Current Affairs Today 03rd June 2020 | Current Affairs News

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CURRENT AFFAIRS: DAYS

World Bicycle Day

• In April 2018, the United Nations General Assembly declared June 3 as International World Bicycle Day.
• The idea behind it is to recognise the longevity, uniqueness and versatility of the bicycle, and that it is an affordable, reliable, simple, clean and environmentally fit sustainable means of transport.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: NATIONAL

Odisha, Sikkim, Mizoram join ‘One Nation-One Ration Card’ scheme

• Three more States — Odisha, Sikkim and Mizoram — have joined the ‘One Nation-One Ration Card’ scheme, taking the number of States and union territories (UTs) which have joined the scheme to
• By August, Uttarakhand, Nagaland and Manipur will also be added to the national cluster.
• Under the ‘One Nation-One Ration Card’ initiative, eligible beneficiaries would be able to avail their entitled foodgrains under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) from any fair price shop in the country using the same ration card.
• The Food Ministry aims to implement this facility across the country by March 2021.
• Upgradation of electronic Point of Sale (ePoS) software, integration with central Integrated Management of PDS (IM-PDS) and Annavitran portals, availability of ration cards/beneficiaries data in central repository and requisite testing of national portability transactions — required for ration card portability has been completed in these three States.
• So far, ration card portability has been enabled in 17 States and UTs — Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Kerala, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Punjab, Telangana, Tripura and Uttar Pradesh.

About Food and Public Distribution Ministry

• Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution- Ram Vilas Paswan
• Constituency- Hajipur, Bihar.

Kisan Credit Cards (KCC) campaign launched for 1.5 crore dairy farmers

• Government will provide Kisan Credit Card (KCC) to 5 crore dairy farmers belonging to Milk Unions and Milk producing Companies within the next two months (1st June-31st July 2020) under a special drive. The Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying in association with Department of Financial Services has already circulated relevant circulars and KCC application format to all State Milk Federation and Milk Unions for implementing the same on a mission mode.
• Under the dairy cooperative movement, approximately 1.7 crore farmers are associated with 230 Milk Unions in the country.
• In the first phase of this campaign, the target is to cover all farmers who are members of dairy cooperative societies and associated with different Milk Unions and who do not have KCC.
• Farmers who already have KCC based on their land ownership, can get their KCC credit limit enhanced, though interest subvention shall be available only to the extent of Rs 3 lakhs. Although the general limit for KCC credit without collateral remains Rs. 1.6 lakh, but the case of farmers whose milk is directly procured by Milk Unions falls under tie up arrangements between the producers and processing units without any intermediaries, and hence the credit limits without Collateral can be upto Rs.3 lakh. This will ensure more credit availability for dairy farmers associated with Milk Unions as well as assuring repayment of loans to banks.
• The special drive to provide KCC to 1.5 crore dairy farmers is part of the Prime Minister’s Atma Nirbhar Bharat package for Farmers. Finance Minister on 15 May 2020 has announced to cover 2.5 crore new farmers under the KCC scheme. This will provide an additional liquidity of Rs.5 lakh crore in the hands of farmers, who are suffering from the recent downturn of economy.

About Kisan Credit Card:

• The Kisan Credit Card scheme is a credit scheme introduced in August 1998 by Indian banks. This model scheme was prepared by the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development on the recommendations of R.V.GUPTA committee to provide term loans for agricultural needs.

PM Modi appoints committee headed by Rajnath Singh for MSME loan scheme implementation

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi has appointed a committee headed by Rajnath Singh to resolve any problem in the implementation of the Rs 3 lakh crore collateral-free loan scheme for MSMEs, stated MSME Minister Nitin Gadkari.
• In an online interaction with the members of the Pune-based Mahratta Chambers of Commerce, Industries and Agriculture (MCCIA), Gadkari asked small businesses to email him directly in case of problems faced by them in securing credit under the scheme.
• Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman earlier this month had announced the collateral-free loans scheme for MSMEs as part of the overall Rs 20 lakh crore Covid-19 relief package to uplift the economy.
• According to Sitharaman, 45 lakh MSME units will be able to resume their businesses and secure jobs through this support. The eligible units should have up to Rs 25 crore outstanding credit and Rs 100 crore turnover to apply for the loan scheme.

