Crake All UPSC and SSC exams by Reading Current Affairs of 9th March 2019

1.Ordinance on reservation in Teacher’s Cadre gets President’s approval

*President Ram Nath Kovind approved Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Teacher’s Cadre) Ordinance 2019 which will restore 200-point roster system for faculty recruitment.

1. The decision will allow filling up of more than 5000 vacancies by direct recruitment in Teachers’ cadre duly ensuring that the Constitutional provisions of Articles 14, 16 and 21 are complied with and reservation criteria for the Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes and Socially and Economically backward classes are met with.
2. It is expected to improve the teaching standards in the higher educational institutions to attract all eligible talented candidates.

2.High Gender Pay Gap observed in India as Women earn 19% less than Men: MSI Survey

*As per Monster Salary Index (MSI) Survey, a high gender pay gap (GPG) is observed in India, as women earn 19% less than men, where men earn Rs 242.49 and women earn Rs 196.3, that is Rs 46.19 lesser than men.

1. The gap in 2018 was 20% and has * by only 1% in 2019.
2. Semi-skilled work shows no gender pay gap, however, the gap touches 20% for skilled women and 30% for highly skilled occupations.
3. It increases with experience and is highest at 15% in favour of men for talent with 10 and more years of experience.
4. This index is complemented with the key findings from the third annual survey titled ‘Women of India Inc’ undertaken by Monster.com.
5. The survey witnessed maximum share of participation from Mumbai at (24%), followed by Bengaluru (23%) and Delhi/NCR at (18%). The participation from non-metros was only at about 29%.
6.  Sectoral analysis of the GPG showed that wage inequalities in favour of men are present in all the relevant sectors including IT/ITES services (26%); manufacturing (24%); healthcare, caring services and social work (21%). Financial services, banking and insurance is the only industry where men earn just 2% more

3.India- Russia sign USD 3 billion deal for new nuclear- power submarine 

*On 7th March 2019, India entered into a deal with Russia for leasing of a nuclear – powered attack submarine for Indian Navy worth USD 3 billion for a period of 10 years.

Key Points

1. Under the pact, Russia will deliver Chakra III, a Akula class submarine to the Indian Navy by 2025. It will be the 3rd Russian submarine to be leased to Indian Navy.
2.  India earlier leased christened INS Chakra which is the first Russian nuclear powered submarine in 1988 under a 3 year lease. The second lease was INS Chakra in 2012 for a period of 10 years.
3.  The lease period as per the agreement for Chakra II will expire in 2022 and the Indian government is looking at extending the lease period.

About Russia 

•  Capital – Moscow
•  Currency- Ruble
• President – Vladimir Putin

About Indian Navy

•  Chief of Naval Staff- Admiral Sunil Lamba

4.Inaugural Space Dialogue organised by India and Japan in New Delhi 

*On 8th March 2019, India and Japan organised a joint space dialogue in New Delhi. It aimed at providing a platform for both the countries to explore ways to enhance cooperation between the space agencies of both the nations.

1.  Indra Mani Pandey, Additional Secretary for Disarmament and International Security Affairs, Ministry of External Affairs headed the Indian delegation while Kansuke Nagaoka, Deputy Assistant Minister, Foreign Policy Bureau, and Shuzo Takada, Director General, National Space Policy Secretariat jointly led the Japanese delegation.
2. Topics discussed during the event were: collaboration between Japanese Exploration Space Agency (JAXA) and Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), global navigation satellite systems, space situational awareness (SSA), norms related to space security, etc.

5.Indo-Pacific Regional Dialogue – 2019 organised in New Delhi

*On 5th and 6th March 2019, the 2nd edition of Indo-Pacific Regional Dialogue (IPRD) – 2019 was organised in Manekshaw Centre, New Delhi. It focused on involving the global strategic community in reviewing India’s opportunities and challenges in the Indo-Pacific region.
There are 5 new themes for this edition:

1.  Practical solutions for achieving cohesion in the region through maritime connectivity
2. Measures to attain and maintain a free-and-open Indo-Pacific
3.  Adopting a regional approach to the region’s transition from a ‘Brown’ to a ‘Blue’ economy
4. Analysing opportunities and challenges arising from the maritime impact of ‘Industry 4.0’
5. How the twin conceptualisations of ‘SAGAR’ and ‘SAGARMALA’ might best be made mutually-reinforcing on a regional level.
6. 13 countries of the Indo-Pacific, namely Australia, Bangladesh, Canada, China, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, Seychelles, Singapore, South Korea, Sri Lanka, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America participated in the event.

