Current Affairs Update 5 October 2018

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. 5 October 2018

Fourth Bi-monthly Monetary Policy Statement 2018-19; Repo Rate Unchanged

• The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) in its fourth bi-monthly policy statement on October 5, 2018 decided to keep the policy Repo Rate under the liquidity adjustment facility (LAF) unchanged at 6.5 percent.
• Consequently, the Reverse Repo Rate under the LAF remains at 6.25 per cent, and the
  Marginal Standing Facility (MSF) rate and the Bank Rate at 6.75 per cent.
• The GDP growth projection for 2018-19 is retained at 7.4 percent.

NGT Clears Chardham Mahamarg Vikas Pariyojna; Forms Panel to Monitor the Same

• The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has cleared the ‘Chardham Mahamarg Vikas Pariyojna’, which proposes to provide all-weather connectivity to four holy towns of Uttarakhand namely Yamnotri, Gangotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath.
• However, the green tribunal has formed a committee headed by former Uttarakhand High Court Judge Justice U C Dhyani to monitor the implementation of Environment Management Plan (EMP) of the project.

Dharmendra Pradhan launches a Task Force to Address Skills Gap in India

• The Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas & Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Shri Dharmendra Pradhan, has launched a Task Force in collaboration with the World Economic Forum  for Closing the Skills Gap in India.
• The task force will be co-chaired by Dharmendra Pradhan along with Shri Salil Parekh, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, Infosys.
• The goal of the Task Force is to develop an action plan to address skills gaps in India and make the Indian workforce ready for jobs of future.

Maharashtra’s Alphonso Mangoes Get GI tag

• The government has granted Geographical Indication (GI) tag to the Alphonso Mango from Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg, Palghar, Thane and Raigad districts of  Maharashtra. 
• The GI tag for these Alphonso (Hapus) will help identify the authenticity of this variety of fruit as well as boost the rural economy.
• A Geographical Indication (GI) is an indication used on products that have a specific geographical origin and possess qualities or a reputation that are due to that origin.
• The first product to get a GI tag in India was the Darjeeling tea in 2004.
• As per the government data, there are a total of 325 products from India that carry this indication.

India International Science Festival (IISF-2018) Inaugurated in Lucknow.

• The four day long India International Science Festival has been inaugurated in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh by Union Minister of Science &Technology, Dr. Harsh Vardhan.
• The focal theme of this year’s festival is Science for Transformation. 
• Scientists, students and experts from across the country and abroad are participating in the event.

Odisha Launches Common Payment Card System “Odyssey City Card”

• Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik unveiled ‘Odyssey City Card’, a common payment card system (CPCS) to help the citizens use a single payment option for multi-purpose city level usage.
• The chief minister also launched 25 ‘My Odyssey Centres’ where the ‘Odyssey City Card’ will be available for issuance.
• The card is a joint initiative of Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC), Bhubaneswar Smart City Limited(BSCL) and ICICI bank.
• The card can be used for payment of services like property tax, water bills, vehicle parking fees and trade license fee for traders and businesses, making payments at retail merchant outlets enabled with POS machines across the country, as well as on e-commerce websites.

India Chem 2018 Conference Begins in Mumbai

• India Chem 2018, the 10th Biennial International Exhibition & Conference has been organised in Mumbai from October 4-6, 2018.
• The largest event of Chemicals and Petrochemical Industry in India, has jointly been organised by the Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals, Government of India and FICCI.
• The Indian chemical industry is the 7th largest in the world and the 3rd largest in Asia with the size worth $139 Billion.

Methanol Cooking Fuel Program Launched in Assam

• India’s first “Methanol Cooking Fuel Program” was launched at the Assam Petro-chemicals campus, a state owned company at Namrup, Assam
• The program was inaugurated by Dr V K Saraswat, Member, NITI Aayog and Chairman, Methanol Apex Committee at the Assam Petro-chemicals.
• “Methanol Cooking Fuel Program” is also Asia’s first cannisters based cooking medium.
• The project aims at reducing import of crude and provide clean, import substitute, cost effective and pollution free cooking medium.

India – ADB Signs $110 Million Loan to Improve Rural Connectivity in MP

• India and Asian Development Bank (ADB) has signed $110 million loan to finance the upgrade of 2,800 kilometers all-weather rural roads in the State of Madhya Pradesh under the Prime Minister’s Rural Roads Program (PMGSY).
• This loan is Tranche 2 of the $500 million Second Rural Connectivity investment Program for India approved by the ADB Board in December 2017 for improving rural roads across the states of Assam, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, and West Bengal.

India-Russia Signs 8 MoUs/Agreements at Annual Bilateral Summit

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