Current Affairs Summary-February 2018

Current Affairs Summary-February 2018

  • The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved continuation of Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP) beyond 12th Plan for 3 years from 2017-18 to 2019-20

 

  • Chinese electronic device and smartphone maker Huawei has unveiled Balong 5G01, world’s first 5G chip at Mobile World Congress 2018 held in Barcelona, Spain. The chip has been designed and manufactured by Huawei. It offers 3GPP standard 5G connectivity and provides downlink speeds of up to 2.3Gbps.

 

  • China-based Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) has approved $1.5 billion in loans to India for infrastructure-related projects in 2018.

 

 

  • The Ministry of Drinking Water & Sanitation has launched second project of Swajal Yojana at village Bhikampura, Karauli, Rajasthan.

 

  • India’s first Aviation Multi Skill Development Centre (MSDC) was launched at Chandigarh Airport’s old terminal. The Centre is a CSR initiative of Airports Authority of India (AAI) and will initially train 2,360 students free of cost in three years.

 

  • The Union Commerce and Industry ministry has appointed four institutes to interact with stakeholders and suggest measures to push India’s ranking in World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business Index. They are National Institute of Construction Management and Research (NICMAR), Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT), Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI) and Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI). As per the latest World Bank’s Doing Business ranking 2017, India’s position had improved by 30 places to 100th. The government wants India to figure within top 50 in the coming years. In the 2018-19 Budget speech, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had mentioned that to further improve ease of doing business, the government has identified 372 action points for states which they will carry out in a mission mode.

 

  • The National Science Day is observed every year on 28th February with an objective to spread message of importance of science and its application among the people. The theme for National Science Day 2018 is “Science and Technology for a sustainable future.”

 

  • The eighth edition Lamitye 2018, bilateral military exercise between Indian Army and Seychelles People’s Defence Force was held at Mahe Island in Seychelles archipelago.

 

 

  • The 21st National Conference on e-Governance was held in Hyderabad, capital city of Telangana. This year, theme of the conference was ‘Technology for accelerating Development’.

 

  • Ministry of Railways has launched SRIJAN (Station Rejuvenation through Joint ActioN), an idea competition for development of 635 railway stations. It was launched on MyGov portal by Indian Railway Stations Development Corporation Limited (IRSDC).

 

  • The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare launched ‘Viral Load testing’ for all People Living with HIV/AIDS (PLHIV). The viral load test measures amount of HIV in blood number of copies of HIV RNA in millilitre of blood.

 

 

  • Significance of Viral Load test: Viral Load testing initiative for PLHIV will provide free of cost viral load testing for 12 lakh PLHIV on treatment in country at least once year. It will help to monitor effectiveness of treatment of patients taking lifelong Antiretroviral Therapy (ART). It will help to optimize utilization of first line regimens, thus preventing drug resistance and ensure longevity of PLHIV.

 

  • The two day international conference on Sustainable Biofuels was held in New Delhi. It was jointly being organized by Department of Biotechnology and Biofuture platform.

 

  • China was elected as vice chair of Financial Action Task Force (FATF), a global body mandated to combat terror financing and money laundering.

 

  • The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has carried out first successful test-flight of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) Rustom-2 in user configuration with higher power engine. Rustom-2 belongs to family of UAVs under development, including Rustom-1 and Rustom-H

 

  • The Indian Navy is going to host 16 countries for multi-national 2018 MILAN exercise at Port Blair in Andaman and Nicobar (A&N) islands from March 6 to 13, 2018. The eight-day mega naval exercise will be held under aegis of Andaman and Nicobar Command with theme of ‘Friendship Across the Seas’.

 

  • 16 countries participating in this edition of exercise include Australia, Malaysia, Maldives, Mauritius, Myanmar, New Zealand, Oman, Vietnam, Thailand, Tanzania, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Kenya and Cambodia. MILAN Exercise

 

  • MILAN is congregation of littoral navies conducted biennially by Indian Navy under aegis of the Andaman and Nicobar Command. It was first held in 1995.

 

  • Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), the nodal authority for issuing Aadhaar cards has rollout ‘Bal Aadhaar’, meant for kids under 5 years of age. Bal Aadhaar literally means Kid’s Aadhaar. It will have blue colour to differentiate it with regular Aadhaar. It will be linked with one of parent’s Aadhaar card. No biometric details will be captured.

 

  • Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India have ceremonially broke ground on Afghanistan section of ambitious, multi-billion dollar TAPI gas pipeline.

 

  • Scientists from Botanical Survey of India (BSI) have identified new plant species named Drypetes kalamii from Buxa and Jaldapara National Parks in West Bengal. It has been named after former President of India, Dr APJ Kalam. The new species is close relative of medicinal plant known in Sanskrit as Putrajivah.
  • Drypetes kalamii
  • Drypetes kalamii is small shrub found to be shorter version of its close relative Drypetes ellisii

 

  • The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has launched Ombudsman Scheme for non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) for redressal of complaints against NBFCs registered with RBI under section 45-IA of the RBI Act, 1934. The scheme will provide cost-free and expeditious complaint redressal mechanism relating to deficiency in services by non-banking financial companies covered under the scheme.

 

  • The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has directed banks to link SWIFT (Society for World Interbank Financial Telecommunication System platform) with their core banking solutions (CBS) by April 30, 2018. This decision is part of RBI’s efforts to tighten internal controls in banks following Rs 11,400 crore fraud that was unearthed at Punjab National Bank (PNB). CBS is centralised software used to support bank’s most common transactions.

 

  • Telecom Major Bharti Airtel and Chinese telecom equipment maker Huawei have successfully conducted India’s first 5G (fifth generation) network trial. It was conducted at Airtel’s network experience centre in Manesar, Gurugram (Haryana) and was able to achieve over 3 gigabit per second (Gbps) data speed.

 

  • India is planning to roll out 5G services for consumers by 2020.

 

  • Kunwar Bai, a 106-year-old woman from Chhattisgarh who was chosen as mascot for `Swachh Bharat Abhiyan’, passed away after a prolonged illness. She had shot to fame in 2016 when story of her selling goats to build toilet at home had got nationwide publicity. She was felicitated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at public meeting at Kurrubhat village in Rajnandgaon district and later made a mascot for Swachh Bharat Abhiyan.

 

 

  • Nuclear-capable surface-to-surface Dhanush ballistic missile was successfully test-fired from naval ship off Odisha near Paradip in the Bay of Bengal. The missile test was carried out by Strategic Forces Command (SFC), the tri-services military command that controls all of India’s nuclear weapons and their associated delivery systems.
  • Dhanush missile
  • Dhanush missile is also known as Prithvi-III. It is naval variant of indigenously-developed Prithvi-II missile. Its design features customisations to Prithvi platform to make it suitable for launch from ship. It is short-range ballistic missile capable of carrying nuclear as well as conventional warheads.

 

  • India was ranked 81st among 180 countries in Corruption Perception Index (CPI) 2017 released by NGO Transparency International. India has dropped by two ranks from 79th slot in CPI 2016. It scored 40 on the scale

 

  • CPI ranks countries on a scale of zero (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean) based on their perceived levels of corruption in the public sector. The index is compiled by using data of World Bank, World Economic Forum (WEF) and other institutions,

 

  • Scientists from Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru have indigenously developed country’s first super critical carbon dioxide (S-CO2) Brayton Test Loop facility. The facility was inaugurated at the IISc campus. It is first test loop technology coupled with solar heat source in world that will generate clean energy from power plants, including solar thermal. This facility uses supercritical CO2 (SCO2) instead of steam to generate more power. Supercritical refers to state of CO2 above its critical temperature of 31 C and critical pressure of 73 atmospheres, which makes it twice as dense as steam. S-CO2 operated in closed loop Brayton cycle increases efficiency of energy conversion by as much as 50% or more.

 

  • Venezuela become first sovereign country to officially launch its own cryptocurrency called Petro backed by oil, gas, gold and diamond reserves to circumvent US-led financial sanctions. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has claimed that the pre-mined cryptocurrency Petrohas raised US $735 million on the first day of its pre-sale.

 

  • The Petro aims to help Venezuela to advance in issues of monetary sovereignty, to make financial transactions and overcome financial blockade. It is based on blockchain technology. Its value will be pegged to price of barrel of Venezuelan oil from the previous day. Government will accept Petro as a form of payment of national taxes, fees, contributions and public services

 

  • Venezuelian government will issue 100 million coins of Petro of which 38.4 million is available for pre-sale and 44 million coins will be offered in Initial Coin Offerings (ICO) in March 2018. The rest 17.6 million coins will be retained by Venezuelan Superintendency of Currency and Related Activities (SUPCACVEN).
  • Petro Gold
  • With encouraging response to Petro, Venezuelan government is planning to launch another cryptocurrency based on gold called Petro Gold which will be backed by gold. It will be more powerful and strengthen the Petro. But Petro Gold will, be not the first cryptocurrency based on gold. Many such currencies are traded in market including one called RMG created by The Royal Mint in Britain.
  • Comment
  • The success of Petro depends a lot on how global crypto-community responds to its offer. Moreover, governments and regulators across the globe have already started warning investors against the financial and legal risks associated with digital or crypto-currencies. However, Venezuela is successful in managing digital assets, it will be able to circumvent sanctions imposed on it and it could open new ways for other sanctioned countries to be financially stable despite the curbs.
  • Background
  • Venezuela, an OPEC member has one of the largest oil reserves in the world. It has over 300 billion barrels oil reserves – largest in the world. The socialist country earns 95% of its forex from oil exports is going through one of the biggest financial crisis in its history. With new official cryptocurrency, Venezuela hopes to overcome economic blockade imposed by United States which has resulted in 99% depreciation of value of its fiat currency Bolivar.

 

  • First night trial of nuclear-capable surface-to-surface short-range ballistic Prithvi-II missile was successfully conducted from a defence facility off Odisha coast. The indigenously developed missile mounted on Mobile Tatra transporter-erector Launcher (MTL) was test fired from launching complex III (LC-III) of Integrated Test Range (ITR). It was equipped with state of art guidance system and was fired in real-time situation.
  • Prithvi-II missile
  • Prithvi-II is India’s first developed indigenously and inducted indigenous surface-to-surface strategic missile. It is first missile to be indigenously developed by DRDO under India’s prestigious Integrated Guided Missile Development Program (IGMDP).
  • The tactical missile is capable of attacking targets at range of 350 km. It is capable of carrying 500 to 1,000 kg of nuclear as well as conventional warheads and is thrusted by liquid propulsion twin engines.

 

 

  • India has contributed $1 million aid Tonga for rehabilitation efforts after island was hit by Tropical Cyclone Gita which had caused massive destruction across the pacific ocean archipelago.

 

  • India is going to host first International Solar Alliance (ISA) summit in March 2018 in New Delhi.

 

  • Flying officer Avani Chaturvedi (24) created history by becoming first Indian woman pilot of Indian Air Force (IAF) to complete a solo flight in a MiG-21 Bison fighter aircraft.

 

  • PM Narendra Modi announced setting up of defence industrial corridor in Bundelkhand region along with Defence Investors’ Cell will be set under Defece Ministry to ensure speedy development of the corridor.

 

  • Government has constituted Empowered Expert Committee (EEC) to select 20 Institutions of Eminence from among 104 institutions (public or private) that have applied for the status.
  • The committee will be headed by former Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) N Gopalaswami. Its other members are Professor Tarun Khanna, director of South Asia Institute at Harvard University, Renu Khator, president of University of Houston and former director of IIM Lucknow, Pritam Singh.
  • The scheme of Institutions of Eminence was rolled out by University Grants Commission (UGC). It aims to help 20 higher education (10 public and 10 private) institutions from country break into top 500 global rankings in 10 years, and then eventually break into top 100 over time.

 

  • Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has constituted an expert committee to look into the entire gamut of issues relating to classification of bad loans, effectiveness of audits and rising incidents of frauds. The committee will be headed by Y H Malegam, a former member of Central Board of Directors of RBI.

 

  • Northeast India’s first regional Centre for Agriculture with collaboration of Israel will be inaugurated in Mizoram in March 2018.

 

  • The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved setting up of tribunal for adjudication of long-pending dispute between Odisha and Chhattisgarh over Mahanadi river waters.

 

 

  • The Union Cabinet has approved creation of Rs. 60,000 crores National Urban Housing Fund (NUHF) to finance Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban) which aims to build 1.2 crore affordable houses in urban areas by 2022. Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban)
  • PMAY(U) provide houses to all poor in urban areas by 2022. It is new version of Prime Minister’s Housing For All by 2022 vision. Its objective is to construct two crore houses across nation. It covers entire urban area consisting of 4041 statutory towns with initial focus on 500 Class I cities. Intended beneficiaries of scheme are Poor people (BPL) and People living under Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) and LIG (Low income Group) categories in urban establishments of country. It also targets people living under MIG (middle income Group). Government will provide subsidy ranging between 1 lakh to 2.30 lakh to people from above categories in order to make them secure.

 

  • The Union Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation has launched Gangotri Swachh Iconic Place project and Swajal, a community owned drinking water programme in Uttarkashi district of Uttarakhand.
  • These both projects will create cleanliness, provide basic amenities to the people of Ganga bank villages and will also generate employment

 

  • The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved methodology for auction of coal mines/blocks for sale of coal to private sector under Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Act, 2015 and Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957.
  • This decision opens coal sector to commercial mining by private eblntiti, ending 41 year old monopoly ot state owned Coal India Ltd (CIL). It will allow power cement and steel producers to source fuel more efficiently.
  • Background
  • Supreme Court in its September 2014 order had cancelled 204 coal mines and blocks allocated to various Government and Private Companies since 1993 under the provisions of Coal Mines (Nationalisation) Act, 1973. The pursuance of this order, Parliament had enacted Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Act, 2015 to bring transparency and accountability for allocation of coal mines by way of auction and allotment for the sale of coal.
  • Under this methodology
  • The auction will be ascending forward auction whereby bid parameter will be price offer in Rs./tonne which will be paid to State Government on actual production of coal. There shall be no restriction on the sale and utilization of coal from coal mine.
  • Moreover, the entire revenue from auction of coal mines will accrue to coal bearing States. It will incentivise these states to utilize this increased revenue for growth and development of backward areas and their inhabitants including tribals.

 

  • The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved construction of 4.531 km long 2-Lane Bi-Directional Silkyara Bend-Barkot Tunnel in Uttarakhand as part of ‘Chardham Mahamarg Pariyojana’. The project will come along NH-134 (old NH-94) in Uttarakhand and will be built under Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) Mode. The construction of this tunnel will provide all weather connectivity to Yamunotri, one of dham on Chardham Yatra.

 

  • Maharashtra government will roll out Asmita Yojana on the International Women’s Day (March 8, 2018) to provide affordable (subsidised) sanitary pads to school girls and women.

 

  • India will be the Global Host for World Environment Day (WED) 2018 which is observed annually on 5 June. The central theme for this year is ‘Plastic Pollution”
  • Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated World Information Technology Congress (WITC) 2018 in Hyderabad, Telangana via video conference. The theme of this edition of conference was ‘Future Enterprises.’
  • It was hosted by Telangana Government, in association with country’s top IT body, National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) and global IT organization World Information Technology and Services Alliance (WITSA).
  • Key Facts
  • 42 languages or dialects in India are considered to be endangered and are believed to be heading towards extinction as only few thousand people speak them. According to report of Census Directorate, there are 22 scheduled languages and 100 non-scheduled languages in country, which are spoken by large number of people – one lakh or more.
  • There 42 languages are spoken by fewer than 10,000 people. A list prepared by UNESCO also has mentioned them as critically endangered languages.

 

  • The 8th edition of Theatre Olympics was inaugurated by Vice president Venkaih Naidu in New Delhi. The event was organised by National School of Drama (NSD) under Ministry of Culture. The theme of the festival is – “Flag of Friendship”.

 

 

  • The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) had recently organized Youth Exchange Programme- Watan Ko Jano programme. Under it, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh met youth of Jammu and Kashmir in New Delhi. Around 200 youth from state visited different places of country as part of the programme.

 

  • The Virgin Group led by Richard Branson has signed an intent agreement with Maharashtra Government to build world’s first hyperloop transportation system between Mumbai and Pune.

 

  • The Union Government has formulated ambitious water conservation scheme Atal Bhujal Yojana (ABY) to tackle ever-deepening crisis of depleting groundwater level.
  • The Rs 6,000-crore will be piloted under the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation. It is awaiting cabinet’s clearance

 

  • Saudi Arabia has allowed women to open their own businesses and benefit from government e-services without having to prove consent from husband or male guardian.

 

  • Scientists have confirmed discovery of nearly 100 new exoplanets outside our solar system based on data from second mission of NASA’s Kepler Space Telescope (K2 mission) released in 2014. Exoplanet
  • It is a planet that does not orbit Sun and instead orbits different star, stellar remnant, or brown dwarf. It is also termed as extrasolar planet. The first such planet orbiting star similar to our own Sun was detected only in 1995. Today some 3,600 exoplanets have been found, ranging from rocky Earth-sized planets to large gas giants like Jupiter.

 

 

  • The 2018 edition of World Sustainable Development Summit (WSDS 2018) was held at VigyanBhawan in New Delhi. It was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
  • WSDS is flagship forum of The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI). It seeks to bring together global leaders and thinkers in the fields of sustainable development, energy and environment sectors on common platform

 

  • Scientists from The Rockefeller University in New York have reported discovery of a new class of antibiotics called malacidins. It has been produced by microorganisms living in soil and dirt and is capable of killing off several antibiotic-resistant pathogens.

 

  • State owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) is planning to introduce carbon dioxide (CO2) injection technology in its Gandhar oil field in Gujarat. It will be first large scale CO2-injected project in Asia. Gandhar located in Gujarat is one of ONGC’s major brownfields and was discovered in 1983. The field produces approximately 30,000 barrels of oil per day and is on the decline.

 

 

  • China will host 2018 Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Summit at Qingdao, eastern Shandong Province in June 2018. China had taken over rotating chair of SCO after17th SCO summit concluded in Astana, capital of Kazakhstan in June 2017.

 

  • Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO)
  • SCO is a Eurasian economic, political and security organisation headquartered in Beijing, China. It was founded in 2001. The full members of the organization are China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, India and Pakistan. Afghanistan, Belarus, Iran and Mongolia have observer status at present.

 

 

  • India’s Aadhaar and Umang App have won awards at recently concluded 6th World Government Summit 2018 in Dubai.
  • Umang App: The award acknowledged India’s efforts to provide convenient services to its citizens. Umang stands for Unified Mobile Application for New-age Governance. It provides users unified platform that combines government departments and services, facilitating transactions for citizens

 

  • India International Exchange (India INX)
  • Indai-INX is India’s first international exchange at IFSC Gujarat International Financial Tech (GIFT) City, Gandhinagar (Gujarat). It is wholly-owned subsidiary of Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), through its global bourse. It is one of world’s most advanced and fastest trading technology platforms with turn-around time of 4 micro seconds. It operates for 22 hours a day allowing international investors and NRIs to trade from anywhere across globe. It trades in equity derivatives, currency derivatives, commodity derivatives including Index and Stocks. It also offers depository receipts and bonds.

 

  • The West Bengal became the first state to opt out of Centre’s National Health Protection Scheme (NHPS) announced in Union Budget 2018-19. According to State Government, it has already made hospitalisation and medical treatment free for its citizens and has already enrolled 50 lakh people under its Swasthya Sathi programme.
  • National Health Protection Scheme (NHPS)
  • NHPS (Ayushman Bharat Scheme) dubbed ‘Modicare’ seeks to provide health insurance of Rs 5 Lakh to 10 crore poor and vulnerable households. Under it, up to Rs 5 lakh insurance cover will be provided to each family per year in secondary and tertiary care institutions.

 

 

  • Uttar Pradesh Government has launched massive door to door “DASTAK campaign against Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES) and Japanise Encephalitis (JE)” to eradicate deadly diseases from the state. It was launched in association with UNICEF (United Nations Children’s Fund). DASTAK campaign is part of the comprehensive Social and Behaviour Change Communication (SBCC) strategy embraced by state government to beat encephalitis.

 

  • Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC)-led consortium of Indian state oil firms have acquired 10% stake in Abu Dhabi’s offshore Lower Zakum Concession

 

  • Scientists from Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) have discovered three new species of eel along northern Bay of Bengal coast.

 

  • China’s People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) has commissioned its new generation J-20 fourth-generation stealth fighter into combat service. With this, China became second country in world to commissioned domestically developed stealth aircraft after United States.

 

  • Britain’s Prince Charles has launched a new 10-million-dollar Development Impact Bond (DIB) to help improve education for over 200,000 children in India. The DIB is the largest bond of its type in South Asia. It is the latest fundraising initiative by British Asian Trust (BAT) set up by royal 10 years ago to fight poverty in South Asia.

 

  • The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has imposed Rs.136 crore fine on world’s most popular search engine Google for unfair business practices in Indian market for online search. The penalty was imposed on Google for infringing anti-trust conduct.
  • CCI Ruling
  • CCI held that Google was found to be indulged in practices of search bias and by doing so it has caused harm to its competitors as well as to users. It also held that Google was leveraging its dominance in market for online general web search, to strengthen its position in market for online syndicate search service. The penalty amount imposed translates to 5% of company’s average total revenue generated from India operations from its different business segments for financial years 2013, 2014 and 2015.

 

  • Competition Commission of India (CCI)
  • CCI is quasi-judicial statutory body established under The Competition Act, 2002. It was established in October 2003 and became fully functional in May 2009. It aims to eliminate practices that adversely affect competition in different industries and protect interests of consumers and ensure freedom of trade.
  • CCI consists of a Chairperson and 6 Members appointed by the Central Government.

 

  • Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban)
  • PMAY(U) provide houses to all poor in urban areas by 2022. It is new version of Prime Minister’s Housing For All by 2022 vision. Its objective is to construct two crore houses across nation. It covers entire urban area consisting of 4041 statutory towns with initial focus on 500 Class I cities.
  • Intended beneficiaries of scheme are Poor people (BPL) and People living under Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) and LIG (Low income Group) categories in urban establishments of country. It also targets people living under MIG (middle income Group). Government will provide subsidy ranging between 1 lakh to 2.30 lakh to people from above categories in order to make them secure.

 

  • President Ram Nath Kovind inaugurated 88th Mahamastakabhisheka of Lord Gomateshwara by unveiling an idol of Bahubali at Shravanabelagola in Hassan district, Karnataka.

 

  • The Union Cabinet has approved amendment to Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development (MSMED) Act, 2006 for classifying MSMEs from current investment in plant and machinery criteria to annual turnover criteria.

 

  • New Classification Criteria (based on turnover)
  • Micro enterprise: It will be unit with annual turnover does not exceed Rs. 5 crore.
  • Small enterprise: It will be unit with annual turnover is more than Rs. 5 crore but does not exceed Rs. 75 crore.
  • Medium enterprise: It will be unit with annual turnover is more than Rs. 75 crore but does not exceed Rs. 250 crore.
  • MSME is second largest employment generating sector after agriculture sector. It provides 80% of jobs in industry with just 20% of investment. It contributes around 31% to nation’s GDP and 45% and 34% share of the overall exports and manufacturing output (2017 report).

 

  • The Union Ministry of Defence (MoD) has constituted 13-member Raksha Mantri Advisory Committee on Ministry of Defence Capital Projects (RMCOMP). It will be headed by former secretary Vinay Sheel Oberoi.

 

  • The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved to enhance target base of Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) from 5 crore to 8 crore. The revised target of PMUY will be achieved by 2020 with an additional allocation of Rs. 4,800 crore. The decision comes in the wake of huge response to PMUY from the women particularly in rural areas and to cover such households not having LPG connection. Besides, expanding target base of scheme, Cabinet also approved proposal to expand scheme to cover all SC/ST households, beneficiaries of Antyoday Anna Yojana (AAY), PMAY (Gramin), forest dwellers, most backward classes (MBC), Tea and Ex-Tea Garden Tribes, people residing in Islands and rivers etc. in addition to SECC identified households. This move will address practical difficulty faced in implementation of PMUY, namely, targeting genuinely poor households left out of Socio Economic Caste Survey (SECC) list.

 

  • The scheme’s motive is to provide free of cost LPG (cooking gas) connections to women from BPL Households. Through it, cash assistance is given to beneficiaries to get a deposit-free new connection. It is first social welfare scheme implemented by Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas.

 

 

  • The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved increase in Minimum Support Price (MSP) for Fair Average Quality (FAQ) of “Milling Copra” for 2018 season. The approval was based on recommendations of Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP).
  • Key Facts
  • The increased in MSP of Copra is expected to ensure appropriate minimum prices to farmers and step up investment in Coconut cultivation and thereby production and productivity in country. MSP is form of agricultural market intervention undertaken by Central Government in order to insure agricultural producers are protected against any sharp fall in farm prices. It is announced for certain crops by Government prior to the sowing season. Its purpose is to incentivize cultivators to adopt modern technology and raise productivity and overall production in line with the emerging demand patterns in the country. The prices are decided by CCEA on the basis of recommendations of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP). CACP is an expert body which recommend minimum support prices (MSPs) to Government (CCEA) by taking into account cost of production, trends in domestic and international prices. It is an attached office of the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare. It came into existence in January 1965.
  • Currently, CCEA comprises Chairman, Member Secretary, one Member (Official) and two Members (Non-Official). The non-official members are representatives from farming community and usually have active association with farming community.

 

  • The National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Limited (NAFED) and National Cooperative Consumer Federation of India Limited (NCCF) will continue to act as Central Nodal Agencies to undertake price support operations at MSP in the Coconut growing states.

 

  • The Union Cabinet has approved implementation of Prime Minister’s Research Fellows (PMRF) Scheme for doctoral students pursuing research in areas related to technology. It aims to realize importance of innovation and technology for progress and development of the nation.
  • Prime Minister’s Research Fellows (PMRF) Scheme
  • The fellowship scheme was announced in the Budget Speech 2018-19. It will be implemented for period of seven years beginning 2018-19 at total cost of Rs. 1650 crore.
  • Under it, best students who have completed or are in final year of B. Tech/Integrated M.Tech/M.Sc courses in Science and Technology streams from IISc/IITs/IISERs/ NITs/IIITs will be offered direct admission in PhD programme in IITs/IISc. Maximum of 3000 Fellows would be selected in three year period, beginning 2018-19.
  • Monthly fellowship: Selected students through selection process laid down in PMRF Guidelines will be offered monthly fellowship of Rs.70,000 for first two years, Rs.75,000 for 3rd year and Rs.80,000 in 4th and 5th years.
  • Research grant: Each selected fellow students will be also provided research grant of Rs.2.00 lakh for period of 5 years to cover their foreign travel expenses for presenting research papers in international conferences and seminars.

 

  • The Union Cabinet has approved proposal for ratification of Minamata Convention on Mercury and depositing instrument of ratification enabling India to become Party of Convention. The approval entails ratification of convention along with flexibility for continued use of mercury-based products and processes involving mercury compound up to 2025.

 

  • The Union Cabinet has approved signing and ratification of protocol amending Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) between India and China.

 

  • Foundation stone of Rhodendron Park was laid in Tawang district of Arunachal Pradesh by Chief Minister Pema Khandu.

 

  • Search engine giant Google has launched ‘#SecurityCheckKiya’ campaign in India to create awareness around Internet safety. It was launched on the occasion of Safer Internet Day (6 February).

 

  • The ‘Pelican Bird Festival-2018’ was held for first in Atapaka Bird Sanctuary on at Kolleru lake in Andhra Pradesh. It was jointly organised by Andhra Pradesh Tourism Authority (APTA) and Krishna district administration.
  • Background
  • During winter season, thousands of pelicans, painted storks and other birds migrate to Kolleru lake. During their stay they roost, breed and later fly away with their off springs. Recently, Atapaka Bird Sanctuary was recognised as one of the largest pelicanry in the world.
  • Kolleru lake
  • Kolleru Lake is one of the largest freshwater lakes in India located in Andhra Pradesh. It is located between Krishna and Godavari deltas. It spans into two districts of Andhra Pradesh- Krishna and West Godavari.
  • It was declared as wildlife sanctuary in November 1999 under Wildlife Protection Act of 1972, and designated wetland of international importance in November 2002 under Ramsar Convention.
  • It is important habitat for resident and migratory birds, including the grey or spot-billed pelican (Pelecanus philippensis). Many birds migrate here in winter, such as Siberian crane, ibis, and painted storks.