Power Minister R K Singh formally launches real-time power market

• Power Minister R K Singh formally launched pan-India real-time market in electricity, which allows consumers to buy power just one hour before delivery.
• Real-time market (RTM) enables consumers, including distribution companies (discoms) and captive users, to buy power on exchanges just an hour before delivery.
• The minister stated the real-time market is an organized market platform to enable the buyers and sellers pan-India to meet their energy requirement closer to real-time of operation.
• This has placed Indian electricity market amongst a league of few electricity markets in the world, which have real time market, he stated.
• The introduction of real-time market will bring required flexibility in the market to provide real-time balance while ensuring optimal utilization of the available surplus capacity in the system.
• Real-time market will make the power market dynamic as auctions will be conducted every 30 minutes. There will be 48 auction sessions during the day.
• The proposed real time market would provide an alternate mechanism for Discoms to access larger market at competitive price.

About Ministry Of Power:      

• Raj Kumar Singh, Minister of State (Independent Charge)
• Constituency: Arrah

CURRENT AFFAIRS: BUSINESS AND ECONOMY

Microsoft launches programme for agritech start-ups

• Microsoft has announced the launch of a programme for agritech start-ups in India that are committed to driving transformation in agriculture. The Microsoft for Agritech Startups programme is designed to help start-ups build industry-specific solutions, scale and grow with access to deep technology, business and marketing resources.
• This programme offers the best-in-class tech and business enablement resources to help agritech start-ups innovate and scale fast. Start-ups can also get access to Azure FarmBeats, which can help them focus on core value-adds instead of the undifferentiated heavy lifting of data engineering.
• Available on the Azure Marketplace, Azure FarmBeats enables aggregation of agricultural datasets across providers and generation of actionable insights by building AI/ML models based on fused datasets.
• Sustainable agricultural technology can transform the global food landscape. Agritech start-up innovations are addressing some of our key challenges connected to agriculture and food production. The Microsoft for Agritech Startups programme is among the early steps in our journey towards empowering these start-ups in India and transforming global agricultural practices, stated Sangeeta Bavi, Director, Startup Ecosystem, Microsoft India.

About Microsoft :

• CEO: Satya Nadella
• Headquarters: Redmond, Washington, United States

BSE Ebix Insurance Broking launches health insurance

• BSE Ebix Insurance Broking, a joint venture of BSE and Ebix Fincorp Exchange, announced the beta launch of health insurance on its platform by enrolling Religare Health Insurance.
• Through this launch, BSE Ebix will be able to offer various health insurance products to its participants, it stated.
• BSE Ebix had beta launched its operations on February 7 with the offering of private car and two-wheeler auto insurance.

About Bombay Stock Exchange :

• Location: Mumbai, India
• Chairman: Just. Vikramajit Sen
• MD & CEO: Ashishkumar Chauhan

CURRENT AFFAIRS: STATES

Delhi CM launches app to help track hospital beds, ventilators for COVID-19 patients

• Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal launched a Delhi Corona App for people to give accurate information about beds and ventilators availability in city’s hospitals. He urged the people to download the App.
• Kejriwal stated, this app will be two times in a day. He stated, a web page has also been created www.delhifightscorona.in to provide the latest status of the vacant beds in hospitals. He stated, if people are denied beds for COVID-19 patients, people may call at helpline number 1031.
• On Delhi’s preparedness to deal with the Corona virus, he stated, it is a matter of concern that cases in Delhi are rising but there are sufficient arrangements of beds

About Delhi :

