KERALA
- Medical insurance scheme from June 1
- The Medical Insurance Scheme for State Employees and Pensioners (MEDISEP) will come into force on June 1.
- As per the scheme approved by the Cabinet on Friday, State government employees, part-time contingent staff, teaching and non-teaching staff in the aided sector, employees of local self-government institutions, universities, High Court and such others who come under the ambit of the Kerala Government Medical Attendant Rules will be covered under the scheme.
- The scheme, which has a tenure of three years, offers a three-tier cover for its beneficiaries. Each family would be eligible for an annual cover of ₹2 lakh.
- An additional benefit amounting to a maximum of ₹6 lakh would be given to each family during the three-year period for treating serious ailments, organ transplant and such others.
- If the ₹6 lakh additional cover is insufficient for a family for critical care, another component up to ₹3 lakh would be given to the family from a corpus of ₹25 crore to be constituted by the insurance company for this purpose.
- MEDISEP was part of the budget speech for 2017-18. The government had invited expression of interest from insurance companies approved by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority and floated e-tender for selecting the insurer.
INTERNATIONAL
- Labour Day: 1 May
- May Day is also called Workers’ Day or International Workers’ Day is observed every year on 1 May.
- The day celebrates the struggle, dedication and commitment of the working class.
- Labour Day has its origins in the labour union movement in the United States in the 19th century when the industrialists used to exploit the labour class and made them work up to 15 hours a day.
- The theme of Labour Day 2019 is ‘Uniting Workers for Social and Economic Advancement’.
- Indo-French joint naval exercise Varuna 19.1 begins off Goa coast
- The first part of the Indo-French joint naval exercise, Varuna 19.1 is being held off the Goa coast from 1 to 10 May 2019.
- The exercise is being conducted in two phases.
- The harbour phase at Goa would include cross-visits, professional interactions and discussions and sports events.
- Varuna 19.2, the second part of the exercise, is scheduled to be held in May end in Djibouti.
- Putin signs a new Internet law to expand Government Control of the Internet
- Russian President Vladimir Putinon 2nd May 2019 signed into law a sovereign internet bill which will allow Russian authorities to isolate the country’s internet. The move expands Government Control of the Internet, is being publicly denounced by all rights groups in the country. The law will take effect in
- The new law aims to protect Russia from foreign online restrictions by creating a sustainable, secure and fully functioning local internet. The network remains largely theoretical though, with few practical details disclosed. It is expected that the Russian internet would involve the creation of a Chinese-style national firewall to monitor and censor contentpassing in and out of the country.
NATIONAL
- Raheem Sterling named 2019 FWA footballer of the year
- Raheem Sterlingnamed the 2019 footballer of the year by the Football Writers’ Association (FWA). The Manchester City and England forward topped the poll of the 400-strong FWA membership as a clear winner, with 62 per cent of the votes.
It was more than 100 votes ahead of Liverpool defender Virgil Van Dijk. Sterling lost out to Van Dijk in the race for the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) award, but was announced PFA young player of the year.
- India ranks 4th in biggest millitary spender
- Stockholm International Peace Research Institute’s (SIPRI)report said that India is the world’s fourth biggest military spender in 2018. The United States topped the list and it is followed by China and Saudi Arabia.
India was the fifth largest military spender in 2017. France also figures on the list of top five spenders that together accounted for 60% of the global military spending in 2018. - India accounts for7%of the global defence spending. In contrast, India’s military spending went up by 3.1% to $66.5 billion. Beijing increased its military expenditure by 5% to $250 billion in 2018. It accounted for 14% of global military spending.
The SIPRI report comes at a time when India is investing heavily in building its military capability with new fighter jets, warships, helicopters, artillery guns and infantry weapons.
- Chandrayaan-2 to be launched in July
- India’s second lunar mission Chandrayaan-2 will be launched on a day between 9 and 16 July 2019.
- The Indian Space Research Organisation said that the Chandrayaan-2’s lander will touch down near the Moon’s south pole on 6th September.
- Chandrayaan-2 will have three modules in it, an orbiter, a lander named Vikram and a rover known as Pragyan.
- Chandrayaan-2 will be launched using India’s most powerful rocket GSLV-Mark-3.
- Goods and Services Tax collection at an all-time high
- Goods and Services Tax (GST) collection scales record high of Rs 1.13 lakh crore in April, highest ever collection since GST implementation.
- The GST collections in April jumped to its highest level of Rs 1,13,865 crore since its rollout in 2017.
- While collections have been gradually increasing since August, they hit a record high last month of Rs 1.06 lakh crore, up from Rs 97,247 crore in the previous month.
- The total number of GSTR 3B Returns filed for the month of March up to 30th April 2019 is 72.13 lakh.
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