Daily Current Affairs, 04th March 2019

1) ‘Jal Amrutha’ Scheme Launched By Karnataka Government

•A water conservation scheme ‘Jal Amrutha’ was launched by Karnataka chief minister H D Kumaraswamy, in Bengaluru. A function was organized by the Rural Development and Panchayat Raj department at Dr. B R Ambedkar Bhavan in Bengaluru.

•The scheme plans to make people aware of the importance of conserving water and to prompt them to come up with ways to avoid wastage of water. The state government has declared 2019 as the Year of Water.

2) Gram Samridhi Yojana: New Scheme To Help Unorganised Food Processing Sector

•Gram Samridhi Yojana, a Rs 3,000 crore scheme funded by the World Bank and the Government of India, is being worked upon by the Ministry of Food Processing Industries in order to strengthen the unorganised food processing sectorconcentrated in rural areas.

•NITI Aayog has given its approval to the scheme. World Bank will be giving Rs 1,500 crore, Rs 1,000 crore will be borne by the Centre while state governments will put in Rs 500 crore. The scheme will be run in Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtraand Punjab for a 5-year period in the initial phase and thereafter in other states of the country.

3) Haryana Government Announces Mukhyamantri Parivar Samman Nidhi Scheme

•‘Mukhyamantri Parivar Samman Nidhi’ scheme was launched by Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar in Chandigarh. It is primarily meant for farmers of the state who cultivate on land with areas up to 5 acres and the families with an income of less than Rs. 15,000 per month. The scheme would provide a sum of Rs. 6,000 yearly and each family has to nominate a member who will be provided with this amount.

•The scheme involves two categories of beneficiaries-in the age group of 18 to 40 years and the in the age group of 40 to 60 years. The scheme provides insurance facilities of- Rs. 2 lakh on natural death, Rs. 2 lakh for accidental death, Rs. 2 lakh for permanent disability and Rs. 1 lakh for partial disability.

4) ‘Rice Knowledge Bank- Assam’ Launched Under APART

•Rice Knowledge Bank-Assam, is an agriculture web portal. It is dedicated to magnifying knowledge on rice production technologies and techniques, best production practices and state agriculture facts. It was launched under the World Bank funded project – Agri-business and Rural Transformation (APART).

•This portal is the repercussion of efforts of Assam Rural Infrastructure and Agricultural Services Society (ARIAS), Assam Agricultural University (AAU) with technical assistance from the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI).

5) Cabinet Approves ‘Pradhan Mantri JI-VAN Yojana’

•The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved the ‘Pradhan Mantri Jaiv Indhan- Vatavaran Anukool fasal awashesh Nivaran (JI-VAN) Yojana’ for providing financial support to the Integrated Bioethanol Projects.

•The scheme aims to incentivise the Second Generation (2G) Ethanol sector and support the industry by creating a suitable ecosystem for setting up commercial projects and increasing R&D in this area. The PM JI-VAN Yojana will be supported with the total financial outlay of Rs 1969.50 crore for the period 2018-19 to 2023-24.

6) Textiles Minister Launches Scheme For Development Of Knitwear Sector

•Union Minister of Textiles, Smriti Zubin Irani launched a comprehensive scheme for the development of knitting and knitwear sector under PowerTex India in New Delhi.Apart from financial incentives, the two key elements are Yarn Bank and financial assistance for the solar energy scheme.

•The yarn bank scheme for knitting and knitwear units will provide an interest-free corpus fund of a maximum of up to Rs 2 crore per yarn bank to a Special Purpose Vehicle(SPV). Under the Solar energy scheme, the government will provide financial assistance/capital subsidy to the extent of 50%, 75% and 90% of the basic cost of the solar plant to the applicants of General Category, SC, and ST respectively.

7) AN Jha Replaces Shaktikanta Das As 15th Finance Commission Member

•Former Finance Secretary Ajay Narayan Jha has joined as a member of the 15th Finance Commission. Jha has been posted in place of Shaktikanta Das who had resigned as a member of the Commission after being appointed the RBI Governor. Jha is a 1982-batch IAS officer of Manipur cadre. He was retired as a Finance Secretary to the central government.

8) Pranay Kumar Verma Appointed As India’s Ambassador To Vietnam

•Ministry of External Affairs has appointed Pranay Kumar Verma as India’s Ambassador to the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. Pranay Kumar Verma is a 1994 cadre Indian Foreign Services Officer and presently working as the Joint Secretary at Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).

9) India’s First Policy To Protect Bank Locker Launched

•IFFCO Tokio General Insurance has launched ‘bank locker protector policy’, the first stand-alone bank locker cover offered by any insurance company with a plan to protect the contents of a bank locker such as jewelry, title documents, and other valuables.

•The policy offers a cover against various risks including fire, earthquake, burglary, holdup or any act of terrorism. It offers 7 options of sum insured ranging from Rs 3 lakh to Rs 40 lakh and above and the premium rate is affordable with a cover of Rs 3 lakh available at just Rs 300.