Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 06 JUNE 2020

SSC CGL Current Affairs

Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 06 JUNE 2020

::NATIONAL::

Government launches GaribKalyanRojgarAbhiyaan to create local employment

  • Government has launched the GaribKalyanRojgarAbhiyaan to start extensive public works to provide livelihood opportunities and create local employment to returnee migrants and affected rural citizens due to COVID pandemic.
  • As part of this Abhiyan, JalJeevan Mission is aiming to provide household tap connections to every rural household and offers a huge opportunity to engage skilled, semi-skilled and migrant returnees in drinking water supply related works. 
  • States have been requested to start works in villages of these districts so that it will not only help to ensure adequate quantity of water at household level but will also help in providing employment to migrant returnees.
  • States have been advised to prioritize augmenting or retrofitting existing piped water supply schemes so that these villages become 100 percent Functional Household Tap Connection villages. 
  • Campaigns will be launched for providing training to impart skills to local people including returnee migrants in plumbing, masonry, electrical aspects, and pump operation, so that skilled manpower will be available for water supply related works. 

AmarnathYatra to take Baltal route and skip traditional route

  • The J&K administration on Sunday performed the rituals to start the annual Amarnath pilgrimage, where only 500 pilgrims will be allowed to trek to the holy shrine from the Baltal area of central Kashmir.
  • Due to the pandemic, the pilgrimage is likely to be held from July 23 to August 3 only from the Baltal track and not the traditional route of Pahalgam in south Kashmir.Only 500 pilgrims will be allowed a day by road from Jammu, an official said.
  • Lieutenant-Governor Girish Chandra Murmu, accompanied by officials, on Sunday performed the “PrathamAarti” at the holy Amarnath cave. It was telecast live by PrasarBharti. Mr.Murmu is also the chairman of the ShriAmarnath Shrine Board (SASB), the body regulating the pilgrimage.
  • The Amarnathyatra is the first religious event allowed in J&K since the pandemic broke. However, in the wake of the growing number of COVID-19 cases in J&K, no other religious event will be allowed in the Union Territory (UT).

::ECONOMY::

Government seeks stricter scrutiny of imports from neighbours

  • The commerce and industry ministry has sought stricter scrutiny of goods coming from Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, South Korea and the ASEAN bloc, amid fears of Chinese imports increasingly being routed through these countries. 
  • It has pushed for fast tracking amendments to the customs law to tighten the rules to claim concessional benefits under India’s free trade pacts, in line with the changes proposed in the budget this year.
  • In the budget, the government had inserted a new chapter in the Customs Act on the administration of rules of origin under trade agreements, giving it the power to suspend and refuse preferential tariff treatment in case of incomplete information or verification and noncompliance, respectively.

Aatmanirbhar Bharat Innovation Challenge launched to identify best Indian apps

  • The Prime Minister NarendraModi has launched Aatmanirbhar Bharat Innovation Challenge to identify the best Indian Apps that are already being used by citizens and have the potential to scale and become world class Apps in their respective categories.
  • Prime Minister NarendraModi has urged people of tech community to participate in Aatmanirbhar Bharat App Innovation Challenge. This will run in two tracks- Promotion of Existing Apps and Development of New Apps.
  • In a LinkedIn post, Mr Modi said, for promotion of existing Apps and platforms across the categories of E-learning, Work-from-Home, Gaming, Business, Entertainment, Office Utilities, and Social Networking, Government will provide mentoring, hand-holding and support.
  • Track one will work in mission mode for identifying good quality Apps for the leader-board and will be completed in around a month. For incubating new Apps and Platforms, Track two initiative will work to help create new champions in India by providing support in ideation, incubation, prototyping and roll out along with market access.

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::INTERNATIONAL::

Germany to become first major economy to phase out coal

  • German lawmakers have finalized the country's long-awaited phase-out of coal as an energy source, backing a plan that environmental groups say isn't ambitious enough and free marketeers criticize as a waste of taxpayers' money.
  • The plan is part of Germany's 'energy transition' - an effort to wean Europe's biggest economy off planet-warming fossil fuels and generate all of the country's considerable energy needs from renewable sources. Achieving that goal is made harder than in comparable countries such as France and Britain because of Germany's existing commitment to also phase out nuclear power by the end of 2022.
  • But the head of Germany's main miners' union, Michael Vassiliadis, welcomed the decision, calling it a "historic milestone." He urged the government to focus next on an expansion of renewable energy generation and the use of hydrogen as a clean alternative for storing and transporting energy in the future.

::SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY::

Researchers use X-ray Micro CT technology to decode relationship between caterpillars and ant hosts

  • Scientists from the National Centre of Biological Sciences (NCBS) in Bengaluru have got fascinating insights into the relations of caterpillars and their ant hosts using advanced X-ray MicroCT technology. The intriguing caterpillar-ant associations have been a subject of study for decades.
  • Butterflies of the family Lycaenidae, known as Blues and Hairstreaks, have over millions of years evolved a range of adaptations that have tamed their ferocious ant predators into protectors and providers.
  • In fact, caterpillars of this family closely associate with ants, becoming strange bedfellows. Not only do ants not eat these caterpillars and pupae, they actually care for them and aggressively protect them from other predators and parasitoids, thus creating an enemy-free space for the butterfly’s early stages.
  • The study using X-ray MicroCT technology describes the association between caterpillars of the Lilac SilverlineApharitislilacinus butterfly and cocktail ants.
  • Caterpillars are completely dependent on the ants after hatching from eggs, and they are constantly attended by their hosts. The caterpillars live inside the ant nests, often among the ant broods, and are cared for by the tending ants just like the rest of their own brood.
  • The organs of caterpillars primarily studied by the scientists are called dew patches in some species and nectar glands in others. These organs produce carbohydrate-rich secretions to attract and reward the tending ants. For the most part, these sugary secretions, which ants drink readily, keeps the ants interested in tending and protecting the caterpillars.

::SPORTS::

Carlsen wins chessable masters title