Current Affairs Today 04th June 2020| Current Affairs News

CURRENT AFFAIRS: DAYS

International Day of Innocent Children Victims of Aggression

• International Day of Innocent Children Victims of Aggressionwas first recognized by the United Nations. It was established on August 19, 1982 and is observed every year on June 4. This day originally focuses on victims of the 1982 Lebanon War.
• This day is observed to raise awareness about the children who have suffered a lot throughout the world and are victims of physical, mental and emotional abuse.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: NATIONAL

Govt launches SWADES scheme for jobs to returning Indians from abroad

• The government has launched a new initiative SWADES (Skilled Workers Arrival Database for Employment Support) to conduct a skill mapping exercise and provide employment opportunities to the returning citizens under the Vande Bharat Mission. 
• This is a joint initiative of the Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship, the Ministry of Civil Aviation and the Ministry of External Affairs which aims to create a database of qualified citizens based on their skill sets and experience to tap into and fulfill demand of Indian and foreign companies.
• The collected information will be shared with the companies for suitable placement opportunities in the country.
• The returning citizens are required to fill up an online SWADES Skills Card at nsdcindia.org/swades. The card will facilitate a strategic framework to provide the returning citizens with suitable employment opportunities through discussions with key stakeholders including State Governments, Industry Associations and Employers.
• MSDE’s implementation arm National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) is supporting the implementation of the project.
• The scheme has been launched as many Indian citizens are returning home and many  citizens be facing uncertainty regarding their future employment opportunities as the spread of COVID-19 across the globe has had a significant economic impact with thousands of workers losing their jobs and hundreds of companies shutting down globally.

Centre amends Essential Commodities Act; Cereals, pulses, onion and potatoes removed from essential commodities list; Farmers can sell their produce outside State

• The Union Cabinet has approved a historic amendment to Essential Commodities Act. This is a visionary step towards transformation of agriculture and raising farmers’ income.
• Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar stated, with the amendment to Essential Commodities Act, commodities like cereals, pulses, oilseeds, edible oils, onion and potatoes have been removed from list of essential commodities.
• He stated the decision will ensure better price for farmers’ produce and also remove fears of private investors of excessive regulatory interference.
• The amendment  will help drive up investment in cold storages and modernization of the food supply chain.

Nitin Gadkari announces development of new Greenfield expressway to Amritsar

• Centre announced the development of a new Greenfield connectivityto Amritsar City from Nakodar via Sultanpur Lodhi, Goindwal Sahib, Khadoor Sahib as part of Delhi-Amritsar Expressway. Announcing this, Minister for Road Transport & Highways and MSMEs Nitin Gadkari  stated, the road from Amritsar to Gurdaspur will also be fully developed and made completely signal free. With this, there will be options to travel to Gurdaspur onwards from Nakodar either via Amritsar or via Kartarpur.
• This greenfield alignment will not only provide shortest and alternate express connectivity to Amritsar city but also to other religious centres of Sultanpur Lodhi, Goindwal Sahib, Khadoor Sahib as well as the recently developed Dera Baba Nanak/Kartarpur Sahib International Corridor in Punjab.
• Once the project is completed, the travel time from Amritsar to Delhi International airport will reduce by about four hours. The first phase of expressway would involve investment of about  25,000 crore rupees

DPIIT revises public procurement order to encourage Make in India initiative

• Department of Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, DPIIT has recently revised the public procurement order to encourage Make in India initiative with an aim to enhance income and employment generation in the country.
• Minister of State for Shipping and Chemicals and Fertilizers, Mansukh Mandaviya stated that mandatory public procurement of chemicals and petrochemicals to boost manufacturing and production of goods and services will promote Make in India. He stated, this step will strengthen Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan launched by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
• Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals prescribed minimum 60 per cent for 2020-21, 70 per cent for 2021-23 and 80 per cent local content for 2023-25 respectively of local chemicals and petrochemical contents in public procurement.

About Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT):

• The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) is a central government department under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
• Headquarters: New Delhi
• Founded: 1995
• Secretary: Guruprasad Mohapatra

Govt launches Electronics Mfg Scheme 2.0, aims to get 5 top global players

• The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) launched the Electronics Manufacturing Scheme 2.0, which includes three sub-schemes and has a combined outlay of Rs 50,000, to promote production, not just for the domestic market, but also for export.
• The three schemes are Production Linked Incentive Scheme (PLI) for large-scale electronics manufacturing, Scheme for Promotion of Manufacturing of Electronic Components and Semiconductors (SPECS), and Modified Electronics Manufacturing Clusters (EMC 2.0) Scheme. The government invited applications from companies looking to invest in India under these schemes, as it plans to initially get the top five global mobile manufacturing companies, and promote five domestic companies on the national scale.
• Under the PLI Scheme, electronics manufacturers will be offered incentives of 4-6 per cent on their incremental sales of goods manufactured in India for a period of five years.
• SPECS will provide financial incentive of 25 per cent on capital expenditure of some electronics goods and components specified by the government. EMC 2.0 will provide assistance to create infrastructure, along with facilities and amenities, including ready built factory sheds, and plug-and-play facilities for attracting major global manufacturers, along with their supply chains.
• The manufacturing of mobile handsets, which has been a top priority of the government, was a focus area of the National Policy on Electronics 2019 with a target of producing 1 billion mobile handsets by 2025, valued at $190 billion, including 600 million mobile handsets for export.

 About Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY)

• Ravi Shankar Prasad, Cabinet Minister
• Constituency: Patna Sahib
• Sanjay Shamrao Dhotre, Minister of State
• Ajay Prakash Sawhney, Secretary

Cabinet approves MoU between India and Bhutan on cooperation in environment

• The union cabinet gave its approval for signing Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the India and Bhutan on cooperation in the areas of the environment
• An official release stated MoU will enable establishment and promotion of closer and long-term cooperation between the two countries in the field of environment protection and management of natural resources on the basis of equity, reciprocity and mutual benefits.
• A Memorandum of Understanding covering air, waste, chemical management, climate change has been considered keeping in view bilateral interest of both sides.
• The MoU shall come into force on the date of signing and shall continue to remain in force for a period of ten years.

About Bhutan :

• Prime Minister: Lotay Tshering
• Capital: Thimphu

CURRENT AFFAIRS: BANKING AND FINANCE

DBS Bank partners with TCIL for real time payments to truck drivers

• DBS Bank has partnered with Transport Corporation of India Limited (TCIL) to facilitate real time payments for truck drivers.
• With this solution, TCIL truck drivers receive an instant credit into their bank account, which they can then swipe at terminals or withdraw cash using ATMs, DBS Bank stated, adding that given the large volumes of transactions, and round-the-clock nature of the operations, it proposed setting up a UPI-based real-time payments solution which is available 24x7x365.
• The solution has been set up under the aegis of National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). DBS RAPID (Real-time APIs by DBS) and UPI payments, provides a seamless integration with the company’s Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system, it further stated.

About DBS Bank :

• Headquarters– Singapore
• Chief Executive Officer(CEO) and Director– Piyush Gupta

About TCIL:

• Corporate Office– Gurgaon, Haryana
• Chairman and MD– D P Agarwal

SBI creates separate business vertical for financial inclusion, agri biz

• In a major restructuring exercise, State Bank of India has created a separate business vertical to focus on financial inclusion and micro-markets (FI&MM) in semi-urban and rural areas.
• Under FI&MM, the Bank will offer loans predominantly for agriculture & allied activities, and micro/small enterprises and vastly improve customer experience for the citizens in the hinterland.
• About 8,000 branches in rural and semi urban areas have been identified for providing specialised services to the micro segment including micro credit for small businesses and farmers under new vertical. The thrust will be on improving service quality and availability of banking services through over 63,000 Customer Service Points in rural, semi urban, urban & metropolitan areas, SBI stated.
• At the national level, the FI&MM vertical will be headed by Deputy Managing Director, Sanjeev Nautiyal.
• The new FI&MM vertical provides an opportunity to help customers to run their businesses smoothly, especially in the current times of uncertainty.
• The primary emphasis will be on consolidating the district level presence which will provide constant sales & recovery support to branches in the FI&MM Network. The DSHs will also play an important role in strengthening the reach of Customer Service Points (CSP) and ensure improvement in quality & availability of services rendered to customers, SBI added.

About SBI:

• Chairperson: Rajnish Kumar
• Headquarters: Mumbai
• Tagline :The Banker to Every Indian

IndusInd Bank launches mobile app based facility for opening current accounts

• Gurgaon-based IndusInd Bank has announced that it has launched a first-of-its-kind assisted mobile application based facility. The service enables the bank to open current accounts for self-employed individuals and businesses digitally within a few hours.
• The facility works in a way where the bank officials can now capture and verify information about customers and their businesses in real-time with the Indus Corporate mobile app. This happens at the premise of the customer in a convenient and secure manner.
• The objective of the bank is to make the account opening experience faster and seamless for the customer. The hassle of arranging physical KYC documents of themselves or their firm is eliminated. This makes the KYC documentation process paperless, leading to reducing the usage of paper.
• The app uses multiple Application Programme Interface (APIs) which 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. The facility can be used to open current accounts for all kinds of businesses including proprietorship, partnership as well as private and public limited companies, among others.

