TNPSC CURRENT AFFAIRS – 03.6.2024

1. AMRUT scheme

• Around 36% of India’s population is living in cities and by 2047 it will be more than 50%. The World Bank estimates that around 840 billion dollars is required to fund the bare minimum urban infrastructure over the next 15 years.
• The Atal mission for rejuvenation and urban transformation (AMRUT) scheme was a flagship programme launched in 2015, with its second version launched in 2021.
• The mission was drawn to cover 500 cities and towns with a population of over 1,00,000 with notified municipalities. Its purpose was to ensure that every household has access to a tap, Increasing the value of cities by developing greenery and reducing pollution by switching to public transport.
• The second version of the scheme was aimed at making cities water secure and providing functional water tap connexions to all households in all statutory towns.
• However, it was made for cities with no participation of the cities. It was quite mechanical in design.
• Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) was launched in June 2015 under the Government of India. The AMRUT scheme is an initiative to provide basic civic amenities to the urban areas to improve the quality of life with major focus to the poor and the disadvantaged.

2. MONSOON SET IN KERALA

• Kerala is all set for the Southwest Monsoon two days ahead of its normal onset.
• Southwest monsoon usually sets in over Kerala around June 1 and progresses to North, covering the entire country around July 15.
• There are three major criteria set for declaration of monsoon over Kerala- Rainfall over 14 stations in Kerala and neighbouring areas should record over 2.5 millimetres for two consecutive days.
• Outgoing longwave radiation should be below 200 wm-2
• The depth of the Westerly winds should be up to 600hPa
• The southwest monsoon is responsible for the majority of the rainfall in India. It begins with the onset of the monsoon over the Andaman Sea and the Bay of Bengal. Moisture-laden winds from the Indian Ocean are drawn towards the low-pressure area over the Indian subcontinent, creating a monsoon trough

3. Pharma exports to log $31 billion in FY25

• India’s pharmaceutical exports are expected to grow by more than 11% in touch or record $31 billion this financial year on the back of multiple factors especially a shortage of trucks in the key US market.
• For the fiscal ended March, Pharma exports rose 9.6 to 2 $7.8 billion.
• The pharmaceutical industry in India is currently valued at $50 Bn. India is a major exporter of Pharmaceuticals, with over 200+ countries served by Indian pharma exports. India supplies over 50% of Africa’s requirement for generics, ~40% of generic demand in the US and ~25% of all medicine in the UK.

4. RBI specifies framework for SRO for fintech firms

• The Reserve Bank of India has issued the framework for recognising self- regulatory organisation for the fintech sector (SRO-FT) for better self- governance and compliance by firms in this space.
• Entities meeting or intending to meet the eligibility conditions and requirements of the SRO-FT Framework have been asked to submit applications.
• The applicant should be set up as a note for profit company and its shareholders should be sufficiently diversified with no entity holding 10% or more of its paid-up share capital.
• A self-regulatory organization (SRO) is an organization that exercises some degree of regulatory authority over an industry or profession. The regulatory authority could exist in place of government regulation, or applied in addition to government regulation. For example, the Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI) functions under SEBI’s guidelines to promote and protect the interests of mutual funds and their unit holders.

5. Indian peacekeeper gets UN award on gender advocacy

• Major Radhika Sen, an Indian peacekeeper deployed in Congo was awarded the UN military gender advocate of the Year Award for 2023 for her work supporting conflict affected communities.
• She led a team of 20 women soldiers and 10 male soldiers in Congo.
• India has contributed services of approximately 2,87,000 troops to peacekeeping missions. Indian association with UN Peacekeeping dates back to the year 1953.

ONE LINER

1. Chandrashekar Gaurinath Karhadkar, has assumed office as the new Director of the Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR)
2. India’s real GDP growth surges to 8.2% on manufacturing gains – National Statistical Office (NSO)