PM Modi launches Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Maan-Dhan Yojana from Gujarat.....Important Current Affairs of 5th March 2019: UPSC, SSC

1.PM-SYM: PMModi launches Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Maan-Dhan Yojana from Gujarat

*Prime Minister Narendra Modi on March 5, 2019 launched the Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Maan-dhan Yojana (PM-SYM), a mega pension scheme for unorganised sector, from Gandhinagar, Gujarat. The scheme was announced in the Interim Budget 2019.
*The PM-SYM is a voluntary and contributory pension scheme that will benefit as many as 10 crore workers in the unorganised sector.
*It will provide monthly pension of Rs 3000 to the employees of unorganised sector after 60 years of age.
Benefits under Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Maan-dhan Yojana
*Minimum Assured Pension: Each subscriber under the scheme will receive minimum assured pension of Rs 3000 per month after attaining the age of 60 years.
*In case of death during receipt of pension: If the subscriber dies during the receipt of pension, his or her spouse will be entitled to receive 50 percent of the pension as family pension. This family pension is applicable only to spouse.
*In case of death before the age of 60 years: If a beneficiary has given regular contribution and dies before attaining the age of 60 years, his or her spouse will be entitled to continue the scheme subsequently by payment of regular contribution or may even exit the scheme.

2.ISRO launches 'Young Scientist Programme' for school children

*The Indian Space Research Organisation has launched a special programme for school children called Yuva Vigyani Karyakram or Young Scientist Programme

Highlights
* ISRO has come up with this young scientist programme to ‘catch them young’. The residential training programme will be conducted during the summer holidays. It will be held for a duration of around two weeks.
* Under the programme, three students each will be selected to participate in it every year from each state and union territory, covering CBSE, ICSE and state syllabus.
* ISRO has approached the chief secretaries of the respective states and administrators of Union Territories in India to arrange for the selection of three students from each of their states and union territories and communicate the list to ISRO.
* The eligibility for being chosen for the programme includes those students who have finished 8th standard and are currently studying in the 9th standard.
* Besides this, the selection will be based on the academic performance and extracurricular activities of the students, as per the selection criteria already circulated to the chief secretaries of the states and administrators of Union Territories.
* Each state and union territory is expected to submit the list of selected candidates to ISRO by the end of March 2019

3.Azadi Ke Diwane museum inaugurated

*Minister of State for Culture and Environment, Dr. Mahesh Sharma inaugurated 'AzaadikeDiwane' museum at Red Fort, Delhi on 5 March 2019,
*lt is created by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) and pays homage to all unsung heroes of freedom struggle of the nation.
*The museum is 5th in the series of recently inaugurated museums in the Rec Fort Complex including Subhash Chandra Bose museum.

4.Handloom Haat at Janpa inaugurated

*Textiles Minister Smriti Irani inaugurated the refurbished Handloom Haat at Janpath in New elhi on March 5, 2019.
*The main objective of the Haat is to provide infrastructure support to handloom agencies to augment their sales of handloom products.
*She also launched 3 projects besides this, which are Trend Forecasting, Design Innovation Incubator and Textiles, and Crafts Repository.

5.Uttarakhand to set up CoE for Himalayan Fibre 

*The Uttarakhand government has decided to set up a center of excellence for Himalayan fiber in Almora district of Kumaon.
*it will be set up with support from the Northern India Textile Research Association (NITRA) - Ghaziabad. NITRA, under the Union Ministry of Textile, will set up a training institute for developing fiber products at the Centre.

6.Project BOLD-QIT inaugurated

*Project BOLD-QIT (Border Electronically Dominated QRT Interception Technique) on India-Bangladesh border in Assam was inaugurated on 5 March 2019. 1&T Wing of BSF undertook the project in January 2018 and completed it in record time.
*Implementation of this project will help BSF to curb all types of cross border crimes and provide respite to the troops from round the clock human surveillance.

