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Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 30 September 2019

::NATIONAL::

PM urges people to quit tobacco and build a healthier India

The Prime Minister NarendraModi has called upon people to quit tobacco and not harbour misconceptions about e-cigarettes, to build a healthy India. In his 'Mann Ki Baat ' address on All India Radio, Mr.Modi said, tobacco addiction tramples the dreams of families and wastes lives of children and this habit should not take root in the society.
He said, people understand the dangers of common cigarettes, but have misconceptions about e-cigarettes that they pose no danger. Prime Minister added that e-cigarettes contain many harmful chemicals which have a rious effect on health.
He said, younger generation is the country's future and that is why the government banned e- cigarettes. This new form of intoxication can destroy the demographically young country. Mr Modi said all addictions have to be avoided to realize the goal of Fit India.
Prime Minister said, the government will organize Fit India Plogging Run on 2nd October across the country. It is a unique combination of picking up litter while jogging.
Highlighting the need to shun single use plastic, the Prime Minister said, the entire world is looking towards India as a model example. India has taken a lead in environmental protection.

NITI Aayog releases school education quality index

The School Education Quality Index, SEQI prepared by NITI Aayog was launched by NITI Aayog Vice Chairman and CEO in New Delhi today. Kerala has bagged the number one rank followed by Rajasthan in overall performance.
Karnataka stands at 3rd place. In incremental performance ranking, Haryana is number one followed by Assam and Uttar Pradesh.
In small states category, Manipur has claimed the top spot followed by Tripura and Goa in overall performance. Meghalaya got the first place in incremental performance ranking followed by Nagaland and Goa.
Talking to media, NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant says incremental states are important as they have made quantum jump.

::ECONOMY::

Centre to seek interim dividend from RBI

The Centre may seek an interim dividend of about ₹30,000 crore from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) towards the end of the financial year to meet its fiscal deficit target of 3.3% of GDP for 2019-20, sources said.
Government finances have come under pressure due to moderation in revenue collection and a slew of measures are being taken to lift growth from a six-year low of 5% in the first quarter of the current fiscal.
Apart from the RBI dividend, there are other means of bridging any shortfall, including mop up from disinvestment and higher utilisation of National Small Saving Fund (NSSF), sources added.
In the past, the government has taken the route of seeking interim dividend from the RBI to balance its account. Last fiscal, the RBI paid ₹28,000 crore as interim dividend.
To pull the economy out of a six-year low growth and a 45-year high unemployment rate by reviving private investments, the government has taken slew of measures, including cut in corporate tax rate by almost 10 percentage points having tax implication of ₹1.45 lakh crore.
As part of the exercise, the government also withdrew the enhanced surcharge on long- and short-term capital gains for foreign portfolio investors as well as domestic portfolio investors with revenue implication of ₹1,400 crore.

New policy to de incentivise pre 2005 vehicles

The much-awaited vehicle scrappage policy that has gone for a Cabinet approval is likely to see stringent registration and fitness norms for pre-2005 manufactured vehicles, according to sources.
As per estimates, there are about 2 crore pre-2005 built vehicles that are plying on Indian roads and the move is aimed at de-incentivising such vehicles in view of about 10 to 25 times higher pollution emission by them under the new emission norms.
Last week, Road Transport and Highways Minister NitinGadkari said that he had cleared a Cabinet note on the proposed policy and a decision is expected on it soon.
Indian vehicle market has grown exponentially. If old pollution norms are compared with new emission regulations, pre-2005 vehicles are polluting 10 to 25 times more under the new norms, sources said.
Even if those old vehicles are maintained properly, they will be polluting more with more emissions and will prove to be a hazard for road safety.
The policy, if finalised, may have provisions that on scrapping of old vehicles, buying new vehicles could be given concessions by dealers on the basis of certificates of vehicle scrapping, the sources said.
The minister had earlier said that once the policy is approved India could emerge as a hub for automobile manufacturing as key raw material available from scrapping like steel, aluminium and plastic are bound to be recycled, bringing down automobile prices by “20-30 per cent%”.

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::INTERNATIONAL::

Saudi plans to invest $100b in India

Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest oil exporter, is looking at investing $100 billion in India in areas of petrochemicals, infrastructure and mining among others, considering the country’s growth potential.
Saudi Ambassador Dr. Saud bin Mohammed Al Sati has said India is an an attractive investment destination for Saudi Arabia and it is eyeing long-term partnerships with New Delhi in key sectors such as oil, gas and mining.
The envoy said investing in India’s value chain from oil supply, marketing, refining to petrochemicals and lubricants is a key part of Aramco’s global downstream strategy.
Saudi Arabia is a key pillar of India’s energy security, being a source of 17% or more of crude oil and 32% of LPG requirements of India.
The envoy said more than 40 opportunities for joint collaboration and investments across various sectors have been identified between India and Saudi Arabia in 2019, adding the current bilateral trade of USD 34 billion will undoubtedly continue to increase.
Talking about ‘Vision 2030’, Mr. Al Sati said Saudi Arabia is working towards transforming its economy and looking at a post-oil age of world-class technological research, start-up and entrepreneurial vigour.

Austria moves towards snap elections

In Austria, people have voted in a snap general election after a scandal caused the previous coalition government to fall.
According to the exit polls released after voting ended this evening, the conservative People's Party, led by former Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, is projected to come top with 37 per cent of the vote, but will again need to form a coalition.
Social Democrats are projected to get 22.5 per cent with the far-right Freedom Party on 16.7 per cent.
Other parties involved are the Greens (projected to get 13.1 per cent) and the liberal Neos party (7.8 per cent).
In the election, 183 delegates will be chosen to represent eight parties in the parliament. The scandal toppled Kurz's government, and the former leader of his coalition partner the Freedom Party (FPÖ), Heinz-Christian Strache.

::SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY::

PMJAY to boost coverage via teleconsultation

The PradhanMantri Jan ArogyaYojana (PMJAY) health insurance scheme is set to offer teleconsultation services to its patients soon.
The move is part of the Centre’s plans to widen the coverage of the scheme and thus reduce the incidence of catastrophic health expenditures, and improve access and quality of health services in the public and private sectors, according to a senior health ministry official.
The Minister added that Ayushman Bharat — among the world’s biggest public healthcare schemes — would also offer teleconsultation through 1.5 lakh centres, which would be operationalised by December 2022.
Elaborating on the benefits that have accrued from the AB-HWCs, the Health Minister said that more than 1.5 crore people had been screened for hypertension, with more than 70 lakh of them put on treatment; similarly, a population of about 1.3 crore was screened for diabetes and more than 31 lakh people were now on treatment.
The Ministry was also pushing for the expansion of AB-PMJAY, through its system of incentives in Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities. It was also looking at overhauling the existing health benefits packages and rationalising the cost of the packages to remove any aberrations.

::SPORTS::

SumitNagal wins ATP challenger trophy

In Tennis, SumitNagal has won the men's singles title of ATP Challenger Tournament at Buenos Aires in Argentina. He defeated local favourite FacundoBognis in straight-sets 6-4, 6-2 in an hour and 37 minute match to claim the 54,160 US dollars prize money.
The 22-year-old from Haryana, seeded seventh, outclassed 8th seed Bognis of Argentina to become first Indian to win on South American clay court.