News detail on 5 June 2021

International Day of Innocent Children Victims of Aggression 2021 – June 4
United Nations(UN)’s International Day of Innocent Children Victims of Aggression is annually observed across the globe on 4th June to highlight the UN’s commitment to protect the rights of children. The day acknowledges the sufferings of the children who are the victims of physical, mental and emotional abuse.

SDG to protect Child rights:
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development includes a specific target 16.2 to end all forms of violence against children, and ending the abuse, neglect and exploitation of children is mainstreamed across several other violence-related targets.

David Diop won International Booker Prize 2021; Became 1st French Writer to Win the Award
French novelist David Diop won the International Booker Prize 2021 for “At Night All Blood Is Black”.The Book is translated from the French Book titled “Frere d’ame”. It was Translated by Anna Moschovakis.David Diop became the first French writer to win the Award. The Booker Prize Foundation presents the International Booker Prize.

The French Book ‘Frere d’ame’ was written by David Diop and published by Pushkin Press.
• The prize carries a cash award of 50,000 Pound (around Rs 51 lakhs) which will be split between the Writer, David Diop and Translator, Anna Moschovakis.

MoL&E Constitute Expert Group Led by Prof Ajit Mishra to Fix Minimum Wages

The Ministry of Labour and Employment(MoL&E) has constituted an expert group led by Professor Ajit Mishra, director of the Institute of Economic Growth to provide technical support and recommendations to fix the minimum wages and national floor minimum wages.The group is set up for the 3 years. This decision is a part of the centre’s implementation of the Code of Wages, 2019, which mandates a statutory national level floor wage.

Note:
• The current floor wage, which was fixed in 2017, is at Rs 176 a day.
• The minimum wage is lower than this in some of the states.

About the Expert Group:

• The expert group will make recommendations on the minimum wages and national floor wages to the government.
• The group will look into the international best practices on wages and evolve scientific criteria and methodology for the fixation of wages.

GST Council set up 8-member Panel to Examine Tax Exemption on COVID-19 Material; Convened by Conrad Sangma

The Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council constituted an 8-member group of ministers (GoM) to examine the need for GST concession/exemption on a range of Covid-19 essentials such as vaccines, drugs, testing kits, and ventilators and make recommendations on the GST rates of COVID-19 relief material.

Conrad Kongkal Sangma, Chief Minister of Meghalaya will be the Convenor of the panel.

• Currently, 5 percent GST is levied on domestically manufactured vaccines, 12 percent GST is levied for COVID-19 drugs and oxygen concentrators.

i.Dr Patrick Amoth is the acting Director-General for Health, Ministry of Health of Kenya.
ii.Dr.Harsh Vardhan will continue to be a member of the Executive Board of WHO till 2023.

Lt Gen Pradeep Chandran Nair Took Over as the DG of Assam Rifle

Lieutenant General (Lt Gen) Pradeep Chandran Nair took over as the 21st Director General(DG) of Assam Rifles(AR), India’s oldest paramilitary force at the DGAR headquarters at Shillong, Meghalaya. The Assam Rifles were popularly known as Sentinels of the North-East. Lt Gen Pradeep Chandran Nair has been serving as the Director-General Recruiting of the Indian Army.

About Lt Gen Pradeep Chandran Nair:
i.Pradeep Chandran Nair was commissioned into the Sikh Regiment in 1985.
ii.He has served as the Inspector General and a Company Commander in Assam Rifles.
iii.He has also served in the Army Headquarters as a Colonel, Major General and Lieutenant General.

China successfully launches Fengyun-4B Satellite; Plans 3-Astronaut Space Mission

On 3rd June, China National Space Administration (CNSA) successfully launched “Fengyun-4B” (FY-4B) Meteorological satellite to Earth’s Geostationary Orbit. FY-4B is the 1st of China’s New-Generation Meteorological Satellites, which has an improved measurement resolution of 250 meters to scan Earth.

i.Fengyun-4B (FY-4B), was launched by a Long March-3B rocket from the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre in Sichuan Province of China.

