Weekly Current Affairs January 2019: Week III

National Events

• The Prime Minister Narendra Modi has inaugurated the National Museum of Indian Cinema (NMIC) at Films Division of India premises in Mumbai.
• The Union Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has announced the decision to induct women in Personnel Below Officer Rank, PBOR, role in Corps of Military Police. The women will be inducted in a graded manner to eventually comprise 20% of total Corps of Military Police.
• The Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs is organising a fortnight of events named Shehri Samridhi Utsav all over the country with an aim to extend the outreach of Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana – National Urban Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NULM) to the poorest of poor and the most vulnerable.’
• The Union Minister of Housing and Urban affairs Hardeep Singh Puri launched the Global Housing Technology Challenge. The challenge is undertaken under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana Urban (PMAY-U). GHTC aims to fast-track the construction of affordable housing and meet the target of constructing 1.2 crore houses by 2022.

• Sanrakshan Kshmata Mahotsav (SAKSHAM) Vans was flagged off by Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan to promote and create awareness among people on the need of oil and gas conservation for the future and the methods to do it. Sanrakshan Kshmata Mahotsav (SAKSHAM) is an annual flagship event of Petroleum Conservation Research Association (PCRA) under the aegis of Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas, Govt. of India.
• The Union Finance Ministry has started the Know Your Budget series on Twitter to educate the general public about the budgetary process. It is a fortnight series which explains the importance of Union Budget and its making.
• Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) has announced Young Scientist Programme to inculcate and nurture space research fervour in young minds. 3 students from each of the 29 States and 7 Union Territories will be selected for the Young Scientist program
• The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has given its approval for the capacity expansion project of Numaligarh Refinery from 3 MMTPA (Million Metric Tonne Per Annum) to 9 MMTPA. Numaligarh Refinery Limited (NRL) was set up at Numaligarh in the district of Golaghat (Assam)
• The Minister of Science and Technology Harsh Vardhan launched the initiatives DD Science and India Science to popularise science in India. The initiatives aim to develop the scientific temper in Indian society.
• Dr. Jitendra Singh inaugurated the 1st batch of UNNATI programme of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) in Bengaluru, Karnataka. The full form of UNNATI is: Unispace Nanosatellite Assembly and Training programme.
• Commerce Ministry announced that the Government e Marketplace [GeM] launched “Womaniya on GeM” initiative to enable women entrepreneurs and women self-help groups [WSHGs] to sell handicrafts and handloom, accessories, etc. directly to various Government ministries, departments and institutions.

State Events

• The Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated and laid the Foundation Stone for several development projects at Silvassa in Dadra and Nagar Haveli. He, also, launched m-Arogya mobile app for the citizens of Dadra and Nagar Haveli. The app povides a new dimension to Health-care with its various features ranging from Booking appointments, Accessing past health records, Program & schemes, Upcoming camp and event, Feedback & Grievance, Government health facilities details, Add your family members, IEC, Get Emergency Help.
• Uttar Pradesh became the third state after Jharkhand and Gujarat to approve the 10 per cent reservation for economically backward among upper castes in jobs and educational institutions.
• Odisha launched Krushak Assistance for Livelihood and Income Augmentation (KALIA) with a primary objective to target small farmers, cultivators and landless agricultural labourers.
• The Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has given its approval for the Sita Rama Lift Irrigation Project of Telangana. The project would be completed in three years and would lead to submergence of about 1,930-hectare area and 157 villages.
• Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb launched the Sustainable Catchment Forest Management (SCATFORM) project which is undertaken with the assistance of JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency). The SCATFORM project aims to address issues such as forest cover loss and forest degradation have been mainly caused by shifting cultivation, which increases soil erosion risks on hill slopes especially in upper catchment areas.
• The Union Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman inaugurated the 426.60 m long Pre Stressed Concrete Box Girder type Diffo bridge over Diffo river on Roing – Koronu- Paya road in Arunachal Pradesh. The Diffo bridge will provide for uninterrupted access between Dibang Valley and Lohit valley region
• “Jai Kisan Rin Mukti Yojana” scheme was launched by Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shri. Kamal Nath.It is Rs 50,000 crore farm loan waiver scheme for farmers.
• Chennai Traffic Police introduced a road safety robot named ROADEO, to help in traffic management and assist citizens.
• Tamil Nadu has released Startup and Innovation policy 2018-2023 with a mission of providing an enabling and innovative ecosystem for startups registered in the State and to make Tamil Nadu a ‘Global Innovation hub for startups’ by 2023.

Objectives of the Policy

• Creation of at least 5000 technology startups of which at least 10 global high growth startups in social impact sectors
• Infrastructure support to strengthen existing mechanism in areas like the Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML) and Software as a Service (SAAS)

International Events

• Palestine has taken over the chairmanship of G77 from Egypt. Palestine will be formally elected chair at the annual G77 ministerial meeting, scheduled to take place in mid-September. The chairmanship of the G77 is based on the system of geographical rotation. 2019 was Asia’s turn and the Asian group had unanimously endorsed Palestine.

