DAILY GK : 5, 6 JUNE
1.
CENTRAL GOVT APPROVES 8.1% EPF INTEREST RATE FOR 2021-22
·
The Central Government
has officially approved 8.1% rate of interest on Employees’ Provident Fund
(EPF) deposits for 2021-22, which is down by 40 basis points from 8.5% provided
in 2020-21.
·
This new interest rate
is the lowest since 1977-78(over four-decade low), when it stood at 8%.
·
This decision regarding
interest rate cut was taken in March 2022 by Employees’ Provident Fund
Organisation (EPFO).
·
The EPFO invests 85% of
its annual accruals in debt instruments, including government securities and
bonds, and 15% in equity through ETFs (Exchange-Traded Fund).
·
The earnings from both
debt and equity are used to calculate the interest payment.
·
EPFO Parent Ministry– Ministry of Labour and Employment
·
Central Provident Fund Commissioner-CPFC (CEO of
EPFO)– Neelam Shami Rao
2.
“SHRESHTA” SCHEME FOR MERITORIOUS STUDENTS OF SCHEDULED
CASTES
·
Union Minister Dr.
Virendra Kumar, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment (MoSJE), launched
the Scheme for Residential Education for Students in High Schools in Targeted
Areas (SRESHTA)
·
SHRESHTA was created in
response to the Constitutional mandate to provide quality education and
opportunities for even the poorest Scheduled Caste (SC) students.
·
The scheme will provide
meritorious poor students from SC communities, whose parental income is less
than Rs. 2.5 lakh per annum, with free access to a high-quality education (from
Class 9 to 12).
·
Approximately 3,000
such students from various states and Union Territories (UTs) are selected each
year under the scheme through a transparent mechanism called the National
Entrance Test for SHRESHTA (NETS),
which is conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA).
·
The scholarships will
be funded by GoI, which will cover the school fee (including tuition) and
hostel fee (including mess charges) via Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT).
3.
INDIAN AIRFORCE HERITAGE CENTRE
·
Indian Air Force signed
a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Chandigarh administration for setting
up of a Firs-of-its kind Indian Air Force Heritage Centre in Union Territory of
Chandigarh.
·
Simulators,
decommissioned aircraft, aero engines, and other IAF artefacts will be housed
in this facility.
·
Chief of Air Staff: Vivek Ram Chaudhari(VR Chaudhari)
4.
INDIA & BANGLADESH ARE REBOOTING THEIR RAIL LINK
·
The passenger train
services between India and Bangladesh were resumed with Bandhan Express
(Kolkata, West Bengal, India to Khulna, Bangladesh) and Maitree Express
(Dhaka, Bangladesh to Kolkata, West Bengal), 2 years after these trains
were stopped on 28th March 2020, due to COVID-19 pandemic.
·
The Mitali Express, a 3rd train connecting New Jalpaiguri in North Bengal,
West Bengal with Dhaka,Bangladesh will be flagged off in June 2022 by
Railways ministers of both India and Bangladesh.
·
So far, 5 rail links
have been rebooted between India and Bangladesh, which include Petrapole (India)-Benapole
(Bangladesh), Gede (India)-Darshana (Bangladesh),
Singhabad (India)-Rohanpur (Bangladesh), Radhikapur (India)-Birol
(Bangladesh), Haldibari (India)-Chilahati (Bangladesh).
5.
KIYAVERSE: KIYA.AI LAUNCHES INDIA’S 1ST BANKING
METAVERSE
·
India’s first banking
metaverse namely ‘Kiyaverse’ has been launched by Kiya.ai in Mumbai, Maharashtra
which intends to merge use cases of real-world banking with metaverse banking
through an avatar (virtual humanoid) based interactions.
·
Kiyaverse will allow
customers to transact, access banking information, and obtain various banking
products virtually from the comfort of their own homes.
·
Metaverse is a network of
3D virtual worlds that uses augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), and
blockchain, along with concepts from social media, to create spaces for user
interaction mimicking the real world.
·
It covers nearly
everything, such as games, meetings, and shopping.
·
Companies that provide
Metaverse development services to their global clients include Tech Mahindra (TechMVerse), Wipro, Accenture, Infosys.
6.
BLOOMBERG BILLIONAIRE INDEX: MUKESH AMBANI BECOMES
ASIA’S RICHEST MAN
·
According to the
Bloomberg Billionaire Index (as of 3rd June 2022), a daily ranking of the
world’s richest people, Mukesh Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director(CMD)
of Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) became the richest man in India as well as
in Asia with a net worth of USD 99.7 billion, surpassing Gautam Adani, chairman
and founder of the Adani Group whose net worth was at USD 98.7 billion.
·
Mukesh Ambani was
ranked as the 8th richest man in the world whereas GautamAdani was ranked 9th
on the list.
·
Elon Musk, Chief
Executive Officer (CEO) of Tesla and SpaceX, remained the World’s richest man
with a net worth of USD 227 Billion.
7.
FORBES THE REAL-TIME BILLIONAIRES LIST: ELON MUSK TOPS
·
According to Forbes’
“The Real-Time Billionaires List” (as of 3rd June 2022), Elon Musk retains his
position as the World’s Richest Person with a net worth of USD 233.7 billion.
·
Bernard Arnault and
the family of LVMH(Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton) is ranked 2nd with a net worth
of USD 157 billion followed by Amazon’s founder Jeff Bezos with a net worth of
USD 151.2 billion.
·
Mukesh Ambani has
ranked 6th on the list with a total net worth of USD 104.7 Billion while
GautamAdani has ranked 9th with a total net worth of USD 99.9 billion.
8.
SANGITA KALANIDHI AWARDS FOR 2020, 2021 & 2022
·
The Music Academy,
Chennai, Tamil Nadu, announced the winners of the Sangita Kalanidhi
Awards for 2020, 2021 and 2022.
·
Neyveli R.
Santhanagopalan, noted vocalist was
selected for the Sangita Kalanidhi Awards 2020, Mridhangam Maestro Tiruvarur
Bhaktavatsalam for 2021, and violinists Lalgudi GJR Krishnan and GJR Vijayalakshmi has been named the winners of 2022.
·
Sangita Kalanidhi,
established in 1942, is considered the highest accolade in the field of
Carnatic music.
