Daily Current affairs - June 12th and 13th, 2018 for all competitive exams
World Day
Against Child Labour is an International Labour Organization (ILO)-sanctioned
holiday first launched in 2002 aiming to raise awareness and activism to
prevent child labour.
- It
was spurred by ratifications of ILO Convention No. 138on the minimum age
for employment and ILO Convention No. 182on the worst forms of child
labour. The World Day Against Child Labour, which is held every year on
June 12, is intended to foster the worldwide movement against child labour
in any of its forms.
- Theme
this year: “Generation Safe & Healthy”.
Target 8.7 of the Sustainable Development Goals calls
on the global community to: “Take immediate and effective measures to
eradicate forced labour, end modern slavery and human trafficking and secure
the prohibition and elimination of the worst forms of child labour, including
recruitment and use of child soldiers, and by 2025 end child labour in all
its forms.”
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President Kovind to embark on 3-nation visit to
Greece, Suriname and Cuba
President Ram Nath Kovind will embark on
a three-nation tour to Greece, Suriname and Cuba.
- On
the first leg of the visit, the President will leave for
Athens. President Kovind will leave for Suriname on the 2nd
leg and then to Cuba of the final leg.
- Suriname
is a founding member of the International Solar Alliance. A Line of
Credit of 54.5 million dollars is being offered to Suriname for
solar-related projects.
Country
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Capital
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Currency
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President
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Greece
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Athens
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Euro
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Prokopis Pavlopoulos
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Suriname
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Paramaribo
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Surinamese dollar
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Dési Bouterse
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Cuba
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Havana
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Cuban peso
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Miguel Díaz-Canel
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Govt. selected 10 new Swachh Iconic Places under Phase III
The government
has selected ten new iconic sites under Phase III of the flagship project
Swachh Iconic Places (SIP) of the Swachh Bharat Mission.
- Phase
I iconic places are: Ajmer Sharif Dargah, CST Mumbai, Golden Temple,
Kamakhya Temple, MaikarnikaGhat, Meenakshi Temple, Shri Mata Vaishno Devi,
Shree Jagannath Temple, The Taj Mahal and Tirupati Temple.
- Phase
II included Gangotri, Yamunotri, Mahakaleshwar Temple, Charminar, Convent
and Church of St. Francis of Assissi, Kalady, Gommateswara,
BaidyanathDham, Gaya Tirth and Somnath temple.
- Phase
III includes RaghavendraSwamy Temple (Kurnool, Andhra Pradesh); Hazardwari
Palace (Murshidabad, West Bengal); Brahma Sarovar Temple (Kurukshetra,
Haryana); VidurKuti (Bijnor, Uttar Pradesh); Mana village (Chamoli,
Uttarakhand); Pangong Lake (Leh-Ladakh, J&K); Nagvasuki Temple
(Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh); ImaKeithal/market (Imphal, Manipur);
Sabarimala Temple (Kerala); and Kanvashram (Uttarakhand).
Swachh
Iconic Places (SIP) is an initiative of Ministry of Drinking Water and
Sanitation under Swachh Bharat Mission. Initiated as a project to implement
Prime Minister’s vision to take iconic places and their surroundings to
higher standards of Swachhata, so that all visitors benefit and also take
away home the message of cleanliness, Swachh Iconic Places is now in its
second phase.
SIP is a
truly collaborative project with three other central Ministries: Urban
Development, Culture, Tourism; all levels in the concerned States and more
importantly, Public Sector and Private companies as partners.
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India’s 1st National police museum to come up
in Delhi
Union Government has announced to
establish India’s first national police museum in Lutyens' Delhi.
- The
museum is expected to be inaugurated on 21st October 2018 on the
occasion of Police Commemoration Day.
- The
unique museum, depicting the history, artefacts, uniforms and gear of
central and state police forces, will come up as an underground facility
in the premises of the national police memorial in Chanakyapuri
area.
Govt launches 5000 Wi-Fi Choupals in villages
and Delivery of Rail tickets through Common service centres
The government has launched 5,000 Wi-Fi Choupals
in villages and delivery of rail tickets through Common Service Centres (CSCs).
- It
was inaugurated by Electronics and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad in New
Delhi. The move is aimed at transforming rural Internet connectivity
through BharatNet.
- The
WiFi Choupals will enable people in rural areas with an effective Internet
access for their various digital processes.
