- PM Modi inaugurated the 11th edition of the defence Expo in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh from 5th Feb 2020 to 8th Feb 2020. Hosted by The Ministry of Defence, Government of India with an aim aims at shifting the economy of the country from a major defence importer. Theme of the Expo – ‘The Emerging Defence Manufacturing Hub’.
- The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, has given its ‘in-principle’ approval for setting up a Major Port at Vadhavan near Dahanu in Maharashtra. Vadhavan port will be developed on “landlord model”. A Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) will be formed with Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) as the lead partner with equity participation equal to or more than 50% to implement the project. The position of JN Port, the biggest container port in India is 28thin the world with a traffic of 5.1 million TEUs(Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units). Maharashtra has India’s largest container port at JNPT which caters to the hinterland of Maharashtra, North Karnataka, Telangana and secondary hinterland of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, NCR, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh.
- Asian Development Bank (ADB) had prepared Conceptual Development Plan (CDP) for Vizag-Chennai Industrial Corridor (VCIC) and four nodes namely (i) Visakhapatnam, (ii) Machilipatnam, (iii) Donakonda and (iv) Chittoor were identified for development. The loan has been agreed between State Government and Asian Development Bank (ADB). ADB has approved USD 631 million (in loans and grants) for VCIC, comprising a Multi-Tranche Financing Facility.
- Union Cabinet approved the inclusion of Indian Institute of Information Technology (established under public-private partnership mode) situated at Surat, Bhopal, Bhagalpur, Agartala and Raichur under the IIIT (public-private partnership) Act, 2017 Today in New Delhi.
- Government of India has introduced two voluntary and contributory Pension Schemes, i.e.
(1) Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Maan-dhan Yojna, (PM-SYM), a pension scheme for the Unorganized Workers and
(2) National Pension Scheme for the Traders and Self Employed Persons (NPS-Traders) (for the Vyapari’s) under section 3(1) Unorganized Workers Social Security Act, 2008 to provide old age security to them.
The schemes envisage for providing minimum assured monthly pension of Rs. 3000/- after attaining the age of 60 years.
The monthly contribution ranges from Rs.55-Rs.200/- depending upon the entry age of the beneficiary.
PM-SYM is meant for old age Protection and social security of unorganized workers. Those people who are mostly engaged as rickshaw pullers, street vendor, mid-day meal workers, head loaders, brick kiln workers, cobblers, rag pickers, domestic workers, washermen, home-based, agricultural workers, construction workers, beedi workers, handloom workers, leather workers, audio-visual workers or in similar other occupations. - The works of New Lines have been included in Budget and are in different stages of execution to connect Buddhist Pilgrimage Centres:
- Gaya-Bodhgaya-Chatra, Gaya-Natesar(Nalanda)
- Rajgir-Hisua-Tilaiya, Natesar-Islampur
- Kapilvastu-Basti
- Bahraich-Shravasti-Balrampur/Tulsipur
- Padrauna-Kushinagar via Gorakhpur
- As per World Steel Association data, India became the second largest steel producer of crude steel after China in 2018 and 2019, by replacing Japan. India’s crude steel production in 2018 was at 109.3 MT, an increase of 7.7 per cent from 101.5 MT in 2017.
- The Soil Health Card scheme launched by the Modi Government during the financial year 2014-15 with a view to address the decline of soil nutrients, has started reaping fruit. In the second phase of the scheme 11.69 crore Soil Health Cards have been distributed to farmers in the last two years.
- the Union government on Wednesday made an extra budgetary resource (EBR) provision of Rs 5,000 crore for the Bullet train project .The EBR will include the equity from governments of Maharashtra and Gujarat as well as loan reimbursement from Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA), which is financing 80 percent of the project.
- The Global Innovation policy centre (GIPC) of the US Chamber and Commerce released the International IP(Intellectual property) Index. According to the ranking India is ranked at 40 out of 53 countries. In 2019 India was ranked 36 and in 2020 it has fallen to 40. Globally US ranks first followed by UK,Sweden,France, Germany and Ireland.
- On February 5, 2020, the State Government of Karnataka launched Jana sevaka scheme. The Government aims to provide doorstep government services under the scheme. It intends to digitize several schemes and services to make them accessible to citizens.
