Table of Contents
Special Topic: India-Iran & USA
• Tough talk by the US: cut oil purchases from Iran to zero by November 4
• US expects all Iranian oil imports to stop within just four months roiled markets across the world and set even American allies on edge.
• July 2018: officials from the state and treasury departments will visit India.
• Door for discussions: US is willing to work with countries that reduce Iranian oil imports on a case-by-case basis.
• This will be a chance for India to discuss the issue of crucial energy imports.
• India and China are the two largest buyers of Iranian crude
• Obama administration had made a similar exception
• Trump is expected to be more heavy-handed with the implementation of sanctions
• USA wants to increase pressure on Tehran for a regime change.
• For India, Iran is third largest supplier of oil & an “important near neighbour”
• Whatever India’s concerns are about Iran’s nuclear programme, which
Delhi has voted against at forums such as the United Nations, it is unlikely that it can cut off such a reliable supplier of energy in the short timeframe proposed by the US.
• The Trump administration’s action is an outcome of its decision to pull
out of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), or the Iran nuclear deal.
• Vienna: China, which has said it will work with France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the European Union to save JCPOA.
• Nikki Haley: US will work with India for the development of Chabahar port in Iran as part of a transport corridor that could boost trade in Afghanistan.
Vice President’s Secretariat
• 32nd Intraocular Implant and Refractive Surgery Convention 2018
• The Vice President of India, Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu has appealed people to voluntarily pledge eye donation and Media and NGOs should work to motivate the people to do so.
• Saying that Eyes are the windows to the soul and a good vision is vital to see the world, the Vice President stressed on the need to provide eye care facilities for those who are suffering from vision ailments.
• He stressed on the need to devise a multi-pronged strategy for strengthening the preventive and curative eye care.
• The Vice President said that excessive exposure of children to video games, mobiles, computers, televisions has been adversely impacting their eye health.
• He further said that many of our children are suffering from myopia, especially in rural areas.
• Lack of availability of trained health personnel to meet the growing disease burden of a burgeoning population has been a major issue, he added.
• Quoting the National Programme for Control of Blindness (NPCB), the Vice President said that the services of available Ophthalmic Surgeons in the country are not being adequately utilised.
• Many ophthalmologists are purely working in administrative jobs and similar proportion is posted at peripheral units with no ophthalmic equipments.
Human Resource Development Ministry
• Newly formed National Testing Agency, NTA will now conduct nationallevel examinations including NET, NEET and JEE (Mains).
• These exams are currently organized by Central Board of Secondary Education, CBSE.
• National Eligibility Test (NET) will be conducted only in December and Joint Entrance Examination, JEE (Mains) twice a year in January and April and NATIONAL ELIGIBILITY CUMENTRANCE TEST, NEET in February and May.
• Students can appear both the times in NEET and the best of the two scores will be taken in account for admission.
Ministry of Skill Development &Entrepreneurship
• Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojna is the flagship scheme of the Ministry of Skill Development &Entrepreneurship.
• The objective of this scheme is to enable a large number of young people to take up industry-relevant skill training in order to secure a better livelihood.
• The Assam government has achieved success in providing skill development training to the youths under Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikash Yojna.
Answers-
1. Which country hosted the 18th edition of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit 2018?
A) India
B) China
C) Russia
D) Pakistan
2. What was the theme of 2018 World Oceans Day (WOD)?
A) Preventing plastic pollution and encouraging solutions for
a healthy ocean
B) Beat plastic pollution
C) Plastic Pollution: Damaging the oceans
D) Healthy Oceans, Healthy Planet
Questions-
1. Which country recently lifted the ban on female drivers?
A) Saudi Arabia
B) Syria
C) Israel
D) Denmark
2. Which committee was constituted by the Union Government to lay down standards for metro rail systems in the country?
A) Sushil Mehta committee
B) E Sreedharan committee
C) K S Mehta committee
D) Baba Kalyani committee
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