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Current Affairs: 15 May 2020

1. Uttarakhand Government launches ‘Hope’ portal to give employment to youth

Amidst the corona virus epidemic, people are facing different problems regarding employment. In the midst of this global crisis, the Uttarakhand government has taken an important step. A portal has been launched to create a data base of skilled and unskilled youth of the state and to provide opportunities for employment-self-employment based on it.

• Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat has started this with a cabinet in the Secretariat named ‘HOPE’ (Helping out People Everywhere). This portal will connect Uttarakhand residents living in Uttarakhand, living and working out of the state. Will also be able to connect.
• It is known that a few days ago, Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat launched the Mukhyamantri Swarozgar Yojana. This portal will play an important role in coordinating with this scheme.
• The data base of this portal will be used by all departments of the state and other employment providers to connect youth with self-employment / employment. This portal has been created by the state IT department, skill development department, planning department and NIC in mutual coordination. The web hosting of this portal has been done in the data center at ITDA, IT Park, Government of Uttarakhand.
• In this portal, there is also an option to take training from the skill development department in Uttarakhand. The state government believes that this portal will act as a bridge for the youth of the state. The data base of this portal will be used by all departments of the state and other employment providers to connect youth with self-employment.

2. SCO concludes meeting on corona virus

Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar attended the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) meeting on 13 May through video conferencing. In this meeting of foreign ministers of SCO member countries, the issue of dealing mainly with the corona virus has been discussed.

• The meeting was chaired by Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lovrov and was attended by Foreign Minister Wang Yi of China and Foreign Minister of Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi from all SCO member countries.
• The conference also discussed the situation arising due to the corona virus and possible areas of coordination among SCO countries in dealing with the business and economic and social impacts caused by this epidemic.
•  A regular meeting of SCO foreign ministers is proposed in Russia on June 9 and 10.

Sco

• The Shanghai Cooperation Organization or SCO is the political economic and military organization of Eurasia that was founded in Shanghai in 2001 by leaders from China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. It is headquartered in Beijing.
• In 1996, countries such as Russia, China, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan agreed to mutual cooperation and cooperation, and this was then known as Shanghai-5. The organization was then launched in June 2001 by leaders from China, Russia and four Central Asian countries Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
• The SCO intends to play a joint role in counter-terrorism and military exercises by sharing critical information on terrorism, drug trafficking and cyber security threats, etc. This organization represents 40 percent of the world’s population.
• In September 2014, India applied for SCO membership. In 2015, India was declared a member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in Ufa, Russia. Both the Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi and the Prime Minister of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif were present at the conference in Ufa. Russian President Vladimir Putin, while inaugurating the conference, announced the acceptance of membership of India and Pakistan.
• India and Pakistan were also formally made members of the organization at the summit held in Astana on 09 June 2017.
• The Shanghai Cooperation Organization’s 2019 conference was held in June in Kyrgyzstan’s capital, Bishkek, and is proposed in 2020 in St. Petersburg, Russia.

3. The nation remembers him on the birth anniversary of former President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed

President Ram Nath Kovind remembered the birth anniversary of former President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed on 13 May. On this occasion, he paid homage at the portrait of former President in Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed

• Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed was born on 13 May 1905 in the Hauz Qazi area of ​​Old Delhi. His father’s name was ‘Colonel Jalanur Ali Ahmed’ and grandfather’s name was ‘Khaliluddin Ahmed’.
• He was the fifth President of India (for a full term but could not complete). He was President from 24 August 1974 to 11 February 1977. Ahmed died during his tenure on 11 February 1977 due to cardiac arrest.
• Talking about his political journey, this is how he was elected to the Rajya Sabha from Assam in 1952. After this he was an MLA in Assam from 1957 to 1967. Returned to central politics again from 1971 and handled many ministries. He was serving as Food and Agriculture Minister before being nominated for the post of President.
• In 1974, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi elected Ahmed to the presidency and became the second Muslim President of India. At the behest of Indira Gandhi, she exercised her constitutional right in 1975 and declared an internal emergency.

4. Labor Parliamentary Committee seeks clarification from states regarding ‘weakening’ of labor laws

The Parliament’s Standing Committee on Labor has sought answers from nine states including Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat for ‘weakening’ labor laws. Chairman of the committee Bhartuhari Mahtab said that industries cannot be promoted at the expense of workers’ rights.

