COUNTRY SPECIAL

1) Majuli declared largest river island

Majuli island situated in the Brahmaputra river, Assam has been officially designated as the largest river island in the world by the Guinness World Records.The previous record was held by Brazil's Marajo island in the Amazon river. Majuli is the first island which is declared as a district in June 2016 

and has total 144 villages.

2) National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme notified

The Union Government has notified National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme(NAPS) for providing apprenticeship training to over 50 lakh youngsters. It is first of it's kind scheme which is notified to offer financial incentives to the employers to engage apprentices and it's objective is to create more jobs. The Central Government will provide basic training & will bear the 50% of the total expenditure incurred on providing it.

3) Insurance Scheme for passengers Travelling on e-tickets

An insurance scheme has been launched by the Indian Railways for passengers travelling on e-tickets. The insurance cover will be upto 10 lakh rupees. Shriram General Insurance Company, ICICI Lombard and Royal Sundram General Insurance has been engaged for providing the insurance cover.

Key provisions:

1. Person booking ticket through the IRCTC website will be eligible but it is optional. 

2. Passengers have to pay 92 paisa premium.

 3. It offers travellers or nominees a compensation of

 10 lakh rupees   -  death or total disability

7.5 lakh ruppes  -  partial diasability

2 lakh ruppes     -  hospitalisation expenses

10,000 rupees    -  transportation of mortal remains.

      4. Not applicable for children upto 5 years of age and foreign citizens.

      5. Available for only confirmed and RAC ticket passengers.

      6. No refund of premium in case of cancellation of the ticket.

LEGAL SPECIAL

Central Government to engage law students to improve governance

The Department of Personnel and Training(DoPT) nodal authority has decided to give internship to  law students in order to access voluntary disclosures by various central government  ministries. Students will be engaged to suggest ways for improving transparency and accountability in the Governance through effective  implementation of the Right to Information(RTI) Act.The interns would be familiarised with the process of seeking information and enabling access to information under the RTI regime.