KARNATAKA

· Karnataka budget: Big boost for agriculture, Rs 12,650 crore for loan waiver

ð Amid growing farm distress due to drought and floods, the JD(S)-Congress government announced a major boost for agriculture and allied sectors by allocating almost 25% of the total budget.

ð Of the total budget allocation of Rs 46,853 crore for agriculture and allied sectors, chief minister HD Kumaraswamy provided Rs 12,650 crore for his crop loan waiver scheme, covering Rs 6,500 crore for waiver of loans with commercial banks and Rs 6,150 crore for those with loans in cooperative banks.

ð To counter Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent promise to give Rs 6,000 per acre a year to 12 crore farmers, Kumaraswamy announced a new scheme called Raitha Siri to offer farmers financial assistance of Rs10,000 per hectare to encourage farmers to grow millets. The government plans to increase the area under millet cultivation to 10,000 hectares.

ð Another new scheme, Raitha Kanaja, will provide minimum support price to 12 notified farm produce. A permanent collection centre is planned to be opened through the year in all Agricultural Produce Marketing Committees through a revolving fund

ð The government will also offer remunerative support price to six important minor millets, besides providing marketing facility and platform (Hopcoms, Nandini and other outlets) to sell their produce directly.

ð To prevent distress sale of onion, potato and tomato when prices crash, the government will announce a base price and provide incentives under Price Deficiency Payment Scheme if produce is sold below it.

ð The government has also decided to set up a Debt Relief Commission on the Kerala model to receive complaints from farmers about private monet lenders and redress their grievances. It’ll shortly bring in the Gruhalakshmi Crop Loan Scheme for small and marginal farmers who will get a crop loan on their ornaments at an interest rate of 3%.

Agri highlights
* Milk producers will get incentive of Rs 6 per litre
* Rs 15,000 crore for interest subvention on farm credit
* Rs 5,500 crore for crop insurance
* 50% subsidy for agri startup entrepreneurs
* Two world-class permanent farm demonstration centres at VC Farm, Mandya and Sindhanur, Raichur
* Special package of Rs 150 crore to improve condition of pomegranate and grape growers
* Mango processing units in Ramanagara and Dharwad districts under PPP model

* Tomato processing units in Kolar district under PPP model

* Mobile veterinary clinics in 15 districts

* Fishing jetty for development of fishing at Malpe harbour in Udupi district

* Smart weighing machines in all 162 APMCs

INTERNATIONAL

· World Government Summit is being held in Dubai, UAE

Theseventh annual World Government Summit is being held in Dubai, UAE. The World Government Summit is a forum dedicated to shaping the future of governments. The Summit is being attended by4,000 decision-makers from 140 countries including heads of state, ministers and business leaders.
The World Government Summit is a global platform dedicated to shaping the future of governments worldwide. The Summit Sets the agenda each year for the next generation of governments, focusing on how they can harness innovation and technology to solve universal challenges facing humanity. It provides a unique platform to showcase and exchange best practices and smart solutions to the challenges that nations face.

· Thailand hosted Multinational Cobra Gold Military Exercise

TheUnited States and Thailand are hosting the multi-nation Cobra military exercise 2019. The exercise is taking place in the northern Thai province of Phitsanulok. 10000 personnel, 29 nations are taking part as participants or observers. About Cobra Gold Exercise.
It is one of the Asia-Pacific region’s largest multinational military exercises that is held in Thailand every year. It was first held in 1982and its headquarters is in Bangkok, Thailand. This is a Thai-American initiative with an aim to improve coordination between the armed forces.

· India has signed the U.S. for 72,400 SIG716 assault rifles

Ministry of Defencehas signed the U.S. for 72,400 SIG716 assault rifles for front-line soldiers deployed in operational areas. Of the 72,400 rifles, 66,400 are meant for the Army, 2,000 for the Navy and 4,000 for the Air Force.
The broad parameters for the weapon are an effectiverange of 500 m and a weight of less than 3 kg. The new rifles will replace the Indian National Small Arms System (INSAS)

· Macedonia officially changed its name to North Macedonia

Republic of Macedonia officially changed its name to North Macedonia.
Greece had been blocking Macedonia’s entry into the European Union (EU) and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), as it disapproved of the name of the country,as the Greek province of Macedonia adjoining it has been associated with Alexander the Great.

NATIONAL

· New Delhi hosted the third Indo-German Environment Forum on 13th Feb

A Bilateral meeting between India and Germany3rd Indo-German Environment Forum held in New Delhi.
The outcomes of discussion made in Indo-German Working Group held in Delhi on 6th February 2019 taken up to higher alliance discussed in the forum.

AYUSH Minister launches e-AUSHADHI portal

Minister of State for AYUSH, Shri Shripad Yesso Naik launched the e-AUSHADHI portal.

The portal is for online licensing of Ayurveda, Siddha, Unani and Homoeopathy drugs and related matters.

The e-AUSHADHI portal is intended for increased transparency, improved information management facility, improved data usability and increased accountability.

The timelines will be fixed for processing of application through this portal with SMS and e-mail status updates at each step of the process.

· NFDC Declared Winner Under Miniratna Category by Ministry of MSME

National Film Development Corporation of India declared winner under the Miniratna Category (Category II) by Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME).
This is part of an endeavour by Ministry of MSME to felicitate select CPSEs in recognition of their exemplary work for the promotion of SC/ST entrepreneurs.

The performance parameters for the same were procurement from SC/ST entrepreneurs, number of vendor development programmes for SC/ST and number of SC/ST entrepreneurs benefitted as per data uploaded on Sambandh Portal.

Gk bit: NFDC

National Film Development Corporation Ltd. (NFDC), incorporated in the year 1975, was formed by the Government of India with the primary objective of planning and promoting an organized, efficient, and integrated development of the Indian film industry. NFDC has so far funded / produced over 300 films.

· Centre to set up a national law university in Uttarakhand

The Centre has decided to set up anational law university in Uttarakhand. The Chief Minister of Uttarakhand Trivendra Singh Rawat has announced that the national law university will be opened in Uttarakhand. This is a big step toward making Uttarakhand aquality education hub.
India has21 national law universities, admissions to which are held through a Common Law Admission Test (CLAT).

· “Undaunted: Saving the Idea of India”- A book by P Chidambaram

Former Vice President Hamid Ansari launched the new book of former Finance Minister P Chidambaram named “Undaunted: Saving the Idea of India”

The book is a collection of essays on the country’s atmosphere of fear and how the constitutional values are being threatened.

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