03 January 2019 - Daily Current Affairs
1. PM Modi inaugurates Indian Science Congress-2019 in Jalandhar
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi has inaugurated the Indian Science Congress-2019 (106th edition) in Jalandhar, Punjab.
- The theme of this five-day mega event is ‘Future India: Science and Technology’.
- This meet brings together leaders in science and technology from the country and abroad every year.
- The Prime Minister addressed about 30,000 delegates, including Nobel laureates, eminent scientists, policymakers, young researchers and school children, from across the country and abroad.
- Eminent personalities from DRDO, ISRO, AIIMS, UGC, AICTE and many elite universities of the country, USA, UK, and other countries are participating.
- Indian Science Congress Association (ISCA) is a premier scientific organisation of India with headquarters at Kolkata, West Bengal.
- It has a membership of more than 30,000 scientists.
Session | Year | Place | Title/Theme |
104th | 2017 | Tirupati (S. V. University) |
Science & Tech. for National Development |
105th | 2018 | Imphal (Manipur University) |
Reaching the unreached through science and technology |
106th | 2019 | Jalandhar (Lovely Professional University) | FUTURE INDIA – Science and Technology |
2. Entire Nagaland declared ‘disturbed area’ under AFSPA
- According to Home Ministry notification, Entire state of Nagaland has been declared ‘disturbed area’ for six (June-2019) more months, under the black law Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA).
- AFSPA gives armed forces the power to maintain public order in “disturbed areas”.
- They have the authority to prohibit a gathering of five or more persons in an area, can use force or even open fire after giving due warning if they feel a person is in contravention of the law
- Armed Forces (Special Powers) Acts (AFSPA), are Acts of the Parliament of India that grant special powers to the Indian Armed Forces in which each act terms "disturbed areas".
- The Articles in the Constitution of India empower state governments to declare a State of emergency due to one or more of the following reasons:
- Failure of the administration and the local police to tackle local issues.
- Return of (central) security forces leads to return of miscreants/erosion of the "peace dividend".
- The scale of unrest or instability in the state is too large for local forces to handle.
3. West Bengal Govt. announced two Initiatives for farmers
- The West Bengal government has announced two welfare initiatives for farmers, part of the ‘Krishi Krishak Bondhu’ scheme.
- The first of the two initiatives will provide Rs 2 lakh to the family of a deceased farmer.
- Under the second initiative, farmers would get Rs 2,500 twice a year for growing a single crop on one acre of land.
4. Veer Savarkar International Airport in Port Blair declared as an authorized Immigration Check post
- Veer Savarkar International Airport in Port Blair has been declared as an authorized Immigration Check post for entry into/exit from India with valid travel documents for all classes of passengers.
- This decision of the Union Government will open up the Port Blair Airport for direct international flight and immigration facilities.
- For this purpose, the Superintendent of Police (CID), Andaman and Nicobar Police has been appointed as the ‘Civil Authority’ for the purpose of the immigration check post.
- Efforts are being made for the early operation of international flights from the Airport and extending facilities of e-visa and visa on arrival.
5. National Health Authority gets Cabinet nod
- The Union Cabinet has cleared the constitution of a National Health Authority (NHA) through an executive order, thus taking the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY) out of the ambit of the Ministry of Health.
- Now, the ministry’s role will be limited to acting as the nodal ministry for NHA in parliamentary matters, like the presentation of annual reports.
- Earlier, all funds released by the National Health Agency, which is implementing the PM-JAY, were done through the Ministry of Health.
- The NHA’s governing board will be chaired by the Minister for Health and Family Welfare, while its members will include NITI Aayog CEO and NHA CEO.
- Under the aegis of the governing board, the CEO will have complete administrative control of the NHA.
International Affairs
6. Qatar will cease to be a member of OPEC
- Qatar will cease to be a member of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries(OPEC).
- The country had sent an official notification to the OPEC expressing its wish to pull out and to focus on its liquefied natural gas production in December.
- The decision came amid the ongoing diplomatic and economic blockade imposed on the country by its Persian Gulf neighbours and several Arab states.
- These countries accuse Doha of supporting terrorism and interfering in their internal affairs. Qatar has strongly refuted these allegations.
- The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is an intergovernmental organisation of 14 nations, founded in 1960 in Baghdad by the first five members (Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela), and headquartered since 1965 in Vienna, Austria.
National Appointment
7. Govt appoints Hemant Bhargava interim chairman of LIC
- The Union government has appointed Life Insurance Corporation's (LIC) senior-most Managing Director (MD) Hemant Bhargava as the interim chairman.
- He replaced V K Sharma who retired on 31st Dec 2018.
- The government has also initiated a process to select the regular chairman and managing director of LIC.
- Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) is an Indian state-owned insurance group and investment company headquartered in Mumbai.
- The Life Insurance Corporation of India was founded in 1956 when the Parliament of India passed the Life Insurance of India Act that nationalised the private insurance industry in India.
- LIC's slogan ‘Yogakshemam Vahaamyaham’ is in Sanskrit which loosely translates into English as "Your welfare is our responsibility".
Banking & Finance
8. Cabinet approves the merger of Vijaya Bank & Dena Bank with Bank of Baroda
- The Union cabinet has approved the merger of Vijaya Bank & Dena Bank with Bank of Baroda.
- The merger will be effective from April 2019.
- The decision was in a bid to create a stronger and sustainable global-sized lender.
- After the merger, Bank of Baroda will become the third biggest public sector bank, behind State Bank of India and HDFC Bank (in terms of assets).
- The boards of public lenders Bank of Baroda and Dena Bank has approved swap ratio for the proposed merger of the two PSU banks.
- According to Dena Bank, its shareholders will receive 110 equity shares of Bank of Baroda of face value Rs 2 for every 1,000 shares they held.
- Vijaya Bank shareholders will get 402 equity shares of Bank of Baroda for every 1,000 shares they held.
9. RBI forms expert panel to suggest measures for MSMEs
- The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will set up an expert committee under former Sebi chairman U K Sinha to suggest long-term solutions for the economic and financial sustainability of the MSME sector.
- The eight-member committee will also examine the factors affecting the timely and adequate availability of finance to the sector, the RBI said in a statement.
- The expert committee will submit its report by the end of June 2019.
- The panel will review the current institutional framework in place to support the MSME sector and study the impact of the recent economic reforms on the sector and "identify the structural problems affecting its growth".
- They have also been asked to propose measures for leveraging technology in accelerating the growth of the sector and suggest long-term solutions for the economic and financial sustainability of the MSME sector.
Obituaries
10. Sachin Tendulkar's coach Ramakant Achrekar passes away
- Sachin Tendulkar's childhood coach cricket coach Ramakant Achrekar (87-years) passed away due to age-related ailments in Mumbai.
- Besides Tendulkar, he also coached some prominent players in Vinod Kambli, Pravin Amre, Sameer Dighe and Balwinder Singh Sandhu.
- He was bestowed with country's fourth highest civilian award Padma Shri (in 2010) and Dronacharya Award (for Outstanding Coaches in Sports and Games) in 1990.
- As a player, Achrekar competed in just one first-class match but was instrumental in moulding Tendulkar as a child, often driving him to stadiums on his scooter.
11. Veteran Kannada actor C H Loknath passes away
- Veteran Kannada actor C H Lokanath (91-years) passed away at a private hospital in Bengaluru.
- Lokanath was in the Kannada film industry for nearly six decades and was affectionately addressed as ‘Uncle Lokanath’ by his fans.
- He had acted in over 600 movies and more than 1,000 plays.
- His famous movies are Bhootayyana Maga Ayyu, Minchina Ota, Nagarahaavu, Nodi Swami Navidru Heege, Katha Sangama and Kittu Puttu.
Sports
12. ICC announces women's ODI and T20I teams of the year
- International Cricket Council (ICC) has announced women's ODI and T20I teams of the year 2018.
- Suzie Bates (New Zealand) was named as captain of the 50-over side and Harmanpreet Kaur (India) appointed the captain of the T20 team.
- Smriti Mandhana & Poonam Yadav (India) are the two other players Healy (Australia)and Bates (New Zealand) featured in both the ODI and T20I squads.
- ICC T20 Women's team of the year includes three Indians Smriti Mandhana, Harmanpreet Kaur and Poonam Yadav.