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Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 11 JUNE 2019
::NATIONAL::
PM seeks target oriented 5year plans from ministries
- Prime Minister NarendraModi has asked top bureaucrats to prepare a
five-year plan document for each Ministry with well-defined targets and a
significant impactful decision in each Ministry for which approvals will be
taken within 100 days.
- Interacting with all Secretaries to the Union Government at his
residence in New Delhi yesterday Mr Modi said all departments of the
government must seek to leverage the upcoming milestone of 75 years of
independence. He said it can inspire people to make a contribution to the
betterment of the country.
- Mr Modi said, every Central department and each district have a
role in making India a five trillion dollar economy. India's progress in
ease of doing Business, should reflect in greater facilitation for small
businesses and entrepreneurs. Prime Minister said that each Ministry of the
government should focus on ease of living. He said, water, fisheries, and
animal husbandry are also the important areas for the Government.
- Mr Modi also urged secretaries to use technology to improve
outcomes and efficiency in each department. During the interaction, various
Secretaries shared their vision and ideas on various subjects including
administrative decision-making, agriculture, IT initiatives, education
reform, healthcare and industrial policy.
Cyclone VAYU to hit Gujarat coast soon
- A deep depression over the Arabian Sea, which brewed over the past
two days, has intensified into a cyclonic storm and is likely to hit the
Gujarat coast on Thursday morning.
- The cyclone is likely to cause heavy rains and winds in the
coastal districts of Kutch, DevbhoomiDwarka, Porbandar, Junagarh, Diu,
GirSomnath, Amreli and Bhavnagar districts at the time of landfall.
- A warning of heavy rains and high winds at a speed of over 110
kilometres has been issued for Thursday and Friday in coastal areas of
Saurashtra and Kutch. The Gujarat government is on high . It has deployed
National Disaster Response Force personnel in the coastal areas of
Saurashtra and Kutch.
- Talking to AIR News, Director General, NDRF, SN Pradhan said, all
necessary arrangements have been made and they are coordinating very closely
with the Gujarat government. The fishermen have been advised not to venture
into the sea in the next few days while ports have been directed to flag a
danger signal.
::ECONOMY::
SEBI proposes framework to reward whistleblowers
- The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has proposed
establishing a framework to reward individuals who bring forward instances
of violations of insider trading norms while at the same time protecting
such persons from victimisation in the form of demotion or termination of
job.
- The capital markets regulator has proposed that entities that come
forward with such information will have to disclose the source of
information and give an undertaking that such information has not been
sourced from any regulator.
- To protect such complainants against victimisation, the regulator
has proposed that all listed companies and intermediaries would include in
their code of conduct, provisions to ensure that such individuals are not
“discharged, terminated, demoted, suspended, threatened, harassed, or
discriminated against, directly or indirectly.”
- While SEBI has also proposed an amnesty for such individuals, it
has also stated that if a complaint is found to be frivolous, the regulator
can initiate actions against the informant.
Net outflows from credit risk funds jumps three fold in may
- Net outflows from credit risk funds jumped over threefold in the
month of May as investors remained wary of the segment in the light of
recent downgrades and defaults.
- The overall inflows into the debt funds segment also took a huge
hit in May even as the overall assets under management of the mutual fund
industry registered a marginal increase on the back of inflows into equity
schemes.
- Industry experts believe that while investors are likely to be
sceptical of investing in credit funds, the income and gilt categories could
see a jump in inflows on the back of favourable macro-economic factors.
- Meanwhile, equity funds registered a notable rise in the net
inflows with open-ended equity oriented schemes seeing net inflows of Rs.
5,407.75 crore in May, as against Rs. 4,608.74 crore in the previous month.
- According to Mr.Venkatesh, the flows into equity schemes are
likely to revive going forward as uncertainty related to election results
are over and the recent market movement also points towards increased
investor confidence.
::INTERNATIONAL::
PM to attend SCO summit in Bishkek
- Prime Minister NarendraModi will leave for Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan on
Thursday to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit.
- Several important issues, including counter-terrorism, extremism
and multilateral economic cooperation will be discussed during the meeting
which will be held on Friday.
- Mr Modi will also hold bilateral meetings with Chinese President
Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the
Summit.
- AIR correspondent, covering the Prime Minister's visit, reports
that India and Kyrgyzstan enjoy strong historical and cultural relations.
Kyrgyz people not only following culture and history of ancient India but
are also learning classical dance forms like Kathak and practising Yoga.
Canada set to ban single use plastics by 2021
- Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Monday announced that
single-use plastics will be banned in the country from 2021. He declared it
a global challenge to phase out the plastic bags, straws and cutlery
clogging the world's oceans.
- Mr Trudeau said, Canada has a unique chance to lead the fight
against plastic pollution as the country with the world's longest
coastlines. He said, less than 10 percent of plastics used in Canada are
currently recycled.
- Canada, France, Germany, Britain and Italy, along with the
European Union, subscribed at last year's G7 summit in Quebec to a new
charter against pollution in the world's oceans. The United States and Japan
did not join the pact.
- The non-binding Ocean Plastics Charter called on participating
countries and the EU to commit to making all plastics reusable, recyclable
or recovered by 2030.
::SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY::
ISRO gets ready for Chandrayaan mission
- Chandrayaan-2, the country’s first moon lander and rover mission,
is a month away.The Indian Space Research Organisation has marked mid-July
for the take-off and kept the launch window open from July 9 to 16.
- After putting the spacecraft through manoeuvres at the earth end,
a journey of over a month and a few more orbital manoeuvres as it approaches
the moon, ISRO has set September 6 as the date to soft-land its landing
craft at the lunar south pole - a region where no agency has got to so far.
- ISRO recently listed at least six complexities of soft landing a
mission on the Moon – something that pioneers Russia and the U.S. could not
achieve easily back in the mid-1960s.
- The mission carries 14 payloads or instruments to observe and
gauge the lunar scene – both from a distance and on its surface. One of them
is a tiny NASA reflectometer to mark the spot for future missions and assess
the distance from the earth.
- Weighing about 3,500 kg, Chandrayaan-2 will be launched on the
heavy-lift GSLV-Mk III rocket. The mission has missed many dates and its
lander elements have been revamped as recently as in 2018. The tests related
to the lander were conducted at the Challakere multi-agency campus where
ISRO, DRDO, BARC and the IISc facilities are located.