Current Affairs National
Saudi Arabia allows Air India to use its skies for flight to Iran
- Saudi Arabia has allowed Air India to use its airspace for flights between Delhi and Tel Aviv (Iran).
- According to a spokesperson of the airline, the national carrier has sought permission from regulatory body DGCA for thrice-a-week flight services between Delhi and Tel Aviv from March, which is awaited.
- According to the official, an approval from Saudi Arabia to use its airspace will allow Air India to take a shorter route by flying over Ahmedabad, Muscat, Saudi Arabia and then land at Tel Aviv.
Sarvodayamela at Tavanur from Thursday
- 70th annual edition of the Sarvodaya Mela will begin at Kelappaji Nagar, Tavanur, on Thursday afternoon with an exhibition of products by Khadi, Kudumbasree, and other village industries.
- The five-day Sarvodaya mela festival celebrates the ideals of Mahatma Gandhi.
- Public Service Commission chairman M.K. Sakeer will inaugurate it on Friday morning.
- Minister for Local Administration K.T. Jaleel will inaugurate a students’ summit on Saturday evening.
Nepal ex King visits India
- Nepal’s last king Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev reached on a six-day visit to Odisha to attend various religious programmes.
- According to sources he is scheduled to inaugurate ‘Mission Cow Goshala’ at Rathipur near Jatani on Wednesday and visit the Lingaraj Temple here and Sri Krishna Temple at Sakshigopal on Thursday.
Haryana govt to set up Kisan Kalyan Pradhikaran
- In an attempt to increase farm productivity and farmers’ income, the Haryana government on Tuesday announced the setting up of ‘Haryana Kisan Kalyan Pradhikaran’.
- The Chief Minister will be the chairperson of the Pradhikaran and the Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Minister would be its ex-officio vice-chairman.
- The Pradhikaran will undertake all possible measures to enhance farm productivity and mitigate the physical, financial and psychological distress of farm households and landless workers
Imp Note : CM of Haryana – Manohar Lal Khattar
Cabinet approves enhancement of target under Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana
- The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, has approved to enhance of the target of Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) from five crore to eight crore with an additional allocation of Rs. 4,800 crore.
- The decision comes in the wake of huge response to Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) from the women particularly in rural areas and to cover such households not having LPG connection.
- The revised target of Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) will be achieved by 2020.
Union Cabinet Approves ‘Prime Minister’s Research Fellowship’
- The Union Cabinet o Wednesday approved implementation of ‘Prime Minister’s Research Fellows (PMRF)’ scheme at a total cost of Rs.1650 crore for a period of seven years beginning 2018-19.
- The Prime Minister has emphasized the importance of innovation and technology for the progress and development of the nation.
- This fellowship scheme is key to realizing his vision of development through innovation. The scheme has been announced in the Budget Speech 2018-19.
- Under this scheme, the best students who have completed or are in the final year of B. Tech or Integrated M.Tech or M.Sc. in Science and Technology streams from IISc/IITs/NITs/IISERs/IIITs will be offered direct admission in PhD programme in the IITs/IISc.
- Such students, who fulfill the eligibility criteria, and shortlisted through a selection process, as laid down in the PMRF Guidelines, will be offered a fellowship of Rs.70,000/- per month for the first two years, Rs.75,000/- per month for the 3rd year, and Rs.80,000/- per month in the 4th and 5th years.
Current Affairs Business and Economy
India placed 44 out of 50 nations in global Intellectual Property index
- In the latest international Intellectual Property (IP) index released by the US Chambers of Commerce India ranked 44th out of 50 countries.
- Last year, India ranked 43rd out of 45 countries in the index, with an overall score of 8.4 points.
Govt changes definition of MSMEs, bases it on annual revenue
- The Cabinet on Wednesday approved amendments to a law to change the criteria for classifying MSMEs from investment in plant and machinery to annual turnover.
- The proposed amendments to the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Act, 2006 were approved by the Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, an official statement said.
- As per the proposed classifications, enterprises having annual turnover less than Rs 5 crore will fall under the ‘micro’ category.
Imp Note : MSMED – Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises Development
GST on amusement park tickets lowered to 18% from 28%
- Tickets to amusement parks, theme parks, water parks and merry-go-rounds, will be imposed with 18 % GST with effect from January 25, lower from the earlier 28%.
- “This will ensure that the rate cut in GST is passed on to the children and families,” Finance Ministry said on Wednesday.
Current Affairs Sports
Jhulan Goswami becomes first female cricketer to take 200 ODI wickets
- India’s pacer Jhulan Goswami on Wednesday became the first female cricketer to take 200 ODI wickets.
- Goswami achieved the feat during the second ODI between India and South Africa in South Africa.
- In May 2017, Goswami became the highest wicket-taker in women’s ODIs, eclipsing the decade-long record held by Australian Cathryn Fitzpatrick.
India wins third ODI by 124 runs
- India took a 3-0 lead by beating the South Africa by 124 runs in the third ODI.
- This is India’s biggest win against South Africa in South Africa in terms of runs.
- Man of the match Kohli hit a majestic unbeaten 160.
Current Affairs World
Los Angles times sold to local billionaire for $500 million
- On Wednesday, The Times’ corporate parent, Tronc, announced that it had reached a deal to sell The Los Angles Times, and community newspapers to biotech billionaire Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong.
- His investment firm, Nant Capital, agreed to pay $500 million for the L.A. Times.
Bangladesh ex-PM jailed for 5 yrs in corruption case
- A Bangladesh judge convicted opposition leader Khaleda Zia of corruption and sentenced her to five years in jail on Thursday.
- The court found the two-time former PM guilty of embezzling money meant for an orphanage.
US Democrat gives 8 hour long speech
- Nancy Pelosi, the minority leader in the US House of Representatives, has given a record-breaking eight-hour speech.
- The speech was to persuade Republicans to allow a vote on protecting Dreamers, young undocumented immigrants brought to the US as children.
- The fate of Dreamers was thrown into jeopardy when the Trump administration ended the Deferred Action for Child Arrivals (Daca) programme.
Current Affairs Miscellaneous
WhatsApp rolls out Payment feature for selected users in India
- WhatsApp is now allowing some users to transfer money through the app.
- “Send and receive money securely with UPI,” reads payment option.
Imp Note : UPI, which stands for unified payments interface, is a payments system used by many Indian banks.
Swiggy, a food delivery startup raises$100 million from Naspers and meituan
- Online food delivery startup Swiggy has raised $ 100 million in a Series F funding round led by Naspers, the global internet and entertainment group.
- New investor Meituan-Dianping, China’s largest group-buying and restaurant review service, has also participated in this round.
- Swiggy was founded by Birla Institute of Technology & Science Pilani alumni Sriharsha Majety and Nandan Reddy and Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur graduate Rahul Jaimini in 2014.
Android Nougat Becomes Google’s most used OS
- Android 7.0 Nougat has finally become the most-used version of the mobile operating system, running on 28.5 percent of devices (across both versions 7.0 and 7.1), according to an update on Google’s developer portal.
- The second most-used version of Android, 6.0 Marshmallow (released in 2015) still stands at 28.1 percent.
Also Read : 7 February Current Affairs