VISION

Material For Exam

Recent Update

Thursday, June 25, 2020

Daily Current Affairs, 25th June 2020

16:26





1) Day of the Seafarer celebrated on 25th June
•The International Maritime Organization is observed on 25th June as the Day of the Seafarer. On this day, people pay respect to Seafarers and sailors who help the entire world function by conducting sea transport. This year, the annual Day of the Seafarer (DotS) will be celebrating its 10th anniversary on 25 June.

•The 2020 campaign for the day: Seafarers are Key Workers. The campaign seeks to raise awareness of the work seafarers have done during the pandemic and to thank them for their contribution. It also encourages people to treat them with respect and dignity so they can continue the good work they have been doing.

2) Cabinet approves setting up of Rs 15000 crore “AHIDF”
•Establishment of Animal Husbandry Infrastructure Development Fund (AHIDF) has been approved by the Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi. The Animal Husbandry Infrastructure Development Fund will be worth Rs 15000 crore and provide incentivisation of investments in the formation of such infrastructure for dairy as well as meat processing, and value addition infrastructure and establishment of animal feed plant in the private sector.

•Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs), MSMEs, Section 8 Companies, Private Companies and individual entrepreneur would be the eligible beneficiaries under the scheme According to the scheme, minimum 10% margin money would be contributed by the beneficiary while scheduled banks would be responsible for the availability of balance 90% of the loan component. Interest subvention of 3% would be provided by the Government of India to the eligible beneficiaries. There will be 2 years moratorium period for the principal loan amount while 6 years repayment period thereafter.

•A Credit Guarantee Fund of Rs 750 crore would be set up by the Government of India. This fund would be managed by National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) and will provide Credit guarantee to those sanctioned projects which are covered under MSME defined ceilings. Guarantee Coverage would be provided upto 25% of Credit facility of borrower.

•Both of the above facilities will ensure availability of capital to meet upfront investment required for the above projects and also help enhance overall returns/ pay back for investors.

3) Cabinet gives International airport status to Kushinagar Airport
•Union Cabinet has given International Airport status to Kushinagar Airport in Uttar Pradesh. The International status to the Airport will end in boosting of domestic/international tourism and economic development of the regions. It will be a crucial strategic location with the international border accessible.

•A 3-km-long runway strip has already been made. Now, even an enormous aircraft of Airbus can land at the airport. Kushinagar is located within the north-eastern a part of Uttar Pradesh about 50 km east of Gorakhpur and is one among the important Buddhist pilgrimage sites.




4) Jitendra Singh inaugurates Devika and Puneja Bridges in J&K
•Union Minister Jitendra Singh has inaugurated two bridges Devika and Puneja at Udhampur and Doda districts respectively in Jammu and Kashmir. The Bridge on River Devika in Udhampur has been completed by Border Roads Organisation within fifteen months time. The Puneja Bridge was also constructed by Border Roads Organisation (BRO) in 36 months.

•The 10-meter-long Devika Bridge construction resolve the traffic issues of the region and this will also help in smooth passage of army convoys and vehicles. While the 50-meter-long Puneja Bridge is strategically very important from defence point of view. It will also provide a vital alternate link to the Doda, Kishtwar and Ramban districts beside Kashmir valley from Pathankot (Punjab) without entering Jammu and Udhampur via Lakhanpur. Doda is the only district in the country where not one but three big tunnels are being built.

5) Tripura Govt announces ‘Ektu Khelo Ektu Padho’ scheme
•Tripura government has announced a special initiative for activity-based learning named ‘Ektu Khelo, Ektu Padho’. The new scheme was floated aiming at engaging students by disseminating audio and video contents focused on hands-on learning activities and messages of simple projects, fun activities and games among them through WhatsApp or SMS services. “The new scheme can be accessed via smartphones of guardians. In case no smartphone is available, SMS services would be used to teach students”.

6) MPMKVVCL starts Nishtha Vidyut Mitra Scheme for women empowerment
•In Madhya Pradesh, Madhya Kshetra Vidyut Vitaran Company has launched the Nishtha Vidyut Mitra Scheme for women empowerment. Under the scheme, women Self-Help Groups at Gram Panchayat level will work as Nishtha Vidyut Mitra.