Govt approves 33% increase in Carpet area of
houses under PMAY-U
The government has approved a 33% increase in carpet
area of houses eligible for interest subsidy under its affordable housing
scheme Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Urban (PMAY-U) to attract more
beneficiaries.
- The
carpet area of a house has been enhanced to 160 sq m from
120 sq m for Middle Income Group-I (MIG-I), while it has been
increased to 200 sq m from 150 sq m in case of MIG-II.
- Under
the Credit Linked Subsidy Scheme (CLSS), each beneficiary
can avail subsidy up to Rs 2.35 lakh on purchase of a house under the
scheme.
The Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana- Housing
For All (Urban) will be implemented during 2015-2022 and will
provide central assistance to Urban Local Bodies (ULBs). Hardeep Singh
Puri is the Minister of State (I/C) of the Ministry of Housing and Urban
Affairs.
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Khadi & Village Industies Commission (KVIC) created world record
KVIC has
created a world record of distributing maximum number of bee-boxes in one day.
- The
record was achieved by the KVIC in the Zangalee Army area at Kupwara in
Kashmir beating its previous best of 1000 bee boxes distributed in
Kaziranga forest area among the Mishing tribe on the occasion of World
Honey Bee Day.
- Two
thousand three hundred thirty (2330) bee-boxes were distributed among 233
beneficiaries in the Zangalee Army area.
Khadi and
Village Industries Commission (KVIC) is a statutory body established by an Act of Parliament
(Khadi and Village Industries Commission Act of 1956). In April 1957, it took
over the work of former All India Khadi and Village Industries Board.
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Government planning to make all CSCs to Business Correspondents
The government
is planning to make all CSCs across the country Business Correspondents of
Banks. 2.90 lakh CSCs will be able to work as Business Correspondents (BCs).
- Business
Correspondents are retail agents engaged by banks for providing banking
services at locations other than a bank branch/ATM.
- Banks
are required to take full responsibility for the acts of omission and
commission of the BCs that they engage and have, therefore, to ensure
thorough due diligence and additional safeguards for minimizing the agency
risk.
BCs enable a
bank to expand its outreach and offer limited range of banking services at
low cost, as setting up a brick and mortar branch may not be viable in all
cases. BCs, thus, are an integral part of a business strategy for achieving
greater financial inclusion.
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3,000 additional Atal tinkering labs announced
NITI Aayog’s Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) has
selected 3,000 additional schools for the establishment of Atal Tinkering Labs
(ATLs), bringing the total number of ATL schools to 5,441.
- The
selected schools shall receive a grant of Rs 20 lakh spread over the next
five years to establish Atal Tinkering Labs for nurturing innovation and
entrepreneurial spirit among secondary school children across India.
- ATLs
will soon be established in every district of India, seeking to enable an
innovation ecosystem, which will facilitate transformational change in
technological innovation and pedagogy.
Atal
Tinkering Labs have evolved as epicenters for imparting these ‘skills of the
future’ through practical applications based onself-learning. Bridging a
crucial social divide, Atal Tinkering Labs provide equal opportunity to all
children across the spectrum by working at the grassroot level, introducing
children to the world of innovation and tinkering.
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Union Steel minister dedicates to ntion rebuilt
blast furnace-1 of Rourkela steel plant
Union Minister of Steel, Chaudhary Birender
Singh dedicated the rebuilt Blast Furnace-1 ‘Parvati’ of
SAIL, Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP) to the Nation.
- Parvati
is the first Blast Furnace of SAIL that was dedicated to the
nation on 3rd February 1959 by the first President of
India, Dr. Rajendra Prasad.
- With
the rebuilding, the annual production capacity, of the furnace has
increased from 0.438 Million tonnes (MT) to 1.015 MT.
Government likely to launch Rs.500crore Credit enhancement fund
The government
is likely to launch a Rs 500-crore credit enhancement fund next month to
facilitate infrastructure investments by insurance and pension funds.
The fund was
first announced in the financial budget for fiscal year 2016-17.
- It
will help in upgrading credit ratings of bonds issued by infrastructure
companies and facilitate investment from investors like pension and
insurance funds.
- The
initial corpus of the fund, to be sponsored by IIFCL (India Infrastructure Finance Company), will be Rs 500
crore, and it will operate as a non-banking finance company.
IIFCL will
hold a 22.5% stake in the NBFC, while the Asian Infrastructure Investment
Bank (AIIB) has offered to pick up a 10% stake. State-run SBI, Bank of Baroda
and LIC will also have stakes in the firm.