About Indo-Pacific Regional Dialogue (IPRD)

• It was started in 2018.
•  It is a conference of the Indian Navy and is conducted by the National Maritime Foundation which acts as the knowledge partner of Navy.
•  It provides a chance to discuss issues related to the geopolitical developments that pertain to the maritime domain of the Indo-Pacific.

6.Maharashtra government launches ‘Atal Aahar Yojna’ for construction workers 

*On 7th March 2019, Maharashtra government launched a special scheme ‘Atal Aahar Yojna’ for construction workers in the state which will provide good quality food at a highly subsidised rate.
Key Points

1.  The target is set to cover 20000 workers and provide them with good quality food at a nominal cost of Rs.5 is the first phase of the scheme.
2. The government is already providing a Subsidy of Rs.4.5 lakh to labourers for house construction and is planning to provide help in education, income and health as well.
3. Maharashtra government also launched Shramev Jayate Yojana under which a pension of Rs.3000 is given to construction workers above the age of 60 years. If the worker died, the pension will be given to his widow.

About Maharashtra 

• Capital – Mumbai
•  CM – Devendra Fadnavis
•  Governor – C Vidhyasagar Rao

7.New NCLT benches to be set up in Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh

*The Government approved the establishment of two new benches of National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), at Amaravati in Andhra Pradesh and Indore in Madhya Pradesh in view of the increasing caseload, especially under the Insolvency & Bankruptcy Code 2016. The creation of new benches will enable faster disposal of cases.

1.  The jurisdiction of the Bench at Amaravati will be the state of Andhra Pradesh and that of Indore will be the state of Madhya Pradesh.
2. Currently, Andhra Pradesh comes under the Jurisdiction of NCLT Bench at Hyderabad and Madhya Pradesh comes under the jurisdiction of NCLT Bench, Ahmedabad.
3. The NCLT, which has been set up under the Companies Act, 2013, has provided an effective and time-bound adjudication mechanism to deal with matters related to the Companies Act, 2013, the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), 2016 and theLLP Act, 2008.
4. Presently, 14 numbers of NCLT Benches have been established, including the Principal Bench in New Delhi, and three recently set up benches at Jaipur, Kochi and Cuttack.

8.Rs 20 to be charged to Business Organisations for using Aadhar Services

*The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) in the official gazette notification, the Aadhaar (Pricing of Aadhaar Authentication Services) Regulations 2019 put forth that business organisations using Aadhaar services will now have to pay Rs 20 for each customer verification and 50 paise for authentication of each transaction carried out by the entities.

1.  Government entities and the Department of Posts are exempted from authentication transaction charges.
2.  The entities shall be required to deposit the authentication transaction charges within 15 days of issuance of the concerned invoice based on the usage and any delay in payment beyond 15 days shall attract interest compounded at 1.5% per month and discontinuation of authentication and e-KYC services.

About UIDAI

•  Chairman – J Satyanarayana
• Headquarters – New Delhi

9.NCSM collaborates with Google Arts and Culture for online exhibition 

*On 7th March 2019, The National Council of Science Museums (NCSM) collaborates with Google Arts and Culture for largest interactive online exhibition on inventions and discoveries.
Key Points 

1. NCSM is an organization under the Ministry of Culture. The largest online exhibition ‘Once Upon a Try’: Epic journeys of invention and discovery is an attempt to explore humanities greatest inventions and discoveries in an interactive online exhibition.
2. NCSM contributes interactive stories that has some key insights into the long and glorious science and technology heritage of India.
3. The six sections in the exhibition are historic beginnings, ayurveda, susruta samhita, rasashata, Itr – ancient Indian knowledge of perfumery and musical instruments from the Indian subcontinent.
4.  NCSM is a premiere institution in the field of science communication under the Ministry of Culture, Government of India. It is also an autonomous organization.

