DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS 26 JUNE 2020
1. 14% RISE IN TB PATIENTS IN 2019
·
Annual “India
TB (Tuberculosis) Report 2020” released by Central TB Division (CTD).
The salient feature of 2020 report is that for the first time CTD introduced a
quarterly ranking on TB elimination efforts by all the states and UTs.
·
In
accordance with the report, there were around 24.04 lakh TB patients in 2019, a
14% increase in as compared to the year 2018.
·
It
should be noted that the sustainable goal of eradicating TB globally is 2030,
but the Indian government is committed to achieve this target in the country
by 2025.
·
NI-KSHAY-(Ni=End,
Kshay=TB), a web enabled patient management system for TB control under the
NTEP is developed and maintained by the CTD in collaboration with the National
Informatics Centre (NIC), and the World Health Organization (WHO) Country
office for India.
2. NITI AAYOG & ITF LAUNCH DECARBONIZING
TRANSPORT PROJECT
·
The
NITI (National Institution for Transforming India) aayog and the
International Transport Forum(ITF) of OECD (Organisation for Economic
Co-operation and Development) launched the ‘Decarbonizing Transport in
Engineering Economies’ (DTEE) project in India.
·
ITF
Secretary General Young Tae Kim and NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant inaugurated the
launch.
·
The
Five year project helps India in developing a pathway towards low-carbon
transport system through development of modelling tools and policy
scenarios.
·
The
Transport sector of India is the third most greenhouse gas emitting sector (max
contribution from Road transport).
3. KUSHINAGAR
AIRPORT IN UPDEVLOPED AS AN INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
·
The
Union Cabinet has given its assent for the declaration of airport in Uttar
Pradesh’s (UP) Kushinagar as an international airport.
·
The
reason behind this move is to provide improved connectivity to Kushinagar, an
important Buddhist pilgrimage site, located in the north-eastern part of UP.
·
The town has pilgrimage sites in Lumbini,
Shravasti, Kapilvastu nearby it. A little farther, it has sites in Sarnath and
Gaya.
·
It
is to be noted that Gautama Buddha attained Mahaparinirvana after his death at
Kushinagar.
4.
2% INTEREST SUBVENTION ON SHISHU LOANS
·
The
Cabinet has also approved a scheme for interest subvention of 2% for a period
of 12 months to all Shishu loan accounts under Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana
(PMMY) to eligible borrowers w.e.f. June 01, 2020 till May 31, 2021.
·
The
estimated cost of the Scheme is approximately Rs 1,542 crore and
will be implemented through the Small Industries Development Bank of
India (SIDBI).
·
The
scheme provides loan up-to 10 lakhs to the non-corporate, non-farm small/micro
enterprises.
·
The
loans provided under PMMY are classified as MUDRA (Micro Units Development
& Refinance Agency Ltd) loans.
·
The
loan coverage is classified under these three products.
5. PAKISTAN REMAINS IN FATF GREY LIST
·
Financial
Action Task Force(FATF) in its 3rd and final plenary meeting under
the Chinese Presidency of Xiangmin Liu over a virtual platform, retained
Pakistan on the grey list till October 2020, for failing to prosecute and
penalise terrorist financing in the country before the deadline fixed by FATF .
·
Germany
will take over the presidency of the FATF from July, 2020 for a year.
6. GLOBAL ECONOMY WILL COME DOWN BY 4.9%: IMF
·
The International
Monetary Fund (IMF) in the June 2020 update “A Crisis Like No
Other, An Uncertain Recovery” of its flagship World Economic Outlook (WEO),
has predicted that the Indian economy will have a big 4.5
% contraction in 2020 and it will come
down to a historic low.
·
This
historical decline will be the lowest level since 1961 due to the Coronavirus
(covid-19) epidemic, its prevention measures and slowdown of economic
activity.
·
The
coronavirus (COVID-19) epidemic has had more negative effects in the first half
of 2020. In China, where recovery continues from the first quarter’s decline,
the growth rate is estimated at 1 % in 2020.
7. 45TH EDITION OF TIFF 2020
·
Actor Priyanka
Chopra and Filmmaker Anurag Kashyap named among the
50 ambassadors for the 45th edition of Toronto International
Film Festival(TIFF) 2020, which is to be held virtually.
·
The
festival will take place from September 10-19 with physical screenings and
drive-ins, digital screenings, virtual red carpets, press conferences and
industry talks.
·
This
is the 1st time TIFF will launch a digital platform for
the festival, offering new opportunities to connect with audiences beyond
Toronto.
8. CLARE CONNOR , 1st FEMALE PRESIDENT OF MCC
·
Former
England Women Cricket Captain Clare Connor(43 year old), an all-rounder,
becomes the 1st female president of Marylebone Cricket Club(MCC) in
233 years.
·
Her
tenure will begin on October 1, 2021, and will end on September 30, 2022. She
will succeed Kumar Sangakkara.
·
She
is current head of women’s cricket in the England and Wales Cricket Board
(since 2007).
9. ‘EBLOODSERVICES’ APP TO ORDER BLOOD
·
In
order to save the needy from anemia in the midst of the coronavirus (COVID-19)
epidemic, Union Health Minister Dr.
·
Harsh
Vardhan has launched ‘eBloodServices‘
mobile app developed by the ERaktkosh team of C-DAC (Development of Advanced
Computing) India for easy access to blood needed for transfusion.
·
The
mobile app is an initiative of the Indian Red Cross Society (IRCS) with
the aim of ‘Safe blood saves lives’ will be available in entire Delhi-NCR
initially.
10. DRONE MOUNTED ULV SPRAYER FOR LOCUST
CONTROL
·
Under
the Make in India initiative the Department of Agriculture,
Cooperation & Farmers’ Welfare (DAC&FW) has initiated
to develop a vehicle mounted ultra-low volume (ULV) sprayer
for locust control to reduce the limitations of importing equipment.
·
India is
to be the first country in the world to control desert locusts using drones.