Category: All Current Affairs

MSP for minor forest produce increased from 16% to 66%

May 3, 2020

• Minimum Support Price (MSP) for the Minor forest produce (MFP) has been increased from somewhere between 16% to 66%.
• Minor forest produce includes non-timber items such as bamboo and other grasses, edible or useful roots, seeds, fruits, flowers and plants. A number of people from scheduled tribes and other forest dwelling communities depend on the collection and sale of such items for their livelihood.

Rs 500 credited to women beneficiaries under PMGKY

May 3, 2020

• Second installment of Rs. 500 has been credited to women beneficiaries under Pardhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojna (PMGKY). They are bound to get installment of Rs. 500 each month starting from April 2020.

Construction of New parliament approved by Environment Ministry.

May 3, 2020

• The Expert appraisal committee of the Environment Ministry has approved the construction of the new Parliament building of India at a cost of Rs. 922 crore.
• There will be different buildings for executive and legislative functions.

Neeraj Dhawan appointed as Chief Risk Officer of Yes Bank

May 3, 2020

• Neeraj Dhawan has been appointed as Chief Risk Officer of the Yes Bank for a period of 3 years with immediate effect. He will replace Ashish Agarwal, the current CRO of Yes Bank.

Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) to launch BHARATMARKET for retail traders

May 3, 2020

• Confederation of All India Traders (CIAT)  will be launching BHARATMARKET, an e-commerce platform for all retail traders.
• It aims to bring 95% of retail traders under this platform. This project is supported by Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

Kannada poet and writer K. S. Nisar Ahmed passed away

May 3, 2020

• Well known Kannada writer and poet, K. S. Nisar Ahmed passed away at the age of 84. He was awarded with Padma Shri(2008), the Rajyotsava Award(1981) and the Pampa award(2017) for his work.

Journalist, novelist, poet, historical researcher, and Delhi’s master chronicler, Ronald Vivian Smith, passed away

May 3, 2020

• One of the eminent historian and author Ronald Vivian Smith , also known as RV Smith passed away at the age of 82. He was born in Agra.
• His mains interests were history, antiquity, Egyptology, mysticism and the occult.He was a recipient of the Canon Holland Prize and the Rotary Award for general knowledge and the journalism award from the Michael Madhusudan Academy in Kolkata (1997-1998)

NASA’s first Mars helicopter “Ingenuity” named by Indian-origin girl Vaneeza Rupani

May 3, 2020

• Indian Origin girl from Alabama has named the first helicopter “Ingenuity” that will be launched to the Red planet this summer with  National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) Mars rover Perseverance .
• She participated in “Name the rover ” contest held by NASA to name the rover Perseverance 
• It is expected to land on Mars in February 2021. It will be launched along with rover Perseverance as part of the Mars Mission 2020.

Defence Institute of Advanced Technology, Pune develops sterilizer “ATULYA”

May 3, 2020

• Defence Institute of Advanced Technology (DIAT), Pune has developed a microwave steriliser “ATULYA” that can disintegrate the novel coronavirus COVID-19 using differential heating in the range of 56 degree to 60 degree celsius.
• DIAT is a deemed university under the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO)

Professor Shobhana Narasimhan elected to American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

May 3, 2020

• Professor Shobhana Narasimhan from the Theoretical Sciences Unit (TSU) at the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR), has been elected as an International Honorary Member to the American Academy of Arts and Science.
• She has done significant work on the rational design of nanomaterials, examining how the lowering of dimensionality and reduction of size affect material properties.