The Daily Brief – 7th October 2019

Odisha Chief Minister inaugurated the 39^th World Congress of Poets at the Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology with the theme ‘Compassion through Poetry’. Vice President Venkaiah Naidu attended the event. The World Congress of Poets (WCP) was founded in 1969 and was held at Manila, Philippines for the first time. It is being organized by the World Academy of Arts and Culture (WAAC).

The first World Cotton Day was observed across the world on 7^th October, 2019 to recognize the resilience of farmers. The day was organised by the World Trade Organization in collaboration with the United Nations, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNTCD), International Trade Center and International Cotton Advisory Committee.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina signed several Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) that included connectivity, trade, transport and defense on 5^th October, 2019. The countries decided to operationalize the Dhulian-Gadagari-Rajshahi-Daulatida-Aricha route and the Daukandi-Sonamura route.

The Union Health Ministry released its data on the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY), which aims to help economically vulnerable Indians who are in need of healthcare facilities. According to the report, every year there are 11.57 lakh new cancer patients in India and 7.84 lakh cancer deaths. There are around 22.5 lakh Indians living with cancer at a given point of time and Tamil Nadu tops the list with 40,056 cases.

Union Cabinet approved a new process of strategic disinvestment to privatize selected Public Sector Units (PSU). Under this process, the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) operating under the Ministry of Finance will be the nodal agency. The money earned by the government through the disinvestment policy will be deposited in the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF).

The National Health Authority (NHA) has collaborated with Google to strengthen the implementation of the Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY). They will be working closely to explore various user cases for increasing process efficiencies in day-to-day applications. The PMJAY is a centrally-sponsored scheme (CSS) that was launched in 2018.

Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh YS Jagan Mohan Reddy launched the YSR Vahana Mitra scheme. It provides Rs.10,000 allowance every year to self-employed drivers of autos, taxis and maxi cabs of the state. The annual allowance would be provided to meet the recurring expenses such as insurance premium, license fee and maintenance of vehicle to procure fitness certificate.