20TH Anniversary of The Victory at Kargil

GS PAPER - 01 HISTORY - Post-independence consolidation and reorganization within the country.

Context :

The year 2019, marks the 20th anniversary of victory in ‘Operation VIJAY’ popularly known as the ‘Kargil War’.

Kargil war :

The Kargil War is a saga of strong political, military and diplomatic actions.
The Kargil War will always be remembered for its strategic and tactical surprises, the self-imposed national strategy of restraint in keeping the war limited to Kargil - Siachen Sectors and swiftly executed tri-services military strategy and plans.
The Kargil War will also be remembered for the determination and daring junior leadership and the raw courage of our jawans at tactical level.

Kargil Vijay Diwas :

This year, the 20th anniversary of victory in ‘Operation VIJAY’ is being celebrated with the theme ‘Remember, Rejoice and Renew’.
The objective of these celebrations is to evoke feeling of nationalism and patriotism through nationwide campaigns especially amongst youth and to pay homage to the valiant soldiers.

Source :- PIB

Modi, Xi meet in Bishkek, agree to speed up boundary talks

GS PAPER - 02 INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS - India and its neighborhood- relations.

Context :

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, President Xi Jinping agreed to expedite the dialogue on the India-China boundary talks for securing a “fair” solution.

The two leaders met in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, where they will participate in the summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO).

Key Highlights of the meeting :

The two leaders have asked the Special Representatives to meet and carry forward the discussion and have instructed them to expedite the discussion in this regard for achieving a fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable solution
- The border dispute dates back to the 1962 India-China war. Several rounds of talks have not yielded results.

The attention on the border issue acquires significance as the Chinese President is expected to visit India later this year for a summit with Mr Modi.
Xi also highlighted the need for regional cooperation and connectivity and singled out the Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar (BCIM) economic corridor as an example for expanding the India-China ties, which had entered a “new phase” after the Wuhan informal summit.
The two sides agreed to celebrate the 70th anniversary of their diplomatic ties in a “fitting manner” by holding 70 events – 35 each – in both countries

Source :- The Hindu

India will have its own space station, says ISRO chief Sivan

GS PAPER - 03 SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY - Science and Technology- developments and their applications and effects in everyday life Achievement of Indians in science & technology

Context :

India is planning to launch its own space station.

More about the news:

India’s space station is going to be very small.
The spacecraft would be placed in a low earth orbit of 300-400 km.
India’s is planning to have a separate space station.
ISRO will launch a small module for microgravity experiments.
The ambitious project will be an extension of the Gaganyaan mission.
This ambitious project which will enable the agency to send more humans to space when executed.

Space Station :

A space station is a spacecraft capable of supporting crew members, designed to remain in space for an extended period of time and for other spacecraft to dock.
Currently, there is only one fully functional space station in the Earth's lower orbit, the International Space Station and astronauts conduct different experiments in it.
The first component of the ISS was launched into orbit in 1998, and first long-term residents arrived in November 2000.

The International Space Station is a partnership between European countries represented by European Space Agency, the United States (NASA), Japan (JAXA), Canada (CSA) and Russia (Roscosmos). It is the world's largest international cooperative programme in science and technology.
China also plans to build a space station of its own.

ISRO’s Future Mission :

Chandrayaan-2 will be launched on July 15 this year. The spacecraft will attempt to make its first-ever soft landing on the moon
- The ISRO chief added that Chandrayaan-2 will explore the southern part of the celestial body, making India the first country to do so.
- Chandrayaan-2 will comprise of three parts —an orbiter, a lander and the rover —and will carry 14 scientific payloads, including instruments which will help “understand the moon’s composition and seismic activities better”.
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will launch another mission to the Sun by launching Aditya-L1 in the first half of 2020.
- The mission will study the corona of the Sun, which is the outermost part of its atmosphere.
- It is 1.5 million kilometres from the Earth. It will always look at the Sun and give analysis of corona because it has a major impact on climate change
Another interplanetary mission to Venus will be launched in the next 2-3 years.
- To study atmospheric composition of the planet

Source :- The Hindu

Centre reduces contribution rate for ESI

GS PAPER - 02 GOVERNANCE - Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections of the population by the Centre and States and the performance of these schemes

Context :

The government of India has announced a reduction in the rate of contribution under the Employees’ State Insurance (Act) from 6.5% to 4%.

More about the news:

The employers’ contribution has been reduced from 4.75% to 3.25% and employees’ contribution has been reduced from 1.75% to 0.75%.
The move is aimed at formalising India’s informal workforce and expanding social security coverage.

Benefits of the move :

The reduced rate of contribution will bring about a substantial relief to workers and it will facilitate further enrollment of workers under the ESI scheme and bring more and more workforce into the formal sector.
Similarly, reduction in the share of contribution of employers will reduce the financial liability of the establishments leading to improved viability of these establishments.This shall also lead to enhanced Ease of Doing business
It is also expected that the reduction in the rate of ESI contribution shall lead to improved compliance of the law.

