Daily Current Affairs 21st May 2020 For All Government Examinations

Daily Current Affairs 21st May 2020 For All Government Examinations

Daily Current Affairs 21st May 2020 For All Government Examinations

Daily Current Affairs 21st May 2020: EducationBro Provide Daily Base Current Affairs, This Most Important Daily Current Affairs Help You to Appear IBPS Banking SBI PO Clerical RRB SBI PO SSC CGL CHSL Railway and Other All Competitive Examinations.

Daily Current Affairs Booster 21st May 2020: Education Bro Provide Every Single Day Most Important  Daily Current Affairs, Current Updates including different areas Current Affairs Updates like New Appointment, Awards, Deaths News, Banking News, Economic Update, National News, International News, State Level News, New launching Update, Summit & Conference Update, Defence News, Science & Technology Update, Sports News Updates.

Important Daily Current Affairs Booster Help You to Appear Banking IBPS PO Clerk, SBI PO Assistant (Clerk), RRBs Scale-1 Multipurpose, SSC CHSL CGL Railways and Other Government Examinations.

Important Links:-

•             Latest Current Affairs
•             Daily Current Affairs  
•             Date Wise Current Affairs  
•             Weekly Current Affairs  
•             Monthly Current Affairs

Dr Harsh Vardhan participates in NAM Health Ministers’ meeting through VC: Highlights with Details 

Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister of Health & Family Welfare participated in the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Health Ministers’ meeting through video conference. 

The meeting was chaired by Mr. Ogtay Shiraliyev, Minister of Health, Republic of Azerbaijan.

The NAM Summit is being organized at a time when the international community has been faced with a pandemic which has disrupted lives and livelihood of millions of people around the world. NAM expressed its concern at the global threat posed by COVID-19 and resolved to fight it with proper preparedness, prevention, resilience-building, and greater national, regional and international collaboration.

200 passenger trains to re-start from June 1, online bookings begin: Highlights with Details

The online booking of tickets for 200 trains which will run from June 1 commenced from 10 AM on Thursday. These trains will be fully reserved trains having both AC and Non AC classes.

General coaches shall also have reserved seat for sitting. There will be no unreserved coach in the train. Only four categories of Divyangjan concession and eleven categories of patient concessions are permitted in these special trains.

Railways Ministry said, these special services will be in addition to the existing Shramik special trains and Special AC trains.

For these trains, only online E-Ticketing can be done through IRCTC website or through Mobile App. No tickets will be booked across the reservation counter on any railway station.

Union HRD Minister launches Online Master's Programme in Hindi of IGNOU

Union HRD Minister Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank' launched IGNOU's Online Programme, MA (Hindi) through Facebook Live session. HRD Minister said that this would strengthen our "Padhe India Online" initiative and commended IGNOU's role in promoting online education. He stressed on the role Hindi language plays not in India but in other countries including Mauritius, Fiji, Surinam etc.

The Minister also said that the initiatives like National Digital Library (NDL), Swayam, Swayam Prabha, Diksha among other platforms are providing digital education to lakhs of learners across India and IGNOU's step in the same direction will give impetus to this. He reiterated government's commitment to promoting online education to reach the unreached with affordable education and IGNOU's part cannot be overemphasized, he added.

IGNOU offers the online courses through its portal (iop.ignouonline.ac.in) The online programme will include video and audio lectures, tutorials etc. which will be available at a click on the website.

Government exempts pregnant women, divyang employees from attending office

Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) has exempted pregnant women officials and staff members from attending office.

Minister of State in Prime Minister's Office and MoS for Personnel and Training Dr Jitendra Singh said, a circular to this effect has been issued and is expected to be followed by different Ministries, Departments as well as State and Union Territory Governments.

He said, pregnant women employees who are not already on maternity leave will also be exempted from attending office. Persons with disabilities are also to be given similar exemption from attending office.

Government of India launches scheme for 100% solarisation of Konark sun temple & Konark town

The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has taken up the Complete Solarisation of Konark sun temple and Konark town in Odisha. Speaking about the Scheme, R K Singh, MoS(i/c) for Power and MNRE has said, "Government of India launched the Scheme with an objective to take forward the Prime Minister’s vision to develop the historical Sun temple town of Konark in Odisha as 'Surya Nagri', to convey a message of synergy between the modern use of solar energy and the ancient Sun Temple and the importance of promoting solar energy", .

