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 20 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.
Bangladesh to set up international vaccine institute
Bangladesh recently decided to set up an international institute for vaccine production including for COVID 19.
The government will sign an agreement with South Korea to set up the vaccine institute in Bangladesh. She said that government to government negotiations are going on with the countries which have developed vaccines for COVID 19 for technology transfer.
The capacity of three Banglaesshi firms has been assessed for the production of the COVID 19 vaccines. A vaccine developed by one of the Bangladeshi companies Globe Biotech Ltd is now in the trial stage.
The government has taken initiative to produce COVID 19 vaccine along with collecting vaccines from various sources in the world in view of the Corona pandemic.
Bangladesh has so far received 1.08 crore doses of the COVID 19 vaccine from foreign sources out of which 1.02 crore doses came from India including the gifted doses of over 3 million doses.
ICG rescues all 16 crew of sinking MV Mangalam near Revdanda port
Indian Coast Guard (ICG) successfully rescued all the 16 crew of sinking MV Mangalam near Revdanda port of Maharashtra on June 17, 2021.
The MRCC team initiated a rescue operation with ICG Ship Subhadra Kumari Chauhan pressed into action.
Two ICG Chetak helicopters were also deployed from Indian Coast Guard Air Station, Daman. Braving gusting monsoon winds, ICG carried out a swift sea-air coordinated operation and saved 16 lives.
Revadanda is located on the W coast, approx 44km S of Mumbai. The port provides an open roadstead lighterage anchorage and small alongside jetties for unloading iron ore to the nearby steel plant via conveyor.
Defence Ministry dedicated to the nation 12 roads, built by BRO
Defence Minister of India recently dedicated to the nation 12 roads, built by Border Roads Organisation (BRO) in the Northern and Eastern border areas.
At an event organised in Lakhimpur district of Assam, the Raksha Mantri e-inaugurated a 20-km long double lane Kimin-Potin road in Assam’s Lakhimpur district, along with nine other roads in Arunachal Pradesh and one each in the Union Territories of Ladakh and Jammu & Kashmir.
The roads have been constructed under ‘Arunank’, ‘Vartak’, ‘Brahmank’, ‘Udayak’, ‘Himank’ and ‘Sampark’ projects of BRO.
These road projects are part of the ‘Act East Policy’ of the Government wherein special emphasis is being laid on the overall development of the border areas.
Centre releases Desertification and Land Degradation Atlas of India
Ministry of State for Environment, Forest and Climate Change released Desertification and Land Degradation Atlas of India.
It has been published by Space Application Centre, ISRO, Ahmedabad. The Atlas provides state wise area of degraded lands for the time frame 2018-19. It also provides the change analysis for the duration of 15 years, from 2003-05 to 2018-19.
The Desertification and Drought day was commemorated by the Ministry, with an aim to generate large scale awareness towards understanding the key role of land in all environmental and economic concerns that world, as well as India is facing now-a days.
India has been at the forefront of bringing the issue of land degradation to the core of relevant international alliances for protection and conservation of environment.
The government of India has adopted collective approach for making progress towards achieving the national commitments related to land restoration.
ECI released an Atlas on General Elections 2019
Election Commission of India released ‘General Elections 2019 – An Atlas’ on June 15, 2021 to inspire academicians and researchers to further explore the vast landscape of the Indian elections.
17th General Elections conducted in 2019 were the largest democratic exercise in human history which witnessed the participation of 61.468 crore voters at 10.378 lakh polling stations spread over 32 lakh square kilometer territory of India.
In the 23 States and UTs women voting percentage was more than the male voting percentage
The 2019 General Elections witnessed the lowest gender gap in the history of Indian elections. The Elector Gender Ratio which has shown a positive trend since 1971 was 926 in 2019 General Elections.
The Election Commission of India set up over 10 lakh polling stations in General Elections 2019 with the lowest number of electors per polling station (365) in Arunachal Pradesh.
The overall polling percentage in the last parliamentary election, including postal ballots, was 67.4%, which is the highest ever turnout in a Lok Sabha poll.
Civil Registration System shows uptick in birth
The Census Department of India’s recent Data shows that the birth and death registration with the Civil Registration System (CRS) in India went up considerably in 2019.
The level of registration of births has increased to 92.7 percent in 2019 from 82.4 percent in 2011, likewise the level of registration of deaths has increased from 66.4 percent in 2011 to 92.0 percent in 2019.
While 14 States/Union Territories achieved 100% level of birth registrations, 19 States/Union Territories achieved the same level in cases of death.
Civil Registration System is the process of continuous, permanent, compulsory and universal recording of births and deaths in the country. The Registration of Births and Deaths Act, 1969 (Act No. 18 of 1969) provides for the compulsory registration of births and deaths.
The Sex Ratio (Number of females per thousand males) at birth is an important indicator to map the sex differential of the population. The World Health Organisation estimates that the natural sex ratio at birth is about 952 females to every 1,000 males.
