1) International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict
•International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict is observed globally on 19th June every year. This day is seen to bring issues to light of the need to stop strife related sexual violence, to honour the victims and survivors of sexual violence around the world and to pay tribute to all or any those that have fearlessly dedicated their lives to and lost their lives in going to bat for the annihilation of those violations.
2) Autistic Pride Day: 18th June
•Autistic Pride Day is observed globally on 18th June every year. This day is observed to respect the rights of persons with autism. In 2005, the first autistic pride day was celebrated in Brazil by the Aspies For Freedom(AFF) created by Gareth & Amy Nelson and became a global event. A rainbow infinity symbol is used to represent neurodiversity which symbolises the infinite possibilities in the lives of autistic people.
3) India releases National Report on the state of Climate Crisis
•India’s first ever National Report on the state of the Climate Crisis has been released. The report has been prepared under the aegis of Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) with title “Assessment Of Climate Change Over The Indian Region”. The report analyses where India stands regarding long-term changes in climate patterns, and their attendant risks.
4) Karnataka Government observes “Mask Day” on 18 June
•Karnataka government observed the “Mask Day” on 18 June 2020. The Mask Day was observed to aware the people about the use of masks, sanitisers, washing hands with soap in order to control the spread of COVID-19 in the state. It also urged the people to maintain the social distancing norms.
•To observe “Mask Day”, the Karnataka government organised a march which featured the participation of public representatives, dignitaries and medical staff. Through the march, the participants spread awareness among the people about the national directives issued to contain the COVID-19.
5) Volkan Bozkir becomes new president of 75th UN General Assembly
•Turkish’s diplomat Volkan Bozkir has been elected president of the 75th session of the UN General Assembly. The 75th session of the UN General Assembly begins in September 2020.
•Bozkir won the unanimous support of the 178 UN members. He will take over from Tijjani Muhammad-Bande, the present General Assembly president. A General Assembly president has a one-year term.
6) International Workshop on “Good Governance Practices in a Pandemic”
•International Workshop on “Good Governance Practices in a Pandemic for International Civil Servants” was inaugurated by the Union Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Jitendra Singh. The workshop was organized by Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC), Ministry of External Affairs and National Centre for Good Governance (NCGG), Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG).
•The two-day Conference featured the participation of 81 International Civil Servants from 16 Countries. The participants included the Chief of Staff, Sri Lanka Army Major General HJS Gunawardena, 19 Senior Secretaries to Government from Bangladesh, 11 District Administrators from Myanmar, Senior officials from Bhutan, Somalia, Thailand, Tunisia, Tonga, Kenya, Morocco, Nepal, Oman, Sudan and Uzbekistan.
7) ICICI Home Finance launches “SARAL” scheme for affordable house loan
•ICICI Home Finance Company Limited (HFC) has launched “SARAL” scheme for a special affordable house loan for 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.
8) BoB to completely digitize its lending operations
•India’s 3rd largest lender, Bank of Baroda will completely digitize its lending operations including home, agriculture, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises(MSME), personal and auto loans. The bank has recently completed its merger with Vijaya Bank and Dena Bank.
9) CCI approves acquisition of Metso Minerals business by Outotec
•The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has approved the acquisition of Metso Oyj’s (“Metso”) minerals business by Outotec Oyj (“Outotec”). The acquisition will be done under Section 31(1) of the Competition Act, 2002. According to the acquisition rules, all such assets, rights, debts, as well as the liabilities of Metso that relate to, or primarily serve its minerals business would be acquired by Outotec. Outotec & Metso are public limited liability companies incorporated and registered under the laws of Finland.
•The Proposed merger relates to acquisition of Metso’s minerals business by Outotec. As per the merger, the shareholders of Metso will receive newly issued shares in Outotec after the transfer of Metso Minerals to Outotec. After the merger, the combined entity will operate under the name “Metso Outotec”.
10) British Petroleum to set up Global Business Service Centre in Pune
•United Kingdom oil major “British Petroleum” is going to set up Global Business Service Centre in Pune, Maharashtra to support its global businesses. The centre would be established for its global business services (GBS) operations in Pune, Maharashtra. The centre is expected to begin its operations by January 2021.
•The planned Global Business Service Centre will employ around 2000 people and provide business processing as well as advanced analytics capabilities in support of British Petroleum businesses worldwide. The GBSC in India will allow the oil major to tap into India’s digital talent pool and would result in its development and application of cutting-edge digital solutions.
11) MoHUA & SIDBI signs MoU for PM SVANidhi scheme
•Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) for PM Street Vendor’s AtmaNirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi). PM SVANidhi is a Special Micro-Credit Facility for Street Vendors.
•According to the MoU, PM SVANidhi Scheme will be implemented by SIDBI under the guidance of MoHUA. The credit guarantee to the lending institutions would also be managed by the SIDBI through Credit Guarantee Fund Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises (CGTMSE).
•Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) will ensure effective implementation of the scheme by providing a Project Management Unit (PMU) consisting of domain experts in training/ capacity building, project and platform management, banking, NBFC and MFI sectors etc for the period of scheme, i.e. upto March 2022. SIDBI will also leverage the network of lending Institutions for the Scheme implementation. The lending institutions will include Scheduled Commercials Banks (SCBs), Non-Bank Finance Companies (NBFCs), Regional Rural Banks (RRBs), Co-operative Banks, Small Finance Banks (SFBs), etc.
