Daily GK Updates - 14th June, 2019

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Culture Minister inaugurates the exhibition ‘Astitva': Shri Prahlad Singh Patel, Minister of State (I/C) of Culture & Tourism, GoI inaugurated the exhibition titled "Astitva: The Essence of Prabhakar Barwe”, at National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Global Peace Index 2019: India Ranks 141st, Iceland Tops: India's rank has slipped five places to 141 among 163 countries on the Global Peace Index 2019, while Iceland remains the most peaceful country and Afghanistan the least peaceful nation, as per the report by Australian think tank Institute for Economics & Peace. In South Asia, Bhutan topped the index with 15th rank, followed by Sri Lanka 72, Nepal 76 and Bangladesh 101. The neighboring country Pakistan has been ranked 153rd on the index.

2. World's Highest Weather Stations Installed atop Mount Everest: A team of Tribhuvan University and National Geographic Society scientists and researchers have installed the world's highest, fully automated weather stations atop Mount Everest. Total five weather stations, including one at a record height of 27,657 feet, were installed on the Earth's highest mountain above sea level. 

3. World Blood Donor Day: 14th June: World Blood Donor Day is being observed across the globe on 14th June every year to raise awareness of the need for regular blood donations to ensure the quality, safety and availability of blood and blood products for patients in need. This year the theme is ‘Blood Donation and Universal Access to Safe Blood Transfusion’, as a component of achieving universal health coverage. The day also strongly encourages more people to donate blood so that the donor population does not decline and patients requiring transfusion have timely access to safe blood. The slogan - Safe Blood for All - has also been adopted.

Note: World Blood Donor Day is one of eight official global public health campaigns marked by the World Health Organization (WHO). The host country for World Blood Donor Day 2019 is Rwanda. Rwanda Capital- Kigali, Currency- Rwandan franc

4. Dr S. Jaishankar to attend CICA Summit in Dushanbe: Dr S. Jaishankar (External Affairs Minister) will attend the two days 5th Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia, CICA, Summit in Dushanbe, Tajikistan. During the Summit, CICA Leaders are likely to deliberate on the existing and emerging issues of common concern to the members and underline implementation of confidence-building measures for developing Asia into a prosperous, secure and peaceful region. The theme of the 5th Summit is "Shared Vision for a Secure and More Prosperous CICA Region. The Summit will adopt a Declaration covering issues of cooperation within CICA.

Note: CICA is a pan-Asia forum for enhancing cooperation and promoting peace, security and stability in Asia. India is a member of CICA since its inception and late Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had participated in the first CICA Summit held in 2002 in Almaty.

5. Four Indian movies selected to be screened at South Korea's Film Festival 2019: Among 288 movies from over 29 countries, four Indian movies to be screened at the Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival 2019. The Bollywood movies which will be screened include Gully Boy, Andhadhun and Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi and one Tamil movie which will be screened is Super Deluxe.

Note: South Korea Capital- Seoul, Currency-South Korean won

OTHER UPDATES:

SPORTS

1. IAAF To Be Renamed World Athletics: The IAAF Council approved the global governing body’s new name and logo at the 217th IAAF Council Meeting in Monaco. The athletics body’s new name, ‘World Athletics’, builds upon the organization’s restructuring and governance reform agenda of the past four years to represent a modern, more creative and positive face for the sport.

BANKING AND FINANCE

1. Rating agencies will now have to disclose the probability of defaults: SEBI: According to the Sebi circular, rating companies will now create a uniform probability of default benchmark for each rating category on their website, for one-year, two-year and three-year cumulative default rates, both for the short term and long term. Rating agencies also have to disclose factors that could potentially impact the rating of the instruments and it also include an assessment of financials.

Note: SEBI Headquarter: Mumbai, Chairperson: Ajay Tyagi

2. RBI to infuse Rs 12,500 crore into the financial system through bond purchase: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will infuse Rs 12,500 crore into the financial system through bond purchases under the Open Market Operation (OMO). The RBI uses open market operations (OMO) for injecting liquidity into the system through the purchase of government bonds (G-Sec). Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) have invested USD 1 billion in Indian debt markets so far in June. The OMO will take place on June 20, taking the total infusion so far in June to 27,500 crores, as against OMO purchases worth Rs 25,000 crore in May.

3. Government reduces ESI contribution rate from 6.5% to 4%: According to Ministry of Labour and Employment, The Union government has reduced the rate of the contribution made by employees and employers under the Employees' State Insurance (ESI) Act from 6.5% to 4%. This includes a reduction of 1.5% in employers’ contribution to 3.25% (from 4.75%) and 1% reduction in employees’ contribution to 0.75% (from 1.75%). It will benefit 3.6 crore employees and 12.85 lakh, employers. The new rate will be effective from the 1st of next month. Similarly, reduction in the share of contribution of employers will reduce the financial liability of the establishments leading to improved viability of these establishments.

Note: The ESI Act 1948, under the labour ministry, covers employees with salary up to Rs 21,000 (earlier-Rs.15000). Benefits provided under the ESI Act are funded by the contributions made by the employers and the employees. It will facilitate further enrolment of workers under the ESI scheme and bring more and more workforce into the formal sector.

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY

1. Facebook backs Meesho in first startup investment in India: Social networking giant Facebook has picked up a minority stake in social-commerce company Meesho in its first startup investment in the country. Bengaluru-based startup connects re-sellers to manufacturers to sell goods via social media platforms.

Note: Facebook Headquarters: California, US, CEO: Mark Zuckerberg

OBITUARIES

1. Poet, lyricist Pazhavila Ramesan passes away: Poet and lyricist Pazhavila Ramesan (83-years) passed away at a private hospital, Thiruvananthapuram. Pazhavila Ramesan was a recipient of Kerala Sahithya Akademi Award for overall contribution. He had also penned songs for films like Asamsakalode, Malooty, Uncle Bun, Vasudha and others. Ramesan had also served as the director of Kerala Bhasha Institute for a long time.