Current Affairs 3rd jan 2016

• Union Government to fund education of minorities has signed Financing Agreement with - World Bank

For Nai Manzil Scheme- Education and Skills Training for Minorities, a Financing Agreement of 50 million US dollars was inked between the Union Government and the World Bank.

Michael Haney, World Bank’s Operations Adviser in India and Raj Kumar, Joint Secretary, Department of Economic Affair (DEA) on behalf of the Union Government signed the Financing Agreement.

About Nai Manzil Scheme 

• On 8th August 2015, the scheme was launched in Patna.
• The aim of the scheme is to fulfill educational and livelihood needs of minority communities. 
• People in between 17 to 35 age group will be covered in the scheme. 
• The main beneficiaries of the scheme will be Minority BPL (below poverty line) youth in the age group of 17-35 years.

• Name the Grammy-winning singer who has passed away - Natalie Cole

Grammy-winning singer Natalie Cole passed away at the age of 65.

About Natalie Cole

• In the year 1975, she started her career in singing with the hit This Will Be, for which she won the Grammy Award for Best New Artist and the Grammy Award for best R&B female performance.
• In 1991, she became the superstar when she came up with her song Unforgettable ... With Love.
• In 2008, she won another Grammy Award for album Still Unforgettable.

• javed Ahmed has been appointed as Director General of Police of UP

Javed Ahmed was appointed as Director General of Police (DGP) of Uttar Pradesh. He has replaced Jagmohan Yadav from the post.

About Javed Ahmed

• He is a Indian Police Service officer of 1984 batch.
• Earlier to this, he was serving as the Director General of Railways.
• During Central Deputation he had served as the joint director of the CBI.

• Government to roll out DBT scheme for kerosene from April 1, 2016

The Union Government is going to roll out LPG-like Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) scheme for kerosene from 1st April 2016.

The scheme in the initial phase will be implemented in selected 26 districts of eight states. These states areHaryana, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab and Rajasthan.

Under the scheme

• People will buy kerosene at market rate (un-subsidised price) but will get subsidy directly in their bank accounts.
• The cash subsidy paid to users under it will be equivalent to the difference between current Public Distribution System (PDS) price and market rate of kerosene.
• During the initial phase, kerosene subsidy will be credited to eligible beneficiaries in advance to avoid any inconvenience of payment of un-subsidised price.

Comment

The move will help Government to curtail or reduce subsidy outgo for kerosene which in 2014-15 was about 24,799 crore rupees. It will also help in plugging the leakages in the kerosene subsidy system.

• Veteran CPI leader AB Bardhan passes away

Veteran Communist Party of India (CPI) leader Ardhendu Bhushan Bardhan passed away in Mumbai, Maharashtra. He was 92.

He has been a leading figure of the trade union movement and left politics in India and had played a key role in maintaining the space for Communists in national politics.

About Ardhendu Bhushan Bardhan

• AB Bardhan was born on September 25, 1925, in Sylhet in the Bengal Presidency of undivided India (now in Bangladesh).
• He had embraced Communism at the age of 15 after he moved to Nagpur and had joined All India Students’ Federation (AISF) at Nagpur University in 1940.
• He had taken part in the freedom movement as a member of the All India Students Federation (AISF).
• Later associated himself with the trade union movement by becomimg general secretary of the All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC).
• He had won as an independent candidate in Maharashtra assembly polls in 1957.
• He was CPI’s general secretary for 16 years from 1996. He had steered the CPI during the turbulent period of coalition politics at national level in the 1990s.