Daily Current Affairs - June 2022
Generated by AllJobAlerts on 17 June 2026
Udaipur’s ‘bird village’ set to be declared wetland
Akash Ambani named Reliance Jio Infocomm chairman
- The board of directors of Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd. has approved the appointment of Akash M. Ambani, non-executive director, as chairman of the board.
- His father Mukesh D Ambani, chairman of Reliance Industries Ltd. (RIL), had resigned as director of Reliance Jio Infocomm.
- Pankaj Mohan Pawar has been appointed as MD of the company for period of five years.
Justice Satish Chandra Sharma appointed Chief Justice of Delhi High Court
- Justice Satish Chandra Sharma took oath as the Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court.
- Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena administered the oath to the 60-year-old Justice Sharma at a ceremony in the Raj Niwas, the LG's secretariat.
- Justice Sharma had earlier served as the Chief Justice of the Telangana High Court.
- The High Court of Delhi was established on 31 October 1966. The High Court of Delhi was established with four judges, including Chief Justice K. S. Hegde, Justice I. D. Dua, Justice H. R. Khanna and Justice S. K. Kapur.
- Presently, the High Court has a sanctioned strength of 45 permanent judges and 15 additional judges.
Olympic champ Sydney McLaughlin breaks own world 400m hurdles record
- Olympic Champion Sydney McLaughlin broke her own world record in the 400-meter hurdles at the US outdoor track and field championships.
- She crossed the finish line at Hayward Field in 51.41 seconds, breaking her own record of 51.46 set last year at the Tokyo Games, where she won the gold medal.
- She previously set the record with a 51.90-seconds performance at the U.S. Olympic trials a year ago, only to shatter that figure in Tokyo, collecting gold in 51.46.
Laser-guided anti-tank missile successfully tested from Arjun tank
- The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and the Indian Army successfully tested indigenously-developed anti-tank guided missile at KK range in Maharashtra’s Ahmednagar.
- The test was conducted at the KK Ranges with support of Armoured Corps Centre and School (ACC&S) of the Army which is based in Ahmednagar.
- The all-indigenous ATGM employs a tandem High Explosive Anti-Tank (HEAT) warhead to defeat Explosive Reactive Armour (ERA) protected armoured vehicles.
- The ATGM has been developed with multi-platform launch capability and is currently undergoing technical evaluation trials from 120 mm rifled gun of MBT Arjun.
National Statistics Day 2022: 29 June
- Every year, National Statistics Day is celebrated on June 29 in India. The celebration aims to create public awareness among people about the importance of statistics in daily life and in process of planning and development.
- National Statistics Day commemorates renowned statistician Prof Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis for his contribution in the field of economic planning and statistics.
- It is also the birth anniversary of Prof PC Mahalanobis, the founder of the Indian Statistical Institute (ISI).
- The Theme for this year is “Data for Sustainable Development”
- The World Statistics Day is celebrated on October 20 across the globe every five years.
Indian Startup IG Drones Wins Prestigious Global Airwards Best Drone Organisation Award
- The Delhi-based leading Drone enterprise platform company IG Drones has been felicitated with the “Best Drone Organization – Start-up Category” by Airwards.
- IG Drones was selected for the award for its approach to helping local communities and providing access to technology to diverse stakeholders during natural disasters and disasters.
- Airwards is the first panoptic global awards programme of its kind dedicated to identifying, recognising and championing the breadth of positive drone use cases from around the world which are innovative, safe and having a real-world impact.
Former Maruti Udyog chairman and doyen of India's PSUs V. Krishnamurthy passes away at 97
- Venkataraman Krishnamurthy, the former chairman of BHEL, Maruti Udyog and SAIL who was considered the turnaround man of several public sector units, died at the age of 97.
- Krishnamurthy was also known as the 'father of public sector undertaking in India'.
- Krishnamurthi (97) served as Secretary of Industries for the Government of India, and Member of the Planning Commission.
- He also worked with five Prime ministers - Lal Bahadur Shastri, Indira Gandhi, Morarji Desai, Rajiv Gandhi and Manmohan Singh, and was also a member of the National Advisory Council headed by Sonia Gandhi.
- He was conferred Padma Shri, Padma Bhushan and Padma Vibhushan for his services.
Noted lyricist, author and journalist, Chowalloor Krishnankutty passed away
- Writer, lyricist and scenarist Chowalloor Krishnankutty has passed away.
- He was 86.
- A recipient of the Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi and Kerala Sahitya Akademi awards, Krishnankutty also served as the vice-chairman of the Kerala Kalamandalam.
- He started out as a journalist and served the All India Radio’s Kozhikode station as an artist for two years.
Pallonji Mistry passed away at the age of 93
- Pallonji Mistry, chairman of Shapoorji Pallonji group, passed away at the age of 93.
- Pallonji Mistry, the reclusive business tycoon was credited for the success of the more than 150-year-old Shapoorji Pallonji Group, which has grown to be one of the largest business groups in the country.
- In the Forbes Billionaires List, Pallonji Mistry stands at rank 125 as of 2022, while he was the ninth richest Indian person as of 2021.
IRARC’s Avinash Kulkarni to head India Debt Resolution Company
- The chief executive of India Resurgence Asset Reconstruction Company, Avinash Kulkarni, has been selected to head the India Debt Resolution Company.
- He will be the sole agent to resolve more than ₹83,000 crore of bad loans to be acquired by the government-backed National Asset Reconstruction Company.
- Kulkarni has previously worked in the State Bank of India.
- Kulkarni's appointment follows another SBI veteran Natarajan Sundar being selected as CEO of the NARCL in April. Sundar took over as the CEO at the end of May.
- IDRCL is a private sector company controlled by private sector banks that own a 51% share.
Nitin Gupta appointed as new chairman of Central Board of Direct Taxes
- IRS officer Nitin Gupta has been appointed as the new chairman Of Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT).
- Gupta, an Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer of the 1986 batch of the Income Tax cadre, is serving as the Member (investigation) in the Board and is scheduled to retire in September next year.
- Gupta is the first CBDT Member after 3 years who gets the independent charge of Investigation. Last year on August 26, Nitin Gupta was appointed as Member of CBDT.
- It is the administrative body for the Income Tax department.
- The CBDT is headed by a Chairman and can have six members who are in the rank of special secretary.
Dhanalakshmi Sekar becomes third fastest Indian woman to run in 200m event
- Dhanalakshmi Sekar has become the third Indian woman to run sub-23s after national record holder Saraswati Saha (22.82s) and Hima Das (22.88s) in the 200m event.
- She surpassed Dutee Chand’s record of 23.60s.
- Tokyo Olympian Dhanalakshmi Sekar ran her personal best time to win 200m gold at the Qosanov Memorial Athletics Meet, Kazakhstan.
- She clocked 22.89s which is better than her personal best of 23.14s made last year.
- Olga Safronova of Kazakhstan stood second (23.21s) while Dutee Chand clocked 23.60s to finish third.
National Kiteboarding Championship started in Thoothukudi
- The third edition of the National Kite Boarding Championship is being held in Thoothukudi (Tuticorin), Tamil Nadu starting from June 27.
- It is held under the aegis of Yachting Association of India (YAI) which is the National Federation for the sport of Sailing in India.
- The three day event is being hosted by Aqua Outback, Tuticorin and being organised by Tamil Nadu Sailing Association and Chennai Sailing Academy.
- Thoothukudi (Tuticorin) is one of India's windiest coast making it an ideal arena to conduct wind based water sports and bringing together some of the best athletes from the country to train and compete.
- Kiteboarding will be making its debut in Olympics at Paris in 2024.
Novak Djokovic creates history, becomes first male player to win 80 matches in all 4 Grand Slams
- Novak Djokovic became the first player in history to win 80 matches in all four Grand Slams when he defeated Kwon Soon-woo 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 on Centre Court for his 80th win in Wimbledon.
- Djokovic has won the last three Wimbledon titles and is going for his seventh overall.
- Of the four Majors, the 20-time Grand Slam champion has won the most number of matches at the French Open (85). He has won 82 and 81 matches at the Australian Open and the US Open respectively.
NASA launches first rocket from Australian commercial spaceport
- NASA has successfully launched a rocket from Australia's remote Northern Territory, making history as the agency's first commercial spaceport launch outside the United States.
- The rocket is expected to travel more than 300 kilometers (186 miles) into space on its mission to observe the Alpha Centauri A and B constellations -- the nearest star systems to the Earth.
