14 June 2019 - Daily Current Affairs

14 June 2019 - Daily Current Affairs

1. Government reduces ESI contribution rate to 4 per cent

• According to Ministry of Labour and Employment, The Union government has reduced the rate of the contribution made by employees and employers under the Employees' State Insurance (ESI) Act from 6.5% to 4%.
• This includes a reduction of 1.5% in employers’ contribution to 3.25%(from 4.75%) and 1% reduction in employees’ contribution to 0.75% (from 1.75%).
• It will benefit 3.6 crore employees and 12.85 lakh, employers.
• The new rate will be effective from the 1st of next month.
• Similarly, reduction in the share of contribution of employers will reduce the financial liability of the establishments leading to improved viability of these establishments.

Note:

• The ESI Act 1948, under the labour ministry, covers employees with salary up to Rs 21,000 (earlier-Rs.15000).
• Benefits provided under the ESI Act are funded by the contributions made by the employers and the employees.
• It will facilitate further enrolment of workers under the ESI scheme and bring more and more workforce into the formal sector.

Source: AIR News

2. FDI flows to India grew 6% in 2018 to 42 billion: UN report

• According to UN report, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) to India grew by 6% to 42 billion dollars in 2018, with strong inflows in the manufacturing, communication and financial services sectors, and cross-border merger and acquisition activities.
• The report ranked India among the top 20 host economies for FDI inflows in 2017-18.
• The World Investment Report 2019, released by the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), Foreign Direct Investment inflows to South Asia increased by 3.5% to 54 billion dollars.
• India has historically accounted for 70 to 80 per cent of inflows to the subregion.
• The growth in cross-border Merger & Acquisitions for India to 33 billion dollars in 2018 was primarily due to transactions worth 16 billion dollars in retail trade, which includes e-commerce, and telecommunication.

Source: The Economic Times

3. RBI to infuse Rs 12,500 crore into the financial system through bond purchase

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will infuse Rs 12,500 crore into the financial system through bond purchases under the Open Market Operation (OMO).
• The RBI uses open market operations (OMO) for injecting liquidity into the system through the purchase of government bonds (G-Sec).
• Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) have invested USD 1 billion in Indian debt markets so far in June.
• The OMO will take place on June 20, taking the total infusion so far in June to 27,500 crores, as against OMO purchases worth Rs 25,000 crore in May.

Source: Business-Standard

4. Amazon clinches top spot in the world’s most valuable brand ranking

• US retail giant ‘Amazon’ has moved past hi-tech titans Apple and Google to become the world's most valuable brand.
• According to Kantar’s 2019, Top 100 BrandZ report, the brand value of Amazon surged by 52% to USD 315 billion.
• Amazon jumped from third to first place to eclipse Google - which slid from first to third place with Apple holding on to the second spot.

Source: CNBC.com

Important Days

5. World Blood Donor day being observed today

• The World Blood Donor Day is being observed across the globe on 14th June every year to raise awareness of the need for regular blood donations to ensure the quality, safety and availability of blood and blood products for patients in need.
• This year the theme is ‘Blood Donation and Universal Access to Safe Blood Transfusion’, as a component of achieving universal health coverage.
• The day also strongly encourages more people to donate blood so that the donor population does not decline and patients requiring transfusion have timely access to safe blood.
• The slogan - Safe Blood for All - has also been adopted.

Note:

• World Blood Donor Day is one of eight official global public health campaigns marked by the World Health Organization (WHO).
• The host country for World Blood Donor Day 2019 is Rwanda.

National Affairs

6. Arjun Munda launches ‘E-Governance initiatives for ST Welfare Schemes’

• Union Minister for Tribal Affairs Arjun Munda has launched the “e-governance initiatives for ST Welfare schemes” at a function organized by Ministry of Tribal Affairs.
• A power point presentation on these new e-governance initiatives was made on the occasion.
• Shri Munda applauded the teamwork efforts of the Ministry of Tribal affairs for these-governance initiatives for Scheduled Tribes Welfare schemes.
• As per the “SabkaSaath, SabkaVikas and SabkaVishwas”, these e-governance initiatives will serve their purpose of the betterment of tribal communities across the nation.

