Current Affairs - January 7, 2018 Current Affairs

Haryana has become the first State in India to launch High Risk Pregnancy (HRP) Portal which helps in early identification of high-risk pregnant cases, ensures timely referral of such cases to the civil hospitals for further management and delivery by specialists. High Risk Pregnancy Policy has been implemented across Haryana since November 2017 for identifying 100 per cent name-based high-risk pregnancy cases up to grassroots level, and ensuring their delivery by specialists at civil hospitals. As morbidity and mortality is quite high in high risk pregnant cases, HRP initiative will lead to a decline in Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR), Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) and Still Birth Incidence.

T S Tirumurti, a 1985-batch officers of Indian Foreign Service, has been was appointed the Secretary (Economic Relations) in the External Affairs Ministry on January 5, 2018. According to the order issued by the personnel ministry, the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved his appointment to the post, in place of Vijay Keshav Gokhale, who was recently named as the Foreign Secretary. Prior to this post, Tirumurti was the India's High Commissioner to Kuala Lumpur.

Paytm Payments Bank partnered Induslnd Bank to introduce a facility to create a fixed deposit (FD) when the customer balance exceeds Rs. 1 lakh at the end of the day. Paytm Payments Bank customers can redeem their deposits instantly, anytime without paying any pre-closure or miscellaneous charges and can earn up to 6.85 percent annual interest.

The Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority of India (PFRDA) announced that Atal Pension Yojana (APY) run by it has reached a subscriber base of 80 lakh and is growing at good pace. Uttar Pradesh is the highest contributing state at 11.41 lakh APY subscribers, followed by Bihar (8.87 lakh) and Tamil Nadu (6.60 lakh). It is available to all citizens of India in the age group of 18-40 years (thus the minimum period of contribution by the subscriber is 20 years). There is no exit to the scheme before the age of 60.

2, 'TrackChild' and 'Khoya-Paya' web portals have been launched by Ministry of Women and Child Development to track missing and found children. The 'TrackChild' web portal has been launched in joint association with stakeholders like Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), Ministry of Railways, State Governments, Child Welfare Committees, Juvenile Justice Boards, National Legal Services Authority, etc. The 'Khoya-Paya' has been developed as a citizen corner on the 'TrackChild' portal. Apart from these portals the Ministry of Women and Child Development also provides support for children in trouble through the dedicated toll free number - 1098.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has attended the annual conference of DGPs and IGPs at the BSF Academy at Tekanpur in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh on January 7, 2018. Over 250 top police officers from all over the country are taking part in the three-day conference. The 2-day Director Generals of Police (DGPs) Conference is an annual event in which top police officers from all over the country share and discussed security-related issues. Holding the Annual DGP Conference outside the national capital, is in line with Prime Minister's vision that such conferences should be held across the country, and not just confined to Delhi. Earlier, Prime Minister Modi had addressed the conference in Guwahati in 2014, Dhordo, Rann of Kutch, Gujarat in 2015 and National Police Academy, Hyderabad in 2016.

Income Tax Department launched an online chat service on its national website www.incometaxindia.gov.in. This is aimed at facilitating the taxpayers resolve their queries. A customer support executive having expertise in tax-related matters helps the users in resolving their queries online. Giving this information in the Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Finance, Shiv Pratap Shukla said, altogether 8,424 people have benefited from this service. The facility is available on all working days from Monday to Friday between 10 AM and 6 PM. The module can also be accessed through a mobile application called 'AayakarSetu' on Android phone.

The Himalayan Hydro Expo 2018 has started at Kathmandu in Nepal on January 5, 2018. President of Nepal Bidya Devi Bhandari inaugurated the exhibition. The basic objective of Expo is to unleash massive hydro power potential of Nepal and bring all stakeholders under one roof. According to experts Nepal has approximately 40,000 MW of economically feasible hydro power potential and so far it has developed just around 600 MW. The delegates from various countries including India, China, Austria, Czech Republic and Norway are participating in the expo. Seminars, discussions and competitions for engineering students will also be organised during three day event.

Union Minister of Human Resource Development, Prakash Javadekar released All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE) report 2016-2017.Among all states, Tamil Nadu topped in terms of Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) in higher education. Tamil Nadu recorded 46.9% GER. Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) has increased from 24.5% in 2015-16 to 25.2 in 2016-17. GER is a ratio of enrolment in higher education to population in the eligible age group (18-23) years. Gender Parity Index (GPI) too has improved from 0.86 to 0.94 for the corresponding period.

Minister of state for youth affairs, sports and Information and Broadcasting that government created a Positive environment and ecosystem to promote entrepreneurship. Taking part in a panel discussion on Right Ecosystem for extraordinary Growth of MSME in Jaipur today, the minister said that Government is providing funding to micro, medium and small industry in large scale to create a positive environment. He said that government spent 3.7 lakh crore rupees on funding through MUDRA. Mr. Rathore said that Indian economy is going in a positive direction.

Gilles Simon of France has won the Tata Open Maharashtra Tennis trophy at Balewadi Sports Complex in Pune on January 6, 2018. In the summit clash, the unseeded French player humbled big-serving second seeded Kevin Anderson in straight sets 7-6, 6-2. Simon is ranked 89 in the world, while Anderson is ranked 14th. The tournament is India's only ATP event. For the past 22 years, the tournament had been associated with the big metro cities, New Delhi hosting the inaugural edition in 1996, and Chennai becoming home to it for the next 21 years. This time, the event moved to the tier two city Pune and was rechristened Tata Open Maharashtra.

Telangana State Government inaugurated India's first National Park for differently abled people in Hyderabad.National ParkSalient Features of India's first National Park for differently abled people. The park has speech therapist, vocational training instructors and physiotherapist for the differently-abled children. The park was inaugurated by Telangana Municipal administration and Urban Development Minister K.T. Rama Rao.

Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) Government has announced to launch 'Muhafiz' scheme, a major welfare initiative for providing institutionalized socio-economic security to workers in the unorganised sector of the state: Under this scheme, 3 lakh workers registered with Jammu and Kashmir Building and Other Construction Workers' Welfare Board (JKBOCWWB), will be provided accidental, life and disability insurance cover. The premium for the same will be borne by JKBOCWWB.