•This scheme will the company to increase the revenue collection as well as women will also earn extra. This scheme has been implemented in all the Gram Panchayats of all 16 districts of Bhopal, Narmadapuram, Gwalior and Chambal divisions of the company’s jurisdiction.

7) Union Cabinet approves formation of “IN-SPACe”
•Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has approved the establishment of Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Centre (IN-SPACe). It has been approved to encourage the participation of private sector in the entire range of space activities. It will also enable Indian Industry in becoming an important player in global space economy.

•The Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Centre (IN-SPACe) will offer a level playing field to the private companies by allowing them to use Indian space infrastructure. It will also hand-hold, promote as well as guide the private companies in space activities via encouraging policies along with friendly regulatory environment. These reforms in the Indian space sector will allow Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to focus on research and development activities, new technologies, exploration missions as well as human spaceflight programme.

8) CCI approves acquisition of stake in Jio Platforms by Jaadhu
•The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has approved the acquisition of stake in Jio Platforms Limited by Jaadhu Holdings LLC. Jaadhu Holdings LLC will acquire approximately 9.99% stake in Jio Platforms.

•Jaadhu Holdings LLC (Jaadhu) is a newly incorporated company and an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Facebook, which is a publicly traded company listed on NASDAQ, with headquarters in California, United States of America. Jio Platforms Limited is a subsidiary of Reliance Industries Limited and runs digital applications and holds controlling investments in technology related units. It exists under the laws of the Republic of India and aims to provide high-quality and affordable digital services across India.



Read More

The HINDU Notes – 25th June 2020

14:40




📰 RBI will supervise cooperative banks

•Currently, these banks come under dual regulation of the RBI and the Registrar of Co-operative Societies. The move to bring these urban and multi-State coop. banks under the supervision of the RBI comes after several instances of fraud and serious financial irregularities, including the major scam at the Punjab and Maharashtra Co-operative (PMC) Bank last year. In September, the RBI was forced to supercede the PMC Bank’s board and impose strict restrictions.

•“I am very sure when this announcement was made, people have welcomed it, and depositors will get protection and benefit out of it,” Mr. Javadekar said, regarding the ordinance approved by Cabinet.

•The Cabinet also approved a scheme to provide interest subvention of 2% for a 12-month period to small borrowers with loans up to Rs. 50,000 under the Shishu category of the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana. This relief had been announced as part of the Aatmanirbhar Bharat package last month.

📰 Signalling intent: On Government e-Marketplace

Read More

1975 Emergency: Do You Know Why Was it Called?

14:13

On June 25, 1975 then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had called for a national emergency to curb the several “internal disturbance”. The then president Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed had signed the proclamation on this very day.

Read More

Russia-India-China (RIC) Trilateral Meeting

08:04
Why in news?
Russian Foreign Minister is hosting the Russia-India-China (RIC) trilateral foreign ministers’ meeting.
What are the events planned?
Read More

THE HINDU NEWSPAPER IMPORTANT ARTICLES 25.06.2020

Last 6 Months Current Affairs 2020 PDF Download

07:01
This Last 6 Months current affairs 2020 PDF gives you the latest current issue events that are important for Banking IBPS, SBI | LIC Insurance | SSC CGL, CHSL, CPO | Railway NTPC JE | UPSC and other competitive exams.





Sr No.TitlePDF 
1Monthly Current Affairs MCQs May 2020Download PDF
2Monthly Current Affairs MCQs April 2020Download PDF
3Monthly Current Affairs MCQs March 2020Download PDF
4Monthly Current Affairs MCQs February 2020Download PDF
5Monthly Current Affairs MCQs January 2020Download PDF
6Monthly Current Affairs MCQs December 2019Download PDF



Read More

Wednesday, June 24, 2020

Daily Current Affairs, 24th June 2020

19:49





1) Union HRD Minister virtually launches ‘YUKTI 2.0’ platform
•“YUKTI 2.0” platform has been virtually launched by the Union Minister of Human Resource Development, Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’. The platform will help in systematically adopting the technologies having commercial potential and information related to incubated startups in our higher education institutions. The Young India combating COVID with Knowledge, Technology and Innovation (YUKTI) platform seeks to cover the different dimensions of COVID-19 challenges in a very holistic and comprehensive way. The platform has been developed by the Ministry of HRD.