The Employees’ State Insurance Act 1948 :

The ESI Act provides for medical, cash, maternity, disability and dependent benefits to the Insured Persons under the Act.
The ESI Act is administered by the Employees' State Insurance Corporation (ESIC), Ministry of Labour and Employment.
Benefits provided under the ESI Act are funded by the contributions made by the employers and the employees.
The Government of India through Ministry of Labour and Employment decides the rate of contribution under the ESI Act.
The ESI Act, 1948, applies to organisations with 10 or more employees, drawing a salary of up to Rs. 21,000/ month (Rs 25000/ month in case of persons with disabilities). The threshold for coverage of establishments is 20 employees in Maharashtra and Chandigarh.

Source :- The Hindu

SEBI directs rating agencies to disclose probability of default

GS PAPER - 03 ECONOMY- Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization of resources, growth, development and employment. Inclusive growth and issues arising from it.

Context :

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has prescribed guidelines to strengthen the disclosures made by credit rating agencies to enhance the rating standards.

More about the news:

Credit rating agencies will now have to disclose the probability of default for the instruments they rate and also clearly state the sensitive factors that could impact the credit worthiness of the entity.
Further, the rating agencies will have to adopt a standardised terminology to disclose liquidity indicators like liquid investments, access to credit and cash flows among other factors while rating an instrument.

Credit Rating Agencies, in consultation with SEBI, shall prepare and disclose standardised and uniform PD benchmarks for each rating category on their website, for one-year, two-year and three-year cumulative default rates, both for short-run and long-run
Further, such uniform and standardised PD benchmarks will have to be disclosed on the website of each CRA on a consolidated basis for all financial instruments rated by a CRA by December 31.
To bring uniformity in terms of disclosures, the capital market watchdog has mandated standardised terminology, superior, strong, adequate, stretched and poor, to describe the liquidity indicators.
The regulator has also directed CRAs to devise a model to track sharp deviations in the bond spreads of debt instruments when compared to their benchmarks as such deviations have to be treated as a material event.

Probability of default :

Probability of default describes the likelihood of a default over a particular period.
It provides the likelihood that a borrower will be unable to meet its debt obligations and is typically used globally in credit analyses and risk management frameworks.

Source :- The Hindu

Strait of Hormuz, the world’s most important oil artery [ Editorial / Opinion ]

GS PAPER - 02 INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS - Effect of policies and politics of developed and developing countries on India's interests, Indian diaspora.

Context :

Explosions that damaged two tankers south of the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday come a month after four vessels were targeted in “sabotage attacks” off the coast of the United Arab Emirates.

Background :

In May 2019, four vessels – including two Saudi oil tankers – were attacked off the UAE coast near Fujairah, one of the world’s largest bunkering hubs, just outside the Strait of Hormuz

Strait of Hormuz :

The strait lies between Oman and Iran
It links the Gulf north of it with the Gulf of Oman to the south and the Arabian Sea beyond
It is 21 miles (33 km) wide at its narrowest point, with the shipping lane just two miles (three km) wide in either direction
The UAE and Saudi Arabia have sought to find other routes to bypass the Strait, including building more oil pipelines

Significance of the Strait :

Almost a fifth of the world’s oil passes through the Strait – some 17.2 million barrels per day (bpd) versus consumption of about 100 million bpd in 2017, data from analytics firm Vortexa showed
OPEC members Saudi Arabia, Iran, the UAE, Kuwait and Iraq export most of their crude via the Strait
Qatar, the world’s biggest liquefied natural gas (LNG) exporter, sends almost all of its LNG through the Strait.

Political Tension :

The United States has imposed sanctions on Iran aimed at halting its oil exports
Iran has threatened to disrupt oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz if the United States tries to strangle its economy
The U.S. Fifth Fleet, based in Bahrain, is tasked with protecting commercial shipping in the area MAJOR PAST

Source :- Indian Express

Chandrayaan-2: What Moon can hold for India [ Editorial / Opinion ]

GS PAPER - 03 SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY - Achievement of Indians in science & technology; indigenization of technology and developing new technology.

Context :

The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has announced that Chandrayaan-2, India’s second Moon mission, will be launched on July 15, 2019. Its lander and rover would touch down on the moon’s surface on September 6.

Chandrayaan 2 :

Chandrayaan-2 is India’s second mission to the moon. It is a totally indigenous mission.
Chandrayaan-2 will comprise of an Orbiter, Lander named ‘Vikram’ (after scientist Vikram Sarabhai) and Rover named ‘Pragyan’.
The Orbiter will once again orbit from 100 km away, while the Lander and Rover modules will separate and make a soft-landing on the surface.

