DAILY Current Affairs 19 JUNE 2020

DAILY Current Affairs 19 JUNE 2020

1. FORMAL JOBS IN INDIA INCREASES BY 28.6%

·        According to the payroll data of EPFO (Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation), an organization tasked to assist the Central Board of Trustees, Employees’ Provident Fund, the formal employment in India saw an 28.6 % increase at 78.58 lakh in 2019-20 as compared to only 61.12 lakh added in 2018-19.

·        The main reason for this is the low withdrawal by EPFO ​​subscribers due to the government’s policy reforms such as implementing GST, allowing fixed income contracts as well as better returns on PF (Provident Fund) deposits.

2. INDIA ELECTED AS NON-PERMANENT MEMBER OF UNSC

·        India was elected unopposed for an 8th term as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) for two years (i.e.2021 & 2022) starting January 2021 by gaining 184 votes in the 193-member General Assembly.

·         Along with India, Mexico, Ireland, Kenya and Norway were also elected.

·        India was the only candidate for the lone seat from the Asia-Pacific category.

·        India will serve as the president of the powerful 15-nation UN body for the month of August, 2021 & once again it will serve as the president for 1 month in the year 2022.

·        The Presidency of the council will be held by each of the members in turn for one month. For June 2020 it is held by France.

3. ICICI HOME FINANCE LAUNCHES SARAL

·        ICICI Home Finance Company Limited(HFC) launched SARAL, a special affordable housing loan scheme to finance homes in urban and rural areas.

·        The beneficiaries are women, lower, middle income customers and economically weaker sections, with a maximum household income up to Rs 6 lakh per annum.

·        ICICI HFC offers interest subsidy of up to Rs 2.67 lakh per house for SARAL loan applicants up to the end of this financial year, under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY)

·        ICICI HFC is a Housing Finance Company regulated by the Reserve Bank of India(RBI) and is a wholly-owned subsidiary of ICICI Bank Ltd.

4. BANK OF BARODA TO FULLY DIGITIZE LENDING OPERATIONS

·        India’s 3rd largest lender, Bank of Baroda is set to fully digitise its lending operations including home, agriculture, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises(MSME), personal and auto loans.

·        Verification and issuance of new loans will take place through this digital platform & past loans will also be digitized to reduce costs and improve profitability.

·        The bank has recently completed its merger with Vijaya Bank and Dena Bank.

5. PRESIDENT OF 75TH UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

·        Volkan Bozkir(69) from Turkey was elected as the president of the 75th United Nations(UN) General Assembly.

·        He is the 1st turkish to hold this post.

·        He will hold the post for 1 year.

·        Volkan Bozkir will succeed Tijjani Muhammad-Bande when the annual session opens on September 15, 2020.

·        He won unopposed with the support of 178 UN member states by secret ballot.

6. “FIFTH STATE OF MATTER” IN SPACE

·        A team of scientists at US (United States) based Space agency NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration)’s Cold Atom Lab (CAL), have found for the first time in space the evidence of ‘Fifth State of Matter’ (also known as Bose-Einstein condensates (BEC).

·        They believe that through this will help in solving some of the quantum puzzles of quantum universe the kernels of the universe can be solved and its origin can also be traced.

·        It is to be noted that, the existence of BEC was first predicted by great scientist Albert Einstein and Indian mathematician Satyendra Nath Bose, almost 100 years ago in early 1920.

·         This experiment has been done at the International Space Station (ISS).

·        There are four states of matter namely Solid, Fluid, Gas and Plasma. Plasma is the gaseous state, but it is ionized.

7. SUSTAINABLE GASTRONOMY DAY 2020 – JUNE 18

·        June 18th of every year is observed as the sustainable gastronomy day to celebrate seasonal ingredients and producers, preserve wildlife and culinary traditions.