NATIONAL UPDATES:
1. Finance Minister announces 2nd
tranche of economic support under the Aatma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan: In continuation to PM Modi’s announcement of Rs 20 lakh
crore boost to the economy, and the announcement made by her on May 13, 2020
the Finance Minister of India, Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman has made the
announcement of the second tranche of economic support the Indian Economy’s
fight against COVID-19. These are the announcements made on May 14, 2020. The
second tranche of Economic Relief Package for “Aatmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan” is
dedicated to migrant workers, street vendors, small traders, self employed
people & small farmers.
(1)
2% Interest Subvention for 12 months for Shishu MUDRA loanees- Relief of Rs.
1,500 crore- Government of India will provide Interest subvention of 2% for
prompt payees for a period of 12 months to MUDRA Shishu loanees, who have loans
below Rs 50,000.The current portfolio of MUDRA Shishu loans is around Rs 1.62
Lakh crore. This will provide relief of about Rs 1,500 crore to Shishu MUDRA
loanee.
(2)
Free food grains supply to migrants for 2 months (i.e. May and June, 2020)
(3)Scheme
for Affordable Rental Housing Complexes for Migrant Workers and Urban Poor to
be launched
(4)
Technology system to be used enabling Migrants to access PDS (Ration) from any
Fair Price Shops in India by March, 2021-One Nation one Ration Card
(5)
Rs 5,000 crore Credit facility for Street Vendors- Under this scheme, bank
credit facility for initial working capital up to Rs. 10,000 for each
enterprise.
(6)
Rs 70,000 crore boost to housing sector and middle income group through
extension of Credit Linked Subsidy
Scheme for MIG under PMAY(Urban)- The Credit Linked Subsidy Scheme for Middle
Income Group (annual Income between Rs 6 and 18 lakhs) will be extended up to
March 2021.
(7)
Rs 6,000 crore for Creating employment using CAMPA funds- Compensatory
Afforestation Management & Planning Authority (CAMPA)
(8)
Rs 30,000 crore Additional Emergency Working Capital for farmers through
NABARD- NABARD will extend additional re-finance support of Rs 30,000 crore for
meeting crop loan requirement of Rural Cooperative Banks and RRBs. This
refinance will be front-loaded and available on tap. This is over and above Rs
90,000 crore that will be provided by NABARD to this sector in the normal
course.
(9)
Rs 2 lakh crore credit boost to 2.5 crore farmers under Kisan Credit Card
Scheme- A special drive to provide concessional credit to PM-KISAN beneficiaries
through Kisan Credit Cards. 2.5 crore farmers will be covered.
2. CAPF canteen to sell only
indigenous products: Home Ministry has decided that all
the Central Armed Police Forces, CAPF canteens will now sell only indigenous
products from 1st June 2020. This will be applicable to all or any CAPF
canteens across the country from 01 June 2020. The move will affect 50 lakh
families, of about 10 lakh CAPF personnel, using indigenous products. This
decision was taken by Union Home Ministry after Prime Minister Narendra Modi
spoke to the nation, urged citizens to make the country self-reliant and use
locally-made products. The step is taken in a move to go vocal for local and
making our nation self-reliant. After the move, total purchase value would be
around 2800 crore rupees for the indigenous products.
Note:
Union Home Affairs Minister: Amit Shah.
3. Uttarakhand CM launches ‘HOPE’
portal to help unemployed youth get jobs: Uttarakhand
Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat has launched a portal named ‘HOPE’ –
Helping Out People Everywhere, aimed at creating employment opportunities for
the trained youths of the state. The portal will also offer them skill
development opportunities to increase their employability. The HOPE portal has
begun collecting data on the youths staying in the state as well as migrant
youths who have returned recently from outside. Once the database of HOPE
portal is ready, the portal will be linked with the Mukhya Mantri Swarojgar
Yojana.
Note:
Capital of Uttarakhand: Dehradun; Governor of Uttarakhand: Baby Rani Maurya.
