National News

Important Cabinet Approvals: 03 June 2020

• The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi held meeting on 3rd June 2020. 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 Indiafor 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.

Government Approves Historic Amendment to Essential Commodities Act to give boost to Rural India

• The Union cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has taken three historic decisions in the field of agriculture to benefit farmers and transform the agriculture sector.
• Amendment to the Essential Commodities Act (ECA) 1955
  • Cabinet has approved amending the over six-decade old Essential Commodities Act (ECA).
  • Under the historic amendment, commodities like cereals, pulses, oilseeds, edible oils, onion and potatoes will be removed from list of essential commodities.
  • Farmers can now export, store and sell these commodities anywhere as they wish and to the highest paying party.
• ‘The Farming Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Ordinance, 2020’
  • The Ordinance will create an ecosystem where the farmers and traders will enjoy freedom of choice of sale and purchase of agri-produce.
  • It will also promote barrier-free inter-state and intra-state trade and commerce outside the physical premises of markets notified under State Agricultural Produce Marketing legislations.
  • It will pave the way for creating One India, One Agriculture Market.
• ‘The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Ordinance, 2020’
  • The ordinance will empower farmers for engaging with processors, wholesalers, aggregators,wholesalers, large retailers, exporters etc.
  • It will transfer the risk of market unpredictability from the farmer to the sponsor.
  • Farmer will get access to modern technology and better inputs.
  • Reduce cost of marketing and improve income of farmers.

Government launches Internship Program ‘TULIP’ for fresh graduates in all ULBs across the country

• The Union Human Resource Development Minister Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal `Nishank’ and MoS (I/C), Housing & Urban Affairs Shri Hardeep. S. Puri  jointly launched a first of its kind initiative `The Urban Learning Internship Program (TULIP)’ on 04 June 2020 in New Delhi.
• TULIP is a program to provide internship opportunities to fresh graduates in all Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) and Smart Cities across the country.
• A portal has also been launched for this programme.
• TULIP will not only help the interns get hands on experience in the vast activities of urban local bodies but will also help to create a resource upon which the industry can draw easily for hiring.

Kerala Set to become First Indian State to Provide Free Broadband For The Poor

• The Kerala government led by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayanhas has announced that its ambitious broadband project ‘Kerala Fibre Optic Network (K-FON)’ project, envisaged to provide free internet access to the poor, would be rolled out by December 2020.
• K-FON project aims to provide free high-speed Internet to all the citizens below poverty live in Kerala and those who cannot afford, will be provided high speed Internet at a subsidized rate.
• The Rs 1,500 crore K-FON project is being implemented by Kerala State IT Infrastructure Limited and Kerala State Electricity Board.
• Kerala is the first state to declare the internet as a fundamental right of the citizen, by providing free high speed broadband to the poor people.

DRDO develops device SUMERU-PACS to keep PPE wearers comfortable, without sweating

• The Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO) has developed a device dubbed as SUMERU-PACS, which will helps wearers of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to feel comfortable without sweating.
• On the basis of the feedback received from doctors and medical staff, the PPE wearers feel uncomfortable after wearing PPE for more than 30 to 45 minutes and start sweating which makes the situation worse.
• SUMERU-PACS is a personal air circulation system which can be used inside the PPE cover as a small backpack of approximately 500 grams weight.
• It works well at an ambient temperature of 39 degrees Celsius and keeps wearer comfortable and cool without sweating, as the system draws the outside air with the help of a filter and the moist air goes out from the front face opening thereby, cooling neck and head area. The device is suitable for doctors and other medical staff who wear PPE cover all six hours in the hospitals.

International News

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Trump postpones G7 summit until September 2020, wants to expand it to G10 or G11, including India

• United States President Donald Trump has postponed the G7 Summit 2020 until atleast September 2020.
• Originally, the 46th edition of the G7 Summit was scheduled to be held in June 2020 in United States.
• Trump has also suggested to expand the Group of Seven (G7), to G10 or G11, to include India, Russia, South Korea and Australia to the grouping of the world’s top economies.
• He called the existing G7 grouping as ‘outdated’, and that it does not properly represents what’s going on in the world.
• G7 is the group of top seven developed economies. These include the US, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Canada.