- Alpha Centauri bears a special meaning for Australia. It is mostly only visible from the Southern Hemisphere and is one of the "pointers" to the Southern Cross constellation that appears on the country's flag.
- It was the first of three launches, with a further two planned for July 4 and July 12.
- The Arnhem Space Center describes itself as the only commercially owned and run multi-user equatorial launch site in the world.
Khushi Patel from United Kingdom wins Miss India Worldwide 2022
- Khushi Patel, a biomedical student from the United Kingdom, has been declared the winner of the Miss India Worldwide 2022, the longest-running Indian pageant outside of India.
- Vaidehi Dongre from the US was declared the first runner up while Shrutika Mane was adjudged the second runner up.
- Roshani Razack from Guyana was declared Miss Teen India Worldwide 2022.
- This year’s pageant was held after a gap of three years with the last one being organised at the Leela Hotel in Mumbai in September 2019.
SM Krishna, Narayana Murthy, Prakash Padukone selected for Kempegowda Award
- Former Karnataka chief minister S M Krishna, Infosys founder and IT industry veteran N R Narayana Murthy, and former badminton player Prakash Padukone, have been selected for the 'Kempegowda International Award', which has been instituted beginning this year.
- Chief Minister of Karnataka has present the awards to recipients during the grand celebration on the 513th birth anniversary of Kempegowda, the architect of Bengaluru city.
- The award carries a cash prize of ₹5 lakh along with a plaque.
- The Kempegowda Award or Nadaprabhu Kempegowda Award is a civilian award presented annually by Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike, Bengaluru, Karnataka.
Ministry of Education releases first ever report on Performance Grading Index for Districts (PGI-D)
- The Department of School Education and Literacy (DoSE&L), Ministry of Education released the Performance Grading Index for Districts (PGI-D) for 2018-19 and 2019-20.
- It assesses the performance of school education system at the District level by creating an index for comprehensive analysis.
- Three Rajasthan districts have emerged as best performers in the Ministry of Education’s first-ever report on districts, based on learning outcome levels, infrastructure and other parameters.
- The top performing districts were Jaipur, Sikar and Jhunjhunu in Rajasthan.
- The Indian Education System is one of the largest in the world with about 15 lakh schools, 97 lakh teachers, and nearly 26 crore students from varied socio-economic backgrounds.
Two African Nations Gabon & Togo Join the Commonwealth Group of Nations
- The African nations of Gabon and Togo have been admitted into the Commonwealth group of nations.
- Gabon and Togo are the Francophone countries.
- Oil-rich Gabon, a former French colony on the Atlantic Ocean, has been ruled by the Bongo family for 55 years.
- Togo, a former German then French colony, has also been under dynastic rule for more than half a century.
- The 54-nation group of mostly former British colonies accepted Togo and Gabon's application for membership on the final day of its leadership summit in Rwanda.
- The French-speaking West African states are the first new members to join the Commonwealth since Rwanda in 2009.
- Mozambique -- a former Portuguese colony -- became the first Commonwealth member without historic links to Britain when it joined in 1995.
Madhya Pradesh won the Ranji Trophy title for the first time
- In Ranji Trophy Final, Madhya Pradesh defeated Mumbai by six wickets to win their first-ever Ranji Trophy title at M.Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.
- Madhya Pradesh has defeated 41-time champions Mumbai in the final.
- Madhya Pradesh chased down 108 in the fourth innings for the fall of four wickets to lift the coveted trophy for the first time in their history.
- Madhya Pradesh now becomes the fourth first-time winner of the Ranji Trophy in the last five seasons - joining Gujarat, Vidarbha (two-time winners now) and Saurashtra.
Navjeet Dhillon wins gold medal at Qosanov Memorial 2022 athletics meet
- Indian women’s discus thrower Navjeet Dhillon won the gold medal at the Qosanov Memorial 2022 athletics meet in Almaty, Kazakhstan.
- Navjeet Dhillon, who is looking to seal her place in the Indian team for Commonwealth Games, won the women’s discus throw with a 56.24m effort.
- Local athlete Karina Vasilyeva with 44.61m and Uzbekistan’s Yulianna Shchukina with 40.48m followed Navjeet Dhillon on the podium.
- India won 14 medals on the day, including seven golds.
Iran launches a solid-fueled rocket into space
- Iran recently launched a solid-fuelled rocket named “Zuljanah” into space.
- It is capable of carrying a payload or satellite of 220 kilogram, into the orbit situated at 500 kilometres above the Earth.
- This rocket has been named for Imam Hussein’s horse, who was the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad.
- It is the first indigenously designed and indigenously manufactured hybrid fuel satellite launch vehicle.
- It is launched by Transporter-Erector Launchers (TELs).
- Zuljanah is 25.5 meters in length. It has a mass of 52 tons. First and second stages of the system utilize an identical 1.5m diameter solid-fuel engine. It has 74 tons of thrust. The third stage is Safir type 1.25m diameter liquid-fuel engine.
‘Mo Bus’ has won the prestigious UN Public Service Awards for 2022
- Odisha Capital Region Urban Transport’s Mo Bus has won the prestigious UN Public Service Awards for 2022.
- The UN Public Service Awards recognise excellence in public service delivery that promotes effectiveness, transparency, and inclusiveness to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.
- The public transport service has been recognised for its role in “promoting gender-responsive public services to achieve the SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals).
Vijay Amritraj Honored with 2021 Golden Achievement Award
- Indian tennis great Vijay Amritraj has been named the 2021 recipient of the Golden Achievement Award by the International Tennis Hall of Fame and International Tennis Federation.
- The Golden Achievement Award is selected from a pool of nominations submitted by tennis federations and individuals from the around the world.
- The annual honouree is selected by the Golden Achievement Award Committee, which is comprised of tennis administrators.
- Amritraj is first recipient from India and he joins an esteemed list of tennis leaders who have received the honour, including Brian Tobin of Australia, Eiichi Kawatei of Japan, and Peachy Kellmeyer of the United States.
4-day-long festival commences in Guwahati's Kamakhya temple
- The annual ‘Ambubachi Mela’ commenced at Assam's Kamakhya temple on June 23 and will continue for four days.
- This is the most important religious event of the temple and is also a significant part of the state's tourism calendar witnessing a footfall of around 25 lakh each year during the festival.
- The doors of the temple remain closed for four days in association with the belief in a fertility cult.
- It is believed that during this time Goddess Kamakhya receives her annual menstrual cycle.
Tata Power arm commissions India’s largest floating solar project
- Tata Power Solar Systems has commissioned India’s largest floating solar power project of 101.6 Megawatt Peak (MWp) in Kerala backwaters.
- The project is installed on a 350-acre water body in Kayamkulam, Kerala.
- Tata Power Solar is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tata Power.
- Tata Power Solar successfully built a scaffolding platform on the water body to make the entire solar plant float on water.
- This project is the first one in the Floating Solar Photovoltaic (FSPV) through Power Purchase Agreement category.
PM Sheikh Hasina inaugurates Swapner Padma Setu in Bangladesh, first bridge across the river
- Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated Bangladesh’s dream project (Swapner Padma Setu), the first bridge across the mighty Padma River.
- The 6.15-km-long road-rail four-lane bridge is built over the Padma River connecting southwestern Bangladesh with the capital and other parts.
- The multipurpose road-rail bridge, which is fully funded by the Bangladesh government, has been constructed at a cost of $3.6 billion.
Union Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh to attend the “2022 UN Ocean Conference” in Lisbon
- Dr. Jitendra Singh to take part in the “2022 UN Ocean Conference” at Lisbon from 27th of June to 1st of July 2022.
- Dr Jitendra Singh will deliver the Keynote address at the UN Conference on the theme “Scaling up Ocean Action based on Science and Innovation for the implementation of Goal 14: Stocktaking, Partnerships and Solutions”.
- India is working towards the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development, 2021-2030, for a clean, healthy, productive, predictive, safe and accessible ocean.
Parameswaran Iyer appointed new CEO of NITI Aayog
- IAS officer Parameswaran Iyer has been appointed as the new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of NITI Aayog.
- The Department of Personnel and Training announced his appointment.
- He will hold the office for a period of two years.
- Iyer's term will begin upon the completion of current CEO Amitabh Kant's tenure on June 30, 2022.
- He had also worked as a senior rural water sanitation specialist at the United Nations.
