12 June 2019 - Daily Current Affairs
1. 16th Asia Media Summit begins in Siem Reap, Cambodia
- Prime Minister of Cambodia, Samdech Hun Sen has inaugurated the 16th Asia Media Summit in Siem Reap, Cambodia.
- The theme of the 3-day summit is Media Digitisation with a focus on developing markets.
- 600 delegates from 42 countries are participating in the summit which is hosted by the Ministry of Information, Cambodia in partnership with Asia Pacific Institute for Broadcasting Development (AIBD).
- One of the highlights of the summit is a round table among CEOs of broadcasting networks which will discuss digitisation and its impact on media credibility.
Note:
- In 2018, the summit was held in New Delhi with the theme 'Telling Our Stories - Asia and More'.
- Summit will offer an opportunity to take stock of technological advances, the level of digitisation and impact on the broadcast industry.
Source: AIR News
Important Day
2. 12 June: World Day Against Child Labour
- The World Day Against Child Labour held every year on 12th June to raise awareness and activism to prevent child labour.
- This year, the World Day Against Child Labour and the World Day for Safety and Health at Work shine a spotlight on the global need to improve the safety and health of young workers and end child labour.
National Affairs
3. Tur import limit doubled to 4 LT for private traders till Oct
- The Union Government has decided to raise the import limit on Tur Dal to four lakh tonnes for private traders till October 2019.
- The inter-ministerial committee chaired by Food Minister Ram Vilas Paswan asked co-operative Nafed to offload two lakh tonnes of the lentil in the open market.
- The measure will help increase the availability of Tur Dal and check price rise, which has been created psychologically assuming production might fall on likely delay in monsoon rains.
- The Union government has a buffer stock of 39 lakh tonne of pulses, of which Tur Dal is about 7.5 lakh tonne. ‘
Source: PIB
4. NDMA conducts a training programme for CBRN emergencies
- National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) is conducting a basic training programme at the Deendayal Port Trust in Kandla, Gujarat.
- The objective of the training programme is to increase the awareness and enhancing the preparedness of Seaport Emergency Handlers (SEHs) to respond to CBRN (Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear) threats.
- 600 delegates from 42 countries are participating.
Source: AIR News
5. Cyclone VAYU intensifies into a very severe cyclonic storm
- Cyclone ‘VAYU’ over East-Central Arabian sea has intensified into a Very Severe Cyclonic Storm.
- According to the MeT department, the Cyclone is very likely to cross the Gujarat coast between Veraval and Diu.
- The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) has mobilized 35 teams in Gujarat and four in Diu in coordination with local administration.
- Arrangements have been made to warn people of the cyclone through announcements in media and bulk SMS.
Source: AIR News
6. Uttar Pradesh govt hikes old-age pension
- Uttar Pradesh Government has hiked old-age pension in the age group 60 to 79 years by rupees 100 monthly.
- Now, the old-age pensioners would receive 500 rupees per month (existing 400 rupees).
- This was approved in a Cabinet meeting headed by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath at Lucknow.
- The 100-rupees hike would be enforced from January 2019 and the government will have to bear an additional burden of 106.84 crore rupees from January 2019 to March 2019.
- The newly hiked pension will benefit around 44.21 lakh people in the state.
- The state government has amended its rule for the appointment of assistant teachers in government schools according to which B.Ed. will be recognised along with BTC.
Source: The Pioneer
Banking and Finance
7. RBI constitutes a committee to review ATM pricing
- The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has constituted a six-member committee to review the entire gamut of ATM charges and fees.
- Chief Executive of Indian Banks’ Association VG Kannan will chair the committee consisting of senior officers from National Payments Corporation of India, SBI, HDFC Bank, Confederation of ATM Industry and Tata Communications Payment Solutions Limited.
- The committee will review existing patterns of costs, charges and interchange fees for ATM transactions.
- It is to submit its report within two months from the date of its first meeting.
Source: Economic Times
8. GST council to introduce new GST return system
- The GST Council has decided to introduce a new GST return system to facilitate taxpayers.
