Kushinagar airport in UP declared an international airport

1.Passport Seva Divas: 24 June

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) celebrated Passport Seva Divas (PSD) on 24 June, 2020, to commemorate the enactment of the Passports Act on 24 June, 1967.External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar said there has been a complete transformation of passport delivery service in the last six years.The Ministry has taken significant initiatives for the simplification of Passport Seva rules.The number of documents have been reduced and passport issuance process has been eased.EAM informed that the procurement process for production of chip-enabled e-passports is being carried out and their introduction will greatly strengthen the security of Indian travel documents.

2.Day of the Seafarer: 25 June

The Day of the Seafarer is celebrated each year on June 25.On this day, people pay respect to Seafarers and sailors who help the entire world function by conducting sea transport.Even now, global trade still depends on ocean transport, which is why Seafarers and sailors are essential to the functioning of the world.Day of the Seafarer celebration was first started in 2010 by the International Maritime Organization (IMO).

3.Govt decides to bring cooperative banks under RBI through an ordinance

The Union Cabinet decided to bring all co-operative banks under the Reserve Bank of India through an ordinance.Government banks, including 1,482 urban cooperative banks and 58 multi-state cooperative banks, are now being brought under supervisory powers of Reserve Bank of India (RBI).After the Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative (PMC) Banks fiasco last year, the Union Cabinet in February amended Banking Regulation Act to strengthen the cooperative banks in the country.During Budget 2020, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman also announced that cooperative banks will be brought under the ambit of RBI.There are more than 8.6 crore depositors in over 1,500 urban and multi-state cooperative banks across the country.

4.Vivekananda Yoga University: World’s first yoga university outside India launched in Los Angeles

As part of the 6th International Yoga Day commemorations, the world’s first yoga university outside India has been launched in Los Angeles.It offers programmes that combine scientific principles and modern research approaches to ancient Indian practice.Eminent Indian yoga guru Dr H R Nagendra, Chancellor of Swami Vivekananda Yoga Anusandhana Samsthana (SVYASA), is the first Chairman of VaYU.The university will help thousands of yoga teachers in the US whose yoga education was limited to 200 or 500 hours of certificate programmes to progress further into university-based higher education.The applications for fall 2020 semester are open with the first day of classes starting on August 24 in a virtual mode.

5.Kushinagar airport in UP declared an international airport

In a bid to boost domestic and international tourism, the Union Cabinet approved the proposal to declare the Kushinagar airport in Uttar Pradesh as an international airport.Kushinagar is regarded as a sacred Buddhist pilgrimage centre and is dotted with several other Buddhist sites in the surrounding areas such as Sravasti (238 km), Kapilvastu (190 km) and Lumbini (195 km).It already serves as the presenting site for the Buddhist pilgrimage circuit spanning India and Nepal.On any given day, around 200-300 devotees from Thailand, Cambodia, Japan, Burma, etc are coming and offering their prayers at Kushinagar.

6.Haryana govt, Reliance Jio TV enter agreement to educate 52 lakh students

Haryana government and Reliance Jio TV have entered an agreement that is expected to benefit around 52 lakh school children in rural areas.This new agreement is done under the Chief Minister’s Distance Education Programme in order to expand education in rural areas without jeopardizing social distancing during the Covid-19 pandemic.Under the agreement, all four channels of Eduset will now be available on the Jio platform free of cost.Due to Covid-19 pandemic the state is facing difficulty in imparting education to school children, especially in the rural setup.

7.Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh inaugurates Devika and Puneja Bridges in Udhampur & Doda Districts

Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh inaugurated two important bridges in his Lok Sabha constituency, namely Devika bridge in Udhampur and Puneja bridge in Bhaderwah, through a Virtual ceremony.The Bridge on River Devika in Udhampur has been completed by the Border Roads Organisation within fifteen months.The Puneja Bridge was also constructed by the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) in 36 months.The 10-meter-long Devika Bridge construction resolves the traffic issues of the region and this will also help in smooth passage of army convoys and vehicles.While the 50-meter-long Puneja Bridge is strategically very important from a defence point of view.

8.Rohini Commission set to get nod for its ninth extension

The Justice Rohini Commission- set up in October 2017 to recommend sub categorization of the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) and ensure that marginalized sub castes get due benefits- is set to get its ninth extension.The Rohini Commission was to originally submit its report by March 2018.The move to grant yet another extension to the Commission comes at a time when elections are due in Bihar- a state where OBC sub categorization of any kind will have huge political impact.

9.IMF says Indian economy will contract by 4.5% in 2020-’21

The International Monetary Fund announced that India’s Gross Domestic Product will contract by 4.5% in the 2020-’21 financial year.This is much lower than the 1.9% positive growth the IMF had forecast in its World Economic Outlook for April.India had imposed a nationwide lockdown on March 25. The lockdown was slowly eased, and by June 1, most non-essential services had been allowed to operate in non-containment zones in the country, subject to policies made by states.The report said that the Indian economy will bounce back in 2021-’22 with a growth rate of around 6%.The IMF also said that the world economy will experience an even deeper recession in 2020-’21. It will contract by 4.9% in 2020-’21.The United States economy will contract by a whopping 8%, the IMF said.

10.Government approves 2% interest subsidy to ‘Shishu’ borrowers under Mudra Yojna

The government announced a 2% interest subvention to borrowers under the ‘Shishu’ category of the flagship Pradhan Mantri MUDRA Yojana (PMMY).Under the Shishu category, collateral free loans of up to ₹50,000 will be given to beneficiaries.Launched in 2015, the Pradhan Mantri MUDRA Yojana provides loans up to ₹10 lakh to non-corporate, non-farm small/micro enterprises.These loans are classified as MUDRA loans under PMMY.Commercial banks, RRBs, small finance banks, MFIs and NBFCs provide MUDRA loans.