1) Lok Sabha Passed Mineral Law Amendment Bill
•Lok Sabha has passed the Mineral Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2020 which aims to amend Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957 along with Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Act, 2015.
•Commercial mining will completely be open up in the coal sector by this bill. Another important feature of this bill is that it intends to remove end-use restrictions to participate in coal mine auction.
2) Import duty on Green Energy Equipment Increased by 20%
•Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has increased the import duty of green energy equipment like cells by 20% in the Budget 2020-21. The aim is to drive local manufacturing of the equipment and lowering the import of low-quality Chinese equipment.
•Currently, India is the third-largest consumer of energy after US and China. The manufacturing capacity of India as of now is 3 GW for solar cells.
3) Defence Ministry approves procurement of 26 defence items from local suppliers
•The Department of Defence Production(DDP), Ministry of Defence in an attempt to further encourage procurement from local suppliers to boost ‘Make in India’, has given approval to 26 defense items out of 127 already notified clause 3(a) of the Public Procurement ( Preference to Make in India) order 2017.
•The government will make individual budgetary provisions for procuring Indian made defense equipment to help reduce the defense import bills & boost the Make In India scheme to make it a success post-Covid-19 situation.
4) The Indian Council of Medical Research Revised Advisory On The Use Of Hydroxychloroquine
•The Indian Council of Medical Research has revised its advisory on the use of HCQ (Hydroxychloroquine) On May 23, 2020. As per the new advisory guide the HCQ is only permitted and should only be given on the prescription of a registered medical practitioner.
•Three new categories has been included to whom HCQ shall be prescribed as prophylactic treatment which are: Asymptomatic Health care workers, Asymptomatic frontline workers employed in containment zones, Paramilitary and police personnel.
5) CBSE handbooks on Cybersecurity for Students launched by HRD
•Union HRD Minister Ramesh Nishank has released three handbooks name: ‘Cyber safety – A handbook for students’; ‘In pursuit of Excellence’ and ‘21st Century skills’, by the CBSE based on the measures taken by the board to adopt value-based global standards of education.
•These books will help the students to adopt the value-based global standards of education.
6) What Is Treaty On Open Skies?
•The Treaty on Open Skies was signed in 2002 and recently US President Donald Trump has announced that the USA is to withdraw from Open Skies treaty accusing that Russia has not stuck to its part of the deal.
•This is the third international arms pact inline from which the US has pulled out since Donald Trump become President. The treaty was established by 34 members on an aerial surveillance system for its participants.
7) India Became Second Largest Manufacturer Of PPE In The World
•India has become the second-largest manufacturer of Personal Protective Equipment in the world following China which is currently leading producer of PPE in the world.
•At present, India is producing 2.06 lakh PPE kits every day which is the maximum capacity of the country. If we take an average then India produces 1 lakh kits. A PPE kit basically consists of shoe cover, gloves, eye shield, mask, and gown. The data given above was provided by the Ministry of Health.
