Daily GK Updates - 6th June, 2020

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Centre launches ‘#iCommit’ initiative to promote clean energy and smart energy use: The Minister of State (IC) for Power and New & Renewable Energy, Shri R. K. Singh, launched the ‘#iCommit’ campaign, on the occasion of World Environment Day on 5 June 2020, with the aim of building an energy resilient future. The initiative call upon all stakeholders and individuals to continue moving towards energy efficiency, renewable energy, and sustainability to create a robust and resilient energy system for India in the future. The ‘#iCommit’ initiative will be implemented by the Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL), under the administration of Ministry of Power, Government of India. It will unite Governments, Corporates, Multilateral and Bilateral Organisations, Think Tanks and Individuals for energy efficiency, renewable energy, and sustainability to create a robust and resilient energy system in future. It will ensure 24X7 energy access and security for all citizen.

2. Kerala set to become First Indian State to Provide Free Broadband for the Poor: The Kerala government has announced that its ambitious broadband project ‘Kerala Fibre Optic Network (K-FON)’ project, envisaged to provide free internet access to the poor, would be rolled out by December 2020. K-FON project aims to provide free high-speed Internet to all the citizens below poverty live in Kerala and those who cannot afford will be provided high speed Internet at a subsidized rate. The Rs 1,500 crore K-FON project is being implemented by Kerala State IT Infrastructure Limited and Kerala State Electricity Board. Kerala is the first state to declare the internet as a fundamental right of the citizen, by providing free high speed broadband to the poor people.

Note: Chief Minister of Kerala: Pinarayi Vijayan; Governor of Kerala: Arif Mohammad Khan; Capital of Kerala: Thiruvananthapuram.

3. Information booklet “Safe online learning in the times of COVID-19” launched: Union Minister for Human Resource Development (HRD) Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank virtually launched an information booklet titled “Safe online learning in the times of COVID-19” to raise awareness among students and teachers on staying safe online. The book has been jointly developed by National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) and UNESCO New Delhi Office. The booklet aims at keeping children and young people safe online through basic do’s, and don’ts. It will help parents and educators to teach their children how to use the internet safely. It highlights the negative consequences of internet and ways to eliminate the same.

Note: UNESCO HQ: Paris, France.

4. J&K L-G launches salary tracking app ”MeraVetan” for government employees: Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Girish Chandra Murmu launched a salary tracker mobile app ”MeraVetan” for providing salary-related information to government employees. The MeraVetan App (Version-1), will enable the employees to easily access their salary and other details anytime and anywhere. This app would especially be useful for those posted in remote and rural areas with no access to the drawing and disbursing officers (DDOs). MeraVetan mobile app has been developed by National Informatics Centre (NIC) J&K on the Android

Note: NIC Deputy Director-General: Abhay Kumar (State Informatics Officer); NIC Established: 1988; NIC Headquarters: Jammu, Jammu & Kashmir.

5. Government of India launches “Nagar Van” programme: Government of India has launched the “Nagar Van (Urban Forests)” programme with an objective of increasing the forest cover in urban areas. The programme has been launched with 200 corporations and cities across India and aims to develop 200 Urban Forests across India in next five years with the help of people’s participation and collaboration between Forest Department, Municipal bodies, NGOs, Corporates and local citizens. MoFECC Prakash Javadekar urged people to actively participate and increase the tree cover as they are the oxygen tanks. Government has set a target of planting 145 crore trees in 2020 under this.

6. India’s unemployment rate dipped to 5.8% in 2019 from 6.1% in 2018: Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation has released Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS). As per the survey India’s unemployment rate dipped to 5.8% in 2019 from 6.1% in 2018 as per PLFS. It is India’s first computer-based survey that gives estimates of key employment and unemployment indicators.

Labour force participation rate: 37.5% in 2019 from 36.9% in 2018.

Urban unemployment rate: 7.7% in 2018-19 from 7.8%

Female participation rate: 18.6% in 2018-19 from 17.5%

7. CSIR comes together with AIM to Foster Innovation: Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) along with Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) is all set to promote innovation and entrepreneurship in various sectors. CSIR has also signed Letter of Intent Niti Aayog for mutual interest implemented. They will together support world class start-ups through CSIR Incubators under AIM initiative along with setting up of CSIR Innovation Parks. Innovation and research in MSMEs by CSIR in collaboration with ARISE initiative.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. PM Modi Holds India’s first virtual bilateral summit with Australian PM Scott Morrison; Signs 9 Agreements: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi held the India-Australia virtual summit on 4 June 2020 with Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison in a bid to strengthen bilateral ties. This is the first ever virtual bilateral summit that India is holding with any country, and also the first for Mr Modi with any foreign leader. One such Summit was held between Australia and Singapore in March 2020. The India-Australia bilateral virtual summit concluded with signing of nine agreements including one to raise their relationship to a ‘Comprehensive Strategic Partnership’ for wider and deeper cooperation in diverse areas ranging from trade to defence. PM Modi also pledged USD 15-million as India’s contribution to the international vaccines alliance GAVI during the summit. The virtual summit concluded with ”Samosa-Khichdi” diplomacy.

2. World Economic Forum to host 2021 Unique Twin Summit: The World Economic Forum has announced to hold its 51st Summit in Davos in 2021, in a new twin-summit format, keeping in mind the COVID-19 pandemic. “A unique twin summit” of WEF will be held in January 2021, with the theme “The Great Reset”. “The Great Reset” is a joint initiative of the World Economic Forum and HRH The Prince of Wales. As a part of “The Great Reset” dailogue, the World Economic Forum’s digital platform “UpLink” will contribute by crowdsourcing innovations for the Sustainable Development Goals. The twin summit will bring together leaders from across the globe for both in-person as well as virtual dialogues.  It would connect key global governmental and business leaders in Davos with a global multistakeholder network in 400 cities around the world for a forward-oriented dialogue driven by the younger generation.

