindu |
 Union Environment Minister Harsh Vardhan unveiled a state-of-the-art Air Quality and Weather Forecast System– ‘SAFAR’ (System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting) at Chandni Chowk in New Delhi. The Environment Ministry’s mission model project ‘SAFAR’ is being implemented in four cities of India – Delhi, Pune, Mumbai and Ahmedabad as an operational service. First of its kind in the country, the system was developed indigenously by Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Pune and operationalised by India Meteorological Department (IMD). The giant true colour LED display will give out real-time air quality index on 24x7 basis with colour coding along with 72-hour advance weather forecast. |
| Source- Press Information Bureau (PIB) |
 According to Public Affairs Index (PAI) 2018, Kerala tops the list as best-governed state in the country followed by Tamil Nadu. The index was released by the think tank Public Affairs Centre (PAC). Kerala has topped PAI as the best-governed state for the third consecutive year since 2016 among large states |
Key Facts
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 Myanmar has joined India-initiated International Solar Alliance (ISA), making it 68th signatory to Framework Agreement of ISA. The ISA Framework Agreement was handed over by Myanmar Minister for International Cooperation, Kyaw Tin to India’s External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on sidelines of Delhi Dialogue. |
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Objectives of ISA
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ISA’s 4 ongoing programmes
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 Minister for Science and Technology Harsh Vardhan has unveiled the first of a kind Air Quality and Weather Forecast System, SAFAR at Chandni Chowk in New Delhi. The giant true colour LED display will give real-time air quality index on the 24x7 basis with colour coding along with 72-hour advance forecast. The new system can track UV-Index, PM1, Mercury and Black carbon in real time and will provide health advisory and related precaution. |
| Source- All India Radio (AIR News) |
%20Programme.jpg) The Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh launched the Student Police Cadet (SPC) programme for nationwide implementation at a ceremony in Gurugram, Haryana. According to Home Minister, SPC would lead to a silent revolution over the years by focusing on character building by imparting moral values to budding minds. Earlier the Home Minister launched the theme song and training manual of SPC prepared by the Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D). |
| Source- Press Information Bureau (PIB) |
 The 4th BIMSTEC Summit will be held in Kathmandu, Nepal. The announcement in this regard was made by Nepal’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Pradeep Kumar Gyawali. The main focus of the summit will be to increase connectivity between the BIMSTEC nations including roads, airways and transmission lines. The BIMSTEC is a regional economic bloc comprising seven member states lying in the littoral and adjacent areas of the Bay of Bengal constituting a contiguous regional unity. |
| Source- AIR World Service |
 The 8th BRICS Health Ministers’ Meeting was held at Durban, South Africa. Indian deligation was led by Mr J P Nadda, Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare. He stated that India is committed to eliminating TB by 2025. Highlighting the accomplishments of India in the health sector, he stated India's achievement in reducing the maternal mortality ratio (MMR) by 77%, from 556 per 1,00,000 live births in 1990 to 130 per 1,00,000 live births in 2016, was commended by the Regional Director of WHO South-East Asia Regional Office (SEARO). |
| Source- Press Information Bureau (PIB) |
 The 28th meeting of the GST Council chaired by interim finance minister Piyush Goyal was held in New Delhi. The Council was deliberated upon a number of key issues on its agenda which includes rate revision on a number of items, amendments to the GST law, simplification of return, and the setting up of a National Appellate Tribunal in Delhi. The GST Council has exempted sanitary napkins from Goods and Services Tax. Earlier, there was a 12% levy of tax on sanitary napkins. It has also recommended reduction in the GST slab for lithium-ion batteries used in electronic items from the current 28% to 18% along with a slew of reductions in other items like bamboo flooring, ice making machines, vending machines, water coolers etc. |
| Source- Press Information Bureau (PIB) |
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