Monthly Current Affairs [ One-liner Facts ], June -2020

Monthly Current Affairs (One-liner Facts) _________________________June -2020

Dear readers/Visitors,

This Monthly Current Affairs (One-liner) is a compilation of information that is relevant for PCS Exams. The information extracted and compiled from the events that have held in June 2020.

Important News – State

✓ Uttar Pradesh becomes the first state in the country to prepare one lakh beds for COVID-19 patients.

    Note:   The beds in the hospitals are classified into three categories- Level 1, level 2 and level 3. While level one and two beds are for patients exhibiting mild symptoms, level three beds are meant for graver infections. The hospitals catering to level one patients will have facilities for oxygen support, those catering to level two patients will have a few ventilators in addition to oxygen support.

✓ Uttar Pradesh state government has signed an MoU with industry associations to create 10Lakh job for migrants.

    Note:   The State MSME Minister Sidharth Nath Singh signed the MoU with the Industries and Business Chambers to promote the MSME sector and provide employment for around 10 lakh skilled and semi-skilled workers. The migrant workers will be supported with the motto of “work to every hand and Employment to every house”

✓ Delhi government has launched a mobile application that will inform people in the state about the availability of the hospital beds and ventilators in the government and private hospitals.

    Note:   The Application mainly aims at providing real time information. The application will provide information related to availability of hospital beds and ventilators in the city. It is now available on Google Play.

✓ Kerala becomes the first state to declare the internet as a fundamental right of the citizen.

    Note:   It is to provide free internet access for the poor by December 2020 and become the first state to declare the internet as a fundamental right of the citizen. It would be implemented by Kerala State IT Infrastructure Limited and Kerala State Electricity Board(KSEB).

✓ Rajasthan state occupied the first rank in the COVID 19 Management Index analyzed for 10 states by the Ministry of Home Affairs, GoI.

    Note:   Rajasthan has occupied first rank in the COVID-19 management index analysed for 10 States by the Central government which included parameter such as active cases, recovered cases, and mortality rate. Mortality rate in the state is 2.16%. Recovery rate is 67.59%

✓ Jammu & Kashmir has launched a salary tracker mobile app ‘MeraVetan’ for government employees.

    Note:   With the launch of MeraVetan App (V-1), the employees especially posted in remote & rural areas who don’t have access to the DDO will easily access their salary and other details anytime. This application developed by the National Informatics Centre (NIC) – J&K State Centre on the Android Platform to provide end to end computerization of JK Payment System (JKPaySys) application.

✓ Chhattisgarh has launched a special campaign “Spandan” to check mental stress and depression among its police personnel.

    Note:   The motive of the campaign is to prevent the force from depression and stress pushing them to take extreme steps. As part of the campaign” Spandan”, senior police officers will visit police lines, police stations and armed forces companies to interact with the personnel to know about problems being faced by them.

✓ Gujarat Govt. occupied top position in the ‘Food Safety Index 2019-20 released by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI)’ among the larger state.

    Note:   Gujarat is followed by Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra. The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) released the results of the second 'State Food Safety Index' to celebrate the World Food Safety Day during a webinar.

✓ The World Bank has granted loan worth of Rs. 1,950 crores to West Bengal for tackling coronavirus (COVID-19) situation and developmental work.

    Note:   The loan amount has been lending to the West Bengal Government to tackle COVID-19 situation and developmental work in the state. Out of the total amount of Rs 1950 crore, West Bengal Government will spend Rs. 850 crores on various Social-Welfare schemes while the remaining Rs 1,100 crore will be spent to create Industrial infrastructures.

✓ The colour of water in Lonar lake has changed to pink due to salinity and presence of algae in the water body. The lake is located in Maharashtra.

    Note:   The lake was formed after a meteorite hit the Earth some 50,000 years ago. Located around 500 km from Mumbai, the Lonar lake is in Buldhana district of Maharshtra. The lake, which is a notified national geo-heritage monument, has saline water with pH of 10.5.

✓ Himachal Pradesh government has launched ‘Panchvati Yojana’ for the senior citizens of rural areas of the state.

    Note:   Under the yojana parks & gardens will be established in every development block with mandatory facilities under Mahatma Gandhi Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA) 2005, Scheme of Rural Development Department.

✓ Maharashtra government has decided to rename the state’s Environment Ministry as ‘Environment and Climate Change Ministry’.

    Note:   The decision to change the name comes just weeks after the state was hit by a severe cyclonic storm Nisarga on June 3, 2020. Maharashtra is one among a few states like Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana in India which have a dedicated department to address climate change.

✓ Financial assistance Rs 10,000 will be provided tailors, barbers and dhobis under ‘Jagananna Chedodu’ scheme launched by Andhra Pradesh state government.

    Note:   Andhra Pradesh government has launched the ‘Jagananna Chedodu’ scheme to provide financial assistance to tailors, barbers and dhobis (washermen). In total Rs.247 crore was transferred to their bank accounts under financial liability so that bankers cannot use the money to offset the loan repayment balances.

✓ Uttar Pradesh state government has launched ‘Bal Shramik Vidya Yojana’ to educate child labourers in the state.

    Note:   This scheme has launched, on the occasion of the International Child Labour Prohibition Day. The government will give monthly financial assistance of Rs 1,000 and Rs 1,200 to selected boys and girls, respectively. If these children pass classes 8, 9 and 10, they will be given an additional amount of Rs 6,000 for clearing each standard.

✓ Punjab government has launched ‘Ghar Ghar Nigrani’ app for house-to-house surveillance to contain the spread of COVID-19.

    Note:   The app, 'Ghar ghar nigrani', was launched by Chief Minister Amarinder Singh through video conference. With the help of the application, the Punjab Government is to cover all the persons that are below the age of 30 years. The survey will cover persons that have influenza like illness.

✓ Odisha has become the first state in the country to receive ISO certification for hostels meant for tribal students.

    Note:   This feat has been achieved due to 'Mission Suvidya' project which was launched by ST&SC Welfare Department to provide all the tribal hostels of the state uniform standards of infrastructure, amenities and human resources earlier. The audit team for certification visited hostels across the state and accorded the certification.

✓ Rs 572 Crores, the amount that has been allocated by central government to Jharkhand for the implementation of Jal Jeevan Mission in the financial year 2020-21.

    Note:   The state is planning cent percent household coverage by 2023-24. Out of 54 lakh rural households in the State, only 4.37 lakh have functional household tap connection (FHTC).

✓ Kerala governments implemented ‘Food forest’ project in tribal belts of the state.

    Note:   As part of the ‘Tribal Comprehensive Development Programme in Kerala the "food forest" project is being implemented in cooperation with the Mahila Kissan Sashaktheekaran Pariyojana of the Central Government. The project aims to provide food security to 192 tribal villages in Attapadi.

✓ Uttar Pradesh government has set up a labour commission to ensure social and economic security for migrant workers.

    Note:   The objective of the Commission is to provide maximum employment to the workers at the local level in private and non-government sector as per their skill and employment opportunities. The workers in the state will be given access to employment opportunities by skill development and it will also help the economy of the state gain momentum.

✓ West Bengal government has launched Karmo Bhumi, a job portal to help IT professionals who have lost their jobs after the outbreak of COVID-19 and returned to the state.

    Note:   IT professionals can use the portal ‘Karmo Bhumi’ to connect with companies based in the state. A web portal will act as a medium between the professionals and IT companies in Bengal. There are around 700 IT and ITeS companies at Salt Lake Sector V and Rajarhat where at present around 2.5 lakh people work.

✓ Uttar Pradesh government has decided to adopt the scheme of Flatted Factory Model, which means the non-polluting industries can operate in Multistoried buildings.

    Note:   The committee is headed by Alok Kumar Principal Secretary (Infrastructure & Industrial Development). The members of the committee includes the Chief Executive officers (CEOs) of UPSIDA. NOIDA, Greater Noida and Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (YEIDA).

✓ Uttar Pradesh has become the top state in India to provide employment to the workers under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGA).

    Note:   According to the data released, 57 lakh 12975 workers got employment is around 57 thousand village panchayats of the state which is 18% of the total work generated under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) in the country. The state government has generated 7.93 crore man-days and the government will provide jobs to 10 lakh more workers.

✓ Tripura state government has decided to start ‘Ektu Khelo, Ektu Padho’ –meaning ‘Play Little, Study Little’ scheme.

    Note:   The scheme will be implemented via SMS or WhatsApp. For students, those who have access to smartphones of their parents will be able to access the scheme through WhatsApp. For students having feature phones, they will be able to access through SMS. The objective of the scheme is to make sure that students invest their time in studies during these times of uncertainty as it could still take a couple of months for schools to reopen due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

✓ Rajasthan state government is going to launch Indira Rasoi Yojana for the poor.

    Note:   Under this scheme, pure and nutritious food on concessional rates is going to be provided to the needy twice each day. The State government will spend ₹100 crores every year on the scheme.

✓ Jharkhand state government is to launch a job guarantee scheme to provide 100-day work guarantee to the unskilled workers living in the urban areas of the state.

    Note:   The scheme aimed to enhance the livelihood security for the urban poor will be named Mukhyamantri SHRAMIK (Shahri Rozgar Manjuri For Kamgar). Ayyankali Urban Employment Guarantee Scheme (AUEGS) is the 100-day employment guarantee scheme of the Kerala Government for urban poor.

✓ Haryana state government has signed an agreement with Reliance Jio TV to benefit around 52 lakh rural students during the COVID-19 pandemic.

    Note:   The four channels of EDUSAT can be accessed through television, Laptop, desktop, tablets and smartphones for free of cost which will be available on the Jio platform.The contents aired on the television will be available on Jio TV for a week so that the students can access the content to their convenience and time.

✓ Himachal Pradesh state’s Panchayati Raj Department won the 1st prize under e-Panchayat Puraskar-2020.

    Note:   All the 3,226 panchayats of the state have been provided internet facility and people can access various services online. The various services such as family register, registration of birth, death and marriages are registered online in the panchayats.

✓ Tripura state government has launched Mukhyamantri Matru Pushti Uphaar scheme to provide nutrition kits to pregnant and lactating women.

    Note:   The scheme is a part of the state’s efforts to fight malnutrition and maternal mortality. The scheme was announced by state Minister for Social Welfare and Social Education Santana Chakma.The government expects to incur an expenses of about Rs 8 crore annually for this scheme.

✓ Madhya Pradesh state government will launch a campaign called ‘Kill Corona’ from 1st July 2020 under which door-to-door Survey will be conducted to control the spread of COVID-19.

    Note:   During the campaign, the highlight will be the number of tests conducted. The campaign will double the COVID-19 testing capacity from 4000 per 10 lakh people to 8000 per 10 lakh people in the state.

✓ World’s Largest Plasma Therapy Trial under Project ‘Platina’ was launched in Maharashtra state.

    Note:   The name of the project is Platina. The project was virtually launched by the Chief Minister of Maharashtra Uddhav Thackeray.

✓ The forest department of Uttarakhand state has developed India’s first lichen park.

    Note:   Lichens are found in the Himalayas up to 5000 metres are important species as they are the best bioindicators of the pollution levels. Uttarakhand has more than 600 species of lichens followed by Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir with 503 and 386 species respectively.

✓ Gujarat state government has launched ‘At One Click’ Initiative for MSMEs & Other Bigger Industries.

    Note:   Through the initiative, the State Government looks to restore the former vibrancy of the state by motivating sectors such as MSME, traders, bigger industries, and businesses. The online initiative is to encourage these sectors for taking up the challenge that the COVID-19 crisis has bought and convert this into an opportunity.

Important News – India

✓ Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a video blogging competition my 'My Life, My Yoga' which is a joint by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) and Ministry of AYUSH.

    Note:   The 'My Life, My Yoga' contest (also called 'Jeevan Yoga) is a joint effort by the Ministry of AYUSH and the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR).It focuses on the transformative impact of Yoga on the lives of individuals and it comes as one of the activities related to the observation of the sixth International Day of Yoga (IDY) coming up on June 21.

✓ Union Ministry of Labour and Employment in partnership with TCS iON offers free online career skills training through the National Career Service (NCS) project.

    Note:   The Ministry of Labours announced that around 1 crore job seekers and 54000 employers have registered with this portal and the NCS portal has mobilized more than 73 lakh vacancies In the period of lockdown due to COVID-19 the NCS has conducted around 76 online Job fairs to reduce the gap between the employers and job seekers.NCS in partnership with HireMee, online assessment and hiring service provider, offers creation of video profiles for job-seekers.

✓ India’s apex food regulator Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) comes under the purview of Ministry of Health & Family Welfare.

    Note:   The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the appointment of Arun Singhal as chief executive officer of India’s apex food regulator Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI). Singhal is special secretary, department of health and family welfare.

✓ The Union Govt has announced Minimum Support Price List in which how many Minor Forest produce have been included 23.

    Note:   Tribal Affairs has notified an Inclusion of 23 additional Minor Forest Produce (MFP) items and stipulation of their Minimum Support Price (MSP).This announcement was made under Central government-sponsored Scheme (2011) titled “Mechanism for Marketing of MFP through MSP and development of value chain of MFP”.

✓ CHAMPIONS platform has been launched by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi to help the smaller MSMEs by solving their grievances, encouraging and supporting them to march into the big league as national and global companies.

    Note:   The portal aims to make smaller units big by supporting them, encouraging, solving their grievances, helping and handholding. It will act as one-stop shop solution of all entities of the MSME sector.

✓ PM-SAVNidhi has been launched by the union government for to provide affordable loans to street vendors.

    Note:   The PM SVANidhi or PM Street Vendors Atmanirbhar Nidhi is a credit facility scheme that will help more than 50 lakh urban and rural street vendors. The scheme will help the street vendors restart their livelihoods.Under the scheme, Rs 10,000 of credit is to be provided to street vendors. The street vendors shall return the amount as monthly installments within a year.

✓ DRDO has developed a disinfection unit called Ultra Swachh.

    Note:   The Ultra Swachh Unit houses a catalytic converter that makes it environment friendly. It also holds several safety features such as door interlocks, emergency shut down, delay cycle, dual doors, leak monitors, etc.The system complies to International Standards of Industrial, Personal, Occupations and Environmental Safety.

