Important Current Affairs 4th February 2019

National News

Prime Minister Narendra Modi take on the financial estimates for New India 
Prime Minister Narendra Modi take on the financial estimates for New India is considering three options for a relief package to help farmers suffering because of low crop prices at a cost of as much as Rs. 3 lakh crore, according to three government sources. The possibilities are a direct payment to all landowning farmers, compensation for those who sold produce below government prices, and a loan-waiver programme. The government is keen to find a way to get money to farmers as quickly and simply as possible so that they can feel the benefits before the election.

Vani Kapoor Becomes First Indian To Grab Australian LPGA Card
Golfer Vani Kapoor becomes the first Indian to grab Australian Ladies PGA Tour (LPGA) after securing 12th Rank tied with three others in the first-ever qualifying tournament at the Ballarat Golf Club in Australia.  

Tamil Nadu State approved Rs.158 crore for drinking water supply scheme 
Tamil Nadu, Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami sanctioned Rs.158 crore for taking up drinking water supply schemes across the State. This approval is in view of the below normal rainfall during the north-east monsoon.  While Rs.122 crore has been earmarked to Chennai Metro Water to take up suitable drinking water supply works, another sum of Rs.36 crore was sanctioned to the Tamil Nadu Water Supply and Drainage Board (TWAD Board) to take up drinking water supply works in the urban and rural areas of Tamil Nadu.  The CM also insisted that Metro Water, TWAD Board, Rural Development and MAWS Departments should complete the ongoing water supply works quickly and put them to use.

South Central Railway gets Rs 5,924 crore
South Central Railway (SCR) got Rs 5,924 crore for 2019-20 from the year 2019 budget as against last year’s outlay of Rs 5,752 crore with the highest allotment made for doubling works of Rs 1,905 crore.  Additional General Manager John Thomas said that the New lines got Rs.834 crore, passenger amenities Rs 229 crore and traffic facilities got Rs138 crore.

Karnataka State launched MyCityMyBudget initiative
MyCityMyBudget initiative was launched in Banguluru, Karnataka. The city Mayor Gangambike Mallikarjun launched the initiative.  The initiative provides citizens an opportunity to tell the BBMP exactly on what civic infrastructure issue, the money has to be spent on. Citizens may submit their budget inputs online by visiting www.ichangemycity.com  Now the people can send their inputs about the city’s road infrastructure, water, power, safety, transport to ichangemycity’s MyCityMyBudget initiative.

Kerala State sets up Price Monitoring and Research Unit 
Kerala has become the first State to set up a Price Monitoring and Research Unit (PMRU). This unit will track violation of prices of essential drugs and medical devices under the Drugs Price Control Order (DPCO). The move comes more than five years after the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) proposed such a system for the States and the Union Territories. National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA): 
Formed on: 1997 
Headquarters: New Delhi, India 
Chairman: Bhupendra Singh 
Parent: Department of Pharmaceuticals, Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers 
NPPA controls the prices of pharmaceutical drugs in India