RBI appoints former SBI official Chalasani in advisory committee of Srei Group
- The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) appointed former State Bank of India official Venkat Nageswar Chalasani as a member in the advisory committee of Srei Infrastructure Finance Limited (SIFL) and Srei Equipment Finance Limited (SEFL).
- He replaces R Subramaniakumar who resigned from the Advisory Committee with effect from June 22, 2022.
- The advisory committee will now comprise Mr. Chalasani, former Deputy Managing Director, State Bank of India, T.T. Srinivasaraghavan, former Managing Director, Sundaram Finance Ltd., Farokh N. Subedar, former Chief Operating Officer and Company Secretary, Tata Sons Ltd.
Shyam Saran appointed as President of prestigious 'India International Centre'
- Shyam Saran, a former Foreign Secretary and Prime Minister’s Special Envoy for Nuclear Affairs and Climate Change has taken over as the President of the prestigious India International Centre.
- He succeeds N N Vohra and will take charge on June 23.
- Saran has also served as Prime Minister's Special Envoy for Nuclear Affairs and Climate Change
- His first book “How India Sees the World” was published in 2017. He has recently published his second book “How China Sees India and the World”.
- India International Centre is located in Delhi.
Tapan Kumar Deka appointed as Director of Intelligence Bureau
- The Central government on Friday appointed senior IPS officer Tapan Kumar Deka as Director of Intelligence Bureau.
- Tapan Kumar Deka, a 1988 batch Himachal Pradesh cadre IPS officer, was appointed Director of Intelligence Bureau for a tenure of two years from the date of assumption of the charge of the post or until further orders, whichever is earlier.
- Deka will succeed incumbent Intelligence Bureau Director Arvind Kumar, whose tenure ends on June 30.
- He was an Additional Director in Intelligence Bureau.
Cyclist Ronaldo Singh creates history, becomes first Indian to win silver in Asian c'ships
- Ronaldo Singh scripted history as he became the first Indian cyclist to win a silver in a continental tournament in the senior category by finishing second in the sprint event on the concluding day of the Asian Track Championship.
- He gave a tough fight to Japan's experienced rider Kento Yamasaki but finished with a silver.
- Yamasaki defeated Ronaldo in back-to-back races to finish at the top of the podium. Kazakhstan's Andrey Chugay won the bronze in the event.
- This (Ronaldo's silver) was the first silver won by an Indian in Asian Championships.
India jump two places to 104 in FIFA ranking
- The Indian men's senior national football team has moved up two places from 106th to 104th in the latest FIFA world rankings.
- The Indian women's senior national football team too earned fruition as they advanced three places up from 59th to 56th.
- However, India's AFC ranking remains unchanged as they stand 19th, with Iran leading the rankings in the first place.
India successfully tests VL-SRSAM surface-to-air missile
- The Indian Navy successfully tested a vertical-launch, short-range, surface-to-air missile (VL-SRSAM) from a warship anchored off the coast of Chandipur in Odisha.
- Earlier this month India also successfully tested its nuclear-capable Agni-4 intermediate range ballistic missile from the APJ Abdul Kalam Island in Odisha.
- The VL-SRSAM system has been designed to strike at the high-speed airborne targets at the range of 40km to 50km and at an altitude of around 15km.
World Drug Day 2022: 26 June
- The International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, or World Drug Day, is marked on 26 June every year to strengthen action and cooperation in achieving a world free of drug abuse.
- Drug use continues to be a major problem in the world.
- Its harmful effects are not unknown to the world.
- This year the theme is “Addressing drug challenges in health and humanitarian crises”.
- On December 7, 1987, the the United Nations General Assembly decided to observe June 26 as the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking.
World Bank approves $245 million loan for Indian Railways
- The World Bank has approved a $245 million loan to support India's efforts to modernise rail freight and logistics infrastructure.
- The Rail Logistics project will help India shift more traffic from road to rail, making transport - both freight and passenger -- more efficient and reducing millions of tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) each year. The project will also incentivise more private sector investment in the railway sector.
- Indian Railways is the fourth-largest rail network in the world.
Oil found for the first time in Colombia
- ONGC Videsh (OVL), a subsidiary and overseas arm of State-run Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has made an oil discovery in the recently drilled well, Urraca-IX, in CPO-5 block, Llanos Basin, Colombia.
- OVL had earlier discovered commercial oil in the lower sand play in Mariposa & Indico fields in the block in 2017 and 2018 which are producing 20000 barrels of oil /day.
- Block CPO-5 was awarded to ONGC Videsh Limited in the 2008 bid round of Colombia.
Jammu and Kashmir to hold its first G-20 meeting in 2023
- Jammu and Kashmir will host the 2023 meetings of the G20, an influential group of the world's major economies.
- J&K government has set up a five-member high-level committee for overall coordination of G20 meetings to be held in the Union Territory.
- Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal was appointed as India's Sherpa for the G20 in September 2021.
- India's representation at G20 summits has been led by Prime Minister Modi since 2014.
Weekly Current Affairs
Weekly Current Affairs
- Former Punjab DGP Dinkar Gupta appointed as Director General of National Investigation Agency (NIA)
- Entrepreneur Ranjit Bajaj appointed as chairman of advisory committee overseeing AIFF
- Dr. D.J. Pandian appointed as Director General of Gujarat International Finance Tec-City Regional Office of New Development Bank
- Renowned economist R Kavita Rao replaces Pinaki Chakraborty as the director of the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy (NIPFP)
- Ruchira Kamboj replaced T.S.Tirumurti asPermanent Representative of India to the UN
- RBI approves reappointment of P.N. Vasudevan as MD, CEO of Equitas Small Finance Bank
- Justice Satish Chandra Sharma transferred as Chief Justice of Delhi High Court
Weekly Current Affairs
- Mansukh Bhai Prajapati of Gujarat made 'Mitticool Refrigerator', BIS developed Indian Standard for it
- Indian Space Research Organization's satellite GSAT-24 was successfully launched
- Indoor Solar Cooking System “Surya Nutan” developed by Indian Oil unveiled
- Scientists have discovered the world's largest bacterium in the Caribbean mangrove swamp, can be seen with the naked eye
- India's first fat-thumbed bat species found in Meghalaya
- World's largest recorded freshwater fish found in Cambodia's Mekong River
Weekly Current Affairs
- India won the title of Under-17 Asian Championship
- FIFA World Cup 2026 will be held in America, Canada and Mexico
- Lisa Sthalekar, Former Australia Cricketer, Becomes First Woman President of FICA
- India becomes first country to start Chess Olympiad torch relay
- Neeraj Chopra Wins Gold at Kuortane Games in Finland
- Indian gymnast Pranati Nayak won bronze medal at Asian Gymnastics Championships 2022
- England's Matt Fitzpatrick won the U.S. Open Golf Title as his first major title
- National Yoga Olympiad - 2022 and Quiz Competition inaugurated in New Delhi
- Anahata Singh won the gold medal in the under-15 category at the Asian Junior Squash Championships held in Pattaya, Thailand
- Italian player Benedetta Pilato wins women's 100m breaststroke world title
Weekly Current Affairs
- Government of India announces 10% reservation for Agniveers in CAPF and Assam Rifles recruitment under Agneepath scheme
- Indian Coast Guard inducts first indigenously developed helicopter ALH Mk-III into '840 Squadron' based in Chennai
Weekly Current Affairs
- International Olympic Day 2022 celebrated on 23rd June
- World Rainforest Day 2022 celebrated on 22nd June
- World Refugee Day 2022 celebrated on 20 June
- International Yoga Day 2022 celebrated on 21st June
Weekly Current Affairs
- Bengaluru's Kempegowda International Airport rated the best regional airport in India and South Asia
- Sanjeev Joshi, Deputy CEO of BrahMos Aerospace honored with World Disaster Management Award 2022
- Odisha got first place in the category of States / Union Territories of National MSME Awards 2022
- Central Institute of Educational Technology (CIET), a constituent unit of NCERT wins UNESCO award
- Writer and Zen Buddhist priest Ruth Ozecki wins the 2022 Women in Fiction for the novel 'The Book of Form and Emptiness'
- Bhikkhu Sanghasena of Ladakh won the Prime Minister's Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Development and Promotion of Yoga for the Year 2021
Weekly Current Affairs
- Mongolia’s Khuvsgul Lake added to UNESCO World Network of Biosphere Reserves
- PM releases Ram Bahadur Rai’s book ‘Bhartiya Samvidhan: Ankahi Kahani’
Weekly Current Affairs
- India's life expectancy rate increased to 69.7 between the periods of 2015-2019
- India's first 'Balika Panchayat' formed in Gujarat
- Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport becomes India's first airport to be fully hydro and solar powered
- Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority organizes 8-day Mango Festival in Bahrain
- PM Modi inaugurates B R Ambedkar School of Economics campus in Bengaluru
- Pragati Maidan Integrated Transit Corridor Project launched in New Delhi
- Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri launches NIPUN- National Initiative for Promoting Upskilling of Nirman workers
Weekly Current Affairs
- Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) launched a new scheme called “Dhan Sanchay”
- TCS, HDFC Bank, Infosys and LIC among 'Most Valuable Global Brands' by "Kantar Brands 2022"
- Equitas Small Finance Bank launches savings account for children named 'ENJOI'
Weekly Current Affairs
- S. fangon konyak representing India at the 8th Global Conference of Young Parliamentarians held in Egypt
- India to become the country with the third largest renewable energy potential in 2021 after China and the United States
- China launched its third aircraft carrier, "The Fujian"
- WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange approved for US extradition
- World Health Network declares monkey pox a “pandemic”
- As per report of the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), Austria's capital Vienna has become the 'most livable city' in the world
- Sri Lanka raises minimum age for migrant domestic workers to 21 years
- China at the forefront of global gold recycling
- South Korea launched the first satellite with the help of indigenous rocket "Nuri Rocket"
- Gustavo Petro became the new President of the American country Colombia
Senior IPS officer Dinkar Gupta appointed Director General of NIA
- Former Punjab DGP Dinkar Gupta has been appointed as the new Director General of the National Investigation Agency.
