CURRENT AFFAIRS 21 JUNE 2021

1. NTPC

NTPC has been recognised as a 'Great Place to Work' for the 15th year in a row by the Great Place to Work Institute. NTPC is the only PSU to consistently feature in India's Top 50 Best Workplaces. This year NTPC ranked 38th, up from 47th position last year.

About:

• NTPC Limited was formerly known as National Thermal Power Corporation Limited is India’s largest energy conglomerate.
• It is a company incorporated under the Companies Act 1956 and is under the ownership of Ministry of Power.
• The headquarters of the company is situated at New Delhi.
• It was founded by Government of India in 1975.
• In May 2010, NTPC was conferred Maharatna status by the Union Government of India.

Criteria for grant of Maharatna status to CPSEs

The CPSEs meeting the following criteria are eligible to be considered for grant of Maharatna status.

• Having Navratna status
• Listed on Indian stock exchange with minimum prescribed public shareholding under SEBI regulations
• An average annual turnover of more than Rs. 25,000 crore during the last 3 years
• An average annual net worth of more than Rs. 15,000 crore during the last 3 years
• An average annual net profit after tax of more than Rs. 5,000 crore during the last 3 years
• Should have significant global presence/international operations.

Important Info :

• Maharatna CPSEs
• Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited
• Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited
• Coal India Limited
• GAIL (India) Limited
• Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited
• Indian Oil Corporation Limited
• NTPC Limited
• Oil & Natural Gas Corporation Limited
• Power Grid Corporation of India Limited
• Steel Authority of India Limited

Source : Business Standard

2. INTEGRATED POWER DEVELOPMENT SCHEME (IPDS)

A 50 kWp Solar roof top was inaugurated in Solan, Himachal Pradesh under the Integrated power development scheme of Ministry of Power ,Government of India.

About:

• Integrated Power Development Scheme (IPDS) was launched in the year 2014 by Ministry of Power, Government of India.
• Eligible Utilities: All Discoms will be eligible for financial assistance under the scheme.

It has following components:

• Strengthening of sub-transmission and distribution networks in the urban areas.
• Metering of distribution transformers / feeders / consumers in the urban areas.
• IT enablement of distribution sector and strengthening of distribution network under R-APDRP for 12th and 13th Plans by carrying forward the approved outlay for R-APDRP to IPDS.
• Schemes for Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and IT enablement of balance urban towns are also included under IPDS. Scope of IT enablement has been extended to all 4041 towns as per Census 2011.
• Underground cabling to include additional demand of States and smart metering solution for performing UDAY States and Solar panels on Govt. buildings with net-metering are also permissible under the scheme.

Source : PIB 

3. AJIT MISHRA EXPERT GROUP

The Central Government has constituted an Expert Group under the Chairmanship of Professor Ajit Mishra, a renowned economist.

About:

• Its mandate is to provide technical inputs and recommendations on fixation of Minimum Wages and National Floor Wages to the Government.
• The tenure of the Expert Group is three years.

Source : PIB

4. MILKHA SINGH

Milkha Singh died of COVID-19 complications at the age of 91.

About:

• Milkha Singh (1929 – 2021) was an Indian track and field sprinter who was introduced to the sport while serving in the Indian Army.
• Singh and his daughter, Sonia Sanwalka, co-wrote his autobiography, titled The Race of My Life. It was published in 2013.
• He is the only athlete to win gold at 400 metres at the Asian Games as well as the Commonwealth Games.
• He then won a gold medal in the 400m (440 yards at this time) competition at the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games with a time of 46.6 seconds. This latter achievement made him the first gold medalist at the Commonwealth Games from independent India.
• He represented India in the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome and the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.
• He was also known as The Flying Sikh.
• Awards: Singh was awarded the Padma Shri, India's fourth-highest civilian award, following his success in 1958. In 2001, he turned down an offer of the Arjuna Award from the Indian government, arguing that it was intended to recognise young sports people and not those such as him. 

Source : Indian Express

5. NATIONAL DISASTER RELIEF FUND (NDRF)

The National Disaster Response Fund was opened up for donation from individuals and institutions in June 2020, but according to information procured through Right to Information, it turns out that just about Rs 63,000 has been donated to the fund between July 13, 2020 and February 26, 2021.

What is it?

• The National Disaster Response Fund is a fund managed by the Central Government and is used to “meet the expenses for emergency response, relief and rehabilitation” for any disaster situation.
• The NDRF supplements the State Disaster Response Fund in case sufficient funds are not available with the state funds to facilitate immediate relief in case of calamities of severe nature. 

Background

• It was earlier called the National Calamity Contingency Fund (NCCF) which had been operated as per the guidelines laid down by the 11th Finance Commission.
• In 2005, the Disaster Management Act (DMA) was enacted and this renamed the NCCF as the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF). Accordingly, the funds of the NCCF were merged into the NDRF.
• The NDRF was set up in accordance with Section 46 of the Disaster Management Act, 2005.
• June 2020: The Finance Ministry has given approval to a proposal to allow individuals and institutions to contribute directly to the National Disaster Relief Fund (NDRF) as per Section 46(1)(b) of the Disaster Management (DM) Act, 2005.