Mission – To provide instant forecast on small & medium scale environmental disasters and weather analysis for the use of various environment relied sectors.

ii.FY-4B will work in synchrony with its predecessor FY-4A (launched in December, 2016) to provide accurate weather data.
• Notably, the Lifespan of FY-4B satellite is increased to 7-years.

iii.Observation Zone – Asia, Central Pacific Ocean & Indian Ocean

China plans to send 3-Astronauts to Tianzhou-2 Space Station

Yang Liwei, Director of the China Manned Space Engineering Office, announced China’s plan to send 3-Male Astronauts to its Newly launched Space Station, “Tianzhou-2”. The Astronauts will conduct Scientific tasks, including repair and maintenance on appliance switches on their 3-Month stay.

3-Chinese Space Stations- Tiangong-1, Tiangong-2 & “Tianhe or Heavenly Harmony”

Note- In April 2021, China launched the core module of its 3rd and largest space station “Tianhe” into space.

NASA Plans Two New Missions to Venus; New Zealand Made a Space Agreement With NASA

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) plans to implement two new missions DAVINCI+ and VERITAS to Venus, Earth’s nearest also called sister planet. NASA will spend $500 million for each mission. Both missions will be expected to launch between 2028-2030.

• DAVINCI+ (short for Deep Atmosphere Venus Investigation of Noble Gases, Chemistry, and Imaging),
• VERITAS (an acronym for Venus Emissivity, Radio Science, InSAR, Topography, and Spectroscopy).

Aim -Mission aims to study the atmospheric and geological features of Venus, also known as Earth’s sister planet. The closest planet to Earth and the second planet from the Sun, Venus is similar in structure but slightly smaller and much warmer than Earth.

MoD signs contract with Mahindra Telephonics for 11 Airport Surveillance Radars

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) signed a Rs 323.47 crore worth contract with Mahindra Telephonics Integrated Systems Limited for procurement of 11 Airport Surveillance Radars for the use of Indian Navy & Indian Coast Guard.

Objective – The installation of these radars will increase the air domain awareness.

• This would enable absorption of technology, skill development and indigenous manufacture, boosting employment opportunities.

i.These 11 Monopulse Secondary surveillance radars will provide accurate data with high proximity levels compared to the conventional radars.
• Increased Air track measurements with enhanced safety & efficient flying operations will be developed with these radars.

ii.Mahindra Telephonics signed the contract for the 11 radars under the “Buy and Make” category, to boost “Make in India” initiative.

Health Minister Harsh Vardhan Launched Digitized Versions of Health Schemes CGHS, RAN, HMDG on NHA’s IT Platform

Union Minister Harsh Vardhan, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare(MoHFW) launched the revamped, digitized version of Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS), Umbrella schemes of Rashtriya Arogya Nidhi (RAN), and Health Minister’s Discretionary Grant (HMDG) on National Health Authority’s (NHA) IT platform.

Objective: Digitization of healthcare services to enable the poor and needy people to avail the benefits of the health schemes on time.

Govt Announced Schemes to Provide Pension for Dependents of COVID-19 Victims

The Government of India has announced schemes to provide a pension for the dependents of the COVID-19 victims among other benefits for the families who lost their earning members due to the pandemic under the Employees State Insurance scheme and Employees Provident Fund scheme.

Family Pension underEmployees State Insurance Corporation (ESIC):
i.To support the families of the victims, the benefit of the Employee State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) pension scheme for the employment-related death cases is extended to those who died due to COVID-19
ii.The dependents of the family are entitled to the benefits of a pension equal to around 90% of the average daily wages.
iii.The benefits will be made available with effect from 24th March 2020 to all cases till 24th March 2022.

Global Unemployment Rate To be 5.7% in 2022; No recovery in global jobs till 2023: ILO’s WESO Trends 2021

International Labour Organisation(ILO) released a report titled “World Employment and Social Outlook: Trends 2021(WESO Trends 2021)” stating global unemployment rate will be 5.7% in 2022, 6.3% in 2021 & there will no recovery in global jobs until 2023.

Note – Global Unemployment Rate was 5.4% in 2020.

