Current Affairs - 4th Feb 2014
India’s forex reserve goes down
The foreign exchange reserves had decreased by USD 1.20 billion to USD 292.08 billion for the week ended Jan 17.According to the RBI’s weekly statistical supplement, foreign currency assets, the biggest component of the forex reserves, grew by USD 117.3 million to USD 266.05 billion.
The foreign currency assets had fallen by $1.20 billion to USD 265.93 billion in the previous week
India becomes third largest crude oil importer
India becomes the 3rd largest crude oil importer in the World behind China and US as per a report released by Reuters. India replaced Japan as such by importing 3.86 million barrels-per-day of crude oil in the year 2013 as against 3.64 million barrels-per-day imported by Japan.
India’s longest rail cum road bridge
India's longest rail cum road bridge 'Bogibeel Bridge' (4.94 km) is expected to be completed by 2016. The bridge, the longest structure coming up on the river Brahmaputra, is part of the 74 km long rail link connecting the town of Dibrugarh (at the south bank of the river) to Dhemaji in the north of the Brahmaputra.
Its the first bridge of Indian Railways to be totally steel welded.
Govt revises FY13 GDP growth to 4.5% from 5%
The government revised downwards economic growth for 2012-13 to 4.5% from the previous 5% due to weak performance of farming, manufacturing sectors and a decline in mining activity.
The 28th Surajkund International Crafts Mela
Haryana organized the 28th international crafts mela in Faridabad. This is an international event which is organized every year to promote crafts and culture of the different states of this country. This time Sri Lanka was made trhe partner country whereas Goa was given the status of “theme state”.
Rajiv Gandhi khel Abhiyaan
The union government has proposed a pilot project named “Rajiv Gandhi Khel Abhiyaan” to promote and create sports facilities in rural areas covering 634districts of the country. The project is set to cost Rs.12,808 crore and is said to be launched under monitoring of union sports minister Jitendra Singh.
Mother and child tracking centre inaugurated
A ‘Mother and Child Tracking Facilitation Centre’ was inaugurated by Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare Ghulam Nabi Azad in Delhi. This centre, set up with the support of GVK EMRI, tracks the health of pregnant women and newborn.
It aims to validate the data record of all the States maintained by the regional ‘Mother and Child Tracking Systems’ (MCTS) about the pregnant women and newborn children, along with the records of health workers enrolled so far.
Interest subvention scheme for SHGs
The Government announced Rs. 1,400 crore interest subvention on loans taken by Self Help Groups working for their empowerment. Interest subvention for the loans taken by women Self Help Groups (SHGs) is a significant initiative under Cetre’s ambitious programme National Rural Livelihoods Mission (NRLM).
Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh said that it is applicable for loans availed by women SHGs from April 1, 2013. According to the Minister, from today onwards, all banks will lend to women SHGs at upfront 7 per cent interest (for loans up to Rs. 3 lakhs) in 150 select backward districts, most of which are affected by Naxalites.
These SHGs will get a further 3 per cent subvention on prompt repayment, thus the effective charge on all such loans will be 4 per cent only.
