Daily GK Updates - 22nd May, 2020

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Government launches scheme to solarise Konark sun temple & Konark town: A scheme has been launched by the central governemnt for complete solarization of Konark Sun Temple and Konark town in Odisha to develop the historical Sun Temple town of Konark as Surya Nagri. As a part of scheme, 10 Mega Watt grid connected solar project along with various solar off-grid applications such as solar trees and solar drinking water kiosks would be set up in the area. For the execution of project, Government of India will provide a 100% Central Financial Assistance (CFA) support of around Rs 25 Crores through Ministry of New & Renewable Energy.

Note: Chief Minister of Odisha: Naveen Patnaik; Governor: Ganeshi Lal.

Ministers of State for New and Renewable Energy: Raj Kumar Singh.

2. Uttar Pradesh governement rolls out ‘UP Start-up Fund’: Uttar Pradesh government has set up ‘UP Start-up Fund’ to support the registered start-up ventures present across different verticals in Uttar Pradesh. An MoU has been signed between the Uttar Pradesh government and the Small Industries Development Bank of India, and the fund will be managed by SIDBI. Initial contribution of Rs 15 crore has been made to the fund. This fund will take part in Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) approved Alternative Investment Funds and would not be invested directly into start-ups.

Note: Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh: Yogi Aditya Nath; Governor: Anandiben Patel.

3. IGNOU’s “Online Master’s Programme in Hindi” launched by HRD Minister: Union HRD Minister Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ has launched the IGNOU’s Online Master’s Programme in Hindi via Facebook Live session. This programme is expected to strengthen “Padhe India Online” initiative. The programmer is launched to focus on Hindi language role in India and other countries. IGNOU has also launched various other programmes namely: MA in Gandhi and Peace Studies, BA in Tourism Studies, certificate course in Arabic, certificate in information technology, certificate programme in Library and Information Science. It will go live on IGNOU’s Gyan Darshan TV Channel, Gyan Dhara, and Facebook page.

Note: Union Minister of Human Resources Development: Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’.

4. NTPC & ONGC partners to set up JVC for Renewable Energy Business: A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed by NTPC Limited, and Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC) to form a Joint Venture Company for Renewable Energy business. This partnership will enable both the companies to accelerate their mark in the field of Renewable Energy as the two companies will explore the setting up of offshore wind and other Renewable Energy Projects in India as well as overseas. This tie-up will increase NTPC’s Renewable Energy capacity addition program and also the presence of ONGC in the Renewable Power business.

Note: Chairman & Managing Director of NTPC Limited: Gurdeep Singh.

Chairman & Managing Director of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited: Shashi Shanker.

5. “Rajiv Gandhi Kisaan Nyay Yojana” launched in Chhattisgarh:  Chhattisgarh government has launched “Rajiv Gandhi Kisan Nyay Yojana”, a farmer centered scheme that aims to stimulate the rural economy in the state, amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Under the Rajiv Gandhi Kisan Nyay Yojana, Rs 10,000 per acre will be deposited in the bank accounts of farmers (based on registered area and area under cultivation, during Kharif crop season 2019), as agriculture assistance grant for sowing crops such as paddy, maize and sugarcane. The state government had allocated Rs 5,756 crore in the budget 2020-21, for the scheme. The amount will be given to the farmers in four instalments and at least 19 lakh farmers will benefit from the scheme. The scheme was jointly launched by Congress Chief Sonia Gandhi and Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel on 21 May 2020, to mark the death anniversary of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.

Note: Governor: Anusuiya Uikey.

6. Mysore, Indore, Surat among 6 cities declared as ‘5-star garbage-free cities’: The Union Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs, Hardeep Singh Puri announced results of garbage-free star rating of cities. The garbage-free star rating initiative was launched under the Swachh Bharat Mission to achieve the goal garbage-free nation. A city can be declared as “Garbage Free” if it complies with the conditions as prescribed under this protocol. The star rating is based on 25 key parameters and ranges from 1 star, 3 star, 5 star and 7 star.

Ambikapur (Chhattisgarh), Rajkot, Surat, Mysore, Indore and Navi Mumbai have got the ‘5-star garbage-free cities’ rating. Karnal, New Delhi, Tirupati, Vijayawada, Chandigarh, Bhilai Nagar, Ahmedabad are among ‘three-star garbage free rating. The cities with one star garbage free ratings include: Andhra Pradesh: GVMC Visakhapatnam, Sattenapalli, Chiralla, Palamaneru; Chattisgarh: Berla, Baramkela, Chikhalakasa, Katghora, Pakhanjur; New Delhi: Delhi Cantt; Haryana: Rohtak; Madhya Pradesh: Gwalior, Bandawar, Sardarpur, Maheshwar, Hathod, Khandwa, Shahganj; Uttar Pradesh: Noida, Gajraula, Ghaziabad, Aligarh, Lucknow, Jhansi

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Airtel Africa & UNICEF partners to support children & families affected by COVID-19: UNICEF and Airtel Africa has partnered to support children & families affected by COVID-19. The partnership aims to provide children with access to remote learning and enable access to cash assistance for their families through mobile cash transfers. Airtel Africa will zero-rate the selected websites which are hosting educational content and will provide children with remote access to digital content at no cost. The partnership will benefit the children and families in 13 countries in sub-Saharan Africa namely: Zambia, Congo, Nigeria, Gabon, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Niger, Rwanda, Tanzania, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda and Chad.