Source: PIB

7. PM Kisan Pension Scheme: Farmers' contribution to be Rs 100 per month

• Farmers will have to contribute 100 rupees per month under the ‘Pradhan Mantri Kisan Pension Yojana’ that seeks to provide a minimum fixed monthly pension of 3,000 rupees on the attainment of 60 years.
• The central government will also contribute an equal amount to the pension fund to be managed by the LIC (responsible for the pension payout).
• The government in its cabinet meeting had approved a separate pension scheme for farmers with an aim to cover 5 crore beneficiaries in the first three years.
• Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar urged the states to start enrolling farmers in the age group of 18-40 years besides taking measures to create awareness about the scheme.
• There will also be an online grievance redressal system for complete transparency.

Source: AIR News

Obituaries

8. Poet, lyricist Pazhavila Ramesan passes away

• Poet and lyricist Pazhavila Ramesan (83-years) passed away at a private hospital, Thiruvananthapuram.
• Pazhavila Ramesan was a recipient of Kerala Sahithya Akademi Award for overall contribution.
• He had also penned songs for films like Asamsakalode, Malooty, Uncle Bun, Vasudha and others.
• Ramesan had also served as the director of Kerala Bhasha Institute for a long time.

Source: Business Standard

Appointment

9. Reckitt Benckiser names PepsiCo executive Laxman Narasimhan its new CEO

• Reckitt Benckiser (British consumer goods giant) named PepsiCo executive Laxman Narasimhan as its Chief Executive Officer (CEO).
• Narasimhan was serving as PepsiCo's global Chief Commercial Officer.
• He will be joining the company as CEO and will be appointed to the board on July 16.

Science & Defence

10. India successfully launches the Hypersonic Technology Demonstrator Vehicle (HSTDV)

• India has successfully conducted the maiden flight test of its indigenously developed fired Hypersonic Technology Demonstrator Vehicle (HSTDV) off Odisha Coast, developed by DRDO.
• Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) carried out the trials from Dr Abdul Kalam Island in the Bay of Bengal.
• While it can be used to launch small satellites at a much lower cost, it will be used for launching long-range cruise missiles.
• It will help in the development of a hypersonic cruise missile system.

Source: Business-Standard

11. ISRO to launch India's own space station to send more humans to space

• According to ISRO chief K Sivan, India is planning to launch its own space station which will enable the agency to send more humans to space when executed.
• India will not join the International Space Station.
• A space station is a spacecraft capable of supporting crew members, designed to remain in space for an extended period and for other spacecraft to dock.
• The weight of the space station is likely to be 20 tonnes.
• Currently, there is only one fully functioning space station in Earth's lower orbit, the International Space Station and astronauts conduct different experiments in it.
• The mission will also be an extension of the Gaganyaan project implying that there will be several phases to the human space mission project.
• The Union Government has sanctioned ten thousand crore rupees for this Mission, which is being guided by the Gaganyaan National Advisory Council that has eminent scientists and persons as members.

Source: AIR News

Summits and Conferences

12. Dr S. Jaishankar to attend CICA Summit in Dushanbe

• Dr S. Jaishankar (External Affairs Minister) will attend the two days 5th Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia, CICA, Summit in Dushanbe, Tajikistan.
• During the Summit, CICA Leaders are likely to deliberate on the existing and emerging issues of common concern to the members and underline implementation of confidence-building measures for developing Asia into a prosperous, secure and peaceful region.
• The theme of the 5th Summit is "Shared Vision for a Secure and More Prosperous CICA Region.
• The Summit will adopt a Declaration covering issues of cooperation within CICA.

Note:

• CICA is a pan-Asia forum for enhancing cooperation and promoting peace, security and stability in Asia.
• India is a member of CICA since its inception and late Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had participated in the first CICA Summit held in 2002 in Almaty.

Source: AIR News

Honours & Awards

13. JNU to confer alumni award to Union Ministers Nirmala Sitharaman & S Jaishankar

• Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) will confer the distinguished alumni award to the two Union Ministers Nirmala Sitharaman and Subrahmanyam Jaishankar.
• Executive Council of the JNU University approved a proposal in this regard.
• The two ministers will be awarded during the third convocation of JNU to be held in August this year.
• Ms Sitharaman had completed her MA and M Phil degrees while Mr Jaishankar completed his M Phil and doctoral research form JNU.
• According to JNU, their highly distinguished career and achievements have made the university very proud and they are a great source of inspiration for JNU students and researchers.

Source: The Hindu