CURRENT AFFAIRS

Current Affairs for IAS Exams 

|| NATIONAL ||

 

1.     International Developments:

·  The UAE has launched a new 10-year Blue Residency visa for individuals who have made significant contributions to environmental protection. This follows the earlier introduction of Golden and Green visas, aimed at attracting diverse talents and skilled workers to the country​ ​.

2.     Environmental News:

·   Venezuela has become the first country in the world to lose all its glaciers due to climate change. This significant environmental development highlights the urgent need for global climate action​ .

·         A major Plastic Free River Campaign is set to launch on June 5 on the banks of the river Ganga. This initiative will target reducing plastic pollution across seven states in India and involves converting collected plastic into biofuel and tiles​.

3.     Defense and Security:

·   The Indian Army has established a high-altitude tank repair facility in Ladakh, enhancing its operational capabilities in the region​

 

·   The National Security Guard (NSG) of India and the US Special Operations Forces (SOF) are conducting joint counter-terror drills in Kolkata. This exercise aims to improve bilateral cooperation and interoperability in urban counter-terrorism scenarios​ ​.

4.     Economic and Business Updates:

·     The State Bank of India (SBI) has raised interest rates on short-term retail fixed deposits by 25 to 75 basis points to support the increasing demand for loans​ ​.

·       Wipro has appointed Vinay Firake as the CEO of its Asia Pacific, India, Middle East, and Africa (APMEA) Strategic Market Unit​

·    Hinduja Group's IndusInd International Holdings has received approval from the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) to acquire Reliance Capital​ ​.

5.     Health and Society:

·      Today marks World AIDS Vaccine Day, highlighting ongoing efforts in the fight against HIV/AIDS. The global community continues to focus on research and awareness to combat the disease​

 

·      International Museum Day is also being observed, with this year's theme emphasizing the role of museums in education and research​

 

6.     Notable Events and Observances:

·         Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico has been critically injured in a shooting incident, drawing international concern and highlighting security issues in the region​ 

Centre asks states to engage with private sectors to improve healthcare

• The Centre has asked States to engage with the private sector for augmenting healthcare infrastructure, and provisioning of critical care at reasonable rates.
• This direction, issued on Monday, according to the Health Ministry, comes following several reports indicating an emerging shortage of healthcare infrastructure, including hospitals with ICU beds, ventilators, oxygen supported beds, etc., for the management of COVID-19 patients. “There have also been reports of overcharging by healthcare providers for COVID-19 treatment,” the Ministry said.
• “In order to ensure that patients receive prompt, good quality care at reasonable rates, it has been suggested to States to have consultations with the local private healthcare providers and arrive at reasonable rates, while factoring in cost elements for personal safety equipments for healthcare providers,” a release noted.
• The Ministry has suggested that the rates, once fixed, must be widely publicised so that both the patients and service providers are fully aware and capacities are used optimally.

Activists claim dilution of labour laws will spike child labour

• The relaxation of labour laws across 11 States combined with closure of schools and reverse migration to rural areas due to the nationwide lockdown will force lakhs of children into child labour, while those already employed will be forced to work longer hours for meagre wages and under hazardous conditions, warn activists and labour law experts.
• The changes made to labour laws by various State governments can be broadly divided into two categories — allowing longer working hours and suspending labour rights resulting in lax enforcement  explains Rahul Sapkal, Assistant Professor, Tata Institute of Social Sciences.
• India contributes to nearly 15% of the global child and adolescent labourers. There are over 10 million working children in the age group of 5 to 14 years and 22.87 million adolescents.
• “Even in the absence of these relaxations, children were extremely vulnerable as witnesses of food and livelihood insecurity resulting in them falling out of the safety net,” says CRY’s PreetiMahara. “It is possible that adolescents may willingly drop out of school to help their families improve their financial resources.”
• Her organisation is working with partners in 19 States to collaborate with local administration to maintain a headcount of children who are returning to rural areas so that they can be linked with social protection schemes.

II ECONOMY II

Finance ministry to ensure effective roll out of ECLGS

• Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman chaired a meeting through Video Conference with officials of Major Private Banks and Non Banking Financial Companies today to ensure effective roll out of Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme.
• She stressed on the need to extend uninterrupted liquidity to Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises in this difficult time.
• Last week, Ms.Sitharaman held a meeting with heads of Public Sector Banks and took stock of the total sanctions being made under the emergency credit facility extended by the government.
• Under the Atma Nirbhar Bharat package , Government announced 3 lakh crore of collateral free loan support to the MSMEs and other stressed companies. As last reported , over 30 thousand crore loan has already been sanctioned under this scheme.
• Secretary Department of Financial Services Debasish Panda was also present in the meeting.

Petroleum ministry launches Indian Gas Exchange ( IGX)

• Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, today, launched the Indian Gas Exchange (IGX), which is the first nationwide online delivery-based gas trading platform.
• IGX has been incorporated as a wholly owned subsidiary of the IEX, which is India’s energy market platform.
• The trading platform will enable market participants to trade in standardised gas contracts. IGX is fully automated with web-based interface and it provides seamless trading experience to the customers.
• Speaking on the occasion, Mr.Pradhan said that the launch of the new electronic trading platform for natural gas has opened a new chapter in the energy history of India and will help the nation move towards free market pricing of natural gas.He said that with this landmark, India has joined the club of progressive economies.

II INTERNATIONAL II

India joins Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence

• India joined the league of leading economies including USA, UK, EU, Australia, Canada, France and others to launch the Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence (GPAI), yesterday.
• In collaboration with partners and international organizations, GPAI will bring together leading experts from industry, civil society, governments, and academia to collaborate to promote responsible evolution of Artificial Intelligence. It will also evolve methodologies to show how Artificial Intelligence can be leveraged to better respond to the present global crisis around COVID-19.
• By joining GPAI as a founding member, India will actively participate in the global development of Artificial Intelligence, leveraging its experience around use of digital technologies for inclusive growth.
• GPAI is a first initiative of its type for evolving better understanding of the challenges and opportunities around Artificial Intelligence using the experience and diversity of participating countries.

IAEA to discuss Iran’s nuclear programme

• The UN nuclear watchdog’s governing body began meeting on Monday as a row brews over Iran’s refusal to allow access to two sites where nuclear activity may have occurred in the past. The Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) expressed “serious concern” in a report earlier this month that Iran has been blocking inspections at the sites.
• The Board of Governors, one of the agency’s policy-making bodies, is expected to discuss the report during its meeting. If they pass a resolution critical of Iran, it would be the first of its kind since 2012.
• Even though the two sites are not thought to be key to Iran’s current activities, the agency says it needs to know if past activities going back almost two decades have been properly declared and all materials accounted for.
• In a statement to the Board of Governors opening this week’s meeting, IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi called on Iran “to cooperate immediately and fully with the Agency, including by providing prompt access to the locations specified by us”.
• The latest row over access comes as a landmark deal between Iran and world powers in 2015 continues to unravel.

II SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY II

Study finds Saturn’s largest moon drifting 100 times faster 

• As per a new study, Titan is surprisingly drifting away from Saturn, a hundred times faster than what we originally thought.
• Long ago, Saturn’s largest moon called Titan is born fairly close to its mother planet. However, a new study shows that over the course of 4.5 billion years, the moon has actually slowly but steadily migrated out. 
• Now, the same research reveals it is now orbiting some 746,000 miles away from the planet and continuing to expand away further at a pace that is a hundred times faster than what we originally thought of.
• Usually, the moons of a planet exert a small gravitational pull that tug at it while they follow their orbits. This gravitational interaction is actually the reason behind the rising and falling of our tides here on our planet. However, this also gradually pushes our Moon away from Earth, at a distance of about 1.5 inches every year.
• As Per the study, the same thing happens between Titan and Saturn. However, study stated that the friction inside Saturn is weaker than ours, which makes Titan move away from its planet at around 4.3 inches every year.
• To make this study, two teams utilized two techniques. One used astrometry, which sees astronomers measure the position and movements of stars to measure Titan’s position. The other team used radiometry, which uses electromagnetic radiation to calculate the spacecraft Cassini’s velocity as it zoomed by Titan.

