Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 18 JUNE 2020

SSC CGL Current Affairs

::NATIONAL::

Hinting at opening up of more economic activities and further normalisation, Prime Minister NarendraModi urged the States and Union Territories to plan the second phase of Nationwide Unlock.
Debunking all rumours related to re-imposition of Nationwide Lockdown, he said, the nation needs to focus on phase 2 of Unlock and ways to minimize possibilities of any harm to the people.
Prime Minister Modi while interacting with the State and Union Territories Chief Ministers on the second day of his virtual meeting yesterday, discussed the roadmap to further embolden nation's fight against Coronavirus.
Mr.Modi highlighted the increase in domestic manufacturing capabilities of PPEs, masks, availability of diagnostic kits in adequate quantity, supply of ventilators made in India using PM CARES fund, availability of testing labs, lakhs of COVID special beds, thousands of isolation and quarantine centres, and adequate human resource through training.
Mr.Modi exhorted States and UTs to work upon developing infrastructure to extend the facility of telemedicine to make health solutions accessible to larger numbers of people. He also called upon a greater concerted effort of all organisations including NGOs and private players to help India return on the track of normalisation.

The Supreme Court on Wednesday sought a response from the government to a plea that contributions made to the PM CARES Fund to fight COVID-19 should be transferred entirely to the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF).
A Bench led by Justice Ashok Bhushan asked the government to respond to a petition by the Centre for Public Interest Litigation that future contributions and grants by individuals and institutions for the COVID-19 battle should be credited to the NDRF and not the PM CARES Fund. The NDRF should be used in the fight against the virus.
“The latest National Plan uploaded on the website of the National Disaster Management Authority is of the year 2019. It does not comprehensively deal with the situation arising out of the current pandemic and has no measures like lockdown, containment zones, social distancing, etc,” the petition, represented by senior advocate Dushyant Dave and advocate PrashantBhushan, said.

Chairman of 15th Finance Commission, N. K. Singh and Members today had a meeting with Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat on grant for provisions of drinking water and sanitation services.
The Terms of Reference of the Commission mandates it to recommend the measures needed to augment the Consolidated Fund of a State to supplement the resources of the Panchayats and Municipalities on the basis of recommendations made by the Finance Commission of the State.
The Finance Commission needed to understand whether the current experience of the submission of its report 2020-21 and its recommendations on grants for local bodies, was adequate enough to continue this type of grants for 2021-22 to 2025-26.
The Ministry said that it would require an amount of approximately 82 thousand crore rupees as a part of ‘Sectoral allocations for infrastructural development’ to achieve drinking water security.

The Finance Ministry has asked public sector banks (PSBs) to cut non-core expenditure by at least 20% this year so that they can ensure productive use of their financial resources for core business activities.
These banks have also been asked to effect cost-cutting measures by deferring avoidable expenditure like purchase of vehicles for staff, spending on decorative items, refurbishment of guest houses, among others.
Recently, Punjab National Bank ran into a controversy when it took delivery of three luxury Audi cars, to be used by the managing director and two senior executive directors. The three cars cost the bank ₹1.34 crore.
The communication from the ministry said that publicity costs should be curtailed by making effective use of social media and press releases, and by pooling resources with other PSBs for common publicity campaigns.

India was elected as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for a two-year term after winning 184 votes in the 193-member General Assembly. Along with India, Ireland, Mexico and Norway also won the Security Council elections held last night.
India was a candidate for a non-permanent seat from the Asia-Pacific category for the 2021-22 term. Its victory was certain as it was the sole candidate vying for the lone seat from the grouping. New Delhi's candidature was unanimously endorsed by the 55-member Asia-Pacific grouping in June last year.
India's Permanent Representative to the UN, T S Tirumurti said, India received overwhelming support in its election to the UN Security Council and it will continue to provide leadership and a new orientation for a reformed multilateral system.
Mr Tirumurti said, India will become a member of the Security Council at a critical juncture and we are confident that in the COVID, and the post COVID world, India will continue to provide leadership and a new orientation for a reformed multilateral system.
Prime Minister NarendraModi has thanked the global community and member countries of the United Nations for their overwhelming support for India's membership in the UN Security Council. In a tweet , he affirmed that India will work with all member countries to promote global peace, security, resilience and equity.

Assam’s principal city and the largest in the northeast, Guwahati ,shares around 326 other species of fauna recorded so far. Very few of them are caged in the Assam State zoo that occupies 30 hectares of the 620-hectare Hengerabari Reserve Forest referred to as the city’s lungs.
The 328-sq km city and its outskirts have 18 hills, eight reserve forests, two wildlife sanctuaries and a Ramsar site (DeeporBeel) besides the Brahmaputra flowing past its northern edge. This stretch of the river has a few Ganges river dolphin, which has the status of ‘city animal’.
“There have been reports of animals exploring human habitations during the COVID-19 lockdown. This has never been the case with Guwahati where people have co-existed with arguably the widest range of fauna despite human-animal conflicts such as the lynching of a leopard a few day ago,” Mr.Purkayastha told.
“Six of Guwahati’s resident snakes are venomous, three of them [krait] strictly nocturnal while the monocled cobra is around wetlands. Thus, the snakes we see in the city are most likely to be non-venomous, providing services such as rodent population control,” he said.
Wildlife specialists are worried that Guwahati has been following the global trend, which projects the urban area on earth to triple before 2030.

The Sports Ministry is all set to establish Khelo India State Centres of Excellence under the Khelo India Scheme. One such centre will be identified in each State and Union Territory with an aim to create a robust sporting ecosystem in the entire country.
Youth Affairs and Sports Minister KirenRijiju said, these centres are being established to strengthen India’s pursuit for excellence in Olympics. He said, the effort is to scale up the best sporting facilities available in each state into academies of world-class standard.