CHHATTISGARH
- Chhattisgarh government to introduce cow crèche to boost village economy
- It would be for the first time that amid so much hue and cry on cow-catching politics in the country, State government in Chhattisgarh is softly moving ahead in its implementation of “cow creche” in all its villages by introducing ‘Gowthan’ (cow shelters) which will serve as one stop centre for cows in distress.
- Right from grazing, vaccination, breed improvement to converting their waste as fertilizer in farm soil, chief minister Bhupesh Baghel’s ambitious pilot project Narwa (rivulet)-Garuwa (livestock)-Ghurwa (domestic dump) Badi (farming) (NGGB) aims to bring prosperity to cows in Chhattisgarh by converting them from being liabilities to necessity.
- Chhattisgarh would soon witness cows spending leisure hours at upcoming Gowthan at all villages and villagers are enthusiastic about the initiative with hope that the burden of maintaining livestock would soon convert into better quality crops.
INTERNATIONAL
- China has unveiled its ‘first female AI news anchor’
- China’s state-owned TV channel Xinhua unveiled the world’s first female Artificial Intelligence(AI) news anchor.
- The AI anchor has been developed by state-run news agency Xinhua in collaboration with tech firm Sogou Inc.
- The AI robot anchor, Xin Xiaoment, can mimic human facial expressions and mannerisms while reading reports.
- The AI anchor will make her professional debut during the upcoming two sessions Political meetings of China’s nations legislature in March.
- Oscars 2019: Full list of winners
- The 91st Academy Awards has been announced at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood.
- The full list of winners are:
- Best Picture: “Green Book”
- Best Director: Alfonso Cuaron for “Roma”
- Best Actress: Olivia Colman for “The Favourite”
- Best Actor: Rami Malek for “Bohemian Rhapsody”
- Best Supporting Actress: Regina King for “If Beale Street Could Talk”
- Best Supporting Actor: Mahershala Ali for “Green Book”
- Best Foreign Language Film: “Roma” (Mexico)
- Best Animated Feature Film: “Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse”
- Best Original Screenplay: “Green Book”
- Best Adapted Screenplay: “BlacKkKlansman”
- Best Original Score: “Black Panther”
- Best Original Song: “Shallow” from “A Star Is Born”
- Best Documentary Feature: “Free Solo”
- Best Documentary Short Film: “Period”
NATIONAL
- PM Modi launched PM-KISAN scheme by transferring 1st installment of Rs 2,000 to farmers
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana, PM-KISAN scheme at Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh.
- Mr Modi marked the launch of the PM-KISAN scheme, through press of button, to electronically transfer the first installment of 2 thousand rupees to selected farmers.
- The amount will be transferred directly to the bank account of beneficiaries through Direct Benefit Transfer.
- The amount will be given in three installments of 2 thousand rupees each
- The Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana was announced in the interim Budget 2019-20.
- Under the Scheme, Rs 6,000 will be given per year to small and marginal farmer families having combined land holding of up to 2 hectares.
· Phase-II of Grid Connected Rooftop Solar Programme Approved
- The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs Chaired by the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi has given its approval for the Phase-II of Grid Connected Rooftop Solar Programme that aims to achieve cumulative capacity of 40,000 MWfrom Rooftop Solar (RTS) Projects by the year 2022.
- The programme will be implemented with a total central financial support of 11,814 crore.
· FDI during Apr-Dec 2018-19 falls 7 percent to USD 33.49 billion
- Foreign direct investment(FDI) into India contracted by 7 per cent to USD 33.49 billion during April-December in the current fiscal.
- Foreign fund inflows during April-December 2017-18 stood at USD 35.94 billion.
- Singapore was the largest source of FDIduring April-December 2018-19 with USD 12.97 billion inflow, followed by Mauritius (USD 6 billion), the Netherlands (USD 2.95 billion), Japan (USD 2.21 billion), US (USD 2.34 billion), and the UK (USD 1.05 billion).
- Govt launches Rail Drishti Dashboard
- Railway Minister Piyush Goyal launched Rail Drishti Dashboard in New Delhi.
- The Dashboard has been launched to keep people informed about the work going on in the Railways across the country.
- The customer or railway passenger will get an exposure through this dashboard to the multifaceted transformation underway in Indian Railways across the country.
- This dashboard can be accessed using a desktop/laptop or a mobile device such as a phone or tablet and the url of the dashboard is “raildrishti.cris.org.in”.
- President presented Gandhi Peace Prize
The recipients of the award are as follows:
- Vivekananda Kendra for the year 2015.
- Akshaya Patra foundation and Sulabh International for 2016.
- Ekal Abhiyan Trust for 2017.
- Yohei Sasakawa for 2018