World Tuna Day- 2nd May, Lifeline Udan, YASH, Rising Sun’ by Japan, Rs 50,000 cr for mutual funds
1. Flights operated under Lifeline Udan to deliver essential medical cargo to people across the country
- ‘Lifeline Udan’ flights are being operated by MoCA (Ministry of Civil Aviation) to transport essential medical cargo to remote parts of the country to support India’s war against COVID-19.
- Helicopter services including Pawan Hans Ltd have been operating in J&K, Ladakh, Islands and North East region transporting critical medical cargo and patients.
- Pawan Hans till 1 May 2020 have carried 2.03 tons of cargo covering a distance of 7,529 kms. Special focus has been on the North East Region, island territories and the hill states.
- Air India and IAF collaborated primarily for J&K, Ladakh, North-East and otherisland regions.
- 422 flights have been operated under Lifeline Udan by Air India, Alliance Air, IAF and private carriers.
- 244 of these flights have been operated by Air India and Alliance Air. Cargo transported till date is around 790.22 tons.
- Aerial distance covered by Lifeline Udan flights till date is over 4,13,538 km.
- Domestic Cargo Operators SpiceJet, Blue Dart and Indigo are operating cargo flights on a commercial basis.
- Spicejet operated 734 cargo flights during 24 March to 1 May 2020 covering a distance of 12,77,213 km and carrying 5,320 tons of cargo. Out of these,270 were international cargo flights.
- Blue Dart operated 245 cargo flights covering a distance of 2,67,417 km and carrying 4,179tons of cargo during 25 March to 1 May 2020. Out of these, 12 were international cargo flights. Indigo has operated 82 cargo flights during 3 April to 1 May 2020 covering a distance of 1,36,060 km and carrying around 393tons of cargo and including 27 international flights. This also includes medical supplies carried free of cost for the government.
- Vistara has operated 20 cargo flights during 19 April to 1 May 2020 covering a distance of 28,590 km and carrying around 139 tons of cargo.
2. World Tuna Day- 2nd May
- World Tuna Day is observed globally on 2nd May every year.
- Tuna and tuna-like species are very important economically — to both developed and developing countries — and a significant source of food.
- They include approximately 40 species occurring in the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans and in the Mediterranean Sea.It was observed for the first time in 2017.
3. ‘Year of Awareness on Science & Health (YASH)’
- National Council for Science & Technology Communication (NCSTC), Department of Science & Technology (DST) has launched a programme on health and risk communication ‘Year of Awareness on Science & Health (YASH)’ with focus on COVID-19.
- YASH will envisage specific outcomes, like improved risk understanding amongst target groups including working with local sensitivities, belief systems, traditions, and indigenous knowledge; bringing about attitudinal changes among target groups about appreciating risks, associated challenges, solutions, and coping up the situation with courage and confidence; better working relations with community leaders, influencers including doctors, faith leaders and so on.
- Union Minister of Science and Technology: Harsh Vardhan.
4. 'Order of Rising Sun' by Japan
- The ‘Order of the Rising Sun’ is conferred on persons with achievements in international relations, promotion of Japanese culture, environmental preservation, welfare or achievements in their fields.
- It was constituted by Japanese Emperor Meiji in 1875.
- Capital of Japan: Tokyo.
- Currency of Japan: yen.
- Prime Minister of Japan: Shinzo Abe.
5. Rs 50,000 cr liquidity window for mutual funds
- This is the third time the RBI is opening the liquidity window for the financial sector players in the last 15 years.
- The RBI had opened special liquidity repo window for mutual funds in October 2008 (at the time of the global financial crisis) and again in July 2013, when returns on debt mutual funds dropped sharply after the rupee fell significantly against dollar and mutual funds feared redemption pressure.However, when the IL&FS fiasco hit the financial sector two years ago, the RBI did not approve a Finance Ministry proposal to open up a special liquidity window for NBFCs.
- The RBI’s liquidity offer is expected to bring some degree of comfort in the debt market which has been under huge redemption pressure, especially in the credit risk fund category which has assets of over Rs 55,000 crore.
- Under the special liquidity facility for mutual funds (SLF-MF), the RBI will conduct repo (repurchase agreement) operations of 90 days tenor at the fixed repo rate of 4.40 per cent for banks. Funds availed under the SLF-MF will be used by banks exclusively for meeting the liquidity requirements of MFs.
- A repurchase agreement (repo) is a short-term agreement to sell securities to buy them back at a later date. The one selling the repo (banks) is effectively borrowing and the other party (the RBI) is lending.
