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- Maldives finance ministry has signed an agreement with India’s Export-Import bank (EXIM) for line of credit (LOC) of 800 million US dollars to finance the new government’s infrastructure projects.
- Maldives Finance Minister Ibrahim Ameer told media that the agreement with EXIM Bank was signed in presence of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj two-day visit to Male which concluded on 18th march
- He said the concessional loans will be used to provide water and sewerage services on several islands.
- The LOC is part of 1.4 billion US dollars finance assistance announced by Indian government during President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih’s state visit in December.
- The EXIM Bank loans come with a 1.75 percent interest rate and a 15-year repayment period after five years of moratorium.
- The finance minister said detailed proposals for water and sewerage projects on 30 islands have been shared with the EXIM Bank.
- Three other deals were signed during Sushma Swaraj’s first visit since the new government took office including agreement on exempting diplomatic and official passport holders from visa requirements, MOUs for collaboration on renewable energy and grant assistance for high impact community development projects through local bodies.
- The external affairs minister also announced the Indian government’s decision to renew the quota for essential commodities, including river sand and stone aggregate for three years with effect on April 1.
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- Stamps are to create awareness about depleting glaciers and affect on the ecology around the Himalayas.
- Over 12 villages in Ladakh have built ice Stupas this year in various villages.With the technical and material support by the Himalayan Institute of Alternatives Ladakh (HIAL),village youths have enthusiasticly participated in building the ice Stupas.
- To keep motivated, this yesr HIAL has organized a competition among the villages on ice Stupas.
- Ramon Magsaysay and Rolex award winner Sonam Wangchuk said simple living in cities only would help and allow the ecology of mountains to just survive.
- Global warming, ecological imbalance have caused irreparable damage oñ Himalayas, thus this awareness through the stamp release has been taken up, he said.
- Ice Stupas is not any celebration but survival technique we in SECMOL have developed over a period, Wangchuk said.
- Saving Winter water, that flows waste, in a cone shaped stupa which is not melted easily is the main idea behind it , he explains.
- This stupa melts slowly and serves the purpose of drinking and irrigation, he said. In each ice Stupa atleast 30-50 lakh ltrs of water is saved.
- This is apart from the naturally saved water in the slopes of mountains, Sonam Wangchuk said.
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- BJP MLA Pramod Sawant has been sworn- in as the new Chief Minister of Goa. Governor Mridula Sinha administered the oath of office and secrecy to Sawant.
- The Governor also administered oath to 11 other ministers including Sudin Dhavalikar of Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party and Vijai Sardesai of Goa. Forward Party MGP and GFP are allies of the BJP-led Goa government.
- The swearing-in ceremony took place at Raj Bhavan in Dona Paula.
- The new government was sworn-in with the support of 20 MLAs, including 11 from the BJP and three each from GFP, MGP and Independents.
- Before taking oath as the Chief Minister, Sawant resigned from the post of Speaker of Goa Legislative Assembly.
- Later Talking to reporters, Sawant credited Manohar Parrikar for brining him into politics.Sawant said his party BJP has given him a big responsibility.
- Newly sworn in Chief Minister sawant is a farmer and an ayurvedic doctor by profession.
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- Manohar Parrikar was 17th chief minister in the country and second in Goa who died while still in office.
- Parrikar, 63, a former defence minister, died on Sunday at his private residence in Dona Paula near the state capital after battling a pancreatic cancer for over last year.
- Before Parrikar, Dayanand Bandokar, the leader of the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP), died in August 1973 while occupying the post.
- He had swept the polls in 1963 to become the first chief minister of Goa. Under his leadership, the party swept the 1967 and 1972 polls in the state.The MGP is currently an ally of the BJP in the state.
- Tamil Nadu witnessed deaths of three sitting chief ministers. The first one was C N Annadurai, a mentor to future chief ministers of the state.
- Under his leadership, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) defeated the Congress in the 1967 assembly polls. The Congress has been out of power in the state since then. Annadurai died just two years after being in the office.
- The legendary thespian M G Ramachandran, and the founder of All Indian Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) also died while in office in December 1987.
- Ramchandran’s protege and AIADMK chief J Jayalalithaa won the assembly polls for the fourth time in May 2016. However, her tenure was short-lived as she died in December 2016
- Chief ministers of Jammu and Kashmir Sheikh Abdullah and Mufti Mohammad Sayeed died while they were in office.
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- Move over Singapore the world’s most expensive city has two new rivals.
- After topping the Economist Intelligence Unit’s Worldwide Cost of Living Survey for five years, Asia’s Lion City has been joined by Paris and Hong Kong in a tie at the top of the table.
- Zurich and Geneva rounded out the top five, while New York and Los Angeles reclaimed spots in the top 10 ranking in seventh and 10th respectively after slipping to 13th and 14th last year thanks to a weakening dollar.
- The survey is designed to help companies calculate cost-of-living allowances and build compensation packages for expatriates and business travelers.
- The trio of cities sharing the top spot are 7 percent more expensive to live in than New York, according to the EIU, which compiles its list from a survey of 160 products and servicesacross 93 countries.
- The Japanese port city of Osaka was another re-entry, moving up six spots to number five. Seoul (joint seventh place), Copenhagen (also seventh) and Tel Aviv (10th) round out the top 10 which actually consists of 11 cities thanks to tied places.
- ‘Weaker local currencies have pushed all five Australian and two New Zealand cities surveyed down in the ranking,’ the EIU said, accounting for Sydney’s absence after it scraped into 10th position in last year’s report.
- Outsidethe top 10, the EIU said the cost of living in Chinese cities remains relatively stable, while Southeast Asian destinations were moving up the ranks.
- One of the factors behind Asia’s strong showing at the top of the table is that some Asian cities are among the world’s priciest locations for general grocery shopping, according to the EIU.
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