✓ Indian Energy Exchange has launched Real Time Electricity Market (RTM) to help discoms plan their power requirements.

    Note:   The market will conduct 48 auction sessions during the day and the power will be delivered within one hour of closure of the bid session. The market, thus, will help distribution companies manage their power demand-supply variation. It will also help meet power supply needs in a better way.

✓ The Government has announced that it is to provide Kisan Credit Card (KCC) to 1.5 crore Dairy Farmers.

    Note:   The Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying in association with the Department of Financial Services has issued KCC application format to all State Milk Federation and Milk Unions for implementing the same on a mission mode.The campaign aims to provide KCC to 1.5 crore dairy farmers.The campaign is a part of the PM's Atma Nirbhar Bharat package for Farmers.

✓ “Responsible AI for Youth” which will be run jointly by National e-Governance Division of Ministry of Electronics and IT and NASSCOM.

    Note:   Union Minister for Electronics and Information Technology(IT), Law and Justice and Communications Ravi Shankar Prasad launched India’s National Artificial Intelligence(AI) Portal called www.ai.gov.in.He also launched a National Program for the youth, “Responsible AI for Youth” during the occasion of the first anniversary of the second tenure of the government.

✓ NASSCOM has provide an end-to-end coronavirus tracking platform for Karnataka, called the Karnataka Listening Dashboard for COVID-19.

    Note:   As part of the launch, NASSCOM has provided the 1st set of dashboards to state government’s use and will add more soon.The analytics-driven platform is to assist state governments in sustainable industry recovery & helps them make informed decisions to reopen their economies in a phased manner across the state.

✓ The Expert Committee on Rationalization of Film Media has submitted its report recently, the committee is operating under Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.

    Note:   The committee has suggested for an umbrella configuration with four broad verticals under which the institutes should work. This includes festival, production, heritage and knowledge. The verticals are to be headed by the professionals.The committee was headed by Bimal Julka.

✓ Nisarga has been given to the fast-moving depression in the Arabian Sea which intensified into a severe cyclone.

    Note:   As per the India Meteorological Department, the impact of the cyclone is likely to be felt in Maharashtra and Gujarat.There is a concern about the impact of the cyclonic storm on the battle against Covid-19, as the rain and flooding may set back social distancing and other necessary measures at evacuation centres, and even at some Covid-19 facilities located in low-lying areas.

✓ The expert panel constituted by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) under Ishaat Hussain has recommended to allow Non-profit Organizations.

     Note:      Allowing non-profit organisations to directly list through issuance of bonds in the form of zero coupon or zero principal bonds. Zero-coupon bond is a debt security that does not pay interest but instead trades at a deep discount, drawing a profit at maturity, when the bond is redeemed for its full face value. This would help to access funds from donors, philanthropic foundations and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) spenders as they will be encouraged to buy zero coupon bonds.

✓ 25% percent of incentive has been announced on capital expenditure in the recently launched “Promotion of Manufacturing of Electronic Components and Semiconductors (SPECS)” scheme.

    Note:   The schemes were approved by the Union Cabinet in March 2020.he Scheme for Promotion of Manufacturing of Electronic Components and Semiconductors (SPECS) will provide incentive of 25% on the capital expenditure. This is extended to certain identified lists such as semiconductor devices, electronic goods, display fabrication units, etc.

✓ To foster the inclusion of LGBTQAI+ employees of Mahindra Logistics Ltd. has launched a five-year plan which aims at hiring queer people and extending benefits to same-sex partners.

    Note:   The company’s definition of compassionate leave — which can be availed for four days by an employee in case of death of an immediate family member — will be extended to same-sex partners, under the new policy. To make the workplace more inclusive for queer employees, MLL will offer LGBTQAI+ staff counselling services on request, for them and three immediate family members, which includes their partner.

✓ The union cabinet has approved to re-establish the Pharmacopoeia Commission for Indian Medicine & Homoeopathy as Subordinate Office under Ministry of AYUSH.

     Note:  The commission has been set up by merging Pharmacopoeia Laboratory for Indian Medicine and Homeopathic Pharmacopoeia Laboratory. The two central laboratories were established at Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh in 1975.The commission is an autonomous body that operates under Ministry of AYUSH. It is in operation since 2010

✓ TULIP progmmme has been launched by the union government to provide internship opportunities to thousands of fresh graduates and engineers of the county under the ‘Smart City’ projects.

    Note:   The TULIP portal has been developed by AICTE. Under the internship programme students will get to work for 100 smart cities under ministry of housing and urban development.

✓ SWADESH initiative has been launched by the Government of India to map the skills of workers returning to India from overseas under the ‘Vande Bharat Mission’.

    Note:  The full form of SWADESH is “Skilled Workers Arrival Database for Employment Support”. The exercise, kick-started under the Vande Bharat Mission, aims to create a database of qualified citizens based on their skillsets and experience, which can be tapped into to fulfil demand of Indian and foreign companies.

✓ Nagar Van scheme has been launched by the government to develop urban forests across the country.

    Note:   Stressing on the substance theme of “Biodiversity” by the United Nation’s Environment Programme (UNEP), The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change celebrated the day by announcing the initiative of urban forests in India. Urban forest are seemingly the best way to bridge the gap of climate change.

✓ Researchers at IIT Hyderabad have developed a low cost and Artificial Intelligence-based test kit for COVID-19.

    Note:    These kits can give results in about 20 minutes.The test kits have already been tried at the ESIC hospital and the results are encouraging. The test kits are Reverse Tranion Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR)-free and get rid of many processes.

✓ Institute of Advanced Study in Science and Technology (IASST), Guwahati has developed an artificial intelligence-based computer diagnosis framework for rapid and accurate diagnosis of oral cancers.

    Note:   The framework developed by the research group at the Central Computational and Numerical Sciences Division, IASST led by Dr. Lipi B Mahanta, will also help grading of oral squamous cell carcinoma. An indigenous dataset was developed by the scientists through collaborations to make for the unavailability of any benchmark oral cancer dataset for the study.

✓ ARCI, Hyderabad institution developed a rare-earth-based magnetocaloric material that can be effectively used for cancer treatment.

    Note:   A magnetocaloric materials is a substance in which application and removal of a magnetic field causes the materials to become warmer or cooler.A paper on the research work has been published in the Journal of Alloys and Compounds. ARCI is an autonomous R&D Centre of Department of Science and Technology (DST).

✓ India’s rank in the recently released 12th edition of the biennial Environment Performance Index (EPI Index 2020) released by the Yale University -- 168th.

    Note:   The Yale University recently released the biennial Environment Performance Index. In 2018, India scored 27.6 out of 100 and secured 177th rank. Around 32 indicators were considered to create the ranking.

✓ Jaya Jaitly will chair the task force constituted by the Ministry of Women and Child Development, GoI to work on the issues of women and child development.

    Note:   The task force will examine the matters pertaining to age of motherhood, imperatives of lowering MMR, improvement of nutritional levels and related issues. The Task Force will be provided secretarial assistance by the NITI (National Institution for Transforming India) Aayog and will submit its report by 31st July, 2020.

✓ The ISRO has signed an agreement with Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences (ARIES) for cooperation in the field of Space Situational Awareness (SSA) and Astrophysics.

    Note:   The main objective of the MoU is to shield the Indian Space assets from the space debris’s conjunction threats and R&D of Astrophysics, solar sciences and space environment are the base for future space exploration projects and the key to progress in the Indian Space sector.

✓ CSIR institution has signed a letter of intent (LoI) with the Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) to promote innovation in the country.

    Note:   The main focus of the agreement is supporting world class start-ups through CSIR Incubators under AIM initiatives and jointly work on new models of innovation, including setting up of CSIR Innovation Parks

✓ Adani Green Energy Limited has won one of world’s largest solar contract from Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) to develop 8 GW of solar projects.

    Note:   Based on the award agreement the 8 GW of solar development projects will be implemented over the next five years. The first 2 GW of generation capacity will come online by 2022 and the subsequent 6 GW capacity will be added in 2 GW annual increments through 2025.

✓ Digital learning platform TCS iON has partnered with the NSDC to provide its training partners access to the Digital Class Room.

    Note:   The partnership will strengthen NSDC’s online content aggregation platform-- eSkill India--through which it enables e-learning amongst skill seekers and will contribute towards strengthening the Skill India mission.

✓ Defence Institute of Advanced Technology (DIAT) has developed Nano-Technology based disinfectant spray ANANYA to fight against COVID-19.

    Note:   The spray has been prepared based on Nano-Technology assisted formulation. It will not only stop COVID-19 from entering the body but will also kill the virus that comes in direct contact.

✓ IIT Bombay maintains its position as the top institution in India in the QS World University rankings 2021 released recently.

    Note:   IIT-Bombay still maintains its position as the top institution in India in the QS rankings, but has slipped 20 places from 152 to 172 in the global list. IISc overtook IIT Delhi to make it to the second place, but still dropped a rank to 185. IIT Delhi fell more than 10 places in the rankings to 193 rank, while IIT Madras is at 275. Both IIT Kharagpur and IIT Kanpur crashed out of the top 300.

✓ A Deep Submergence Rescue Vehicle (DSRV) Complex was inaugurated in Vishakhapatnam.

✓ Note:Equipped with the state-of-the-art facilities, the complex is designed to accommodate the newly inducted submarine rescue system and store the DSRV assets in the rescue-ready state.The DSRV system consists of a submarine rescue vessel, a remote operations vehicle and side scan sonar and associated equipment.

✓ IIT-BHU has developed an anti-microbial five-layered face mask that an annihilate pathogenic microorganisms.

    Note:   This face mask can annihilate pathogenic microorganisms that are stuck to its outer surface and thereby limit the spread of secondary infections. The mask that is available in the market currently acts as a filter to stop the entry of microbes to oral and nasal airways but does not have any effect on the microbe stuck to the mask surface.

✓ The Department of Agriculture Cooperation & Farmers’ Welfare (DAC&FW) has allocated Rs. 4000 crores to the state governments for the year 2020-21 for implementing Per Drop More Crop.

    Note:   For further allotment of funds, State Governments have identified the beneficiaries to be covered under the programme. This scheme was formulated on July 1, 2015 with an outlay of Rs. 50,000 crore in five years for extending the water coverage for irrigation under focusing “Har Khet ko pani” and improving water use efficiency aiming at “More crop per drop”.

✓ The National Fertilizers Limited (NFL) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Industrial Training Institutes (ITI) Nangal.

    Note:   Under the MoU, ITI’s 12 trades will be taught in the NFL & the theory will be studied at ITI Nangal. The MoU was exchanged between Ms Renu R P Singh DGM (HR) I/c, NFL Nangal unit and Sh Lalit Mohan, Principal of ITI, Nangal.

✓ Infosys has announced to launch of 'Summer of Ideas' initiative for university students worldwide, an online learning programme.

    Note:   The global eight-week ideathon, powered by Infosys' digital learning platform Wingspan, will help the global student and academic community overcome the loss of learning opportunities as a result of the disruption caused by COVID-19.The initiative will allow students access to Infosys mentorship and specially curated learning materials virtually.

✓ India’s rank in the recently compiled by Nature Research, a division of the international scientific publishing company ‘Springer Nature’ -- 12th.

    Note:   The top five positions have gone to the United States of America, China, Germany, United Kingdom and Japan. The Nature Index is a database of author affiliation information collated from research articles published in an independently selected group of 82 high-quality science journals.

✓ As per the “26th Annual Cost of Living Survey 2020” released by Mercer Indian city Mumbai is the most expensive city in India.

    Note:   Mercer released its 26th Annual Cost of Living Survey 2020. From India, Mumbai city has been ranked 60th most expensive city globally and also 19th in Asia.

✓ IIT Bombay has emerged as the top institutions in the list of ‘overall ranking’ category in the 5th NIRF Ranking 2020.

    Note:   The rankings are being announced for India’s best universities and institutions in 10 categories namely- Overall, Universities, Engineering, Colleges, Management, Pharmacy, Medical, Dental Architecture, and Law.

✓ Name the AI enabled robot launched by Indian Railway to intensify the screening and surveillance of railway passengers and railway staff -- ARJUN.

    Note:   The full form of ARJUN is ‘Always be Responsible and Just Use to be Nice’.This innovation will help Indian Railways to modernise its security measures at the time of covid-19.

✓ Name the National Healthcare Supply Chain Portal launched by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to provide real-time availability of critical healthcare supplies _-- Aarogyapath.

    Note:   This national healthcare supply chain portal will remove supply chain bottlenecks during the Covid-19 pandemic. The vision of this initiative is to set up an information management and forecasting database platform at national level.

✓ DRDO has developed a sanitizing chamber named ‘GermiKlean’ to sanitise uniforms of security forces.

    Note:   DRDO’s move came after Delhi Police gave their requirement for sanitizing their uniforms, canes, cane shields, helmets. This chamber is designed to sanitise 25 pairs of uniforms within 15 minutes.The sanitizing chamber has been set up at Parliament Street Police Station.

✓ Construction company NHAI has become the first of its kind in the construction sector to go fully digital.

    Note:   With the launch of cloud-based and artificial intelligence-powered big data analytics platform Data Lake and Project Management Software, the entire project management workflow of NHAI has been transformed from manual to the online portal based. All project documentation, contractual decisions and approvals are now being done through the portal only.

✓ IIT Kharagpur has developed an Artificial Intelligence-based cyber-physical system to monitor social distancing in public places.

    Note:   The device will play a proximity alert sound through audio output, whenever any violation will occur.It captures images of the field view and computes the distance as per criteria set by the government.

✓ An Integrated Flood Warning System (IFLOWS) has been launched for Mumbai.

    Note:   Named as 'Boon' and developed for Mumbai it will help the people in a "big way" as it can predict floods.The system was developed by the Ministry of Earth Sciences and Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).

✓ According to “Poonam Avlokkan” survey the population of the Asiatic lion at the Gir sanctuary grew by approximately 29 per cent.

