Current Affairs Update 3 January 2019
Current Affairs is an important part for many exams. Be prepared for this section with ByScoop which brings all the important Current Affairs in one place. 3 January 2019
RBI constitutes Expert Committee on MSME headed by Shri U.K. Sinha
- RBI will constitute an Expert Committee on Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises that will be headed by Shri U.K. Sinha (Former Chairman, Securities and Exchange Board of India). It has 8 members including Sinha.
- The formation of such a committee was announced in the Fifth Bi-Monthly Monetary Policy Statement for 2018-19 of RBI. The Expert Committee will submit its report by the end of June, 2019.
- The committee will review the current institutional framework in place to support the MSME sector, review the existing MSME focused policies and its impact on the sector and suggest reforms for betterment of MSME sector.
HDFC MF surpasses ICICI Prudential MF to become largest AMC in India
- HDFC Mutual Fund has pipped ICICI Prudential MF to become the country’s largest asset management company (AMC) after a gap of over two years.
- As of December-end, HDFC MF manages assets to the tune of Rs 3.35 lakh crore, while those of ICICI Prudential MF stood at Rs 3.08 lakh crore as per AMFI.
- SBI MF is at the third slot with AUM of Rs 2.64 lakh crore
Swap ratio fixed for Bank of Baroda merger with Vijaya, Dena bank
- The Union Cabinet has given its nod to the proposed merger of Vijaya Bank and Dena Bank with Bank of Baroda (BoB).
- For every 1,000 equity shares of Vijaya Bank investors will get 402 equity shares of Bank of Baroda
- For every 1,000 equity shares of Dena Bank investors will get 110 equity shares of Bank of Baroda.
- BoB will be the transferee bank and Vijaya Bank and Dena Bank would act as the transferor banks.
- The merger will be completed by April 1, to create the country’s second-largest public sector bank. (Overall Third largest After SBI, HDFC)
10 Days Indian Panaroma Film Festival to Begin from Jan 4 in New Delhi
- The Indian Panorama Film Festival will be organized from 4 to 13 January, 2019 in New Delhi.
- The ten-day Festival is being organized by the Directorate of Film Festivals, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting.
- All the films selected under the Indian Panorama section in the 49th International Film Festival of India will be screened during the Festival.
- A total of 26 Feature Films and 21 Non-Feature Films will be screened during the fest.
West Bengal Government Announces Two Initiatives Under Krishak Bandhu Scheme for Farmers
- The state government of West Bengal has announced two initiatives under the ‘Krishi Krishak Bandhu’ scheme to provide financial assistance to the farmers.
- The first programme will give an annual financial assistance of Rs 5,000 per acre in two installments (Rs 2,500) – one during kharif and another during rabi – for a single crop. Farmers can take the financial assistance at one go too.
- Under the second programme, life insurance cover of Rs. 2 lakh will be given in case of death (irrespective of the cause) of an earning farmer aged between 18 and 60 years.
- The scheme will come into effect on January 1, 2019.
Port Blair Airport Declared as an Authorized Immigration Check Post
- The central government has designated the Veer Savarkar International Airport in Port Blair of Union territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands as an authorised immigration check post for entry into/exit from India with valid travel documents for all classes of passengers.
- The decision is in pursuance of sub-rule (b) of rule 3 of the Passport (Entry into India) Rules, 1950.
- Additionally, the Superintendent of Police (CID) Andaman and Nicobar Police has been appointed as the “civil authority” by the ministry for the immigration check post at the airport, valid from 31 December 2018.
- The move will now enable the Foreign tourists to directly visit the Andaman and Nicobar Islands with valid travelling documents into India.
106th Indian Science Congress Inaugurated in Jalandhar
- Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi inaugurated the 106th edition of the Indian Science Congress at the Lovely Professional University in Jalandhar on January 3, 2019.
- The theme of the 2018 event is ‘Future India: Science and Technology’.
- The world’s biggest science event will end on 7 January 2019.
- PM Modi took a step further by adding “Jai Anusandhan” to the slogan “Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan,” given by Shastri Ji in which Atal ji had initially added “Jai Vigyan”.
Bengaluru to host India Pharma 2019 & India Medical Device 2019 in February
- The 4th edition of INDIA PHARMA 2019 and INDIA MEDICAL DEVICE 2019 will be held on 18-19 February 2019, in Bengaluru, Karnataka.
- The theme for India Pharma 2019 is ‘Enabling Quality Affordable Healthcare’ while that of India Medical Device 2019 is ‘Med-Tech India: Gearing up for Ayushman Bharat’.
- India Pharma 2019 & India Medical Device 2019 is a flagship annual event of the Department of Pharmaceuticals, Ministry of Chemicals & Fertilizers and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) to deliberate on key policy changes required for the growth of the pharma and medical devices Industry. .
Indian-Origin Singaporean Wins Gold Medals at World Memory Championships
- An Indian-origin student Dhruv Manoj from Singapore won two gold medals at the World Memory Championships held in Hong Kong from December 20-22, 2018.
- The 12-year-old won in the “names and faces” and “random words” disciplines, beating 56 other contestants in the “kids category”.
- He memorised more than seven decks of shuffled cards in an hour; 1,155 binary numbers in half that time; and 87 names and faces in 15 minutes.
- He was the lone participant from Singapore in the event which had over 260 contestants from China, Russia, India, Taiwan and Malaysia.
Bengali writer Dibyendu Palit passed away at 79
- Renowned Bengali writer and Sahitya Akademi awardee Dibyendu Palit passed away at the age of 79.
- He was conferred the Sahitya Akademi for his novel ‘Anubhab’ in 1998