- It is an anti-terror probe agency formed after the 26/11 attack in Mumbai.
- Director General of CRPF Kuldeep Singh was given additional charge of the NIA in May last year after the retirement of Y C Modi.
- Gupta will hold the post of NIA chief till March 31, 2024, that is the date of his retirement or till further orders, whichever comes earlier.
- Gupta has held the position of Director General of Punjab Police in 2019.
- He has also held the post of Director General of Police, Intelligence, Punjab, which involved the direct supervision of Punjab State Intelligence Wing, State Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) and Organized Crime Control Unit (OCCU).
- Gupta was decorated with two police gallantry medals in 1992 and 1994. He was also decorated with the Police Medal for Meritorious Services by the President and the Presidents Police Medal for Distinguished Service (2010).
India's GSAT-24 satellite launched with entire capacity leased to Tata Play
- NewSpace India Limited (NSIL) launched GSAT-24, its first "demand-driven" communication satellite mission, leasing the entire capacity on board to Direct-to-Home (DTH) service provider Tata Play.
- The satellite, built by the Indian Space Research Organization for NSIL, was safely launched into geostationary orbit on Thursday by the Ariane 5 rocket, managed by the French company Arianespace, from Kourou in French Guiana (South America).
- GSAT-24 is a 4180 kg 24-Ku band communication satellite with pan-India coverage for DTH applications.
Indian Oil unveils indoor solar cooking stove ‘Surya Nutan’
- Indian Oil has developed an indoor solar cooking system - Surya Nutan.
- It collects energy from sun and converts the sun energy into heat through a specially designed heating element.
- The product is rechargeble and sitable for four person.
- It offers an online cooking mode while charging.
- Surya Nutan works in hybrid mode, which means it can run on both solar and auxiliary energy sources simultaneously.
- The initial cost of the product has been kept at ₹12,000 for the base model and ₹23,000 for the top model.
World Health Network declares Monkeypox a pandemic
- The World Health Network (WHN) recently announced monkeypox to be a pandemic as the disease touched base in 58 countries, with 3,417 confirmed cases.
- This designation of Monkeypox as a public emergency by the World Health Network (WHN) indicates that this outbreak is not limited to a single country or region and should be addressed by immediate actions to prevent community transmission.
- The severe pain, scaring, blindness, and death, which has been observed in cases of Monkeypox historically.
World's biggest bacterium found in Caribbean mangrove swamp
- Scientists have discovered the world's largest bacterium in a Caribbean mangrove swamp.
- Most bacteria are microscopic, but this one is so big it can be seen with the naked eye.
- The researcher first spotted the strange filaments in a patch of sulphur-rich mangrove sediment in 2009.
- Techniques including electronic microscopy revealed it was a bacterial organism, but there was no guarantee it was a single cell.
- It belonged to the Thiomargarita family, a bacterial genus known to use sulphides to grow.
BrahMos Deputy CEO Gets Disaster Management Award
- BrahMos Aerospace Deputy CEO Sanjeev Joshi received the World Disaster Management Congress for Disaster Risk Reduction during the COVID-19 pandemic from 2020 to 2021.
- The award ceremony was held in the national capital on Wednesday evening and presented by Tourism and Culture G Kishan Reddy.
- Joshi was in Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) when the COVID crisis hit globally and collaborated on the efforts against the pandemic.
Odisha govt bags first prize in National MSME Award 2022
- The MSME Department of the Odisha government has been awarded first prize in the category “National MSME Award 2022 to States/UTs for outstanding contribution in the promotion and development of MSME Sector”.
- Kalahandi has been awarded third prize in the category “National MSME Award 2022 to Aspirational districts for outstanding contribution in the promotion and development of MSME Sector” as the sectoral development was in the line of award parameters.
- Government of India came up with National MSME Award 2022 Scheme, which comprises of altogether 44 categories include manufacturing entrepreneurship (12 awards), service entrepreneurship (09 awards), special category enterprises (14 awards) and institutional support to MSMEs (09 Awards).
World Bank approves project to promote rain-fed farming in Uttarakhand
- The World Bank has approved a project worth ₹1,000 crore for taking rain-fed farming to new heights in the hilly regions of Uttarakhand.
- The project named Uttarakhand Climate Responsive Rain-fed Farming Project will be implemented by the watershed department.
- The project is aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions for funding by the World Bank.
Delhi airport becomes India’s first to run entirely on hydro and solar energy
- Delhi Airport has become India's first airport to move to green energy and now runs entirely on hydro and solar power.
- The transition will help in the reduction of energy emissions of 2 lakh tonne of carbon dioxide per year.
- Currently, the airport sources approximately 6 percent of its electricity requirement is met from onsite solar power plants and the remaining 94 percent of its demand is via hydropower plants.
- The solar power plants are on the airside and on the roofs of the cargo terminals of the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport.
- The airport has targeted to become a Net Zero Carbon Emission Airport by 2030.
CoA appoints Ranjit Bajaj as Chairman of the Advisory Committee overseeing AIFF
- Entrepreneur Ranjit Bajaj, who earlier owned an I-League club, has been named chairman of advisory committee to assist the Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA) which is running the day-to-day affairs of All India Football Federation (AIFF).
- The three-member CoA, comprised of Justice AR Dave, Dr SY Quraishi, and Bhaskar Ganguly, has put in place a setup that will advise it on every aspect of the game.
- The 12-member advisory committee was appointed by the CoA to oversee the day-to-day matters of various departments of the AIFF.
NDB appoints ex-bureaucrat Dr. D J Pandian to head its India Regional Office in Gift city
- Shanghai-headquartered New Development Bank (NDB) of the BRICS countries has appointed former bureaucrat Dr D J Pandian as the Director-General of its India Regional Office in Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City).
- Pandian earlier served as the Vice President and Chief Investment Officer of the Beijing-based Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).
- He was succeeded by former RBI Governor Urjit Patel in January.
- Pandian had also served as Chief Secretary of Gujarat.
Renowned economist R Kavita Rao appointed as the new director of NIPFP
- Eminent economist R Kavita Rao has taken charge as the director of National Institute of Public Finance and Policy (NIPFP) for a five-year term.
- R Kavita Rao has replaced Pinaki Chakraborty.
- NIPFP founded in 1976 is a centre for research in public economics and policies.
- Although the institute receives an annual grant from the Ministry of Finance, and various state governments, it is an autonomous institution.
Indian women's Wrestling team wins Under-17 Asian Championship with total of eight gold in Kyrgyzstan
- Indian women's Wrestling team has won five medals in last day to claim Under-17 Asian Championship title with a total of eight gold at Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.
- India lifted the title with a total of 235 points from eight golds, one silver and one bronze. Japan had to be content with the runners-up trophy with 143 points and Mongolia finished third with 138 points.