II SPORTS II

Daniel Berger wins first PGA tour post pandemic

• Daniel Berger emerged from a tightly-bunched leaderboard to win the PGA Tour’s first tournament back after a three-month COVID-19 break with a playoff victory at the Charles Schwab Challenge here on Sunday.
• Berger, who needed a birdie on the final hole of his regulation round to make the playoff, sealed the win on the first extra hole with a rock-solid par moments before fellow American Collin Morikawa watched his putt from in close cruelly..................

|| NATIONAL AFFAIRS ||

Center approves opening of protected monuments under ASI

• The Ministry of Culture has approved opening of 820 centrally protected monuments under the Archeological Survey of India (ASI) which have places of worship from today. The Union Minister of Culture  has said that all the protocols issued by the Home Ministry and Health Ministry will be followed in these monuments.
• In its order, Culture Ministry has said that ASI will ensure that preventive measures as stipulated in the Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) to contain the spread of COVID-19 in religious places are effectively put in place and scrupulously followed while opening and managing these monuments.
• The Ministry of Culture also asked the ASI to share the list of these 820 monuments to the concerned States so that any state or district specific orders with regard to containment and prevention of spread of COVID-19 are also comprehensively implemented.
• There are 3,691 Centrally-protected monuments and archaeological sites maintained by the ASI which were shut from 17th of March in view of COVID-19.

WMO lauds India’s prediction of cyclone Amphan

• The World Meteorological Organisation has lauded the India Meteorological Department (IMD) for its accurate prediction of Cyclone Amphan. 
• In a letter to IMD Director General MrutunjayMohapatra, WMO Secretary General E Manaenkova said the cyclone advisories were provided to the WMO and in particular Bangladesh which was also affected by the storm.
• The letter said that the accurate prediction of the genesis, track, intensity, landfall point and time as well as associated weather like storm surge, rainfall and wind by the IMD and Regional Specialised Meteorological Centre for Tropical Cyclones , New Delhi with a lead period of more than three days has immensely helped in their early response and actions.

                 ||ECONOMY ||

Government notifies Public Procurement (Preference to Make in India) Order

• The government has modified public procurement norms to give maximum preference to companies whose goods and services have 50 per cent or more local content, a move aimed at promoting 'Make in India' and making the country self-reliant.
• Companies with less than 20 per cent of domestic content in their goods or services will not able to participate in most of the government tenders and they are categorised as "non-local suppliers".
• It also said that for purchases of goods/services with an estimated value of less than Rs 200 core, global tender enquiry will not be issued except with the approval of the competent authority as designated by the Department of Expenditure.
• For verification of local content, the Class I and II suppliers shall be required to indicate percentage of local content and provide self-certification that the item offered meets the local content requirement norms.
• In general, under the Public Procurement (Preference to Make in India) Order, it was envisaged that all central government departments, their attached or subordinate offices and autonomous bodies controlled by the Government of India should ensure that purchase preference will be given to domestic suppliers.

Job demand and household coverage under MGNREGA rises

• The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) has set new records on the number of person-days of work generated and households benefited under it in May, a month that saw largescale reverse migration from cities.
• As many as 417.7 million person-days of work, a 13% rise from a year earlier, was generated last month, according to government data. The number of households covered under the scheme shot up 31% on-year in the past month to 28 million. These are the highest ever for a month since the launch of the scheme 15 years ago.
• Pointing out the challenge before the government to sustain the employment guarantee scheme in the long run with the current demand, Jawaharlal Nehru University economics professor and rural expert Himanshu said the programme had the potential to absorb as many people and create assets in rural India but the cost of doing it would be huge.
• The government has enhanced the allocation for the scheme by ₹40,000 crore from the Rs 61,500 crore sanctioned in Budget 2020-21, taking the total to more than Rs 1 lakh crore ,the highest since its rollout in 2005.