The Scheme envisages setting up of 10 MW grid connected solar project and various solar off-grid applications like solar trees, solar drinking water kiosks, off-grid solar power plants with battery storage etc with a 100% Central Financial Assistance (CFA) support of around Rs. 25 Crores from Government of India through Ministry of New & Renewable Energy (MNRE). Implementation of this Project will be done by Odisha Renewable Energy Development Agency (OREDA).

Domestic passenger flights to resume in calibrated way from May 25 

Union Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Wednesday said that domestic civil aviation operations will recommence in a calibrated manner from May 25.

In a tweet, Puri said, all airports and air carriers are being informed to be ready for operations from Monday. He said, Standard Operating Procedures for passenger movement are also being separately issued by Ministry of Civil Avition.

Ministry of Tourism organises 21st webinar titled ‘Photowalking Bhopal : Tradition, Culture and Tourism’ under "Dekho Apna Desh" series: Highlights with Details 

The Dekho Apna Desh Webinar of Tourism held on 19.05.2020 showcased the Tradition, Culture and Tourism of Bhopal, the capital city of Madhya Pradesh – ‘The Heart of Incredible India.’

The 21th session of the Dekho Apna Desh webinar series titled ‘Photowalking Bhopal : Tradition, Culture and Tourism’ moderated by Ms. Rupinder Brar Additional Director General, Ministry of Tourism and was presented by Dr. Soumi Roy and Mr. Himanshu Ranaof India City Walks along with Mr. Shivam Sharma a city explorer describing the History, culture and the Attractions of Bhopal.

World Bank names financial crisis expert Carmen Reinhart as chief economist

The World Bank named former Bear Stearns executive Carmen Reinhart as its chief economist, tapping a financial crisis expert who also currently serves on advisory boards of the IMF and the New York Federal Reserve.

Reinhart, a professor at Harvard University, published a book entitled “This Time is Different: Eight Centuries of Financial Folly,” together with economist Kenneth Rogoff of Harvard University in 2009. The book called for stricter regulations and an early-warning system to sound the alarm about financial bubbles, arguing that central bankers, policy makers and investors tended to ignore the telltale signs of a bubble.

Cabinet approves extension of ‘Pradhan Mantri Vaya Vandana Yojana’ 

The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has given its approval to the following for the welfare of and to enable old age income security for Senior Citizens:

1. Extension of Pradhan MantriVayaVandanaYojana (PMVVY) up to 31st March, 2023 for further period of three years beyond 31st March, 2020.
2. To allow initially an assured rate of return of 7.40 % per annum for the year 2020-21 per annum and thereafter to be reset every year.
3. Annual reset of assured rate of interest with effect from April 1st of financial year in line with revised rate of returns of Senior Citizens Saving Scheme (SCSS) upto a ceiling of 7.75% with fresh appraisal of the scheme on breach of this threshold at any point.
4. Approval for expenditure to be incurred on account of the difference between the market rate of return generated by LIC (net of expenses) and the guaranteed rate of return under the scheme.
5. Capping Management expenses at 0.5% p.a. of funds of the scheme for first year of scheme in respect of new policies issued and thereafter 0.3% p.a. for second year onwards for the next 9 years.
6. Delegating the authority to Finance Minister to approve annual reset rate of return at the beginning of every financial year.
7. All other terms and conditions of the scheme remaining the same.

The minimum investment has also been revised to Rs.1,56,658 for pension of Rs.12,000/- per annum and Rs.1,62,162/- for getting a minimum pension amount of Rs.1000/- per month under the scheme.

PMVVY is a social security scheme for senior citizens intended to give an assured minimum pension to them based on an assured return on the purchase price / subscription amount.

Cabinet approves ‘Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana 

The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has given its approval for implementation of the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY) - A scheme to bring about Blue Revolution through sustainable and responsible development of fisheries sector in India under two components namely, Central Sector Scheme (CS) and Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS) at a total estimated investment of Rs. 20,050 crore comprising of (i) Central share of Rs. 9,407 crore, (ii) State share of Rs. 4,880 crore and (iii) Beneficiaries' share of Rs. 5,763 crore.

The Scheme will be implemented during a period of 5 years from FY 2020-21 to FY 2024-25.

