EVENING NEWS DIGEST: 08 JUNE 2018

SHORT-TERM SUBSIDIZED CROP LOAN TO BE IMPLEMENTED THROUGH DBT MODE

• The Reserve Bank of (RBI) informed that Interest Subsidy Scheme (ISS) on short-term crop loans of up to Rs 3 lakh will be implemented through the DBT mode from the current financial year. • The government has earmarked Rs 15,000 crore for 2018-19 towards interest subvention for short-term crop loans. • The Interest Subvention Scheme (ISS) 2018-19 will be required to be settled as applicable in Plan Scheme -- Scheduled Caste (SC), Scheduled Tribe (ST) and North East Region (NER), among others. • What is ISS - The interest subvention scheme for farmers aims at providing short term credit to farmers at subsidised interest rate. The policy came into force with effect from Kharif 2006-07. The Government has earmarked approximately Rs 20,339 crores for interest subvention during 2017-18. • The interest subvention will be given to Public Sector Banks (PSBs), Private Sector Banks, Cooperative Banks and Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) on use of own funds and to NABARD for refinance to RRBs and Cooperative Banks.

MANDELA-GANDHI YOUTH CONFERENCE HELD IN PIETERMARITZBURG

• The Mandela-Gandhi Youth Conference was hosted on June 6 and 7, 2018 in Pieter­maritzburg to commemorate the 125th anniversary of the birth of Satyagraha. • It was jointly organized by the High Commission of India, South Africa, with the support of the Indian Ministries of External Affairs and Culture, the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) and the Pietermaritzburg Gandhi Memorial Committee, • The Conference is marking the 125th anniversary of the day, when on June 7, 1893, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, a young lawyer then, was thrown off a train compartment reserved for whites only. • The two leaders gave hope to the enslaved people of this world, whether under colonialism or apartheid. • Apartheid was a system of institutionalized racial segregation and discrimination that existed in South Africa from 1948 until the early 1990s.

PUNJAB GOVERNMENT LAUNCHES BUSINESS FIRST PORTAL

• A big push towards the ease of doing business in the State, Punjab Government has launched a "Business First Portal" which was unveiled by Industry Minister Sunder Sham Arora. • The online portal would facilitate the industrialists for Regulatory Clearances and Fiscal Approvals, real time tracking of applications at common platform. • The new portal is one step solution for industrialists and Regulatory clearances of all other departments would be integrated in the portal.

VIRAT KOHLI TO GET POLLY UMRIGAR AWARD FOR 2016-17 & 2017-18

• will be honoured with the top BCCI award on June 12 with Polly Umrigar Award for being the best international cricketer for the 2016-17 and 2017-18 seasons. • In the 2016-17 season, Kohli amassed 1332 runs in 13 Tests at a phenomenal average of 74, while he averaged 84.22 for his 1516 runs in 27 ODIs during the period.

EVENING NEWS DIGEST: 08 JUNE 2018 • In the six Tests played in the 2017-18 seasons, Kohli scored 896 runs at an average of 89.6, while ODI average stands at 75.50. • Harmanpreet and Mandhana, both of whom played a crucial role in India's impressive runners-up finish at the Women World Cup 2017 become maiden recipients of the awards for best international cricketer (women) for the 2016-17 and 2017-18 seasons respectively. • Polly Umrigar Awards are given by BCCI every year since 2006-07 to a cricketer who has performed exceptionally well in the past one year. • It has been named after Pahlan Ratanji "Polly" Umrigar (28 March 1926 – 7 November 2006) who scored the first double century by an Indian in Test against New Zealand in Hyderabad. • The first recipient of the award was and it carries a cash prize of Rs 15 lakh.

‘QUEEN PINEAPPLE’ DECLARED STATE FRUIT OF MANIPUR

• President Ram Nath Kovind on June 7, 2018 announced that the “queen” variety of pineapple would be Tripura’s state fruit. • Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb for the first time flagged-off the export of “Queen” variety pineapples, known for being juicy and sweet, to Dubai. • Both the Chief Minister and Governor Tathagata Roy thanked the President for declaring the “queen” variety of pineapple as Tripura’s state fruit.

ANUPAM KHER TO RECEIVE IIFA LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD 2018

• Veteran actor Anupam Kher will be given the lifetime achievement honour at the upcoming International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) awards ceremony in Bangkok on June 24,2018. • The 63-year-old actor has worked in over 500 films in a variety of languages over three decades in India and abroad. • The International Indian Film Academy Awards (also known as the IIFA Awards) are a set of awards presented annually by the International Indian Film Academy to honor both artistic and technical excellence of professionals in Bollywood, the Hindi language film industry.

24 INDIAN UNIVERSITIES FEATURE IN QS WORLD BEST UNIVERSITIES RANKING 2019

• Three Indian universities feature in the top 200 universities of the QS World University rankings 2019. • These are Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) - Bombay, Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore and IIT Delhi. • While IIT Delhi retained the rank 172 as was in 2017, IIT Bombay which ranks 162 in 2019 has climbed up 17 notches. IISc too has moved up 20 to be ranked 170 in 2019. • In all, the number of Indian universities in the top 1,000 increased from 20 to 24.

INDIA AND NORWAY SIGN MOU TO EXTEND HEALTH COOPERATION

• Ministry of Health and Family Welfare signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to extend the cooperation within health sector through the Norway India Partnership Initiative (NIPI).

EVENING NEWS DIGEST: 08 JUNE 2018 • The MoU has been signed for a period of three years starting from 2018 to 2020. • This cooperation between India and Norway is aligned with the development goals of India’s National Health Policy 2017 for achievement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). • The Norway - India Partnership Initiative (NIPI) works within the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) of India. NIPI focuses on reducing child and maternal mortality in five of the 18 states of NRHM in order to assist India in reaching the MDG 4 goal by 2015.

ANDHRA PRADESH GETS NEW STATE BIRD, STATE FLOWER

• Four years after the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh, the government of the residual state has announced its state symbols. • The state bird of undivided Andhra Pradesh was Indian Roller (coracias benghalensis) or Palapitta. This has been changed to Rama Chiluka (psittacula krameri) or rose ringed parakeet. • Palapitta is now the state bird of Telangana, Odisha and Karnataka. • The government of residual AP has retained blackbuck (antilope cervicapra) or Krishna Jinka as the state animal. • After the bifurcation, Telangana had dropped Krishna Jinka of undivided AP and adopted Jinka or spotted deer as its state animal. • The Andhra Pradesh government has opted for jasmine as the state flower, though it does not have cultural significance. • The motive appears to be promote jasmine, which is grown commercially in Guntur, Prakasam, Kurnool, Kadapa, Anantapur and Chittoor districts.

RBI AMENDS GOLD MONETIZATION SCHEME TO MAKE IT MORE ATTRACTIVE

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has made changes in the Gold Monetization Scheme (GMS) to make it more attractive. • Main Changes o The short-term deposits should be treated as bank's on-balance sheet liability. o The deposits will be made with the designated banks for a short period of 1-3 years (with a facility of roll over). o Deposits can also be allowed for broken periods (e.g. 1 year 3 months; 2 years 4 months 5 days; etc.) o The interest rate payable in the case of deposits for maturities with broken periods should be calculated as the sum of interest for the completed year plus interest for the number of remaining days. • In 2015, the government launched the GMS (Gold Monetization Scheme) with the objective of mobilising the gold held by households and institutions in the country.

EVENING NEWS DIGEST: 08 JUNE 2018