WEEKLY CURRENT AFFAIRS: MAY 3rd WEEK

NATIONAL

1. Atal Pension Yojna, a flagship social security scheme of the Government of India, has
completed five years of its implementation in May 2020. The scheme is being administered
by Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority through National Pension System
(NPS). Any citizen of India can join the APY scheme. The age of the subscriber should be
between 18-40 years.

2. Government of India has set up a new body Rice Export Promotion Forum to give
impetus to rice exports under the aegis of Agricultural and Processed Foods Export Promotion
Development Authority (APEDA).

3. The Government of India and West Bengal Government have inked agreements with Asian
Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) for $145million to improve irrigation services and
flood management in the Damodar Valley Command Area (DVCA) of West Bengal

4. Rs 3100 crores has been allocated from Prime Minister’s Citizen Assistance and Relief in
Emergency Situations (PM CARES) Fund Trust to fight against COVID-19 pandemic.

5. Union Defence minister Rajnath Singh has approved Rs 400 crores for Defence Testing
Infrastructure Scheme. The scheme will run for a period of 5 years & envisages to set up
6 to 8 new test facilities in partnership with private industry.

6. Rs 40,000 crores additional amount has been allocated for the under MGNREGS which will
help in generating total work of nearly 300 crore person days.

7. PM e-VIDYA programme has been launched for multi-mode access to digital/online

education. Under the programme the DIKSHA programme will provide “one nation, one
digital platform” for school education in states/UTs. It will also include the launch of
Energized Textbooks for all grades. One earmarked TV channel will be launched for per class
from 1 to 12 following the concept of “one class, one channel”.

8. National Disaster Management Authority has developed “National Migrant Information

System (NMIS)” to secure information regarding the movement of migrants workers.

9. A mobile application named National Test Abhyas was developed by the National Testing
Agency which will help the candidates to take mock tests for exams such as JEE Mains, NEET,
etc.

10. The Indian Railways operationalized its first 12,000 HP electric locomotive built in
Electric Locomotive Factory, Madhepura.

11. Six cities rated 5 star in Star Rating of Garbage Free Cities, for the assessment year
2019-2020. In rating Ambikapur, Rajkot, Surat, Mysuru, Indore and Navi Mumbai were rated
5 Star.

12. The Union Cabinet has extended Pradhan Mantri Vaya Vandana Yojana (PMVVY) till which
year 2023. It is a social security scheme for senior citizens for those who are above 60. The
government has fixed its annual rate of return at 7.4% for financial year 2020-21. Now,
Senior citizens will have time till March 31, 2023 to invest in Pradhan Mantri Vaya Vandana
Yojana which provides higher return than any bank.

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 WEEKLY CURRENT AFFAIRS: MAY 3rd WEEK

STATES

13. Karnataka has launched its first cyber security-specific accelerator programme 'H.A.C.K'
for start-ups.

INTERNATIONAL

14. According to the Global Forest Resources Assessment (FRA) 2020 released by the United
Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the forest loss rate in 2015-2020 has
declined to an estimated 10 million hectares (mha), down from 12 mha in 2010-2015. The
world has lost 178 mha of forest since 1990, an area the size of Libya.

15. The United Nations (UN) World Economic Situation and Prospects (WESP) mid-year report
forecast that the COVID-19 pandemic situation will shrink the world economy by 3.2%.

16. As per the report published by the Asian Development Bank global economy is expected
to lose between $ 5.8 trillion to $ 8.8 trillion.
GDP in South Asia is expected to decrease from $ 142 billion (3.9%) -$ 218 billion (6 %) due
to stringent lockdown restrictions imposed by nations like Bangladesh, India and Pakistan to
prevent the coronavirus infection.

17. Italy has developed ‘iFeel-You’ bracelet for social distancing. This bracelet will help users
respect social distancing rules.

18. China has announced USD 2 billion support to WHO over two years to fight the
coronavirus pandemic at WHO assembly.

ECONOMY & BUSINESS

19. the United Nations (UN) World Economic Situation and Prospects (WESP) mid-year report
forecast that in 2020 India’s economy to grow at 1.2%. The report forecast that India’s
economy to grow at 1.2% in 2020 which is deterioration from the growth of 4.1% in 2019.

20. World Bank has approved 1 billion USD to increase India’s COVID-19 Social Protection
response Program.

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 WEEKLY CURRENT AFFAIRS: MAY 3rd WEEK

FINANCE & BANKING

21. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has extended the interest subsidy period for exporters
till 31 March 2021. Exporters get the subsidy under the ‘Interest Equalisation Scheme for
pre and post shipment Rupee Export Credit’, which was ended on March 31, 2020.

22. MoneyGram Payment Systems has partnered with Federal Bank to offer a cost-effective
direct to bank account credit option for customers in India.

23. Reserve Bank of India has increased Ways Means Advance limits of States by 60%.
And the number of days state can be in continuous overdraft has been increased from 14 days
to 21 days. And number of days state can be in overdraft in a quarter has been increased
from 32 to 50 days.

24. Rs 20,500 crores has been extended by NABARD to co-operative banks and Regional
Rural Banks (RRB’s) in various States. This amount is part of the Rs 25,000 crores of special
refinance facility provided by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to NABARD for refinancing RRBs,
cooperative banks and Micro Finance Institutions (MFIs).

25. Kotak Mahindra Bank becomes first bank in India to introduce video-KYC facility for
saving account customers. Under the video conferencing KYC system, customers have to
provide Aadhaar and PAN (Permanent Account Number) to open ‘Kotak 811 savings account’
in the Bank.

26. ICICI Bank has launched special fixed deposit (FD) scheme for senior citizens to help
them get higher interest rate of 6.55%.

27. 'ICICI Bank Golden Years FD’ scheme offers senior citizens an interest rate of 6.55% per
annum for deposits up to ₹2 crore with a tenure of more than five years to 10 years.

28. Bajaj Allianz General Insurance Company and Flipkart has to offer a digital motor
insurance policy to Flipkart’s customers.

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 WEEKLY CURRENT AFFAIRS: MAY 3rd WEEK

PERSON IN NEWS

29. Roberto Azevedo decides to resign a year before his term expires as head of World Trade
Organisation.

30. Benjamin Netanyahu has sworn in as the Prime Minister of Israel for the 5th time.

31. Govinda Rajulu Chintala has been appointed as the chairman of National Bank for
Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD). He will replace Harsh Kumar Bhanwala.

32. Carmen Reinhart has been appointed as Chief Economist and Vice President of the World
Bank.

OBITUARIES

34. Renowned Personality Ratnakar Matkari passed away recently, he was a veteran Writer.

IMPORTANT DAYS

35. The International Day of Light is celebrated every year on 16th May. The Day
celebrates the role that light plays in science, culture and art, education, and sustainable
development, and in the fields as diverse as medicine, communications, and energy.

36. World Hypertension Day is observed globally every year on 17th May.

37. World Metrology Day is observed globally every year on 20th May. Many nations on this
day, internationally collaborate to create awareness about metrology and its advancement in
the respective field.

SPORTS

38. The Bundesliga of Germany has become the world’s first major sports event to resume
after COVID-19 lock down.

39. The National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) provisionally suspended Savita Kumari and
Ankit Shisodia for violating antidoping rules. They are associated with Powerlifting.

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