Cabinet gave Nod to BRICS MoU for Cooperation in S&T
- The Union Cabinet was on February 17, 2016 apprised of the BRICS Memorandum of Understandings (MoU) on cooperation in the fields of science, technology’ and innovation signed in 2015.
- The objectives of the MoU are to establish a strategic framework of cooperation in science, technology and innovation to address the common global, and regional socio-economic challenges utilizing shared experiences among the BRICS countries; co-generate new knowledge and innovative products, services and processes.
Union Cabinet gave Nod to Election Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2016
- The Union Cabinet gave its nod to amend Section-11 of the Delimitation Act, 2002 and Section-9 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950 on February 17, 2016 to allow the conduct of a Unified delimitation exercise in West Bengal for bestowing voting rights on people who became citizens of the country.
- Once passed, the proposed Election Laws (Amendment) Hill, 2016 will enable the Election Commission to cum out limited delimitation of assembly and Parliamentary constituencies in Couch Behar district of West Bengal following the exchange of 51 Bangladeshi and 111 Indian enclaves in July, 2015.
Cabinet Approved Trade Facilitation Agreement
- The Union Cabinet approved the Proposal for Notification of Commitments under the Trade Facilitation Agreement of the World Trade Organization (WTO), ratification and acceptance of the Instrument of Acceptance of Protocol of TFA to the WTO Secretariat on February 17, 2016.
- It also approved setting up of a National Committee on Trade Facilitation that would be chaired jointly by the Commerce and Revenue Secretaries to facilitate both domestic coordination and implementation of the agreement.
- This will improve the ease of doing business. The TFA contains provisions for expediting the movement, release and clearance of goods, including goods in transit.
Government gave Nod to LIGO-India Mega Science Project
- The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given its ‘in-principle’ approval to the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory in India (LIGO-India) mega science proposal on February 17, 2016 for research on gravitational waves.
- The project in collaboration with the UGO Laboratory in the USA, run by Caltech and MIT, is aimed at bringing unprecedented opportunities for scientists and engineers to dig deeper into the realm of gravitational waves and take global leadership in this new astronomical frontier.
- The proposal is piloted by the Department of Atomic Energy and Department of Science and Technology. The approval coincides with the historic detection of gravitational waves a few days ago that opened up a new window to the universe to unravel some of its greatest mysteries.
