Daily Current Affairs, 04th August 2018

1) Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana Achieves 5 Core Mark

•Loksabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan handed over 5 croreth LPG connection under Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) to Smt Takrdiran of Delhi in the Parliament House. The 5 crore feat has been achieved in the time period of over 2 years. 

•PM Modi launched Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) on 1st May 2016 and it is implemented by Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas through its Oil Marketing Companies i.e., IOC, BPCL and HPCL through their network of distributors across the country. In the current year, considering the huge success of the Scheme, target was revised to 8 crores with budgetary allocation of Rs 12,800 crore.

2) Supreme Court To Get 3 Serving Women Judges For 1st Time

•The Supreme Court will have three serving women judges for the first time, after the Centre cleared the elevation of Madras High Court Chief Justice Indira Banerjee. 

•The other two judges are R Banumathi, appointed in August 2014, and Indu Malhotra, appointed in April 2018. Notably, SC will have a total of 22 male judges including two new male appointees. 

3) NHAI Signs MoU With SBI For Long Term Unsecured Loan Of Rs 25000 Crore

•The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) signed an MoU with the State Bank of India (SBI) for getting Long Term Unsecured Loan of Rs 25000 crore for 10 years with 3 years of moratorium on repayments. This is the SBI’s highest long-term unsecured loan to any entity. 

•Moreover, this is the largest amount of loan to have been sanctioned to NHAI in one stroke by any institution. SBI offered the loan to the NHAI in response to the Expression of Interest invited by the latter from Scheduled Commercial Banks to fund Rs 25000 Crore as an unsecured loan for 10 years with 3 years of moratorium on repayments. 

4) India Elected President Of Asia-Pacific Institute For Broadcasting Development

•AIBD India has been elected as the President of the Asia-Pacific Institute for Broadcasting Development (AIBD) for a period of two years. India got elected against Iran during voting which took place at the 44th annual gathering of AIBD in Colombo, Sri Lanka. 

•Director General of All India Radio F. Sheheryar was re-elected as chair of the executive board while Sri Lanka was elected as vice-chair. Broadcasters from 26 countries in the region including India are full members of the organization.

5) EAM Sushma Swaraj In Kyrgyzstan As Part Of Her 3-Central Asian Nations' Tour

•External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj is now in Kyrgyzstan which is the second leg of 3-central Asian nations' visit. Before landing in Bishkek, the Minister completed a successful visit to Kazakhstan where she met the country's top leaders to discuss ways to consolidate its strategic partnership with India in areas like trade, energy, security and information technology.

•Minister Sushma Swaraj held a bilateral meeting with her Kazakh External Affairs counterpart. Sushma Swaraj expressed India's interest to partner with Kazakhstan on several fronts. Bilateral relations between India and Kazakhstan have been strengthened by the bilateral visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Kazakhstan in 2015 and his visit for SCO Summit in June 2017.