• Chief minister: Arvind Kejriwal
• Governor : Anil Baijal

CURRENT AFFAIRS: MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS

Tata Power acquires 51% stake in Odisha’s TPCODL; stock jumps 7%

• Shares of Tata Power rallied nearly 7 per cent in intraday trade on the Bombay Stock Exchange after electric utility company stated it has completed the acquisition of 51 per cent stake in TP Central Odisha Distribution Ltd (TPCODL) for Rs 178.5 crore.
• In a filing to exchanges, Tata Group firm stated it has taken over the management of Central Electricity Supply Utility of Odisha (CESU), after receiving the Letter of Intent (LOI) from the Odisha Electricity Regulatory Commission (OERC) for the distribution and retail supply of electricity in Odisha’s five circles consisting of Bhubaneshwar, Cuttack, Puri, Paradeep and Dhenekal. Tata Power has received a license for 25 years.
• As per order issued by the Odisha Electricity Regulatory Commission (OERC) on May 28, 2020, Tata Power will hold 51 per cent equity with management control and the state-owned Grid Corporation of Odisha (GRIDCO) will hold balance 49 per cent equity stake in TPCODL, it stated in the exchange filing.

About Tata Power Limited:

• Headquarters– Mumbai, Maharashtra
• CEO & MD- Praveer Sinha

CURRENT AFFAIRS: MOU

Ircon inks pact with NIIFL, Ayana Power to explore opportunities in solar energy

• Ircon International Ltd stated it has inked pact with NIIFL and Ayana Renewable Power for exploring opportunities in solar energy sector.
• NIIFL and Ircon will evaluate strategic partnerships across infrastructure projects and have agreed in-principle to identify, bid and execute solar energy projects through joint ventures/consortium arrangements, as per the agreement.
• IRCON, a Miniratna Schedule -A Public Sector Enterprises has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with National Investment and Infrastructure Fund Limited (NIIFL) and Ayana Renewable Power Private Limited (AYANA), a NIIF platform company to explore and collaborate on opportunities in the solar energy sector, the company stated.
• The partnership will further consider suitable opportunities for solar energy production for Indian Railways as they intend to increase the share of renewables in their overall energy mix.
• This collaboration will enable execution of renewable energy projects at scale by utilising the complementary strengths of all partners, it stated.
• Ayana is an independent power producer with 800 MW of renewable energy projects under development.

About IRCON:

• Registered Office– New Delhi, India
• Chairman & Managing Director(MD)– S.K. Chaudhary

About AYANA:

• Headquarters– Bangalore, Karnataka
• Chairman– S. S. Mundra
• MD & CEO– Shivanand Nimbargi

CURRENT AFFAIRS: APPOINTMENTS AND RESIGNATION

LVB CEO  Subramanian Sundar gets extension

• The Reserve Bank of India has approved the extension of tenure for Lakshmi Vilas Bank’s MD and CEO, Subramanian Sundar by six months.
• This is the second extension given to Mr. Sundar who was the MD & CEO (interim) from January 1, 2020 to April 30. His tenure was further extended to May 31.
• The board extended his tenure till November 30 or till the appointment of the new CEO.

About LVB

• Headquarters– Chennai, Tamil Nadu.
• Tagline– The changing face of prosperity.

Gaitri Kumar appointed as next High Commissioner of India to UK

• Gaitri I. Kumar has been appointed as the next High Commissioner of India to the United Kingdom. She is an IFS officer of 1986 batch.
• She is presently Ambassador of India to the Kingdom of Belgium, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and the European Union. Kumar replaces Ruchi Ghanshyam who retired.

About United Kingdom:

• Capital: London
• Prime minister: Boris Johnson

Pradip Kumar Tripathi takes charge as Steel Secretary

• Tripathi succeeds Binoy Kumar, who superannuated on May 31, 2020.
• Senior IAS officer Pradip Kumar Tripathi took over the charge as Secretary in the Ministry of Steel, according to an official statement.
• Tripathi succeeds Binoy Kumar, who superannuated on May 31, 2020.
• In April, the government had appointed Tripathi as Steel Secretary. He is an IAS officer of 1987 batch of Jammu and Kashmir (JK) cadre.
• Prior to this, Mr. Tripathi had been posted as Special Secretary and Establishment Officer in Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), the statement stated.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: AWARDS AND HONOURS

Indian writer Kritika Pandey wins regional award for Asia in Commonwealth Short Story Prize

• Every year, The Commonwealth Short Story Prize is awarded for the best unpublished short fiction. Commonwealth citizens aged 18 and above are eligible for it.
• Winners of this year were recently announced and Indian writer Kritika Pandey has won the coveted honour of the regional award for Asia in 2020 forThe Great Indian Tee and Snakes. It talks about love in an age of hatred and prejudice.
• Apart from her, other winners are: Innocent Chizaram Ilo (Africa), Reyah Martin (Canada and Europe), Brian S Heap (Caribbean) and Andrea E Macleod (Pacific).

CURRENT AFFAIRS: RANKING

India drops six places in the ranking for world’s best startup ecosystems

• India is home to the third largest startup ecosystem, but in a latest ranking of global startup ecosystems by Startup blink, India has dropped 6 places to the 23rd spot.
• United States has topped the ranking list with a score of 123.167.
• United Kingdom, Israel, Canada and Germany are the top 5 countries in the list respectively.
• StartupBlink is a global comprehensive startup ecosystem map and research centre.
• India’s Silicon Valley Bengaluru dropped three places to have the 14th rank in the top cities with best startup ecosystem ranking, while the national capital Delhi climbed three spot to the 15th rank. Meanwhile, Mumbai held the 22nd rank. Hyderabad lost 21 spots to be ranked 96^th.
• Globally, San Francisco Bay, United States, New York, United States and London, United Kingdom are the tp three cities with best startup ecosystems.

COVID-19 to shave USD 25 bn off from top 100 domestic brands’ value

• The coronavirus pandemic is likely to shave at least USD 25 billion off from the January 2020 cumulative brand value of top 100 domestic brands.
• According to the latest report by Brand Finance, globally, the top 500 brands could see a value erosion of USD 1 trillion from their January 2020 brand value, following COVID-19 disruptions.
• Tata Group has retained the title of the most valuable brand, breaking USD 20 billion brand value mark for first time this year and the group’s luxe hotel brand Taj is the strongest brand in the country with brand strength index score 90.5 out of 100.
• LIC retained its second position with a value of USD 8.1 billion, followed by Reliance at third (USD 7.9 billion), Infosys fourth (USD 7.08 billion), SBI at fifth slot (USD6.4 billion).
• Also, the Tata Group is the only domestic brand to feature in the top 100 of the Brand Finance global 500 2020 list.
• Globally, it is ranked at 85th spot with brand value of USD 20 billion, becoming the first Indian brand to cross this mark.

Top 10 Indian brands in the list are

• Tata Group (Global Rank – 85, Brand Value – $20,001 million)
• LIC (Rank – 238; $8,106 million)
• Reliance Industries Limited (Rank – 244; $7,927 million)
• Infosys (Rank – 282; $7,087 million)
• State Bank of India (Rank – 323; $6,434 million)
• HDFC (Rank – 349; $5,927 million )
• Mahindra Group (Rank – 362; $5,735 million)
• Indian Oil (Rank – 416; $4,970 million)
• HCL (Rank – 424; $4,889 million)
• Airtel (Rank – 472; $4,460 million)

CURRENT AFFAIRS: SPORTS

India Captain Rani Rampal Nominated for Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award

• Indian women’s hockey team captain Rani Rampal has been nominated for the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award by Hockey India.
• Her teammates Vandana Katariya and Monika were nominated for the Arjuna award, as was Harmanpreet Singh from the men’s team.
• RP Singh and Tushar Khandker nominated for the Major Dhyan Chand award for Lifetime Achievement and Coaches BJ Kariappa and Romesh Pathania nominated for the Dronacharya award have contributed to Indian Hockey in their respective roles as players, administrators and coaches.

