GK & CURRENT AFFAIRS

GK & CURRENT AFFAIRS 

India becomes 12th largest US govt securities holder

•  India has become the 12th largest holder of US government securities at the end of April 2020 with a holding worth USD 157.4 billion. 

•  The US Treasury Department data showed that after significantly reducing the exposure in March to USD 156.5 billion, India marginally hiked the holding by USD 0.9 billion to USD 157.4 billion the next month.

•  While India’s holding touched a record high of USD 177.5 billion in February, the same was drastically reduced in March. The exposure had stood at USD 164.3 billion in January. 

•  At the end of April, Japan remained the country with the maximum exposure at USD 1.27 trillion, followed by China at USD 1.1 trillion and the UK at USD 368.5 billion.

Tripura to launch ‘ Play little, Study little’ scheme on June 25

•  The Tripura government has decided to launch a scheme called ‘Ektu Khelo, Ektu Padho’ which means ‘Play little, Study little’, from June 25, 2020. 

•  Under the scheme, the students would be getting audio and video content on learning activities projects as well as fun and gaming activities through SMS or WhatsApp.

•  The state education headquarters would be sharing the learning contents with different district academic coordinators and they would be sharing the same with the headmasters of the schools in their concerned areas. 

The headmasters will then give the responsibility to the teachers to share the contents among the students.

Nepal’s radio stations start giving weather bulletins of territories claimed by India

•  Nepal’s FM radio stations located close to India-Nepal border in Uttarakhand’s Pithoragarh have started giving weather bulletins of disputed areas of Lipulekh, Kalapani and Limpiyadhura, which India considers as a part of its own territory. 

•  This development comes after Nepal’s Parliament approved a revised political map that includes the disputed territories as a part of Nepal’s territory. India had rejected the new map. 

•  The Indian Meteorological Department had also similarly started including two cities of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) - Muzaffarabad and Gilgit-Baltistan in its weather forecasts from the beginning of May. The cities have been included in the new map of Jammu and Kashmir union territory. 

SC allows Rath Yatra to be conducted in Puri with certain restrictions

•  The Supreme Court on June 22, 2020 indicated that it would allow Puri's Rath Yatra, which is scheduled to start from tomorrow.

•  The Apex court stated that it cannot micro-manage the rituals and left it to the wisdom of state, the Centre and temple management to deal with that issue.

•  The SC bench headed by Chief Justice S A Bobde was informed by the Odisha government that it will coordinate with temple management and the Centre to make things smooth during Rath Yatra.

•  The apex court had earlier on June 18 said in the interest of public health and safety of citizens, this year's Puri Rath Yatra cannot be allowed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Bangladesh declares ‘general holidays’ in red zones of 10 districts

•  The Bangladesh government has announced a ‘general holiday’ in the areas falling under red-zone in 10 districts of the country. 

•  The government has put areas with high infection rates under strict lockdown to stem the spread of Coronavirus in the country.

•  All government and private offices in these areas will remain closed and only emergency services will continue to function.