4. Haryana and J&K to provide
tap connections to all rural households by December, 2022
Haryana
and Jammu and Kashmir government have geared up to provide tap water
connections to all the rural households in the area by December 2022, which is
ahead of the national goal by 2024-25. The state governments of both Haryana
and J&K presented their plan to the Department of Drinking water &
Sanitation of the Jal Shakti Ministry. Government of India is implementing the
‘Jal Jeevan Mission’ (JJM) in partnership with States to ensure every rural
household in the country has FHTC for drinking water in adequate quantity of
prescribed quality on regular and long-term basis at affordable service
delivery charges leading to improvement in their living standards.
Note:
Minister of Jal Shakti: Gajendra Singh Shekhawat; Minister of State in the
Ministry of Jal Shakti: Rattan Lal Kataria.
5. V Vidyavathi Appointed as
Director General of Archaeological Survey of India: The Appointment Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) chaired by
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the appointment of senior bureaucrat
V Vidyavathi as the new Director General (DG) of Archaeological Survey of India
(ASI). Vidyavathi is a 1991-batch IAS Officer from the Karnataka cadre.
Note:
Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) Founder: Alexander Cunningham;
Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) Founded: 1861; Archaeological Survey of
India (ASI) Headquarters: New Delhi.
6. ICCR Launches Song ‘United We Fight’
to Strengthen India’s Fight against COVID-19: The Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), an
autonomous body under MEA, has unveiled
a new song titled “United we Fight” to motivate people to be united, think
positive and have never say die attitude in our collective fight against COVID
19. The musical creation has been dedicated to world by the Ministry of
External Affairs (MEA) of India, to spread India’s message of hope, resilience
and ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’ (the world is one family). The 3.33 minutes long
song ‘United We Fight’ is written and composed by Joe Alvares. The singers
include: Usha Uthup, Salim Merchant, Shefali Alvares Rashid, Benny Dayal, Sonam
Kalra, Chandan Bala Kalyan, Joe Alvares, Salome, and Samira. The music is
created by Tubby, Pandit Ravi Chari, Pandit Rakesh Chaurasiya, and Ustad Faisal
Qureshi.
7. TVS Group, Sundaram Med, IIT-M
develop low-cost, automated respiratory assists: The TVS group, Sundaram Medical Foundation and IIT-Madras
have jointly developed a low-cost, automated respiratory assist device called
The Sundaram Ventago. This versatile and mobile device will assist the
clinicians in constantly monitoring and reporting respiratory parameters. The
device has been developed to provide respiratory support to patients through
the controlled and automated squeezing of a self-inflating or AMBU bag. The
device comprises various functionalities to control respiratory rate (breaths
per minute), tidal volume, pressure parameters and I:E ratios.
8. Tribal Affairs Minister holds
video conference on ‘Tribal livelihoods and safety’: A video conference was held by the Minister of Tribal
Affairs, Shri Arjun Munda on “Tribal livelihoods and safety” in New Delhi. The
conference featured Chief Ministers, Deputy Chief Ministers, State Ministers
for Tribal Affairs, and state ministers for Forests from more than 20
states/UTs. The conference was held with States/UTs in New Delhi. Shri Arjun
Munda addressed the conference and commended the support given by the states by
stepping up the procurement of Minor Forest Produce at the revised MSP.
9. Vasudha Mishra appointed as UPSC
Secretary: The government has also appointed
Vasudha Mishra of the Telangana cadre as the new UPSC secretary after Rakesh
Gupta. In addition to this, Rajendra Kumar has been made DG of Employees’ State
Insurance Corporation and Rajesh Ranjan as additional secretary, Department of
higher education. Also, K. Srinivas has been appointed as Establishment Officer
(EO) in the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT).
INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:
1. US CDC Commits USD3.6 mn to
Assist India’s fight against Covid-19: The
US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has committed $3.6 million
to the Government of India to support the country in prevention, preparedness,
and response activities against the COVID-19 epidemic. The first tranche of
funding will be utilised to further strengthen and support the Government of
India’s efforts to increase laboratory capacity for SARS-COV-2 testing,
including molecular diagnostics and serology. The funds will also be used to
support the development of Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) centres of
excellence, that can help to imporove the ability of the hospital networks to
detect COVID-19 and strengthen local health systems through enhanced
surveillance and monitoring systems.
