Current Affairs 14 June 2019

Current Affairs 14 June

> World Blood Donor Day -  14 June

Slogan - Safe Blood for All

> Nirmala Sitharaman, Jaishankar to get JNU’s Distinguished Alumni Award

Jawaharlal Nehru University on June 12 said it would confer its Distinguished Alumni Award to Union Ministers Nirmala Sitharaman and Subrahmanyam Jaishankar. The award will be presented at JNU’s third convocation to be held in August. “The Executive Council of the JNU approved a proposal to bestow the award on Finance Minister Ms. Sitharaman and External Affairs Minister Mr. Jaishankar, during the third convocation of the university to be held in August this year,” Registrar Pramod Kumar said in a statement. “Their highly distinguished career and achievements have made the university very proud and they are a great source of inspiration for JNU students and researchers. They will be the first recipients of the Distinguished Alumni Award,” Mr. Kumar added.

> PM Kisan Pension Scheme: Farmers' contribution to be Rs 100 per month

Farmers will have to contribute 100 rupees per month under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Pension Yojana that seeks to provide a minimum fixed monthly pension of  3,000 rupees on the attainment of 60 years. The central government will also contribute an equal amount to the pension fund to be managed by the LIC, which will be responsible for the pension payout. The government in its first cabinet meeting had approved a separate pension scheme for farmers with an aim to cover 5 crore beneficiaries in the first three years. 

> RBI to pump in Rs 12,500 Cr liquidity on June 20

The Reserve Bank of India said June 13 said it will infuse Rs 12,500 crore into the financial system through bond purchases on June 20. The decision has taken based on a review of the evolving liquidity conditions and assessment of the durable liquidity needs going forward, the central bank said in a statement. The purchase of government securities under the Open Market Operation (OMO) for Rs 125 billion (Rs 12,500 crore) will be conducted on June 20, 2019. The government securities to be purchased in the auction would be communicated in due course, the RBI added.

> SEBI tightens disclosure norms for credit rating agencies

Markets watchdog SEBI June 13 came out with a strict disclosure framework for credit rating agencies wherein they will be required to provide the probability of default for various rated instruments. The regulator's move comes against the backdrop of rising instances of debt defaults and concerns over the role of credit rating agencies in assessing the possible risks. Credit rating agencies have also come under the scanner in the IL & FS case. "CRAs (credit rating agencies), in consultation with Sebi, shall prepare and disclose standardized and uniform probability of default (PD) benchmarks for each rating category on their website, for one-year, two-year and three-year cumulative default rates, both for short-run and long-run," the circular said.

> The Centre directed the banks to issue Kissan Credit Cards (KCC) to eligible farmers within two weeks

Normally, farm loans are given at an interest rate of 9% but the government is providing 2% interest subsidy to ensure that farmers get loans at an effective rate of 7%. Additional 3% rebate will be given to those farmers who pay their loans within due date making the effective interest rate 4%.

 > Government of India to inaugurate Astiva in New Delhi

Shri Prahlad Singh Patel, Minister of State of Culture and Tourism, will inaugurate the exhibition titled "Astiva: The Essence of Prabhakar Barwe", first of its kind, at National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi.

> Amitav Ghosh was honored with Jnanpith Award

He has also been awarded Padma Shri. Some of his books are - The Hungry Tide, Flood of Fire, The Calcutta Chromosome and In an Antique Land. His latest novel is "Gun Island".

> 'EducationUSA' launched by US Embassy

The US embassy has launched an app for students who wish to study in USA that gives comprehensive and latest information about studying in US.

> HCl technologies is set to roll out 'Tech Bee' programme under which it will train and hire students who have completed 12th class.

> India to launch Aditya-L1 in 2020

ISRO has announced that India will launch its first solar mission to study the sun named Aditya-L1 in the upcoming year. Aditya-L1 is expected to be inserted in a halo orbit around the Lagrangian Point L1 which is 1.5 million km away from earth.

> Reigning World Billiards Champion Sourav Kothari won 2019 Pacific International Snooker Championship - The Reventon Classic in Melbourne, Australia by defeating Tyson Crinis of Australia