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Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 05 June 2019

::NATIONAL::

VP calls for translation of vedas to Indian languages to reach common man

The Vice President of India, Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu has visited Vekateswara Veda VigyanaPeetham run by TirumalaTirupatiDevasthanams (TTD), at Tirumala today, and called for translating Vedas into various Indian languages in a simplified manner for the common man to understand their importance.
Addressing the students and the teachers of the Peetham, the Vice President described Vedas as a veritable treasure house of knowledge and said they reflect India’s age-old traditions and culture. There was a need to protect, preserve and propagate the scientific knowledge contained in the Vedas on various aspects of life and bring them within the reach of the common man, he added.
Shri Naidu said that Vedas were not mere religious texts but contain knowledge of various disciplines such as mathematics, astronomy, agriculture, chemistry and metallurgy.
Observing that Vedas could provide solutions to the most complex problems and challenges of the modern-day world, the Vice President called for taking up research on the knowledge contained in Vedas. He expressed his anguish that this aspect was not being paid adequate attention in India, while countries like Germany were undertaking extensive research.
Describing the students of the Veda Peetham as modern day Rishis, he expressed confidence that they would preserve and propagate the invaluable treasure of Vedas. Claiming that Guru-Sishiyaparampara was a proud heritage of Sanathana Dharma, he said that learning of Vedas exemplifies this noble tradition.

HRD ministry gives direction on preparing action plan to develop Indian languages

Human Resource Development Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank' today directed the Ministry officials to prepare an action plan on developing various Indian languages in an integrated manner.
He said we should also try to do further research in the wealth of knowledge hidden in ancient Indian texts and integrate them with modern day science.
An official statement said that during a review meeting of the Ministry, Mr Pokhriyal also highlighted the importance of quality education.
He also stressed on the need to create as many vocational courses as possible in order to push the youth into the employment stream without delay. He was briefed about the new vocational courses designed by the Ministry to cater the requirements of industry.
Mr Pokhriyal directed that the foundation stone of the six IIMs, which are in pipeline, should be laid at the earliest.Commenting on Study in India programme, the HRD Minister said India-centric courses should be started to attract foreign students.

::ECONOMY::

RBI recommends enhancement of payment acceptance infrastructure

While there has been robust growth in the volume of retail electronic transactions amid a strong regulatory framework, the country needs to enhance its payments acceptance infrastructure, a study on digital payments by the Reserve Bank of India has observed.
The findings are from a report on ‘Benchmarking India’s Payment Systems’, which provides a comparison of the payment ecosystem in India with the payment systems and usage trends in other major countries.
The central bank had undertaken the exercise of benchmarking India’s payment systems vis-à-vis payment systems in a mix of advanced economies, Asian economies and the BRICS nations.
While the report acknowledged that the growth in the volume of payment systems transactions had been strong and steady, the relatively high level of cash in circulation offered scope for a higher level of digitisation of payments, it said.
The report also said that the level of credit card penetration in India was low when compared to advanced countries, where it was a preferred option for making payments.

World bank reports slow global growth in 2019

The World Bank Group has downgraded global real GDP growth to 2.6% for 2019, down by 0.3 percentage points from its previous forecast in January. Growth is expected to increase marginally to 2.7% in 2020.
The multilateral development bank’s June 2019 Global Economic Prospects (GEP) report, titled, ‘Heightened Tensions, Subdued Investment’ says the global economy “has continued to soften and momentum remains weak” and investment, sluggish.
Downside risks to global growth, as per the report, include rising trade barriers, a build-up of government debt and slowdowns that were deeper-than-expected in several major economies.
Sluggishness of investment in Emerging Markets Developing Economies is part of a protracted (barring the 2016-2018 recovery) slowdown following the global financial crisis, as per the report.
India’s growth at a projected 7.5% is supported by credit growth and an accommodative monetary policy. “Support from delays in planned fiscal consolidation at the central level should partially offset the effects of political uncertainty around elections,” the report says.
The prognosis for the impact of U.S.-China trade tensions is grim. “adverse effects from weakening growth and rising policy uncertainties involving the world’s two largest economies would have predominantly negative repercussions,” it says.
A no-deal Brexit could have ‘severe impact’ on the U.K. and to a lower extent, on its European trading partners in the event of disruptions and delays at the border.

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::INTERNATIONAL::

OIC condemns communal violence in Srilanka targeting muslims

Communal violence targeting Muslims in Sri Lanka has regional and global security implications, envoys of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) countries in Sri Lanka have cautioned, urging the government to take “every measure necessary” to prevent such incidents.
“The developing situation over the past few days has been extremely worrying with regards to the safety and protection of the Sri Lankan Muslim community, including some foreign Muslim refugees. The lives and livelihoods of Muslims, including their local stores and large business establishments, are threatened by the prevailing conditions with unforeseen, dangerous consequences,” they said in a joint statement on Tuesday.
Further, they sought “swift and stern judicial” action against perpetrators of communal violence, regardless of their “religious and political influence” in Sri Lankan society.
As many as 14 OIC-member states have missions in Colombo. Select envoys, who attended an Iftar ceremony hosted by President MaithripalaSirisena on Monday, had a discussion with him following the event, on the developments since the April 21 Easter terror attacks.

Conveying their concern over the “demonising” of Muslims by sections and the growing instances of hate speech, they requested President Sirisena to take steps to de-escalate tensions, sources present at the meeting said.
Speaking at the ceremony earlier, President Sirisena had said “the country will be doomed” if conflicts arise due to different ethnicities.

Nigerian ambassador elected president of UNGA

Nigeria's Ambassador to the United Nations Tijjani Muhammad-Bande was elected as President of the 74th session of the UN General Assembly. The 193-member UNGA elected Muhammad-Bande, who had been nominated by Nigeria and endorsed by the African group, at the election by acclamation.
In accordance with the rules, the President of the 74th session of the General Assembly should be elected from among the African States. Muhammad-Bande was elected by acclamation and he will succeed Maria Fernanda Espinosa as the President of the next General Assembly session that will commence in September.
He assumes charge as the world body gets ready to celebrate the 75th anniversary of its creation next year.
India had supported Muhammad-Bande's candidature describing him as a great friend and a well-known son of Africa during an informal interactive dialogue with the Nigerian envoy last month.

::SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY::

Experimental drug protects animals from nipah in a breakthrough

An experimental drug has protected monkeys against infection with Nipahvirus, a lethal disease and emerging pandemic threat for which there is no approved vaccine or cure, scientists reported on Wednesday.
The antiviral drug, Remdesivir, is also being tested against the Ebola virus in the outbreak now under way in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The only current treatment for Nipah virus infection is a monoclonal antibody that is still experimental; it was tested during an outbreak in India last year.
In the new trial, eight African green monkeys were given lethal doses of Nipah virus. Half of them later got intravenous Remdesivir. All four monkeys that got the drug survived; the four that did not died within eight days.
If the drug wins approval for use against Nipah, “it will give us an extra treatment that could be used relatively quickly,” said Emmie de Wit, a virologist at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and one of the study’s lead authors.
The study, done jointly by the NIAID and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, was published in Science Translational Medicine .Nipah virus, which causes encephalitis and pneumonia, is lethal in about 70% of cases and can be caught from animals or transmitted between people.

::SPORTS::

Indian women team clinches Fitzgerald U21 title

The Indian junior women's hockey team clinched the Cantor Fitzgerald U21 International 4-Nations title after beating Ireland 1-0 in the final at Dublin, Ireland yesterday.
The win meant India ended the tournament with an unblemished record. With three goals in four games, Mumtaz Khan finished as the highest goal scorer of the tournament.