Latest Current Affairs – February 03 & 04 2019
1. TVS Group’s K. Mahesh, chairman of Sundaram Brake Linings, dies at 75
K. Mahesh (75), Chairman of Sundaram Brake Linings Ltd, a part of the $8.5 billion TVS Group, died in Chennai .Mahesh headed the group’s brake linings project since beginning. Initially it was a joint venture with Abex Corporation, a US company. The US company exited the project later. Mahesh as Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) insisted on quality systems and saw to it that Sundaram Brake Linings followed that.
In 2001, the company became the first manufacturer of friction material for brake lining and clutch facings and won the prestigious Deming award from the Union of Japanese Scientists and Engineers.
2. South Korean footballer Ki Sung-yueng announces retirement
Midfielder Ki Sung-yueng announced his retirement from the South Korean national team.In a letter to the Korea Football Association, Ki said it had been a “big honour and responsibility” playing with the national team for the past 11 years. The 30-year-old also thanked his fans for their love and support, reports Efe news.
The midfielder had hinted at retirement after the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia but decided to compete in the 2019 AFC Asian Cup, currently being held in the United Arab Emirates, at the insistence of the new national team coach Paulo Bento.
3. INS Dronacharya wins Kochi area boat pulling regatta trophy
The INS Dronacharya team won the Regetta trophy in the Kochi Area Pulling Regatta 2019 of the Southern Naval Command (SNC) held in the Ernakulam Channel. The Boat Pulling Regatta is one of the most prestigious and traditional naval sporting activities conducted by the Navy.
In the keenly contested event, the team from INS Dronacharya won the overall regatta trophy (called The Cock) while Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) School & Diving School secured the runners up position
Races during the regatta were conducted in the traditional pulling ‘whalers’ and held in four different categories – – junior sailors, senior sailors, officers and best whaler.
The boats had to cover a distance of 1.6 km in the Ernakulam Channel, starting from the Venduruthy-Vikrant Bridge and finishing at the North Jetty of the navy.
4. GST collection crosses Rs 1-lakh crore mark in January
GST collections in January rose to Rs 1.02 lakh crore — the second highest monthly mop-up after April, the finance ministry said Saturday. This is a significant increase from the collection of Rs 94,725 crore in December 2018, and 14 per cent higher than January 2018 collection of Rs 89,825 crore. The total number of sales return or GSTR-3B filed for the month of December up to January 31, 2019 is 73.3 lakh. “The total gross GST revenue collected in January 2019 is Rs 1,02,503 crore of which Central GST is Rs 17,763 crore, State GST (SGST) is Rs 24,826 crore, Integrated GST (IGST) is Rs 51,225 crore and Cess is Rs 8,690 crore.
This is the third time in current fiscal that revenues from Goods and Services Tax (GST) have crossed Rs 1 -lakh crore mark. In April and October too, the collections surpassed this milestone. The government has settled Rs 18,344 crore to CGST and Rs 14,677 crore to SGST from IGST as regular settlement.
5. Ramit Tandon wins Seattle Open
Top seeded Ramit Tandon made the most of his first meeting with Egyptian Mohamed El Sherbini to win the final of the Seattle Open, a PSA challenger squash Tour event here late on Saturday night. The Indian won 11-4, 11-7, 2-11, 11-2 for his first PSA title in 2019 and fourth title overall in his career.
6. Pakistan Successfully Test-fires Short Range Ballistic Missile ‘Nasr’
Pakistan Army successfully test-fired the short range surface-to-surface ballistic missile ‘Nasr’ which it claimed can defeat any ballistic missile defence system now available in the country’s neighbourhood or any other system being developed.
Nasr, with a strike range of about 70-km, is a high precision, shoot and scoot weapon system with the ability of in-flight maneuverability, according to the Pakistan Army. The 2nd phase of this exercise was aimed at testing the extreme inflight maneuverability, including the end flight maneuverability; capable of defeating, by assured penetration, any currently available BMD system in our neighborhood or any other system under procurement/development.