TTFI nominates Table Tennis star Manika Batra for Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna

• India’s table tennis star Manika Batra was recommended for the prestigious Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award by the national federation
• In 2019, wrestler Bajrang Punia and para-athlete Deepa Malik were the recipients of Khel Ratna.
• The federation has recommended veteran Madhurika Patkar, Manav Thakkar and Suthirtha Mukherjee for the Arjuna Award. Mukherjee recently broke into the top-100 of the ITTF world rankings.
• Coaches Jayanta Pushilal and S Raman have been nominated for the Dronacharya honour.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: BOOKS AND AUTHORS

I&B Ministry releases e-booklet on Narendra Modi govt 2.0’s 1st year

• I&B Ministry released an e-booklet highlighting its key achievements during the second term in which it stated that India was among the first few countries to put in place a “comprehensive action plan” to stop the spread of coronavirus.
• The 92-page booklet ‘One Year of Modi 2.0 – Towards A Self-Reliant India’ has been brought out by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
• Abrogation of Article 370, settlement of the Ram Temple issue, criminalisation of triple talaq, Bodo accord and the amendment to the Citizenship Act have been listed in the booklet.
• The booklet has a separate section for the actions taken to fight the COVID-19 pandemic and deal with the economic fallout of the crisis.
  It also highlights the government’s decisions for the welfare of farmers, the Howdy Modi event in the US, the Namaste Trump event in Gujarat and the Mamallapuram Modi-Xi Jinping summit.

About I&B Ministry

• Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Information and Broadcasting and Minister of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises- Prakash Keshav Javadekar
• Constituency- Madhya Pradesh

CURRENT AFFAIRS: OBITUARY

BJP Tamil Nadu former president KN Lakshmanan passes away

• Former two-time Tamil Nadu State BJP president K N Lakshmananpassed away.
• Lakshmanan was appointed the party’s State president and held the post from 1984-89. He also held the post from 1996 to 2000. In 2001, he was elected to the State Assembly from the Mylapore constituency in Chennai.
• From 2006 till his death, he served as a member of the BJP’s national general council.

Archery coach Jayantilal Nanoma passes away

• International archer-turned-coach Jayantilal Nanoma passed away in a road accident.
• Nanoma, an Asia Cup and Asian Grand Prix medallist in compound individual and team events in 2010, met with an accident while travelling with a friend from Banswara to Dungarpur in a car.
• He worked as a coach with the Indian team in different overseas competitions. He received the prestigious Maharana Pratap State Sports Award.

Former Union Minister, Congress leader P Namgyal passes away

• Former Union Minister and three-time Congress MP from Ladakh, P Namgyal, passed away.
• Namgyal was also an agriculturist, and a social worker, besides having interest in sports and music as well. He also served the Pradesh Congress Committee in the erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir state as secretary general and vice president.

DAILY CA 2^nd JUNE  

• International Sex Workers Day- 2^nd june
• Telangana Formation Day- 2^nd june
• PM SVANidhi launched to provide affordable loans to street vendors amid COVID-19 crisis
• Union Cabinet approves changes in definition of MSMEs
• OPPO partners T-Hub to support India’s startup ecosystem
• India GDP may contract by 2 per cent in FY21, says BoA Securities
• SEBI extends deadline to implement power of attorney norms till August 1
• Moody’s downgrades India’s sovereign rating to ‘Baa3’, maintains negative outlook
• Meghalaya plans to provide tap connection to all rural households by December, 2022
• HP govt launches online portal Skill Register to create database of migrants
• Karnataka introduces Covid-19 tracking platform built by Nasscom
• Punjab Chief Minister launches anti-COVID awareness drive
• PM Modi launches tech platform ”CHAMPIONS” for MSMEs
• Sibi George appointed India’s next Ambassador to Kuwait
• DRDO develops Ultra Swachh for disinfection of PPEs, electronic items, fabrics
• Rare scorpionfish found in Gulf of Mannar
• Millipede from Scotland is world’s oldest-known land animal
• Cyclone Nisarga, set to hit Maharashtra and Gujarat on 3 June
• Amit Panghal, Vikas Krishan nominated for Khel Ratna by BFI; 3 names for Arjuna
• SAI to launch Khelo India e-Pathshala, an online coaching programme for grassroot level
• Wajid Khan, of composer duo Sajid-Wajid passes away
• Former Olympic sprint champion Bobby Morrowpasses away

DAILY CA 3^rd JUNE  

• World Bicycle Day- 3^rd 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

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