Current Affairs is the most important area in all competitive exams. But the difficulty level is very high. That’s why; many aspirants get confused, how to select Current Affairs for Preparation of Competitive Examination? In this Post, Daily Current Affairs 19 June 2021, we have tried to cover each and every point and also included all important facts from National/ International news that are useful for upcoming competitive examinations such as UPSC, SSC, Railway, State Govt. etc.
Daily Current Affairs 19 June 2021
PM Narendra Modi’s approval rating highest among world leaders
According to a survey conducted by an American data intelligence firm, Morning Consult, Prime Minister Narendra Modi continues to fare better than other global leaders.
Morning Consult Political Intelligence tracks the approval rating for governmental leaders in Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, South Korea, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States on a weekly basis.
After PM Modi, Italian PM Mario Draghi’s approval rating stands at 65 per cent followed by Mexican President López Obrador at 63 per cent.
Morning Consult is a global data intelligence company delivering insights and custom market research on what people think in real time.
India ranks 43rd in IMD’s World Competitiveness Index 2021
India held the 43rd rank in the World Competitiveness Index 2021 of the Institute for Management Development (IMD).
Among the BRICS countries, India was ranked second after China (16), followed by Russia (45th), Brazil (57th) and South Africa (62nd).
Switzerland led the 64-nation list, followed by Sweden (moved up to the second position from sixth in 2020), Denmark, the Netherlands and Singapore.
IMD World Competitiveness Centre publishes the ranking annually that evaluates the prosperity and competitiveness of 64 nations by assessing four factors – infrastructure, economic performance, business efficiency and government efficiency.
India ranks 135th in 15th edition of Global Peace Index (GPI) 2021
India ranks 135th 15th edition of Global Peace Index (GPI) was announced by Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP) Sydney, Australia.
Index ranks 163 independent states and territories as per level of their peacefulness. Iceland is most peaceful country worldwide since 2008. Iceland is joined by other top countries like Denmark, New Zealand, Portugal and Slovenia.
Afghanistan is the world’s least peaceful country for the fourth consecutive year, but it was Burkina Faso which recorded the largest deterioration in the Global Peace Index 2021. Afghanistan is followed by Yemen, Syria, South Sudan, and Iraq.
Bhutan and Nepal are first and second most peaceful in this region. Bangladesh was 91th out of 163 countries across the world while being 3rd in South Asia. Sri Lanka slipped by 19 position to become 95th peaceful country while, 4th in South Asia region. Pakistan witnessed the most improvement in peacefulness with 150th rank globally and 6th in South Asia region.
Former Indian sprinter Milkha Singh passed away
Former Indian sprinter Milkha Singh recently passed away at the age of 91, after a month-long battle with Covid-19 in Chandigarh. He was famously known by the sobriquet ‘Flying Sikh’.
A former army man, Milkha Singh won several laurels for the country in track and field events across the globe.
He won four gold medals for India in the Asian Games, winning the 200 metre and 400 metre races in the 1958 Tokyo Asiad.
He followed it up with gold medals in the 400 metre and 4×400 metre relay races in the 1962 Jakarta Asiad.
Singh was unlucky to have missed out on an Olympic medal as he finished a close fourth in the 400 metre final at the 1960 Rome Olympics.
World Health Organization identified a new variant lambda of COVID-19
The World Health Organization (WHO) officials informed about a new variant named Lambda, which has been identified in 29 countries and believed to have originated in South America.
The WHO identified the Lambda lineage and classified it as a global variant of Interest due to an “elevated prevalence” in South America.
While in Chile, the variant has been found in 32 percent of all submitted sequences in the last 60 days, and only outclassed by the Gamma variant which was initially detected in Brazil.
As per the WHO, this lineage carries mutations that might increase transmissibility or strengthen the virus’s resistance to antibodies.
Unlike variants of concern, variants of interest are closely watched by health organizations but are not proved yet to be significant threats to public health.
Line of Credit agreement between India and Sri Lanka in Solar Energy Sector
India extended a line of credit (LOC) of $100 million to Sri Lank through the Exim Bank for financing projects in the solar energy sector in Sri Lanka.
The LOC will help finance various projects in the solar energy sector in Sri Lanka including those announced during the founding conference of the International Solar Alliance (ISA) held in March 2018, such as rooftop solar photovoltaic systems for households and government buildings.
89 countries including Sri Lanka have signed the framework agreement of ISA which was jointly launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and former French president Francois Hollande in November 2015.
ISA aims to bring together countries to promote large-scale deployment of solar energy and overcome challenges related to technology, finance and capacity.
Over the past seven years, solar power generation in India has increased to 34.6 GW in 2021 from about 2.6 GW in March 2014. The National Solar Mission of India aims to increase it further to 100 GW and beyond.
Ministry of Earth Sciences has allocated Rs. 4077 cr for ‘Deep Ocean Mission’
The Union Cabinet approved the Rs 4,077-crore Deep Ocean Mission that will be led by scientists at the Ministry of Earth Sciences.
This mission will make India one among the handful of powerful nations that already have dedicated ocean studies and missions, including the US, Japan, France, Russia and China.
The mission also provides impetus to India’s Blue Economy initiatives planned from 2020 to 2030 which envisages a number of researches that will be performed to study the oceans, of which very little is known.
Five thrust areas under the Deep Ocean Mission are development of technologies for deep sea mining; manned submersible; development of ocean climate change advisory services; development of technology for exploration and conservation of deep-sea biodiversity; deep ocean survey and setting up of a marine station for ocean Biology.
India, which has an over 7,500-km-long coastline, is flanked by the sea on three sides. It has nine coastal states and 1,382 islands. Given the strategic importance of the Indian Ocean region for the country, the mission will help India tighten its grip in the South Asia region.