7. EU countries recognise Juan Guaidó as interim Venezuelan leader
European countries including the UK, Spain, France, Germany, Sweden and Denmark have recognised Juan Guaidó as the interim president of Venezuela .Juan Guaido was serving as the President of the National Assembly of Venezuela since 5 January 2019. Nicolas Maduro won the 2018 election with 67.8% of the vote, however, the result was denounced as fraudulent by most neighboring countries including European Union, and refused to recognize the validity of his 2018 reelection.
8. Kristalina Georgieva takes over as World Bank Interim President
Former Bulgarian European Union Commissioner Kristalina Georgieva has assumed the role of Interim World Bank President, taking over from Jim Yong Kim who announced his resignation .Georgieva has been serving as World Bank chief executive, and was appointed to take over from the departing Kim immediately after he announced his resignation.
9. PV Bharathi assumes charge as Corp Bank MD
PV Bharathi has taken charge as the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Corporation Bank.She was responsible for many key areas, including human resources, corporate credit, retail banking, credit monitoring, recovery, risk management, information and technology, audit and inspection, international banking, treasury and others in the Canara Bank. She joined as an officer in Canara Bank in 1982 and handled key responsibilities in branches, regional offices, circle offices and the head office. As a General Manager, she was the Chief Risk Officer of the Canara Bank.
10. Indus river dolphin is Punjab’s state aquatic animal
Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh gave approval to declare the endangered Indus River dolphin, found only in the Beas River in the country, as the state aquatic animal, an official statement said here. Chairing a meeting of the State Board for Wildlife here, Singh said the Indus dolphin, a rare aquatic mammal, would be the flagship species for the conservation of the Beas River ecosystem.
The chief minister also gave approval to declare the Kanjli Wetland and the holy Kali Bein River as a wildlife conservation reserve to mark the historic 550th birth anniversary of Sikhism founder Guru Nanak Dev. The sacred Kali Bein river was associated with the life of the Sikh Guru, who got enlightenment while taking a dip in the holy river, the release stated.
11. Odisha announces scholarships for KALIA beneficiaries’ children
Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Sunday announced the ‘KALIA Chhatra Bruti’, which will provide scholarships to the children of the KALIA scheme beneficiaries for pursuing higher education.the government has launched the ‘KALIA Chhatra Bruti’ programme so that the children of the farmers excel in the future.
Under the scholarship scheme, the government will bear the educational expenses of the children of the Krushak Assistance for Livelihood and Income Augmentation (KALIA) beneficiaries, who are studying in government professional colleges on merit, a statement said.
The state government is implementing the KALIA scheme for the benefit of the farmers. An amount of Rs 10,000 per family at the rate of Rs 5,000 each for the Kharif and Rabi seasons will be provided as financial assistance for taking up cultivation under the scheme.Besides, landless households will be provided Rs 12,500 to take up activities like goat rearing units, mini layer units, duckery units, fishery kits for fishermen and women, mushroom cultivation and beekeeping.
12. Ministry of Finance to merge two regional rural banks in Tamil Nadu
The Ministry of Finance has decided to merge two regional rural banks and name the new entity as Tamil Nadu Grama Bank.The banks include Pallavan Grama Bank (Sponsored by Indian Bank) and Pandyan Grama Bank (Sponsored by Indian Overseas Bank). The new entity, namely Tamil Nadu Grama Bank, will be under the sponsorship of Indian Bank, with its head office in Salem. The merger would be effective from April 1, 2019.
Tamil Nadu Grama Bank reported around Rs 21,000 crore of business with 625 branches and 800 business correspondent outlets spread over the entire length and breadth of the state.
13. RBI launches Ombudsman Scheme for digital payments
The RBI has launched an ombudsman scheme to tackle frauds associated with digital transactions. The banking regulator had indicated in December that it would set up a separate ombudsman for digital payments.
“The scheme is introduced to facilitate the satisfaction or settlement of complaints regarding digital transactions undertaken by customers of system participants as defined under the scheme,” the RBI said in a statement on Thursday.
The scheme, launched under Section 18 of the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007, will provide a cost-free and expeditious complaint redressal mechanism related to deficiency in customer services in digital transactions conducted through non-banking entities regulated by the RBI, it added.