Significance of the Mission :

With Chandrayaan-2, India will become only the fourth country to land a spacecraft on Moon.
Chandrayaan-2 will make a landing at a site where no earlier mission has gone, near the south pole of the Moon. The unexplored territory offers an opportunity for the mission to discover something new.
- So far, all landings, human as well as non-human, have been in areas close to the Moon’s equator.
- In January this year, Chinies mission Change 4 landed a lander and rover on the Moon’s far side (not facing the Earth).
The south pole of the Moon holds possibility of presence of water. In addition, this area is also supposed to have ancient rocks and craters that can offer indications of history of the Moon, and also contain clues to the fossil records of early solar system.

Chandrayaan 1 :

India’s first mission to moon Chandrayaan 1 was launched in October 2008 and operated till August 2009.
Unlike Chandrayaan 2, Chandrayaan 1 was designed to just orbit the Moon and make observations with instruments on board.
The Chandrayaan-1 mission sent one of its instruments, called Moon Impact Probe, or MIP to crash-land on the Moon’s surface.
- Data sent by MIP on its way to the Moon had shown evidence of the presence of water.
- However, ISRO could not publish these finding due to anomalies in calibration.
The confirmation for water on water on moon came through studies on data produced by another instrument on board the Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft, the M3 or Moon Mineralogy Mapper. M3 was put on Chandrayaan 1 by NASA.

Source :- Indian Express

India slips to 141 in annual Global Peace Index

GS PAPER - 02

Context :

The Global Peace Index(GPI) 2019 has been released.

Key Findings :

Iceland remains the most peaceful country in the world, a position it has held since 2008, the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP)
The report also claimed that the gap between the least and most peaceful countries "continues to grow".
Eighty-six countries improved their score in the 2019 report, while 76 deteriorated.
India's rank has moved down to 141 from in GPI 2019 (from its previous position at 136), among 163 countries, and it stands at fifth in the (South Asian) region.
India together with the Philippines, Japan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, China, Indonesia, Vietnam and Pakistan are the nine countries with the highest risk of multiple climate hazards. India has the seventh highest overall natural hazard score
Afghanistan is now the least peaceful country in the world, replacing Syria, which is now the second least peaceful. South Sudan, Yemen, and Iraq comprise the remaining five least peaceful countries

Global Peace Index :

The GPI is a report produced by the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP) and developed in consultation with an international panel of peace experts from peace institutes and think tanks with data collected and collated by the Economist Intelligence Unit.
The GPI measures ongoing domestic and international conflict, safety and security in society, and the degree of militarisation in 163 countries and territories by taking into account 23 indicators.

Source :- Livemint

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14th JUNE 2019 DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS

20TH Anniversary of The Victory at Kargil

GS PAPER - 01 HISTORY - Post-independence consolidation and reorganization within the country.

Context :

The year 2019, marks the 20th anniversary of victory in ‘Operation VIJAY’ popularly known as the ‘Kargil War’.

Kargil war :

The Kargil War is a saga of strong political, military and diplomatic actions.

The Kargil War will always be remembered for its strategic and tactical surprises, the self-imposed national strategy of restraint in keeping the war limited to Kargil - Siachen Sectors and swiftly executed tri-services military strategy and plans.

The Kargil War will also be remembered for the determination and daring junior leadership and the raw courage of our jawans at tactical level.

Kargil Vijay Diwas :

This year, the 20th anniversary of victory in ‘Operation VIJAY’ is being celebrated with the theme ‘Remember, Rejoice and Renew’.

The objective of these celebrations is to evoke feeling of nationalism and patriotism through nationwide campaigns especially amongst youth and to pay homage to the valiant soldiers.

Source :- PIB

Modi, Xi meet in Bishkek, agree to speed up boundary talks

GS PAPER - 02 INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS - India and its neighborhood- relations.

Context :

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, President Xi Jinping agreed to expedite the dialogue on the India-China boundary talks for securing a “fair” solution.

The two leaders met in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, where they will participate in the summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO).

Key Highlights of the meeting :

The two leaders have asked the Special Representatives to meet and carry forward the discussion and have instructed them to expedite the discussion in this regard for achieving a fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable solution

The border dispute dates back to the 1962 India-China war. Several rounds of talks have not yielded results.

The attention on the border issue acquires significance as the Chinese President is expected to visit India later this year for a summit with Mr Modi.

Xi also highlighted the need for regional cooperation and connectivity and singled out the Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar (BCIM) economic corridor as an example for expanding the India-China ties, which had entered a “new phase” after the Wuhan informal summit.

