Besides these incidents, there were satellite images showing a Chinese military plane landing on Kagitingan Reef in the West Philippine Sea in late March. There are also reports that China recently opened a research station on Kagitingan and Zamora Reef, also in the West Philippine Sea, to gather data on the ecology, geology, and environment in the Spratlys.

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• The scheme would provide assistance for setting up and up-gradation of infrastructure projects with overwhelming export linkages like the Border Haats, Land customs stations, quality testing and certification labs, cold chains, trade promotion centres, dry ports, export warehousing and packaging, SEZs and ports/airports cargo terminuses.
• This support is imperative to act as an inducement to the States to channelize funds from their increased devolution towards creation of export infrastructure.
• The objective of the proposed scheme is to enhance export competitiveness by bridging gaps in export infrastructure, creating focused export infrastructure, first mile and last mile connectivity for export-oriented projects and addressing quality and certification measures.

PIB ; "

The 'State of India's Birds 2020' report, the first comprehensive assessment of range, abundance and conservation status of birds in India, has underlined concerns about some bird species and good news about a few others. Released during CMS COP13, the international conference held recently in Gandhinagar, the report was prepared as a partnership among 10 organisations including the World Wildlife Fund, Wildlife Institute of India and Nature Biodiversity Authority-India. Much of its data is based on citizen science - information provided by birdwatchers through various platforms. 867: The number of bird species whose status was assessed. This assessment is based on three indices: long-term trend in abundance (over 25+ years); current annual trend in abundance (last 5 years); and distribution range size.

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Statement 2 is correct. Higher Education Financing Agency (HEFA) would be suitably structured for funding this initiative. The manner in which investment in institutions is provided is likely to be the same as is practised in HEFA, but there may be different windows for different institutions. The Union Cabinet had approved HEFA in September 2016 as a Special Purpose Vehicle with a public sector bank (Canara Bank).

Between 2013 and 2016, there was a 24% jump in the number (stock) of Indian students studying abroad. This growth outpaced that for China (which saw a 12% expansion).

Growth rates apart, the other unusual facet of student migration from India is that it is largely a one-way street. While China had more than 8 lakh students lodged in varsities abroad in 2016, it had also half as many international students lodged at its own campuses. In Malaysia, inbound students pursuing college were neck-and-neck with outbound ones. But in India, the number of students lodged abroad is at more than four times the inbound numbers.

A more immediate problem than the brain drain though, is the dollar drain. As more Indian parents pack off their children right from undergraduation, foreign exchange remittances towards their support are growing by leaps and bounds.

The current account records exports and imports in goods and services and transfer payments.

• The trade balance is obtained by subtracting imports of goods from the exports of goods.
• Trade in services denoted as invisible trade (because they are not seen to cross national borders) includes both factor income and net non-factor income.
• Transfer payments are receipts which the residents of a country receive 'for free', without having to make any present or future payments in return. They consist of remittances, gifts and grants. They could be official or private.

The balance of exports and imports of goods is referred to as the trade balance. Adding trade in services and net transfers to the trade balance, we get the current account balance.

Chapter 6, Open Economy Macroeconomics;

http://www.thehindu.com/business/Economy/what-indias-student-exodus-means/article21827549.ece ; "