Key Findings:

i.There will be 205 million unemployed people around the world in 2022, which is higher than the pre Covid numbers of 187 million in 2019.
ii.Job Gaps will be 75 million in 2021 & will fell to 23 million in 2022.Similarly Job Gaps and Reduced working will amount to the equivalent of 100 million full-time jobs in 2021 and 26 million full-time jobs in 2022.
iii.Gender Based Findings: In 2020 Men’s Employment rate declined by 3.9%, whereas women’s employment declined by 5%. Youth employment rate fell by 8.7% & Employment rate of Adults fell by 3.7%.
iv.Sector Wise Report:Women, young people and the 2 billion people working in informal sectors have been hardest hit, with 108 million more workers worldwide now categorized as poor or extremely poor compared to 2019.
v.The worst affected regions in the first half of 2021 have been Latin America and the Caribbean, and Europe and Central Asia.

Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan Represented India in NAM Health Ministers Virtual Meet

Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare, Harsh Vardhan virtually participated in a meeting with Ministers of Health of the NAM (Non-Aligned Movement) Countries.

i.Harsh Vardhan stated that during COVID-19, India has supplied medicines to 123 partner countries including 59 NAM nations. He also noted that Ayushman Bharat, national health policy was aiming to provide free health assurance to over 500 million underprivileged people, making it the world’s largest health assurance scheme.
ii.NAM formed in 1961 is a forum of 120 developing world states that are not formally aligned with or against any major power bloc. After the United Nations(UN), it is the largest grouping of states worldwide.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, is the current chairman of NAM.

NABARD Approves Rs 254 Crore For Drinking Water Projects In Odisha

The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) has sanctioned a Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF) of Rs 254 crore for setting up two mega piped drinking water supply projects in Odisha.

Key Points:

i.The two mega projects will come up in two districts,
• Jajpur district which will cover Badachana and Dharmasala blocks
• Puri district which will cover Brahmagiri and Krushnaprasad blocks.

ii.70 litre per capital per day(LPCD) clean, safe hygienic portable drinking water will be provided at the consumer end.
iiii.The water supply will be provided through Functional Household Tape Connection (FHTC) with eight hours of supply in the project area.
iv.On completion these projects will provide clean and safe drinking water to 8.78 lakh rural population across 1.37 lakh household in 565 villages of the Odisha

Sebi inks pact with CSSF, Luxembourg to strengthen cooperation in securities regulation

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and the Luxembourg Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier (CSSF) signed a bilateral Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for mutual co-operation and technical assistance.

Objective: To strengthen cross border cooperation in the area of securities regulation.
Key facts:
i.The MoU will facilitate mutual assistance, contribute towards the efficient performance of the supervisory functions, and enable effective enforcement of laws and regulations governing the securities markets.
ii.The MoU will enhance cross-border cooperation and exchange of information for the discharge of SEBI’s regulatory mandates.
ii.SEBI has already signed MoUs with securities regulators of various jurisdictions. It is also a signatory to the Multilateral MoU (MMoU) of the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO).

FSDC Constituted Inter-regulators’ Panel to Deal with Fintech Challenges

The Financial Stability and Development Council (FSDC) has constituted the first of its kind inter-regulators’ panel to address the regulatory challenges posed by the fintech (financial technology) industry.

• The committee includes officials from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), finance ministry, the Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and the Insurance and Regulatory Authority of India (IRDAI).

Former President, Prime Minister of Mauritius Padma Vibhushan Anerood Jugnauth Passed Away

The Former President and Prime Minister of Mauritius, Padma Vibhushan awardee Anerood Jugnauth passed away.He was born on March 29, 1930 in Palma, British Mauritius.
About Anerood Jugnauth:
i.Anerood Jugnauth was honoured with Padma Vibhusan in 2020 by the Government of India
ii.He was considered as the Father of the Mauritian Economic Miracle of the 1980s.
iii.He was the longest serving Prime Minister of Mauritius with more than 18 years of tenure.
iv.He served four consecutive terms as Prime Minister from 1982 to 1995 and was appointed again in 2000.
v.He also served as the President of Mauritius from 2003-2012.
vi.He was also honoured with Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award for strengthening India’s relationship with Mauritius.

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