DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS

By admin: May 13, 2022

PM Modi launched Madhya Pradesh Startup Policy

Tags: Economics/Business State News

Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched Madhya Pradesh Startup Policy through video conferencing.

• Modi addresses the startup community during the Madhya Pradesh Startup Conclave being held in Indore.

• The Prime Minister also launched the Madhya Pradesh Startup portal, which will facilitate and help promote the startup ecosystem. 

• The Madhya Pradesh Startup Conclave was attended by various pillars of the startup ecosystem including policy makers, innovators, entrepreneurs, academicians, investors, consultants and other stakeholders from government and private sector.

• Objective of Policy 

• Strengthen the startup culture by nurturing entrepreneurial skills

• Encourage setting up of new technological business incubation centres

• Encourage and inspire youth to develop innovative ideas 

• Promote entrepreneurship activities among the youth of the state, thereby enabling sustainable and inclusive socioeconomic development across the state

• Promote and develop employment opportunities for the youth within the state

• Highlight of the policy

• An entity shall be deemed to be a Startup for a period of five years from the date of incorporation/registration, If it is incorporated as a Private Limited Company or is registered in India as a Partnership Firm or Limited Liability Partnership.

• Turnover of the entity for any of the financial years, since incorporation, should not exceed INR 25 crore.

• The entity must work towards innovation, development or improvement of products or processes or services.

• The state offers special incentives for women-led startups in the form of interest subsidy of 8% on loans up to three years, not exceeding INR 5 lakh. 

• The state provides incentives for lease subsidy up to INR 5 lakh for women-led startups.

• Startup Ecosystem in Madhya Pradesh

• The state's smart cities are serving as platforms to launch incubators and coworking spaces such as Jabalpur Incubation Centre in India.

• MP Venture Finance Limited (MPVFL) has been set up to provide access to venture capital funds to startups and has received approval from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).

• Startup Incubator Cell is managed by the state nodal officer for startups.

• There are 1,937 start-ups recognized by the central government in Madhya Pradesh and 45 percent of them are run by women.

• About 31 percent startups in the state are located in Bhopal and 44 percent in Indore.

Gotabaya appoints Ranil as Sri Lanka Prime Minister

Tags: Person in news International News

Ranil Wickremesinghe, a veteran opposition MP, was sworn in as the new Prime Minister of Sri Lanka for the sixth time in an effort to end the current political crisis in the country.

• Gotabaya's elder brother Mahinda Rajapaksa resigned as prime minister on May 9.

• Wickremesinghe's United National Party (UNP) was wiped out in the 2020 general elections, with Rajapaksa winning a two-thirds majority.

• Wickremesinghe is currently the only MP from his party.

• Reason of crisis in Sri Lanka

• Mahendra Rajapaksa announced huge tax cuts in his manifesto in the 2019 election, leading to a huge drop in revenue.

• Sri Lanka is primarily a tourism-based economy. The Easter bombings in 2019 resulted in a sharp drop in tourist arrivals, which was further exacerbated by the COVID crisis.

• Huge infrastructural debt. 

• Misguided policies of the authoritative regime

• Due to Covid, there was a further decline in the export of tea, rubber and the tourism sector came to a standstill.

• Remittances also dropped significantly

US President Joe Biden to host ASEAN summit

Tags: Summits International News

US President Joe Biden will host leaders and top officials of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Washington DC.

• Washington has focused on the Russo-Ukraine war as well as battling Chinese influence in the Indo Pacific.

• The ASEAN "special summit" was postponed from late March just days before Biden's first visit to Asia as president.

• ASEAN member state Myanmar, whose government was toppled on 1 February last year, will not participate in the summit.

• The US wanted an 'apolitical' representative from Myanmar to attend the meeting.

• ASEAN's 'five-point Consensus' to end the turmoil in Myanmar has not progressed since its release in April last year.

• About ASEAN

• Association of Southeast Asian Nations or ASEAN is an international organisation formed in Bangkok,Thailand in 1967.

• It promotes economic development, peace, security, social progress and cultural development in the Southeast Asian region.

• ASEAN Secretariat – Indonesia, Jakarta.

• General Secretary of ASEAN - Lim Jock Hoi, Brunei

• Official Languages - Burmese, Filipino, Indonesian, Khmer, Lao, Malay, Mandarin, Tamil, Thai and Vietnamese

• Working Language -  English

• ASEAN Summit is the supreme policy making body of ASEAN. 

• ASEAN is third largest market in the world 

• It is the sixth largest economy in the world, third in Asia.

• ASEAN has Free-trade agreements (FTAs) with China, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand.

• ASEAN Member Countries

• Indonesia

• Malaysia

• Philippines

• Singapore

• Thailand

• Brunei

• Vietnam

• Laos

• Myanmar

• Cambodia

India's hypertension control initiative

Tags: National News

A project called the India Hypertension Control Initiative (IHCI) found that out of 2.1 million Indians, about 23% have uncontrolled blood pressure.