Note: Chief Executive Officer of Airtel Africa: Raghunath Mandava.

Executive Director of UNICEF: Henrietta H. Fore; Headquarter of UNICEF: New York, US.

2. Union Minister Harsh Vardhan to Take Charge As Chairman of WHO Executive Board: The Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Harsh Vardhan, will take charge as the Chairman of the World Health Organization (WHO) Executive Board on May 22, 2020, at the Executive Board meeting of WHO. Mr Vardhan would succeed Dr Hiroki Nakatani of Japan as the Chairman of the 34-member WHO Executive Board. The chairman’s post is held by rotation for one year among regional groups.

Note: WHO is a UN body responsible for international public health that consist of two bodies: World Health Assembly and Executive Board. India is a member state of WHO’s South East Asia Region.

Headquarters of WHO: Geneva, Switzerland; Director-general of WHO: Tedros Adhanom.

3. International Day for Biological Diversity: 22th May: International for Biological Diversity (IDB) is observed every year on May 22 to raise awareness about the issue of significant reduction in biological diversity due to certain human activities. Theme for International Day for Biological Diversity 2020 is “Our solutions are in nature”. This day was earlier declared to be observed on 29 December by UN General Assembly in 1993. However, UN General Assembly in 2000 declared 22 May as IDB to commemorate adoption of Nairobi Final Act on Biological Diversity Convention.

Note: Secretary-General of United Nations: António Guterres.

4. CSIRO develops ‘heat resistant’ corals to fight bleaching: Researchers from CSIRO, Australia's national science agency, Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) and the University of Melbourne has successfully developed a potential agent helping coral reefs to increase their heat tolerance. The agent built using ‘directed evolution’ will manipulate the microalgae, which is a key factor in the coral's heat tolerance. This came in the wake of threat over coral reefs due to global warming.

OTHER UPDATES:

BANKING AND FINANCE

1. RBI reduces Repo Rate by 40 bps to 4.0% in Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) Meet May 20 to 22, 2020: The Reserve Bank of India in its Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting on May 22, 2020 has decided to:

Reduce Repo Rate by 40 bps to 4.00% from 4.40% earlier.

Reverse Repo rate is adjusted to 3.35% from 3.75%.

Marginal Standing Facility (MSF) rate is also reduced from 4.65% to 4.25%.

Bank Rate stands at 4.25%.

Terms and conditions of the extant MSF scheme has no changes as per the monetary policy.

2. FM exempts B2B firms from using only electronic payment modes: Finance Ministry exempted B2B transactions companies having more than Rs 50 crore turnover from using only electronic payment modes like RuPay or BHIM-UPI. The provision of paying only through online mode was inserted by Government by section 269U in the finance act, 2019. The step is taken by Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), a statutory authority under the Department of Revenue in the Ministry of Finance.

3. Franklin MF ropes in Kotak Mahindra Bank to wind-up 6 schemes: In April 2020, Franklin Templeton Mutual Fund company had closed 6 of its debt schemes in consultation with SEBI. SEBI had advised it to bring in an independent advisor on board ahead of the unitholders’ vote on the winding-up process. In compliance with it, Franklin Templeton MF has appointed Kotak Mahindra Bank to expedite the process of monetizing the assets in the portfolios of the six wound-up schemes and make payouts to the affected investors.

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY

1. “iTurmeric Fincloud” platform launched by Intellect Design Arena :  “iTurmeric FinCloud” is a cloud-ready, API-first, microservices-based platform which has been launched by the Intellect Design Arena Ltd, a full spectrum banking and insurance products company. This platform has been launched through IBM public cloud and enable the new digital banks’ systems to be tested and run in isolation or in parallel with core legacy systems. The platform comprises of various facilities such as retail banking, lending, origination, and corporate banking API.

Note: Chairman & Managing Director of Intellect Design Arena Limited: Arun Jain.

2. Facebook Launches Shopping Platform ‘Facebook Shops’ for Small Businesses: Facebook has announced the launch of a new feature, ‘Facebook Shops’, on its platform as an important tool for small businesses to create online stores on Facebook and Instagram. The new service was launched by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Facebook Shops will allow businesses to sell their product both on Facebook and Instagram by setting up storefronts on the apps. The new initiative will bring more local businesses online and help them to survive amid the coronavirus pandemic, while also creating big new business opportunities for Facebook itself.