Daily Current Affairs, 05th February 2019

1) Assam Tops In Budgetary Practices Followed By States: Transparency International

•Assam occupied the top slot in the ranking of best practices followed by states in the Budget formulation, followed by Andhra Pradesh and Odisha, as per a survey by Transparency International.

•The survey is based on 4 parameters which include public disclosure, budgetary process, post-budget fiscal management and efforts to make the budget more transparent and citizen-friendly. The states which figured lower in the ranking were Meghalaya, Manipur and Punjab.

2) Kerala Becomes 1st State To Set Up Price Monitoring And Research Unit

•Kerala has become the first State to set up a Price Monitoring and Research Unit (PMRU) to track violation of prices of essential drugs and medical devices under the Drugs Price Control Order (DPCO).

•The move comes more than five years after the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) proposed such a system for the States and the Union Territories.

3) Shehri Samridhi Utsav Launched Across The Country

•Shehri Samridhi Utsav, an initiative of Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs (MoHUA), aims to extend the outreach of Deendayal Antyodaya Mission – National Urban Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NULM), to the most vulnerable, showcase its initiatives and facilitate access of Self-Help Group (SHG) members to the other government schemes.

•Day one of Shehri Samriddhi Utsav began with a series of rallies led by women’s’ SHGs, across the length and breadth of the country. These rallies spread awareness about DAY-NULM in urban poor communities. A major highlight of Shehri Samridhi Utsav is theNational Exhibition cum sale of SHG products and National Street Food Festival being organized in New Delhi.

4) National Road Safety Week Begins

•External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari flagged off Suraksha Yatra – a motor car rally from Rajghat in New Delhi to commemorate the 150th Birth Anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. The flag off was also part of an event to launch the 30th National Road Safety Week.

•The rally will travel through places historically associated with Gandhiji, both in India, as well as in Bangladesh and Myanmar. It will conclude at Yangon in Myanmar on the 24th of February, covering a total distance of over seven thousand kilometres.

5) Ministry of Coal Signs an MoU With Ministry of Energy, Poland

•Ministry of Coal of India entered into an MoU with the Ministry of Energy, Republic of Poland. The MoU has been signed between Sh. Haribhai Parathibhai Chaudhary, Minister of State for Coal and Mines and Mr Grzegorz Tobiszowski, Secretary of State, Ministry of Energy, Republic of Poland.

•The objective of this MoU is to foster relations in the field of coal mining and clean coal technologies through the already established Joint Coal Working Group as well as research institutes and academia between the two countries

6) ISRO Sets Up Human Space Flight Centre for Gaganyaan Mission in Bengaluru

•The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) unveiled its Human Space Flight Centre (HSFC) at ISRO Headquarter campus in Bengaluru, Karnataka for its maiden manned space mission ‘Gaganyaan’. The space flight centre was inaugurated by K Kasturirangan, former ISRO Chairman.

•ISRO is gearing up for its maiden manned mission Gaganyaan, which is planned for 2021-end. The plan is to have the first unmanned mission in December 2020 and the second one in July 2021. Once the two unmanned missions are completed, the manned mission will happen in December 2021.

7) Kala Ghoda Festival 2019 Begins In Mumbai

•The Kala Ghoda festival, India’s largest multi-cultural street festival begins in Mumbai to celebrate its 20 years of art and culture through cinema, theatre, dance, literature, and sculpture. Maneck Davar is Chairman of Kala Ghoda Association.

•The festival hosted the exhibition at the Jehangir Art Gallery to celebrate the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi and some rich history of Mumbai. To underscore KGAF’s two-decade run, the theme for this year is A Measure of Time.

8) P V Bharathi Appointed As CEO Of Corporation Bank

•The former executive director of Canara Bank, P V Bharathi assumed charge as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Corporation Bank. P V Bharati became the first woman CEO of the bank. Bharathi has been executive director of Canara Bank since September 2016 and served as the firm’s general manager in the risk management wing.

•She has more than 37 years of experience in the banking industry. Despite the post of executive director of Canara Bank, she also held the post of non-executive director of Can Fin Homes Limited and also a director board member of Canbank Venture Capital Limited.