Daily Current Affairs, 14th June 2019

1) World Blood Donor Day: 14th June

•World Blood Donor Day celebrated by World Health Organization on 14th June. The host country for World Blood Donor Day 2019 is Rwanda.

•Theme of World Blood Donor Day 2019: Safe Blood For All

•The event serves to thank voluntary, unpaid blood donors for their life-saving gifts of blood and also to raise awareness of the need for regular blood donations to ensure that all individuals and communities have access to affordable and timely supplies of safe and quality-assured blood and blood products.

2) 20th Anniversary of The Victory at Kargil

•The year 2019, marks the 20th anniversary of victory in ‘Operation VIJAY’ popularly known as the ‘Kargil War’.  This year, 20th anniversary of victory in ‘Operation VIJAY’ is being celebrated with the theme ‘Remember, Rejoice and Renew’. The Victory Flame is to be taken from Delhi to Dras.

•The ‘Kargil Vijay Diwas’ celebrations for the year 2019 will be spread over three days from 25-27 July 2019 and will be organized at Dras and New Delhi. The events and programmes spread over July 2019 will also include a Special National Integration Camp, for the NCC Cadets hailing from various States and Union Territories of the country.

3) Government Reduces the Rate of ESI Contribution from 6.5% to 4%

•The government has reduced the total rate of contribution made by workers and employers towards the Employees’ State Insurance (ESI) scheme from 6.5% to 4% for the first time in over two decades.

•At present, nearly 4.75% of a worker’s monthly salary goes towards ESI as the employer’s contribution and 1.75% of the income is the employee’s share at present.

•Now, 3.25% will be the employer’s share and 0.75% the employee’s.

•This will be effective from July 1, 2019.

4) Culture Minister inaugurates the exhibition ‘Astitva’

•Shri Prahlad Singh Patel, Minister of State (I/C) of Culture & Tourism, GoI inaugurated the exhibition titled “Astitva: The Essence of Prabhakar Barwe”, at National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi.

5) PM Kisan Pension Scheme: Farmers’ contribution to be Rs 100 per month

•Farmers in the age group of 18-40 years will have to contribute 100 rupees per monthunder the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Pension Yojana that seeks to provide a minimum fixed monthly pension of  Rs 3,000 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. The government aims to cover 5 crore beneficiaries in the first three years under the given scheme.

6) Global Peace Index 2019: India Ranks 141st, Iceland Tops

•India’s rank has slipped five places to 141 among 163 countries on the Global Peace Index 2019, while Iceland remains the most peaceful country and Afghanistan the least peaceful nation, as per the report by Australian think tank Institute for Economics & Peace.

•It ranks countries according to their level of peacefulness based on three thematic domains — the level of societal safety and security, the extent of ongoing domestic and international conflict and the degree of militarisation.

•Iceland remains the most peaceful country in the world, a position it has held since 2008. Afghanistan is now the least peaceful country in the world, replacing Syria, which is now the second least peaceful.

•In South Asia, Bhutan topped the index with 15th rank, followed by Sri Lanka 72, Nepal 76 and Bangladesh 101. The neighboring country Pakistan has been ranked 153rd on the index.

7) RBI to infuse Rs 12,500 crore into the financial system through bond purchase

•The Reserve Bank of India will infuse Rs 12,500 crore into the financial system through bond purchases under the Open Market Operation (OMO). The RBI uses open market operations (OMO) for injecting liquidity into the system through the purchase of government bonds (G-Sec).

8) World’s Highest Weather Stations Installed Atop Mount Everest

•A team of Tribhuvan University and National Geographic Society scientists and researchers have installed the world’s highest, fully automated weather stations atop Mount Everest.

•Total five weather stations, including one at a record height of 27,657 feet, were installed on the Earth’s highest mountain above sea level. The team also collected ice core samples from the highest point ever.

9) IAAF To Be Renamed World Athletics

•The IAAF Council approved the global governing body’s new name and logo at the 217th IAAF Council Meeting in Monaco. The athletics body’s new name, ‘World Athletics’,builds upon the organization’s restructuring and governance reform agenda of the past four years to represent a modern, more creative and positive face for the sport.