About National Council of Science Museums

•  Headquarters – Kolkata
•  Director General – A D Choudhury

10.USD 26 million loan agreement for Assam signed by ADB and GoI

*For improving drainage infrastructure in Dibrugarh town of Assam, Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Government of India signed a loan agreement of USD 26-million in New Delhi.

1.  It was signed by Sameer Kumar Khare, Additional Secretary in Department of Economic Affairs and Hoe Yun Jeong, India Resident Mission of ADB.
2. . The loan provided is additional financing under the ongoing loan of USD 51 million under Assam Urban Infrastructure Investment Program (AUIIP) which is helping to improve water supply infrastructure in major cities of Assam like Guwahati and Dibrugarh.
3.  ADB approved the Multi-tranche Financing Facility (MFF) for the AUIIP for an amount of USD 200 million comprising of two Tranches on 30 September 2011.
4.  The ADB’s ongoing India portfolio comprises of 80 projects worth USD 4.3 billion in the public sector and USD 1.6 billion in the private sector.

11.RBI notifies 2% interest subsidy scheme for short-term crop loans

*On 7th March 2019, The Reserve Bank of India notified a 2% interest subvention or Subsidy for short-term crop loans during 2018-19 and 2019-20.
Key Points 

1.  RBI decided to offer guaranteed financial support of 2% per annum for short term crop loans upto Rs.3 lakhs for farmers at an interest rate of 7%.
2.  Interest subvention is calculated on the crop loan and from the date of its disbursement upto the date of actual repayment of the crop loan by the farmer or upto the due date of the loan fixed by the banks whichever is earlier. The maximum period is one year.
3.  For those farmers who are repaying loans promptly will get an additional 2% interest subvention under the scheme. Then the effective rate of short term crop loans to be 4% per annum.

12. RBI relax rules for White – label ATM providers

*On 7th March 2019, The Reserve Bank of India has eased business guidelines for white label ATMs by allowing companies that manage these machines to source cash directly from the central bank.
Key Points 

1. The guidelines released by RBI include managing machines to source cash directly from RBI offices, offer non bank services like bill payment and advertise even non financial products in their premises.
2. As per the statement, RBI has allowed the operators to source cash from any Scheduled banks in India including cooperative and rural banks.
3. RBI allowed White Label ATM Operators (WLAO) to offer bill payment and deposit services depending on the technical feasibility of the device as determined by NPCI.
4.  The ATMs setup, owned and operated by non-bank Entities are called White Label ATMs (WLAs). They provide banking services to customers of banks based on the debit/credit/prepaid cards issued by banks.

13.IGI Airport awarded the best airport in 40 MPPA category

*The Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport, New Delhi was declared as the best airport in the category of over “40 million passengers per annum (MPPA)” in Asia Pacific by Airports Council International (ACI) in the Airport Service Quality (ASQ) Programme for 2018.

1.  It had maintained the position of World no. 2 from 2011 to 2013 and in 2014 went up to become the World no. 1 in the 25-40 MMPA category and stayed at that position in 2015.
2. It stood World No. 2 in the highest category of more than 40 MPPA in 2016 and in 2017, it was adjudged as the best airport in the highest category of over 40 MPPA.

14.All India Carrom Federation gained recognition as National Sports Federation

*Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports has granted provisional recognition to All India Carrom Federation (AICF) as National Sport Federation with immediate in order to facilitate the participation of Indian Athletes in the forthcoming National/International competitions.

1. A major role has been granted to the AICF for development of the Carrom sport in India by the recognition.
2. The recognition can be reviewed by the Government in case Memorandum of Association (MoA) of the AICF or its practices come into conflict with the Government guidelines as amended from time to time.
3.  The Carrom sport is placed in the ‘Others’ category.

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