Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 06 June 2020

::NATIONAL::

Government to transfer funds to PMJDY women account holders

• Government will start sending the amount of 500 rupees to the women account holders of PradhanMantri Jan DhanYojana (PMJDY) for the month of June from today. The amount is the third installment under PradhanMantriGaribKalyan Package.

• The Department of Financial Services said, beneficiaries can withdraw the amount on any day after 10th June. The Department of Financial Services said, the amount will be sent as per time table based on the last digit of the beneficiary's account number.

• Ten thousand 29 crore rupees were credited to 20.05 crore women Jan Dhan account holders as the first installment. The number of women PMJDY account holders whose accounts have been debited by customer induced transactions under 1st instalment is 8.72 crore.

• Ten thousand 3 hundred 15 ...........................................................................

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Central government notifies draft Unmanned Aircraft System Rules, 2020\

• The Ministry of Civil Aviation notified the draft rules, known as Unmanned Aircraft System Rules, 2020, on June 2 for importing, manufacturing and owning drones as well as for drone ports, or airports for drones. It has invited comments from stakeholders within 30 days, following which the rules will be finalised.

• The draft rules by the Centre come 18 months after it mandated that drone owners will have to get their equipment registered with the DGCA and allowed their use within the visual range.

• The rules come at a time the DGCA has permitted food startups like Zomato and Swiggy to conduct trials for drones beyond the visual line of sight (BVLOS). As many as 13 consortia, including SpiceJet, have received permissions from the aviation safety watchdog to conduct trials.

• A DGCA official explained that trials for these 13 companies could take up to six months to conclude. Each of these companies will then submit a report to the DGCA, which will then examine the feasibility of remote operations of drones.

• An official of the Ministry of Civil Aviation, too, said that a separate set of rules which will enable use of drones for e-commerce or delivering medical supplies may take at least a year. This time-frame may be too optimistic, as regulatory clearances are slow and tardy.

::ECONOMY::

RBI governor emphasises need for easing liquidity

• With economic growth expected to be in the negative territory for the current financial year, Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das emphasised on the need for going full throttle to revive consumption and investment.

• After cutting interest rates by 75 basis points (bps) in March, the central bank further brought down the repo rate by 40 bps to 4% in May in a bid to revive demand amid a slowing economy. The RBI had said growth is likely to be in negative territory in the current financial year.

• Mr. Das said the key challenge for monetary policy at this stage is to resuscitate domestic demand to avoid any harmful effect on income and employment in the short run and potential growth over the medium term, and for strengthening domestic demand, it is important to revive consumer and business confidence.

• Michael DebabrataPatra, the Deputy Governor in-charge of monetary policy, pointed out that though private consumption is ‘tenuously holding on to positive territory,’ spending patterns have altered drastically away from the discretionary and to the essential.

• He said the MPC has decided to remain accommodative as long as it is necessary to revive growth and mitigate the fallout of COVID-19 and monetary policy can inspire confidence among households and businesses to break the vortex of public preference for deposits over spending and banks’ aversion to lend and invest.

MSME ministry moots FDI in NBFC sector for strengthening them

• Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Minister NitinGadkari has said FDI can be explored in NBFCs to strengthen them, which will lead towards greater support to MSMEs. He opined that strengthening of NBFCs, state cooperative banks, district cooperative banks and credit societies is required to extend support to MSMEs during this challenging time.

• Mr Gadkari held meetings via video conferencing with the representatives of the Council of Leather Export, FICCI-‘NBFC Program’ and IMC Chamber of Commerce and Industry on the impact of COVID-19 on MSMEs yesterday.

• The Minister mentioned .............................................................................................................

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::INTERNATIONAL::

India-china agrees to resolves differences peacefully

• India and China on Friday held talks between their Foreign Ministries and agreed to follow a consensus that differences should be handled peacefully and should not become disputes, in the highest-level diplomatic engagement since tensions along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) erupted in May.

• Both sides agreed “to handle their differences through peaceful discussion bearing in mind the importance of respecting each other’s sensitivities, concerns and aspirations and not allow them to become disputes”, the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement.

• The MEA said both sides noted the “consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries, that peaceful, stable and balanced relations between India and China will be a positive factor for stability in the current global situation”.

• A readout issued by China’s MFA said both agreed to “implement the consensus that the two countries do not constitute a threat to each other” and “do not let differences rise into disputes”. It called for enhancing strategic mutual trust and properly managing differences.

• The Chinese readout said both sides discussed planned initiatives to mark the 70th anniversary of diplomatic relations and ensure the relationship would be steered in the right direction.

• The Chinese readout also said both sides “will resolutely safeguard and promote multilateralism, oppose unilateralism, protectionism and hegemonism, jointly safeguard international fairness and justice, and safeguard the common interests of developing countries.”

India prepares brochure for its tenure at UNSC

• India will highlight international terrorism, United Nations reforms and Security Council expansion, streamlining the world body’s peacekeeping operations and technology initiatives during its upcoming tenure as a non permanent member of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) in 2021-22, said External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar.

• “India’s overall objective during this tenure in the UN Security Council will be the achievement of N.O.R.M.S: a New Orientation for a Reformed Multilateral System,” he stated.This will be the eighth time India will occupy a non-permanent UNSC seat, with its last stint in 2011-2012.

• While India is expected to sail through with the 129 votes required for the seat, the government is setting its sights on much higher numbers than that ahead of the election. In 2010, when India stood for the UNSC seat of 2011-2012, it won 187 of the 190 votes polled.

• The government launched its plan for the UNSC seat as far back as 2013, officials said, with a keen eye on 2021, the year that will mark its 75th year of Independence.

• The next big challenge was to pursue the Asia-Pacific grouping nomination without any last minute contenders being propped up against India.

• “While diplomacy between capitals certainly helps, the vote had to be tied down by negotiations on the ground,” said a diplomat, explaining how India was able to win a unanimous endorsement from the 55-nation grouping that included both China and Pakistan, in June 2019.

::SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY::

ISRO signs space cooperation agreement with ARIES

• The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has entered into an agreement with Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences (ARIES) for cooperation in the field of Space Situational Awareness (SSA) and Astrophysics.

• Space objects orbital tracking...................................................................................................

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::SPORTS::

India to host women’s Asia cup football in 2022

• In Football, India has bagged the right to host the Women's Asian Cup 2022. The Asian Football Confederation awarded the hosting rights of the tournament to India after the AFC Women's Football Committee meeting today.

• In February, the AFC Women's Football Committee had recommended India to be hosts. This is the first time that India will be hosting the event since 1979, in which India had finished as the runner-ups.

• The tournament will feature 12 teams, expanded from the previous slot of eight teams. India will qualify directly as hosts. The event will also serve as the final qualification tournament for the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup. The tournament is likely to be held in the second half of the year.

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