    Note:   The Gujarat Forest Department has recently announced that the number of Asiatic lions in the state has gone up till 674 from 523 that were reported in a Lion Census done five years ago. Which shows almost 29 per cent increase in the population.

✓ The 40th GST council meet was held recently virtually, who is the chairperson of the GST council -- Union Finance Minister.

    Note:   Union Finance & Corporate Affairs Minister Nirmala Sitharaman chaired the virtual 40th GST Council Meeting. The key outcome of this meet was further relief on late fee and interest payable on late payments as a part of compliance burden of businesses. This was the first meeting after COVID-19 breakout in India.

✓ Uday Kotak will chair the advisory committee formed by the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) on Corporate Insolvency Resolution and Liquidation process.

    Note:   The new 14-member committee, formed in August 2017, will be chaired by Uday Kotak, the Executive Vice Chairman and Managing Director of Kotak Mahindra Bank.It will suggest and provide professional support on a request from the IBBI or on its own volition on any matter with respect to the Corporate Insolvency resolution and liquidation dealt with by the Board under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code 2016.

✓ Construction company NHAI has become the first of its kind in the construction sector to go fully digital.

    Note:   With the launch of cloud-based and artificial intelligence-powered big data analytics platform Data Lake and Project Management Software, the entire project management workflow of NHAI has been transformed from manual to the online portal based. All project documentation, contractual decisions and approvals are now being done through the portal only.

✓ IIT Kharagpur has developed an Artificial Intelligence-based cyber-physical system to monitor social distancing in public places.

    Note:   The device will play a proximity alert sound through audio output, whenever any violation will occur. It captures images of the field view and computes the distance as per criteria set by the government. The system has been successfully tested by installing three prototypes of the device within the IIT-Kharagpur campus

✓ GermiBAN device launched by Union Minister of State for Home Affairs G Kishan Reddy that kills viruses & other germs by sterilising, sanitising & disinfecting in large areas.

    Note:   The device has been developed by Atal Incubation Centre & Association of Lady Entrepreneurs of India (ALEAP) Women Entrepreneurs (WE) HUB. The recently launched device has the capability of killing 99.9% of surface and air microbes.

✓ India’s rank in the annual World Competitiveness Index 2020 compiled by Institute for Management Development (IMD) --- 43rd.

    Note:   In 2019, India was at the 43rd ranking. Since 1989, India had ranked 41st in the World Competitiveness Ranking. However, it slipped to 45th rank in 2017 and secured 44th in 2018.

✓ According to the SIPRI Yearbook 2020, India’s position as nuclear weapons holder in the world -- 6th.

    Note:   However, India’s overall possession of nuclear weapons is less than half of Beijing’s and also slightly lower than what Pakistan possesses.The number of nuclear warheads in the Indian arsenal pegged at 150 in comparison to the 2019 report (on the basis of 2018) when India had 130-140.On the other hand, China’s nuclear arsenal calculated at 320 as compared to 290 of SIPRI’s 2019 report while Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal remained constant at 160 in comparison to 2019’s 150-160.

✓ IIT Hyderabad has developed an Artificial Intelligence-powered COVID-19 test, which can be performed at an affordable cost.

    Note:   The test kit can produce results in around 20 minutes for symptomatic and asymptomatic patients. The test kit has already been field-tested at ESIC Medical College and Hospital in Hyderabad to ascertain its efficiency. It can be transported quickly, enabling the test to be conducted at the p oint-of-care.

✓ Integrated Flood Warning System (IFLOWS) has been launched for Mumbai City.

    Note:   Named as 'Boon' and developed for Mumbai it will help the people in a "big way" as it can predict floods. The system was developed by the Ministry of Earth Sciences and Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). The device will be very useful, especially if people need to be evacuated from low-lying areas.

✓ Mumbai Municipal Corporation has launched a mobile application “Air-Venti” to provide information on ICU beds, ventilators.

    Note:   Octaware Technologies Limited, in partnership with Probity Soft Pvt Ltd, has developed this mobile application for MCGM and therefore the data regarding the ICU beds and Ventilators vacant status. The mobile app ‘Air-Venti’ launched by the civic body in Mumbai aims to supply overall statistics of ICU beds and ventilators that are occupied and vacant in both govt and private hospitals besides location map, ability to contact hospital through telephonic call and email is additionally available.

✓ Prime Minister Narendra Modi going to launch a massive rural public works scheme, Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyaan in Six states of India.

    Note:   The campaign aims to provide livelihood opportunities to the returnee migrant workers and rural citizens.The campaign of 125 days will be implemented on mission mode. It will involve intensified and focused implementation of 25 different types of works to provide employment to the migrant workers and create infrastructure in the rural regions of the country. The scheme entails a resource envelope of 50 thousand crore rupees.

✓ IT company TCS has partnered with IBM to co-develop to accelerate digital and cognitive enterprise transformation.

    Note:   As part of the tie up, TCS will establish an IBM Enterprise Cloud Architecture Unit, which will include technical professionals from both companies. TCS and IBM plan to co-develop solutions designed to help clients migrate workloads across applications, analytics, data estate and platforms.

✓ Composite Regional Centre (CRC) for Skill Development, Rehabilitation and Employment of Persons with Disabilities (PwDs)” has been inaugurated in Ranchi.

    Note:   The centre was inaugurated by Union Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment, Thaawarchand Gehlot, and Union Minister for Tribal Affairs, Arjun Munda. This is the 21st Composite Regional Centre (CRC) which will serve to fulfil the needs of Persons with Disabilities in Jharkhand.

✓ Amitabh Kant will lead the high-powered committee of top executives of technology companies formed by NITI Aayog to develop a job platform for migrant labours who lost their job during lock down.

    Note:   The committee will look into technology-based measures to address the issue related to migrant laborers.The platform, which will use technology with public and private participation, will connect job seekers, employers, overnment agencies, skill centers and external partners who are using new technology such as artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML).

✓ India’s first nationwide online delivery-based natural gas trading platform, “Indian Gas Exchange (IGX)” has been launched with headquartered in New Delhi.

    Note:   It has been launched on the lines of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision to provide clean, affordable, sustainable and equitable supply of energy to every citizen.Notably, IGX will work as a wholly owned subsidiary of the India Energy Exchange (IEX), which is India’s energy market platform. IGX is headed by Rajiv Srivastava as its Director.

✓ Two Indian Startups Stellapps and Zestmoney were featured in the List of Technology Pioneers of 2020, released by the World Economic Forum(WEF).

    Note:   The List includes the pioneers focusing on carbon capture, alternative meat, circular economies, food security and financial access. More than 25 industries in the list are led by females which is twice the industry average.

✓ Indian Railways’ Central Railway zone has installed 1st of its kind an Automated Ticket Checking & Managing Access (ATMA) machine at Nagpur station.

    Note:   The machine has been introduced at the station under the New, Innovative Non Fare Revenue Ideas Scheme (NINFRIS) policy to prevent transmission of COVID-19. This is an Innovative Earning Contract, implemented by Nagar(NGP) Central Railways(CR) for the prevention of COVID-19. ATMA ensures safety for passengers & railway staff as it adheres to social distancing norms.

✓ FICCI has been managing the Indian Pavilion at Cannes Film Market 2020 on behalf of the GoI at Cannes.

    Note:   The e-inauguration of the Virtual India Pavilion at Cannes Film Market 2020 was done by Minister of Information & Broadcasting Prakash Javadekar. He also unveiled the booklet and poster of the 51st International Film Festival of India (IFFI), which is scheduled to take place from November 20 to 28, 2020 in Goa.

✓ chartered accountancy firm has been appointed to audit PM Cares Fund -- SARC & Associates.

    Note:   The appointment is significant because critics have questioned the rationale for a fund other than the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund (PMNRF) for relief work and have also sought more transparency about the usage of monies from the Fund.

✓ Researchers at IIT Bombay has created a chip named ‘Dhruva’ that can be mounted in smartphones and navigation devices to find places and routes within the country.

    Note:   The radio frequency receiver chip was designed in 18 months by students and researchers at IIT Bombay. It can receive in multiple frequency bands and handle weak signals.Besides, it can be converted into digital bits and processed by any standard digital signal processor (DSP) to determine one’s location precisely.

✓ A Five-day Virtual Healthcare & Hygiene Expo was organized by industry bodies FICCI.

    Note:   The event is to create a self-reliant ecosystem in the Pharmaceuticals and Health & Hygiene Sector by ramping up domestic production. In our resolute fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, this sector has a greater significance.

✓ For reducing the carbon dioxide emission caused due to transportation in the country, NITI Aayog will launch the project ‘Decarbonising Transport in India’ in collaboration with International Transport Forum (ITF).

    Note:   India’s Decarbonising Transport initiative is a part of the DTEE project. DTEE stands for Decarbonising Transport in Emerging Economies. DTEE is a project of ITF under which apart from India, currently Argentina, Morocco, and Azerbaijan are the participants.

✓ Prime Minister Narendra Modi has launched ‘Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyaan (GKRA)’ via video conference from Khagaria district of Bihar.

    Note:   The outlay of this campaign is Rs 50,000 Crores and the Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) is the nodal Ministry for its implementation.GKRA, the mission mode campaign of 125 days will cover 116 districts comprising more than 25,000 returnee migrant workers each across 6 states viz. Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Jharkhand and Odisha.

✓ Maharatna company Coal India Limited has entered into the partnership with NITI Aayog’s flagship initiative Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), to actively support the key innovation and entrepreneurship initiatives across India.

    Note:   The tie up will help the talented youth of our country to develop great innovations that have not developed or fallen short and thus enable them to have a AtmaNirbhar Bharat (self-reliant India).This will also create employment at the local level in the coming years

✓ The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) India has partnered with IIT Delhi to support state and national governments in achieving food and nutrition security.

    Note:   The overall objective of this partnership is to use advanced analytics and operations research to develop practical solutions that support long term strategic planning of procurement, storage, and movement of food grains by agencies such as the Food Corporation of India (FCI).It also focuses on to create cost-effective supply chain networks for distribution of food grains under the Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS) at the state level.

✓ What is the budget outlay for the recently approved Animal Husbandry Infrastructure Development Fund (AHIDF) by the Union Cabinet -- 15,000 crore.

    Note:   The aim of setting up AHIDF is to unlock private sector investments in the animal husbandry sector. Through the fund, Infrastructural developments will be promoted in dairy, animal feed, and meat processing plants. As per Government estimate, the fund will help in creating up to 35 lakh jobs across the country.

✓ The Union Cabinet has approved the declaration of the Kushinagar Airport as an international airport, it is located in Uttar Pradesh.

    Note:   Khushinagar is a Buddhist pilgrimage town where Gautama Buddha attained Mahaparinirvana. The move will provide a much-needed boost to the tourism sector of the country in the post-COVID-19 world as International connectivity will increase number of foreign and as well as domestic tourists.

✓ The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved additional investment of USD 121.27 million by ONGC Videsh Ltd. in Shwe oil and gas project located in Myanmar.

    Note:   OVL, the overseas arm of state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC), had picked up a stake in the Shwe Project in Myanmar in 2002. The firm has invested USD 722 million in the project till March 31, 2019.The first gas from the Shwe Project was received in July 2013 and plateau production was reached in December 2014.

✓ Nitin Gadkari launched the scheme ‘Distressed Assets Fund- Sub- Ordinate Debt for MSMEs’ announced as part of AtmaNirbhar Bharat Package by GoI.

    Note:   The scheme is also called as Distressed Assets Fund- Sub- Ordinate Debt for MSMEs.This scheme was announced as a part of the AtmaNirbhar Bharat Package by Finance Minister.

✓ As per the data released by the United States (US) Treasury Department what is India’s position as a holder of US government securities -- 12th.

    Note:   Notably, the holding touched a record high of $177.5 billion in February, 2020 which was drastically reduced in March. The country with maximum exposure to US government securities is Japan at US$1.266 trillion followed by China and the United Kingdom (UK) at the second and third positions, respectively at the end of April 2020.

✓ Adani Power Ltd will acquire US-based The AES Corporation's 49 per cent equity stake in Odisha Power Generation Corporation.

    Note:   Adani Power Ltd (APL) has signed an agreement to acquire the 49% of stake (a total of 89,30,237 equity shares) in Odisha Power Generation Corporation (OPGC) from the affiliates of the US-based global energy company, AES Corporation(AES) for USD 135 million (around Rs 1,019 crore).The remaining 51% stake in OPGC is held by the Government of Odisha.The 49% stake includes the total issued, paid-up and subscribed equity share capital.

✓ A behaviour change campaign named ‘Navigating the New Normal’ has been launched by NITI Aayog in partnership with Melinda Gates Foundation.

✓ Note:As the country is now in an Unlock phase, the aim is to develop an appropriate COVID safe behavior in the country, such as by making people adapt to wearing masks as a part of their daily routine. Until a vaccine is developed, it is essential for the citizens of the country to adopt certain behavioral changes in their day to day life by practicing hand hygiene, wearing masks, etc.

✓ As per the Annual Tuberculosis Report 2020 released by Ministry of Health and Family Welfare what is the percentage rise in TB patient in 2019 –14%.

    Note:   It should be noted that the sustainable goal of eradicating TB globally is 2030, but the Indian government is committed to achieve this target in the country by 2025.

✓ Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru has become the 1st airport in India to get an indigenously developed Aviation Weather Monitoring System (AWMS) at both ends of the runway.

    Note:   The technology is developed by Bengaluru-based CSIR-National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL).The AWMS sensor has been installed on a 10 meters mast which is a 1st of its kind, designed by NAL.

✓ Two Indian Institutes IIT Ropar and IIT Indore secured their ranks in the top 100 in the “THE Young University Rankings 2020” released by the Times Higher Education.

    Note:   The Times Higher Education (THE) released THE Young University Rankings 2020 for the universities which are 50 years old or younger. The Indian Insttitute of Science Education and Research (Pune) and Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar ranked 101-150.

✓ Ministry of Culture is celebrating the “Sankalp Parva” from 28th June to 12 July 2020.

