Important Current Affairs 18th January 2019

National News

Indigenous attack helicopter crosses milestone 
•    The indigenously developed Light Combat Helicopter has crossed a milestone, successfully firing an air-to-air missile at a moving target, and it is now ready for induction. 
•    The helicopter has been developed by  Hindustan Aeronautics Limited
•    This is the first time in the country that a helicopter has carried out an air-to-air missile engagement. None of the helicopters in the military services in the country has demonstrated such a capability.
•    During the tests conducted recently at the integrated test range at Chandipur, Odisha, the helicopter scored a direct hit on an aerial target and destroyed it. The LCH is the only attack helicopter in the world capable of operating at altitudes as high as Siachen Glacier.

2nd World Orange Festival begins in Nagpur today 
•    The second World Orange Festival will be organised in Nagpur from today to 21 of this month.
•    The festival, while offering its famed oranges to the world, will also showcase and brand the exquisite fruit in order to boost its export.
•    Agricultural experts and scientists from various countries will participate in the workshops and guide farmers.

Prabhu inaugurates 10th edition of India Rubber Expo 2019 
•    Union Minister for Commerce and Industry, Suresh Prabhu inaugurated the 10th edition of the India Rubber Expo - 2019 in Mumbai
•    The three-day event being held at the Bombay Exhibition Centre is one of the most anticipated events in the rubber industry’s calendar.
•    Stating that the National Rubber Policy will be unveiled soon to address issues concerning the sector and also to boost productivity, Mr Prabhu said the rubber industry can also contribute significantly in India’s efforts to become a 5 trillion dollar economy.

PM Modi to inaugurate National Museum of Indian Cinema 
•    Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the National Museum of Indian Cinema (NMIC) in Mumbai
•    The state-of-the-art Museum has been built at a cost of over 140 crore rupees.
•    The objective of the Museum is to take its visitors through an absorbing journey of over a century of Indian cinema in a story telling mode with the help of visuals, graphics, artifacts, interactive exhibits and multimedia expositions.

PMRPY crossed milestone of one crore beneficiaries 
•    The Pradhan Mantri Rozgar Protsahan Yojana, PMRPY has crossed the milestone of one crore beneficiaries as on the 14th of this month. 
•    The Centre's flagship scheme launched on 7th August, 2016 incentivises employers to promote employment generation.
•    An official release said one lakh 24 thousand establishments have benefitted from the scheme. 
•    Under the scheme, government pays full employers’ contribution of 12 per cent towards Employees’ Provident Fund and Employees’ Pension Scheme for a period of 3 years to new employees registered with EPFO, with salary up to 15,000 rupees per month.

ISRO to share its expertise in space sector, train 45 countries in nano-satellite making 
•    India will train participants from 45 countries in nano-satellite making through a new capacity building programme. 
•    The programme named Unispace Nanosatellite Assembly and Training by ISRO (UNNATI) was flagged off by Minister of State in Deparment of Space Jitendra Singh in Bengaluru.
•    ISRO will train 90 officials from 45 countries in three batches. The first batch will have 30 participants from 17 countries. 
•    The programme is the space agency's initiative to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the first United Nations Conference on the Exploration and Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UNISPACE50) in 1968.

Rakesh Asthana, three others moved out of CBI 
•    In a first move before the appointment of the new CBI Director, the Modi administration shunted out four top officials, including controversial Special Director Rakesh Asthana, from the country’s premier investigation agency with immediate effect.
•    Besides Mr. Asthana, booked in a bribery case by then CBI Director Alok Verma, the others removed are A.K. Sharma, M.K. Sinha and Jayant Naiknavare.
 

Sports

Vinesh Phogat becomes first Indian athlete to be nominated in Laureus World Comeback of Year Award 
•    Ace Indian female wrestler Vinesh Phogat has become the first Indian athlete to receive a nomination in the prestigious Laureus World Comeback of the Year Award.
•    She has been nominated alongside US Tour Championship winner Tiger Woods, who won his first tournament in five years. 
•    The Awards will be presented in Monaco on the 18th of next month.