Current Affairs Questions for Competitive Exams: 7th March 2019

The government has introduced a scheme for providing financial assistance for transport and marketing of agriculture products with a view to boosting export of farm commodities to certain countries in Europe and North America. Under the Transport and Marketing Assistance (TMA) scheme, the government would reimburse a certain portion of freight charges and provide assistance for marketing of agricultural produce. The scheme covers freight and marketing assistance for export by air as well as by sea (both normal and refrigerated cargo).

Two Nobel prizes in literature will be awarded this year, to make up for the lack of one in 2018 while the scandal-plagued Swedish Academy attempted to get its house in order. Last year’s Nobel was withheld for the first time since 1949 after the Swedish Academy, the august institution that selects the winners was hit with a sexual misconduct scandal that saw the husband of one member imprisoned for rape.

The third edition of the bilateral joint exercise between India and Oman, Al Nagah 2019 will begin from 12th of this month (March) at Jabel Al Akhdar Mountains in Oman. It will continue till 25th of March. In the exercise, both the armies will exchange expertise and experience in tactics, weapon handling and firing.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has expressed concern that the country will face a graver and more complicated environment to development, amid an ongoing trade war with the US and continued economic slowdown. The world’s second-largest economy has slashed its GDP target to 6.00 to 6.50 percent this year.

The Government of India, the State Government of Chhattisgarh and the World Bank signed a $25.2 Million Loan Agreement to support the State’s Reforms in Expenditure Management. This support will cover Expenditure Planning, Investment Management, Budget Execution, Public Procurement, and Accountability.

Women officers can now get permanent commissions in 10 branches of the Indian Army, the government announced. The Defence Ministry stated that it has taken necessary steps to ensure that women, who were earlier inducted for short service commission (SSC), get permanent commission in the armed forces.

Kylie Jenner was named the youngest self-made billionaire of all time by Forbes magazine, thanks to the booming cosmetics company she founded three years ago. Jenner, 21, the half-sister of reality television stars Kim, Khloe and Kourtney Kardashian, made it onto the annual Forbes list of billionaires after debuting her Kylie Cosmetics online in 2015 with $29 lip kits containing matching lipstick and lip liner.

TVS Motor Company has recently bagged the International Sustainability Award – ‘Green Era Award for Sustainability’ in Lisbon, Portugal. The company also won the ‘Quality and Business Excellence Award’ in acknowledgment of its endeavor to create new benchmarks in product quality.

Union Minister Mahesh Sharma has inaugurated ‘Azaadi Ke Diwane’ museum, dedicated to the unsung heroes of the country’s freedom struggle, on the Red Fort premises in New Delhi.

The World Bank will provide a $250-million loan for the National Rural Economic Transformation Project (NRETP) to help women in rural households develop viable enterprises for farm and non-farm products. An agreement in this regard was signed between the World Bank and the Government of India.

President Ram Nath Kovind has presented Swachh Survekhshan-2019 Awards in New Delhi. Indore bagged award for the cleanest city for third straight year in Swachh Survekshan.

State Bank of India (SBI) and Hitachi Payment Services Pvt Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hitachi Ltd has launched their merchant-acquiring joint venture, SBI Payment Services Pvt Ltd (SBIPSPL) in Mumbai for establishing a digital payments platform for India and other countries in the region. The joint venture (SBI) has a 74 percent stake, and the balance is with Hitachi Payment Services) will facilitate expansion of the digital payments landscape in India via its digital payments platform.

President Ram Nath Kovind has presented Swachh Survekhshan-2019 Awards in New Delhi. Indore bagged award for the cleanest city for third straight year in Swachh Survekshan. New Delhi Municipal Council area gets cleanest small city award while Uttarakhand’s Gauchar was adjudged Best Ganga Town in the survey. Top-ranked cities received a statue of Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi as the award for their work towards cleanliness. Swachh Survekshan 2019 covered all Urban Local Bodies in the country, making it the largest such cleanliness survey in the world.

Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL), a defence public sector undertaking, presented SWAGAT – the Automatic Fare Collection Gating System. PM Narendra Modi launched the system as part of the inaugural of Phase-I of the Ahmedabad Metro.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has expressed concern that the country will face a graver and more complicated environment to development, amid an ongoing trade war with the US and continued economic slowdown. The world’s second-largest economy has slashed its GDP target to 6.00 to 6.50 percent this year.