Indian Affairs
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INDIAN AFFAIRS Industrial Park Rating System to be released by Commerce Ministry On November 19, 2018, Minister of Commerce and Industry Suresh Prabhu released report on Industrial Park Rating System at a national workshop in New Delhi. i. It is a part of centre‟s vision to make India a 5 Trillion Dollar economy out of which 20 per cent is expected to be generated from industries. ii. It would help increase competitiveness of industries and promotion of the manufacturing sector as it would assess the parks against global standards. iii. As industrial parks play a major role in the growth of the industrial sector in India, this will help enhance the competitiveness of industries in India. iv. Thus good infrastructure will bring down the cost of doing business in India and provide a conducive environment for investments in industrial sectors. About the IPRS: i. The system will be developed by the ministry to assess industrial parks in the country based on four pillars. They are: Internal and external infrastructure, connectivity, environment and safety management, and business support services. ii. The system would assess 200 such parks on several parameters such as sewage effluent and treatment; and water treatment. Background: There are over 3,000 industrial parks in the country in sectors including engineering, software, food processing and chemicals. Ministry of Commerce: ♦ Union Minister: Shri. Suresh Prabhu. ♦ Minister of State: Shri. C R Chaudhary. Jashne Bachpan : 9-day 14th edition of international children‟s theatre festival held in New Delhi From 17 to 25th November 2018, the 9-day 14th edition of Jashne Bachpan, a theatre festival for children commenced at the Sammukh, Abhimanch, Abhikalp and Little Theatre Group (LTG) auditorium in New Delhi. The theatrical event will conclude on November 25, 2018. Objective: To bring theatre into prominence. Key Points: i. The festival has been organized by National School of Drama‟s (NSD) Theatre in Education (TIE) Company. ii. It will witness 21 productions from India and 3 foreign groups including Sri Lanka (non - verbal), Switzerland (English) and Indonesia (Javanese). iii. The plays will be performed in vernacular languages like Bengali, Marathi, Assamese, and Malayalam besides non-verbal, English, Hindi and other foreign languages. iv. The plays during the festival have been divided into four categories. They are: By children, by children and adults, by adults for children and puppetry performances. v. This concept will encourage children to incorporate art and culture along with entertainment. National School of Drama‟s (NSD): ♦ Headquarters: New Delhi. ♦ Director In-charge: Shri. Suresh Sharma. Maharashtra Cabinet passed Maratha Reservation Bill; introduced new category SEBC On November 19, 2018, Maharashtra government led by CM Devendra Fadnavis passed the Maratha Reservation Bill. i. As per the bill, Maharashtra will create a new category called SEBC (socially and educationally backward class) in order to give reservation to Marathas. ii. This has been passed for reservation by citing „extraordinary circumstance‟ as rights of neither OBCs nor Marathas. iii. This move has been recommended by Maharashtra State Backward Class Commission headed by Justice N G Gaikwad (retired). Background: Under certain provisions of Article 15 of the Constitution, reservation can be provided over and above the prescribed 50%. Maharashtra: ♦ Capital: Mumbai. ♦ Chief Minister: Devendra Fadnavis. ♦ Governor: C. Vidyasagar Rao. ♦ National Parks: Tadoba Andheri Tiger Reserve, Chandoli National Park, Sanjay Gandhi National Park, Navegaon National Park. Animation, Gaming & Visual effects Institute to be set up in Mumbai On November 19, 2018, the central government announced setting up of Animation, Gaming and Visual effects Institute in Mumbai . i. This was announced by Information and Broadcasting Minister Rajyavardhan Rathore. ii. This will encourage the youth participation in the field of film and cinematography. KONNICHI WA PUNE: 1st 2-day Indo-Japan Business Council‟s business festival held in Pune On 17th & 18th November, 2018, the 2-day 1st Indo-Japan Business Council- KONNICHI WA PUNE Festival concluded in Pune, Maharashtra. i It was organized by the Indo-Japan Business Council (IJBC). ii. The festival aimed to boost investment, promote businesses and cultural exchange between India and Japan. iii. Maharashtra has emerged as one of the top destinations for the Japanese companies operating 750 out of the total 1309 Japanese firms in the country. Punjab becomes 3rd state to ban hookah bars or lounges On 18th November,2018,Punjab becomes 3rd Indian state after Maharashtra and Gujarat to permanently ban Hookah bars or lounges. The ban was announced after President Ram Nath Kovind has given assent to a bill passed by Punjab state