The two sides agreed to celebrate the 70th anniversary of their diplomatic ties in a “fitting manner” by holding 70 events – 35 each – in both countries

Source :- The Hindu

India will have its own space station, says ISRO chief Sivan

GS PAPER - 03 SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY - Science and Technology- developments and their applications and effects in everyday life Achievement of Indians in science & technology

Context :

India is planning to launch its own space station.

More about the news:

India’s space station is going to be very small.

The spacecraft would be placed in a low earth orbit of 300-400 km.

India’s is planning to have a separate space station.

ISRO will launch a small module for microgravity experiments.

The ambitious project will be an extension of the Gaganyaan mission.

This ambitious project which will enable the agency to send more humans to space when executed.

Space Station :

A space station is a spacecraft capable of supporting crew members, designed to remain in space for an extended period of time and for other spacecraft to dock.

Currently, there is only one fully functional space station in the Earth's lower orbit, the International Space Station and astronauts conduct different experiments in it.

The first component of the ISS was launched into orbit in 1998, and first long-term residents arrived in November 2000.

The International Space Station is a partnership between European countries represented by European Space Agency, the United States (NASA), Japan (JAXA), Canada (CSA) and Russia (Roscosmos). It is the world's largest international cooperative programme in science and technology.

China also plans to build a space station of its own.

ISRO’s Future Mission :

Chandrayaan-2 will be launched on July 15 this year. The spacecraft will attempt to make its first-ever soft landing on the moon

The ISRO chief added that Chandrayaan-2 will explore the southern part of the celestial body, making India the first country to do so.

Chandrayaan-2 will comprise of three parts —an orbiter, a lander and the rover —and will carry 14 scientific payloads, including instruments which will help “understand the moon’s composition and seismic activities better”.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will launch another mission to the Sun by launching Aditya-L1 in the first half of 2020.

The mission will study the corona of the Sun, which is the outermost part of its atmosphere.

It is 1.5 million kilometres from the Earth. It will always look at the Sun and give analysis of corona because it has a major impact on climate change

Another interplanetary mission to Venus will be launched in the next 2-3 years.

To study atmospheric composition of the planet

Source :- The Hindu

Centre reduces contribution rate for ESI

GS PAPER - 02 GOVERNANCE - Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections of the population by the Centre and States and the performance of these schemes

Context :

The government of India has announced a reduction in the rate of contribution under the Employees’ State Insurance (Act) from 6.5% to 4%.

More about the news:

The employers’ contribution has been reduced from 4.75% to 3.25% and employees’ contribution has been reduced from 1.75% to 0.75%.

The move is aimed at formalising India’s informal workforce and expanding social security coverage.

Benefits of the move :

The reduced rate of contribution will bring about a substantial relief to workers and it will facilitate further enrollment of workers under the ESI scheme and bring more and more workforce into the formal sector.

Similarly, reduction in the share of contribution of employers will reduce the financial liability of the establishments leading to improved viability of these establishments.This shall also lead to enhanced Ease of Doing business

It is also expected that the reduction in the rate of ESI contribution shall lead to improved compliance of the law.

The Employees’ State Insurance Act 1948 :

The ESI Act provides for medical, cash, maternity, disability and dependent benefits to the Insured Persons under the Act.

The ESI Act is administered by the Employees' State Insurance Corporation (ESIC), Ministry of Labour and Employment.

Benefits provided under the ESI Act are funded by the contributions made by the employers and the employees.

The Government of India through Ministry of Labour and Employment decides the rate of contribution under the ESI Act.

The ESI Act, 1948, applies to organisations with 10 or more employees, drawing a salary of up to Rs. 21,000/ month (Rs 25000/ month in case of persons with disabilities). The threshold for coverage of establishments is 20 employees in Maharashtra and Chandigarh.

Source :- The Hindu

SEBI directs rating agencies to disclose probability of default

GS PAPER - 03 ECONOMY- Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization of resources, growth, development and employment. Inclusive growth and issues arising from it.

Context :

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has prescribed guidelines to strengthen the disclosures made by credit rating agencies to enhance the rating standards.

More about the news:

Credit rating agencies will now have to disclose the probability of default for the instruments they rate and also clearly state the sensitive factors that could impact the credit worthiness of the entity.

Further, the rating agencies will have to adopt a standardised terminology to disclose liquidity indicators like liquid investments, access to credit and cash flows among other factors while rating an instrument.

Credit Rating Agencies, in consultation with SEBI, shall prepare and disclose standardised and uniform PD benchmarks for each rating category on their website, for one-year, two-year and three-year cumulative default rates, both for short-run and long-run

Further, such uniform and standardised PD benchmarks will have to be disclosed on the website of each CRA on a consolidated basis for all financial instruments rated by a CRA by December 31.

To bring uniformity in terms of disclosures, the capital market watchdog has mandated standardised terminology, superior, strong, adequate, stretched and poor, to describe the liquidity indicators.

14^th JUNE 2019 DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS