Daily Current Affairs 27th May, 2020

Daily Current Affairs 27 May 2020 for Banking/Insurance/SSC and other related exams.

NATIONAL NEWS

‘Hunar Haat’ to restart from September 2020 with the theme -Local to Global
‘Hunar Haat’ a platform for artisans and craftsmen from various parts of the country to showcase their art and craft, will restart from September 2020 with the theme of “Local to Global”.

• It has provided employment and employment opportunities to more than five lakh Indian artisans, craftsmen, culinary experts and other people associated with them in the last five years, have become popular among the people.

Aarogya Setu becomes world’s largest contact tracing app
Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan today said that Aarogya Setu has become world’s largest contact tracing app reaching over 11 crore 40 lakh people in 40 days.

• The  app is a classic example of coordination between government, industry and citizens.
• The iOS version of the open source app will be released in the next two weeks.

Nitin Gadkari inaugurates tunnel under Chardham Pariyojana in Chamba
Union Minister for Road Transport Nitin Gadkari today inaugurated the 440 metre-long tunnel, constructed below the busy town of Chamba as part of the Chardham Connectivity Project.

• The tunnel will significantly reduce the time taken by travellers on the Rishikesh-Dharasu and Gangotri stretch of the Chardham Highway.
•  It will also avoid congestion in the city of Chamba and open up avenues of socio-economic development in the region.

BANKING & FINANCE

Tata Capital launches voicebot ‘TIA’ on Whatsapp
Private NBFC, Tata Capital has launched the voicebot “TIA” on WhatsApp.

• The voicebot offers a range of services to its customers like opting for a new loan or getting queries resolved etc to provide seamless and interactive services on the widely used messaging platform, Whatsapp.
• Through TIA on Whatsapp, the customers can view their account and EMI details, download documents instantly, update their details, get instant responses for any product related queries and apply for a new loan or for a new product .

Maruti partners ICICI Bank to offer retail financing to customers
The country’s largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) has joined hands with ICICI Bank to offer retail financing schemes to its customers.

• As part of the tie up, ICICI Bank is offering flexi EMI scheme which enables customers to pay low EMI initially, in order to help them overcome the liquidity stress due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
• The EMI amount starts from Rs 899 on a loan of Rs 1 lakh for first three months. The bank is also offering similar other EMI plans for MSI customers.

LIC launches “PM Vaya Vandana Yojana” for senior citizens
Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) announced the launch of the Pradhan Mantri Vaya Vandana Yojana (Modified- 2020) Scheme for senior citizens.

• This plan will be available for sale commencing from May 26 for three financial years – up to March 31, 2023. This scheme can be purchased offline as well as online from LIC of India.
• The policy term is of 10 years and the scheme will provide an assured rate of return of 7.40 per cent per annum payable monthly (which is equivalent to 7.66 per cent per annum) for the entire duration of 10 years

BUSINESS & ECONOMY

Fitch projects Indian economy to contract 5% in FY21
In the wake of coronavirus pandemic, rating agency Fitch Ratings has made further cuts to its world GDP forecasts in its latest Global Economic Outlook (GEO), released.

• The biggest forecast cut was for India where Fitch now anticipates a 5% decline in FY21 in contrast to an earlier forecast of growth of 0.8%.
• Fitch said world GDP is forecast to fall by 4.6% in 2020 as compared to a decline of 3.9% predicted in late April.
• Fitch expects output in emerging markets, excluding China, to fall by 4.5% this year as against the earlier predicted fall of 1.9%.

India’s GDP growth seen at 1.2% for Q4 FY20: SBI report
According to SBI’s research report — Ecowrap, the country’s GDP is estimated to have grown at 1.2% in the last quarter of the previous fiscal as economic activity came to a standstill in the last week of March due to the nationwide lockdown to contain spread of COVID-19.

• The gross domestic product (GDP) growth is likely to be 4.2% for FY20 and (-) 6.8% for FY21.
•  In the third quarter of FY20, GDP growth slipped to a nearly seven-year low of 4.7%. In Q1 and Q2 of FY20, GDP growth was 5.1% and 5.6%, respectively.

Facebook launches calling application “CatchUp”
Facebook has come up with another calling application called Catch-Up. The idea behind the new app is to coordinate call timings with friends and family members.

•  The new app is developed by the company’s New Product Experimentation team.
• The app allows the user to indicate when they are available to talk and call friends and family.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

NASA renamed its telescope after ‘Mother of Hubble’ Nancy Grace Roman
NASA has renamed its Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST), a next-generation space telescope set to launch in 2025, in honor of Nancy Grace Roman, the US space agency’s first chief astronomer, who paved the way for space telescopes focused on the broader universe.

• The newly named Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope or Roman Space Telescope, for short will investigate long-standing astronomical mysteries, such as the force behind the universe’s expansion, and search for distant planets beyond our solar system

Click here to read Daily Current Affairs