Latest Current Affairs – February 09 2019
1.Mirabai Chanu lifts gold on her comeback tournament
World champion Indian weightlifter Saikhom Mirabai Chanu notched up a gold medal at the EGAT Cup in Thailand, making a strong comeback from the lower back injury that kept her out of action for more than half of 2018. Chanu won the 48kg category gold with a effort of 192 kg in the silver level Olympic qualifying event, the points from which will come in handy when the final rankings for Tokyo 2020 cut are done.
The 24-year-old Manipuri lifted 82kg in snatch and 110kg in clean and jerk to finish on top of the podium after recovering from the injury, which required extensive physiotherapy.
2. Suresh Prabhu releases book on Ramayan
Union Minister Suresh Prabhu has released a book — Ramayan Retold With Scientific Evidences – written by Saroj Bala. The book narrates the biography of Lord Ram with exact dates of important events, depicting corresponding sky views and weaving other supporting scientific evidences into the story told by Maharshi Valmiki. Saroj Bala, an IRS officer of 1972 batch, had retired as Member of CBDT in 2009.
3.Meghalaya govt to rename Dikkibandi stadium after P A Sangma
The Meghalaya Cabinet has decided to rename the Dikkibandi stadium in Tura town after former Lok Sabha Speaker Purno A Sangma. Purno A Sangma is also a former chief minister of Meghalaya. He was elected from the Tura Lok Sabha seat a number of times. Conrad K Sangma and James K Sangma are sons of Purno A Sangma.
The state Cabinet has also decided to name a road leading from Mawlai-Mawroh to Madan in honour of Saint Teressa. Two roads under Greater Laban area in the city have also been renamed after two former MLAs. Howel Road was renamed Thranghok J Rangad Road while Zikzak Road was renamed as Ardendu Chaudhuri road.
The Batti Bazar road at Laban was also renamed as Roland Lyngdoh Road, Sylhetipara Road at Laban as Krepsing Swer Road and Jackson Trace Road at Lower Lumparing as Melington Kharkongor Road.
4.2nd ASEAN-India Youth Summit Held in Guwahati
Building on the success of the first India-ASEAN Youth Summit, 2017, India Foundation and Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India (MEA) are organising the 2nd ASEAN-India Youth Summit on the theme “Connectivity: Pathway to Shared Prosperity” in Guwahati from 03-07 February 2019.
This confluence of youth leaders from India and the ten ASEAN countries – Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam will lead to a shared understanding of the challenges we face and the actions that we need to take to restore and nourish connectivity in all dimensions within the region. Promising young leaders from India and ASEAN will get an opportunity to participate in brainstorming events over the course of five days and they will be mentored by thought leaders from the region.
Participants will represent some of the largest institutions in their respective countries including political parties, think-tanks, media and cultural organisations who will come together for renewed thinking on key pillars of the India-ASEAN relationship and create institutional co-operation across the India-ASEAN region.
5.Government e Marketplace (GeM) and Competition Commission of India (CCI) entered into a MOU
Government e Marketplace (GeM) and Competition Commission of India (CCI) entered into a Memorandum of Understanding to enable a fair and competitive environment in the e-Marketplace. Chairman CCI, A.K. Gupta, CEO GeM, S. Radha Chauhan, Members of CCI, U.C. Nahta and Sangeeta Verma were present on the occasion along with officers of CCI and GeM. Both CCI and GeM appreciate the importance of advanced analytical tools and processes for identification of malpractices like cartelization. In order to pool their knowledge of the public procurement domain for detection of Anti-competitive practices the MoU has been signed.
GeM is a state-of-the-art national public procurement platform of Ministry of Commerce and Industries, that has used technology to remove entry barriers for bonafide sellers and has created a vibrant e-marketplace with a wide range of goods and services.
Competition Commission of India is a statutory body of the Government of India, responsible for enforcing the Competition Act, 2002 throughout India and to prevent activities that have an adverse effect on competition.
6.Mega Silk Event to be Held in New Delhi
Ministry of Textiles, in association with Central Silk Board, is organizing an event, Surging Silk – Accomplishment and way forward, in New Delhi . Union Minister of External Affairs, Sushma Swaraj will be the chief guest and the event will be presided over by Union Minister of Textiles, Smriti Zubin Irani.
