Daily Current Affairs, 04th July 2018

1) NITI Aayog To Organise India’s First Global Mobility Summit

•NITI Aayog, in collaboration with various ministries and industry partners, is organising ‘MOVE: Global Mobility Summit’ in New Delhi in September 2018. This Summit will help drive Government’s goals for vehicle electrification,  renewable energy integration and job growth and also speed up India’s transition to a clean energy economy.

•PM Narendra Modi will be inaugurating the Summit, which will be the first Global Mobility Summit of its kind, with over 1,200 expected participants from across the world. The Summit will constitute three designated components – The Conclave, the Expo and the Featured Events.

2) Government Approves Hike In Minimum Support Price For Kharif Crops

•The government has decided to sharply increase the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for Kharif crops, as it responds to concerns about distress in the country’s farm economy despite two years of strong monsoons.

•The MSP for common variety paddy, the most important Kharif crop, will be raised by Rs 200 over last year’s Rs 1,550 per quintal. That works out a 13%t increase for the financial year ended March 2019 compared to a 5.4% increase in FY18. The year-on-year jump in MSP for most other Kharif crops has also been far steeper than the annual increases announced over the last three years.

3) 5th RCEP Intersessional Ministerial Meeting Held In Tokyo, Japan

•The 5th Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) Intersessional ministerial meeting was held in Tokyo, Japan. It was first RCEP ministerial gathering to be held outside ASEAN countries.

•It was co-chaired by Singapore’s Minister of Trade and Industry Chan Chun Sing and his Japanese counterpart Hiroshige Seko. During the meeting, ministers from member countries had in-depth discussions on issues such as trade, service, investment and rules at the meeting.

4) Behdienkhlam Festival Concludes In Meghalaya

•The Union Minister of State for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) Dr Jitendra Singh attended the famous 4-day Meghalaya Annual Cultural Festival, "Behdienkhlam", held every year at the small peripheral town of Jowai, Meghalaya. 

•On the concluding day of the festival, Dr Jitendra Singh spent time with the visitors from across the region who had come to attend the festival.

5) NABARD Sanctions Over Rs 735 Crore For Bengal For Rural Infra Projects

•NABARD has sanctioned Rs 735.53 crore in the first quarter of the current fiscal under the Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF) for West Bengal for facilitating the execution of 86 projects. 

•They include six solar power, one medium irrigation, five minor irrigation and 12 flood protection projects, besides 57 projects for the widening and strengthening of roads and five rural bridges. According to the NABARD, the entire loan amount was provided to the state at a concessional rate.

6) Bengaluru To Get India’s 1st E-Waste Plant

•Union minister of chemicals and Fertilisers Ananth Kumar announced that the country’s first e-waste recycling unit will come up in Bengaluru, Karnataka. The unit, to be set up by the ministry, is likely to be ready in four months, and is in keeping with the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan drive.

•A 2016 study by Assocham and KPMG ranked India among the top five countries in e-waste generation,with an estimated 1.85 million tonnes generated annually. According to the study, computers comprised 70% of the total e-waste and telecommunication equipment accounted for 12%. Bengaluru ranked third after Mumbai and Delhi and generated nearly 92,000 tonnes of e-waste annually.