Current Affairs for UPSC Exams | 21 July 2019

Defence ministry assures solving Kashmir issue : (National)

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday said the Kashmir problem was “bound to be solved”. The Minister is in Jammu and Kashmir on the 20th anniversary of the Kargil War.
Referring to his appeals of talks to separatists during the NDA government’s previous tenure, Mr. Singh said the Hurriyat had shut its door on the members of the delegation. “The new government’s focus is only on speedy development and prosperity of J&K,” he said.
The Defence Minister paid tributes to the soldiers killed in the 1999 Kargil War at a memorial in Drass Sector.
He was accompanied by Union Minister Jitendra Singh, Chief of the Army Staff General BipinRawat and General Officer Commanding-in-Chief (Northern Command) Lt. Gen. Ranbir Singh, said a Defence spokesman.
The Defence Minister also visited Veer Bhoomi and the Hut of Remembrance, which are located on the memorial premises.
Mr. Singh also dedicated to the nation a Memory Lane, which displays information on a few important battles that took place in Kargil. He later interacted with the soldiers deployed in the sector.

Govt.to discuss SME loan isuue with foreign players : (Economy)

The government is in talks with foreign lenders to provide $14.5 billion in credit to millions of small firms, two officials said.
The government is in discussions with multiple foreign lenders, including Germany’s state-owned development bank KfW Group, the World Bank and some Canadian institutions to extend lines of credit to small enterprises, one of the officials, who did not want to be identified, told Reuters.
KfW’s India office confirmed the discussions, though the main focus was on credit lines to support small businesses’ solar power generation. The talks were at an early stage, KfW said.
The World Bank’s India spokesperson did not reply to an email seeking comment. The official said the government plans to source up to Rs. 1 lakh crore of loans from foreign institutions because Indian banks were not in a position to provide enough capital for the small business sector, which is seen as critical to job creation.
State-owned banks have not been able to drive increased lending because they are burdened with more than $145 billion in bad loans. Last month, a study by an RBI panel said the overall deficit in credit for the MSME sector is estimated at about Rs. 20-25 lakh crore.

Centre bans colistin from animal food industry : (Science and technology)

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has issued an order prohibiting the manufacture, sale and distribution of colistin and its formulations for food-producing animals, poultry, aqua farming and animal feed supplements.
Intensivists across the country are rejoicing as the move is a “massive victory” for the movement against anti-microbial resistance.
The order, issued on Friday, directed manufacturers of colistin and its formulations (since it is also used to treat humans) to affix a label on the container reading thus: Not to be used in food producing animals, poultry, aqua farming and animal feed supplements: on the package, insert and promotional literature.
Dr.Ghafur,an expert says awareness programmes need to be conducted for farmers, telling them about the danger of using colistin in feed. “Most are not aware of the presence of colistin, since it comes mixed in the feed.
However, we have had discussions with associations of poultry farmers and they have not objected to removing colistin from the mix.” Also, he argues that since the bulk of colistin (nearly 95%) is imported from China, it would also be easy to stop importing it within a short time.

India’s Asian games silver medal to be upgraded to gold : (Sports)

India are in line to get the Asian Games gold in 4x400 mixed relay as KemiAdekoya of Bahrain, who was part of the gold winning team, has been handed a four-year ban for failing a dope test.
The silver won by India's mixed relay team of Mohammad Anas, Hima Das, Arokia Rajiv and M R Poovamma at the Asian Games in Jakarta last year is set to be upgraded to gold.

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