Note: WEF HQ: Geneva, Switzerland; Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum: Klaus Schwab.

3. Russian Language Day: 6th June: The UN Russian Language Day is observed annually on 06 June. It is one of the six official languages used by the United Nations throughout the Organization. The day was established by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 2010. 6 June is chosen as UN Russian Language Day as it coincides with the birthday of Aleksandr Pushkin, a Russian poet who is considered the father of modern Russian language. Each of the six official language has been assigned a day of celebration by UN’s Department of Public Information in 2010 to celebrate multilingualism and cultural diversity as well as to promote equal use of all six official languages throughout the Organization.

4. World Pest Day: 6th June: Every year, the World Pest Day (also sometimes called World Pest Awareness Day) is observed on 06 June. World Pest Day was initiated by the Chinese Pest Control Association, and co-sponsored by the Federation of Asian and Oceania Pest Managers’ Association (FAOPMA), the National Pest Management Association (NPMA), and the Confederation of European Pest Management Associations (CEPA). The main purpose of the day is to increase public, government, and media awareness of the important role pest management organization plays in protecting public health, project the professional image of the pest management industry, promote the use of professional pest management in a scientific and socially responsible way and call attention to the big threats caused by small pests. The first World Pest Day was marked in 2017.

OTHER UPDATES:

SPORTS

1. India to host the 2022 AFC Women’s Asian Cup: In Football, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has awarded the hosting rights of the Women’s Asian Cup 2022 tournament to India. The decision was taken after the AFC Women’s Football Committee meeting held on 5 June 2020. This is the first time that India will be hosting the event since 1979, in which India had finished as the runner-ups. The tournament will feature 12 teams, an increase from the previous slot of eight teams. As hosts, India will get an automatic qualification to the tournament. The event will also serve as the final qualification tournament for the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup.

Note: President of All India Football Federation: Praful Patel.

President of Asian Football Confederation: Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa; AFC Headquarters: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

BANKING AND FINANCE

1. RBI creates Payments Infrastructure Development Fund: The Reserve Bank of India has announced the creation of a Payments Infrastructure Development Fund (PIDF). The aim of this fund is to promote the usage of Points of Sale (PoS) infrastructure. The fund will encourage acquirers to deploy Points of Sale (PoS) infrastructure (both physical and digital modes) in tier-3 to tier-6 centres and north eastern states. The Reserve Bank will make an initial contribution of Rs 250 crores to the PIDF covering half the fund. The remaining Rs 250 crores will be from card-issuing banks and card networks operating in the country. The PIDF will also receive recurring contributions to cover operational expenses from card issuing banks and card networks. The PIDF will be governed through an Advisory Council and managed and administered by Reserve Bank.

2. SBI creates separate business vertical for financial inclusion, agri biz: State Bank of India has created a new and separate business vertical to focus on financial inclusion and micro-markets (FI&MM). Under FI&MM, State Bank will offer loans predominantly for agriculture & allied activities, and micro/small enterprises and vastly improve the customer experience for the citizens.

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY

1. Facebook Signs Global Licensing Deal with Indian Music Label Saregama: Facebook has entered into a global deal with Saregama, one of India’s oldest and largest music labels, to license its music for video and other social experiences across Facebook and Instagram. That means users can now add Saregama-owned music to their posts and stories on both Facebook and Instagram. Users can choose from over 1,00,000 songs across different genres including film songs, devotional music, ghazals and indipop in more than 25 languages, to add to their social experiences such as videos, stories via music stickers and other creative content. People will also be able to add songs to their Facebook Profile.

AWARDS AND HONOURS

1. India’s Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw named EY World Entrepreneur of the Year 2020: Indian billionaire entrepreneur Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw has been named as the EY World Entrepreneur of the Year 2020 (WEOY). She has been emerged as the winner from among a distinguished list of 46 Entrepreneur of the Year (EOY) country award winners from 41 countries and territories. Mazumdar-Shaw is the first woman entrepreneur from India and the third Indian to win the title in the award’s 20-year history. The other two are Uday Kotak (2014-MD of Kotak Bank) and Narayana Murthy (2005-Infosys). She is also only the second woman worldwide to hold this title, after Olivia Lum of Hyflux Limited, Singapore, who won the award in 2011. Uday Kotak of Kotak Mahindra Bank (2014) and N R Narayana Murthy, co-founder of Infosys Ltd, (2005) are the other winners from India.

OBITUARIES

1. Bollywood producer Anil Suri passes away: Bollywood producer Anil Suri passed away due to COVID-19. He was renowned for producing bollywood films such as Raaj Kumar-Rekha starrer Karmayogi and Raaj Tilak. In 1991, he also directed a movie titled “Begunaah starring Rajesh Khanna, Farah Naaz and Jeetendra.

2. Producer and songwriter Rupert Hine passes away: British Producer and songwriter Rupert Hine passed away. He began his career as a musician in folk band Rupert & David and also worked with other bands such as Quantum Jump and Spin 1ne 2wo. He was a dominant producer in the 1980s and 1990s. His renowned works that appeared on soundtracks for the films Better Off Dead, Golden Eye, The Fifth Element, etc.