    Note:   This initiative has been launched following the call of Prime Minister of India Shri Narendra Modi to plant at least five trees either in Office campus or wherever it is possible in order to ensure clean and healthy environment of the country. Under the “Sankalp Parva” celebrations, Ministry of Culture expects its Subordinate Offices, Academies, Attached Institutions as well as Affiliated Institutions to plant trees in its campus or at the surroundings wherever it is possible.

✓ The Government of India has signed an agreement with World Bank to provide affordable housing to the urban poor of Tamil Nadu state.

    Note:   The agreement signed has two projects under it- (i) Tamil Nadu Housing Sector Strengthening Program and (ii) Tamil Nadu Housing and Habitat Development Project.The loans for both the project are from the lending arm of the World Bank Group the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD).

✓ Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas & Steel, Dharmendra Pradhan virtually inaugurated Battery Swapping Facility Quick Interchange Service (QIS) in Chandigarh.

    Note:   The battery swapping technology provides the best alternative to slow charging and enables drivers to optimize the use of the operational hours. The model was initiated to target the commercial segment like electric autos, rickshaws, electric 2W and the electric vehicle, which is factory fitted or retrofitted.

Important News – World

✓ SpaceX become the first private rocket company to send astronauts to space.

    Note:   SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft with two NASA astronauts successfully docked with the International Space Station last night after a historic launch from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. It has marked the dawn of a new age in commercial space travel.

✓ The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) has extended the individual sanctions, travel ban and an arms embargo on South Sudan country till May 2021.

    Note:   An arms embargo is a restriction or a set of sanctions that applies solely to weaponry.This extension has been drafted by the United States (US), which received 12 votes in favour while Russia, China and South Africa abstained it. The resolution will encourage developments in South Sudan’s peace process as the nation is emerging from a brutal six-year civil war that left 380,000 dead and millions displaced.

✓ In association with Costa Rica country the World Health Organization has launched COVID-19 Technology Access Pool (C-TAP).

    Note:   More than 30 countries have signed up to support this initiative. C-TAP was first proposed by Costa Rican President Carlos Alvarado in March 2020. He also joined WHO’s Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus during the video launch of the initiative. The nations who have not signed up for the WHO launched initiative are the economic powers such as France, China, Germany, Turkey, Japan, the US, and the UK.

✓ India’s rank in the “Countries Global Ranking of Startup Ecosystem 2020” report prepared by Zurich based global innovation mapping and research company StartupBlink -- 23rd.

    Note:   The third-largest ecosystem – India, in terms of number of technology startups, has been ranked even behind emerging ecosystems such as Estonia, Lithuania, Brazil, Denmark etc. The ranking has been led by the US, the UK, and Israel while China has improved its rank by 13 spots to 14th position this year and Japan stood at 21st spot.

✓ South African National Space Agency (SANSA) has partnered with NASA to host a deep-space ground station, which will support human spaceflight missions to the Moon, Mars and beyond.

    Note:   With this collaboration, South Africa became the fourth country after the US, Spain and Australia to host a deep space ground station.The partnership between the South African National Space Agency (SANSA) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa) to host the space station followed an earlier agreement between the two organisations for the establishment of the station at Matjiesfontein town in the Western Cape Province.

✓ India has signed an MoU with Bhutan on cooperation in the areas of the environment that was approved by the union cabinet.

    Note:   A Memorandum of Understanding covering air, waste, chemical management, climate change has been considered keeping in view bilateral interest of both sides.The MoU shall come into force on the date of signing and shall continue to remain in force for a period of ten years.

✓ United Kingdom has hosted Virtual Global Vaccine Summit 2020.

    Note:   The virtual Global Vaccine Summit 2020 featured the participation of over 50 countries including the business leaders, civil society, government ministers, UN agencies, Heads of State and country leaders.During the virtual summit, India pledged a contribution of 15 Million US Dollars to Gavi, the international vaccine alliance.

✓ Australia signed Mutual Logistics Support Agreement (MLSA) with India to increase military inter-operability through defence exercises between the two countries.

    Note:   The first India-Australia virtual leader’s summit was held between Indian Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi and his Australian counterpart Scott Morrison.The focus of the meet was to further strengthen the bilateral ties in areas like healthcare, trade and defence.

✓ What is the theme of the 51st WEF annual summit to be held in January 2021 --- The Great Reset.

    Note:   The announcement was made by Prince Charles of Wales and WEF Founder and Executive Klaus Schwab during a virtual meeting. WEF annual meeting will be held every year at Davos,Switzerland.50th annual WEF meeting was held from January 21-24, 2020.

✓ An Unmanned submersible of China to dived deep down to 10,907 metres to the world’s deepest point Mariana Trench,

    Note:   A team of scientists left for an expedition on April 23, 2020. The researchers tested acoustic detection, video transmission, high precision depth detection during the deep-sea diving operation.

✓ Kathy Sullivan has became the first woman and the fifth person in history to descend to the deepest known spot in the world’s oceans called the 'Challenger Deep' in the Mariana Trench.

    Note:   She was also the first American woman to walk in space in 1984.Sullivan is now the only human who has walked in space and reached the deepest point in the ocean. Challenger Deep is the deepest point in the Earth’s sea bed. It is at a depth of 10,902 metres.

✓ Italy and Greece has singed an agreement demarcating their maritime boundaries, amid tension in the Mediterranean region over rights to natural resources.

    Note:   The agreement signed at the foreign ministry during a visit to Athens by Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio, tackled an issue that had been pending for 40 years.It demarcates the exclusive economic zone — the maritime area in which a nation has the right of energy exploration and use of marine resources — between the two neighbors, as well as settling fishing rights.

✓ Massachusetts Institute of Technology institute/university maintains its position as the top institution in world in the QS World University Rankings 2021 released recently.

    Note:   In the QS World University Rankings 2021 feature not a single Indian institute among the top 100 universities across the world. Only three educational institutes from India IIT Bombay (172), IISc Bengaluru (185), and IIT Delhi (193) featured in the top 200 list.

✓ New Zealand has declared that the nation has become free from “Coronavirus”.

    Note:   The announcement was made when the last person who was being monitored for coronavirus was released from isolation and regarded as recovered. Hence, New Zealand has announced to lift all the coronavirus measures that were implemented in the country and move to national alert level 1 from midnight on 9 June 2020.

✓ Bangladesh has launched an initiative named ‘Shohojodha’, an online network to facilitate plasma exchange between recovered patients of COVID-19.

    Note:   The initiative has been launched by the ICT division of the government of Bangladesh in collaboration with Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS). The plasma therapy for the Coronavirus patients in Bangladesh is under trial process awaiting final approval from the government.

✓ India has signed an MoU with Denmark country to strengthen the cooperation in power sector.

✓ Note:Under the MOU to implement the agreement of the identified areas a Joint Working Group (JWG) will be established and co-chaired by joint Secretary-level officials who will report to a Steering Committee jointly chaired by the Secretary level officers from both the sides.

✓ United Kingdom has announced ‘Jet Zero’ plan to drive down aviation emissions and to make carbon-free transatlantic flights possible.

    Note:   The U.K. is chasing a target to make the country a net-zero economy by 2050, and transport emissions are proving among the toughest to get down. Aviation emissions currently account for more than 2% of global greenhouse gases and have risen by 70% since 2005. The International Civil Aviation Organization forecasts that they will rise another 300% by 2050 in the absence of measures to bring them down.

✓ Western Railway has created a new world benchmark by successfully running first Double-Stack Container Train in high-rise in Over Head Equipment electrified territory on.

    Note:   This achievement is a first of its kind in the entire world and will also boost the ambitious mission of Green India. The Operations successfully commenced on 10th June from Palanpur and Botad stations in Gujarat.

✓ Teams for Education features launched by Microsoft to engage and prepare students and teachers for new remote and hybrid learning formats in the upcoming school year.

    Note:   These features include expanded audience view of up to 49 participants, custom backgrounds, class insights, and virtual breakout rooms, among other new features. Aimed at increasing student participation and give educators new methods to keep students digitally engaged, Teams will expand its grid view to 7x7, accommodating up to 49 participants.

✓ India has been elected as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for a two-year term from the Asia-Pacific category for the 2021-22 term.

    Note:   Along with India, Ireland, Mexico and Norway also won the Security Council elections held last night. India was a candidate for a non-permanent seat from the Asia-Pacific category for the 2021-22 term. India's two-year term will begin on January 1, 2021.

✓ India will send 75-member Tri-Service contingent to participate in the military parade to Russia on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the victory in the Second World War.

    Note:   The parade will honour the heroism and sacrifices made by the Russian and other friendly people. Defence Minister of Russia had invited an Indian contingent to take part in the Victory Day Parade scheduled to be held on 24th of this month.

✓ Accordance to the annual report on displacement titled “Global Trends- Forced Displacement in 2019″ released by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) with approx 1.0 per cent of world population faced forced displacement.

    Note:   On the Global front, the displacement number is 79.5 million or one in every 97 people on the planet at the end of 2019. This number of forced displacement has almost doubled since 2010 (41 million). It should be noted that this figure is the highest since these statistics have been systematically collected. It is approximately 1% of the world’s population.

✓ China has decided to join the multilateral Arms Trade Treaty (ATT).

    Note:   China was one of the 23 countries back in 2013 when it abstained from the vote to adopt the treaty at the United Nations. The U.S. President has announced in April 2019 that the U.S. will never ratify the Arms Trade Treaty under his administration (the U.S has signed the treaty but was yet to ratify).

✓ China has successfully launched the last Satellite of its BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS).

    Note:   The satellite was launched from the Xichang Satellite Launch center in Sichuan Province. BDS is one of the four global navigation networks among the US’s GPS, Russia’s GLONASS and European Union’s Galileo.

✓ Mt. Merapi an active volcano erupted twice in June, 2020 is in Indonesia.

    Note:   Merapi (Mountain of Fire) is the most active of Indonesia’s 130 active volcanoes. Indonesia is located on the Pacific Ring of Fire.It is a path along the Pacific Ocean characterized by active volcanoes and frequent earthquakes.

✓ As a commemorations of the 6th International Yoga Day, world’s first Yoga University outside India was launched in Los Angeles United State.

    Note:   The university will be known by the name- Vivekananda Yoga University. The University was launched as a part of the commemorations for the 6th International Yoga Day. Chancellor of SVYASA- Swami Vivekananda Yoga Anusandhana Samsthana, Dr. H R Nagendra will be the first Chairman of the Vivekananda Yoga University.

✓ Pakistan remained in the FATF’s Grey List.

    Note:   The decision has been taken as Pakistan has failed to check flow of money to terror groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM).The decision was taken at the Financial Action Task Force's third and final plenary held virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

✓ African country Mali granted the Project Management Consultancy (PMC) contract for the development of a 500 MW solar park to NTPC Limited.

    Note:   In the event chaired by RK Singh, Minister of State for Power and President of International Solar Alliance (ISA), Sekou Kasse, Ambassador of Mali handed the award letter to Gurdeep Singh, Chairman & Managing Director (CMD) of NTPC. To support the electricity requirements of their citizens, the Republic of Mali has taken various initiatives with more focus on Solar power and its applications.

✓ A Tripartite Power Purchase Agreement was signed for the construction of the 1124 MW Kohala Hydro Power Project between Pakistan, China, and Azad Kashmir. The Project is built on Jhelum river.

    Note:   The agreement was signed in between the Government of Pakistan, Chinese Company- China Three Gorges Corporation (State-owned company of Chinese Government), and Government of Azad Kashmir (PoK). The Hydropower project is located near the villages of Siran and Barsala in Muzaffarabad district of Pakistan Occupied Kashmir.

✓ India become the first country to control locusts through drones.

    Note:   India is the first country to control locusts through drones. Under the Make in India initiative, the Department of Agriculture, Cooperation & Farmers’ Welfare (DAC&FW), Agriculture Ministry has indigenously developed a vehicle-mounted Ultra-low volume (ULV) sprayer for locust control. Locust is a crop-threatening migratory pest that has entered the country through the India-Pakistan border.

✓ According to latest study by OECD’s ‘Global Forum on transparency and exchange of information for tax purposes, which are top three countries as Exchange of Information partners of Switzerland -- India, France and Germany.

    Note:   India is getting detailed information on request, from Switzerland about bank accounts and beneficiary ownership of entities established by its residents. India is also rated as ‘largely compliant’ by this OECD’s review. It has also named Italy, Netherlands and Spain among other significant EOI partners for Switzerland.

✓ The theme of the ‘36th ASEAN Summit held via video conference under chairmanship of Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc -- Cohesive and Responsive ASEAN.

    Note:   The summit was chaired by Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc as Vietnam is ASEAN’s chair in 2020. The focus of the meet was on COVID-19 response, post-pandemic recovery and further cooperation with partners.

Important Factual Information

✓ Worker population ratio (35.3%) as per the ‘Annual Report of Periodic Labour Force Survey launched by National Statistical Office (NSO).

    Note:   According to the survey, the worker population ratio increased to 35.3% as compared to 34.7% in 2017-18. The unemployment rate fell to 5.8% in the period July 2018 to June 2019 as compared to 6.1% in the same period 2017-18.

✓ 14 kharif crops the central government has announced minimum support price (MSP) on the recommendation of Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices.

    Note:   The Minimum Support Price of Paddy has been increased by Rs 53 per quintal. The MSP of paddy has been fixed at Rs 1,868 per quintal for the year 2020-21. The rates of pulses, oil seeds and cereals have also been increased. The MSP of cotton has been increased from Rs 5,255 per quintal to Rs 5,515 per quintal.

✓ Grade Baa3 has been given by ratings agency Moody’s Investors Service towards India’s sovereign rating.

    Note:   Baa3 is the lowest investment grade in Moody’s rating ladder.This means, India is just one notch above the non-investment grade or junk grade.Moody’s had upgraded the country’s rating to Baa2 in November 2017.

✓ Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) is the technical partner for implementation of PM Svanidhi, or Pradhan Mantri Street Vendor’s AtmaNirbhar Nidhi scheme launched by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.