•YUKTI 2.0 is logical extension of earlier version of ‘YUKTI’ and has been launched to find out ideas relevant in COVID pandemic. With the help of this platform, MHRD aims to identify innovative solutions from India’s higher and technical institutions. During the launch, HRD minister encouraged students, faculty members, startups including other stakeholders of higher education institutions to get them registered on the YUKTI portal and share their technologies and innovations.

2) Union FPI Minister launches “Exclusive Investment Forum”
•The Food Processing Edition of the “Exclusive Investment Forum” has been launched by the Union Food Processing Industries Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal. It has been designed by the Invest India, the National Investment Promotion & Facilitation Agency of the Government of India. Investment Facilitation Cell of Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI) was also established during the forum to handhold both domestic and foreign investors for doing business in India.

•The “Exclusive Investment Forum” is a sectoral series to conduct comprehensive conversations among global industry leaders and key decision makers from the highest levels of the Central and State Governments. The senior most policy makers from Union Government and 6 State Governments namely Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Telangana and Uttar Pradesh participated in the forum.

3) Tamil Nadu CM K. Palaniswami inaugurates compressed biogas plant
•Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, K. Palaniswami has inaugurated compressed biogas (CBG) Plant in Namakkal. They inaugurate this plant through video conference in the presence of Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas, Dharmendra Pradhan. The cost of compressed biogas plant (CBG) is Rs 25 crore. The new plant can make 15 tonnes of CBG per day and 20 tonnes of bio manure per day.

•Chief Minister also inaugurated the five CBG retail outlets in Namakkal, Salem, Puduchathiram and Rasipuram. The CBG plant belongs to IOT, a joint venture between Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) and German company Oiltanking GmbH.

4) Rajasthan Goverment to launch “Indira Rasoi Yojana”
•Rajasthan state government will soon launch Indira Rasoi Yojana for the poor. This scheme will start to ensure that “no one sleeps hungry” in the state. Under this scheme, pure and nutritious food on concessional rates is going to be provided to the needy twice each day. The State government will spend ₹100 crores every year on the scheme.

•Local NGOs also will be roped certain the successful implementation of the scheme and its effective monitoring are going to be through with the assistance of data technology. He also flagged-off five mobile vans loaded with publicity material and equipment for the notice campaign by the National Health Mission and UNFPA.

5) India to give USD 10 million to UNRWA for Palestine Refugees




•India has pledged to contribute USD 10 million to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). The amount would be contributed over the coming two years. The contribution of USD 10 million would be an additional amount over and above USD 5 million contribution announced for year 2020.

•India has also pledged to donate life savings drugs to Palestine as a support to in combatting the COVID-19 pandemic. The contribution of USD 10 million was announced by the Indian government during the virtual Ministerial Pledging Conference for UNRWA. In the conference, India was represented by Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan.

6) GeM mandates “Information about Country of Origin” for sellers
•“Information about Country of Origin” has been mandated for the sellers by the Government e-Marketplace (GeM), a Special Purpose Vehicle under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. The sellers have been advised to mention “Information about Country of Origin” while registering all new products on GeM. While those sellers, who had already registered their products before the launch of this new feature on GeM, would be reminded regularly to update the information about Country of Origin. If they fail to update the same, their products shall be removed from GeM.

•Government e-Marketplace (GeM) has launched this new feature with prime objective of promoting the ‘Make in India’ and ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’. With this, GeM has also enabled ‘Make in India’ filter on the portal.

7) Moody’s forecasts India’s GDP to shrink 3.1% in 2020
•Moody’s Investors Service has released its June update to Global Macro Outlook (2020-21). In its latest release, the rating agency projected the Indian economy to shrink 3.1% in the fiscal year 2020, citing the extent of coronavirus-related disruption. It also forecasts Indian economy to register 6.9% growth in fiscal year 2021.

