National Current Affairs Headlines
- The government extended the existing foreign trade policy (2015-20) for one year till March 2021 amid coronavirus outbreak and the lockdown to contain the virus spread.
- To provide help to those tourists who all are stuck in India due to Corona Virus outbreak, the ministry of tourism has launched a new portal named as “Stranded in India”. The portal strandedinindia.com consists of information around COVID-19 helpline numbers and call centres that foreign tourists can reach out for help, information around Ministry of External Affairs control centres along with their contact information and information around state-based, regional tourism support infrastructure.
- Due to Corona Virus lockdown, India faces many challenges and the Govt of India keep on providing as much possible scheme to prevent the pandemic environment. This time, the Govt of India has extended the short term crop loan period to till May 31st.
- Ministry of Information and Broadcasting launches dedicated Twitter handle for sharing news and updates on novel coronavirus. The account is named #IndiaFightsCorona and uses the handle @CovidnewsbyMIB.
International Current Affairs Headlines
- COVID-19: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman participates in 2nd Extraordinary G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors (FMCBG) meeting under the Saudi Arabian Presidency through videoconferencing.
- Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg announced the appointment of a group of experts to support his work in a reflection process to further strengthen NATO’s political dimension. The group of five men and five women will be co-chaired by Thomas de Maizière and Wess Mitchell, and will report to the Secretary-general their meeting in London last year, NATO leaders agreed to a forward-looking reflection process under the auspices of the Secretary-General.
- Actor Andrew Jack, best known for playing Major Ematt in “Stars Wars” films, has died of coronavirus complications at the age of 76. Jack passed away at a hospital in Chertsey, England.
Banking and Bussiness Current Affairs Headlines
- The Govt of India has dropped the interest rates on various small savings schemes for the first quarter 2020-21. Below we have mentioned all rates in details-
- Rate of interest for Sukanya Samriddhi Account Scheme it has been reduced from 8.4 to 7.6%.
- The interest rate for Public Provident Fund reduced from 7.9 to 7.1%
- The interest rate for National Savings Certificate 7.9 to 6.8%.
- The Interest rate for Kisan Vikas Patra reduced from 7.6% to 6.9%.
- The KVP will mature in 124 months instead of 113 months earlier.
- Rate of interest for the Senior Citizen Savings Scheme reduced to 7.4 from 8.6%
- Rate of interest for the monthly income scheme lowered to 6.6% from 7.6%
- For five-year recurring deposit, the interest has been reduced from 7.2 to 5.8%.
- For five-year time-deposit, it has been brought down from 7.7% to 6.7%
- For three-years, two-years and one-year time deposits, the interest rate has been cut from 6.9 to 5.5%Interest on savings deposit stays unchanged at 4%
- Due to Corona Virus lockdown many almost all the banks were facing difficulties to run their daily task. However, to provide more convenience to the user some banks are providing as many possibilities to use all bank service for the home. ICICI bank also started WhatsApp bank service recently.
- Using the service on WhatsApp, retail customers can check their savings account balance, last three transactions, credit card limit, get details of pre-approved instant loan offers and block and unblock credit and debit cards in a secure manner with end-to-end encryption for all messages.
- Finance Minister of India Ms Nirmala Sitharam announced to deposit Rs.500 for 3 months to the accounts of all women account holders under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY)