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Important Current Affairs 15th June 2020

National

CM Uddhav Thackray and Dr Harshvardhan e-launched ‘I-FLOWS’ a flood warning system in Mumbai

• The Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Uddhav Thackeray and Union Earth science  Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan jointly launched the state-of-the-art Integrated Flood Warning System (I-FLOWS) – Mumbai

• The system monitors the flood activities by providing early warning in the city during high rainfall and cyclone events by as early as 3 days in advance.

• It was developed by Meteorological Department (IMD) and Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM) functioning under the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES).

International

Facebook joins hand with tech-giants, including Google and Microsoft for ‘Project Protect’ to fight online child sexual abuse

• Facebook has joined hands with Microsoft, Google, Twitter and 14 other tech giants for a new initiative called ‘Project Protect’ to help combat child sexual abuse and exploitation online. Facebook will lead this initiative.

• These tech giants have been working together under Technology Coalition since past 14 years, since its formation way back in 2006.Project Protect is a renewed commitment from the Technology Coalition for the next 15 years to protect kids online and guide its work.

• Project Protect will focus on five key areas: tech innovation, collective action, independent research, information and knowledge sharing, and transparency and accountability.

Banking and Economy

India’s forex reserves cross $500 billion-mark’

• India’s forex reserves have now crossed the $ 500 billion mark, according to the data released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

• The reserves rose to $ 501.7 billion, marking an increase of $ 8.22 billion in a week. Reserves had surged $3.43 billion to a fresh all-time high of $493.48 billion in the week-ended May 29.

Obituary

Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput passes away

• Bollywood Actor Sushant Singh Rajput passed away. He made his Bollywood debut with the 2013 movie “Kai Po Che!” and was renowned for his role in the 2016 hit MS Dhoni: The Untold Story. He earned massive fame with a TV show “Pavitra Rishta” and made a successful transition to films.The actor delivered major hit films such as 'PK' and 'Kedarnath'. His biggest hit was 'MS Dhoni: The Untold Story', a film based on the life of former Indian skipper MS Dhoni.

•  His upcoming project included Mukesh Chhabra's 'Dil Bechara' opposite Sanjana Sanghi. The film is an official remake of the Hollywood film 'The Fault in Our Stars'. Sushant Singh Rajput's last release was Nitesh Tiwari's Chhichhore, which released in September 2019.

Appointments and Resignations

UTI mutual funds appoint Imtaiyazur Rahman as CEO

• UTI Asset Management Board appointed  Imtaiyazur Rahman as Chief Executive Officer (CEO ) of the UTI Asset Management Committee (AMC)

• He will succeed Leo Puri whose 5-year tenure was over in August 2018.

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Important Current Affairs 14th June 2020

National

Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar launches ‘Sahakar Mitra’

• The Union Minister for Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare Shri Narendra Singh Tomar launched Sahakar Mitra: Scheme on Internship Programme (SIP) to provide paid internship to youth and ensure availability of assured project loans to young cooperators.

• This scheme is an initiative by the National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC), under the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare.

• Sahakar Mitra: SIP scheme will provide an opportunity to the young professionals to get practical exposure and learning from the working of NCDC and cooperatives as a paid intern. Under the scheme, each intern will get financial support over a 4 months internship period.

Odisha becomes 1st state to get ISO for tribal hostels

• Odisha has become the first state in the country to receive ISO certification for hostels meant for tribal students. The ST & SC Welfare Department has launched the ‘Mission Suvidya’ project to provide all the tribal hostels of the state uniform standards of infrastructure, amenities and human resources.

• Mission Suvidya has launched in December 2019, it aims to improve the quality of basic facilities in the SC (Scheduled Castes) and ST (Scheduled Tribes) hostels like safe building, functional toilets, safe drinking water, proper kitchen and dining, safety, security, health, hygiene and food provisions for students.

International

UK’s economy shrinks by record 20.4 percent in April

• The United Kingdom’s economy shrank by record 20.4 percent in April, amid strict , revealed official data on June 12, 2020.

• The record slump in the economy is likely to be the low point before a long and slow recovery, as Britain readies to open up its economy.

• The Office of National Statistics stated that the gross domestic product of Britain contracted by 10.4 percent in the three-month period till April in comparison to the previous three-month period.

Banking and Economy

RBI constitutes Internal Working Group to review ownership, corporate structure of Indian private sector banks

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has constituted a five-member Internal Working Group (IWG) to review the extant guidelines related to ownership, governance and corporate structure of private sector banks.

• The committee will be headed by Dr. Prasanna Kumar Mohanty, Director, Central Board of RBI. It will submit its report by 30 September, 2020.

Obituary

Manchester United Legend, Tony Dunne, Passes Away

• The former Republic of Ireland international footballer, Tony Dunne, has passed away. He was 78.

• He played for Manchester United for 13 years in which he made 535 appearances.

• He played as defender for Manchester United’s European Cup-winning team in 1968, becoming the first English side to lift the continent’s most-prestigious trophy.

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Important Current Affairs 13th June 2020

National

NHAI goes completely digital

• The National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) has gone completely digital. It is the first organisation of the construction sector that has been transformed into online portal completely through the Data Lake and Project Management Software.

• The entire NHAI work will now be carried out online amid the C-19 .The online portal will help the NHAI employees in continuing their work without any physical contact.

Madhya Pradesh becomes the top wheat procurer; pumps Rs 25,000 crores to boost farmers

• MP becomes India’s largest wheat procurer in the year 20-21 surpassing Punjab. Rs 25,000 crore introduced to boost farmers.MP also produced the most wheat about 30 million tonnes this year.

Coimbatore becomes Koyampuththoor as TN changes English names of 1,018 places

• The Tamil Nadu government has issued a notification as per the recommendation of an experts committee for changing the names of 1,018 places, including of many important places, in accordance with how they are exactly pronounced in Tamil.

• For instance Coimbatore will be called Koyampuththoor and Ambattur has been re-christened as Ambaththoor. Vellore will be known as Veeloor.

Awards

Indian-American Dr. Rattan Lal awarded with World Food Prize 2020

• Indian-American Dr. Rattan Lal has been awarded with the 2020 World Food Prize for developing a soil centric approach for increasing food production while conserving natural resources and mitigating the climate change.

• Lal has been helping over 500 million small farmers through measures such as improved management, less soil degradation and recycling of nutrients.He will receive USD 250,000 as prize money.

• Lal serves as Distinguished University Professor of Soil Science and founding Director of the Carbon Management and Sequestration Center at The Ohio State University (OSU).

Obituary

Veteran Urdu poet Gulzar Dehlvi passes away

• Veteran Urdu poet, Anand Mohan Zutshi Gulzar Dehlvi passed away. He was the editor of ‘Science ki Duniya’, the only science magazine published in Urdu by the government, which was launched in 1975.

• He is also credited with setting up Urdu schools across India. He was also associated with the freedom movement since the ’30s, when he was in school.

Ranking

FIFA’s latest ranking: India retains 108th slot

• India football team retained its 108th spot in the latest FIFA rankings. While Belgium ranked first and world champion France is in 2nd place and Brazil is at 3rd spot.

• In the wake of the C-19 , the qualifier tournaments have been postponed for the FIFA World Cup and other major games at the international level.

Days

International Albinism Awareness Day 2020

• International Albinism Awareness Day is celebrated worldwide on June 13, 2020. The day aims at creating awareness and acknowledging the multiple forms of discrimination that people with albinism face worldwide.

• Albinism is non-contagious, genetically inherited, rare difference present at birth. This condition results in a lack of pigmentation in skin, hair, and eyes causing vulnerability to the sun and bright light.

• This year’s International Albinism Awareness Day theme is ‘Made to Shine’. The theme has been chosen to celebrate the achievements and successes of people with albinism worldwide.

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Important Current Affairs 12th June 2020

National

Population of Asiatic Lions in Gujarat’s Gir Forests increase by 28.87 percent in five years to 674

• The population of Asiatic Lions in the Gir forest region of Gujarat has witnessed a massive jump of 28.87 percent in the last five years, from 523 in 2015 to 674 in 2020.

• The state forest department conducted an exclusive population estimation exercise called Poonam Avalokan (full-moon night estimation exercise), on the night of June 5 and 6 when there was full moon.

• The population of 674 comprises of 161 males, 260 females, 116 sub-adult lions and 137 cubs. It is the highest growth rate recorded so far.

“Panchvati Yojna” launched in Himachal Pradesh

• Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur has launched “Panchvati Yojana” for the senior citizens of rural areas of the state. Under the “Panchvati Yojana”, state government of Himachal Pradesh will set up parks and gardens in every development block with all the necessary amenities.

• State government is eying to develop 100 such parks in the state in the current financial year.

International

Apple becomes first US company to hit $1.5 trillion market cap

• On 10 June 2020, US based tech-giant Apple Inc’s market capitalization surpassed $1.5 trillion, making it the first U.S. company to reach that mark.

• Market capitalization is the share price multiplied by the number of outstanding shares of the company’s stock, yielding the company’s overall stock market value.

• At a current price of around $352 per share and with roughly 4.3 billion shares outstanding, Apple’s market capitalization is now at around $1.53 trillion.

Banking and Economy

RBI releases Framework for sale of Loan Exposure and Securitization of Standard Assets

The Reserve Bank of India recently released draft framework for “Sale of Loan Exposures” and “Securitization of Standard Assets”.

The guidelines issued are applicable to Scheduled Commercial Banks. This includes All India Financial Institutions such as EXIM Bank, NABARD, Non-Banking Financial Companies.

The Guidelines has proposed Two Capital Measurement approach. This includes Securitisation External Ratings based approach and Securitisation Standardised Approach.

Fitch Ratings Projects Indian economy to grow at 9.5% in FY22

• Fitch Ratings has forecast India’s GDP growth rate of 9.5 percent in the fiscal year 2021-22.

• Earlier, Fitch Ratings had forecast a 5 percent contraction in the GDP in the ongoing financial year 2020-21.

• Further, it estimates that India’s GDP growth is likely to return to higher levels than ‘BBB’ category peers after the global crises.

OECD Projects India’s GDP at -7.3% for FY21 if  strikes again

• The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), in its OECD Economic Outlook, has projected India’s economy to contract 7.3 percent in the current fiscal year 2020-21 if there is a second wave of the  () later this year.

• However, OECD expects the economy to contract 3.7 percent during the year 2020 if there is no second wave. Further, for the fiscal year 2021-22, GDP is estimated at 8.1 percent in case of a second wave and at 7.9 percent in other case, i.eno second wave.

Acquisitions and Mergers

Empays partners with Mastercard to enable contactless ATM withdrawals

• Cloud-based payment solutions provider, Empays Payment Systems India has partnered with Mastercard to launch contactless ATM solution in India due to virus.

• Under the partnership, Mastercard will help Empays to launch ‘Cardless ATM powered by Mastercard.

Obituary

Former member of Planning Commission, A. Vaidyanathan passes away

• The former member of the Planning Commission, A. Vaidyanathan passed away. He was a member of the perspective planning division of the Planning Commission from 1962 to 1972.

• He was also a professor at the Madras Institute of Development Studies and Centre for Development Studies.

Days

World Day Against Child Labour

• The World Day Against Child Labour is held every year on June 12 to raise awareness and activism to prevent child labour.

• The theme for 2020 is “C-19 – Protect children from child labour now, more than ever”.

• It is an International Labour Organization (ILO)-sanctioned holiday first launched in 2002, and is intended to foster the worldwide movement against child labour in any of its forms.

World Accreditation Day (WAD)

• The World Accreditation Day (WAD) is celebrated every year on 9 June to promote the role of accreditation in trade & economy.

• The theme for WAD 2020 is “Accreditation: Improving Food Safety”.

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Important Current Affairs 11th June 2020

National

Centre mandates to display green sticker on all BS-VI compliant vehicles of any type

• The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has issued a notification, making it mandatory for all BS-VI compliant motor vehicles of any fuel type to have a strip of green colour of 1 cm width, at the top of the existing third registration sticker plate.

• This means for petrol or CNG, which have a light blue colour sticker and a diesel vehicle which is of orange colour sticker, both will have a green strip of 1 CM on top as mandated.

• This green strip will carry details of registration of BS-VI vehicle and its fuel type. The order will come into force from October 1, 2020.The order has been issued by amending the Motor Vehicles (High Security Registration Plates) order, 2018.

Awards

Ramon Magsaysay Awards 2020 Deferred

• Ramon Magsaysay Awards 2020 have been cancelled due to the C-19 . The Awards, considered as Asia’s version of Nobel Prize, are conferred by the Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation.

• The award is bestowed upon the Asian individuals showcase excellence in their respective fields and who work selflessly to serve others.

Obituary

Padma Shri awardee Pritam Singh passes away

• Former director of Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Lucknow, Pritam Singh passed away. He chaired the subcommittee on Institutional Management and Leadership Development in Higher Education by the 12th Planning Commission for the 5-year plan (2012-2017).

• He was a member of the Ministry of Home Affairs Committee for capacity building of IPS officers.

Appointments and Resignations

Anil Valluri appointed as senior director for Google Cloud India

• Google Cloud has appointed Anil Valluri as Senior Director for Google Cloud in India. Valluri has over 30 years of experience in sales and marketing in the hi-tech industry.

• He has also headed several technology transitions in India for customers across banking, telecommunications, public sector and manufacturing. Before joining Google Cloud, Valluri was the President of India & SAARC operations at Net App.

Ranking

Amazon’s Jeff Bezos Richest Man in the World; Ambani at 12th Position: Bloomberg Billionaires Index

• The Bloomberg Billionaires Index is a daily ranking of the world’s richest people.

• Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos has emerged as the richest person in the world with a total net worth of $150 billion after he added almost $35 billion to his net worth so far this year.

• Bill Gates is the second richest person having total net worth of $115 billion. Bernard Arnault ($94.7 billion), Mark Zuckerberg (87.9 billion) and Warren Buffett (79.4 billion), makes up the top five.

• India’s Mukesh Ambani is the 12th richest person in the world. The total net worth of Ambani is 57.2 billion.

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Important Current Affairs 10th June 2020

National

Highest Allocation to MGNREGA Programme

• The Government of India has allocated Rs 1,01,500crores under the MGNREGA programme in the year 2020-21 so far. This is the highest provision of funds allocated for the scheme since its launch.

• The Government of India has already released Rs 31,493 crores. So far 6.69 crore persons have been offered work under the scheme. In May 2020, Rs 2.51crores was spent for the scheme per day. The GoI increased the wages under the scheme from Rs 182 to Rs 202 per day.

• Under the scheme, the focus is given to irrigation, water conservation, horticulture. The scheme also focuses on beneficiary works that promote livelihood.

World Bank lends Rs 1950 crore loans to West Bengal

• West Bengal government has received a loan amount of Rs 1950 crore from the World Bank. The loan amount has been lend to the West Bengal Government to tackle C-19 situation and developmental work in the state.

• Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said that out of it, Rs. 1,100 crore will be spent for creating Industrial infrastructures and remaining Rs. 850 crore have been allocated for spending on various Social-Welfare schemes.

International

World Bank: India’s economy to contract by 3.2 per cent in fiscal year 2020/21

• According to World Bank, India’s economy will shrink by 3.2 per cent in the current fiscal.

• The Washington-based multilateral lender said that the C-19  and the multi-phased  imposed to curb its spread has resulted in a devastating blow to the Indian economy.

• In its latest edition of the Global Economic Prospect, the World Bank downgraded its projection of India by a massive negative nine per cent.

• In India, growth is estimated to have slowed to 4.2 per cent in the fiscal year 2019/20 (the year ending in March-2020) and output is projected to contract by 3.2 per cent in fiscal year 2020/21.

GoI facilitates filling of NIL GST Return through SMS

• The Government of India has allowed taxpayers to fill their NIL GST monthly reurn form through SMS. This will improve ease of GST compliance to more than 22 lakh taxpayers.

• The facility of filing the NIL form through SMS has been made available in GSTN portal. The portal also allows the users to track their returns.

• The GST is the single tax imposed on goods and services. The GST bill was first introduced in 2014 as the Constitution (122nd) Amendment bill.

Acquisitions and Mergers

RIL to sell 1.16% in Jio to Abu Dhabi Investment Authority for Rs 5,684 cr

• Jio Platforms has received investment of Rs 5683.50 crore from a wholly owned subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA). Hence, ADIA has bought 1.16% stake in Jio Platforms with its investment of Rs 5683.50 crore.

• The investment done by ADIA valued the Jio Platforms at an equity value of Rs 4.91 lakh crore and an enterprise value of Rs 5.16 lakh crore.

Obituary

Former union minister and Odisha MP Arjun Charan Sethi passes away

• Former Union Water Resources Minister Arjun Charan Sethi passed away. He was eight-time MP from Bhadrak, Odisha. He was Water Resources Minister in Atal Bihari Vajpayee Cabinet from 2000 to 2004.

•  The veteran politician was also elected to Odisha Assembly twice on Janata Dal ticket in 1991 and 1995 from Bhandaripokhari.

Days

World Accreditation Day 2020

• The World Accreditation Day (WAD) is celebrated globally on 9th June every year to highlight and promote the role of accreditation in trade & economy.

• The International Accreditation Forum (IAF) and the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC) decided the theme for WAD 2020 as “Accreditation: Improving Food Safety”.

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Important Current Affairs 9th June 2020

National

Garisain declared as summer capital of Uttarakhand

• Uttarakhand Government has declared Bhararisen, also known as Garisain, as new summer capital of Uttarakhand. Garisain is located in the Chamoli district of the state.

• With this, Uttarakhand becomes the second state or UT after the Jammu & Kashmir to have two capitals - Summer and Winter. The another capital of Uttarakhand is Dehradun.

• Uttarakhand was carved out of Uttar Pradesh to become India's 27th state on November 9, 2000.

IAF develops rescue pod “ARPIT” for evacuation

• Indian Air Force has indigenously designed, developed and manufactured an Airborne Rescue Pod for Isolated Transportation (ARPIT). This pod will help for the evacuation of critical patients with infectious diseases including C-19 from high altitude area, isolated and remote areas.

• The system has been formed as a lightweight isolation system made from aviation certified material.This indigenously designed, developed and manufactured system has been developed for Rs 60,000 only. The cost is much less in comparison to the imported systems costing up to at least Rs 60 lakh.

Andhra Pradesh launches online waste exchange website “APEMC”

• Online waste exchange website of Andhra Pradesh Environment Management Corporation (APEMC) has been launched by the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy.

• The website was launched on the occasion of World Environment Day. Andhra Pradesh has become India’s first state to launch waste exchange website.

International

New Zealand declared as C-19 free

• New Zealand on June 8, 2020 declared itself C-19 free following the recovery of its last patient. The country has not reported any new C-virus positive case in last 17 days. With this, all the restrictions imposed across the country will be lifted off including social distancing.

• However the country will continue to follow strict border controls.The nation that has a population of 5 million had 1,154 confirmed C-19 cases and 22 deaths.

Summits and Mou’s

India, Denmark sign agreement for boosting cooperation in power sector

•  India and Denmark have signed an MoU to develop cooperation in the power sector. The agreement was signed between the Union Ministry of Power and Denmark’s Ministry for Energy, Utilities and Climate.

•  The main objective behind the agreement is to develop a strong, deep and long-term co-operation between the two countries in the power sector on the basis of equality, reciprocity and mutual benefit.

Awards

Javed Akhtar became first Indian to bag Richard Dawkins Award 2020

• Writer and lyricist Javed Akhtar has become the first Indian to be awarded with the prestigious Richard Dawkins Award 2020. He was conferred with the award for humanist value, critical thinking and advancing human progress.

• The Richard Dawkins Award is bestowed every year to a distinguished individual from the field of entertainment, scholarship, science, and education.

Ranking

Gujarat tops India's Food Safety Index among larger states

•  Gujarat has topped India’s food safety index among larger states, while Chandigarh topped among the union territories. Goa topped the index among the small states, as per the information shared by FSSAI on June 7, 2020.

•  Gujarat was followed by Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra among the larger states in food safety and Goa was followed by Manipur and Meghalaya among the smaller states.

•  Among the Union Territories, Chandigarh was followed by Delhi and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in food safety.

•  The FSSAI had shared the results of the second 'State Food Safety Index' on June 7 during a webinar to commemorate the World Food Safety Day.

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Important Current Affairs 8th June 2020

National

India Loses 750 Tigers in Last Eight Years: NTCA Survey

• The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) has shared the data related to details of tiger deaths during the eight year period between 2012 and 2019.According to the official data of NTCA, as many as 750 tigers died in the country in the last eight years due to poaching and other causes.

• Of these total tiger mortalities, 369 were due to natural causes, 168 due to poaching, 70 deaths are under scrutiny and 42 due to unnatural reasons, including accident or conflicts events and 101 seizures.

• The data showed that Madhya Pradesh has the highest number of 526 tigers in the country. However, Madhya Pradesh reported the highest tiger deaths during this eight year period at 173, of which, 38 were due to poaching, 94 natural deaths, 19 under scrutiny, six due to the unnatural causes and 16 seizures.

International

Russia declares state of emergency after massive fuel spill in Arctic Circle

• Russian President Vladimir Putin declared a state of emergency on June 4, 2020 after a massive fuel spill in the Arctic Circle. At least 20,000 tonnes of diesel leaked from a power plant in Norilsk last week and spilled into the Ambarnaya River in Siberia, making it turn red.

• Russia has imposed a state of emergency in the region, as emergency workers and maritime clean-up specialists are putting in intensive efforts to clean up the fuel spill.

• The major diesel spill reportedly took place on May 29, 2020 after a fuel tank at a power plant ruptured in the Siberian city of Norilsk. The city is located above the Arctic Circle in north-central Russia.

Summits and Mou’s

MoU between ISRO and ARIES for cooperation in Space Situational Awareness, Astrophysics

• On 4th June 2020, for the cooperation in the Field of Space Situational Awareness(SSA) and Astrophysic, The Indian Space Research Organization(ISRO), Bengaluru signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Aryabhatta Research institute of Observational Science(ARIES).

• R. Umamaheswaran, Scientific Secretary of ISRO from ISRO headquarters and Prof. Dipankar Banerjee, Director of ARIES from ARIES headquarters signed the MoU on the virtual platform.

Awards

Hyderabad airport wins ACI Asia-Pacific Green Airports Platinum Recognition 2020

• The Airports Council International (ACI) Asia-Pacific announced the results of the ACI Asia-Pacific Green Airports Recognition 2020 on 5 June 2020.

• The Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA), Hyderabad has received the Platinum award in the 15-35 Million Passengers Per Annum (MPPA) category for its water management practices.

Obituary

Kannada actor Chiranjeevi Sarja passes away

• Kannada actor Chiranjeevi Sarja passed away. He had made his debut with the movie ‘Vayuputra. He has featured in films such as Samhaara, Aadyaa, Khaki, Sinnga, Amma I Love You, Prema Baraha, Dandam Dashagunam and Varadhanayaka among others.

• He was last seen in the Kannada action-drama Shivarjuna.

Days

World Oceans Day

• World Oceans Day is marked annually on the 8 June to celebrate the role of the oceans in our everyday life and inspiring action to protect the ocean and sustainably use marine resources.

• The theme of UN World Oceans Day 2020 is “Innovation for a Sustainable Ocean.”

• World Oceans Day was officially recognised by the United Nations in 2008.

World Brain Tumour Day

• World Tumour Day is observed on June 8 every year to spread awareness about this deadly disease, ensure its early diagnosis, as well as as pay tribute to brain tumour patients and their families.

• The day was first initiated by the German Brain Tumour Association (GBTA) in 2000.

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Important Current Affairs 7th June 2020

National

CSIR and Atal Innovation Mission sign a Letter of Intent to foster Innovation in India

• This partnership will support world class start-ups through CSIR Incubators under AIM initiatives and jointly work on new models of innovation, including setting up of CSIR Innovation Parks.

• It also stimulates innovation and research in the Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSME) industry by CSIR in collaboration with ARISE, an initiative of AIM.

Banking and Economy

HDFC Bank launches ‘Summer Treats’ to meet post  needs of customers

• India’s largest private sector lender HDFC Bank has launched ‘Summer Treats’, to offers a range of products to help meet the changing needs of merchants as well as salaried and self-employed customers.

• As C-19 have changed consumer lifestyles and demands such as work from home and school from home, there have been an increased demand for phones, tablets, computers and related accessories. Similarly, demand for safe digital payments and private transport is also rising as well as the need for business finance has also increased.

• Summer Treats fulfills all such needs by providing a host of exciting offers. The key offers include:

 Exclusive discount for iPhone SE launch, no cost EMI and no down payment for large appliances,

 Discounts and cash back on select brands,

 50% extra reward points on online spends using Credit Cards,

 Exclusive offers on the bank’s lending products and

 Extra rewards on online spends via Debit Card Credit Card or Payzapp.

Awards

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.

• UdayKotak of Kotak Mahindra Bank (2014) and N R Narayana Murthy, co-founder of Infosys Ltd, (2005) are the other winners from India.

Obituary

Former Governor and Delhi Police Chief VedMarwah passes away at 87

• Ved Marwah who had served as the former Governor of Mizoram, Manipur and Jharkhand has passed away. He was 87.

• Marwah had also served as the Delhi Police Commissioner.He had also penned a book ‘Uncivil Wars: Pathology of Terrorism in India’.

Sports

2022 Women’s Asian Cup will held in India

• India has been awarded the hosting rights of the 2022 Women’s Asian Cup by the Asian Football Confederation. The tournament will held in India for the second time since 1979.

• As hosts, India will get an automatic qualification to the tournament.The tournament has been expanded from the previous slots of eight teams to 12 teams.

Days

World Food Safety Day 2020

• The second World Food Safety Day (WFSD) is observed on 7 June 2020.  The aim of the day is to raise awareness about different foodborne risks and the measures of how to prevent it.

•  According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), this year theme is ‘Food safety, everyone’s businesses.

• The campaigns will also spread awareness that how food safety is very much important and related to different other important factors of life such as human health, economic growth, and many others.

UN Russian Language Day

• 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.

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Important Current Affairs 6th June 2020

National

India to donate USD 15 million for Global Vaccine Alliance

• India has pledged to make donation of USD 15 million for GAVI - Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation. The donation was made during the virtual Global Vaccine Summit that was hosted by United Kingdom (UK).

• Prime Minister Modi attended the meeting and mentioned that the huge demand for the vaccine in India will make it cheaper.

Ayush Ministry launches 'My Life, My Yoga' international competition

• The Ministry of Ayush launched the My Life, My Yoga international video-blogging competition on June 5, 2020. The competition invites participation from people across the globe.

• The participants have been asked to post a 3-minute video on their social media accounts by tagging the Ministry of Ayush to participate in the competition.

• The participants can also use the hashtag “My Life, My Yoga” in the comment section on the social media platforms while sharing their video blogs. The winners will be awarded Rs 1 lakh cash prize.

Important Cabinet Approvals

The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi held meeting. Following are the major approvals given during the meet:

• Renaming of Kolkata Port as Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port. The Kolkata Port is the first Major Port as well as the only riverine port of the country.