The PMMSY will be implemented as an umbrella scheme with two separate Components namely (a) Central Sector Scheme (CS) and (b) Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS). The Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS) Component is further segregated into Non-beneficiary oriented and Beneficiary orientated sub components/activities under the following three broad heads:

a) Enhancement of Production and Productivity

b) Infrastructure and Post-Harvest Management

c) Fisheries Management and Regulatory Framework

Cabinet approves ‘Atma Nirbhar Bharat Package for allocation of foodgrains to the migrants / stranded migrants 

The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has given its ex-post facto approval for allocation of foodgrains from Central Pool to approximately 8 crore migrants / stranded migrants @ 5 kg per person per month (May and June, 2020) for two months free of cost.

It would entail an estimated food subsidy of about Rs.2,982.27 crore. Further the expenditure towards intra-state transportation and handling charges and dealer’s margin / additional dealer margin will account for about 127.25 crore which will borne fully by Central Government. Accordingly, the total subsidy from the Government of India is estimated at about of Rs.3,109.52 crore.

The allocation will ease the hardships faced by migrant / stranded migrants due to economic disruption caused by COVID-19.

Cabinet approves Special Liquidity Scheme for NBFCs/HFCs to address their Liquidity Stress 

The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has given its approval to the proposal of the Ministry of Finance to launch a new Special Liquidity Scheme for Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) and Housing Finance Companies (HFCs) to improve liquidity position of the NBFCs/HFCs.

Financial implication:

The direct financial implication for the Government is Rs. 5 crore, which may be the equity contribution to the Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV). Beyond that, there is no financial implication for the Government until the Guarantee involved is invoked. However, on invocation, the extent of Government liability would be equal to the amount of default subject to the Guarantee ceiling. The ceiling of aggregate guarantee has been set at Rs. 30,000 crore, to be extended by the amount required as per the need.

Details of the Scheme:

The Government has proposed a framework for addressing the liquidity constraints of Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) and Housing Finance Companies (HFCs) through a Special Liquidity Scheme. An SPV would be set up to manage a Stressed Asset Fund (SAF) whose special securities would be guaranteed by the Government of India and purchased by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) only. The proceeds of sale of such securities would be used by the SPV to acquire short-term debt of NBFCs/HFCs. The Scheme will be administered by the Department of Financial Services, which will issue the detailed guidelines.

Cabinet approves "Scheme for formalisation of Micro Food Processing Enterprises (FME)" 

The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has given its approval to a new Centrally Sponsored Scheme - "Scheme for Formalisation of Micro food processing Enterprises (FME)" for the Unorganized Sector on All India basis with an outlay of Rs.10,000 crore. The expenditure will be shared by GOI and the States in ratio of 60:40.

Objectives:

• Increase in access to finance by micro food processing units.
• Increase in revenues of target enterprises.
• Enhanced compliance with food quality and safety standards.
• Strengthening capacities of support systems.
• Transition from the unorganized sector to the formal sector.
• Special focus on women entrepreneurs and Aspirational districts.
• Encourage Waste to Wealth activities.
• Focus on minor forest produce in Tribal Districts.

Salient features:

• Centrally Sponsored Scheme. Expenditure to be shared by Government of India and States at 60:40.
• 2,00,000 micro-enterprises are to be assisted with credit linked subsidy.
• Scheme will be implemented over a 5 year period from 2020-21 to 2024-25.
• Cluster approach.
• Focus on perishables.

Cabinet approves modifications in the existing "Partial Credit Guarantee Scheme (PCGS)"

The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has approved the Sovereign portfolio guarantee of up to 20% of first loss for purchase of Bonds or Commercial Papers (CPs) with a rating of AA and below (including unrated paper with original/ initial maturity of up to one year) issued by NBFCs/ MFCs/Micro Finance Institutions (MFIs) by Public Sector Banks (PSBs) through an extension of the Partial Credit Guarantee Scheme (PCGS).

Cabinet also approved modifications in the existing PCGS on purchase of pooled assets, increasing its coverage by—

Making NBFCs/HFCs reported under SMA-1 category on technical reasons alone during the last one year period prior to 1.8.2018 eligible. Earlier NBFCs/HFCs reported as SMA-1 or SMA-2 during this period were ineligible under the Scheme.

Relaxing the net profit criteria to the extent that the concerned NBFC/HFC should now have made a profit in at least one of the financial years of FY2017-18, FY 2018-19 and 2019-20. Earlier, the NBFC/HFC should have made a net profit in at least one of the financial years of FY 2017-18 and 2018-19.

Relaxing the criteria regarding date of origination of assets to include new assets originating up to at least six months prior to the date of initial poolrating. Earlier, only assets originated up to 31.3.2019 were eligible under the Scheme.