Jyeshtha Ashtami 2021
The Prime Minister Narendra Modi greeted all, specially the Kashmiri Pandit community, on the auspicious occasion of Jyeshtha Ashtami.
Jyestha Ashtami is celebrated in Jammu and Kashmir by members of the Kashmiri Pandit community at the shrine of Kheer Bhawani in Tullamula in honour of their patron goddess Ragnya Devi.
”Kheer” (rice boiled in milk) is prepared on this day as a food offering.
Mela Kheer Bhawani is an Annual Festival during which the devotees of the Goddess Mata Kheer Bhawani fast and gather here on the day of “Zeshta Ashtami,” the eighth day of the full moon in the month of May/ June when, according to belief, the Goddess changes the colour of the spring’s waters.
MoRTH Notified Common Format for Issuance of PUC
Ministry of Road Transport & Highways has issued a notification for a common format of the PUC (Pollution Under Control) Certificate to be issued across the country, under Central Motor Vehicle Rules 1989.
The salient features of the PUCC are as under:
- Introduction of uniform Pollution Under Control Certificate (PUC) format across the country and linking the PUC database with the National Register.
- The concept of Rejection slip is being introduced for the first time. This document can be shown at the service centre for getting the vehicle serviced or can be used, in case the PUCC centre device is not working properly when tested at another centre.
- There will be confidentiality of information viz. (i) Vehicle owner’s mobile number, name and address (ii) engine number and chassis number (only the last four digits to be visible, the other digits shall be masked)
- The owner’s mobile number has been made mandatory, on which an SMS alert will be sent for validation and fee.
- Enforcement would be IT-enabled and would help in better control over polluting vehicles.
- The QR code shall be printed on the form. It will contain the complete information about the PUC Centre.
Reducing Road Accident Deaths by 50% by Year 2024
Ministry for Road Transport & Highways of India set up a target to reduce road accident deaths by 50% by year 2024.
Road Transport Minister congratulated FICCI on the announcement of Road Safety consortium ‘Safar’, based on the safe system approach.
The Minister announced that an independent road safety council, headed by a retired IAS officer would come into force within 15 days.
The Minister emphasised on the need for identification of ‘black spot’ in every state, district and city. A black spot is defined as a stretch not more than 500m in length where five accidents have taken place or where ten fatalities have happened in the last three years.
Ministry of MSMEs extends validity of Udyog Aadhaar Memorandum
Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises has extended the validity of EM Part-II and UAMs from 31.03.2021 to 31.12.2021 which would facilitate the holders of EM Part-II and UAMs to avail benefits of the provisions under various existing schemes and incentives including Priority Sector Lending benefits of MSME.
The Ministry for MSME in September 2015 notified Udyog Aadhaar to ensure ease of registration and wider coverage of MSMEs to avail the benefits under various Schemes of Central/ State governments.
Udyog Aadhaar Memorandum (UAM) can be filled online on the portal created by Ministry of MSME.
UAM is a one-page registration form which constitutes a self-declaration format under which the MSME will self-certify its existence, bank account details, promoter/owner’s Aadhaar details and other minimum information required.
There shall be no fee for filing the Udyog Aadhaar Memorandum. On submission of the form, Udyog Aadhaar Acknowledgement shall be generated and mailed to the email address provided in the Udyog Aadhaar Memorandum which shall contain unique Udyog Aadhaar Number (UAN).
Pakistanis Protests against Chinese Ships at Gwadar
Near the Gwadar port in Pakistan’s Balochistan, hundreds of Chinese fishing trawlers posing a threat to the livelihoods of thousands of fishermen in the province.
The Chinese fleet arrived Gwadar to engage in fishing. The fleet consists of ‘factory ships’, which contain food processing units to preserve fishes.
At the Gwadar port, which belongs to close ally Pakistan, the Chinese catch fishes, which they then process and sell to international markets, thereby depriving local fishermen of their livelihoods.
However, due to interference by the Chinese ships, lakhs of fishermen are on the verge of unemployment and several families will be adversely affected by Chinese trawlers in the port.
Due to the situation, the fishermen would become increasingly dependent on the outside forces for their employment and their livelihoods will be destroyed.
Meanwhile, the presence of Chinese boats is complicating the distribution of fish catches and threatening the survival of fishermen from the Philippines, according to activists.
World Refugee Day 2021
World Refugee Day is celebrated on June 20 each year to respect and honour the courage and resilience of refugees across the world.
This year the theme for World Refugee Day is ‘Together we heal, learn and shine’. The United Nations has stated that the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic has made it evident that we can only succeed by standing together.
World Refugee Day was celebrated for the first time on June 20, 2001, on the 50th anniversary of the 1951 Refugee Convention.
The United Nations observes this day to honour the refugees who have been forced outside of their homes. The day aims to build understanding and empathy for refugees building their lives in countries new to them.
According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), 82.4 million people worldwide were forcibly displaced by the end of 2020 as a result of persecution, conflict, violence, human rights violations or events seriously disturbing public order.
