Current Affairs Assam – January 2019
( Covers all important Assam Current Affairs & GK topics for the month of January 2019 )
January 2019 – Monthly PDF | Monthly Quiz eBook PDF
Go To Assam Current Affairs Go To Assam Current Affairs Quiz
January 19, 2019
Defense Minister Sitharaman decides to induct women in military police
- Union Defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the government has taken a decision to induct women for the first time in PBOR (Personnel Below Officer Rank) role in Corps of Military Police.
- The women will be inducted in graded manner to eventually comprise 20% of total Corps of Military Police and this will enhance representation of women in armed forces.
- It was clarified that the women would be deployed as investigating officers to probe cases of rape, molestation and thefts. The women officers would be deployed in military operations of nature where Army needs assistance from police organisations.
Japan lends Rs 3,420 crore to India
- Japan will be giving a loan of Rs 3,420 crore, under Japanese Official Development Assistance Loan Program, to India to assist in constructing the Chennai Peripheral Ring Road and for joint efforts towards meeting the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
- The Japanese ODA loan is for construction of phase one of Chennai Peripheral Ring Road for about Rs 2,470 crore and for Japan-India cooperative actions towards SDGs in India for about Rs 950 crore.
- The agreements were signed by Finance Ministry Additional Secretary C.S. Mohapatra and JICA New Delhi Chief Representative Katsuo Matsumoto.
- The project for the construction of Chennai road aims to meet increasing traffic demands in the metropolitan area and installing Intelligent Transport Systems, thereby contributing to mitigation of traffic congestion and promoting Regional Economic Development.
- The other program aims to promote SDGs in India, mainly in social development, by supporting the efforts by the Indian government to strengthen the policy framework and implementation mechanism, thereby supporting India in achieving SDGs by 2030.
FACTFILE – The Official Development Assistance
- It is an arm of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Japan). The goal of the office is to help developing nations with supplies, civil engineering and other assistance. The ODA was started in 1954 after Japan signed the Colombo Plan, which pledges to provide aid to nations who need it. As of 2003, the ODA has provided over $221 billion USD to 185 nations and regions.
- ODA is broadly divided into bilateral aid, in which assistance is given directly to developing countries, and multilateral aid, which is provided through international organizations. Bilateral aid consists of Finance and Investment Cooperation (ODA loans and Private Sector Investment Finance) and grants (grant aid and technical cooperation). Of these, JICA provides concessional loans as ODA loans.
India, Uzbekistan sign agreement on uranium import
- India and Uzbekistan signed an agreement on importing uranium from the Central Asian nation following a bilateral meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev on the sidelines of the Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit 2019.
- The two sides also signed an agreement for a line of credit of $200 million from India for financing housing and social infrastructure projects in Uzbekistan.
- Both leaders witnessed the exchange of the contract between the Department of Atomic Energy of India and the Novoi Minerals and Metallurgical Company of the Republic of Uzbekistan on long-term supply of uranium ore concentrate for India’s energy requirements.
- To attract investments in the pharmaceutical sector, an Uzbek-Indian Free Pharmaceutical Zone is being developed in the Andijan region, which is on the southeastern side of Uzbekistan, near its border with Kyrgyzstan.
- Pharmaceutical products, mechanical equipment, vehicles, services, optical instruments and equipment are India’s major exports to Uzbekistan.
- India imports fruit and vegetable products, services, fertilisers, juice products, extracts and lubricants from the Central Asian nation.
January 20, 2019
TN to set up Rs 250 cr fund to assist start-ups
- The Tamil Nadu government will set up a start-up fund with a corpus of Rs 250 crore for investments in start-up businesses, as per the new Tamil Nadu Startup and Innovation policy 2018-2023 unveiled by Chief Minister K. Palaniswami.
- The first tranche of Rs 25 crore will be allotted in the financial year 2019-2020. Called Tamil Nadu Startup Fund of Funds, it will be managed by a professional financial agency like the Small Industries Development Bank of India.
- It will be registered as an Alternative Investment Fund (AIF) under Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) regulation, 2012.
- The fund will be invested in other SEBI registered AIFs for investment in Startups and MSMEs established in Tamil Nadu.
- In addition, a Tamil Nadu Startup Seed Grant Fund (TNSSGF) of Rs 50 crore with an allotment of Rs five crore in the first year shall be created in partnership with financial institutions and universities for supporting early stage financing requirements of the start-ups in the form of grants to fill the gap in fund requirement for research and innovations.
- The TNSSGF would also provide funding for Idea-to-PoC (Proof of Concept) stages which are pre start-up activities.
- According to the new policy, the state and central public sector undertakings (PSU) shall be encouraged to adopt incubators and channelise their corporate social responsibility (CSR) funds.
- These incubators shall also serve as an innovation sandbox to solve problems faced by the state/central PSUs which, in turn, shall support start-ups with access to platform, test bed, data, handholding and others
ISRO launches Young Scientists programme in Delhi
- The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) announced a Young Scientists programme under which three school students will be selected from each state and union territory and will be given lectures on space and hands-on experience in building small satellites.
- Under this one-month programme, selected students, mostly Class 8 pass students, will be given lectures and access to research laboratories.
- A management system has been put in place for the Gaganyaan, India’s first human-carrying space flight intended to be launched by 2021.
- First unmanned mission by December 2020, second unmanned mission by July 2021 and the real human space flight will be launched by December 2021.
January 2019 – Monthly PDF | Monthly Quiz eBook PDF
Go To Assam Current Affairs Go To Assam Current Affairs Quiz