14 JUNE 2021 CURRENT AFFAIRS

1.BEML

BEML said that Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) and NITI Aayog have agreed to the proposal of incorporation of wholly-owned subsidiary of BEML for demerger of surplus land and asset as part of BEML's strategic disinvestment process undertaken by Government of India.

About:

• BEML, formerly Bharat Earth Movers Ltd, was established in 1964 as a Public Sector Undertaking for manufacture of rail coaches and spare parts and mining equipment at its Bangalore complex.
• The company has partially disinvested and presently the government owns 54 per cent of total equity and rest 46 per cent is held by public, financial institutions, foreign institutional investors, banks and employees.
• BEML serves the country's core sectors like defence, rail, power, mining and infrastructure. BEML is one of the leading manufacturers of rail and metro coaches.
• It is headquartered in Bengaluru, Karnataka.

Source : Business Standard

2.DECLASSIFICATION & COMPILATION OF WAR/OPERATIONS HISTORIES

Raksha Mantri Rajnath Singh has approved the policy on archiving, declassification and compilation/publication of war/operations histories by the Ministry of Defence.

Features of Policy

• Each organisation under the Ministry of Defence will transfer the records, including war diaries to the History Division of Ministry of Defence (MoD) for proper upkeep, archival and writing the histories.
• According to the policy, records should ordinarily be declassified in 25 years.
• Records older than 25 years should be appraised by archival experts and transferred to the National Archives of India once the war/operations histories have been compiled.
• Committee headed by Joint Secretary, MoD and comprising of representatives of the Services, MEA, MHA and other organisations and prominent military historians (if required) should be constituted for compilation of war/ operations histories.
• War/operations histories to be compiled within 5 years
• The above-mentioned Committee should be formed within two years of completion of war/operations.
• Thereafter, collection of records and compilation should be completed in three years and disseminated to all concerned. 

Source : PIB

3.NORTHERN IRELAND PROTOCOL

Britain and the EU are locked in an escalating diplomatic feud over Northern Ireland, the only part of the U.K. that borders the 27-nation bloc. The EU says Britain must fully implement the agreement, known as the Northern Ireland Protocol, that the two sides agreed and ratified.

About:

• It came into force on 1 January 2021, and is now part of international law.
• Under the protocol, both sides agreed that, even though Northern Ireland was no longer part of the EU, it would continue to follow many of its rules.
• This would enable lorries to continue driving across the land border without being inspected.
• Meanwhile, England, Scotland and Wales are no longer following those rules - leading to a new "regulatory" border between Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
• New checks on goods now need to be carried out when they enter Northern Ireland from England, Scotland or Wales.
• Inspections take place at Northern Ireland ports, and customs documents have to be filled in. 

Important Info :

• Geographically, Northern Ireland is part of Ireland. Politically, it’s part of the United Kingdom. 

Source : outlook

4.UMLING LA

Raksha Mantri flagged off the first ever Solo Woman Motorcycle Expedition by Ms Kanchan Ugursandi to Umling La Pass, Ladakh and back.

About:

• Umling La Pass, located at an altitude of 19,300ft, has overtaken Khardung La Pass to become the highest motorable road in the world.
• The construction of this road has been achieved by the BRO (Border Road Organization) as part of “Project Himank”
• Umling La Pass, stretching to a distance of almost 86km, connects Chisumle and Demchok villages. Both these villages lie in close proximity to the Indo-China border in the eastern sector.

Source : PIB

5.BORDER ROADS ORGANISATION (BRO)

Raksha Mantri Rajnath Singh inaugurated two Centres of Excellence established by Border Roads Organisation (BRO) at Seema Sadak Bhawan in New Delhi.

About:

• The Centre of Excellence for Road Safety & Awareness (CoERSA) aims to create awareness about road safety through analysis sharing of road accidents and suggesting methods to save precious lives.
• The Centre of Excellence for Roads, Bridges, Air Fields and Tunnels (CoERBAT) aims to foster growth in construction of roads, bridges, air fields and tunnels. 

Important Info :

• Border Roads Organisation (BRO)
• The Border Roads Organisation (BRO) is a road construction executive force in India.
• BRO develops and maintains road networks in India's border areas and friendly neighboring countries such as Afghanistan, Bhutan, Myanmar, Tajikistan and Sri Lanka.
• The BRO was formed on 7 May 1960.
• BRO has been entirely brought under the Ministry of Defence in 2015. Earlier it was under the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.
• The executive head of the BRO is the Director General Border Roads (DGBR) who holds the rank of Lieutenant General. 

Source : The Hindu

6.CHILD LABOUR

On the occasion of World Day Against Child Labour, Union MCD minister appealed to Citizens to report the instances of Child Labour on PENCIL Portal or by calling on Childline-1098.