• Apart from Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat, clarifications have also been sought from Madhya Pradesh, Goa, Himachal Pradesh, Assam, Rajasthan and Punjab. A response has also been called from the Odisha government under the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) to weaken the labor laws. Whereas Mahtab also comes from BJD.
• To this, the chairman of the committee, Bhartuhari Mahtab said, “Information has been summoned from nine states regarding the weakening of various laws related to labor because we want to know how the industry will benefit from the weakening of labor laws? Also, it has to be seen whether they are crushing the rights of workers. ”

Background

• Governments of states such as Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat have amended labor laws to accelerate economic activity affected by the lockdown and attract investment.
• Similarly, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat have amended their respective labor laws to increase the working hours from eight to 12 hours in a day.
• Citing the need to strike a balance between helping industries and protecting workers ‘rights, the chairman of the committee said that industries cannot be encouraged at the expense of workers’ rights, there must be a balance.

5. Government changed the definition of MSME

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has made several announcements for MSMEs (Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises) under the Self-Reliant India Package. Apart from this, the definition of MSME has also been changed. The new definition includes manufacturing and service units in a category. Apart from this, their classification has been done on both investment and turnover basis.

Micro Enterprises

• Companies with investment up to 1 crore and turnover up to 5 crore will enter the micro category. Earlier, the investment limit for manufacturing sector was 25 lakh and for service enterprises the limit of investment was 10 lakh.

Small Enterprises

• Companies with an investment of 1 crore to 10 crore and turnover from 5 crore to 50 crore will come in this category. In the old definition, investment limits for manufacturing enterprises ranged from 25 lakh to 5 crore. The limit for service enterprises ranged from 10 lakh to 2 crore.

Medium enterprises

• Companies with investment up to 10-20 crores and turnover with 50-100 crores will come in this category. Under the old definition, the investment limit for manufacturing enterprises is between 5-10 crore and for service enterprises the limit is between 2-5 crore.

6. 3100 crores received from PM Cares fund, 1000 crores will be spent on migrant laborers

The PM Cares Fund was created on the instructions of the Prime Minister amidst the growing infection of Corona virus. The Prime Minister’s Office has informed that Rs 3100 crore has been allocated from this fund for the fight against Corona.

• Out of the Rs 3100 crore, about Rs 2000 crore will be earmarked for the purchase of ventilators, an amount of Rs 1000 crore will be used under the supervision of migrant workers and Rs 100 crore will be given to help in the development of the vaccine.

Questions are being raised on the transparency of PM Cares fund

• It is known that questions are being raised about how much donations have been made in the PM Cares Fund so far. While the government has given information to release 3100 crore rupees out of this. The government has still not told how much donations have come to this fund so far.
• The Supreme Court was also challenged over the formation of the PM Cares Fund. However, the Supreme Court dismissed the petition challenging the constitutional validity of the formation of PM Cares Fund to deal with epidemics like Kovid-19.

PM Cares Fund

• The Prime Minister’s Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund – PM-CARES Trust was formed on 27 March 2020. The Prime Minister is its ex-officio President. The Defense Minister, Home Minister and Finance Minister are its ex-officio members.
• It is also worth mentioning here that the Prime Minister can appoint three eminent persons from the respective fields to the Board of Trustees of the PM Cares Fund. However, it is also not known that he has not nominated anyone to these posts.
• The amount of funds in the fund has not been fixed as a result of which a large number of people are able to contribute. The fund is designed to strengthen disaster management capabilities and encourage research to protect citizens.

7. Russia the largest Facebook post blocker country: report

A recent report by social networking platform Facebook has revealed that it has blocked 15,826 posts in the last six months of last year at the request of governments around the world.

• Russia, Pakistan and Mexico are the largest post-blockers. According to Facebook, between July 1 and December 31, 2019, 2900 posts were blocked on Facebook and Instagram at the request of Russia, while Pakistan ranked second on the list, on whose request 2270 posts were blocked.
• This report released by Facebook said that at the request of the Pakistan Tele Communication Authority (PTA), access to 2270 posts and media content was blocked in the last six months of last year whereas in the first six months of 2019 Facebook blocked 5,690 posts. However, these blocked posts have not been revealed by Facebook.
• Speaking of global trends, during the last six months of 2019, government requests for user data increased by 9.5 percent to 128,817 from 140,875. These requests have been issued by countries like America, India, Britain, Germany and France.

Background

• Access to posts or accounts published on Facebook and Instagram is blocked, which are alleged to be in violation of the local laws of the countries.

8. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced the second phase of the economic package

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced on May 14 about the second installment of the 20 lakh crore package announced by the central government. He said that migrant laborers, farmers and poor are our priority.

• The second installment focused on migrant laborers, farmers, street vendors and small traders. The system of one country one ration card will be implemented in the country from August.

Main point of announcement

• For farmers
• The Finance Minister said that the government has brought an additional facility of 30,000 crore for three crore small and marginal farmers. This is in addition to what NABARD gives Rs 90,000 crore. This will be given to the states through State Co-operative Bank, District Co-operative Bank, etc.
• For street vendors
• Sellers, street vendors selling goods, laborers working in homes have brought a credit facility of Rs 5,000 crore. The facility can get up to Rs 10,000 per person. It will be launched in the month of Andal. Those who make digital payments will get additional benefits. In the coming time, they can get more money instead of 10,000. They can grow their business. 5 million street vendors will benefit from it.
• For migrant laborers
• For 2 months migrant laborers will get free grain, rice / wheat and gram even without card. It will be the responsibility of the state governments how to reach them.

• The central government will bear the cost, for which a provision of Rs 3500 crore has been made. This will benefit 8 crore migrant laborers.

Shishu Mudra Loan

• In the Shishu Mudra Loan, the Reserve Bank has given a moratorium of three months, but after that there can be a problem, then the borrower with a loan of up to Rs 50,000 in the Shishu Mudra Loan after the Mauritorium will get the benefit of 2% subvention scheme i.e. interest rebate for the next 12 months. Will be for 3 crore people will get a total benefit of Rs 1500 crore from this

9. Babar appointed captain of Pakistan ODI team

Pakistan cricket team’s star batsman Babar Azam has been appointed as the captain of the One Day International team. Babar will now captain both T20 International and ODI International formats for Pakistan. The PCB has named Babar Azam as the captain for the One-Day International team, while Azhar Ali will remain the captain of the Test team.

• 25-year-old Babar Aajan has performed brilliantly in the last 15 months. He is considered among the best batsmen of the present time. At the end of last year, he was given the command of the T20 International team.
• Babar Azam captained the Pakistan team in the 2012 Under-19 World Cup, in which he was the highest run-scorer for the team. In October, he was given the captaincy of the T20 International team, after which he has played five matches in Pakistan. Pakistan had played the last two matches against Bangladesh and won.
• Earlier, Sarfraz Ahmed was captaining all three formats for Pakistan.

10. NRAI nominated for Anjum Modgil Khel Ratna and Jaspal Rana Dronacharya Award

The National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) has nominated veteran rifle shooter Anjum Modgil for the country’s highest sporting honor Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, while coach Jaspal Rana for the Dronacharya Awards for the second consecutive year.

• The names of Saurabh Chaudhary and Abhishek Verma have been recommended for the Arjuna Award.
• In the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award, the player gets a medal, certificate and a prize money of Rs seven lakh 50 thousand.
• The Dronacharya Award is given to the players who have given exceptional results in international competitions and to the players who are coaching the teams. In this prize a prize money of Rs five lakh is given.

Anjum Modgil

• Twenty-six-year-old Anjum began shooting in 2008 and was one of the first two Indian shooters to achieve a quota in shooting for the Tokyo Olympics.
• The Chandigarh-based shooter won the Olympic quota with a silver medal in the 10-meter air rifle event at the ISSF World Cup in Korea. Last year, the pair of Anjum and Divyansh Singh Panwar won the gold medal in the 10-meter air rifle mixed team event of the ISSF World Cup in Munich and Beijing.

Jaspal Rana

• The 43-year-old Jaspal, who has won several gold medals at the Asian Games, is credited with nurturing young shooters like Manu Bhaker, Saurabh and Aneesh Bhanwala to become world-class shooters.
• Last year, Jaspal was disputed for not being selected for the award and Abhinav Bindra, India’s only individual Olympic gold medalist, criticized the selection panel for not selecting the veteran coach for the Dronacharya Award.