National
Extension of repayment date forshort term loans
Union Cabinet agreed to extend repayment date up to 31 August 2020 for standard short-term loans up to Rs.3 lakh advanced by banks for agriculture and allied activities.
This facility is available for loans that are due or shall become due between 1 March 2020 and 31 August 2020 with continued benefit of 2% Interest Subvention (to Banks and 3% Prompt Repayment Incentive to farmers.
KCC campaign for dairy farmers
As a part of the Prime Minister’s Atma Nirbhar Bharat package, the union government initiated a special drive that provides Kisan Credit Cards (KCC) to 1.5 crore dairy farmers belonging to milk unions and milk producing companies within the next two months (1st June-31st July 2020).
Finance Minister on 15 May 2020 announced to cover 2.5 crore new farmers under the KCC scheme. Initially, the focus stressed on those farmers who are members of dairy cooperative societies and associated with different Milk Unions and who do not have KCC.
TULIP
The Urban Learning Internship Program (TULIP)’ is a program for providing internship opportunities to fresh graduates in all Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) and Smart Cities across the country was launched by the government of India. TULIP program will be instrumental in laying the foundation of New India, as it will provide practical experience to students and will help infuse fresh ideas and innovative thinking into the working of Urban Local Bodies and smart cities. It was launched by the Ministry of Human Resources Development and Urban Affairs. It is expected that 25,000 fresh graduates will receive an opportunity of internship in the first year itself, which fulfill 1 crore successful internships by the year 2025.
“SWADES”
SWADES (Skilled Workers Arrival Database for Employment Support) was launched by the ministries of skill development & entrepreneurship, civil aviation and external affairs to create a database of qualified citizens returning to India under the Vande Bharat Mission. That means the SWADES is the skill-mapping exercise of the citizens returning to the country. They are required to fill an online SWADES Skills Card. The information collected will be shared with companies for suitable placement opportunities. Vande Bharat Mission is the initiation of the government of India to bring back stranded Indian nationals home during coronavirus-induced lockdown from other countries.
Digital Summit
Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) organized the Digital Summit on Exports through video conference. Union Minister for Commerce and Industry and Railways Piyush Goyal participated and the EXIM Bank of India was the Institutional Partner for the Summit. The minister identified there are three important ways to increase India’s exports. They are reviving manufacturing, diversifying the exports basket and finding newer and more accepting markets.
He congratulated CII on completing 125 years and the launch of the Taskforce on Enhancing Exports through integration into the Global Value Chains (GVCs).
International
First commercial space travel
SpaceX became the first private company to launch human beings into orbit. The rocket named Falcon 9 and the spaceship named Crew Dragon built by SpaceX lifted off from launch complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Centre, carried two NASA astronauts, Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley.
The launch marked the dawn of a new age in commercial space travel.
It was the first time that astronauts used a spaceship built and launched by a private company.
The mission is expected to last 30-90 days, following which the two astronauts will depart from the International Space Station by boarding the Crew Dragon.
The Crew Dragon capsule will splashdown in the Atlantic Ocean and will be recovered by the Go Navigator Recovery Vessel.
Expansion of G7
Donald Trump conveyed his intention to expand the ambit of the G-7 beyond the existing membership, to include other important countries including India. He invited Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to attend the next G-7 summit to be held in the USA.
The summit must be held in June but postponed till September due to COVID 19.
PM Modi complimented President Trump for his creative and far-sighted approach, acknowledging the fact that such an expanded forum would be in keeping with the emerging realities of the post-COVID world.
UNADAP Ambassador for poor
UNADAP (United Nations Association for Development and Peace) appointed a thirteen-year old Madurai girl Nethra from Tamilnadu as Goodwill Ambassador for poor.
It was in recognition of her role in feeding the poor during the COVID-19 lockdown by her father, a hairdresser by profession.
The family running a saloon spends the savings of Rs 5 lakh on the hapless migrant labourers, who are hit hard by the Coronavirus-induced lockdown.
Global Vaccine Summit
On 4 June 2020, the Global Vaccine Summit hosted by UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and attended by PM Narender Modi. On this eve, Modi said that his government launched Mission Indradhanush, which aims to ensure full vaccination of the country’s children and pregnant women.
