Daily Current Affairs for UP State Exams: 20.08.2020

PM Street Vebdors Atmanirbhar Scheme

Madhya Pradesh has emerged as the leading state in the implementation of Pradhan Mantri Street Vendors Atma-Nirbhar Scheme-PM Swa-Nidhi.
PM Swa-Nidhi is a Central Sector Scheme to facilitate street vendors to access affordable working capital loan for resuming their livelihoods activities.
Interest free loan of Rs 10 thousand has been sanctioned so far to 58 thousand 476 street vendors in Madhya Pradesh. This is more than 47 percent of the total sanctioned cases of the country.
About the scheme

The PM SVANidhi scheme was launched by the Ministry Housing and Urban Affairs, on June 01, 2020.
It aims to provide affordable working capital loans to street vendors to resume their livelihoods that have been affected due to the coronavirus lockdown.
This scheme aims to target over 50 lakh street vendors who would be eligible to avail of a working capital loan of up to ₹10,000.
The PM SVANidhi Mobile App provides a user-friendly digital interface for Lending Institutions (LIs) & their field functionaries for sourcing as well as processing loan applications.

Setting up of ‘National Recruitment Agency’ approved

The Cabinet has approved the setting up of the National Recruitment Agency (NRA) to conduct Common Eligibility Test.
The National Recruitment Agency will conduct a Common Eligibility Test (CET) to screen and shortlist candidates for the Group B and C (non-technical) posts.
It is aimed to ensure transparency and ease in the recruitment process, both for the candidate and the recruiting organization.
Highlights

The NRA will have representatives from the Ministry of Railways, Ministry of Finance, SSC, RRB and IBPS.
The CET score of the candidate shall be valid for a period of three years from the date of declaration of the result.
The CET scores can be shared with Central and State Governments, PSUs, private sector thus reducing recruitment costs of these organizations. Initially, the NRA will conduct CET twice a year.
There shall be no restriction on the number of attempts to be taken by a candidate to appear in the CET subject to the upper age limit.
Relaxation in the upper age limit shall be given to candidates of SC/ST/OBC and other categories as per the extant policy of the Government.
Candidates would have the facility of registering on a common portal and give a choice of Centres.

‘eSanjivani’ digital platform

The ‘e-Sanjeevani’ digital platform of the Health Ministry has completed two lakh teleconsultations recently.
The e-Sanjeevani platform has proved its utility and easy access for the caregivers and the medical community and those seeking health care services in the times of COVID.
The ‘eSanjivani’ app was launched recently in May this year, and it aimed to generate data on acceptance and usage of AYUSH advocacies and measures among the population and its impact in the prevention of Covid-19.
It was developed by the Ministry of AYUSH in collaboration with the Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY) and is targeted to help about 50 lakh people across the country.

Fifth World Conference of Speakers of Parliament (5WCSP)

The two-day conference is being organized jointly by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), Geneva and the Parliament of Austria with the support of the United Nations (UN)
This is the first time that an international Parliamentary Conference of such a magnitude is being organized in Virtual mode.
The theme of the Conference is “Parliamentary leadership for more effective multilateralism” that delivers peace and sustainable development for the people and planet.
The Conference is being held in the backdrop of the current crisis of COVID-19 pandemic is expected to strengthen multilateralism and international cooperation to rebuild a better world.

Ashok Lavasa appointed as the Vice President of Asian Development Bank

Lavas will join the Philippines-based Asian Development Bank (ADB) as Vice President next month.
Election Commissioner Ashok Lavasa's resignation has been accepted by the President.
The Asian Development Bank had announced his appointment to the post of its Vice-President in July 2020.
Ashok Lavasa is a retired 1980 batch Indian Administrative Service officer of Haryana cadre and is one of the two Election Commissioners of India. He has also served as the Finance Secretary of India, Environment, Forests and Climate Change Secretary of India and Civil Aviation Secretary of India.

RBI released framework for pan-India retail payments

Reserve Bank of India has unveiled the framework for setting up of pan-India Umbrella Entity for Retail Payments.
Highlights

As per the framework, the companies with a net worth of over 500 crore rupees will be eligible to set up an umbrella entity which among other things will be permitted to set up, manage and operate new payment systems in the retail space comprising ATMs, White Label PoS, Aadhaar-based payments and remittance services.
The entity will be expected to monitor national as well as international developments to avoid shocks and frauds that may adversely affect the system and the economy in general.

19^th amendment to the Srilankan Constitution abolished

Sri Lankan government has granted approval to abolish the 19th amendment to the constitution and replace it with the 20th amendment.
The amendment brought by the previous government had put a two-term limit on the Presidency and curtailed the executive powers of the President and transferred it to parliament and independent commissions.
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa had made the abolition of 19th amendment as the main election plank during the presidential and parliamentary elections.

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