2.
Rate of Forest Loss globally declined between 2015 and 2020: FAO report: The Global Forest
Resources Assessment 2020 (FRA 2020) was released by the United Nations Food
and Agriculture Organization (FAO) on 13 May 2020. As per the report, the rate
of forest loss during 2015-2020 declined to an estimated 10 million hectares
(mha), compared to 12 million hectares (mha) loss in 2010-2015. The FRA 2020
report is based on more than 60 forest-related variables in 236 countries and
territories in the period 1990–2020.
Key Points of the Report: (1) As per the
report, there is a decline of 178 million hectares in the forest area in last
three decades with the growth of sustainable management. (2) The world’s total
forest area was 4.06 billion hectares (bha), which was 31 percent of the total
land area (or 1/3rd) and equivalent to 0.52 ha per person. (3) The largest
proportion of the world’s forests were tropical (45 per cent), followed by
boreal, temperate and subtropical. (4) More than 54 percent of the world’s
forests were in only five countries: Russian Federation, Brazil, Canada, the
United States of America and China. (5) Region wise, Africa had the largest
annual rate of net forest loss in 2010–2020 (3.9 mha), followed by South
America (2.6 mha). (6) Asia had the highest net gain of forest area in
2010–2020, followed by Oceania and Europe.
3. Italy develops ‘iFeel-You’
bracelet for social distancing:
The Genoa-based Italian Institute of Technology (IIT) has come up with
iFeel-You, an intelligent bracelet which will help users respect social
distancing rules. The bracelet has been developed as the measures for
safeguarding against the coronavirus lockdown is being gradually lifted. It
uses a radio signal only when another bracelet is approaching, it does not use
GPS and therefore does not keep track of user locations.
Note:
President of Italy: Sergio Mattarella Trending; Capital of Italy: Rome;
Currency of Italy: Italian lira.
4. Global Nutrition Report 2020
released: The Global Nutrition Report 2020 is
a report card on the world's nutrition that is released independently. The
Global Nutrition Report was conceived following the first Nutrition for Growth
Initiative Summit (N4G) in 2013. As per the report, India is among 88 countries
that are likely to miss global nutrition targets by 2025. India is also the
country with the highest rates of domestic inequalities in malnutrition.
OTHER UPDATES:
SPORTS
1. Akhil Kumar re-inducted into NADA
disciplinary panel: Former Commonwealth Games
gold-winning boxer Akhil Kumar has been re-inducted into the National
Anti-Doping Agency’s (NADA) Disciplinary Panel. Akhil, who is also serving in
Haryana Police as ACP Gurugram, was formerly in the panel from 2017 to 2019.
Note:
National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) Headquarters: New Delhi; National
Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) Director-General: Navin Agarwal.
BUSINESS AND ECONOMY
1. United Nations Projects Global
GDP to Shrink by 3.2 Percent in 2020: The
United Nations has projected the world gross domestic product (GDP) to contract
sharply by 3.2 percent in 2020, due to COVID-19 pandemic, the sharpest
contraction since the Great Depression in the 1930s. The World Economic
Situation and Prospect (WESP) mid-2020 report was released on 13 May 2020 by
the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA). The global economy is
expected to lose nearly $8.5 trillion in output over the next two years due to
the COVID-19 pandemic. The report estimates that the world GDP is expected to
rebound to 3.4 percent in 2021, mostly recovering lost output. India’s economic
growth is forecast to slow to 1.2 per cent in 2020, a further deterioration from
the already slowed growth of 4.1 per cent in 2019.
OBITUARIES
1.
Grammy winning-singer Betty Wright passes away: Iconic soul and
R&B singer Betty Wright died after a battle with cancer. She was 66. The
biggest hit of her career “Clean Up Woman” came a year later, which was
certified gold barely days after her 18th birthday. At the age of 23, she went
on to win her first Grammy Award for Best Song, “Where is the Love?”. She
scored a Grammy nod for the song “Surrender” from the album.
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