Daily Current Affairs 14th May, 2020

Daily Current Affairs 14 May 2020 for Banking/Insurance/SSC and other related exams.

NATIONAL NEWS

Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan: PM Modi unveils Rs 20 lakh crore economic package with focus on self-reliance
PM Modi announced a Rs 20-lakh-crore stimulus package, equivalent to about 10% of India’s GDP, aimed at making the country self-reliant and reviving the stalled economy. Details of the plan, dubbed the Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan, unveiled by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

• The Rs 20 lakh crore package includes Rs 1.7 lakh crore package of free foodgrains to poor and cash to poor women and elderly, announced in March, as well as the Reserve Bank’s liquidity measures and interest rate cuts. While the March stimulus was 0.8 per cent of GDP, RBI’s cut in interest rates and liquidity boosting measures totaled to 3.2 per cent of the GDP (about Rs 6.5 lakh crore).
•  Rs 3 lakh crore emergency working capital facility for businesses, including MSMEs
• Rs 20,000 crore subordinate debt for stressed MSMEs
• Rs 50,000 crore equity infusion through MSME Fund of Funds
• Announces new definition for MSMEs
• No global tenders for govt tenders of up to Rs 200 crore to promote MSMEs
• Extended the EPF support for business, organised workers for another 3 months
• Announces Rs 30,000 crore special liquidity scheme for NBFC/HFC/MFIs
• Rs 45,000 crore partial credit guarantee scheme 2.0 for liabilities of NBFCs/MFIs
• Announces Rs 90,000 crore liquidity injection for stressed discoms
• Relief to contractors given by providing extension of up to six months to complete projects
• States are being advised to invoke the force majeure clause under RERA.
• Reduction in rates of Tax Deduction at Source, Tax Collected at Source by 25 per cent
• Last date for payment without additional amount under “Vivad Se Vishwas” scheme extended till December.
• The package will focus on land, labour, liquidity and laws. It will cater to various sections, including cottage industry, MSMEs, labourers, middle class, and industries.

MP govt relaunches Sambal scheme for Dalits, tribals and poor
The Madhya Pradesh government has re-launched the ambitious Sambal Yojana aimed to strengthen the lives of the poor and the SC and ST communities by providing them social security cover, right from birth to death.

• CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan transferred Rs 41.33 crores into the accounts of the beneficiaries of Sambal Yojana.

“United we Fight”: ICCR’s musical rendition to fight COVID-19
Bringing together composers, musicians and singers from across India, the Indian Council for Cultural Relations has unveiled a musical creation “United we Fight”.

• It carries with it the message of hope, joy, resilience, fighting spirit and never say die attitude of all in our collective fight against COVID 19.
• This virus has had a huge impact on humanity cutting across all boundaries, physical and social, of nations, caste, class, colour, religion and belief systems bringing the world to its knees

Haryana and J&K to provide tap connections to all rural households by December, 2022
Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir government have geared up to provide tap water connections to all the rural households in the area by December 2022, which is ahead of the national goal by 2024-25

• The state governments of both Haryana and J&K presented their plan to the Department of Drinking water & Sanitation of the Jal Shakti Ministry.
• Government of India is implementing the ‘Jal Jeevan Mission’ (JJM) in partnership with States to ensure every rural household in the country has FHTC for drinking water in adequate quantity of prescribed quality on regular and long-term basis at affordable service delivery charges leading to improvement in their living standards.

BUSINESS & ECONOMY

UN forecasts pandemic to shrink world economy by 3.2%, Indian economy by 1.2%
The World Economic Situation and Prospects as of mid-2020 released by the UN said that global gross domestic product is forecast to shrink by 3.2 per cent in 2020, with only a gradual recovery of lost output projected for 2021, the sharpest contraction since the Great Depression in the 1930s.

• The U.N.’s mid-year report said the impact of the coronavirus crisis is expected to slash global economic output by nearly USD 8.5 trillion over the next two years, wiping out nearly all gains of the last four years.
• India’s economic growth is forecast to slow to 1.2 per cent in 2020, a further deterioration from the already slowed growth of 4.1 per cent in 2019.

APPOINTMENTS

Akhil Kumar re-inducted into NADA disciplinary panel
Former Commonwealth Games gold-winning boxer Akhil Kumar has been re-inducted into the National Anti-Doping Agency’s (NADA) Disciplinary Panel.

• Akhil, who is also serving in Haryana Police as ACP Gurugram, was formerly in the panel from 2017 to 2019.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

TVS Group, Sundaram Med, IIT-M develop low-cost, automated respiratory assists
The TVS group, Sundaram Medical Foundation and IIT-Madras have jointly developed a low-cost, automated respiratory assist device called The Sundaram Ventago.

• This was done in collaboration with hospitals like Kauvery Hospital and the Madras Medical College and with guidance from global educational institutions like MIT-Boston.
• It provides respiratory support to patients via the controlled and automated squeezing of a self-inflating or AMBU bag and includes functionalities to control respiratory rate (breaths per minute), tidal volume, pressure parameters and I:E ratios.

Uttarakhand CM launches ‘ HOPE’, a portal for unemployed youth to get jobs 
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat launched a portal HOPE aimed at creating employment avenues for the trained youth as well as offering them skill development opportunities to increase their employability.

• The portal, ‘HOPE’ – Helping Out People Everywhere, has already begun collecting data on the youths staying in the state as well as migrant youths who have returned recently from outside

OBITUARIES

Grammy winning-singer Betty Wright passes away
Iconic soul and R&B singer Betty Wright died after a battle with cancer. She was 66.

• The biggest hit of her career “Clean Up Woman” came a year later, which was certified gold barely days after her 18th birthday.
• At the age of 23, she went on to win her first Grammy Award for Best Song, “Where is the Love?”
• She scored a Grammy nod for the song “Surrender” from the album

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