Daily Current Affairs 19th May, 2020

Daily Current Affairs 19 May 2020 for Banking/Insurance/SSC and other related exams.

NATIONAL NEWS

Madhya Pradesh launches Charan Paduka campaign
In Madhya Pradesh, in a first of its kind of initiative, Charan Paduka campaign has been started for the migrant labourers passing through the state.

• The Charan Paduka campaign started from the Rau Police Station of Indore
• Under this campaign, the migrant labourers going barefoot are being providing shoes and slippers to reduce their pain. The most notable thing is that this campaign is being conducted by the police at most places.

Panel proposes land pooling to corporatise agri, merging MNREGA with skilling programmes
A LAND pooling model enabling corporatisation of agriculture, opening up EPF and ESIC for the unorganised sector, merging the MNREGA with skill development programmes to create a wage subsidy programme —- these are some of the proposals that have been drafted by a Group of Ministers (GOM) on employment and skill development.

• The GoM, headed by Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Thawar Chand Gehlot, was created last week. It is now ready with the draft proposals, which will be approved before being sent to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
• The draft proposes that the land pooling model which is used in building greenfield airports can be used in agriculture to enable corporatisation, which will create demand for skilled labourers.

Punjab to provide potable piped water to all rural households by 2022: CM
Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh said the state will provide 100 per cent potable piped water connections to all rural households by 2022. 

• By 2020-21, another 7.6 lakh households will start getting potable water and by 2021-22, around 10 lakh households will be added.
• In terms of habitations, the state has already covered 92 per cent of the rural habitations with piped water supply network, and 50 per cent rural households have been provided with individual household water connections.

Post department dedicates postal cover to migrants
India Post, Mumbai, paid a tribute to migrant workers by releasing a special postal cover dedicated to them.

• The official release of the postal cover took place at the Mumbai General Post Office (GPO) and the special covers were released by five workers from different sectors.
• This special cover is a tribute to those migrant workers whose grit, tenacity and labour have a big hand in building the city and making our lives smooth and seamless.

BANKING & FINANCE

Canara Bank launches special gold loan business vertical
Bengaluru-based Canara Bank, the fourth-largest public sector lender, has launched a special business vertical dedicated for gold loans.

• The bank has also launched a special gold loan campaign till June 30, 2020 with an interest rate as low as 7.85% per annum.
• The Bank’s gold loan products are aimed at providing quick, hassle-free experience for customers with low interest cost.
• The loans will help the customers with the much-needed liquidity to revive their business activities and bring back normalcy in their lives.

Nabard disburses Rs 20,500 crore to coop banks, RRBs
National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) said it has disbursed Rs 20,500 crore to cooperative banks and regional rural banks (RRBs) for on-lending to farmers.

• This amount, is part of the Rs 25,000 crore of special refinance facility provided by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to Nabard for refinancing regional rural banks (RRBs), cooperative banks and micro finance institutions (MFIs).

BUSINESS & ECONOMY

Indian economy to contract 5 pc in FY21: Goldman Sachs
American brokerage Goldman Sachs expects the Indian economy to contract by 5 per cent in FY21, making it the worst performance by the country ever.

• The brokerage said the GDP will contract by a mind-boggling 45 per cent in the June quarter as compared to the January-March period on an annualised basis, because of the continuing lockdown which is chilling economic activity, before recovering later.
• A slew of watchers are expecting a contraction in the Indian economy in FY21, some even after the Rs 20 lakh crore stimulus announced by the government. Goldman was earlier expecting a 0.4 per cent contraction before revising it down to a level it shares with Japanese brokerage Nomura.

SPORTS

Germany’s Bundesliga becomes world’s first major sports competition to resume post COVID-19 lockdown
The Bundesliga of Germany becomes the world’s first major sports event to resume after COVID-19 lock down.

• The European Football League’s remaining matches from the 2019-20 season kickstarted from May 16, 2020.
• The Bundesliga games began with empty stadium though the stadium had the capacity to hold more than 80,000 players. Bundesliga means “Federal League”.

APPOINTMENTS

Benjamin Netanyahu becomes Israel’s Prime Minister for the fifth time
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is about to be sworn in as PM for the fifth time amid the coronavirus epidemic.

• Despite accusations of corruption and three times he did not get a majority in elections, he won the post of PM from political alliances.
•  For the fifth time, he has joined hands with his opposition Beni Gantz to become PM.

AWARDS

India’s Chief Hydrographer Vice Admiral Vinay Badhwar wins UK award
Vice Admiral Vinay Badhwar, the National Hydrographer to the government of India, has been honoured with the 2019 Alexander Dalrymple Award in recognition of his outstanding contribution to Indian hydrography and across the wider Indian Ocean region.

• Vice Admiral Badhwar is a true champion of the hydrographic profession. He has helped to unlock the economic potential of marine geospatial data and further hydrographic science in both India and the wider Indian Ocean region, said Rear Admiral Peter Sparkes, the UK’s National Hydrographer at the UKHO.

ACQUISITIONS & MERGERS

General Atlantic picks 1.34% stake in Jio platforms for Rs 6,598.38 cr
Reliance Industries announced the sale of 1.34 per cent stake in its digital unit to global equity firm General Atlantic for Rs 6,598.38 crore, the fourth deal in less than four weeks that will inject a combined Rs 67,194.75 crore in the oil-to-telecom conglomerate to help it pare debt.

• This investment values Jio Platforms at an equity value of Rs 4.91 trillion and an enterprise value of Rs 5.16 trillion.
• General Atlantic’s investment will translate into a 1.34 per cent equity stake in Jio Platforms on a fully diluted basis

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

INLCU L57 ship commissioned into Navy at Port Blair 
Lieutenant General PS Rajeshwar, Commander-in-Chief, Andaman and Nicobar Command, commissioned INLCU L57 into the Indian Navy at Port Blair. 

• The LCU MK-IV ship, is an amphibious vessel with a designated primary role of transporting and deploying Main Battle Tanks, Armoured Vehicles, troops and equipment from ship to shore.
• The “INLCU L57” is the seventh LCU Mark IV class warship. This warship was built by the Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers Limited (GRSE).

OBITUARIES

Bengali fiction translator Gopa Majumdar passes away
Renowned Bengali fiction translator Gopa Majumdar, best known for her English translations of Satyajit Ray’s famous detective series ‘Feluda’, passed away following a cardiac arrest. She was 64.

• Gopa’s journey as a translator might have taken off when she was over 30, after she translated Ray’s ‘Two Magicians’ from Bengali to English for Namaste magazine in 1987.
• She also translated many of the children’s works by Ray, including, the children’s editions of the popular Feluda adventures, as well as ‘One Dozen Stories’, ‘The Diary of a Space Traveller’ and other sci-fi stories, which now continues with Indrani who recently translated the final volume of Ray’s ‘Professor Shonku’ stories.

BOOKS & AUTHORS

A Book titled “Wuhan Diary: Dispatches from a Quarantined City” authored by Fang Fang
The book called “Wuhan Diary: Dispatches from a Quarantined City” authored by Chinese literary writer Fang Fang has been released recently.

• This book is a compilation of online diary entries and social media posts that document 60 days of lockdown during COVID-19. The book was published by HarperNonFiction.

IMPORTANT DAYS

International Museum Day 
International Museum Day 2020 will be celebrated on May 18 this year. The event highlights a specific theme which changes every year to reflect the basis of the international museum community’s preoccupations. The International Museum Day is celebrated each year with a different theme.

• The theme for International Museum Day 2020 is Museums for Equality: Diversity and Inclusion. 

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