In the summit, India pledged to contribute $ 15 million to Gavi, which is an International Vaccine Alliance which co-ordinates vaccinations across the world. India is fortunate to contribute to the immunization of about 60 per cent of the world's children.
Startup ecosystem ranking
India’s rank down from 17th position in 2019 to 23rd this year out of 100 countries in the startup ecosystem. The ranking was given by the global innovation mapping and Research Company StartupBlink, which gathers local data of every country to rank their startup ecosystem based on the quality of startups, usiness environment coupled with the quantity. StartupBlink observed that India continues to face infrastructure problems affecting entrepreneurs and startups. The problems ranging from low internet speed, power cuts etc.
India and Bhutan
On 3 June 2020, the Union cabinet chaired by PM Modi approved a MoU between India and Bhutan for environment protection and cooperation in the areas concerning air quality, waste, chemical management and climate change.
The MoU enables the establishment and promotion of closer and long-term cooperation between the two countries in the field of environment protection and management of natural resources based on equity, reciprocity and mutual benefits. It also facilitates the exchange of experiences, best practices and technical know-how through both public and private sectors and shall contribute to sustainable development.
Akshay in highest-paid celebrities
Akshay Kumar is the only Indian found place in the Forbes 2020 list of World’s 100 Highest-Paid Celebrities announced recently. Forbes called Akshay as Bollywood’s top-earning star who got 52nd rank. Kylie Jenner, an American media personality, socialite, model, and businesswoman topped the list. Kylie earned $590 million, whereas Akshay earned $ 48.5 million.
Others
Commonwealth Short Story Prize
Indian writer Kritika Pandey won the prestigious honour of the regional award for Asia in Commonwealth Short Story Prize in 2020.
The award conferred on her for her short story “The Great Indian Tee and Snakes”. It talks about love in an age of hatred and prejudice.
The Commonwealth Short Story Prize is awarded for the best unpublished short fiction.
World No Tobacco day
World No Tobacco day observed on 31 May annually to spread awareness and educate people about its harmful effects on the health of a person.
The Theme of World No Tobacco Day is "Protecting youth from industry manipulation and preventing them from tobacco and nicotine use".
The observation encourages the governments around the world to put policies into action that help to reduce smoking and the use of other tobacco products.
World Health Organization (WHO) conferred World No Tobacco Day Award 2020 to Socio-Economic and Educational Development Society, an Indian non-governmental organization (NGO) for its efforts to ban pan masala, gutkha, e-cigarettes and hookah in Bihar and Jharkhand.
Model Questions
1. Union Cabinet agreed to rename Kolkata Port as …………….
1) Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port
2) Abdul Kalam Port
3) Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Port
4) Indira Gandhi Port
5) Jyothi Basu Port
2. World environment day celebrated on………..
1) 1 June 2) 4 June 3) 5 June 4) 8 June 5) 31 May
3. New Vice President and Chief Economist of the World Bank Group is..?
1) Abhijit Banerjee 2) Janet Yellen
3) Esther Duflo 4) Carmen Reinhart 5) Paul krugman
4. Which cyclone recently caused damage to West Bengal and Odisha?
1) Kurmi 2) Fantala 3) Amphan 4) Helen 5) Marcus
5. Salome Zourabichvili is the president of..
1) Bulgaria 2) Tanzania 3) Serbia 4) Georgia 5) Azerbaijan
6. India hosts Women's Football Asian Cup in……….
1) 2025 2) 2024 3) 2021 4) 2022 5) 2028
7. Government of India constituted a committee to bring the reforms in the drug regulatory system under the chairmanship of …..
1) Bimal Julka 2) Rajesh Bhushan 3) Shekatkar 4) Rohit Bharadwaj 5) R.C. Kuhad
8. Who chairs the Task force to examine issues related to age of motherhood, lowering Maternal Mortality Rate and improvement of nutritional levels?
1) K Vijay Raghavan 2) Amitabh Kant 3) Jaya Jaitly 4) Dr Harsh Vardhan 5) V. G. Somani
9. World Milk day observed on..
1) 11 June 2) 7 June 3) 1 June 4) 10 June 5) 5 June
KEY: 1-1; 2-3; 3-4; 4-3; 5-4; 6-4; 7-2; 8-3; 9-3.
Writer: Amara Veeraswamy
10-6-2020