    Note:   The scheme was announced by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on 14 May to enable street vendors to resume their livelihoods, which have been hit hard due to the national lockdown. It is a special micro-credit facility plan to provide affordable loan of up to ₹10,000 to more than 50 lakh street vendors, who had their businesses operational on or before 24 March. The the scheme is valid until March 2022.

✓ GAIL India Limited has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Energy Efficiency Services Ltd (EESL) for development of” trigeneration” projects in India.

    Note:   An equal (50:50) joint venture between the two companies will be incorporated for undertaking trigeneration projects if the studies made by 2 companies are viable. Since the trigeneration business is at the initial stage, the collaboration will enable first movers to take advantage in the trigeneration business like GAIL’s city gas business.

✓ In order to encourage the deployment of Points of Sale (PoS) infrastructure in smaller cities and towns, the Reserve Bank of India has signed initiated a Payments Infrastructure Development Fund (PIDF) of Rs 500 crore.

    Note:   The fund has been created with initial corpus of of Rs 250 crore. The remaining amount will be contributed by card issuing banks and card networks working in the country.

✓ As per the 64th survey of Professional Forecasters (SPF) on Macroeconomic Indicators released by RBI in FY 2021 India’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth may contract by 1.5 per cent.

    Note:   However, the next financial year it will return to the relief of growth and will register a growth of 7.2 %.RBI has conducting this SPF since September 2007 & the results for the latest were received during May 7-28, 2020.

✓ The World Bank (WB) has granted loan worth of Rs. 1,950 crores to West Bengal govt. for tackling COVID-19 situation and developmental work.

    Note:   Out of the total amount, Rs. 1,100 crores will be allocated for creating Industrial infrastructures and the balance Rs. 850 crore will be spent for various Social-Welfare schemes.

✓ Harsh Vardhan chaired the Committee on Development of Housing Finance Securitisation Market in India on the recommendation of which RBI draft Framework for Securitisation of Standard Assets.

    Note:   The central bank has proposed significant changes in securitisation norms which are aimed at development of a strong and robust market.The revision in guidelines is an attempt to align the regulatory framework with the Basel guidelines on securitisation that have come into force effective January 1, 2018.

✓ Growth of India in FY2020-21 as per World Bank’s Global Economic Prospect (GEP) June 2020 ___ -3.2 per cent.

    Note:   It was lower from 4.2% which forecasted in FY2019-20 at the end of March 2020.The growth forecast is 9 percentage lower than the GEP forecasts from January 2020 when the growth was projected as 5.8%. But it also highlights that country’s growth is expected to be 3.1% for the FY 2021-22.

✓ According to World bank’s report, global economy will contract by in 2020 -- 5.2 per cent.

    Note:   According to the World Bank, the massive shock of the COVID-19 Pandemic and lockdown measures for its containment will lead to a contraction of the global economy by 5.2% in 2020.

✓ As per the Economic Outlook (EO) released by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). the growth rate of India’s GDP in FY 2020-21 ___ -3.7 per cent.

    Note:   The GDP deceleration could further reach to -7.3% in the event of a second Covid-19 outbreak. It should be noted that EO, June 2020 has assumed an implementation of shutdowns in the December 2020 quarter (Q3), following another surge of the COVID-19 virus.

✓ PK Mohanty will chair the committee formed by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to review the guidelines related to ownership, governance and corporate structure of private sector banks.

    Note:   The panel will be headed by RBI Central Board of Director Prasanna Kumar Mohanty. The RBI panel will also examine and review the eligibility criteria for individuals or entities to apply for a banking licence.

✓ Export-Import Bank of India (EXIM Bank) has provided a line of credit (LOC) of $215.68 million to Malawi country for Drinking Water Supply Scheme.

    Note:   This assistance will be used on drinking water supply schemes and other development projects includes supply of irrigation network, tobacco threshing plant, cotton processing facilities, green belt initiative, sugar processing equipment, fuel storage facility and construction of a new water supply system from Likhubula river in Mulanje to Blantyre.

✓ As per the new framework of the RBI, the National Payment Corporation of India and National Electronic Fund Transfer will be treated as Financial Market Infrastructure (FMI).

    Note:   It is to be noted that in general Systematically important FMIs till now only included Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS), Securities Settlement Systems (SSSs), Clearing Corporation of India Ltd. (CCIL) and Negotiated Dealing System (NDS). In addition, NPCI has also been designated as a “system wide important payment system (SWIPS).

✓ In accordance with the weekly statistical data released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), India’s foreign reserves crossed the $500 billion mark.

    Note:   India’s forex reserves comprise foreign currency assets (FCAs), gold reserves, special drawing rights (SDRs), and India’s reserve position with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The FCAs, the largest component of the forex reserves, increased by $8.422 billion to $463.630 billion.

✓ According to UNCTAD’s World Investment Report 2020, the Global Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) flows are forecast to decrease by up to 40% in 2020.

    Note:   This would bring FDI below $1 trillion for the first time since 2005 (figure 1). In addition, FDI is projected to decrease by a further 5% to 10% in 2021 and to initiate a recovery in 2022.

✓ According to UNCTAD’s World Investment Report 2020 what is the position of India as recipient of the foreign direct investment in 2019 -- 9th largest.

    Note:   The UNCTAD in its World Investment Report 2020 report said that a lower but positive economic growth in India in the post-Covid19 pandemic period and the country's large market will continue to attract investments. Earlier, the inflows stood at $42 billion when India ranked 12th worldwide in 2018. The country witnessed an increase in the inflows by $9 billion in 2019.

✓ According to the payroll data of EPFO witnessed 28.6 % increase in formal employment in 2019-20.

    Note:   The main reason for this is the low withdrawal by EPFO subscribers due to the government’s policy reforms such as implementing GST, allowing fixed income contracts as well as better returns on PF (Provident Fund) deposits. Sectors such as Hospitality and Financial Institutions have experienced a 50% growth, while the formalities of the workforce in the textile sector have increased by 20 %.

✓ Fitch Ratings has revised the outlook on India’s long-term foreign-currency issuer default rating (IDR) to negative from stable and affirmed the rating at BBB-.

    Note:   The move comes after another rating agency Moody’s earlier this month downgraded India’s sovereign rating by a notch to lowest investment grade of ‘Baa2’ for the first time in 22 years. Fitch Ratings has revised the outlook on India’s long-term foreign-currency issuer default rating (IDR) to negative from stable and affirmed the rating at ‘BBB-.

✓ According to Asian Development Outlook by the Asian Development Bank, in FY 2020-21 Indian economy is projected to contract by 4 per cent.

    Note:   For Countries in ‘Developing Asia’, ADB forecasted growth of 0.1% in 2020. Excluding the newly industrialized economies of Hong Kong, China; the Republic of Korea; Singapore; and Taipei, China, Developing Asia’s growth predicted at 0.4% this year and 6.6% in 2021.‘Developing Asia’ refers to a group of over 40 countries that are members of the ADB.The growth of South-Asia is predicted to contract by 3% in 2020, in comparison to 4.1% growth predicted in April, 2020. For FY21-22, growth prospects revised down to 4.9% from 6%.

✓ As per the Moody’s Investors Service in its Global Macro Outlook 2020-21 projected the Indian economy to shrink by 3.1 per cent in the fiscal year 2020.

    Note:   It also forecasts Indian economy to register 6.9% growth in fiscal year 2021.Global Macro Outlook also indicated that China would be the only G-20 country to record growth of 1% in fiscal year 2020 and expects it to grow at 7.1% in fiscal year 2021. Moody’s also forecasted the growth of G-20 economies and expects it to contract by 4.6% in fiscal year 2020 followed by 5.2% growth in 2021.

✓ As per the new Purchasing Power Parities (PPPs) released by the World Bank, India’s global position as an economy in terms of PPPs -- 3rd.

    Note:   The ICP 2017 results, revised results for 2011 and estimates of annual PPPs for the period 2012-2016 are available on the ICP website and the World Bank’s Databank and Data Catalog. In 2017, India retained and consolidated its global position, as the third largest economy and accounted for 6.7% of global GDP in terms of PPPs. China was at first position with 16.4% and the USA at the second position with 16.3%.

✓ As per the data released by the United States (US) Treasury Department, India’s position as a holder of US government securities -- 12th.

    Note:   Notably, the holding touched a record high of $177.5 billion in February 2020 which was drastically reduced in March. The country with maximum exposure to US government securities is Japan at US$1.266 trillion followed by China and the United Kingdom (UK) at the second and third positions, respectively at the end of April 2020.

✓ The International Monetary Fund (IMF) steeply slashed India’s growth outlook for the current fiscal year to -4.5%.

    Note:   The International Monetary Fund (IMF) steeply slashed India’s growth outlook for the current fiscal year to a minus 4.5 per cent from 1.9 expansion estimated in April owing to an extended Covid-19 lockdown and slower economic revival. This will be the lowest in several decades. As per the IMF WEO, in 2021 global growth is projected at 5.4 per cent, which will be about 6.5 percentage points lower than the pre-Covid projections of January 2020.

✓ World Bank approved USD 500 million to improve the learning outcome and governance of government schools in six Indian states under STARS Programme.

    Note:   The project, Strengthening Teaching-Learning and Results for States Program (STARS ), will be implemented through the Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan, the flagship central scheme, in Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha and Rajasthan.STARS will help improve the learning assessment systems, strengthen classroom instruction, and remediation, facilitate school-to-work transition, and strengthen governance and decentralized management

✓ Minimum amount can be invested in the newly launched Floating Rate Savings Bonds, 2020 (Taxable) Scheme -- Rs 1000.

    Note:   The Floating Rate Savings Bonds 2020 (FRSB Bonds) will have a tenure of 7 years and the interest rate will keep varying during the tenure of the scheme. Currently, the rate of interest has been set at 7.15 per cent per annum payable half-yearly.

✓ The tenure of the Floating Rate Savings Bonds 2020 (FRSB Bonds) launched by the Government of India in of 7.75% Savings (Taxable) Bonds, 2018 -- 7 years.

    Note:   Currently, the rate of interest has been set at 7.15 per cent per annum payable half-yearly. The minimum investment amount is Rs 1000, while there will be no maximum limit for investments made in the Bonds. The maximum investment in cash can be made up to Rs 20,000.

✓ World Bank has approved $500 million to build road connectivity along the Jashore-Jhenaidah corridor directly connecting Dhaka in Bangladesh with India and Bhutan.

    Note:   It will also support the Bangladesh government’s plan of developing a 260 km economic corridor in the western part and benefitting over 20 million masses.The Western Economic Corridor and the Regional Enhancement (WeCARE) Phase I project is the first of a multi-phased $1.4 billion World Bank program to upgrade the existing 110 km two-lane highway, Bhomra-Satkhira-Navaron and Jashore-Jhenaidah, to a safer and climate-resilient four-lane highway in western Bangladesh.

✓ The Government of India has signed an agreement with World Bank to provide affordable housing to the urban poor of Tamil Nadu state.

    Note:   The agreement signed has two projects under it- (i) Tamil Nadu Housing Sector Strengthening Program and (ii) Tamil Nadu Housing and Habitat Development Project.The loans for both the project are from the lending arm of the World Bank Group the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD).

Awards and Honors

✓ Virat Kohli has become the only cricketer and the only Indian to feature in the Forbes’ Top 100 highest paid athletes of 2020.

    Note:   Kohli ranked 66 with Forbes Magazine estimated earning of around 26 million USD (24 million from endorsements and 2 million from salary/winnings). Tennis player Roger Federer Tops the list for the first time with estimated earnings 106.3 million USD. He placed 4th in the 2019 list with the estimated earnings of 95million USD.

✓ Kritika Pandey is the author of the book ‘The Great Indian Tee and Snakes’ for which she bestowed with Commonwealth short story prize 2020 for Asia region.

    Note:   The 29-year-old writer won for her story The Great Indian Tee and Snakes, which is about two young people trying to navigate the idea of love in an era of hatred and prejudice.The story about a Hindu girl falling in love with a Muslim man had made it to the shortlist for the Asian region.

✓ The World Health Organization (WHO) has accorded the “World No Tobacco Day Award 2020” to SEEDS NGO.

    Note:   SEEDS has been working closely with the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to prevent & control smokeless tobacco use. Deepak Mishra, executive director of the SEEDS has been nominated by the ministry as a member of the task force on the de-addiction campaign

✓ Akshay Kumar. is the only Indian celebrities to find a place in the Forbes 100 list of world's highest paid celebrities during June 2019 to May 2020.

✓ Note:With an estimated pre-tax earnings of USD 48.5 million (roughly Rs 366 crore) during June 2019 to May 2020. Forbes puts Akshay at the 52nd spot in the list topped by makeup mogul Kylie Jenner, whose estimated earnings during the same time were USD 590 million (roughly Rs 4,453 crore).

✓ Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw has been named as EY World Entrepreneur Of The Year 2020.

    Note:   Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw became the 2nd woman to hold the title, following Olivia Lum of Hyflux Limited from Singapore in 2011. She was chosen for this title among 46 entrepreneurs from 41 countries.

✓ Indian Airport received Platinum Recognition in ACI Asia-Pacific Green Airports recognition 2020 -- Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, Hyderabad.

    Note:   The focus of Green Airport Recognition 2020 is Water Management.The Airports Council International(ACI) awarded the highest Platinum Recognition on World Environment Day.

✓ Javed Akhtar becomes the first Indian to receive the prestigious Richard Dawkins Award for 2020 for critical thinking.

    Note:   Javed Akhtar is a renowned lyricist in the Indian film industry. He was awarded Padma Shri in 1999. He has also won the Sahitya Akademi award and Padma Bhushan.It is to be noted that Javed Akhtar raised voice on social media like twitter, literary events and in interviews about the issues with Citizenship Amendment Act, public policy, reopening of liquor shops after lock down, communism in the society, etc.

✓ India’s first solar-powered ferry which has been shortlisted for the Gustave Trouve Award -- Aditya.

    Note:   Gussies Electric Boat Awards were instituted in memory of Gustave Trouvé, a French electrical engineer and pioneer in electric cars and boats. Trouvé was a prolific inventor with over 75 patents. Back in 1881, he developed a 5-m-long prototype electric boat.