Banking News

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

• IndusInd Bank has launched first-of-its-kind mobile app-based facility for opening current accounts in a paperless manner.
• 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.

Ranking

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8 Indian Institutes Make It To Top 100 in THE Asia University Ranking 2020; IISc top Indian Institute

• Time Higher Education (THE) released its annual THE Asia University Rankings 2020 on 03 June 2020, which lists 489 institutions from 30 countries and regions.
• 56 Indian institutes participated in the 2020 ranking, out of which 8 have made it to the top 100.
• Among the Indian institutes, Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bangalore is the best institute. Globally it has been placed at 36th rank.
• 6 IITs have also made place in top 100.
• List of eight Indian institutes in the list
  1. Rank 36 – IISc Bangalore
  2. Rank 47 – IIT-Ropar
  3. Rank 55 – IIT-Indore
  4. Rank 59 – IIT-Kharagpur
  5. Rank 67 – IIT-Delhi
  6. Rank 69 – IIT-Bombay
  7. Rank 83 – IIT-Roorkee
  8. Rank 92 – Institute of Chemical Technology
• The universities are ranked by performance in five areas: teaching (learning environment); research (volume, income and reputation); citations (research influence); international outlook (staff, students and research); and industry income (knowledge transfer).
• Top 10 Global Universities in the list
  1. Tsinghua University, China
  2. Peking University, China
  3. National University of Singapore, Singapore
  4. University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
  5. The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
  6. Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
  7. The University of Tokyo, Japan
  8. Chinese University of Hong Kong
  9. Seoul National University, South Korea
  10. University of Science and Technology of China
      10. Sungkyunkwan University, South Korea

Awards

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Indian writer Kritika Pandey wins 2020 Commonwealth Short Story Prize for Asia Region

• Ranchi based writer Kritika Pandey has been announced as the winner of the 2020 Commonwealth Short Story Prize for the Asia region.
• The 29-year-old writer won for her story The Great Indian Tee and Snakes.
• The story is about a Hindu girl falling in love with a Muslim man and how these two young people are trying to navigate the idea of love in an era of hatred and prejudice.

Important Days

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International Day of Innocent Children Victims of Aggression: 04 June

• The International Day of Innocent Children Victims of Aggression is marked on 4 June every year, to protect the rights of children.
• This day aims to acknowledge the pain suffered by children throughout the world who are the victims of physical, mental and emotional abuse.
• It was established by United Nations on 19 August 1982, with focus on victims of the 1982 Lebanon War.

World Environment Day: 05 June

• World Environment Day (WED) is celebrated on 5 June every year to encourage awareness and action for the protection of our environment.
• The day was established by the United Nations in 1972 and first held in 1974.
• The theme for 2020 is “Time for Nature”.
• The host nation for 2020 WED is Colombia in partnership with Germany.

World Day Against Speciesism : 05 June

• World Day Against Speciesism is marked on June 5 every year, to stop discrimination based on species membership.
• The term “speciesism” refers to the assignment of different rights, values, or special consideration to individuals solely on the basis of their species.
• For example
  • Considering humans superior to other animals, granting only humans rights.
  • Considering certain animals to be superior to other animals because of a similarity, familiarity, or usefulness to humans.
  • Deliberately harming or refusing aid to animals
• World Day Against Speciesism is supported by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), Farm Animal Rights Movement (FARM), and other animal rights groups to promote this idea among the general public.

Obituaries

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Pakistan’s former first-class cricketer Riaz Sheikh passes away of suspected COVID-19 at 51

• Former Pakistan first-class cricketer Riaz Sheikh has passed away because of suspected coronavirus. He was 51.
• Riaz is the second professional player in the country to have died after contracting conronavirus.
• Sheikh was a leg-spinner who took 116 wickets in 43 first-class matches he played.

Renowned Filmmaker Basu Chatterjee passes away at 93

• Legendary Indian filmmaker and screenplay writer, Basu Chatterjee has passed away due to age-related ailments. He was 93.

Renowned Lyricist Anwar Sagar Passes Away at 70

• Veteran lyricist and member of Indian Performing Right Society Limited (IPRS), Anwar Sagar has passed away. He was 70.
• He is best remembered for his hit track Waada Raha Sanam from 1992 Akshay Kumar-starrer Khiladi.