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Current Affairs Capsule – 5 December 2019

December 5, 2019
Posted by: Team CP
Category: Current Affairs Capsule

The Ekalavya Model Residential Schools (EMRS) have received financial assistance from the Ministry of Tribal Affairs for their upgradation and modernization. Each school under this model will receive an amount of Rs. 5 crores and this will be used to expand existing academic blocks, renovate classrooms, construct hostel rooms and upgrade sanitation facilities. The scheme has been allotted funds under Article 275(1) of the Constitution which permits the Government of India to allocate funds annually to different states, schemes or groups to meet their costs. The EMRS scheme was introduced in 1997-98 to provide remote tribal children with better access to quality education.
In a bid to focus on the full immunization coverage of 272 districts over 27 states, the Central Government has launched its flagship scheme ‘Intensified Mission Indradhanush 2.0’ among hard to reach and tribal populations. It will be carried out between the period of December 2019 and March 2020. The mission aims to prevent eight diseases (measles, tetanus, whooping cough, diphtheria, Hepatitis B, meningitis, tuberculosis and poliomyelitis by conducting four rounds of immunizations.
In order to increase enrolments under the National Pension Scheme (NPS) for traders and the Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Maan-dhan (PM-SYM), the Labour Ministry is celebrating “pension week” from 30th November to 6th December, 2019. The aim is to enrol one crore beneficiaries under the PM-SYM scheme and fifty lakh beneficiaries under the NPS-traders scheme. The monthly contribution for the scheme has been kept at the lowest level ranging from Rs. 55 to Rs. 200 per month, in order to increase enrolments.
The Lok Sabha passed the Taxation Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2019 with the main aim being providing an option for the domestic companies to pay taxes at the rate of 22%. The President of India had promulgated an ordinance in September 2019 to reduce corporate taxes and this bill will replace it. The new tax rate for domestic companies can only be availed if the said company is not claiming deductions under the Income Tax Act, 1961. Concessions are being provided to those companies that commenced after 30th September, 2019 and will begin their manufacturing processes before 1st April, 2023.
Prithvirajsingh Roopun has been unanimously elected by the National Assembly of the Republic of Mauritius as the new President. He is a former Arts and Culture Minister and will be holding a post that is largely ceremonial, with the Prime Minister being the actual head of the government. Marie Cyril Eddy Boissezon will be made the Vice President of the island nation and her election motion was presented by Prime Minister Pravin Kumar Jugnauth.
In the Lok Sabha, the Ministry of Human Resource Development informed that the “Indian Ranking Society” had been approved by it in August 2019 during the 127th meeting of the AICTE Executive Council. The IRS will develop methodologies and systems to rank higher educational institutions in the country. At present, the educational institutes in the country are ranked according to the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) on five parameters – teaching, learning & resources, graduation outcomes, perception, outreach & inclusivity and professional practice. However, the Indian Ranking 2019 by the IRS will rank the institutes based on the categories – Medicine, Law, Engineering, Management, Pharmacy and Architecture.
Another successful night trial was conducted of Prithvi-2 missile, India’s indigenously developed nuclear capable missile, from a mobile launcher at the Integrated Test Range at Chandipur in Odisha coast. Prithvi-2 is a tactical surface-to-surface short range ballistic missile (SRBM) with a strike range of 350 km and is capable of carrying warheads weighing 500 to 1000 kg.
The Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) Test facility in the CSIR-IICT, Hyderabad was cleared by the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) after an inspection was conducted between 21st August and 22nd August, 2019. The test facility, which is the largest facility of NMR laboratory in the country, was certified “No Action Initiated”. The facility is equipped with nine NMR spectrometers. The clearance from USFDA is required for the pharma and food products to be exported to the US.