✓ Australian player Michal Clarke has been appointed an officer in the Order of Australia, an honour for achievement or meritorious service.

    Note:   Clarke joined iconic ex-skippers like Allan Border, Mark Taylor, Ricky Ponting, Bob Simpson and Steve Waugh who have received the national recognition. Clarke, who led Australia to the 2015 World Cup title, has been appointed an officer (AO) in the general division of the Order of Australia, an honour for achievement or meritorious service.

✓ The Ramon Magsaysay awards, regarded as Asia’s version of the Nobel Prize, have been cancelled this year due to the coronavirus pandemic, the award foundation is located at Manila, Philippines.

    Note:   The Manila-based foundation also cancelled the award due to a financial crisis in 1970 and a disastrous earthquake that hit the Philippines in 1990.The awards are named after a popular Philippine president who died in a 1957 plane crash and honor “greatness of spirit in selfless service to the peoples of Asia.”

✓ Renjith Kumar has been honoured with “NASA Distinguished Service Medal” for his administration to NASA.

    Note:   He worked in relationship with NASA for over 30 years and contributed to updating the International Space Stations(ISS). He is CEO Emeritus of the Virginia based Analytical Mechanics Associates(AMA). RK Chetty Pandipati was the First Indian to win this honour in 2002.

✓ Rattan Lal has been conferred with prestigious World Food Prize 2020.

    Note:   He was named as the 2020 World Food Prize Laureate for developing and mainstreaming a soil-centric approach to increasing food production that conserves natural resources and mitigates climate change.He will get USD 250,000 as prize money.The first recipient of this prestigious award in 1987 was Indian agricultural scientist Dr M S Swaminathan, the father of India’s Green Revolution.

✓ Shobha Sekhar has been chosen for the ‘Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM).

    Note:   She started the Kalakruthi in 1994 affiliated with The Music Academy, Chennai and has been training many aspirants of Carnatic music.The medal of the order of Australia is awarded to the individuals contributing to their community or to Australia globally or domestically.

✓ Angad Singh Rana has been adjudged as the winner of New Zealand’s first ‘Virtual’ Chef competition – the ‘Quality NZ Culinary Cup’ held in India.

    Note:   Chef Angad Singh Rana has won QualityNZ Culinary Cup 2020. The award was announced by Cricket legend and Chennai Super Kings coach Stephen Fleming. This award is the New Zealand’s first ‘Virtual’ Chef competition – the ‘Quality NZ Culinary Cup’ held in India.

✓ Deccan Development Society (DDS) has won the Biodiversity award 2020 of Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation.

    Note:   The award was announced in a teleconference by Olivier Wenden, Vice President and CEO of the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation.The award is given to recognise the individuals for their actions and the organisations for their contribution in preserving the planet in the three priority areas of the foundation.

✓ Jammu and Kashmir has been conferred with three prestigious Deen Dayal Upadhyay Sashaktikaran Puraskar for its outstanding contribution to the socio-economic development of the Gram Panchayats across the state/UTs.

    Note:   Panchayat Rathal, (Block Rajouri) and Panchayat Badakana, (Block Thana Mandi) of District Rajouri and Panchayat Meej, (Block Pampore) of Pulwama district were adjudged the best performing panchayats in recognition of their work in improving the delivery of services for socio economic development and implementation of various schemes.

✓ Amartya Kumar Sen has been selected for the 2020 Peace Prize of the German Book Trade.

    Note:   He will be presented with the award by German Publishers’ and Booksellers’ Association, Borsenverein in a ceremony that will take place on October 18, 2020, in Paulskirche (Germany).Every year since 1950, the German Book Trade Peace Prize has been given.

✓ Priyanka Chopra and Anurag Kashyap named among the 50 ambassadors at 45th edition Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) 2020.

    Note:   This year 45th edition Toronto International Film Festival is to be held virtually. The 45th edition of TIFF will take place from September 10-19. This is the 1st time TIFF will launch a digital platform for the festival, offering new opportunities to connect with audiences beyond Toronto.

✓ Beyonce has received the Humanitarian Award at 20th edition of annual BET Awards 2020, for her long-standing philanthropic work, including her recent COVID-19 relief efforts.

✓ Note:The American award show was established in 2001 by the Black Entertainment Television network to celebrate African Americans and other minorities in music, acting, sports and other fields of entertainment over the past year.

✓ Gulabbai Sangamnerkar has been conferred with Vithabai Narayangaokar lifetime achievement award by Maharashtra Government.

    Note:   The Vithabai Narayangaokar lifetime achievement award is given to a senior tamasha (folk art) artiste. The honour conveys the money prize of Rs 5 lakh, a citation and a memento.

✓ Madhuvanti Dandekar has been conferred with Annasaheb Kirloskar award by Maharshtra government.

    Note:   The Sangeetacharya Annasaheb Kirloskar musical theatre lifetime achievement award also carries the cash prize of Rs 5 lakh, a memento and a citation.

✓ KK Shailaja has been honoured with United Nations Awards for her efforts to fight the coronavirus pandemic in her state.

    Note:   Shailaja was praised for maintaining low mortality rates within the state thanks to early intervention. Kerala, which recorded India’s first coronavirus cases, has been successful in flattening the curve.

Sports News

✓ Cricketer Rohit Sharma has been nominated by the BCCI for the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Awards 2020.

✓ Note:The period of consideration for a person to get nominated is from January 2016 to December 2019. Rohit has become the first T20 cricketer to score four centuries. Also, he holds record of 150 plus score in around 8 ODIs. He also holds the greatest number of centuries in ODI matches since 2017, that numbered to 18.

✓ Indian long distance player Kiranjeet Kaur has been slapped with four year ban by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).

    Note:   The period of her ban started from December 15 and on February 26 she was provisionally suspended by World Athletics.The Athletics Integrity Unit(AIU) disqualified Kaur from all the competitive results from 15th December 2019 to 26th February 2020.

✓ In association with National Sports Federations (NSF) the Sports Authority of India (SAI) has launched India’s 1st -ever national-level open online coaching and education programme called “Khelo India e-Pathshala”.

    Note:   Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Kiren Rijiju and Union Minister of Tribal Affairs and Archery Association of India president Arjun Munda have inaugurated the programme via a webinar.A total of 21 games are included in this program, where veteran players showcase their technical skills and talk to young players and help them improve their technical and overall game.

✓ India will host Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Women’s Asian Cup 2022.

    Note:   The tournament is likely to be held in the 2nd half of the year.The tournament will feature 12 teams from an earlier slot of 8 teams.

✓ The Athletes Integrity Unit (AIU) of the World Athletics has imposed a four-year ban on which Indian player who won the gold medal in 2019 Asian Athletics Championships -- Gomathi Marimuthu.

✓ Note:She won the gold medal in the women’s 800 m event at the 2019 Asian Athletics Championships held in Doha, Qatar with her personal best timing. Gomathi had won gold with a timing of 2 minutes and 2.70 second.

✓ The doping charge against Indian sportsperson has been dropped due to "non-conformities" in the handling of her sample -- K Sanjita Chanu.

    Note:   The IWF made the decision based on the recommendation of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). The 26-year-old, who claimed innocence since the beginning, was informed about the final verdict via an e-mail, signed by IWF's legal counsel Lilla Sagi.

✓ Spain’s sports council has accepted the change in status for the competitions, which will also be valid for men’s and women’s futsal.

    Note:   The move is another step to promote the development of these competitions that until now were considered amateur football.

✓ Former European high jump champion, Alexander Shustov banned for four years by Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), he held from Russia.

    Note:   This was confirmed by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). The Russian Athletics Federation stated that his ban was dated from June 5, and his results had been disqualified for a period from 2013 to 2017.

✓ Lightweight boxing champion Oleksandr Gvozdyk also known as “The Nail” announced his retirement held from Ukraine.

    Note:   He won the Bronze medal in the 2012 Olympic games.He won the 2018 World Boxing Councils (WBCs) light heavyweight world title against Adonis Stevenson in Quebec.

✓ The 4th edition of Asian Youth Para Games to be held in Bahrain in December 2021.

    Note:   Around 800 athletes under 20 years aged are expected to compete in nine sports: athletics, badminton, boccia, goalball, para taekwondo, powerlifting, swimming, table tennis and wheelchair basketball. The event is being organised in conjunction with the National Paralympic Committee (NPC) of Bahrain with the support of the government.

✓ Shakhriyar Mamedyarov has won the World Stars Sharjah Online International Chess Championship 2020.

    Note:   He won the coveted title and price of $3000 after scoring 7.5 points from 10 rounds. Indian Grandmaster Pentala Harikrishna finished second in the Championship after scoring 6.5 points from 10 rounds.Sharjah Online International Chess Championship was hosted by the Sharjah Cultural & Chess Club.

✓ Indian tennis player Niki Poonacha has been elected as a player member to ITF World Tennis Tour Player Men’s panels.

    Note:   The Men’s and Women’s Panel will be headed by Mark Woodforde and Mary Pierce respectively who are the athlete representatives on the ITF board of directors. Poonacha is chosen as one of the two players from Asia/Oceania locale with a second-most noteworthy number of votes (62) among all challenging players.

✓ Football club Liverpool has won the English Premier League 2019-20.

    Note:   This is the first time that Liverpool has won the English Premier League title.As of 26th June 2020, Liverpool by winning 28 of their 31 games in the season has accumulated 86 points.

✓ Wicketkeeper-batswoman Rachel Priest of New Zealand has announced her retirement from International Cricket.

    Note:   She had a long career which spanned for 13 years.After her retirement, she has now signed up a contract with Cricket Tasmania to play in Australia Women’s National Cricket League and will represent Tasmanian Tigers for the 2020/21 season.

✓ Indian umpire Nitin Menon has been inducted into International Cricket Council’s Elite Panel of Umpires.

    Note:   Nitin Menon was earlier a part of the Emirates ICC International Panel of Umpires. He has an experience of officiating in three Tests, 24 One Day Internationals and 16 T20 Internationals.

✓ Germany footballer Mario Gomez has announced his retirement from the sport.

    Note:   He is considered as one of the best German forwards of his time.Mario Gomez played for different clubs in his soccer career. He won the Bundesliga title in 2007 while playing for Stuttgart, and two more titles while playing for Bayern Munich.

✓ Australia and New Zealand will host the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023.

    Note:   The joint offer put together by Football Federation Australia and New Zealand Football got 22 of the 35 substantial votes cast by the FIFA Council individuals in the first voting form, with the Colombian Football Association having acquired 13 votes.

✓ Rahul Dravid has been declared as the greatest Indian Test batsman of all time, according to a poll conducted by Wisden India.

    Note:   Dravid beats Sachin Tendulkar by a narrow margin of votes in the final round of voting. Dravid got 52 per cent of the votes, with as many as 11,400 fans participating within the final round of voting.

✓ Kiren Rijiju has launched the National Anti-Doping Agency’s first mobile app named as “NADA App”.

    Note:   The recently launched mobile application aims to bridge the gap between NADA and the athletes by offering easily accessible information on various aspects of sport, prohibited substances as well as dope-testing.

Personalities in News

✓ Anita Kotwani has been appointed as the chief executive officer (CEO) of Media Agency, Carat India.

    Note:   She was earlier serving as the senior vice president, new business and client lead, for The Walt Disney business at Mindshare India.Taking over the new role of CEO, Anita Kotwani will work towards Carat India’s strategic progress and business growth nationally.

✓ PR Jaishankar has been appointed as the as the Managing Director (MD) of the India Infrastructure Finance Company Limited (IIFCL) for 3 years.

    Note:   He will serve as the MD of IIFCL for a period of 3 years. He has earlier served as the executive director of the National Housing Bank. The appointment comes after the recommendation of PS Jaishankar by the Bank Boards Bureau (BBB) on March 15, 2020.

✓ Arun Singhal has been appointed as the chief executive officer of India’s apex food regulator Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI).

    Note:   Singhal is special secretary, department of health and family welfare. The food regulator, that comes under the purview of the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, is responsible for setting up standards for the food industry and regulate the manufacturing, storage, distribution, sale, and import of foods.

✓ TV Mohandas Pai has been appointed as the chairman of the advisory committee on service providers by the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI).

    Note:   The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) reorganised its advisory committee on service providers. The appointments of the Insolvency Professionals(IPs) as administrators are provided by the Security and Exchange Board of India Regulations. 2018.

✓ Rajnath Singh will chair the committee constituted by the PM Narendra Modi to solve the difficulties faced in the implementation of Rs.3 Lakh crore collateral-free loan for Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises(MSME).

    Note:   The borrowers can borrow from the financial institutions without any asset or pledge collateral under this scheme.The units with Rs.25 Crore outstanding credit and Rs 100 crore turnover are eligible for the loan.It is for 4-year tenure with interest rates capped according to the Finance Ministry and the moratorium will be for 12 months.

✓ Subramanian Sundar has been re-appointed as the Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Lakshmi Vilas Bank (LVB).

    Note:   This was the second extension given to Mr. Sundar, earlier as the MD and CEO (interim) from January 1, 2020 to April 30, 2020.His tenure was again extended from May 31, 2020 to November 30, 2020 or till the appointment of new CEO.

✓ Uday Kotak has assumed office as the president of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) for 2020-21.

    Note:   T V Narendran, CEO and managing director of Tata Steel Limited, is now the president designate of CII for 2020-21.Sanjiv Bajaj takes over as CII vice president for 2020-21. He is the chairman and managing director of Bajaj Finserv Limited.

✓ Krishnendu Majumdar has been named as the new chairman of British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA).

    Note:   He is the first person of colour to be named as the chairperson of BAFTA in its 73 year-long histories of BAFTA. He will replace Pippa Harris. Harris will now continue as deputy chairperson

✓ Virendra Nath Datt has been appointed as the Chairman & Managing Director of National Fertilizers Limited (NFL).

    Note:   National Fertilizers Limited (NFL) is a state-owned Miniratna (Cat-1) company and producer of chemical fertilizers, organic fertilizers and industrial chemicals. Prior to joining NFL, he was Executive Director in GAIL (India) Limited. He also had a 10-year stint with ONGC before joining GAIL in 1995

✓ Rajeev Topno has been appointed as the senior advisor to the World Bank Executive Director.