7.1000 MW NTPL project dedicated to nation

*Coal Minister Piyush Goyal dedicated to the nation a 1,000-megawatt (MW) thermal power project of Neyveli Tamil Nadu Power Ltd (NTPL) on 4 March 2019.
*He also dedicated 150-MW solar power projects of NLC India Ltd (NLCIL) in Tamil Nadu.
*The 1,000-MW coal-fired thermal power project of NTPL is a joint venture between NLCIL and TANGEDCO with equity participation of 89:11.

8. Appointments

Credit - Google images

 *Veteran Indian sports administrator Randhir Singh was appointed as the chairman of the Coordination Committee of the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games by the General Assembly of the Olympic Council of Asia.
*Beverage major Coca-Cola India appointed Nishi Kulshreshtha Chaturvedi as Vice President. Human Resources, India and South West Asia.

9.Important Mergers and purchase

*Zomato will sell its UAE food delivery business to Germany's Delivery Hero Group for about $172 million.
*ICICI Bank will acquire 9.9% stake in non- banking finance company Kisan Finance for cash consideration of 17,82 crore.

10.BHEL to set up EV charge network

*BHEL will be setting up a network of ar-based electric vehicle chargers on the Delhi-Chandigarh highway.
*The project will be covered under the Department of Heavy Industry's FAME scheme (Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid) & Electric Vehicles in India).
*EV chargers would allay range-anxiety among the electric vehicle users and bolster their confidence for inter-city travel.

11. 96% age of toilets under Swachh Bharat

*The National Annual Rural Sanitation Survey (NARSS) 2018-19, found that 96.5% of the households in rural India who have access to a toilet use it.
*The survey also re-confirmed the Open Defecation Free (ODF) status of 90.7% villages.
*The survey was conducted between November 2018 and February 2019, covering 92040 households in 6136 villages across the country.

12.Air pollution costing India $30 billion/year

*Air pollution due to crop stubble burning in northern India causes an economic loss of $30 billion annually, as per a study unveiled on 4 March 2019.

*Researchers from the US-based International Food Policy Research Institute found that living in districts with air pollution from crop stubble burning can cause acute respiratory infection (ARI). This is first of I its kind study

13.New airports inaugurated

*PM Narendra Modi will launch civilian flight operations from Hindon airbase on 8 March 2019. He will also inaugurate the 9.4 km-long Dilshad Garden-New Bus Adda section of Delhi Metro's Red Line,
*Sindhudurg airport in Parule-Chipi area of Maharashtra's Konkan region was inaugurated by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Union Civil Aviation Minister Suresh Prabhu on 5 March 2019

14.India tops in Consumer Confidence Survey

*India topped the Global Consumer Confidence Survey, conducted in collaboration with Nielson.
*The survey was conducted over the internet and polled more than 32,000 consumers in 64 countries across Asia-Pacific, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, Africa, and North America.
*India had a Consumer Confidence Index score of 133 in the 4th quarter of 2018.

15.Shikha, Jhulan in top women's ODI rankings

*2 Indian bowlers, Jhulan Goswami, and Shikha Pandey joined the top 5 club in the latest ICC women's cricket rankings for ODI bowlers issued on March 4, 2019. 
*Shikha Pandey was placed joint 3rd along with South Africa's Dane van Niekerk.
*Veteran pacer Jhulan Goswami topped the latest ICC women's cricket rankings.

16.Sanjeev Ranjan to be new Road Transport Sec

*Senior lAS officer Sanjeev Ranjan was named secretary, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH).
*He is the chairman of National Highways Authority of India at present and has been appointed an officer on special duty in MoRTH.
*Nagendra Nath Sinha will replace him as the new NHAl chief

17.Vice President on visit to Paraguay 

Credit - Google images

 *Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu is on two-nation visit to Paraguay and Costa Rica.
*The 8-day tour aims at strengthening bilateral ties with the two Latin American Countries.
*President of Paraguay - Mario Abdo Benitez.
*President of Costa Rica-Carlos Alvarado Quesada.