- Indian women including Ritika won gold in 43 kilogram, Ahilaya Shinde got gold in 49 kilogram, Siksha lifted gold medal in 57 kilogram, Priya received gold in 73 kilogram while Pulkit secured a Silver medal in 65 kilogram.
South Korea launches first satellite with homegrown rocket
- South Korea successfully launched satellites into orbit with its homegrown Nuri rocket.
- The three-stage rocket, more than 47 meters (154 feet) long and weighing 200 tons, was launched from the Naro Space Center in the country's southern coastal region.
- It was topped with five satellites that will carry out Earth observation missions, such as monitoring the atmosphere, for up to two years, as well as a 1.3-ton dummy satellite
- Prior to South Korea's mission on Tuesday, only Russia, the United States, the European Union, China, Japan and India had developed a space launch vehicle capable of carrying a satellite weighing more than 1 ton, according to the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI).
International Olympic Day 2022: 23 June
- June 23 is celebrated as International Olympic Day across the globe.
- The day is primarily celebrated to commemorate the birth of modern Olympic Games.
- The day is also observed to celebrate the health and harmony aspect associated with sports.
- The day marks the foundation of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
- The day was decided as June 23 to commemorate the founding of the International Olympic Committee at Sorbonne, Paris in 1894.
- This year, the theme for the International Olympic Day is “Together For A Peaceful World.”
India ranks 4th in global gold recycling; recycled 75 tonnes in 2021: WGC
- According to the World Gold Council (WGC) report, India has emerged as the fourth largest recycler of gold in the world and the country has recycled 75 tonnes of gold in 2021.
- China topped the global gold recycling chart as it recycled 168 tonnes of the yellow metal, followed by Italy in the second position with 80 tonnes and the US at the third rank with 78 tonnes in 2021.
- India’s gold refining landscape has changed notably over the last decade, with the number of formal operations increasing from less than five in 2013 to 33 in 2021.
LIC introduces ‘Dhan Sanchay’ savings life insurance plan
- The Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) has launched a new plan called Dhan Sanchay, which is a non-linked, non-participating, individual savings life insurance plan that provides both protection and savings.
- The plan is available for a term of minimum 5 years to maximum 15 years. It provides level income benefit, increasing income benefit, single premium level income benefit and single benefit.
- It also offers a guaranteed income stream from the date of maturity until the end of the payout period.
APEDA Organizes 8-Day-Long Mango Festival in Bahrain
- Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) launched an eight-day Mango Festival in the Kingdom of Bahrain on June 13 in collaboration with the Indian Embassy and Al Jazira Group.
- At the show, 34 varieties of mangoes from the eastern states of West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, and Odisha are on display at eight different Al Jazira group supermarkets in Bahrain.
- Twenty-seven of these varieties were obtained from West Bengal, while two each from Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, and Uttar Pradesh.
- Bihar's Jardalu, a GI-tagged variety, and Langra are on display at the Bahrain Mango Festival.
- The Bahrain mango show is part of APEDA's new initiatives to explore international markets for Indian mangoes under the banner of the 'Mango Festival 2022.'
Sri Lanka revises Minimum Age for Migrant Domestic Workers
- Sri Lanka has decided to amend the Minimum Age for Migrant Domestic Workers to 21 years.
- At present, Sri Lankan female domestic workers require a minimum age of 25 years to work in Saudi Arabia, 23 years in Middle Eastern Countries, and 21 years in other countries.
- The minimum age limit announced as 21 for the rest of the Middle East countries other than Saudi Arabia.
Vienna tops world's 'most livable city'
- The Austrian capital Vienna has made a comeback as the world's most liveable city.
- Vienna snatched the top spot from Auckland, which tumbled down to 34th place due to coronavirus pandemic restrictions, according to the report by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU).
- Europe boasted six out of the top ten cities.
- The Austrian capital was followed by the Danish capital Copenhagen and Switzerland's Zurich. Fellow Swiss city Geneva came sixth, Germany's Frankfurt seventh, and the Netherlands' Amsterdam ninth.
Ruchira Kamboj Appointed as India's Permanent Representative to UN
- Senior diplomat Ruchira Kamboj appointed as India’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York.
- Kamboj, a 1987-batch Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer, is presently serving as India’s envoy to Bhutan.
- She will succeed T.S. Tirumurti as the Indian ambassador to the UN.
- Kamboj was earlier posted as Counsellor at India’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York from 2002-2005.
FIFA announces US, Canada and Mexico as 2026 World Cup venues
- FIFA has announced the 16 North American cities that will host the World Cup in 2026.
- Eleven cities in the U.S., along with three cities in Mexico and two in Canada, will host the 48-team tournament, an expansion from the previous 32-team count.
- It will be the first time three nations have been appointed to host the World Cup.
- The 2022 FIFA World Cup is scheduled to take place in Qatar from 21 November to 18 December 2022.
Lisa Sthalekar becomes first woman president of FICA
- Former Australia cricketer Lisa Sthalekar has been named as the president of Federation of International Cricketers' Association.
- Lisa Sthalekar has become the first woman to hold the position, and will replace former England batsman Vikram Solanki.
- Sthalekar joins a shortlist of former cricketers including Barry Richards, Jimmy Adams and Vikram Solanki to have held the post of FICA president.
- Sthalekar played 8 Tests, 125 ODIs and 54 T20Is for Australia between 2001 and 2013, finishing her career with a World Cup win.
ICG Inducts Indigenous Developed ALH Mk-III in Chennai
- The Indian Coast Guard inducted the made-in-India Advanced Light Helicopter ALH Mk-III, into the Coast Guard Region East.
- While this is the first induction into the newly created '840 Squadron' that is to be based in Chennai.
- The capabilities of the first ALH MK-III aircraft to be positioned in the Coast Guard Region East would enhance the unit’s operational footprint.
- Till date, HAL has delivered 13 out of 16 such aircraft to the ICG.
World Rainforests Day 2022: 22 June
- World Rainforest Day is celebrated annually on 22 June to honour and promote the world's rainforests.
- Rainforests are a source of many resources like fresh water and clean air as they absorb harmful gases including carbon dioxide, thus playing an important role in maintaining a climate balance.
- World Rainforest Day was marked for the first time on 22 June 2017.
- The theme for this year is 'The Time is Now'.
- Rainforests host some of the most diverse flora and fauna in the world. Despite covering just 6% of the earth’s surface, rainforests are home to around 50 per cent of all terrestrial biodiversity.
- The Amazon rainforest is the world’s biggest and most well-known rainforest.
Book ‘Bhartiya Samvidhan: Ankahi Kahani’released
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi has released Ram Bahadur Rai’s book ‘Bhartiya Samvidhan: Ankahi Kahani’.
- Prime Minister noted Shri Ram Bahadur Rai’s life-long quest for searching for new ideas and desire to bring something new before the society.
- He expressed the hope that the book that was released today will present the Constitution in a comprehensive manner.
- The book, along with the history of independence and the untold chapters of our constitution will give a new thinking to the youth of the country.
Dr. Jitendra Singh inaugurates seismological observatory at Udhampur
- Dr. Jitendra Singh inaugurates seismological observatory at Udhampur.
- The third such Centre in J&K has been set up by the Ministry of Earth Sciences at a cost of 20 lakh rupees.
- Dr. Jitendra Singh said that three more earthquake observatories will be set up in Kashmir division by the Central Government in the next four months.
Assam becomes the 36th State to implement One Nation One Ration Card scheme
- Assam has become the 36th State to implement the One Nation One Ration Card (ONORC) scheme.
- With this, the ONORC plan is successfully implemented in all 36 states, and Union Territories, making food security portable throughout the country.
- This scheme is aimed at enabling migrant workers and their family members to seamlessly lift their entitled subsidized foodgrains from any Fair Price Shop of their choice anywhere in the country.
- To make this scheme more seamless and swift, MERA RATION mobile application was rolled out.
B R Ambedkar School of Economics campus inaugurated in Bengaluru
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi has inaugurated the new campus of Dr B R Ambedkar School of Economics (BASE) University.
- He has also unveiled a statue of the architect of Indian Constitution installed at the campus.
- At the event, he also unveiled 150 ‘Technology Hubs’ that have been developed by transforming the Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) across Karnataka.
- The residential BASE University was set up in 2017 in recognition of the exemplary contributions made by Ambedkar in the development of Independent India and as a tribute to his memory on the occasion of his 125th birth anniversary.