    Note:   He is the 1996 batch IAS officer who has served as a key aide to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Topno had joined the Prime Minister’s Office as a deputy secretary in 2009 when Manmohan Singh had just started his second term

✓ Brajendra Navnit has been appointed as the ambassador to the Permanent Mission for India (PMI) at the WTO in Geneva.

    Note:   Navnit, a 1999-batch officer of the Tamil Nadu cadre, will replace JS Deepak as the ambassador to the Permanent Mission for India (PMI) at the WTO in Geneva.The appointments come at a time when the Covid-19 pandemic has plunged the global economy into its worst recession since the Great Depression in 1930s and ravaged world trade. The WTO has already warned of a massive 13-32% contraction in global trade in 2020.

✓ Manushi Chhillar has been appointed as the brand ambassador of Adidas to join Indian star Batsman Rohit Sharma and sprinter Hima Das.

    Note:   Chhillar becomes Adidas’s forerunner in their mission to inspire women to embrace fitness and to create a beneficial social impact through sports. She supports the #HOMETEAMHERO challenge of Adidas to stay physically and mentally fit in the lockdown due to COVID-19 and use sports as a platform to inspire and encourage the women and children to take up sports.

✓ Ashok Dalwani has been appointed as the chairman of the rearranged Commodity derivatives advisory committee of SEBI.

    Note:   The 17 members committee examines issues related to the contract design and new products in the segment and recommend the required risk management system and regulatory framework of commodity derivatives and governance of commodities derivatives exchange

✓ Rohit Sharma has been appointed as the first ever brand ambassador of the IIFL Finance.

    Note:   IIFL finance is one of the leading Non-Banking Finance Companies of India which manages over Rs. 36,000 crore assets.Rohit managed the first campaign by IIFL Finance, IMG Reliance promoting and advertising the people on Safety guidelines and rules that must be followed in the COVID-19 situation.

✓ Nethra has been appointed as ‘Goodwill Ambassador to the Poor’ of the United Nations Association for Development And Peace (UNADAP).

✓ Note:She was recognised for her role in feeding the poor during the COVID-19 lockdown by her father C. Mohan, a salon owner by convincing him to give Five Lakh rupees that he had been saving for her education since 2013.Nethra will speak at the United Nations (UN) conferences in New York and in Geneva addressing Civil Society forums and conferences. She was awarded a Dixon Scholarship amounting to Rs 1 Lakh.

✓ G Kishan Reddy has been appointed as the chairman of the committee for the welfare of the freedom fighters reconstituted by the union ministry of home affairs.

    Note:   This panel will verify if someone has given affidavits to two or more applicant and also examine the demands to build memorials and museums for freedom fighters.

✓ Pankaj Tripathi has been appointed as the brand ambassador of Patna’s Khadi Mall by the Government of Bihar.

    Note:   Tripathi mentioned that he would not take any salary for this role.The Khadi Mall in Patna is India’s first ever Kadhi mall inaugurated by Nitish Kumra, Chief Minister of Bihar in November 2019.

✓ The Reserve Bank of India has approved the re-appointment of Kaizad Bharucha as Executive Director of HDFC Bank for a period of three years.

    Note:   Bharucha's re-appointment is subject to the approval of the shareholders at the ensuing Annual General Meeting of the Bank. In his current position, Bharucha is responsible for wholesale banking covering areas of corporate banking, emerging corporate group, business banking, capital markets and commodities business, agri lending, among others.

✓ Imtaiyazur Rahman has been appointed as the chief executive officer (CEO) of UTI Asset Management Company (AMC).

    Note:   Two years ago he was appointed as the acting CEO of UTI. Rehman was the internal candidate for the position which fell vacant after Leo Puri completed his five-year term in August, 2018. He joined the UTI Group in 1998 and is with the AMC since 2003.

✓ Vice Admiral Biswajit Dasgupta has taken charges as the Chief of Staff of Eastern Naval Command (ENC).

    Note:   He replaced Vice Admiral S.N Ghormade, who has been appointed as Controller Personnel Services at the Integrated Headquarters, New Delhi. Mr Dasgupta was an alumnus of the NDA and commissioned into the Indian Navy in 1985.

✓ Kubatbek Boronov has been appointed as the Prime Minister of Kyrgyzstan.

    Note:   He succeeded Mukhammedkalyi Abylgaziyev who resigned on June 15 following accusations of corruption. Kyrgyzstan’s parliament approved the candidacy of Kubatbek Boronov with 105 votes out of 116.

✓ Pralay Mondal has been appointed as the President of CSB Bank Limited.

    Note:   He has around 30 years of banking experience across multiple business and functions including retail assets, retail liabilities, business banking, products and technology. Before joining Axis Bank, Mr. Mondal was the Senior Group President and Head of Retail and Business Banking at Yes Bank.

✓ Volkan Bozkir has been elected president of the 75th session of the UN General Assembly.

    Note:   Turkish’s diplomat Volkan Bozkir has been elected president of the 75th session of the UN General Assembly. The 75th session of the UN General Assembly begins in September 2020.Bozkir won the unanimous support of the 178 UN members. He will take over from Tijjani Muhammad-Bande, the present General Assembly president. A General Assembly president has a one-year term.

✓ Indian American Sethuraman Panchanathan has been appointed as the Director of the National Science Foundation (NSF) by the US senate.

    Note:   He will replace France Cordova, whose six-year term ended in March, as the 15th director of the NSF. He is expected to take office on July 6. Panchanathan is the second Indian-American ever to be nominated to the prestigious science position with the first being Dr Subra Suresh who served from October 2010 to March 2013.

✓ Saurav Ganguly and Sunil Chhetri has been appointed as the brand ambassador of JSW cement.

    Note:   JSW Cement has signed Sourav Ganguly and Sunil Chhetri as its brand ambassadors. The cement brand has also launched a new multi-media marketing campaign “Leader’s Choice” which includes both sports icons. The multi-media marketing campaign “Leader’s Choice” of JSW Cement promotes the ideology of building a solid foundation for a better tomorrow.

✓ Urjit Patel has been appointed as the Chairman of the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy (NIPFP).

    Note:   The appointment of the Urjit Patel has been made for a period of four years. He will be replacing the outgoing chairman Vijay Kelkar. Urjit Patel has earlier served as the Governor as well as the Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). He resigned as the Governor of RBI in December 2018.

✓ Nirakar Pradhan has appointed as new as the Chief Executive Officer of the Professional Risk Managers’ International Association (PRMIA) of its new India office.

    Note:   Pradhan has led teams at State Bank of India and Generali Group in India and Europe. PRMIA is a non-profit led by top professionals dedicated to promoting best practices in risk management.

✓ Natarajan Chandrasekaran has been re-nominated as a Part-Time Non-Official Director on RBI Central board for 2 years.

    Note:   The government had 1st nominated him as the Director on RBI Central board for 4 years from March 4, 2016. The Natarajan Chandrasekaran joined Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) in 1987, he became its Chief Executive Officer from 2009-17 , prior to which he was Chief Operating Officer (COO) and executive director of TCS.

✓ Wasim Jaffer has been appointed as head coach of the Uttarakhand Ranji team for the upcoming season.

    Note:   The highest run-getter in Ranji Trophy, Jaffer had announced retirement in March this year after playing for over two decades, primarily for domestic giants Mumbai and Vidarbha.This will be his first stint as a head coach with a team.

✓ T Rabi Sankar has been appointed as the chairman of the Indian Financial Technology & Allied Services (IFTAS).

    Note:   IFTAS is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Reserve Bank of India. T Rabi Sankar, currently serving as Executive Director, Reserve Bank of India for Payment Systems, Information Technology, Risk Management and Fintech has taken over concurrent charge, ex officio, as the Chairman of IFTAS.

✓ Clare Connor has been named as the first female president of the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) in its 233 year-old history.

    Note:   Connor is the current England and Wales Cricket Board’s managing director of women’s cricket. The 43-year-old will take up the post on 1 October 2021.Current president, former Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara, has been offered to stay in the role for a second tenure in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

✓ IAS Vini Mahajan becomes 1st woman chief secretary of Punjab state.

    Note:   She will replace Karan Avtar Singh, who has now been posted as Special Chief Secretary, Governance Reforms and Public Grievances. While Karan Avtar Singh was set to retire on August 31, Mahajan has succeeded him two months prior to that.

✓ Micheal Martin has been elected as new Prime Minister of Ireland.

    Note:   There are altogether 160 seats within the current lower house of Irish parliament with one seat getting to the speaker of the house who wasn’t involved within the vote. Micheal Martin has won the election by receiving 93 votes in favour, 63 votes against and 3 votes in abstention. He has been the leader of the Fianna Fáil party since 2011.

✓ UP Governor, Anandiben Patel has taken additional charges as the governor of Madhya Pradesh.

    Note:   Lal Ji Tandon, the Governor of Madhya Pradesh has been under treatment at a private hospital in Lucknow since 11th June 2020. Ms. Patel served as Governor of Madhya Pradesh before Mr. Tandon took over last year.

✓ Lazarus Chakwera was elected as the new President of Mali after the annulment of the results of the 2019 Presidential Elections following evidence of irregularities.

    Note:   Lazarus Chakwera was elected as the new President of Malawi after winning 2,604,043 votes, which is 59.34 percent of the total valid votes. 2019 Presidential Election winner Peter Mutharika secured 39.92 percent of the total valid votes in the 2020 Presidential Elections.

Obituaries

✓ Veteran Music Director Wajid Khan passed away recently.

    Note:   Wajid Khan was the brother of music director Sajid Khan. He was born in Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh on July 10, 1977. Wajid along with his brother Sajid served as mentors on singing reality shows “Sa Re Ga Ma Pa 2012” and “Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Superstar”.

✓ Famous sprinter Bobby Morrow passed away recently.

    Note:   He is one of the four men (Jesse Owens(1936), Carl Lewis(1984), Usain Bolt(2012 & 2016)) to win three events at a single game (100m, 200m and 4x100m relay). He won three gold medals for 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay in the 1956 Olympic in Melbourne.

✓ Former Union Minister and three-time Congress MP P Namgyal passed away recently in Ladakh.

    Note:   Former Union Minister and three-time Congress MP from Ladakh, P Namgyal passes away. He has served as the Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs, Surface Transport and Chemicals and Petro chemicals. He was also an agriculturist, a social worker and served as the secretary general and vice president of the Pradesh Congress Committee in the erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir state.

✓ Famous sportsperson turned coach Jayantilal Nanoma passed away recently, he was ass8ociated with Archery sports.

    Note:   Former International Archer turned coach Jayantilal Nanoma passed away. He was an Asian Cup and Asian Grand Prix medallist in compound individual and team archery in 2010. He was also the recipient of prestigious Maharana Pratap State Sports Award and was presently serving as the District Sports Officer in Dungarpur.

✓ Renowned personality Basu Chatterjee passed away recently, he was a veteran Screenwriter.

    Note:   He worked in Hindi & Bengali cinema and was a dialogue writer and produced a few films. He received the National Film Award for Best Film on Family Welfare in 1992 for his film Durga. He was born on January 10, 1930, in Ajmer, British India.

✓ Renowned personality Anwar Sagar passed away recently, he was a veteran Song Writer.

    Note:   He is best remembered for his hit track Waada Raha Sanam from 1992 Akshay Kumar-starrer Khiladi. The lyricist also has to his credit films like Yaarana, Salaami, Aa Gale Lag Jaa and Vijaypath among more. Anwar Sagar also worked with music directors like Nadeem-Shravan, Rajesh Roshan, Jatin-Lalit and Anu Malik.

✓ Renowned personality Chiranjeevi Sarja passed away recently,

    Note:   He has featured in films such as Samhaara, Aadyaa, Khaki, Sinnga, Amma I Love You, Prema Baraha, Dandam Dashagunam and Varadhanayaka among others. He was last seen in the Kannada action-drama Shivarjuna.

✓ Ved Prakash Marwah who passed away recently is a former governor of the Jharkhand, Manipur and Mizoram states.

    Note:   Ved Marwah was an alumnus of St. Stephens college.He was the first Secretary of the High Commission of India, London.From 1985 to 1988 he served as the Police Commissioner of Delhi during the repercussions of 1984 anti-Sikh riots and he served as the third Director General of the National Security Guard from 1988 to 1990.

✓ Renowned personality Arjun Charan Sethi passed away recently.

    Note:   He was Water Resources Minister in Atal Bihari Vajpayee Cabinet from 2000 to 2004. He entered Lok Sabha from Bhadrak on a Congress ticket in 1971 and re-elected in 1980, also on a Congress ticket. The veteran politician was also elected to Odisha Assembly twice on Janata Dal ticket in 1991 and 1995 from Bhandaripokhari.

✓ Pierre Nkurunziza passed away recently was President of Brundi.

    Note:   He was born on 18th December 1964 in Ngozi Province.He was a sports graduate and assistant lecturer at the University of Burundi and after the Civil War he became the leader of Forces for Defence of Democracy (FDD) in 2001.

✓ Famous sport person Tony Dunne, passed away recently, he was associated with Football sports.

    Note:   He joined Manchester United at the age of 18 in 1960 and debuted on 16th October 1960 against Burnley (A) league.He was a part of the winning side of the European Cup in 1968.

✓ Famous Cricket sportsperson Vasant Raiji passed away recently.

    Note:   A chartered accountant, he was also a well-known chronicler of cricket, having written books on C.K. Nayudu, Ranjitsinhji, Duleepsinhji, L.P. Jai and Victor Trumper.A Cricket Club of India player, he represented Bombay and Baroda.The cricketer-historian was also a founding member of Jolly Cricket Club in Mumbai.

✓ Former Test cricketer of New Zealand Matt Poore passed away recently,

    Note:   He is remembered for catching a stray dog during a match in Bengaluru in 1955 and subsequently taking 12 anti-rabies injections.An all-rounder, Poore had a short but colourful 14-Test career between 1953 and 1956 alongside two greats - Bert Sutcliffe and John Reid.

✓ Veteran Urdu poet and freedom fighter Anand Mohan Zutshi passed away recently,

    Note:   Anand Mohan Zutshi ‘Gulzar’ Dehlvi was the editor of the 1st Urdu science magazine, Science ki Duniya, published by the Government of India in 1975. He played a prominent role in opening Urdu schools across India & has been a part of a number of mushairas (Poetic symposium), which includes Jashn-e-Rekhta in 2015 and Jigar Fest in 2018.

✓ veteran Actor Sushant Singh Rajput found dead in his house in Mumbai was a veteran.

    Note:   34-year-old actor committed suicide & found dead at his home in Bandra, Mumbai. He was born on 16th January 1986 in Patna, Bihar. He promoted the Women Entrepreneurship Platform of NITI Aayog which was launched on 8th March 2018.

✓ Renowned Military personnel.Raj Mohan Vohra passed away recently due to COVID-19.

    Note:   Maha Vir Chakra awardee Lt Gen (retd) Raj Mohan Vohra passed away due to COVID-19. He was a 1971 war hero. Lt Gen Vohra had received the coveted award in 1972. The Maha Vir Chakra is that the country’s second-highest gallantry award. It is awarded for acts of conspicuous gallantry within the presence of the enemy whether on land, at sea or in the air.

✓ Renowned Journalist Dinu Ranadive passed away recently.

    Note:   The veteran journalist was born in 1925 at a tribal hamlet at Dahanu near Mumbai, he started his journalistic career in 1956.Ranadive started his career as the founder-editor of Samyukta Maharashtra Patrika in the 1950s. He then did exemplary reporting on the Goa Freedom Struggle in 1961.

✓ Malayalam Film Director, Scriptwriter, and Producer K.R. Sachidanandan passed away recently, he was associated with which language films.

    Note:   Malayalam Film director, scriptwriter, and producer K.R. Sachidanandan passed away. His directorial debut was Anarkali in 2015. He had co-scripted numerous movies with Sethu and later began composing solo contents. Sachy was a rehearsing legal advisor at the Kerala High Court.

✓ Renowned Economist B.P.R. Vithal passes away recently.

    Note:   He also served as the Secretary, Finance and Planning, government of Andhra Pradesh, from 1972 to 1982.B.P.R. Vithal also worked at the International Monetary Fund as the fiscal adviser to the governments of Malawi and Sudan. He also played an instrumental role in the establishment of Centre for Economic and Social Studies, Hyderabad.

✓ Renowned Army Man Lachhman Singh Lehl passed away recently.

    Note:   Lachhman Singh Lehl took part within the 1948 war in Jhangar area of Jammu and Kashmir as a captain and commanded a division within the 1971 war. He received the Vir Chakra, the third highest gallantry award in India for his role as a forward observer within the 50 Para Brigade.

✓ Famous sportsperson Rajinder Goel passed away recently he was associated with Cricket sports.

    Note:   He made his ranji debut in 1957-58 and began his first class careen with Patiala (southern Punjab team).He represented Delhi from 1963 and in 1973 he moved to Haryana

✓ Famous Basketball K Raghunath passed away recently, he was associated with which sports.

    Note:   Raghunath represented Indian All-Star team which toured Sri Lanka in 1962. He played for Karnataka with distinction in 1960s He was one of the founding members of the still-popular Beagles Basketball Club. Raghunath’s tryst with basketball began in 1958.

✓ Famous sportsperson Pournima Zanane passed away recently, she was associated with Shooting sports.

    Note:   She started as a shooter in Mumbai and represented India in numerous ISSF World Cups, Asian Championships, Commonwealth Championships.She holds a national record in the 10 m air rifle event.She started coaching shooters in 2012 and she was the coach of the shooters team of Sri Lanka.

✓ Renowned Journalist Vishwa Bandhu Gupta passed away recently.

    Note:   He was the chairman and chief editor of the Tej-Bandhu group of publications, The Weekly Sun, The North-East Sun, Treasure monthly and Flash newspaper.He was the President of All India Newspaper Editors Conference(AINEC) and one of the founding members of the Press Club of India(PCI).

✓ Noted Kannada novelist Geetha Nagabhushan passed away.

    Note:   She was the first woman writer to bag Kendra Sahitya Academy and Nadoja awards and serve as the chairperson of Karnataka Sahitya Academy. She had presided over 76th Akhil Bharat Kannada Sahitya Sammelan, a prestigious literary fest, held at Gadag in 2020.

Important Days

✓ World Milk Day 2020 observed every globally on 1st June 2020.

    Note:   June 1 is observed as World Milk Day with the aim to raise awareness about milk and its importance as a global food. Established by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations to recognize the importance of milk as global food, World Milk Day is been observed on June 1 each year since 2001.

✓ The theme of the Global Day of Parents 2020 celebrated every year on 1st June-- Appreciate all parents throughout the world.

    Note:   United Nations celebrates Global Day of Parents on 1st of June every year to honour all the parents throughout the world. Not only parents rather grandparents and great grandparents are also a part of this day. So Global Day of Parent’s urges upon to show gratitude and due respect to the elderly.

✓ World Bicycle Day is celebrated every year on 3rd June.

    Note:   The World Bicycle Day is being celebrated since 2018. The day was declared by the United Nations. The main aim to observe the day is to celebrate uniqueness, versatility and longevity of bicycle.The day is being celebrated as an after effect of Leszek Sibilski’s crusade. Sibilski led campaigns to promote UN resolution for World Bicycle Day.

✓ International Day of Innocent Children Victims of Aggression is observed globally every year on 4th June.

    Note:   This day affirms the UN’s commitment to guard the rights of children. This day is to acknowledge the pain suffered by children throughout the planet who are the victims of physical, mental and emotional abuse. The main aim of celebrating today is to spread the notice about the pain and sufferings faced by the victims as children.

✓ The theme of the World Environment Day 2020, celebrated every year on June 5 -- Celebrate Biodiversity.

    Note:   This year, in 2020, the day is to be hosted in Colombia in partnership with Germany. The day was hosted by India in 2018. It was then India emphasized on prevention of Plastic pollution. In 2019, the day was hosted by China under the theme “Air Pollution”.

✓ Every year June 2nd is celebrated as the International Sex Workers Day.

    Note:   The is celebrated to ensure that the sex workers enjoy the same rights as all the other human beings and tackle the abuse and trafficking problems.More than 100 sex workers occupied the Saint-Nizier Church, Lyon, France On 2nd June 1975 to express their anger on being treated as criminals and their disgraceful living conditions with a banner saying “Our Children do not want their mothers to go to jail” broadcasted their campaign to the world through the media. The gathered were brutally raided by the police on June 10.

✓ The International Day for the Fight against Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing 2020 is celebrated on 5th June.

    Note:   The first International Day for the fight against IUU fishing was observed in 2018. In July 2017, The proposal for the day was submitted to the 40th Session of the FAO conference.UN had declared the year 2022 as the International Year of Artisanal Fisheries and Aquaculture.

✓ World Pest Day or World Pest Awareness Day is celebrated every year on 6th June.

    Note:   The day is observed to raise awareness of how pest management helps preserve the quality of life. The day is initiated by the Chinese Pest Control Association, and co-sponsored by the Federation of Asian and Oceania Pest Managers’ Association (FAOPMA), the National Pest Management Association (NPMA), and the Confederation of European Pest Management Associations (CEPA).

✓ United Nations Russian Language Day is celebrated every year on 6th June.

✓ Note:The Day is celebrated to promote and support Multilingualism and cultural diversity and to celebrate the birthday of the famous Russian poet Alexander Puskin who was born on 6th June 1799. The First UN Russian Language Day was celebrated in 2010.

✓ The World Ocean Day is celebrated every year on 8th June.

    Note:   The Day is celebrated to remind people all over the world about the importance of oceans in everyday life. This year, the World Oceans Day is celebrated under the theme ‘Innovation for a Sustainable Ocean’.

✓ World Brain Tumor Day 2020 was observed on 8th June.

    Note:   The day is celebrated to improve the care for the patients and to educate the general public about the sufferings and seriousness of brain tumor.The grey ribbon is the international symbol for the solidarity with brain tumor patients.

✓ 9th June of Every year is celebrated as the World Accreditation Day.

    Note:   It is an initiative established by the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation(ILAC) and International Accreditation Forum(IAF) to promote the value of accreditation.The Theme of World Accreditation Day 2020 is “Accreditation: Improving food safety”

✓ The World Day against Child Labour is observed every year on 12th June.

    Note:   The theme this year is, “COVID-19 - Protect children from child labour now, more than ever". According to figures available on the United Nations' website, approximately 152 million children have been pushed into child labour.

✓ International Albinism Awareness Day is observed every year on 13th June.

    Note:   This day is observed to educate everyone about the rights of people with albinism and celebrate them. The United Nations General Assembly was first perceived this day as a resolution. The theme of the 5th anniversary of International Albinism Awareness Day is "Made To Shine."

✓ The World Blood Donor Day is observed on every on 14th June.

    Note:   This day tries to create awareness about the need for safe blood and blood products. This year (2020) the World Blood Donor Day is celebrated under the theme ‘Safe Blood Saves Lives’.

✓ Every year, the World Elder Abuse Awareness Day is celebrated on 15th June.

    Note:   The day is celebrated to raise awareness about the neglect and abuse of older persons. It also raises awareness of social, cultural, economic and demographic processes that has impacts on elder neglect and abuse.The theme of the ‘World Elder Abuse Awareness Day 2020 is "Lifting up Voices".

✓ World Wind Day or Global Wind is observed every year on 15th June.

    Note:   The day is encouraging and raises awareness on wind energy, which is a natural form of energy and also sheds light on all the ways that wind energy helps to shape the energy systems and the way it encourages economic and other growth in the society. Global Wind Day began in Europe in 2007 and globally in 2009.

✓ The International Day of Family Remittances is observed every year on 16th June by the United Nations.

    Note:   The day is observed all over the world. The theme of the for the year 2020 is ‘Remittances are a lifeline’. The first International Day of Family Remittances was celebrated in 2015.

✓ World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought 2020 observed every year on 17th June. The theme of 2020 is Food. Feed.Fibre. – the links between consumption and land.

    Note:   World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought is observed on 17th June every year. The day is observed to spread awareness among people about the cooperation required to combat desertification and the effects of drought.

✓ Sustainable Gastronomy Day is observed globally every year on 18th June.

    Note:   This day is observed to acknowledge gastronomy as a cultural expression related to nature as well as the cultural diversity of the world. It also reaffirms that each one culture and civilizations are contributors and crucial enablers of sustainable development throughout the planet.

✓ World Hydrography Day is observed globally every year on 21st June.

    Note:   World Hydrography Day is observed globally on 21st June every year. This day was adopted by the International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) as an annual celebration to publicise the work of hydrographers and the importance of hydrography. World Hydrography Day 2020 theme is “Hydrography enabling autonomous technologies”.

✓ World Music Day is observed globally every year on 21st June.

    Note:   Over 120 countries celebration World Music Day by organizing free public concerts in parks, streets, stations, museums and other such public places. The aim of celebrating World Music Day is to provide free music to everyone, and also to encourage amateur musicians to showcase their work to the world.

✓ The theme of the International Day of Yoga 2020 -- Yoga for Health – Yoga at Home.

    Note:   Yoga is an ancient physical, mental and spiritual practice that originated in India. The word ‘yoga’ derives from Sanskrit and means to join or to unite, symbolizing the union of body and consciousness.The theme of International Day of Yoga 2020 is “Yoga for Health – Yoga at Home”.

✓ The United Nations Public Service Day is observed globally every year 23rd June.

✓ Note:This day is widely known by various public service organisations and departments around the world by organising several events to recognise the role of public servants in making developments and improvements in the community.On 20 December 2002, the United Nations General Assembly designated 23 June per annum to watch as United Nations Public Service Day.

✓ The International Widows Day is observed globally every year on 23rd June.

    Note:   The day is widely known to draw attention to the voices and experiences of widows and to galvanize the unique support that they have. Several women around the world after losing her life partner faces challenges and do long-term struggle for basic needs, their human right and dignity.

✓ The theme of Day of the Seafarer, 2020 celebrated every year on 25th June -- Seafarers are Key Workers.

    Note:   The Day of the Seafarer was first celebrated in 2011, following its establishment by a resolution adopted by the Conference of Parties to the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers (STCW), 1978, held in Manila, Philippines, in 2010. The Day of the Seafarer has now been included in the annual list of United Nations Observances.

✓ The theme of the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking 2020 observed every year globally on 26th June -- Better Knowledge for Better Care.

    Note:   For countering the impact that drug has on our societies, it is important that cross border cooperation increases among countries across the globe. This will help in restricting the negative effects of many kinds of misinformation that has caused challenges for the authorities involved in addressing the drug problem.

✓ International Day in Support of Victims of Torture is observed every year on 26th June.

    Note:   This day is observed by the United Nations to raise awareness among the people about the human torture that it is not only unacceptable, but it is also a crime. It’s to be remembered that pain or suffering caused by legal penalty isn’t considered as torture. On 26 June 1998, the primary International Day in Support of Victims of Torture was held.

✓ National Statistics Day 2020’ celebrated every year on 29th June.

    Note:   The National Statistics Day to commemorate the birth anniversary of PC Mahalanobis, often referred to as the 'father of Indian statistics.On June 29, 2006, the first Statistics Day was observed. "Good Health and Well Being and Gender Equality", is the theme for National Statistics Day 2020.

✓ The UN’s International Day of Parliamentarism is observed globally every year on 30th June.

    Note:   It is also a chance for parliaments to spot challenges and stock ways to deal with them effectively.The Day was established in 2018 through a United Nations General Assembly Resolution. This day also acknowledges the formation of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, the global organization of parliaments which was established in 1889.

✓ International Asteroid Day is observed globally every year on 30th June.

    Note:   The day is widely known to raise public awareness about the asteroid impact hazard and to tell the public about the crisis communication actions to be taken at the worldwide level just in case of a credible near-Earth object threat. Several events are organized everywhere in the world to teach people about asteroids.