Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 05 June 2020

::NATIONAL::

The Supreme Court on Thursday restrained the government from taking any “coercive action” against private employers unable to pay full wages to their workers during the COVID-19 lockdown.
The petitions, filed by the owners of small commercial establishments, industries, shops and factories, said the pandemic had already driven them to the brink of insolvency.
Paying workers full wages with no work done would irretrievably send them out of business. The economy would fall flat. They said the notification was ill-devised and arbitrary.
Senior advocate K.V. Vishwanathan, for some petitioner-employers, submitted that the global pandemic had affected all. “Let this not be considered a bonanza for some and ruin for others. Quash the March 29 notification and let parties start negotiations with a clean slate,” he said.

Human Resources Development Minister Ramesh PokhriyalNishank and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri today launched a joint initiative, TULIP aimed at providing internships to the engineering students in the country.
He said this unique and first of its kind opportunity in the country will help unleash India’s demographic dividend by creating a talent pool which can pave the way for making Indian cities more self-reliant.
Mr.Nishank said, TULIP will equip the youth with problem solving and critical thinking skills through hands-on, experiential learning in India’s fast growing urban ecosystem.
He asserted that this platform will utilise the innovative thought process of youths to amend the urban infrastructure for greater benefit. Mr.Nishanksaid , the initiative will also assist in achieving India's goal of reaching a 5 trillion dollar economy in the next 5 years.
TULIP platform has been designed by AICTE to effectively create a repository of all participating interns and will facilitate their final placement and recruitment. The urban learning internship program will provide opportunities to students in various urban local bodies across the country for development of smart cities.

With debt servicing capacity of borrowers coming under strain as the country enters a period of possible economic recession, bad loans of Indian banks are expected rise sharply this fiscal, which could lead to yet another year of loss for public sector banks (PSBs), ratings agency ICRA said in a report.
ICRA estimated gross non-performing assets to rise to 11.3-11.6% by March 2021 from an estimated level of 8.6% for March 2020, with fresh gross slippage of 5-5.5% of standard advances in FY21.
The agency said uncertainty on the asset quality of banks remains high with almost 30-40% of the loan book across various banks under the repayment moratorium

Over 70% of MSMEs who responded to a survey by the All India Manufacturers Organisation (AIMO) intend to reduce headcount across the board.
“The most striking aspect of the survey was that 72% of MSME respondents and 42% of corporate respondents said they would definitely reduce headcount to get their business back on track. In fact, only less than 20% of all categories said they would continue with the same headcount,” said K.E. Raghunathan, immediate past president, AIMO.
The extent of the job loss will be clearer by the end of August 2020, as most respondents were in the process of gauging how many of their labourers will return and the optimum employee strength required to sustain their business in the near future, the survey said.
Issues likely to be faced during the unlocking period are forecasting demand, collection of pending dues, raw materials along with present interest burden and salary issues.

India has pledged 15 million dollars to Gavi, the international vaccine alliance. Prime Minister NarendraModi announced this while addressing the virtual Global Vaccine Summit hosted by UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson yesterday. Over 50 countries - business leaders, UN agencies, civil society, government Ministers, and Heads of State participated in the Summit.
In his address, Prime Minister Modi said India stands in solidarity with the world in these challenging times. He said, India’s civilization teaches that the world is one family and that during this pandemic, the country had tried to live up to this teaching.
He said India shared the country’s available stocks of medicines with over 120 countries. He said this was done by forging a common response strategy in its immediate neighbourhood and by providing specific support to countries that sought it, while also protecting India’s own vast population.
He said the COVID19 pandemic, in some ways, has exposed the limitations of global cooperation and that for the first time in recent history, the human kind faces a clear common enemy.

Prime Minister NarendraModi has said that India is committed to expanding its relations with Australia in a comprehensive and quick manner. In his opening remarks at India Australia Virtual Summit, Mr Modi expressed happiness that bilateral relations are being upgraded to the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership level.
Prime Minister Modi said, the role of Comprehensive Strategic Partnership will be more important in this period of a global pandemic. The world needs a coordinated and collaborative approach to come out of the economic and social side effects of this pandemic.
He said his government has decided to view this crisis as an opportunity and a process of comprehensive reforms has been initiated in almost all spheres. He said it will soon see results at the ground level. The Prime Minister also expressed gratitude for the way Australia has taken care of the Indian community and especially the Indian students during this tough time.

The National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research has predicted that the Amery Ice Shelf is to expand 24% by 2021. The Ice Shelf would expand another 2026.
Amery Ice Shelf is located in the east coast of Antarctica. It is one of the largest ice shelf in the world. The mass balance and dynamics of the ice shelf help in understanding the changes in global climate scenario.
The Amery Ice Shelf extended by about 550 metres in 2017, 1470 metres in 2018 and 2200 metres in 2019. If the extension of the ice shelf continues, the positions will coincide with actual boundary conditions.
The NCPOR is the Indian Institution that performs country’s research activities in Polar and southern oceans.
It performs geoscientific surveys in the extended continental shelf, deep-sea drilling in Arabian Sea basin and also explore the ocean for resources such as multi-metal sulphides, gas hydrates, etc.