Four Indian companies join Apple, Google & Amazon as world’s top 100 brands
- Four Indian companies namely TCS, HDFC Bank, Infosys and LIC were featured in the ‘Most Valuable Global Brands’ by Kantar Brandz 2022
- TCS is India's most valuable brand in this list, which is ranked 46th on the list. It is second only to Samsung in the Asia Pacific region.
- Apple is the most valuable brand in the world, with a brand value of $947 billion.
- HDFC Bank is the fourth biggest bank in the world in terms of brand value.
New Chief Justices appointed in six High Courts
- Appointment of new Chief Justices in six High Courts have been notified.
- The Ministry of Law and Justice notified the appointment to six high courts namely Delhi, Telangana, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan and Gauhati.
- Satish Chandra Sharma, Chief Justice of Telangana High Court has been transferred to Delhi High Court in the same capacity. The other five high court judges have been elevated as chief justices.
- Vipin Sanghi, the acting Chief Justice of Delhi High Court was appointed in the same capacity in Uttarkhand. Justice Ujjal Bhuyan of Telangana High Court has been elevated as the chief justice of Telangana High Court.
India's Anahat Singh wins Asian Junior Squash title in U-15 category
- Promising Indian player Anahat Singh won the gold medal in the girl’s Under-15 category at the Asian Juniors Squash Championships in Pattaya, Thailand.
- She reached the finals without dropping a single game in the tournament.
- Anahat had defeated Malaysian top seed Whitney Isabelle Wilson 3-0 in the semi-finals.
- She is the only Indian girl to win the US Junior Open in any category and the British Junior Open.
- At 14, Anahat will be the youngest player to represent India at the World Juniors Squash Championships in Nancy, France later this year.
Scientists discover new thick-thumbed bat species
- Recently, Indian scientists have discovered a new species of thick-thumbed bat.
- A new species of thick-thumbed bat Glischropus meghalayanus, which has been found in the forests of Meghalaya, has been named after the state which is celebrating its 50th statehood year.
- The present discovery is the first report of a thick-thumbed bat from India and also from South Asia.
- Commonly called Meghalaya thick-thumbed bat, the researchers noted that this bat has typical fleshy pads on the thumb and soles of feet which aid them to crawl over smooth surfaces of bamboo internodes.
- With this new discovery, the total number of bat species known from India stands at 131 species with Meghalaya harbouring the highest bat diversity with 67 species.
Italy's Pilato Wins Women's 100m Breaststroke World Title
- Italian Benedetta Pilato has won the women's 100m breaststroke title at the 19th FINA World Championships.
- Benedetta Pilato won Italy's second gold and their third of the world championships when she won the women's 100m breaststroke final by a fingernail.
- Pilato was also the second 17-year-old gold medallist after Romanian David Popovici.
- She edged German Anna Elendt by 0.05sec with Lithuanian Ruta Meilutyte at 0.09sec.
- In the men's category, Italian Thomas Secon won the 100m backstroke world title in a world record time.
World’s largest freshwater fish caught in Cambodia
- The world’s largest recorded freshwater fish, a giant stingray, has been caught in the Mekong River in Cambodia.
- The length of the stingray from snout to tail is about four meters and it weighed a little less than 300 kilograms.
- The previous record for a freshwater fish was a 293kg Mekong giant catfish discovered in Thailand in 2005.
- The Mekong runs through China, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam, and is home to several species of giant freshwater fish.
- Local residents nicknamed the stingray “Boramy” – meaning “full moon” – because of its round shape and because the moon was on the horizon when it was freed.
International Day of Yoga 2022: 21 June
- International Day of Yoga 2022 is being observed on June 21 to highlight the significance of Yoga in our day-to-day lives.
- On International Day of Yoga 2022, Prime Minister Modi performed yoga at the main event which was organized in the main city of Mysuru in Karnataka.
- The theme of International Day of Yoga 2022 is ‘Yoga for Humanity’ which encourages the holistic approach toward physical activity which has become much more important amid the growing health problems.
- The idea of the International Yoga Day was first proposed by Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi in 2014.
Author and Zen Buddhist priest Ruth Ozeki wins Women's Prize for Fiction
- Renowned US-Canadian author, film-maker, and Zen Buddhist priest Ruth Ozeki has won the Women's Prize for Fiction this year for her novel 'The Book of Form and Emptiness'.
- Ozeki's fourth novel, 'The Book of Form and Emptiness' tells the story of a thirteen-year-old boy who, after the tragic death of his father, starts to hear the voices of objects speaking to him.
- The other five shortlisted books included ‘The Bread the Devil Knead’ by Lisa Allen-Agostini, ‘The Sentence’ by Louise Erdrich, ‘Sorrow and Bliss’ by Meg Mason, ‘The Island of Missing Trees’ by Elif Shafak, and ‘Great Circle’ by Maggie Shipstead.
- The Women’s prize for fiction, formerly known as the Orange and then the Baileys prize, was launched in 1996 and is awarded to “the best full-length novel of the year by a woman” written in English and published in the UK.
Prime Minister’s Awards for Outstanding Contribution towards the Development and Promotion of Yoga for the Year 2021, announced
- The Prime Minister's award for outstanding contribution for promotion of Yoga has been announced for the year 2021.
- Bhikkhu Sanghasena from Ladakh, Marcus Vinicius Rojo Rodrigues from Brazil and two organisations, The Divine Life Society from Uttarakhand and the British Wheel of Yoga from United Kingdom have been chosen for the award.
- The winners will be felicitated with a trophy, certificate and cash award of 25 lakh rupees.
Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri launched an initiative called NIPUN
- Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri launched an innovative project National Initiative for Promoting Upskilling of Nirman workers (NIPUN) in New Delhi.
- NIPUN is an initiative of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs under its flagship scheme of the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana-National Urban Livelihoods Mission DAY-NULM to train over one lakh construction workers, through fresh skilling and upskilling programmes and provides them with work opportunities in foreign countries also.
Gustavo Petro becomes Colombia's first leftist president
- Colombia has elected a former guerrilla fighter Gustavo Petro as president, making him the South American country’s first leftist head of state.
- Gustavo Petro defeated Rodolfo Hernández, a former mayor and business Tycoon of Bucaramanga.
- Before he was a politician, Gustavo Petro was part of an urban guerrilla group.
- Francia Márquez — a former housekeeper and activist — is Colombia’s first Black vice president.
P.N. Vasudevan reappointed as CEO and MD of Equitas Small Finance Bank
- The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has approved the extension of the tenure of Equitas Small Finance Bank (SFB) Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (MD & CEO) P.N. Vasudevan for one year beginning from July 23.
- Vasudevan founded Equitas in 2007 as a microfinance institution (MFI).
- He is also the Managing Director of Equitas, which began as a micro finance institution in 2007 and was later converted into bank in 2016.
India’s Pranati Nayak wins bronze medal at Asian gymnastics championships
- Indian gymnast Pranati Nayak won the bronze medal in the women’s vault at the Asian gymnastics championships 2022 in Doha, Qatar.
- It was Pranati Nayak’s second medal at the Asian championships following her bronze in the 2019 edition in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.
- The 27-year-old is now the only Indian to have bagged more than one medal at the continental meet.
- India have now won four medals – all bronze – at the Asian gymnastics championships. Ashish Kumar (men’s floor) in 2006 in Surat, India and Rio 2016 Olympian Dipa Karmakar (women’s vault) in 2015 in Hiroshima, Japan are the other winners.
- Tokyo Olympic bronze medallist Yeo Seojeong of South Korea won the gold medal. Japan's Shoko Miyata, 17, took silver with a 13.884.
Neeraj Chopra won the gold medal
- Olympic gold medallist Neeraj Chopra won his first gold medal of the season at the Kuortane Games in Finland with an 86.69m throw.
- While Chopra bagged gold, Trinidad and Tobago's Keshorn Walcott with 86.64m throw got the silver medal and Grenada's Anderson Peters with 84.75m throw won bronze.
- Reigning Asian and world para javelin champion, Sandeep Chaudhary, also took part in the competition and finished eighth, with the highest throw of 60.35m.
- This was just his second competition since the Tokyo Olympics, where he became the first Indian to win a gold medal in athletics.
PM Narendra Modi launches torch relay for 44th Chess Olympiad at Indira Gandhi Stadium in Delhi
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi has launched the historic torch relay for the 44th Chess Olympiad at Indira Gandhi Stadium in New Delhi.
- This year, for the very first time, the International Chess Body, FIDE, has instituted the Chess Olympiad Torch which is part of Olympic tradition but was never done in the Chess Olympiad.