About Indusind Bank:

• CEO: Sumant Kathpalia
• Headquarters: Pune
• Tagline :We Make You Feel Richer

CURRENT AFFAIRS: BUSINESS AND ECONOMY

Facebook to acquire 9.9% stake in Jio Platforms via Jaadhu Holdings

• Facebook will acquire 9 per cent stake in Jio Platforms announced last month via a new entity — Jaadhu Holdings LLC, as per regulatory documents.
• In April, Facebook had announced an investment of $ 5.7 billion (Rs 43,574 crore) in Jio Platforms.
• Jaadhu Holdings, LLC is an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Facebook, Inc.
• Jaadhu is a newly incorporated company formed in March 2020 under the laws of the State of Delaware, US.
• The notification form is being filed in relation to Jaadhu’s proposed acquisition of a minority, the non-controlling shareholding of approximately 9.99 per cent of the fully diluted equity share capital in Jio Platforms.
• Over the past few weeks, Reliance Industries’ digital unit Jio Platforms has raised Rs 78,562 crore from marquee technology investors including Facebook, KKR, Silver Lake Partners, Vista Equity Partners and General Atlantic.

About Facebook:

• CEO: Mark Zuckerberg
• Headquarters: Menlo Park, California, United States

Facebook signs a global licensing deal with music label Saregama

• Facebook has struck a global licensing deal with Saregama to bolster the library of its music products across its flagship social networking platform and Instagram.
• This partnership will allow users to add the label’s music across various formats like videos, stories via music stickers, and other creative content on Facebook and Instagram. They will also be able to add songs to their Facebook profile.
• Saregama claims to currently offer a catalog of over 100,000 songs across several different genres including film songs, devotional music, ghazals & indipop in more than 25 languages.
• Facebook had earlier signed similar deals with three of India’s top music labels including T-Series, Zee Music Company, and Yash Raj Films in March last year and rolled out its music products in the country in September last year.
• Saregama, which is among India’s oldest music labels, had also signed a licensing deal with Spotify last month, enabling the music streaming service to offer the label’s catalog on its platform.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: STATES

Kerala’s free internet project to be commissioned in December

• The Kerala government has announced that its ambitious Kerala Fibre Optic Network (K-FON) project, envisaged to provide free internet access to the poor, would be rolled out by December this year.
• Kerala is the first state to declare the internet as a fundamental right of the citizen.
• A project was launched to provide quality internet free of cost to the poor and at affordable rates to others.
  No other state in India has implemented such a scheme.
• The consortium comprises public sector companies, Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) and Railtel, and private companies such as SRIT and LS Cables.
• The project is being implemented by Kerala State IT Infrastructure Limited and Kerala State Electricity Board. Optical fibre cables were being laid across the state using KSEB posts.
• K-Fon will be a major support for the government’s efforts to develop Kerala as the world’s leading industrial, educational and tourism destination

About Kerala

• Chief minister- Pinarayi Vijayan
• Capital- Thiruvananthapuram
• Governor- Arif Mohammad Khan

Chief Minister of Telangana inaugurates Kondapochamma Sagar

• Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao has inaugurated the 15 TMC Kondapochamma Sagar reservoir by switching on pumps at the Markook pump house under Gajwel Assembly segment.
• The water will flow from the reservoir through gravity to surrounding districts of Medak, Siddipet, Sangareddy, Yadadri-Bhongir and Medchal Malkajgiri which did not have any irrigation facilities till now.
• The Rs 3,500 pump house and Kondapochamma Sagar Reservoir is located 210 kms away from Godavari and is at a height of 618 metres.
• The Rs 1 lakh crore Kaleswaram multi-purpose irrigation project is divided into different packages to lift the water from Godavari River and 20 of the state’s 31 districts will get drinking and irrigation water.

About Telangana

• Governor- Tamilisai Soundararajan
• Capital- Hyderabad
• Chief minister: K. Chandrashekar Rao

CURRENT AFFAIRS: APPOINTMENTS AND RESIGNATION

Uday Kotak takes over as CII president

• Veteran banker Uday Kotak has assumed office as the president of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) for 2020-21.
• He takes over from Vikram Kirloskar, chairman and managing director of Kirloskar Systems Ltd and vice chairman of Toyota Kirloskar Motor.
• T V Narendran, CEO and managing director of Tata Steel Limited, is now the president designate of CII for 2020-21.
• Kotak was appointed as non-executive chairman of the new IL&FS board to steer the company out of its financial crisis. He was also chairman of the Sebi panel on corporate governance.
• Sanjiv Bajaj takes over as CII vice president for 2020-21. He is the chairman and managing director of Bajaj Finserv Limited.