The event is being organized to highlight the growth of silk industry in India over the past 4 years. It focusses on distribution of Buniyaad Tasar Silk Reeling Machines to women reelers from tribal areas, as part of total eradication of the age old practice of thigh reeling.In order to eradicate thigh reeling practice in tasar silk sector and to ensure rightful earning to the poor rural and tribal women reelers, Central Silk Technological Research Institutehas developed a machine in association with an entrepreneur from Champa, Chhattisgarh. The machine developed is known as Buniyaad Reeling machine. This machine will improve the quality and productivity of tasar silk yarn and reduce the drudgery of women.
7.RBI doubles limit, banks to treat Rs 2 crore and more as bulk deposits
Banks will treat deposits of over Rs2 crore as ‘bulk’ after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) doubled the limit for the same from the earlier Rs1 crore. This would enhance operational freedom of banks. RBI said in a release. Commercial banks normally offer a lower rate of interest on bulk deposits.
According to current RBI rules, last reviewed in January 2013, banks have the option of not permitting premature withdrawals of ‘large rupee term deposits’ of ₹1 crore and above.
Banks can offer different rates of interest only on bulk deposits of rs1 crore and more for the same maturity period. They can’t adopt this practice for term deposits of less than rs1 crore where the interest rate is fixed for a given maturity, irrespective of the amount deposited.
8.Young Indian girls clinch 4 medals in Bahrain Open TT
India’s young paddlers stole the limelight in the Bahrain Junior and Cadet Open, clinching a rich haul of four medals, including a gold, two silver and a bronze . All three Indian teams in fray in the Cadet Girls’ Team category displayed great skill and grit to pave their way into the semifinals of the tournament that is part of the ITTF Premium Junior Circuit.
Team India 2, comprising Yashaswini Ghorpade and Kavya Sree Baskar, faced off against the mighty Egypt 1 team for a place in the final while it turned out into an all-Indian clash in the second semifinal.
Yashaswini led from the front and won both her singles, including the decider to help India 2 to a hard-fought 3-2 victory over Farida Badawy and Hana Goda of Egypt late Friday night.
India 1, comprising Suhana Saini and Anargya Manjunath, proved to be too strong for their compatriots India 3 (Radhika Sakpal and Hardee Patel), beating them 3-0 to set up an all-Indian clash in the finals.
India 3 had to be content with a bronze medal for their efforts.
India were among one of the five teams in fray in the Junior Girls’ category, which was played in a round robin format, with each team bagging two points for a win and one for a defeat.
9.Arunachal Pradesh CM Pema Khandu Attends 52nd Boori Boot Yullo Festival
Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu attended the 52nd Boori Boot Yullo festival at Dollungmukh along with Deputy Chief Minister Chowna Mein and MLA Tamar Murtem. Chief Minister inaugurated the new Sub-Divisional Office and laid foundation for PWD Sub-Division Office. DCM laid foundation for 100-bedded VKV girls hostel.
He appealed the people to make use of such rich cultural diversity for promotion of tourism. He said foreign tourist come to Arunachal not to get the feel of the modernity but of the true rich indigenous culture that is authentic and pure.
Chief Minister also appealed the people for preservation of local languages. He lamented on usage of non-local languages in homes and expressed concern over growing number of tribal families in Arunachal interacting with the children in English and Hindi.
10.Government proposes to launch mega pension yojana ‘Pradhan Mantri Shram-Yogi Maandhan’
The Government proposes to launch a mega pension yojana namely ‘Pradhan Mantri Shram-Yogi Maandhan’ for the unorganised sector workers with monthly income upto Rs. 15,000. While presenting the Interim Budget 2019-20 in Parliament.
To the health coverage provided under ‘Ayushman Bharat’ and life & disability coverage provided under ‘Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana’ and ‘Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana’, Government proposes to launch a mega pension yojana namely ‘Pradhan Mantri Shram-Yogi Maandhan’ for the unorganised sector workers with monthly income upto Rs. 15,000.
This pension yojana shall provide an assured monthly pension of Rs. 3,000 from the age of 60 years on a monthly contribution of a small affordable amount during their working age. An unorganised sector worker joining pension yojana at the age of 29 years will have to contribute only Rs. 100 per month till the age of 60 years. A worker joining the pension yojana at 18 years, will have to contribute as little as Rs. 55 per month only. The Government will deposit equal matching share in the pension account of the worker every month.
