Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 04 June 2021

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PMGKP is an insurance Scheme for Health Workers (no age limit) Fighting COVID-19.It covers;

Accidental death on account of COVID-19 related duty.
Any type of expenses related to treatment or quarantine is not covered.
INR 50 Lakhs will be paid to the claimant of the insured person.
The entire amount of premium is borne by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
Implemented through an Insurance policy from New India Assurance Company (NIACL).

Recently, the K.P. Krishnan expert committee on feasibility of Variable Capital Company (VCC) for fund management in the International Financial Services Centre recommended its VCCs adoption as vehicle by IFSCA.
VCCs is an alternative form of corporate vehicle from companies, unit trusts and LLPs which can be set-up as a standalone fund or an umbrella fund with multiple sub-funds.
It can help in building the overall financial services ecosystem as it dispenses with some of the key limitations of companies and Limited Liability Partnerships with higher regulatory standards than those applicable to trusts.

At least 220 million people are expected to remain unemployed globally this year, well above pre-pandemic levels, with a weak labour market recovery exacerbating existing inequalities, the International Labour Organization (ILO).
The United Nations agency forecast the outlook improving to 205 million unemployed next year - still well above the 187 million recorded in 2019 before the coronavirus crisis wreaked havoc.

According to ILO models, that equates to a global unemployment rate of 6.3% this year, falling to 5.7% next year but still up on the pre-pandemic rate of 5.4% in 2019.
Employment growth will be insufficient to make up for the losses suffered until at least 2023.
08 million more people have fallen into poverty or extreme poverty since 2019.
Women have suffered disproportionate job losses while seeing their unpaid working time increase.

For upcoming UNGA president election India has decided to support Maldives over Afghanistan.

The General Assembly shall elect a President and twenty-one Vice-Presidents at least three months before the opening of the session over which they are to preside.
It changes each session and in recent years following a pattern of geographical rotation.
From India, Vijay Lakshmi Pandit served as UNGA president during 8th session in 1953 (as First woman President Of UNGA).

Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas & Steel presided over a virtual ceremony in which a number of initiatives were launched to provide major fillip to the SATAT initiative, and help India leap ahead towards a greener tomorrow.
Sustainable Alternative Towards Affordable Transportation (SATAT) is an initiative aimed at setting up of Compressed Bio-Gas production plants and makes it available in the market for use in automotive fuels by inviting Expression of Interest from potential entrepreneurs.

SWASTIIK (Safe Water and SustainableTechnology Initiative from Indian Knowledgebase) is a hybrid technologythat combines Modern technology and Indian traditional knowledge to bring safe & healthy drinking water.
The technique used —hydrodynamic cavitation combines chemistry, biology, and chemical engineeringalong with natural resources in the form of natural oils and plant extracts.
Disinfection of water is essential for removing pathogenic microorganisms that are responsible for causing anumber of water-borne diseases.
However, the common drawbacks of chemical methods such as chlorination include formation of harmful/carcinogenic disinfection by-products.