• About Hypertension Control Initiative (IHCI) 

• Hypertension is a serious, and growing, health issue in India.

• Keeping this fact in mind, the Ministry of Health, Indian Council of Medical Research, State Governments and WHO-India launched a five-year initiative for monitoring and treatment of hypertension.

• The programme was launched in November 2017.

• In the first year, 26 districts of five states - Punjab, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana and Maharashtra were covered under IHCI.

• By December 2020, IHCI was expanded to 52 districts across ten States — Andhra Pradesh (1), Chhattisgarh (2), Karnataka (2), Kerala (4), Madhya Pradesh (6), Maharashtra (13), Punjab (5), Tamil Nadu (1), Telangana (13) and West Bengal (5).

• What is Hypertension?

• High blood pressure (hypertension) is a common condition in which the blood pressure on the artery walls is high, which can lead to a condition such as a heart attack.

• Hypertension is defined as having systolic blood pressure level greater than or equal to 140 mmHg or diastolic blood pressure level greater than or equal to 90 mmHg.

• Need of IHCI

• India is committed to reduce premature mortality due to non-communicable diseases (NCDs) by 25% by 2025.

• One of the nine voluntary targets includes reducing the prevalence of high blood pressure by 25% by 2025.

Over 18 crore Ayushman Cards issued under AB-PMJAY so far

Tags: National Government Schemes

According to the Health Ministry under Ayushman Bharat - Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB- PMJAY), more than 18 crore Ayushman cards have been issued so far.

• This scheme has been implemented to provide health cover to the people.

• This scheme has proved to be a boon for the poor people.

• More than 3 crore 20 lakh people have availed the hospital facilities under the scheme.

• About Ayushman Bharat - Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana ( AB- PMJAY)

• launched in 2018 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. 

• It has two components Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY) and Health and Wellness Centres (HWCs).

• Ayushman Bharat is the largest government funded healthcare program in the world.

• It offers a sum insured of Rs5 lakh per family for secondary care as well as tertiary care.

• Under the scheme cashless and paperless access to services are provided to the beneficiaries.

• It is an entitlement-based scheme that targets the beneficiaries identified by the latest Socio-Economic Caste Census (SECC) data.

• Funds for the scheme are shared between the Center and the states in a 60:40 ratio for all states.

MSME Secretary inaugurates ‘MEGA JOB FAIR’ in New Delhi

Tags: National News

MSME Secretary BB Swain inaugurated a 'Mega Job Fair' and a new testing facility for MSMEs at the Technical Service Centre of National Small Industries Corporation, Okhla in New Delhi.

• Objective of this fair was to provide employment opportunities to the students who are passing out from different courses being conducted in the Centre.

• More than 30 major companies were present with various job offers for the students.

• About MSME Sector

• The Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) sector has emerged as a highly vibrant and dynamic sector of the Indian economy in the last five decades.

• MSMEs play a vital role in providing large employment opportunities at comparatively low capital cost as compared to large industries.

• It helps in industrialization of rural and backward areas, thereby reducing regional imbalances, ensuring equitable distribution of national income and wealth.

• This sector contributes a lot to the socio-economic development of the country.

• The Ministry of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises envision a vibrant MSME sector by promoting growth and development of the MSME Sector, including Khadi, Village and Coir Industries.

MoU signs with UNDP for strategic partnership on Agriculture, Crop Insurance and Credit

Tags: National News

The Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare and United Nations Development Program have signed a Memorandum of Understanding.

• Under this UNDP will provide technical support towards Centre’s aspirational Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana scheme (PMFBY) and Kisan Credit Card - Modified Interest Subvention Scheme.

• UNDP will support the Ministry of Agriculture for the implementation of combined agricultural credit and crop insurance. 

• While farmers paid a twenty one thousand crore rupees premium under PMFBY, they have received more than one lakh fifteen thousand crore rupees as compensation.

• Under the Kisan Credit Card scheme, extensive efforts are being made to give benefits to those farmers who were not able to take advantage of the scheme earlier.

• About The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) 

• It is the leading agency of the United Nations.

• It works to eradicate poverty and reduce inequality in 170 countries and territories.

• It helps countries to develop policies, leadership skills, partnering abilities, institutional capabilities, and to build resilience to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. 

• Its work is concentrated in three focus areas; sustainable development, democratic governance and peace building, and climate and disaster resilience.

Scientists discover almost 35 million years old rare snake fossil from Ladakh Himalaya

Tags: Popular Science and Technology

Scientists have discovered for the first time the fossil of a Madtsoidae snake from molasses deposits in the Ladakh Himalayas.

• This indicates its prevalence in the subcontinent for a longer period of time than previously thought.

• Madtsoiidae is an extinct group of medium-sized to gigantic snakes.