- India is first-ever country to have the Chess Olympiad Torch Relay.
- FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich handed over the torch to Prime Minister, who in turn then handed it over to Grandmaster Vishwanathan Anand.
- This torch will then be taken to 75 cities in a span of 40 days before the final culmination at Mahabalipuram near Chennai. At every location, chess grandmasters of the state will receive the torch.
- The 44th Chess Olympiad will be held in Chennai from July 28 to August 10, 2022. The prestigious competition, which has been organised since 1927, is being hosted in India for the first time and in Asia after 30 years.
Matt Fitzpatrick wins US Open Golf 2022 title
- England's Matt Fitzpatrick captured his first major title by winning the US Open Golf 2022.
- World number 18 Fitzpatrick, who won the 2013 US Amateur at The Country Club, matched Jack Nicklaus as the only US Open and US Amateur winners on the same course.
World Refugee Day 2022:20 June
- World Refugee Day is observed globally every year on 20 June.
- The United Nations has designated this special day to honour refugees around the globe.
- The day celebrates the strength and courage of people who have been forced to leave their home country to escape conflict, terror or persecution.
- World Refugee Day first came into existence on 20 June in the year 2001.
- The day was previously known as Africa Refugee Day. In December 2000, the United Nations officially designated the day as ‘World Refugee Day.’
- The theme of this year is ‘Whoever, Whatever, Whenever. Everyone has the right to seek safety.’
CIET wins UNESCO award for use of ICT in school education
- The Central Institute of Educational Technology (CIET), a constituent unit of the NCERT has been awarded with the UNESCO’s King Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa Prize for the use of ICT (Information and Communication Technology) in Education for the year 2021.
- The main aim of this initiative was to reward projects that have used technology to build learning programmes that effectively ensure the continuity and quality of learning.
- CIET will receives US$ 25,000, a medal and a diploma during a ceremony at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris.
Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan inaugurates National Yoga Olympiad 2022
- Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has inaugurated National Yoga Olympiad - 2022 and quiz competition in New Delhi.
- The National Yoga Olympiad has organised jointly by the Ministry of Education and the National Council of Educational Research and Training.
- This year about six hundred students from 26 states and UTs and Demonstration Multipurpose Schools of Regional Institutions of Education will be participating in the forthcoming National Yoga Olympiad.
PM Narendra Modi inaugurates Pragati Maidan Integrated Transit Corridor project in Delhi
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the main tunnel and five underpasses of the Pragati Maidan Integrated Transit Corridor Project in New Delhi.
- The Integrated Transit Corridor project has been built at a cost of more than Rs 920 crore, entirely funded by the central government.
- The six-lane tunnel has access to the huge basement parking of Pragati Maidan.
Equitas Small Finance Bank launched exclusive savings account for kids
- Equitas Small Finance Bank has launched an exclusive savings account for kids named ‘ENJOI’.
- The savings account is aimed at introducing young kids to the financial world and encourage them to develop the saving habit early.
- It was launched on June 19 to coincide with Father’s Day.
- ENJOI will allow kids of 0-18 years to open savings accounts under the supervision of their parents.
BIS develops Indian Standard for ‘non-electric cooling cabinet made of clay’
- The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) has developed an Indian Standard for ‘non-electric cooling cabinet made of clay’, which is being used to store perishable foods.
- The standard is 17693: 2022.
- Named as ‘Mitticool refrigerator’, Mansukh Bhai Prajapati from Gujarat is the innovator behind the refrigerator which projects an eco-friendly technology.
- BIS standard specifies the construction and performance requirements of a cooling cabinet made out of clay, which operates on the principle of evaporative cooling.
- These cabinets may be used to store perishable foodstuff without the need of electricity.
- Refrigeration is a food storage technique that prevents bacterial growth, extending the shelf life of the product and making it safe to eat.
China launches third, most advanced & domestically built aircraft carrier
- China launched its third aircraft carrier, “The Fujian”, named after the province opposite self-ruled Taiwan.
- The aircraft carrier features a full-length flight deck with a catapult launch system.
- The Fujian will join the Shandong, commissioned in late 2019, and the Liaoning, which China bought second-hand from Ukraine in 1998 and refitted domestically.
- Only the United States, with 11 aircraft carriers, has more of the vessels.
Government announces 10% reservation for Agniveers
- Following widespread opposition to the Agnipath plan, the Centre announced a 10% reservation for Agniveers in the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) and Assam Rifles recruitment.
- The Ministry of Home Affairs also decided to grant a three-year age relaxation to Agniveers in the CAPFs and Assam Rifles who are between the ages of 17.5 and 21.
- Notably, the initial class of recruits will be given a five-year extension on the maximum age limit.
Lake Khuvsgul included in UNESCO's World Network of Biosphere Reserves
- Mongolia’s Khuvsgul Lake National Park has been added to the World Network of Biosphere Reserves of UNESCO.
- The decision was made during the 34th session of the International Co-ordinating Council of the Man and the Biosphere Programme taking place in Paris, France.
- Khuvsgul Lake is located in the northern Mongolian province of Khuvsgul near the Russian border, holding nearly 70 per cent of Mongolia’s fresh water, or 0.4 per cent of the world’s total.
- The lake is 1,645 meters above sea level, 136 km long and 262 meters deep.
Bengaluru Airport Named Best Regional Airport in India and South Asia by Skytrax
- Bengaluru's Kempegowda International Airport has been named the best regional airport in India and South Asia at the 2022 Skytrax World Airport Awards which was held at the Passenger Terminal EXPO in Paris.
- Based in the UK, Skytrax is a global consultancy firm that runs an airline and airport review and ranking site.
- The awards ceremony was held at Passenger Terminal EXPO in Paris, France.
India’s first ‘Balika Panchayat’ constituted in five Gujarat villages
- The country's first-ever, ‘Balika Panchayat’, has started in five villages of Gujarat's Kutch district.
- The initiative aims to promote the social and political development of the girls and ensure their active participation in politics.
- The Panchayat has started in Kunaria, Maska, Motagua, and Vadsar villages of the Kutch district.
- This initiative has been taken by the Women and Child Development Welfare Department of the Gujarat Government under the 'Beti Bachao Beti Padhao' campaign.
India’s life expectancy inches up 2 years to 69.7
- India’s life expectancy at birth has increased up to 69.7 in the 2015-2019 period, data from the sample regist ration system (SRS) shows.
- The country’s life expectancy at birth, which has inched up after 10 years, is still well below the global average of 72.6.
- The gap between life expectancy at birth and life expectancy at age one or age five is biggest in states with the highest infant mortality rate (IMR) – Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.
- India has added 20 years to its life expectancy at birth from 49.7 in 1970-75 to 69.7 in 2015-2019.
- In Madhya Pradesh, which has the highest IMR of 43
India to become country with third largest renewable energy potential in 2021 after China
- India added around 15.4 gigawatts (GW) of renewable power capacity in 2021, the third highest after China (136 GW) and the United States (43 GW), according to a global status report released.
- The REN21’s renewables 2022 global status report noted that with this growth, India is now the third-largest market in the world for new solar photovoltaics (PV) capacity.
- India ranked 4th in the world for total solar energy installations (60.4 GW).
8th Global Conference of Young Parliamentarians hosted in Egypt
- Egypt hosted the Eighth Global Conference of Young Parliamentarians in Sharm El Sheikh.
- The two-day conference was jointly organized by the House of Representatives and the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU).
- Nagaland's first woman elected as Member of Parliament to Rajya Sabha S. Phangon Konyak is representing India at the Conference.
UK approves US extradition of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange
- British Home Secretary Priti Patel has approved the extradition of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to the United States to face criminal charges, bringing his longrunning legal saga closer to a conclusion.
- Assange is wanted in the U.S. over the publication of hundreds of thousands of classified military documents and diplomatic cables.
- He is currently being held at high-security Belmarsh prison in London.