World Day Against Child Labour

• The World Day Against Child Labour is observed on 12thJune every year around the world.
• The International Labour Organization (ILO) launched the World Day Against Child Labour in 2002 to focus attention on the global extent of child labour and the action and efforts needed to eliminate it.
• The 2021 World Day Against Child Labour focuses on action taken for the 2021 International Year for the Elimination of Child Labour. It is the first World Day since the universal ratification of the ILO’s Convention No. 182 on the Worst Forms of Child Labour.
• Target 8.7 of the Sustainable Development Goals calls for ending child labour in all its forms by 2025. 

Important Info :

PENCIL PORTAL

Full Name: Platform for Effective Enforcement for No Child Labour (PENCIL).

Launched in: 2017.

Launched by: The Ministry of Labour and Employment

• Objective: It is a separate online portal to ensure effective enforcement of the provisions of the Child Labour Act and smooth implementation of the National Child Labour Project (NCLP) Scheme.
• Components: The PENCIL Portal (pencil.gov.in) has various components, namely Child Tracking System, Complaint Corner, State Government, National Child Labour Project and Convergence.

Source : PIB

7.RECOMMENDATIONS OF 44TH GST COUNCIL MEETING

The 44th GST Council met under the Chairmanship of Union Finance Minister. The Council in its meeting has decided to reduce the GST rates on various items being used in Covid-19 relief and management till 30th September, 2021.

Key highlights

• It decided to waive the tax levied on two critical drugs against COVID-19 and mucormycosis — tocilizumab and amphotericin B — and reset the tax rate to 5% for 14 major pandemic relief items, till September 30.
• The 5% GST levied on vaccines was left unchanged.
• The GST rate on Remdesivir and anti-coagulants like Heparin has been reduced from 12% to 5%.
• Ambulances, which are currently taxed at 28%, will attract a GST levy of 12%, while temperature checking equipment and electric furnaces used in crematoriums will attract a 5% GST instead of 18%.
• For oxygen concentrators, medical grade oxygen and related devices such as ventilators, BiPAP machines, the GST rate has also been brought down to 5% from 12%.
• The same reduction has been approved in the levies on COVID-testing kits and pulse oximeters.
• The 5% rate will apply to personal imports of oxygen concentrators as well as pulse oximeters, while the 18% GST payable on hand sanitisers has been reduced to 5%.

Source : Indian Express

8.BHARITALASUCHUS TAPANI

In the mid 20th century, researchers from the Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata, carried out extensive studies on rocks of the Yerrapalli Formation in what is now Telangana, uncovering several fossils.

About:

• By studying some of these specimens stored at the Institute, an international team has now thrown light on a carnivorous reptile that lived 240 million years ago.
• They named it Bharitalasuchus tapani.
• In the Telugu language, Bhari means huge, Tala means head, and Suchus is the name of the Egyptian crocodile-headed deity.
• The species is named after paleontologist Tapan Roy Chowdhury in honour of his extensive work on the Yerrapalli Formation tetrapod fauna.
• This reptile belonged to a family of extinct reptiles named Erythrosuchidae.
• Bharitalasuchus tapani were robust animals with big heads and large teeth, and these probably predated other smaller reptiles. They were approximately the size of an adult male lion and might have been the largest predators in their ecosystems.

Important Info :

Yerrapalli Formation

• The Yerrapalli Formation is a Triassic rock formation consisting primarily of mudstones that outcrops in the Pranhita–Godavari Basin in Telangana.

Source : The Hindu

9.RAMAKRISHNA MISSION

PM Modi expressed grief over the demise of Swami Shivamayanandaji Maharaj, vice-president of Ramakrishna Math and mission.

About:

• Ramakrishna Mission (RKM) is a Hindu religious and spiritual organisation which forms the core of a worldwide spiritual movement known as the Ramakrishna Movement or the Vedanta Movement.
• The mission is named after and inspired by the Indian saint Ramakrishna Paramahamsa and founded by Ramakrishna's chief disciple Swami Vivekananda on 1 May 1897.
• The headquarters of Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission are situated at an area named Belur in the district of Howrah, West Bengal, India. The entire campus of the headquarters is popularly known as ‘Belur Math’.
• Vedanta (also known as Uttara Mīmāṃsā) is one of the six (āstika) schools of Hindu philosophy. Literally meaning "end of the Vedas", Vedanta reflects ideas that emerged from the philosophies contained in the Upanishads.

Source : The Hindu

10.OPERATION OLIVIA

Every year, the Indian Coast Guard’s “Operation Olivia”, initiated in the early 1980s, helps protect Olive Ridley turtles as they congregate along the Odisha coast for breeding and nesting from November to December.

About:

• Round-the-clock surveillance is conducted from November till May utilising Coast Guard assets such as fast patrol vessels, air cushion vessels, interceptor craft and Dornier aircraft to enforce laws near the rookeries.
• The Orissa Marine Fisheries Act empowers the Coast Guard as one of its enforcement agencies.
• The Olive Ridley (Lepidochelys olivacea) is listed as vulnerable under the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red list.
• All five species of sea turtles found in India are included in Schedule I of the Indian Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, and in the Appendix I of the Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora which prohibits trade in turtle products by signatory countries.

Source : The Hindu