• North East Venture Fund(NEVF) has disbursed over Rs.18 crore to 12 start-ups till February,2020, as per the data provided in the Parliament.
• NEVF was launched in 2017 by the North Eastern Development Finance Corporation Limited(NEDFi) in association with the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region(M-DoNER).
• Aim:To contribute to the entrepreneurship development of the NER and achieve attractive risk-adjusted returns through long term capital appreciation by way of investments in privately negotiated equity related investments.
• It focuses on startups in five sectors namely a) food processing b) healthcare c) tourism d) aggregation of services and e) IT and IT-enabled services.
• It is a close ended fund with capital commitment of Rs 100 crore.Each investment will be limited to a minimum of Rs.25 lakh and a maximum of Rs.10 crores with long term investment horizon of 4-5 years.

• According to the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) India study, India is the only country among the 153 surveyed countries where the economic gender gap is larger than the political gap.

Key Features

• The study found that the female labour-force participation in India has declined from 34% in 2006 to 24.8% in 2020 and said that raising women’s participation in the labour force to the same level as men can boost India’s GDP by 27%.
• Gender stereotypes and lack of infrastructure has traditionally sidelined women from core manufacturing functions. As a result, not many are able to reach leadership roles.
• Companies need to ensure policies and procedures are made to adapt to various life changes in their employees, including maternity, changing care needs, dual career couples and continuity
• Globally, 38.7% of employed women are working in agriculture, forestry and fisheries, but only 13.8% of landholders are women.
• According to the study, it is the need of the hour that public policy and corporate policies incorporate various gender related barriers in India to ensure effective solutions.

• India and Myanmar signed 10 agreements, including four aimed at boosting development of Rakhine state to facilitate the return of Rohingya refugees, during President U Win Myint’s visit to the country.

Key Features

• The two sides also announced the launch of a bus service between Imphal in Manipur and Mandalay in Myanmar from April 7 as part of efforts to improve connectivity and people-to-people contacts. Private operators on both sides have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to launch the service.
• Among the agreements, four MoUs are specific to Rakhine state and cover the construction of facilities such as an incinerator, seed storage houses and water supply systems, solar power systems for five townships, and construction of two roads and preschools.
• Other MoUs cover cooperation in petroleum products, communications, and conservation of tigers and other wildlife.

• The Government of India, Government of Himachal Pradesh and the World Bank signed a US$80 million loan agreement to improve water management practices and increase agricultural productivity in selected Gram Panchayats (Village Councils) in Himachal Pradesh, a mountain state richly endowed with natural resources.

Key Features

• The Integrated Project for Source Sustainability and Climate Resilient Rain-Fed Agriculture in Himachal Pradesh will be implemented in 428 Gram Panchayats in 10 districts benefiting over 400,000 smallholder farmers, women and pastoral communities.
• The project will improve upstream water sources in forests, pastures and grasslands and ensure sufficient water is available for sustainable agriculture both in Himachal Pradesh and in downstream states.
• The investment in downstream areas will augment the use of irrigation and help farmers shift from low-value cereal production to climate-resilient crop varieties and to higher-value fruit and vegetable production.
• The US$80 million loan from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) has a final maturity of 14.5 years including a grace period of five years.

• The Ministry of Tourism, Government of India has launched the Incredible India Tourist Facilitators (IITF) Certification Programme, a Pan-India online learning program that is open to all, subject to fulfilment of eligibility criteria, and can be undertaken from anywhere in the country. The Programme aims at creating a pool of trained professionals for facilitating the visit of tourists at destinations across the country.

• Recently, Union Minister for Minority Affairs inaugurated the ‘Hunar Haat’ at Harmu Ground, Harmu Chowk in Ranchi (Jharkhand). This “Hunar Haat” was organised by Union Minority Affairs Ministry from 29th February to 08th March, 2020. This is for the first time that “Hunar Haat” was organised in Jharkhand. It was the 21st “Hunar Haat” of the Union Minority Affairs Ministry.
• “Hunar Haat” is an effective mission which has been ensuring that the common people become a part of mainstream economic development. It has been providing market and opportunity to India’s indigenous legacy of handmade art/crafts. It has proved to be magnificent platform to understand India’s rich cultural heritage under one roof.  

• “PRAGYAN CONCLAVE 2020”, a two-day Indian Army International Seminar being organised by Centre for Land Warfare Studies (CLAWS), commenced on 04 Mar 2020 in New Delhi. The event brings together a cross-domain national and international experts to deliberate on the complex subject of ‘Changing Characteristics of Land Warfare and its Impact on the Military’.
• The seminar provided a platform for deliberations on emerging ideas, perspectives and narratives that define the ‘New Age Warfare’ which is increasingly witnessing a change in its character as well as battlespace with the usage of new ‘means’ to pursue the ‘ends’.