1. President Presents Swachh Survekshan 2019 Awards

• Indore has been awarded the cleanest city in the country in the Swachh Survekshan 2019 (SS 2019) awards while Bhopal has been declared as the cleanest capital.
• Ujjain has bagged the award for being the cleanest city in the population category of 3 lakh to 10 lakh. The awards were presented by the President.
• The Swachh Survekshan exercise was started with the objective of inculcating a spirit of healthy competition among cities in their race towards becoming India’s cleanest cities.

2. Over 1,000 People Set Guinness World Record In Yoga In Hong Kong

• Over a thousand yoga enthusiasts attempted to do the Virabathrasan for three minutes at one place, setting a Guinness World Record in Yoga.
• The record is a first of its kind in the history of Hong Kong, beating the previous record of 387, when more than 1011 yoga practitioners attempted the Virabathrasan.
• The previous record was of 387 people.

3. Kallas wins Estonia election - set to become first female PM

• Kaja Kallas, the leader of the Reform Party has been appointed as the first female Prime Minister of Estonia.
• Kallas' party won 28.8 percent of the vote and 34 of the 101 seats in Estonia's parliament, closely followed by Ratas' Center party.

4. LIC Housing Finance partners with IMGC for loan scheme

• LIC Housing Finance has announced a tie-up with India Mortgage Guarantee Corporation (IMGC) to offer a special loan scheme under which borrowers can repay the amount till the age of 75 years.
• IMGC will provide LIC Housing Finance with mortgage guarantee which is a financial product that will compensate financial institutions for any losses that may arise on the mortgage loans due to default.
• This strategic partnership will help LIC Housing Finance attract more home loan borrowers, combat NPAs and increase market penetration.

5. Bharat Electronics launches SWAGAT - Automatic Fare Collection Gating System

• BEL is taking up the large-scale manufacturing and deployment of the System at its manufacturing facilities.
• Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL), a defence public sector undertaking, presented SWAGAT - the Automatic Fare Collection Gating System.
• SWAGAT is an initiative steered by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) in collaboration with BEL and Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (CDAC) with the support of Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), National Payment Corporation of India (NPCI) and State Bank of India (SBI).

6. SBI, Hitachi arm to roll out digital payments platform

• State Bank of India (SBI) and Hitachi Payment Services Pvt Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hitachi Ltd,launched their merchant-acquiring joint venture.
• The joint venture (SBI has a 74 per cent stake, and the balance is with Hitachi Payment Services) will facilitate expansion of the digital payments landscape in India via its digital payments platform.
• This will offer innovative products to suit the requirements of all segments of merchants by leveraging the brand value and vast distribution network of SBI, and bring Artificial Intelligence and other technological capabilities of Hitachi to SBI Payment Services.

7. Uttar Pradesh to get Highways Projects Worth Over Rs one Lakh Crore

• Union Home Minister Shri Rajnath Singh will inaugurate and lay the foundation stones for National Highways projects worth Rs 1,10,154 crore in Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh.
• He will also inaugurate/lay foundation stone for several works under Namami Gange programme worth over Rs 1969.57 crore.
• He will also lay the foundation stone for construction of Amethi Bypass and widening and construction of important sections of highways in the State.

8. Home Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurates BOLD-QIT project in Assam

• Home Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated the project BOLD-QIT on India-Bangladesh border in Dhubri District of Assam.
• Border Security Force, BSF is responsible for safeguarding of over four thousand kilometer long International Border with Bangladesh. At various places, it is not possible to erect Border Fence due to the geographical barriers.
• The implementation of this project will not only help BSF to curb all types of cross border crimes but also provide respite to the troops from round the clock human surveillance.