 

  • The Chief of US Air Force, General David L Goldfein flew a sortie in indigenous Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas at the Indian Air Force (IAF) station in Jodhpur, Rajasthan. With this he became first foreign military chief to fly Tejas aircraft. He was accompanied by Air Vice Marshal AP Singh as a co-pilot during the short flight.
  • General Goldfein was on an official visit to India to boost defence ties between the two nations. Earlier in November 2017, Defence Minister of Singapore Ng Eng Hen was flown in a Tejas fighter jet.
  • LCA Tejas
  • The indigenous LCA is a single-seat, single-jet engine, multirole light fighter. It is fourth generation aircraft that can fly at 1,350 km per hour, with a payload capacity of 4,000 kg. It has been indigenously developed by the Aeronautical Development Agency, and manufactured by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL).
  • It has been pegged as world’s smallest and lightest supersonic fighter. It is tailless and has compound delta wing design. It is mounted with inbuilt MultiMode Radar (MMR), Radar Warning Receiver (RWR) systems. The first squadron of LCA Tejas named as ‘Flying Daggers’ based in Sulur, Tamil Nadu was inducted in July 2016.

 

  • The World Cancer Day (WCD) is observed every year on 4 February across the world to raise awareness of cancer and to encourage its prevention, detection, and treatment. Its primary goal is to reduce the illness and related deaths by 2020.

 

  • The book “Exam Warriors” authored by Prime Minister Narendra Modi s released by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj at a function in New Delhi.
  • The books aims to inspire youth to face the difficult moments of examinations and life with fresh and new energy. It emphasizes the importance of play, sleep & even travel.

 

  • India has won Under-19 ICC World Cup 2018 by defeating Australia by eight wickets. With this victory, India became first nation to win Under-19 World Cup four times. It was India’s sixth appearance in the under-19 World Cup finals. Australia had made into the final five times, winning the tournament three times.

 

 

  • The SIDBI (Small Industries Development Bank of India) and ratings agency Crisil have launched CriSidEx, India’s first MSE Sentiment Index for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). The index will help to indicate the current state and expected outlook on the MSME sector every quarter.

 

  • The 32nd edition of Surajkund International Crafts Mela was held at Faridabad, Haryana. It was formally inaugurated by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in the presence of Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar.
  • It is annual cultural festival hosted since 1987 to showcase richness and diversity of the handicrafts and cultural heritage of India. This year Uttar Pradesh is theme state and Kyrgyzstan is the partner nation.

 

 

  • The Floating Treatment Wetland (FTW) was inaugurated on World Wetlands Day (February 2) in Neknampur Lake in Hyderabad to clean and purify the polluted waterbody. Plants planted on FTW can clean the lake by absorbing nitrates and other pollutants in the water.

 

  • The Union Government has announced Rs.1.4 lakh-crore Kisan Urja Suraksha evam Utthaan Mahaabhiyan (KUSUM) scheme for promoting solar farming i.e. decentralised solar power production of up to 28,250 MW to help farmers.
  • KUSUM scheme will start with building 10,000 MW solar plants on barren lands and providing 1.75 million off-grid agricultural solar pumps. It will provide extra income to farmers, by giving them an option to sell additional power to grid through solar power projects set up on their barren lands.

 

 

  • Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) signed project agreement with World Bank and for Jal Marg Vikas Project (JMVP) i.e. National Waterway-1 on Ganga River from Varanasi (Uttar Pradesh) to Haldia (West Bengal). It also inked US $375 million loan agreement for the project. It will develop waterway between Varanasi and Haldia on Ganga River, covering distance of 1620 km by March, 2023. It will enable commercial navigation of vessels with capacity of 1500-2,000 tons on NW-I.
  • The project covers Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal. It aims to develop fairway with three metres depth to enable commercial navigation of at least 1500 tonne vessels on river. It also includes development of fairway, multi-modal terminals, strengthening of open river navigation technique, conservancy works, modern River Information System (RIS) etc.

 

 

