The Union Cabinet Approves MoU between India and Saudi Arabia in the field of;

President Ram Nath Kovind has been conferred with the highest State honor of Bolivia, "Condor de Los Andes en el Grado de Gran Collar" during his visit to Bolivia. President of Bolivia Evo Morales awarded him the Honour at a function held in Santa Cruz. On the second day of President's three-day visit to Bolivia, India and Bolivia signed eight MoUs in the fields of culture, Visa waiver arrangement for diplomats, exchange between diplomatic academies, mining, space, traditional medicine, establishment of Centre of Excellence in IT and Bi-Oceanic Railway project. India offered a 100 million US Dollar Line of Credit to Bolivia for financing development projects. Both countries also agreed on the need for reform of the UN Security Council to make it reflective of contemporary realities. President is in Bolivia on the 2nd leg of his 3 nation tour. He is on a three-nation visit to Croatia, Bolivia, and Chile.

In accordance with the International Energy Agency (IEA)'s Global Energy & CO2 status report, India's energy demand has surpassed the global demand growth in 2018. India's primary demand increased 4% in 2018 in comparison to energy consumption worldwide grew by 2.3%. This accounts for 11 per cent of global demand growth.The growth in India was led by coal for power generation and oil for transport.

Union Minister Harsh Vardhan launched three important centre's set up by the Department of Science and Technology (DST) at IIT Madras on 25 January 2019. The first one is the 'DST -IITM Solar Energy Harnessing Centre'. The second centre is the 'DST-IITM Water -IC for SUTRAM of EASY WATER'. The third centre is the 'Testbed on Solar thermal desalination solutions'.

According to data provided by the World Gold Council (WGC), India has the 11th largest gold reserve and the current holding pegged at 607 tonnes. The Netherlands holds the 10th position with 612.5 tonnes, or just about 5.5 tonnes ahead of RBI. The top spot is occupied by US gold reserves of 8,133.5 tonnes, followed by Germany with 3,369.7 tonnes. International Monetary Fund (IMF) ranks third on the list with total gold reserves of 2,814 tonnes.

The US has approved the sale of 24 multi-role MH-60 'Romeo' Seahawk helicopters to India at an estimated cost of $2.6 billion. The Lockheed Martin-built helicopters are designed for hunting submarines, targeting ships, and conducting search-and-rescue operations at sea. It is considered the world's most advanced maritime helicopter. The helicopters are currently deployed with the US Navy. These helicopters would replenish India's aging fleet of British-made Sea King helicopters.

According to World Bank's Migration and Development Brief; with the Indian diaspora sending 79$ billion back to their home country, India retained its position as the world's top recipient of remittances in 2018. India followed by China: 67$ billion, Mexico: 36$ billion; Philippines: 34$ billion and Egypt: 29$ billion.

The government of India has formed a 13-member committee having representatives from GST Network (GSTN), central and state governments to examine the electronic tax invoice system of various countries like South Korea, Latin America and suggest a model for India. The introduction of electronic invoices (e-invoices) through the Goods and Services Tax (GST) portal which will help the indirect tax system and keep a check on tax evasion. For the e-invoices system, the committee will examine and suggest the target taxpayers and the threshold limit. The committee will look at a centralized system of e-invoices, which will give automatic access to authorities to invoices. It will also discuss whether a system of e-invoices would help in dispensing the requirement of e-way bill or modification of the e-way bill or even combine both the options of e-invoice and e-way bill. The e-invoice system will replace the requirement of the generation of e-way bill for movement of goods. At present, the e-way bill is required for moving goods exceeding Rs. 50,000.

While India (USD 0.26) topped the scale of cheap mobile data, Kyrgyzstan (USD 0.27), Kazakstan (USD 0.49), Ukraine (USD 0.5A) and Rwanda (USD 0.56) completed the top five countries offering the cheapest data packs. Price comparison site Cable.co.uk found that 1 gigabyte (GB) of data cost USD 0.26 in India, compared to USD 6.66 in the UK. The US had one of the most expensive rates, with an average cost of USD 12.37 for the same amount of data. The cheapest mobile data in Western Europe was found in Finland with an average price of USD 1.16 for 1GB of data. In Eastern Europe, Poland is the cheapest at USD 1.32 per GB, followed by Romania (USD 1.89) and Slovenia (USD 2.2A).

India ranked at 17th position among 100 countries in 2018, from the 37th spot in 2017 in the Startup Ecosystem Ranking for 2019 as per the data released by StartupBlink. The United States, United Kingdom, and Canada are the top three countries ranked the first, second and third respectively in terms of global rankings. This ranking was based on the strength of its startup ecosystem. Bengaluru, New Delhi, and Mumbai are the cities with the most vibrant startup ecosystems in India. Bengaluru ranked the top startup city in India at 11th spot, while New Delhi followed it at 18th spot and Mumbai at 29th rank.

The government of India, has put a complete ban on import of solid plastic waste/scrap into the country. Import of plastic was earlier partly banned as it was prohibited in special economic zones (SEZ) but allowed by Export-Oriented units (EOUs) who would obtain it from other countries in the form of post-recycling resources .This complete prohibition has been done by amendment of Hazardous Waste (Management & Trans-boundary Movement) Rules on March 1.The rule is a part of India's aim to completely phase out single-use plastic by 2022. A study by Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) states that 10,376 tonnes (40%) out of the 25,940 tonnes of plastic waste per day remains uncollected in the country.