Daily Current Affairs, 23rd January 2019

1) President Ram Nath Kovind Confers Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar 2019

•The President of India, Ram Nath Kovind conferred the Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar 2019. The awards were presented to 26 shortlisted awardees including one joint award for National Child Award (now renamed as Bal Shakti Puraskar) under the category of innovation, scholastic, sports, art and culture, social service and bravery.

•Under National Child Welfare Awards category, 2 individuals and 3 institutions were awarded. The names of awardees were finalized by the National Selection Committee under the Chairpersonship of Minister of Women and Child Development, Maneka Sanjay Gandhi.

2) Government Constitutes NITI Aayog-led Committee To Monitor Pricing Of Drugs

•The government has constituted a high power committee to monitor the pricing of medicines and healthcare products. The committee will be headed by a Niti Aayog member (Health). It will be tasked with recommending price controls and monitoring the prices of specific drugs and health products to ensure their affordability.

•The Standing Committee on Affordable Medicines and Health Products (SCAMHP) will be the recommending body to the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA). The committee will also include the chief economic adviser and other policymakers.

3) Andhra Pradesh Cabinet Decides To Give Quota For Kapus Community, EBCs

•Andhra Pradesh cabinet has decided to cater 5% reservation each for Kapu community and the economically backward classes (EBCs) among the forward castes. The cabinet approved the decision of doubling the welfare pensions given under the NTR Bharosa Scheme. Pensions of Rs 1000 and Rs 1500 are doubled to Rs 2000 and Rs 3000 respectively.

•It is believed that 54.61 lakh pensioners will be benefited from this decision. The cabinet decided to give exemption of life tax for autos and quarterly tax for tractors. It has also approved the proposal of motor vehicle tax arrears. In total 9.79 lakh vehicle owners will be benefited to the extent of Rs 66.50 crores.

4) Arunachal Government Declares Pakke Hornbill Fest As ‘State Festival’

•Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister, Pema Khandu declared Pakke Paga Hornbill Festival (PPHF) as the “State Festival” at Seijosa in East Kameng district, Arunachal Pradesh. Pakke Paga Hornbill Festival (PPHF) is only conservation festival of Arunachal Pradesh.

•He announced that Arunachal Pradesh Forest Department will fund the festival from 2020 and permanent infrastructure will be constructed for the festival ground. The PPHF festival was celebrated first time in 2015 to recognize the role played by the resident Nyishi tribe in conserving hornbills in the Pakke Tiger Reserve (PTR).

5) India Ranks 80th On Global Talent Competitiveness Ranking: Survey

•India has moved up one position to rank 80th on the global talent competitive index, but remains a laggard among the BRICS nations. Switzerland continues to top the list, released on the first day of the World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting at Davos by INSEAD business school in partnership with Tata Communications and Adecco Group.

•The top 3 countries in the list are: 

1. Switzerland,
2. Singapore,
3. The United States. 

6) JNPT Becomes Only Indian Port To Be Listed Amongst World’s Top 30 Container Ports

•The Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT), India’s premier container port got listed amongst the top 30 container ports globally, as per the latest Lloyds Report. JNPT notched up five spots, to be 28th on the list, compared to its previous ranking.

•This is a validation of all the efforts and strategic initiatives being implemented at JNPT in order to enhance overall port efficiency.

7) Vodafone Idea Board Approves Rights Issue for Rs25,000 crore

•India’s largest telecom operator by subscriber base Vodafone Idea announced that its board had approved a rights issue of Rs25,000 crore to existing eligible equity shareholders in line with the recommendations of a capital raising committee it had set up in November 2018.

•The fund infusion will come at a time when it is critical for the company to raise resources to compete in the telecom market disrupted by the entry of Reliance Jio in September 2016, which brought down tariffs, hitting revenue streams of other operators.

8) Rishabh Pant Named ICC Emerging Player Of The Year

•Rishabh Pant was named the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) Emerging Player Of The Year following an impressive show in India’s first-ever Test series win in Australia. The 21-year-old wicketkeeper-batsman scored 350 runs in the four-match Test series that India won 2-1 to script history in 71 years and 11 attempts.

•With an unbeaten 159-run knock in the 4th Test in Sydney, Rishabh Pant became the first Indian wicket-keeper to score a Test century in Australia. Earlier, he equalled the record for the most catches taken in a Test with 11 against Australia in Adelaide in December.