• It firstly appeared during the Cretaceous and mostly distributed in the Gondwanan landmasses. 

• Although, their Cenozoic record is extremely scarce.

• The occurrence of Madtsoiidae from the Oligocene of Ladakh indicates their continuity at least to the end of the Paleogene (geologic period and system that spans 43 million years from the end of the Cretaceous Period 66 million years ago).

• The research was published in the Journal of Vertebrate Palaeontology.

• The newly discovered fossil specimen is housed in the repository of Wadia Institute, an autonomous institute of Department of Science and Technology.

Bajaj Finserv's Sanjiv Bajaj takes over as CII President

Tags: Person in news

Sanjiv Bajaj, Chairman and Managing Director, Bajaj Finserv Limited has been appointed as the President of the Confederation of Indian Industry, CII for the year 2022-23.

• He takes over from T V Narendran, CEO and managing director of Tata Steel Limited.

• Hero MotoCorp Ltd Chairman and CEO Pawan Munjal is the CII President-Designate for 2022-23.

• While R Dinesh, Executive Vice President, TVS Supply Chain Solutions, has taken over as the Vice President of CII.

• Sanjeev has been associated with CII at State, Regional and National level for many years.

• Sanjeev is an alumnus of the Harvard Business School, US.

• He had headed the CII National Committees on Insurance and Pensions and the CII Task Force on Fintech.

• About Confederation of Indian Industry (CII)

• CII is a non-profit and non-governmental organisation.

• The objective of CII is to achieve a conducive environment for the development of industry and civil society in India.

• It was founded in 1895.

• It has over 8,000 members from both the public and private sectors.

BHARAT TAP Initiative launched

Tags: National News

The Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs launched the BHARAT TAP initiative at the ‘Plumbex India’ exhibition on 12 May.

• At the exhibition, NARDECO (National Real Estate Development Council) MAHI’s ‘Nirmal Jal Prayas’ initiative was also launched.

• About BHARAT TAP Initiative

• It will provide large-scale low flow, sanitary-ware thereby significantly reducing water consumption at the source.

• This is expected to save about 40% water.

• This will result in water saving and energy saving due to less water.

• The initiative will be rolled out across the country and will lead to a renewed focus on water conservation efforts.

• About MAHI’s ‘Nirmal Jal Prayas’ initiative

• The initiative of Nirmal Jal Prayas will focus on groundwater mapping.

• This initiative is very important to save ground water and it will save 500 crore litres of water per year. 

Saudi Aramco overtakes Apple as world’s most valuable company

Tags: International News

Recently, Saudi petro company Aramco overtook Apple and received the status of the world's most valuable company.

• Apple shares fell due to a slowdown in the technology sector, while the Saudi company's shares rose due to the continuous rise in oil prices.

• Due to the fall in stocks, Apple's market cap has dropped 20 per cent to 2.37 lakh crore, while Aramco's market cap has climbed 28 per cent to 2.42 lakh crore.

• Aramco's profits have soared 124 per cent after the sharp rise in worldwide oil prices following the Russo-Ukraine war.

• Important facts 

• Establishment of Saudi Aramco- 1933;

• Saudi Aramco Headquarters- Dhahran, Saudi Arabia;

• Saudi Aramco CEO- Amin H. Nasser

The extended range version of the air-to-air BrahMos missile was successfully launched

Tags: National Science and Technology

The extended range version of the air-to-air BrahMos missile was successfully launched from a Sukhoi-30 Mark-I fighter aircraft.

• During the test, the missile hit the target accurately in the Bay of Bengal.

• This was the first launch of the extended-range version of the BrahMos missile from a Sukhoi-30 Mark-I fighter aircraft.

• The advanced version of this missile has a range of around 350 kms while the original missile had a range of around 290 kms.

• Indian Defence Research Organisation (DRDO), Indian Navy, BAPL and HAL were involved in this test along with the Indian Air Force.

• Sukhoi 30 MKI fighter aircraft 

• The Sukhoi 30 MKI is the flagship fighter aircraft of the Indian Air Force.

• This fighter aircraft is made in collaboration with Russia's military aircraft manufacturer Sukhoi and India's Hindustan Aeronautics Limited.

• It was inducted into the Indian Air Force in the year 2002 and since 2004, they have been manufactured in India by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited.

• This aircraft can attack at a distance of 3000 km.

• About BrahMos missile  

• BrahMos is a short-range ramjet, supersonic cruise missile.

• It can be launched from submarines, ships, aircraft or even from land.

• It has been jointly developed by Russia's NPO Mashinostroyenia and India's Defence Research and Development Organisation.

• Brahmos is named after the Brahmaputra of India and the Moskva river of Russia.

• Features of BrahMos 

• It can change course in the air and can also hit the moving target.

• It can fly at a height of 10 metres and is not caught by radar.