Source : The Week

6. JUNETEENTH

US President Joe Biden is soon expected to sign a law making June 19, or “Juneteenth”, a national holiday recognised by the federal government, commemorating the end of slavery after the American Civil War (1861-65).

About:

• Juneteenth is the portmanteau of June and nineteenth and is recognised as a state holiday in 47 US states.
• The day is the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the US and is observed on June 19.
• It is also known as Emancipation Day or Juneteenth Independence Day.
• Juneteenth will be the first new federal holiday created in almost four decades, and will now enjoy the same status as the 10 existing annual holidays, which include Memorial Day, Veterans Day and Thanksgiving. The last such holiday – Martin Luther King Jr. Day – was created in 1983, in honour of the civil rights hero.

Background:

• On January 1, 1863, then-president Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which declared that “all persons held as slaves” within the states in rebellion “are, and henceforward shall be free.”
• Even so, over 2.5 years after Lincoln’s proclamation, many slave owners continued to hold their slaves captive by hiding this information from them and holding them slaves for one more harvest season.
• On June 19, 1865, Major General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas and announced the end of both the Civil War and slavery. Since then, Juneteenth has become a largely symbolic date representing freedom for African Americans. 

Source : Indian Express

7. LGBTQ+

Hundreds of protesters thronged the streets of Budapest, demanding the reversal of a newly adopted law that effectively bans all content about homosexuality and gender change from Hungarian school curriculum and television shows for children under the age of 18.

So, what do we know about Hungary’s new anti-LGBT+ law?

• The latest Hungarian legislation outlaws disseminating information meant for children which is considered to promote homosexuality or gender change.
• The law also limits who can conduct sex education classes in schools. Now, only individuals and organisations listed in an official government registry can carry out these classes.
• The limitations placed on content is not limited to school curriculum alone. It also bans TV shows meant for children, which feature gay characters or LGBTQI+ themes.
• The law also bans companies and organisations from running advertisements in support of the LBTQI+ community, if they are targeted at minors. 

Important Info :

• Hungary
• Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe.
• It is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and Slovenia to the southwest, and Austria to the west.
• Budapest is the country's capital and largest city.
• Hungary's geography has traditionally been defined by its two main waterways, the Danube and Tisza rivers.
• Lake Hévíz is located in Hévíz, Hungary. It is the largest thermal lake in the world which is available for swimming.

Source : Indian Express

8. NATIONAL INTERNET EXCHANGE OF INDIA (NIXI)

National Internet Exchange of India (NIXI) celebrated its 18th Foundation Day.

About:

• National Internet Exchange of India (NIXI) is a not-for-profit organization (section 8 of the Companies Act 2013) working since 2003 for spreading the internet infrastructure to the citizens of India through the following activities:
• Internet Exchanges through which the internet data is exchanged amongst ISP’s, Data Centers and content delivery networks (CDNs).
• NIXI is also the .IN Registry managing India’s country code top level domain (ccTLD) - .IN and .भारत IDN domain.
• NIXI also manages the National Internet Registry of the country delegating Internet Protocol addresses (IPv4 and IPv6) and Autonomous System numbers to the Indian Affiliates.

Source : PIB

9. SWISS DEPOSITS

Certain reports have appeared in the media on 18.06.2021 stating that funds of Indians in Swiss Banks have risen to over Rs 20,700 crore (CHF 2.55 billion) at the end of 2020 from Rs 6,625 crore (CHF 899 million) at the end of 2019, reversing a 2 year declining trend.

View of Govt of India on these media reports

• India and Switzerland are signatories to the Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters (MAAC).
• Both countries have also signed the Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement (MCAA) pursuant to which, the Automatic Exchange of Information (AEOI) is activated between the two countries for sharing of financial account information annually for calendar year 2018 onwards.
• Exchanges of Financial Account information in respect of residents of each country have taken place between both countries in 2019 as well as 2020.
• In view of the existing legal arrangement for exchange of information of financial accounts, there does not appear to be any significant possibility of the increase of deposits in the Swiss banks which is out of undeclared incomes of Indian residents.

Source : PIB

10. MICE INDUSTRY IN INDIA

Ministry of Tourism invites feedback on the draft National Strategy and Roadmap for promotion of MICE Industry in India.

About:

• MICE is an acronym for Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions.
• MICE is one of the important segments of business tourism, which also overlaps with leisure tourism.
• Despite having huge potential, India’s position is relatively low with just about 1% of global MICE business. India doesn’t have large convention centres or single halls with capacities to hold 7,000 to 10,000 people, unlike countries like Thailand that is a major global MICE destination.
• Ministry of Tourism has been actively working on promotion and development of this niche area of tourism and thus had accordingly formulated a Draft National Strategy and Roadmap for Promotion of MICE Industry in India. 

Source : PIB