- As per the plan, a prototype of the offline tool has already been shared on the common portal to give the look and feel of the tool to the users.
- The tool would be the same as that of the online portal.
- There are three main components to the new return - one main return (FORM GST RET-1) and two annexures (FORM GST ANX-1 and FORM GST ANX-2).
- The new return system (ANX-1 & ANX-2 only) will be available for trial for taxpayers to make themselves familiar between July and September 2019.
Source: AIR News
9. RBI waives off charges for transactions using NEFT, RTGS
- The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has waived off all charges for transactions using National Electronic Funds Transfer (NEFT) and Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) systems to encourage digital transfer of funds.
- RBI has advised banks to pass on the benefits to their customers with effect from 1st July 2019.
- The Reserve Bank levies minimum charges on banks for transactions routed through its RTGS and NEFT System.
- RTGS is meant for large-value instantaneous fund transfers while NEFT System (one-to-one funds transfer) is used for fund transfers up to 2 lakh rupees.
Source: Economics Times
Honours & Awards
10. Novelist Amitav Ghosh honoured with Jnanpith Award 2018
- Noted English writer Novelist Amitav Ghosh (63-year) has received the country’s highest literary honour Jnanpith Award 2018 (54th).
- Ghosh treads through historical settings to the modern era and weaves a space where the past connects with the present in relevant ways.
- Ghosh is the recipient of the Padma Shri (2007) and Sahitya Akademi Award.
- His fiction is endowed with extraordinary depth and substance through his academic training as a historian and a social anthropologist.
- Ghosh is known for a series of novels such as "Shadow Lines(1988)", "The Glass Palace", "The Hungry Tide", and Ibis Trilogy -- "Sea of Poppies (2008)", "River of Smoke", and "Flood of Fire" -- chronicling the Opium trade between India and China run by the East India Company.
Note:
- The Jnanpith Award is an Indian literary award presented annually by the Bharatiya Jnanpith to an author for their 'outstanding contribution towards literature'.
- The award was given to the authors for their most outstanding work and consisted of a citation plaque, a cash prize of Rs 1.5 lakh and a bronze replica of ‘Saraswati’.
11. I&B Ministry launches Antarashtriya Yoga Diwas Media Samman (AYDMS)
- The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (I&B) has instituted the first edition of Antarashtriya Yoga Diwas Media Samman (AYDMS), from 2019 to mark the contribution of media in spreading the message of Yoga.
- A total of 33 awards will be conferred grouped into 3 categories namely Newspaper (11), Television (11) and Radio (11).
- The duration for the coverage for AYDMS would be from 10 to 25th June 2019 and awards will be distributed in July 2019.
12. Sri Lankan Airlines named world's most punctual
- Sri Lankan Airlines, the flag carrier of Sri Lanka has been named the 'World's Most Punctual Airline' for the second consecutive year.
- It has been named for the second consecutive time with over 90% of its flights in May being "on time".
- In May, it achieved a punctuality rating of 90.75%.
- Global flight tracker, ‘Flightstats’ analysed data of 41 carriers from Europe, North America, Asia, the Middle East, and South America, including most of the world's largest and most prestigious airlines before drawing its conclusions.
Source: Business-Standard
Appointment
13. Nripendra Misra re-appointed as Principal Secretary to PM Modi
- Nripendra Misra has been re-appointed as Principal Secretary to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
- PK Mishra has also been re-appointed as Additional Principal Secretary to Mr Modi.
- The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) approved both the appointments with effect from 31st May.
- According to DoPT order, during the term of their office, they will be assigned the rank of Cabinet Minister.
Source: AIR News
14. Thawarchand Gehlot appointed leader of Rajya Sabha
- BJP leader Thawarchand Gehlot (Union Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment) has been appointed as the leader of Rajya Sabha.
- He will replace senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley who opted out of the government citing health reasons.
- Mr Gehlot is a Rajya Sabha member representing Madhya Pradesh.
Note:
- The Leader of the House is a Rajya Sabha member who is either a cabinet minister or nominated minister.
- The Leader has a seat next to the Chairperson of the Rajya Sabha, in the front row.
Source: The Economic Times