At present,
only $110 billion is being invested in infrastructure, against a requirement
of $200 billion, leading many analysts to classify India as an infrastructure
deficit country.
At present,
the banking system does a bulk of infrastructure project financing and
exposes itself to asset liability management (ALM) mismatches and hence,
alternatives like raising of money through corporate bonds is necessary.
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India has extended financial aid about Maitri Irrigation Project
India has
extended a financial aid of about Rs 10 crore to Nepal for the construction of
2,700 shallow tube well irrigation systems to boost agricultural productivity.
The assistance has been extended as part of the final payment for the
Nepal-Bharat Maitri Irrigation Project.
- The
project was launched in January last year to boost growth to the Himalayan
nation’s agricultural sector through enhanced facilities.
The project
is aimed at installing 2,700 shallow tube wells in 12 districts of Nepal. The
project would ensure all-season irrigation facility to about 8,115 hectares
of farm land, augment productivity of wheat, rice and seasonal fruits,
vegetables and other crops, it said.
It would
also uplift the socio-economic status of farming families in the 12 districts
covered under the project.
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India’s first indigenous Lithium Ion battery
project
Council of Scientific & Industrial Research
(CSIR) lab has signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) with RAASI Solar Power
Pvt Ltd for transfer of technology for India’s first Lithium Ion (Li-ion)
Battery project.
- It
was signed by CSIR’s Central Electro Chemical Research Institute (CECRI),
Karaikudi, Tamil Nadu.
- CSIR-CECRI
has developed indigenous technology of Lithium-ion cells in partnership
with other sister CSIR labs.
Trump and Kim Sign agreement on
Denuclearization after historic talks
United States has decided to provide security
guarantees to North Korea, in exchange of Pyongyang's firm and unwavering
commitment to complete denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula.
- This
is according to the joint document which was signed by US President Donald
Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un following their historic maiden
talks at Singapore's Sentosa island. Both nations commit to establishing
new relations in accordance with the desire of the people of the two
countries for peace and prosperity.
Interstellar mapping and acceleration probe
Interstellar mapping
and acceleration probe is a science mission of NASA
planned for launch in 2024 that will sample, analyze, and map particles
streaming to Earth from the edges of interstellar space.
- The
Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe (IMAP) mission will help
researchers better understand the boundary of the heliosphere, a sort of
magnetic bubble surrounding and protecting our solar system. This is the
fifth mission in NASA’s Solar Terrestrial Probes (STP) Program portfolio.
- Another
objective of the mission is to learn more about the generation of cosmic
rays in the heliosphere. Cosmic rays created locally and from the galaxy
and beyond affect human explorers in space and can harm technological
systems, and likely play a role in the presence of life itself in the
universe.
The
spacecraft will be positioned about one million miles (1.5 million
kilometers) away from Earth towards the Sun at what is called the first
Lagrange point or L1. This will allow the probe to maximize use of its
instruments to monitor the interactions between solar wind and the interstellar
medium in the outer solar system.
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Einstein’s theory: Earth is a free-falling elevator in Sun’s gravity
Physicists at
NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology) pulled out a 14-year-long
experiment to test a key principle underlying Einstein’s famous theory of
general relativity – that describes how gravity relates to space and time.
- The
test conducted by the NIST physicists is being considered as the most
accurate test ever which confirms the ‘earth elevator’ phenomenon. They
used the solar system as a laboratory, where they treated Earth as an
elevator falling through the Sun’s gravitational field.
- They
monitored 12 high-precision atomic clocks spread around the world for 14
years, from 1999 to 2014. The experiment tested whether all parts of the
earth would have the same acceleration at the same rate. The clocks
remained synchronized for over 14 years, proving the earth elevator
theory.
Working capital loan norms to be tightened
Reserve Bank
of India (RBI) has proposed a minimum 40% loan component for working capital
funding of Rs.150crore and above to bring in greater credit discipline and
improve monetary transmission. This will come into effect from October 1 and
will be increased to 60% from April 1, 2019.
- Currently,
working capital is mostly in the form of cash credit for which interest
rate is reset once a year. Also, cash credit does not have a tight
repayment schedule.
The
proposed new norm will address the following issues:
- If
there is a loan component then there will be a repayment schedule which
will put pressure on borrowers to manage their liquidity.
- Since
the loan component will have a fixed tenure, the reset clause can be
invoked at the end of each tenure period.
- By
making it mandatory to have a loan component associated with all
working-capital facilities, it will be easier to control the possible
volatility which arises on account of cash credit limits.
Mobile banking rank by SBI’s annual report:
Paytm tops by Volume and Axis Bank tops by value
At 17.2%, Axis Bank commands the largest value
share of mobile banking transactions but it’s Paytm that tops volumes with
22%. However, Paytm’s value share is a meagre 0.25%, according to
State Bank of India’s (SBI) annual report for 2017-18 which has put out
Reserve Bank of India’s data for January 2018.
- ICICI
Bank has a 17.1% share of transactions by value and 9.7% by volume. SBI’s
volume share has slipped by over 5 percentage points from nearly 25% at
the end of March 2017 to 19.5% in January 2018.
Mauritius to host 11th World Hindi conference
11th World Hindi Conference will be held in
Mauritius in August 2018 with an aim to increase the popularity of Hindi
globally.
- The main
theme of the Conference is ‘Hindi Vishwa
Aur Bharatiy Sanskriti’.
- The
World Hindi Secretariat (WHS) will be the organising authority of the
event.
World Hindi Conference was conceptualised in
Wardha of Maharashtra in 1973 and the first conference was held in Nagpur in
1975.
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India to host first BIMSTEC war games in
September
India will host the first military exercise of
the BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic
Cooperation) group focussing on counter-terrorism in September.
- As
part of this, a conclave of the Army chiefs of all seven member-states is
being planned. The exercise is scheduled to be held in Pune in the
second week of September.
- The
aim of the exercise is to promote strategic alignment among the
member-states and to share best practices in the area of
counter-terrorism.
BIMSTEC was set up in 1997 and includes
India, Bangladesh, Bhutan Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand. The theme
includes counter-terrorism in semi-urban terrain and cordon and search, and
each side will bring in some 30 soldiers.
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International Conference On ICT To Be Held in
Kathmandu
International Conference on Information and
Communication Technology (ICT) will be held in Kathmandu, the capital
of Nepal from June 17.
- The
Theme of the two-day conference is “Sustainable Development Goals for
Smart Society”. The conference is organised by the Federation of
Computer Association Nepal (CAN).
- The
conference aims to bring government and private sector together for
developing a plan of action using sustainable ICT applications. It also
seeks to unleash the prospects of SMART Nepal by 2030.
Ronda Rousey to be the first female hall of
famer in UFC
American fighter Ronda Rousey will become the
first female MMA fighter to be inducted into the Ultimate Fighting Championship
Hall of Fame, the UFC announced.
- There
would be no women in UFC without Ronda Rousey.
- Rousey
had a 12-2 win-loss record, winning 11 of them within the first round of
the fight.
UFC Hall of Fame is a hall of fame which honors
mixed martial artist and personalities, established and maintained by the
U.S.-based mixed martial arts promotion Ultimate Fighting Championship. They
recognize accomplishments from Pride Fighting Championships, World Extreme
Cagefighting and Strikeforce. It was officially established in Las Vegas on
November 21, 2003
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Global environment performance index 2018:
India ranks 177, Switzerland tops
India stands 177th at the bottom of the Global
Environment Performance Index (EPI) rankings.
- In
2016, the country had ranked 141 out of 180 countries.
- In
2018, according to the State of India’s Environment (SoE)
2018 in Figures, it has slipped to the 177th position. India scored
5.75 out of 100 in air quality. The Top 3 countries on the list are
Switzerland, France, and Denmark.
Environmental Performance Index (EPI) is a
method of quantifying and numerically marking the environmental performance
of a state's policies. This index was developed from the Pilot Environmental
Performance Index, first published in 2002, and designed to supplement the
environmental targets set forth in the United Nations Millennium Development
Goals
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India bags 3 medals at Umakhanov memorial
boxing tournament in Russia
Indian boxers bagged one Gold and two
Silver medals at the Umakhanov Memorial Tournament in the Russian
city of Kaspiysk. Saweety Boora won the coveted yellow metal in the
Women’s 75 kg category after beating Anna Anfinogenova (Russia) in
the Final.
- In
the Men’s section, Brijesh Yadav in the 81 kg division and Virender Kumar
in 91 kgs lost their Final bouts to settle for Silver medals. Earlier,
India had claimed four Bronze medals in the Tournament.
