Who has reduced the minimum subscription requirement for Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) and Infrastructure Investment Trusts (InvITs)?

UN labour agency International Labour Organisation (ILO) in its recent report titled "The Safety and the Health at the Heart of the Future of Work- Building on 100 years of Experience" termed Bhopal Gas Tragedy as one of the world's 'major industrial accident' which killed more than 15,000 people due to the result of at least 30 tons of highly toxic Methyl Isocyanate (MIC) gas leak in Union Carbide pesticide plant in Bhopal in 1984. In the report, ILO has reported that more than 600,000 workers were affected due to leak of toxic gas from Union Carbide plant.Other major industrial accident after 1919 which ILO talked about in its report is Chernobyl nuclear disaster of Ukraine in 1986, Fukushima nuclear disasters of Japan in 2011 and Rana Plaza building collapse of Bangladesh in 2013.

WHO (World Health organization) collaborated with the International Food and Beverage Alliance (IFBA) to eliminate industrially produced trans fat (iTFA) from food supply worldwide by 2023. Trans fat-intake leads to coronary heart disease, due to which globally 5,00,000 deaths occur every year. Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of WHO had a meeting with the IFBA representatives, that included CEOs (chief executive officers) from around 12 companies comprising IFBA. The meeting stressed on the steps that are needed to be taken to eliminate industrial trans fats, decrease salt, sugar and saturated fats in processed foods. Decision was taken by the IFBA members to make sure that the amount of industrial trans fat in their products does not go beyond 2 gram of iTFA per 100 gram fat/oil globally by 2023. This aligns with the WHO's mission of its REPLACE action package, developed and launched in 2018.

India's Haj Quota has been increased by about 25,000, raising the number to 2 lakh from 1.75 lakh by Saudi Arabia. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman gave the assurance to Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a meeting in February. This will help the huge number of pilgrim of Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, and Bihar to embark pilgrimage this year. Also, total 2,340 Muslim women from India will go for Haj without 'Mehram' or male companion. This year, the GST on Haj pilgrimage has been reduced from 18 percent to 5 percent which will ensure that about Rs 113 crore will be saved by pilgrims during the 2019 Haj.

The report titled, 'The Belt and Road Initiative Progress, Contributions and Prospects' released by the Leading Group for Promoting the Belt and Road Initiative had previously listed the BCIM as a BRI project. But, owing to the fact that India had skipped the Belt and Road Forum (BRF), the Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar (BCIM) economic corridor ran the possibility to be excluded from the list of projects under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) umbrella. The BRI is a major initiative speared by China to reconstruct the ancient Silk Road connectivity across Eurasia and Africa.This has come to limelight after a document attached with the Joint Communique of the Leaders' Roundtable of the BRF that concluded in Beijing, the website did not list the BCIM as a project under the BRI.

India's National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) has recently announced for Rs. 700 crore project funds for equity investments in agriculture and rural start-ups. NABARD was used to contribute to other funds but it is for the first time when NABARD launched its own funds. This project was launched by Nabventures, an auxiliary unit of NABARD. NABARD proposed amount of Rs 500 crore with an option to retain over-subscriptions of Rs 200 crore. Company names it green-shoe option. With this initiative NABARD will assist those start-ups who are engaged in agriculture and rural areas' development.

The world's largest airplane called 'Roc' weighing nearly 2,26,800 kilograms with a 385-foot wingspan took its first ever flight in Mojave, California. Built by Stratolaunch, it's designed to launch rockets into orbit from the air. The plane is powered by six engines on a twin fuselage and is designed to fly to an altitude of 35,000 feet. The aircraft is so big its wing span is longer than a football field, or about 1.5 times that of an Airbus A380. It hit a top speed of 304 kilometers per hour (189 mph) and reached an altitude of 17,000 feet, or 5,182 meters.

In a bid to evaluate the environmental performance of existing schools across India, the Green Rating for Integrated Habitat Assessment (GRIHA) Council has recently released a rating tool 'GRIHA for Existing Day Schools'. The rating tool will work as an integrated tool to evaluate performance and provide solutions for enhanced energy and water efficiencies, increased thermal and visual comfort, and decreased operational and maintenance costs. The purpose of the rating is to familiarize the students with the concepts of sustainability by involving them, under the guidance of their teachers, on evaluating the environmental impact of schools on the environment. Through the rating process, students and teachers will get an opportunity to establish contact with nature and with each other using the approach of co-creation and understanding.

The German-sponsored resolution 2467 (2019), on sexual violence, was adopted by United Nations Security Council (UNSC) condemning rape as a weapon of war after 13 out of 15 members have voted in favour of the resolution while Russia and China abstain from voting. The resolution was adopted only after language on a woman's right to "reproductive health" was removed from the draft to avert a veto by the anti-abortion US administration.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has set up an Indo-Pacific division in the foreign office to integrate the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA), ASEAN region and the Quad. The new division is a brainchild of foreign secretary Vijay Gokhale and is intended to give a coherent architecture to the Indo-Pacific policy. It is a big step by the Government and it is expected to give thrust to the Indo-Pacific centred policymaking. The Indo-Pacific Wing is currently headed by joint secretary Vikram Doraiswami.

World Health Organization (WHO) issued guidelines for children under five years of age, recently. As per WHO guidelines, children under five must spend less time sitting watching screens, or restrained in prams and seats, get better quality sleep and have more time for active play if they are to grow up healthy. The new guidelines on physical activity, sedentary behaviour and sleep for children under 5 years of age were developed by a WHO panel of experts. They assessed the effects on young children of inadequate sleep, and time spent sitting watching screens or restrained in chairs and prams. They also reviewed evidence around the benefits of increased activity levels.