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Current Affairs

Yuvashree Arpan Scheme of West Bengal

 The Chief Minister of West Bengal Mamata Banerjee has unveiled a new scheme Yuvashree Plan II or Yuvashree Arpan to encourage entrepreneurship among youth. Under the Yuvashree Arpan  Scheme around fifty thousand Youths who have passed out of ITI or other polytechnic institutes will be eligible to get financial support of Rs One Lakh from the state MSME department to set up their own business initiatives.
About Yuvashree I Yuvashree I was launched by the labour department of the state of West Bengal. Under the scheme, an unemployment allowance of Rs 1500 per month was provided per month to 1,00,000 unemployed youth.
Catgeory: State

OECD Growth Forecasts 2019

  The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has reduced the world economic growth forecasts for the year 2019.
Economic Forecasts of OECD
  • The report notes that trade tensions and political uncertainty, including Brexit and erosion of business and consumer confidence are weighing on the world’s economy thereby contributing to the slowdown.
  • OECD has cut its 2019 forecast for global economic growth to 3.3% for the current year, down from 3.5% it predicted earlier.
  • OECD growth forecasts for Germany sank to 0.7% from 1.4%, while Italy’s fell from 0.9% growth into a recession at -0.2%.
  • OECD forecasts noted that the sharp downturn in the two countries reflected “their relatively high exposures to the global trade slowdown.
  • The forecasts for France have slipped from 1.5% to 1.3%.
  • Britain’s growth forecast has been chopped from 1.4% to 0.8%. For the first time, the growth rates have fallen below 1% since 2009 following the global economic crisis.
  • The 19-nation eurozone was particularly hard hit, with predicted growth dropping from 1.8 per cent to one per cent which was contributed to policy uncertainty including those over Brexit.
  • The report notes that a sharper slowdown in China would have significant adverse consequences for global growth and trade.
OECD’s forecasts are more downbeat than the IMF’s for many economies, particularly the euro region and the U.K.
Catgeory: Economy & Banking

Google launches Bolo to tutor children to read Hindi and English

  Tech giant Google has unveiled a new app ‘Bolo’ that aims to help children in primary school learn to read in Hindi and English.
Bolo App
  • It is free to use app and can be accessed through the Google Play Store.
  • The app uses Google’s speech recognition and text-to-speech technology.
  • Through an animated character Diya, the app encourages children to read stories aloud.
  • The app also helps if the child is unable to pronounce a word.
  • It lauds the reader when he/she completes the reading.
  • The app also works offline. Once downloaded the user will have access to 100 stories in Hindi and English that the children can read out loud and improve their reading skills.
Google has already piloted the Bolo App in about 200 villages in Uttar Pradesh. Google cites the early results as encouraging with 64 per cent of children showing an improvement in reading proficiency in just three months. Google is now planning to collaborate with non-profit groups to enhance the reach of the app.
Catgeory: Science & Technology

Collaboration between ISRO and CNES

 Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and France Space Agency CNES have agreed to collaborate on the following avenues:
Maritime Surveillance ISRO and CNES have signed an agreement to set up a maritime surveillance centre in the country. The agreement intends to supply an operational system for detecting, identifying and tracking ships in the Indian Ocean, provides for a maritime surveillance centre to be set up in India, sharing of capacity to process existing satellite data and joint development of associated algorithms. ISRO and CNES will build a constellation of satellites for maritime surveillance intended to identify and track ships in the Indian Ocean.
Training for Gaganyaan project ISRO and CNES have signed an agreement to train Indian Scientists for the ‘Gaganyaan’ project at the Toulouse Space Centre in France.  Indian Scientists will also be trained at CADMOS, the centre for development of microgravity applications and space operations, and the MEDES Space Clinic in France. India has also signed an agreement with Russia for the Gaganyaan Project.
Catgeory: Science & Technology

Women Officers to get Permanent Commission in all 10 Branches of Indian Army

  The Union Defence Ministry as announced that permanent commission will be granted for Women in all the 10 branches of Indian Army. The extension of Permanent Commission to Women will provide women with a career in the Army till their retirement. The Short Service Commission entails an opportunity to serve as a Commissioned Officer for 10/14 years. At the end of 10 yrs, 3 options will be provided, either elect for a Permanent Commission or opt out or have the option of 4 years extension.
Permanent Commission for Women
  • The Ministry of Defence has announced that necessary steps have been initiated to ensure women who were earlier inducted for short service commission (SSC) will now be granted PC in the Armed forces.
  • The Women Officers will now get a permanent commission in branches such as signals, engineers, army aviation, army air defence, electronics and mechanical engineers, army service corps, army ordnance corps and intelligence.
  • The Women Officers will be considered for grant of permanent commission based on suitability, merit and will be employed in various staff appointment.
  • The extension of permanent commission for women will enable them to serve for a longer duration across all 10 branches and they will be able to pursue permanent careers in all branches of Indian Army.
The Defence Ministry had earlier approved permanent commission for women in all branches of Air Force including fighter pilots.
Catgeory: Defense