assembly. Key Points: i. Punjab state assembly has passed the Cigarettes and other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of advertisement and Regulation of trade and Commerce, Production, Supply and distribution) (Punjab Amendment) Bill 2018 in March this year. ii. Smoking of hookah increases the health risks such as exposure to toxic chemicals that are not filtered out be water and tuberculosis which is an infectious disease resulting from sharing of hookah. About Punjab ♦ Chief Minister: Amarinder Singh ♦ Governor: V.P. Singh Badnore ♦ Health Minister: Brahm Mohindra INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS 2-Day Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation(APEC) Summit 2018 held in Papua New Guinea On 17th & 18th November,2018, 2-day Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation(APEC)Summit 2018 concluded in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. i. It was hosted by Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea, Peter O‟Neill. ii. All 21 member countries of APEC participated in the Summit. iii. It is the 1st such summit which in its 25-year history failed to agree on a formal joint statement. APEC: Headquarters: Singapore. Papua New Guinea: ♦ Capital: Port Moresby. ♦ Currency: Papua New Guinean kina. Nepal: 3 Educational institutions built with Indian assistance of 126.60 million Nepali rupees inaugurated 3 Educational institutions which are built with Indian assistance of 126.60 million Nepali rupees have been inaugurated in Kaski district of Nepal. Key Points: i. As per Development Partnership programme, India government is providing assistance to institutions of all level starting from Primary school to universities of Nepal. ii. Rabindra Adhikari, Nepal‟s Minister for culture, tourism and civil aviation inaugurated Shree Saraswati Tika Higher School, Lekhnath in Pokhra. iii. Dr. Ajay Kumar, Deputy Chief of Mission, Indian Embassy inaugurated Shree Laxmi Adarsha Multiple campus, Lekhnath and Shree Gupteshwor Mahadev Multiple Campus, Pokhara. About Nepal ♦ Prime Minister: Khadga Prasad Oli ♦ Capital: Kathmandu ♦ Currency: Nepalese rupee BANKING & FINANCE Rs 1,100 crore subsidy disbursed to 51,000 home buyers under PMAY: HDFC On November 18, 2018, Housing finance firm HDFC disbursed over Rs 1,100 crore subsidy to over 51,000 customers under the government‟s flagship scheme Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY). i. It had provided loans of over Rs 9,800 crore under PMAY-Credit Linked Subsidy Scheme (CLSS) to the following customers: EWS (Economically Weaker Section), LIG (Low Income Group) and Middle Income Group (MIG) category. ii. It had also approved 37 per cent of home loans in volume terms and 18 per cent in value terms to customers from the EWS and LIG segment as on September 30, 2018. Background: CLSS was introduced in June 2015under PMAY for home loans to customers from the EWS, LIG and was extended to Middle Income Group (MIG) from January 2017. The schemes for MIG are valid up to March-end 2019and schemes for EWS/LIG are valid up to March-end 2022. HDFC: ♦ Headquarters: Mumbai. ♦ MD: Aditya Puri. ♦ Tagline: We Understand your world. ♦ Founded: August 1994. ♦ Personal Digital Assistant name: EVA. SBICAP Ventures launched SME, affordable housing funds On November 19, 2018, SBICAP Ventures (SVL), an alternative asset manager and a wholly owned subsidiary of SBI Capital Markets, launched twofunds for the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and affordable housing sectors. i. The 2 funds are: Small and Medium Enterprises: to raise a corpus of Rs 4 billionand Affordable Housing Fund to raise a corpus of Rs 3.5 billion. ii. It will be an equity fund and there will be two anchor investors – SBI and SBI CAP/SVL putting in 10 per cent and 10-12 per cent respectively. iii. Both funds are targeting closure of fund in the second half of next financial year (2019-20). iv. They will focus on broad-based fund covering manufacturing and services sector. v. In the initial phase, the affordable housing fund will focus on 8 cities – Mumbai Metropolitan Region, National Capital Region, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad and Pune. vi. The funds will be deployed in at least seven to eight projects, approximately Rs 35-50 crore in each project. SBICAP Ventures (SVL): ♦ Headquarters: Mumbai. ♦ Chairman: Varsha Purandare. AWARDS & RECOGNITION UASG confers Universal Acceptance Thought Leader award to Rajasthan CM Vasundhara Raje On 13th November 2018, UASG (Universal Acceptance Steering Group) conferred “Universal Acceptance Thought Leader award” on Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje for providing Rajmail email service for citizens of Rajasthan in local script. Key Points: i. UASG has recognised the work of Vasundhara Raje and IT Department for Rajmail project that offers access to email address to people