  • The Ministry of Defence (Department of Defence Production) constituted a 17 member task force headed by Tata Sons Chairman N Chandrasekaran to study use and application of artificial intelligence (AI) in military.
  • Union Finance minister Arun Jaitley presented Union Budget 2018 in Parliament. It is last full budget of Narendra Modi Government before 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Several new schemes were announced. Some of them are
  • National Health Protection Scheme
  • National Health Protection Scheme (Ayushman Bharat Scheme) will cover 10 crore poor and vulnerable families. Under it, up to Rs 5 lakh insurance cover will be provided to each family per year in secondary and tertiary care institutions. It will have 50 crore beneficiaries. It will be world’s largest government-funded healthcare programme.
  • Operation Green
  • It will be launched with an allocation of Rs 500 crore on the lines of Operation Flood. It aims to promote farmer producers organisations, processing facilities, agri-logistics and professional management. It also aims to aid farmers and help control and limit erratic fluctuations in the prices of tomatoes, onions and potatoes (TOP). It is essentially price fixation scheme that aims to ensure farmers are given the right price for their produce. The idea behind it is to double the income of farmers by the end of 2022.
  • Eklavya School
  • Eklavya schools will be established for scheduled caste (SC) and schedule tribe students by 2022 on the lines of Navodaya schools. They will be model residential schools set up in each Block. It will in areas with more than 50% tribal areas and 20,000 tribal people. These schools will be part of Navodaya Vidyalayas. It will provide training in sports and skill development. It has special facilities for preserving local art and culture.
  • Revitalising Infrastructure and Systems in Education (RISE) Scheme
  • RISE scheme aims to lend low-cost funds to government higher educational institutions. It will be launched with a total investment of Rs. 1 lakh crore in the next four years. It will be financed via restructured higher education financing agency (HEFA), a non-banking financial company.
  • Prime Minister Fellowship Scheme
  • It is aimed at facilitating cutting edge research by provide high fellowship amounts to 1000 B. Tech students to pursue PhD in IITs and IISc. Its purpose is to make to produce better research in India and make its institutions climb up in global rankings.
  • Kisan Credit Card to Fishermen and Cattle owners
  • Kisan Credit Card was extended to fishermen and cattle owners. It will enable them to avail the easier loans. It will help people associated with milk production business in rural areas by providing financial assistance and also to fisheries.
  • Affordable Housing Fund (AHF)
  • Affordable Housing Fund (AHF) will be created under National Housing Bank (NHB). It will be funded from priority sector lending shortfall and fully serviced bonds authorised by Central Government. Beyond this, he did not elaborate about the proposed Fund. It will be used to construct one crore households in the rural areas Pradhanmantri Awas Yojana.
  • Gobar-Dhan Yojna
  • Gobar-Dhan Yojana (also known as Galvanizing Organic Bio-Agro Resource Fund scheme) aims to improve lives of the villagers. Under it, solid waste of dung and fields will be changed into compost, biogas and bio-CNG.
  • National Bamboo Mission
  • 1,290 crore will be allocated under this scheme to help development of bamboo production as an industry in the country. This will help the people of rural and tribal areas.

 

  • The 7th India Energy Congress (IEC) 2018 was held in New Delhi. The theme for this edition of conference was Energy 4.0: Energy Transition Towards 2030. It was organised by World Energy Council India (WEC India) and inaugurated byUnion Power and New and Renewable Energy Minister R K Singh.

 

 

  • India has joined Ashgabat Agreement which envisages facilitation of transit and transportation of goods between Central Asia and the Persian Gulf to significantly boost up trade and investment. It was informed by Turkmenistan, as depository state of the Agreement that all its four founding members have consented to accession of India. Ashgabat Agreement aims at establishment of International Transport and Transit Corridor between the Iran, Oman, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. It was signed in April 2011 and is named after capital of Turkmenistan, Ashgabat.

 

  • The World Wetland Day (WWD) is observed every year on 2 February to raise awareness about the value of wetlands for humanity and the planet. This day marks the date of the adoption of the Convention on Wetlands (also called as Ramsar Convention) in 1971 in the Iranian city of Ramsar on the shores of the Caspian Sea. The theme for year 2018 is “Wetlands for a Sustainable Urban Future”.

 

  • Magahi writer Shesh Anand Madhukar was honoured with Sahitya Akademi Bhasha Samman award. He is second writer of Magahi language to be given this award.
  • Magahi language
  • Magahi language also known as Magadhi is language spoken in Bihar-Jharkhand region of eastern India. It has been derived from ancient language Magadhi Prakrit, spoken in ancient kingdom of Magadha. It is believed to be the language spoken by Gautama Buddha. It was official language of the Mauryan court, in which edicts of Ashoka were composed. Magadhi has approximately 18 million speakers and has a very rich and old tradition of folk songs and stories. It has not been constitutionally recognised in India and was legally absorbed under Hindi in the 1961 Population Census.

 

  • India world’s largest democracy was ranked 42nd among 165 independent states on annual 2017 Global Democracy Index (GDI) released by UK-based company, Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). India’s rank has slipped from 32nd in 2016 GDI and its overall score dropped 0.58 points from 7.81 to 7.23. Moreover, India was classified India as a flawed democracy in 2017

 

 

  • The Ministry of Railways has decided to set up of a massive rail coach factory in Latur district i.e. in Marathwada region of Maharashtra. It will help to generate employment opportunities and bring economic development in Marathwada region which is one of the most Backward Parts of Maharashtra. This plant will manufacture Electric Multiple Units for suburban trains and coaches for metros. Work on this plant will be done on high priority with fast track processing of all approvals. Maharashtra Government has offered several concessions for this project including in land, taxes and etc.

 

  • The Maharashtra Government has approved Ghodazari in Chandrapur district as new wildlife sanctuary in the state.