About CII

• Headquarters – New Delhi
• President- Uday Kotak
• Vice President- Sanjiv Bajaj

Twitter names ex-Google CFO Patrick Pichette as new board chairman

• Twitter appointed former Google chief financial officer Patrick Pichette as the company’s new chairman of the board.
• Pichette takes over the role after joining Twitter’s board of directors in 2017. He previously served as Google’s CFO from 2008 until 2015.
• Pichette is taking over the role from Omid Kordestani, another former Google executive. Kordestani has served as Twitter’s executive chairman since October 2015. Kordestani will remain on Twitter’s board.

About Twitter

• CEO- Jack Dorsey
• Headquarters- San Francisco, California, United States

Krishnendu Majumdar becomes first person of colour to be appointed BAFTA chair

• Award-winning television producer Krishnendu Majumdar is the first person to be named as the chairperson of BAFTA in its 73 year-long history.
• Majumdar, who succeeds Pippa Harris to the post, is also the youngest to be appointed as head in last 35 years of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA).
• Majumdar has been deputy chair for one year and is due to remain as chair for the next three years.
• Harris will now continue as deputy chairperson.

About BAFTA

• The British Academy Film Awards or BAFTA Film Awards are presented in an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts to honour the best British and international contributions to film.

V N Datt takes over as C&MD, National Fertilizers Limited

• Virendra Nath Datt, Director (Marketing), National Fertilizers Limited -NFL has taken over the additional charge of Chairman & Managing Director of the Company. Shri Datt is associated with Company as Director (Marketing) since October 2018.
• Shri Datt has a rich professional experience of over 35 years with premier Central Public Sector Enterprises -CPSEs such as GAIL and ONGC) besides the Fertilizer Industry.
• Prior to joining NFL, he was Executive Director in GAIL (India) where he handled all India marketing operations of the company in addition to corporate strategy, planning and advocacy. He was also a Director on the Board of Mahanagar, Mumbai.
• Datt replaces Shri Manoj Mishra as CMD, who represents the post form 2015-2020.

About NFL

• Headquarters- Noida

Shri Sushil Kumar Singhal appointed as the next High Commissioner of India to the Independent State of Papua New Guinea

• Shri Sushil Kumar Singhal, presently Joint Secretary in the Ministry, has been appointed as the next High Commissioner of India to the Independent State of Papua New Guinea. He is expected to take up the assignment shortly.

About Papua New Guinea:

• Capital: Port Moresby
• Currency: Papua New Guinean kina

CURRENT AFFAIRS: AWARDS AND HONOURS

UST Global recognized as ‘IT Service Provider of the Year 2020’ by Everest Group

• UST Global, a leading digital transformation solutions company, announced that it has been named to the list of the Everest Group’s PEAK Matrix® Top 20 IT Service Providers of the Year 2020. The awards, now in their fifth year, recognize IT service providers who have demonstrated consistent leadership in the PEAK Matrix® reports issued by Everest Group, a consulting and research firm focused on strategic IT, business services, and sourcing.
• The honor recognizes UST Global’s position as a fast-growing digital technologies company providing advanced computing and digital innovation solutions to large enterprises across the globe. The PEAK Matrix® is a framework for identifying the relative market success and capabilities of service providers. This is the first time UST Global has been named to this list, the only new entrant highlighted in this year’s Top 20 ranking.
• For over 20 years, UST Global has been a leader in digital transformation. The company achieves tangible business outcomes for Fortune 500 and Global 2000 clients across industries through exceptional collaboration and robust innovation. The company’s differentiated solutions, flexible business models, and expansive ecosystem make UST Global a partner of choice for businesses around the globe.

