ONE LINER OF THE DAY 5th OCTOBER 2018.

1.The government of India and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) signed a $240 million loan.The loan will be used for providing safe and sustainable drinking water in three districts of the state of West Bengal affected by arsenic, fluoride, and salinity.Water contamination due to arsenic and fluoride can lead to health problems including cancer and bone diseases.

2.The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Government of India signed a $100 Million Loan Agreement.The loan amount will be used to expand sewerage and drainage coverage, provide sewage treatment and strengthen the capacity of Kolkata Municipal Corporation.The $100 Million loan agreement is the third and final tranche loan under the $400 Million Multi Tranche facility.

3.The Ministry of Railways has been declared the best department for its contribution to “Swachchta Pakhwada” under the “Swachchta Hi Seva” category of awards.The award was presented to the Railway Ministry, on the fourth anniversary of the Swachh Bharat Mission.The ‘Swachchta Hi Seva’ campaign was launched in 2017.

4.The Centre approved the establishment of National Institute of Mental Health Rehabilitation (NIHMR) in Sehore district of Madhya Pradesh.NIMHR will serve as an institution of excellence for capacity building in human resource and research.The institute will also serve as recommending body suggesting models/protocols for effective rehabilitation of persons with mental illness.

5.According to a survey by The Economist Intelligence Unit, India’s overall ranking on the government’s adoption of e-payments has moved up to 28th in 2018.Norway is at the top position in the survey, followed by France and Denmark.The survey looks at the availability of government electronic transaction services and the mechanisms that support digitisation for all transactions.

6.The government of India and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) signed a $110 million loan agreement.The loan will be used for the upgradation of 2,800 kilometres all-weather rural roads in the State of Madhya Pradesh under the Prime Minister’s Rural Roads Program.The overall program is aimed at improving rural connectivity, facilitating safer and more efficient access to transportation.

7.A four-day India International Science Festival (IISF) 2018 was inaugurated in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh on 5 October 2018.The theme of this edition of Science Festival is “Science for Transformation”.Another feature of IISF-2018 was ‘Mega Science and Industry Expo’ that highlighted the outstanding contributions of India in the field of science, technology, and industry.

8.Pankaj Sharma has been appointed as the next Ambassador of India to the United Nations Conference on Disarmament (CD), Geneva.Sharma, an Indian Foreign Services (IFS) officer of 1991 batch is currently serving as a Joint Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).CD is a multilateral disarmament forum established to negotiate arms control and disarmament agreement.

9.The government appointed former Canara Bank managing director Rakesh Sharma as head of IDBI Bank.This decision came after the tenure of B Sriram, Chief Executive of IDBI Bank ended in September 2018.

10.Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi announced that the ‘National Dolphin Research Centre’ will be set up at Patna University, Patna.The centre will be developed at an estimated cost of Rs 28 crore in university premises.The state government also observes October 5 as ‘Dolphin Day’ in Bihar for protection and conservation of Gangetic river dolphin.