Ajit Kumar Mohanty Appointed Director of Bhabha Atomic Research Centre

 The Ministry of Personnel has notified the appointment of Ajit Kumar Mohanty as Director of Bhabha Atomic Research Centre for the period of three years. Currently, he is the Director, Physics Group in BARC and Director, Saha Institute Institute of Nuclear Physics.
Bhabha Atomic Research Centre The Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) is India’s premier nuclear research facility headquartered in Trombay, Mumbai, Maharashtra. The Atomic Energy Establishment, Trombay (AEET) was established by the government of India in 1954 to consolidate all the research and development activity for nuclear reactors and technology under the AEET. As a result, all the scientists and engineers engaged in the fields of reactor design and development, instrumentation, metallurgy and material science etc. were transferred with their respective programmes from the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) to AEET, with TIFR retaining its original focus for fundamental research in the sciences. After the demise of Dr Homi Jehangir Bhabha in 1966, AEET was renamed Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC). Over the years, BARC has emerged as the multi-disciplinary research centre with extensive infrastructure for advanced research and development. Its R&D covers the entire spectrum of nuclear science, engineering and related areas. BARC’s core mandate is to sustain peaceful applications of nuclear energy, primarily for power generation.
Catgeory: Appointments

Japanese architect Arata Isozaki wins Pritzker Prize

  Japanese Architect Arata Isozaki has received the Pritzker Prize 2019. He is the 46th laureate and eighth architect from Japan to win the Pritzker Prize. Arata Isozaki will be awarded the prize of $100,000 (£76,000) and a bronze medallion in May at a ceremony at the Château de Versailles in France. Some of his major works include Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, Palau Saint Jordi indoor sporting arena in Barcelona, he Allianz Tower in Milan, Italy, Qatar’s National Convention Centre, Kitakyushu’s Central Library in Japan, Thessaloniki concert hall’s second auditorium, M2, in Greece, Nara Centennial Hall in Japan etc.
Catgeory: Awards & Honours

Swachh Survekshan Awards 2019

  Swachh Survekshan Awards are given by the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs based on the survey which covered all urban local bodies in the country. The Survey was the largest such cleanliness survey in the world.
Swachh Survekshan Awards 2019
  • Indore was adjudged India’s cleanest city for the third straight year.
  • The second and third positions were clinched by Ambikapur in Chhattisgarh and Mysore in Karnataka.
  • Ahmedabad has been named the cleanest big city with a population of more than ten lakh.
  • Ujjain has been awarded cleanest medium city having a population between 3 lakh to 10 lakh.
  • New Delhi Municipal Council area was given the ”Cleanest Small City” award.
  • Uttarakhand’s Gauchar was adjudged the ”Best Ganga Town”.
  • Bhopal has been named the cleanest capital.
  • Raipur won the ‘Fastest Moving Big City’.
  • Mathura-Vrindavan won the tag of Fastest Moving Medium City.
  • Chhattisgarh has bagged the top spot in the category of best performing states. Jharkhand is at the second spot while Maharashtra is at the third.
The winners were awarded a statue of Mahatma Gandhi’s memento by the President Ram Nath Kovind.
Catgeory: Awards & Honours

Chhattisgarh Public Financial Management and Accountability Program

 The Government of India, the State Government of Chhattisgarh and the World Bank signed a $25.2 Million Loan Agreement to support the State’s Reforms in Expenditure Management under Chhattisgarh Public Financial Management and Accountability Program.
Chhattisgarh Public Financial Management and Accountability Program
  • The reforms encompass Expenditure Planning, Investment Management, Budget Execution, Public Procurement and Accountability.
  • The programme will help the state of Chhattisgarh to strengthen its Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) and Tax Administration Systems.
  • The programme will build the capacity of the State’s Human Resources and the Institutions Handling Management of Public Finances.
  • The World Bank will also facilitate cross-learning from Public Financial Management (PFM) Reforms undertaken by it in the other Indian States while bringing in global experiences.
  • Improvements in Public Financial Management is a key step for achieving the development potential of the state. Improvements will ensure that the State can invest more and with greater efficiency, for it’s poor and vulnerable.
  • The programme which focuses on IT solutions will benefit almost 11,000 Village Panchayats and 168 Urban Municipalities in the State.
About 92 per cent households in the State of Chhattisgarh belongs to Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes. The Direct Benefit Transfers (DBTs) is being increasingly used by the Central and State Governments to channel resources to households and individuals. The Programme will support the development of systems that will facilitate inter-departmental data interaction under secured protocols and automate most of the processing and payment of DBTs in the State. Thus enhancing the efficiency of the system.
Catgeory: State

Jalamrutha Scheme of Karnataka

 The government of Karnataka has launched the water conservation scheme Jalamrutha. The scheme focuses on drought-proofing measures, including protection and rejuvenation of water bodies.
About the Scheme
  • The scheme will be implemented by the Ministry of Rural Development and Panchayat Raj of Karnataka.
  • Under the scheme, scientific approaches will be deployed for water budgeting, water harvesting and water conservation through the use of geospatial data, satellite imagery, topographical and geological data.
  • The scheme is community drive and will be implemented by key line departments of the government, Panchayat Raj Institutions (PRIs), non-governmental organisations (NGOs), and private sector institutions.
  • The water conservation strategy under the scheme comprises of four components viz. water literacy, rejuvenation of waterbodies, creation of new waterbodies as well as the development of watersheds and afforestation activities.
  • The scheme will operate on a four-tier institutional structure with planning and execution committees being set up at village, taluk, district and State levels.
  • A State-level committee headed by the Chief Minister will be established for strategic monitoring, convergence, policy and programmatic guidance and the committee will design water conservation strategies for the State in consultation with all stakeholders.
Emphasising on water conservation the government of Karnataka has announced 2019 as the ‘Year of Water’ to emphasise the importance of water becoming a scarce commodity and the need to conserve it.
Catgeory: State

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