About UST global:

• CEO: Krishna Sudheendra
• Headquarters: Aliso Viejo, California, United States

CURRENT AFFAIRS: SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

South Africa, Nasa collaborate to support human missions to Moon, Mars and beyond

• South Africa has partnered with Nasa to host a deep-space ground station, which will support human spaceflight missions to the Moon, Mars and beyond.
• With this collaboration, South Africa became the fourth country after the US, Spain and Australia to host a deep space ground station.
• The partnership between the South African National Space Agency (SANSA) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa) to host the space station followed an earlier agreement between the two organisations for the establishment of the station at Matjiesfontein town in the Western Cape Province.
• The station will support human spaceflight missions to the Moon, Mars and beyond. It will be integrated into an existing network of three sites in the United States of America, Spain and Australia.
• The station will benefit South Africa in, amongst others, the development of scarce skills and the growth of the science, engineering, technology and innovation sector. It will also provide opportunities to feed the knowledge economy and increase the national research output in space science and technology.

About NASA:

• Headquarters– Washington, United States.
• Administrator– Jim Bridenstine

About SANSA:

• Headquarters– Gauteng, South Africa
• CEO– Valanathan Munsami

CURRENT AFFAIRS: OBITUARY

NBA Hall of Famer Wes Unseld passes away

• Wes Unseld, the burly Hall of Famer who led the then-Washington Bullets to the franchise’s only NBA championship, passed away.
• His biggest moment came in 1978, when he and Hall of Famer Elvin Hayes led the Bullets to the NBA championship, defeating the Seattle SuperSonics in seven games. Unseld was named the Finals’ Most Valuable Player.
• In 1988 Unseld was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. He was voted a top 50 player in league history in 1996.

DAILY CA 3rd JUNE  

• World Bicycle Day- 3rd jun
• Odisha, Sikkim, Mizoram join ‘One Nation-One Ration Card’ scheme
• Kisan Credit Cards (KCC) campaign launched for 1.5 crore dairy farmers
• PM Modi appoints committee headed by Rajnath Singh for MSME loan scheme implementation
• Power Minister R K Singh formally launches real-time power market
• Microsoft launches programme for agritech start-ups
• BSE Ebix Insurance Broking launches health insurance
• Delhi CM launches app to help track hospital beds, ventilators for COVID-19 patients
• Tata Power acquires 51% stake in Odisha’s TPCODL; stock jumps 7%
• Ircon inks pact with NIIFL, Ayana Power to explore opportunities in solar energy
• LVB CEO Subramanian Sundar gets extension
• Gaitri Kumar appointed as next High Commissioner of India to UK
• Pradip Kumar Tripathi takes charge as Steel Secretary
• Indian writer Kritika Pandey wins regional award for Asia in Commonwealth Short Story Prize
• India drops six places in the ranking for world’s best startup ecosystems
• COVID-19 to shave USD 25 bn off from top 100 domestic brands’ value
• India Captain Rani Rampal Nominated for Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award
• TTFI nominates Table Tennis star Manika Batra for Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna
• I&B Ministry releases e-booklet on Narendra Modi govt 2.0’s 1st year
• BJP Tamil Nadu former president KN Lakshmanan passes away
• Archery coach Jayantilal Nanoma passes away
• Former Union Minister, Congress leader P Namgyal passes away

 DAILY CA 4th JUNE  

• International Day of Innocent Children Victims of Aggression- jun 4th
• Govt launches SWADES scheme for jobs to returning Indians from abroad
• Centre amends Essential Commodities Act; Cereals, pulses, onion and potatoes removed from essential commodities list; Farmers can sell their produce outside State
• Nitin Gadkari announces development of new Greenfield expressway to Amritsar
• DPIIT revises public procurement order to encourage Make in India initiative
• Govt launches Electronics Mfg Scheme 2.0, aims to get 5 top global players
• Cabinet approves MoU between India and Bhutan on cooperation in environment
• DBS Bank partners with TCIL for real time payments to truck drivers
• SBI creates separate business vertical for financial inclusion, agri biz
• IndusInd Bank launches mobile app based facility for opening current accounts
• Facebook to acquire 9.9% stake in Jio Platforms via Jaadhu Holdings
• Facebook signs a global licensing deal with music label Saregama
• Kerala’s free internet project to be commissioned in December
• Chief Minister of Telangana inaugurates Kondapochamma Sagar
• Uday Kotak takes over as CII president
• Twitter names ex-Google CFO Patrick Pichette as new board chairman
• Krishnendu Majumdar becomes first person of colour to be appointed BAFTA chair
• V N Datt takes over as C&MD, National Fertilizers Limited
• Shri Sushil Kumar Singhal appointed as the next High Commissioner of India to the Independent State of Papua New Guinea
• UST Global recognized as ‘IT Service Provider of the Year 2020’ by Everest Group
• South Africa, Nasa collaborate to support human missions to Moon, Mars and beyond
• NBA Hall of Famer Wes Unseld passes away