Sports

• Indian female wrestler Vinesh Phogat, who hails from Haryana, became the first Indian athlete to receive a nomination in the prestigious Laureus World Comeback of the Year Award.
• M C Mary Kom was named as the event ambassador for the16th Tata Mumbai Marathon

Summits and Conferences

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the 9th edition of Vibrant Gujarat Summit at Mahatma Mandir Exhibition cum Convention Centre in Gandhinagar. 5 Heads of States from Uzbekistan, Rwanda, Denmark, Czech Republic and Malta along with the captains of industry from various sectors & over 30,000 delegates from India and abroad are taking part in the event.
• The Global Aviation Summit 2019 was organized in Mumbai with the theme ‘Flying for All’.
• 4-day 2nd world Orange Festival commenced in Nagpur, the city of oranges, for the first time.
• As per Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, India will host the 14th session of the Conference of Parties to United Nations Convention to combat Desertification (UNCCD) in 2019 to address the issues of land degradation and desertification.
• National Academy of Music, Dance and Drama, Sangeet Natak Akademi (SNA) launched the second phase of the Web Campaign ‘SĀNJHI –MUJH MEIN KALĀKĀR’ to document and promote direct public-participation in the Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) and diverse cultural traditions of the country

Banking and Financial Awareness

• The Union Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved a capital infusion of Rs 6,000 crore in state-owned Export-Import Bank of India (Exim) to expand its business.
• The Finance Ministry has asked the public sector banks to gradually reduce the government’s equity to 52 per cent. Currently, some of the public sector banks have government’s holding beyond 75 per cent.
• Vice-President of India Shri Venkaiah Naidu inaugurated the 2-days Agri-Vision 2019 conference on ‘envisioning Agro-solutions for smart and Sustainable Agriculture” in Hyderabad, Telangana

Awards and Honours

• Satyarup Siddhanta, 35-year-old Kolkata mountaineer has set the world record of youngest to climb 7 highest volcanoes, 7 highest mountains in 7 continents in 7 years. He is also the first Indian to conquer the seven mountain peaks and seven volcanic summits.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi was awarded first ever Philip Kotler Presidential Award. Philip Kotler Presidential Award aims to spread examples of individuals and companies who create an innovative culture for the economic, social and technological advancements of an industry or a country.
• Yohei Sasakawa was named to receive Gandhi Peace Prize for 2018,who is the Goodwill Ambassador of the World Health Organization for Leprosy Elimination

Committees

• The Committee headed Deputy Election Commissioner Umesh Sinha has submitted the report on revisiting the section 126 of the Representation of the People Act. Section 126 of the Representation of the People Act Prohibits public meetings during period of forty-eight hours ending with hour fixed for conclusion of the poll.
• Former Chairman of Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), U.K. Sinha will head an 11-member working group constituted by the Insolvency and Bankruptcy board of India (IBBI) to study the concept of ‘Group Insolvency’ and suggest a suitable framework.

Appointments and Resigns

• Reserve Bank of India (RBI) approved the appointment of V Vaidyanathan as MD and CEO of IDFC First Bank for a period of three years.
• Government of India has appointed Senior IPS Officer Prabhat Singh as Director General (Investigation) in the National Human Rights Commission.
• Boxing Federation of India (BFI) appointed India’s first Commonwealth Games gold medalist in boxing, Mohammed Ali Qamar, as chief coach for the country’s women pugilists.

MoUs and Agreements

• The Competition Commission of India has approved the deal wherein Samara Capital-backed Witzig Advisory Services and Amazon will acquire Aditya Birla Retail Ltd, which operates a supermarket store chain ‘more’.
• Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev held a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit 2019. An agreement for importing uranium from Uzbekistan was signed. An agreement for a line of credit of $200 million from India for financing housing and social infrastructure projects in Uzbekistan. The agreement for the supply of Uranium was signed between the Department of Atomic Energy of India and the Novoi Minerals and Metallurgical Company of the Republic of Uzbekistan on the long-term supply of uranium ore concentrate for India’s energy requirements.

Index and Ranking

• The London-based Times Higher Education (THE) has released the Emerging Economies University Rankings 2019. The 2019 ranking comprises of 450 universities from 43 countries. The Indian Institute of Science has topped the rankings among Indian institutes with 14th rank; the second spot among Indian Institutes was occupied by the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay with 27th rank.
• The City Momentum Index of JLL which identifies World Dynamic Cities has been released by the property consultant JLL. Bengaluru has emerged as the world’s most dynamic city among 131 major established and emerging business hubs globally. The Second place is occupied by Hyderabad.

Defence

• India-Myanmar bilateral army exercise, IMBEX 2018-19, has begun at Chandimandir Military Station (Panchkula)
• India celebrates Army India on January 15. Army Day is celebrated to salute the valiant soldiers who sacrificed their lives to protect the country and its citizens. It is in recognition of Field Marshal Kodandera M. Cariappa taking over as the first Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Army from General Sir Francis Butcher, the last British Commander-in-Chief of India, on 15 January 1949.