11.01.18 (MPPCS) Madhya Pradesh Current Affairs

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MADHYA PRADESH

  • Rs 335 crore granted for school education expansion in Bhopal

 

  • For the expansion of secondary and higher secondary education, the approval for expenditure of Rs 335.24 crore was granted in a State Cabinet meeting.

 

  • With this, the scheme of upgradation of 820 high schools and 540 higher secondary schools will be implemented from 2017-18 to 2019-20 for a period of three years.

 

  • Along with this, Rs 100 crore has been approved for making furniture available in 6039 Government middle schools. Apart from this, an expense of Rs 65.50 crore was approved on the three-year work plan for power arrangement in 1736 high schools and higher secondary schools of the state.

 

  • The Cabinet granted approval on principle for Rs 40.31 crore to develop physical infrastructure and amenities in School of Excellence at district and block level to impart high quality education and implement this in year 2017-18, 2018-19 and 2019-20.

 

  • The Cabinet has taken a decision that necessary amendment will be made in the Madhya Pradesh Public Service (Reservation of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes) Rule 1998 to include Sahariya Tribe in Rule 4-B.

 

  • The Cabinet also decided to extend financial assistance being provided to scheduled caste girls to promote them and for their education under Girls Literacy Promotion Scheme by the Scheduled Caste Welfare Department from year 2017-18 to 2019-20. The Cabinet has sanctioned provision of Rs 9.92 crore in year 2017-18 for construction of boundary wall in police stations. 

     

    INTERNATIONAL

     

    • India Cancels $500 Million Deal For Israeli Anti-Tank Missiles

     

    • India has cancelled a $ 500 million deal to buy 1,600 Spike anti-tank guided missiles from Israel, the state-owned defence contractor Rafael Advanced Defence Systems announced.

    • Spike is a man-portable “fire and forget’ missile that can hit moving targets such as a tank.

     

    • India had opted for the Israel’s Spike over the Javelin missiles offered by Washington in 2014.

     

     

    NATIONAL

     

    • 5 Day National Youth Festival to begin from 12 January, 2018

     

    • Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi will inaugurate the events of the National Youth Festival(NYF) on 12 January 2018 through Video conferencing and will also address the gathering.

     

    • The Festival will commence on the occasion of birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda, the youth icon of India.

     

    • The inaugural function will be co-presided by Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Shri Yogi Adityanath, and Union Minister for State (Independent Charge) of Youth Affairs and Sports Col. Rajyavardhan Rathore.

     

    • The Festival is organised by Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports, Govt. of India in collaboration with State Govt. of Uttar Pradesh at Gautam Buddha University, Gautam Budh nagar, Greater Noida from 12th to 16th January, 2018.

     

    • This is the first time that the National Youth Festival is being organized in NCR.

     

    • The objective of organizing NYF is to provide a platform to bring the youth of the country together in an attempt to provide them opportunity to showcase their talents in various activities.

     

    • National Youth Festival (NYF) is the biggest Youth Festival of its kind in the Country.

     

    • This is the 22nd National Youth Festival. The 1st National Youth Festival was held in 1995 in Bhopal.

     

    ·        Paytm Launches Investment Arm, to Invest $10 million

     

    • Paytm set up a new entity called Paytm Money Ltd that will offer investment and wealth management products and will invest close to $10 million upfront in the new entity.
    • Paytm Money is the fourth product from One97’s stable after Paytm Mall, Paytm Payments Bank and Paytm wallet.
    • It will be available as a separate mobile application to users.

     

    ·        UIDAI Introduces Virtual ID to Strengthen Privacy and Security of Aadhaar Data

     

    • The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI)introduced a concept of ‘Virtual ID’ to further strengthen privacy and security of Aadhaar number holders.
    • The Aadhaar number holder can use ‘Virtual ID’ in place of an Aadhaar number whenever authentication or KYC services are performed.
    • Aadhaar card holder can generate the Virtual  ID  from UIDAI  website and give for various purposes, including SIM card verification, instead of sharing the actual 12-digit biometric ID.
    • The Virtual ID will be a temporary and revocable 16 digit random number mapped to a person’s Aadhaar number.

     

    ·        Union Cabinet Approves Amendments in FDI Policy, Policies Further Liberalized

     

    • In the financial year 2016-17, total FDI of US $ 60.08 billion received, which is an all-time high.
    • The Cabinet chaired by PM Narendra Modi has approved amendments in FDI Policy and further liberalized few of the policies of FDI.
    • As per the extant policy, foreign airlines are allowed to invest under Government approval route in the capital of Indian companies operating scheduled and non-scheduled air transport services, up to the limit of 49% of their paid-up capital.
    • However, this provision was presently not applicable to Air India, thereby implying that foreign airlines could not invest in Air India. It has now been decided to do away with this restriction and allow foreign airlines to invest up to 49% under approval route in Air India.
    • The Townships, Housing, Built-up Infrastructure and Real Estate Broking Services
    • It has been decided to clarify that real-estate broking service does not amount to real estate business and is, therefore, eligible for 100% FDI under automatic route.

     

    ·        President Ram Nath Kovind Inaugurated 4th International Dharma Dhamma Conference

     

    • President Ram Nath Kovindinaugurated a three-day International Dharma-Dhamma conferenceat Rajgir in Bihar.
    • The conference has been jointly organized by India Foundation, Nalanda University, Ministry of External Affairs, Asean-India and Vietnamese Buddhist Sangha.
    • The inaugural session was chaired by our President.
    • The conference was attended by Sri Lanka’s foreign Minister Tilak Marapana.

     

    ·        Dr Sivan K appointed as New ISRO Chairman

     

    • Noted rocket scientist Sivan K was appointed as the 9th chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
    • He has replaced A.S. Kiran Kumar.
    • The appointment has been made for the tenure of three years.
    • He was the Director of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Kerala. Sivan joined the ISRO in 1982 in Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) project.

     

    ·        Aditya Mehta Wins Kolkata Open 2018 International Invitation Snooker Championship

     

    • Professional player Aditya Mehtawon the Kolkata Open 2018 International Invitation Snooker Championship in the capital city of West Bengal Kolkata.
    • This is his third Kolkata Open title since it’s inception. In the thrilling final he defeated Englishman Professional Player Alfie Burden.