The five-year inter-ministerial and inter-departmental mission will bring together researchers and experts from the Indian Space Research Organisation, Defence Development and Research Organisation, Department of Atomic Energy, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, Department of Biotechnology and the Indian Navy.
Tribal Affairs Ministry launched ‘Aadi Prashikshan Portal’
The Ministry of Tribal Affairs launched the ADI Prashikshan portal and a three-day online training programme on capacity building for the Scheduled Tribe (ST) Panchayati Raj Institution (PRI) members as part of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav celebration.
The portal will have a database of trainees, trainers, and resource persons. Further, the trainees can have access to course material even after completion of the training programme from the portal.
The ADI Prashikshan portal has been developed by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Tribal Research Institute, Odisha.
The ADI Prashikshan portal will be a repository of all the training programmes conducted by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Tribal Research Institute (TRI), Centre of Excellence (COE) and Eklavya Model Residential Schools (EMRS), upcoming National Tribal Research Institute (NTRI) and Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India Limited (TRIFED).
Weightlifting at the Tokyo Olympics over past doping cases banned
Romania (Switzerland) has been banned from competing in weightlifting at the Tokyo Olympics over past doping cases, the International Weightlifting Federation ruled.
The Romanian Weightlifting Federation was issued a one-year ban from competition over five doping cases. Those included disqualifications for all four of Romania’s weightlifters from the 2012 Olympics after various banned substances were found in later retesting of their samples.
One of those athletes, Gabriel Sincraian, also lost a medal from the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro for another failed drug test.
Romania becomes the fourth country barred from the Tokyo weightlifting competition after Egypt, Malaysia and Thailand, which were also excluded over doping-related issues.
Another 15 countries can send only a limited number of athletes to Tokyo over past doping, including major powers Russia, Iran and Turkey.
MoU signed for development of National Maritime Heritage Complex
The Union ministry of ports, shipping and waterways and the Union ministry of culture signed an MoU for ‘Cooperation in development of National Maritime Heritage Complex (NMHC)’ in Lothal in Gujarat.
The NMHC will be developed in the vicinity of the ASI site of Lothal, located about 80km from Ahmedabad.
The complex will be developed as an international tourist destination, where the maritime heritage of India from ancient to modern times will be showcased.
For developing the project, the land transfer formalities have been completed and all land-related clearances and the environmental nod have been obtained.
The NMHC will be developed in an area of about 400 acres. It will house unique structures such as National Maritime Heritage Museum, Lighthouse Museum, Heritage Theme Park, museum-themed hotels, maritime-themed eco-resorts, and Maritime Institute. These will be developed in a phased manner.
Customized Crash Course programme for COVID-19 frontline workers
The Prime Minister of India launched ‘Customized Crash Course programme for Covid 19 Frontline workers’.
The training programme would be conducted in 111 training centres spread over 26 states. About one lakh frontline workers will be trained in this initiative.
This launch is an important next step in the fight against Corona. The Prime Minister cautioned that the virus is present and possibility of mutation is also there.
The programme has been designed as a special programme under the Central Component of Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana 3.0, with total financial outlay of Rs. 276 crore.
The programme will create skilled non-medical healthcare workers to fill the present and future needs of manpower in the health sector.
Ministry of Home Affairs launches national helpline no. to report cyber crime
Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) operationalised the national helpline 155260 and reporting platform for preventing financial loss due to cyber fraud.
The helpline was soft launched on April 1, 2021. The helpline 155260 and its reporting platform has been made operational by the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C), with active support and cooperation from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), all major banks, payment banks, wallets and online merchants.
The Citizen Financial Cyber Fraud Reporting and Management System has been developed in-house by I4C to integrate law enforcement agencies and banks and financial intermediaries.
Currently, the number would be operational in seven states and Union territories (Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Telangana, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh). The roll out in the others states for pan-India coverage is underway, the government added.
Aashish Chandorkar appointed as Director at India’s WTO mission
The government has appointed a private person Aashish Chandorkar as ‘Counsellor’ in India’s Permanent Mission in the World Trade Organisation for three years.
The appointment of a private person is a first at the Mission and comes ahead of a crucial ministerial conference of the WTO later this year.
Chandorkar is director of Bengaluru-based policy think tank Smahi Foundation of Policy and Research.
The WTO is a 164-member multi-lateral body, which deals with global trade. India is a member since 1995.
Yuvraj Singh become the face of puma motorsport India
PUMA has extended its decade long partnership with former Indian Cricketer Yuvraj Singh by signing him as the face of PUMA Motorsport in India.
Globally, PUMA is associated with Scuderia Ferrari, Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team, Aston Martin Red Bull Racing, BMW M Motorsport and Porche Motorsport.
With India being one of the biggest markets for PUMA motorsport, the brand looks to capitalize on the growing demand for streetstyle products inspired by performance gear.
A tense Food Shortage is facing by North Korea
North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un issued a rare warning about a “tense” food situation brought about by extensive flooding, the coronavirus pandemic and international sanctions.
North Korea’s grain production was estimated to have dropped from 4.64 million tons in 2019 to 4.4 million last year. That creates an overall grain shortage of 1.35 million tons this year.
North Korea has always suffered annual grain shortages, though the country has tried to fill the gap with trade and international aid, especially from China.
Kim has since promised to lead his country through the sanctions by building a “self-reliant economy” that produces more goods at home and depends less on trade with the outside world.
North Korea already subjected to the FATF Black List due to on-going and substantial money laundering and terrorist financing (ML/FT) risks emanating from the jurisdictions.