• Re-establish Pharmacopoeia Commission for Indian Medicine & Homoeopathy (PCIM&H) as Subordinate Office under Ministry of AYUSH by merging into it Pharmacopoeia Laboratory for Indian Medicine (PLIM) and Homoeopathic Pharmacopoeia Laboratory (HPL)- the two central laboratories established at Ghaziabad since 1975.

• Setting up of an “Empowered Group of Secretaries (EGoS) and Project Development Cells (PDCs) in Ministries/Departments of Government of India for attracting investments in India”. This new mechanism will reinforce India’s vision of becoming a US$ 5 trillion economy by 2024-25.

• Signing the Memorandum of Understanding between the Government of the Republic of India and the Royal Government of Bhutan on Cooperation in the areas of Environment.

Banking and Economy

RBI creates Payment Infrastructure Development Fund

• The Reserve Bank of India created Payment Infrastructure Development Fund of Rs 500 crores. The apex bank has made an initial contribution of Rs 250 crores towards the funds. The rest of the fund is to come through the card issuing banks.

• The fund has been created to increase point of sale infrastructure and other digital payment infrastructure in the country.

• The funds are being allocated in line with the measures proposed in the vision document on payment and settlement systems in India 2019-21.

• The funds are to be governed through an advisory council. However, the funds will be administered and managed by RBI.

IndusInd Bank Launches India’s First Mobile-based current account opening facility

• IndusInd is the first bank in India to introduce this assisted mobile application based facility which will enable the Bank to open current accounts for self-employed individuals and businesses digitally, in just a few hours.

• The IndusInd app uses multiple ‘Application Programme Interface’ (APIs) and enables secured validation of KYC documents from authorised government platforms such as the Goods and Service Tax (GST), Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA), National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL), Import Export Code (IEC) and Aadhaar.

Axis Bank MasterCard and World line launches ‘Soft POS’, first financial payments service

• Axis Bank Ltd, Mastercard India & World line India partnered to launch a digital point-of-sale(POS) solution ‘Soft POS’, the 1st financial payments service in India to transform everyday smartphones into merchant POS terminals.

• Soft POS provides a cost-effective card acceptance solution for all micro-merchants and SMEs in India by eliminating the need to invest in a POS device. The app allows banks to have complete visibility of a merchant’s transactions, which makes it easier for small merchants to get business loans.

• It helps offline merchants and Kirana stores accept payments using their smartphones.Merchants can accept contactless payments directly by their own Android smartphones, this functionality is called “Tap on Phone” which means a cardholder can tap his/her contactless card on the merchant Smartphone with NFC functionality and so encourages social distancing.

• The solution enables merchants to accept payments through various digital form factors which include Bharat QR, sending payment links to customers and accepting Near Field Communication(NFC) based technology payments to boost contactless payments in the country.

Acquisitions and Mergers

Jio-Mubadala deal for 1.85% Stake in Jio Platforms

• Abu Dhabi-based firm, Mubadala Investment Company has recently invested into Reliance Jio Platforms to acquire 1.85 percent stake in the company. Under this deal, Mubadala will be investing Rs 9,093.60 crore into Jio Platforms., the telecom branch of Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries Limited (RIL).

• The Jio-Mubadala deal awaits regulatory and customary approvals. It is the sixth such deal in last 1.5 months. The other five deals were carried out with Facebook, Silver Lake, General Atlantic, Vista Equity Partners and KKR.

Appointments and Resignations

Brajendra Navnit becomes India’s new ambassador to WTO

• India has appointed Brajendra Navnit as India’s new ambassador to the World Trade Organization (WTO). He is a 1999 batch IAS officer of Tamil Nadu cadre. He will be posted at the Permanent Mission of India (PMI) to the WTO in Geneva.

• Navnit, who recently completed his tenure as Joint Secretary in the Prime Minister’s Office. He replaces JS Deepak at the PMI, whose two-year extended term ended on May 31.

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