•Global Macro Outlook also indicated that China would be the only G-20 country to record growth of 1% in fiscal year 2020 and expects it to grow at 7.1% in fiscal year 2021. Moody’s also forecasted the growth of G-20 economies and expects it to contract by 4.6% in fiscal year 2020 followed by 5.2% growth in 2021.

8) GoI brings all cooperative banks under supervision of RBI
•Government of India will bring an ordinance to put all cooperative banks under the Reserve Bank of India supervision. This decision was announced by Union information and broadcasting minister Prakash Javadekar.

•Now 1,482 urban cooperative banks and 58 multi-state cooperative banks came under the supervisory powers of the Reserve Bank of India. The RBI’s powers as they apply to the scheduled banks will also apply to cooperative banks. This decision will give an assurance to more than 86 million depositors in these banks that their money amounting to Rs 4.84 trillion will stay safe.

9) Karnataka Bank rolls out KBL Micro Mitra for Micro entrepreneurs
•The Karnataka Bank has rolled out a new product titled “KBL Micro Mitra” for the Micro entrepreneurs. Under the newly launched product, the Micro manufacturing and service enterprises will be offered a financial assistance of up to Rs 10 lakhs. This financial assistance would be provided either for working capital or for investment purposes. The financial assistance facility comes with a simplified procedure and competitive rate of interest.

•KBL Micro Mitra would be available for the Micro entrepreneurs across India through all the branches of Karnataka Bank. This will ensure timely credit assistance to the micro entrepreneurs who are playing an instrumental role in the recovery of the economy both in rural and urban India.

10) T. Rabi Sankar becomes new Chairman of IFTAS
•Indian Financial Technology & Allied Services (IFTAS) has announced the appointments of T Rabi Sankar as the Chairman of the organization. IFTAS is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Reserve Bank of India.

•T Rabi Sankar, currently serving as Executive Director, Reserve Bank of India for Payment Systems, Information Technology, Risk Management and Fintech has taken over concurrent charge, ex officio, as the Chairman of IFTAS.

•Agency also appoints Dr N Rajendran as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the organization. He is a leading expert in the field of Payments & Banking Systems and holds a PhD in computer science. With an outstanding track record in strategizing, people and technology management, cybersecurity, administration, thought leadership and project & business execution.




Read More

The HINDU Notes – 24th June 2020

19:30




📰 Money supply surge signals uncertainty amid pandemic

People hoarding cash, parking money in deposits: analysts

•Heightened uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has led to a surge in currency in circulation as people hoard cash or park money in accessible deposits to safeguard themselves against salary cuts or job losses.

•According to RBI data, M3 money supply rose 6.7% in the first five months compared with the same period last year, the highest growth in seven years.

•Currency in circulation, which measures money with the public and in banks, has also surged.

•A rise in money supply usually is seen as a leading indicator of growth in consumption and business investments, but the rise this time is unlikely to bolster either, analysts said.

•“We suspect that the recent increase reflects higher cash withdrawals by depositors to meet needs during the lockdown period, until normalcy returns,” said Radhika Rao, an economist at DBS Bank.

•Gross capital formation, or total investments toward fixed capital, fell 7% in the March quarter, a seven-year low, and analysts expect a further deterioration. Lenders too are unwilling to take risks as slowing discretionary spending slows demand for manufactured and industrial goods.

•“Risk-averse individuals are putting money in bank deposits, given the high and rising uncertainty, while on the other hand risk-averse lenders are not lending to those who need it,” said Kunal Kumar Kundu, India economist at Societe Generale.

•However, growth in currency notes held by public was much higher than the deposits made in banks.

•Since the end of March, currency held by the public rose 8.2% compared with a 4.1% increase in term deposits, the data showed. Savings and current account deposits fell 8% due to higher withdrawals.

•“At the margin, people have curtailed their discretionary spending as they’re not sure of their permanent income,” said Rupa Rege Nitsure, chief economist at L&T Financial Holdings. “There is still heightened uncertainty about the duration of pandemic.”

📰 Transforming education

Read More