 The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India has imposed penalties of Rs 1.01 crore on Cholamandalam MS GIC. The insurer was penalised for violations observed during an inspection. The penalty of Rs 1 crore is for violation of Clause 15 of Schedule I of IRDA (Health Insurance) Regulations, 2013 which clearly specifies that no commission shall be payable to any intermediary on the acceptance of a ported policy. The other penalty of Rs 1 lakh is for motor insurance and was for violating the outsourcing guidelines by agreeing to payment terms not in the interests of the insurer. |
| Source: The Hindu |
 The Saharan silver ant is the fastest of the world’s 12,000 known ant species, clocking 855 millimetres nearly a metre per second. Its scientific name is Cataglyphis bombycina. Silver ants travel 108 times their body length per second and have a stride rate 10 times that of Usain Bolt. A team of German researchers from the University of Ulm and Freiburg(Germany) discovered the ant in Douz area of Tunisia in Northern Sahara. |
| Source: The Guardian |
 IIT Kharagpur graduate Debayan Saha has invented a device called “PM 2.5” which he claimed when fitted near the silencer pipe in vehicles will curb air pollution. The technology developed by uses a combination of electric energy and wave energy to influence the pollutants like PM 2.5 such that they act like a magnet attracting other particulate pollutants from the ambient atmosphere to get attached to it. This device can neutralise the pollution emitted from 10 cars in its vicinity. |
| Source: The NDTV |
 India’s livestock population has increased to over 535.78 million showing an increase of 4.6 per cent over Livestock Census-2012. The Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying released the 20th Livestock Census -2019. The data revealed that the livestock population in India has grown by 4.6% from 512 million in 2012 to about 535.78 million in 2019. Total Bovine population (Cattle, Buffalo, Mithun and Yak) is 302.79 Million in 2019 which shows an increase of 1.0% over the previous census. Among the States, Uttar Pradesh has the highest number of livestock of 67.8 million (68.7 million in 2012), followed by Rajasthan 56.8 million (57.7 million), Madhya Pradesh: 40.6 million (36.3 million) and West Bengal: 37.4 million (30.3 million). The census usually covers all domesticated animals and headcounts of these animals are taken. The 20th Livestock Census was carried out in about 6.6 lakh villages and 89 thousand urban wards across the country. |
| Source: The Hindu |
 The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) is planning to review the 14-year-old National Curriculum Framework (NCF) in accordance with new national education policy (NEP) and set up a committee for the purpose. The NCF has been revised four times so far – in 1975, 1988, 2000 and 2005. A panel led by former Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chief K Kasturirangan had submitted the draft of the new national education policy to Union Human Resource Development Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’. The new proposed revision will be a 5th of the framework. The council is also undertaking a survey in six blocks to analyse the quality of primary education available and the areas that need change. The revision of NCERT textbooks has also been recommended in the new education policy draft. |
| Source: The Hindu |
 Kiran Uniyal, w/o a serving Colonel of Indian Army has created Individual Guinness World Records for “The most full contact knee strikes in three minutes (one leg) (female), 263 strikes” & “The most full contact knee strikes alternate legs in one minute(female),120 strikes”. The earlier records were of 177 strikes and 102 in female category respectively. The objective of both her records were to promote martial arts for girls and women safety and self-defence. While creating the record for the most full contact knee strikes for three minutes, she surpassed the existing male category record of 226 knee strikes. She has so far achieved 15 World Records, including 10 Guinness World Records in Martial Arts, Fitness and Social Work. |
| Source: The Press Information Bureau |
 Textiles Secretary, Ravi Capoor, inaugurated the 48th edition of the Indian Handicrafts and Gifts Fair (IHGF) at the India Expo Centre & Mart at Greater Noida. More than 3,200 Indian exhibitors are participating in the fair. Around 110 overseas buyers from 110 countries are participating in the event as well. They are here to source furniture, fashion, lifestyle and textiles products of the exhibitors. Handicrafts are important in terms of economic development. The sector provides a number of opportunities for unemployed with minimal investment. The sector earns around Rs 43,000 crores (2015) of rupees annually. Out of this, it earns an export of Rs 10,000 crores annually. The theme of IHGF-Delhi Fair 2019: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. |
| Source: The Press Information Bureau |
 The 129th death anniversary of the mystic bard Fakir Lalon Shah is being observed in Bangladesh. He is believed to be born in 1774 though no written records exist. He died in 1890. He was born Hindu but he was raised by a Muslim family after he was abandoned by his own family. Fakir Lalon Shah songs talk about humanism, love and equality going beyond the limitations imposed by religion, caste and creed. He created and composed more than 2000 songs which were popularised by Bauls who sang his songs while wandering in the countryside of Bengal and parts of Assam of those days. His contemporary Gurudev Rabindra Nath Tagore got some of his songs transcribed and published. |
| Source: The DD News |
 The 2nd phase of an Indo-Dutch project called Local Treatment of Urban Sewage Streams for Healthy Reuse, or LOTUS-HR was launched at Barapullah drain in New Delhi. This project was launched by Minister of Science and Technology Harsh Vardhan and the Dutch Royal couple, Netherlands King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima. The (LOTUS-HR) project was set up in 2017 at the Sun Dial Park here as part of a collaboration between the governments of India and the Netherlands. |
| Source: The Business Standard |
 Secretary Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) Guruprasad Mohapatra launched the website and mobile application L2Pro India [Learn to Protect, Secure and Maximize Your Innovation] on Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs). The website and app have been developed by Cell for IPR Promotion and Management (CIPAM)-DPIIT in collaboration with Qualcomm and National Law University (NLU), Delhi. The website and app will be very useful to the startup community which holds great promise for India and its economy. The modules of this e-learning platform will aid and enable youth, innovators, entrepreneurs and small and medium industries (SMEs) in understanding IPRs for their ownership and protection, integrate IP into business models and obtain value for their R&D efforts. The L2Pro has been successfully implemented in Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy and France, benefiting immensely from close collaboration with respective IP organizations and public research institutions. The learning app has been customized for India in order to ensure that innovation which is fundamental to startups are protected, managed and commercialised. |
| Source: The Economic Times |
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