Weekly Current Affairs
Weekly Current Affairs
- Reliance Jio Infocomm Chairman Pramod K Mittal appointed as the President of Industry body Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI)
- Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai appointed as the next President of the Press Council of India (PCI)
- AR Rahman appointed ambassador of Indo-UK culture platform “The Season of Culture”
- Krishna Srinivasan appointed as Director of the Asia and Pacific Division of the International Monetary Fund
- Mayank Kumar Agarwal appointed as Chief Executive Officer of Prasar Bharati
- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appointed Amandeep Singh Gill as UN chief's envoy on technology
- NJ Ojha appointed as Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MNREGA) Lokpal
- Former Judge Bhimanagouda Sanganagouda Patil appointed as Lokayukta of Karnataka State
Weekly Current Affairs
- NASA announces DAVINCI mission to research the hellish landscape of Venus in 2029
- Bharti Airtel ("Airtel") Unveils India's First Multiplex on Metaverse Platform
- Unusual Titanosaurid dinosaur eggs found in Dhar district of Madhya Pradesh
Weekly Current Affairs
- Neeraj Chopra to lead 37-member athletics team in Commonwealth Games 2022
- Rameshbabu Pragyanand won the title of Norway Chess Group A Open Chess Tournament
- Rahul Srivastava P of Telangana becomes India's 74th Grandmaster
- Red Bull's Max Verstappen wins Azerbaijan F1 Grand Prix title
- Indian weightlifter Sanapati Gurunaidu won the gold medal in the men's 55 kg event at the IWF Youth World Championships
- Sri Lankan star batsman Angelo Mathews named "ICC Players of the Month" for May 2022 by ICC
- Host state Haryana won the title of Khelo India Youth Games 2021
- Sunil Chhetri becomes the joint 5th highest goalscorer in the International Football History
- Para-powerlifters Manpreet, Paramjeet Kumar win bronze medals at Pyeongtaek Asia Oceania Open Championship
Weekly Current Affairs
- 38th India-Indonesia Coordinated Patrol between the Indo-Indonesia Navy in the Andaman Sea and Straits of Malacca has been launched
- Centre Clears AGNIPATH Scheme to Recruit Youth in Armed Forces for a Period of Four Years
- Indian ballistic missile Prithvi-II successfully test-fired as part of training test
Weekly Current Affairs
- World Blood Donor Day 2022 celebrated on 14th June
Weekly Current Affairs
- Ramkrishna Mukkavilli becomes first Indian to be recognised as Global SDG pioneer by UNGC
- India recognized as 'country of the year' by Europe's Vivatech
Weekly Current Affairs
- Padma Bhushan and Sahitya Akademi awardee and eminent Urdu scholar Gopi Chand Narang passed away
Weekly Current Affairs
- Book containing selected speeches of Shri Ram Nath Kovind 'Loktantra Ke Swar' and 'The Republican Ethic' released
- Newly listed navigation firm MapmyIndia collaborates with ISRO to boost 3D mapping
Weekly Current Affairs
- Kerala ranked first in Asia in 'Global Startup Ecosystem Report'
- Upper age limit increased from 21 to 23 under Agneepath scheme
- India's first Biotech Startup Expo 2022 inaugurated at Pragati Maidan, Delhi
- India inaugurates its first COVID-19 vaccine for animals produced by NRCE
- India ranked 7th in FDI report released by UNCTAD
- FM Nirmala Sitharaman dedicates to nation ‘Dharohar’ - National Museum of Customs and GST in Goa
- India's first display plant announced to set up in Telangana
- Indian Railways introduced the first train between Coimbatore and Shirdi under the 'Bharat Gaurav' scheme
- PM Narendra Modi inaugurates Jal Bhushan Building and Gallery of Revolutionaries at Raj Bhawan in Mumbai
- India's first indigenously developed vaccine qHPV to eliminate cervical cancer has been approved
- India jumps 6 places to 37th rank on IMD's World Competitiveness Index
Weekly Current Affairs
- NPCI International ties up with Lyra Networks to launch UPI, RuPay cards in France
- Canara HSBC OBC Life renamed to Canara HSBC Life
- RBI approves appointment of R Subramaniakumar as MD and CEO of RBL Bank
- 12th WTO Ministerial Conference to be held during 12-15 June 2022
- XPay.Life Launches India's First Blockchain-Enabled UPI Services to Make Financial Services Accessible in Rural Areas
- Omnicard becomes first RBI licensed PPI (Prepaid Payment Instrument) to introduce cash withdrawal
- Anand Mahindra, Ravindra Dholakia, Venu Srinivasan, and Pankaj Patel join RBI board
- Russia overtakes Saudi Arabia to become India's 2nd biggest oil supplier
Weekly Current Affairs
- Hamza Abdi Barre appointed new Prime Minister of Somalia
- Defense Minister Rajnath Singh handed over 12 high-speed guard boats to Vietnam under the Line of Credit
- Thailand becomes first Asian country to legalize cannabis consumption
- Ecuador, Japan, Malta, Mozambique, Switzerland elected non-permanent members of the UN Security Council for two-year terms
- Queen Elizabeth II becomes world's second longest-reigning monarch after Louis XIV of France
- Cho Son-hui becomes North Korea's first female foreign minister
- US State Department launches Gandhi-King scholarly exchange initiative
- 'Internet Explorer' browser closed after 27 years of service
- China begins building a planetarium to explore the universe in Tibet, known as the "roof of the world"
International literary festival ‘Unmesh’ begins in Himachal
Ex-Supreme Court judge Ranjana Desai is new Press Council of India chief
- Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai, a former judge of the Supreme Court has been selected as the next chairperson of the Press Council of India (PCI).
- Justice Desai had recently headed the Delimitation Commission on Jammu and Kashmir, which was set up to redraw the assembly constituencies of the Union Territory.
- Justice Desai, 72, is also a former judge of the Bombay high court.
Pramod K Mittal appointed as the new President of Cellular Operators Association of India
- Industry body Cellular Operators’ Association of India (COAI) named Pramod K Mittal, President of Reliance Jio Infocomm, as the new Chairperson of the association for 2022-23.
- Mittal was previously the Vice Chairperson of the Cellular Operators' Association of India (COAI), whose members include Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea (VIL).
- Mittal will replace Ajai Puri as the COAI Chairperson.
Somali president appoints Hamza Abdi Barre as prime minister
- Somalia’s President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud appointed lawmaker Hamza Abdi Barre as the country’s prime minister.
- The 48-year-old MP from the semi-autonomous state of Jubaland replaces Mohamed Hussein Roble, whose 22 months in office were marred by a rancorous dispute with Mohamud's predecessor Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed.
- He has served in a number of public and political roles and from 2011 to 2017 he was secretary general of the Peace and Development Party (PDP), the precursor to the Union for Peace and Development (UDP) now led by Mohamud.
Neeraj Chopra to lead Indian athletics team
- The Athletics Federation of India (AFI) named a 37-member Indian athletics team, to be led by Olympic champion javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra, for the upcoming Commonwealth Games.
- Out of the 37 picked by the selection committee of the AFI, 18 are women, with the likes of star sprinters Hima Das and Dutee Chand.
- Commonwealth Games 2022 will be held in Birmingham.
Upper age limit for Agnipath scheme hiring raised to 23 for 2022
- Union government increased the upper age limit to 23 from 21 for recruitment under the Agnipath scheme for the year 2022.
- The decision has been taken as no recruitment had taken place in the last two years.
- Around 46,000 soldiers will be recruited this year between the ages of 17 and a half years and 21 years (23 years for 2022) into the Army, Navy and the Air Force.
- The Army will recruit 40,000 soldiers under this scheme, and the process would commence within three months.
- The Army, Navy and Air Force will sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with IGNOU for implementation of the scheme.
Distinguished Urdu scholar Gopi Chand Narang passes away
- Eminent Urdu scholar and former president of Sahitya Akademi Prof. Gopi Chand Narang passed away in the United States.
- His works, Hindustani Qisson Se Makhooz Urdu Masnaviyan and Hindustan Ki Tehreek-e-Azadi aur Urdu Shayari, blazed a new trail in understanding not only the nuances of Urdu prose and poetry but also the socio-cultural context in which they were penned.
- In 1995, Prof. Narang won the Sahitya Akademi Award for his comprehensive work Sakhtiyat, Pas-Sakhtiyat aur Mashriqui Sheriyat (Structuralism, Post-Structuralism, and Eastern Poetics).
- A recipient of Padma Bhushan and Sahitya Akademi Awards, Prof. Narang published more than 65 scholarly and critical books on language, literature, poetics and cultural studies in Urdu, Hindi and English.
Canara HSBC OBC Life Insurance rebranded as Canara HSBC Life Insurance
- Canara HSBC OBC Life has renamed itself as Canara HSBC Life following its third partner Punjab National Bank’s (PNB’s) decision to exit.
- PNB had acquired a stake in the company following the amalgamation of Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC).
- Currently, Canara Bank holds 51% in the insurance arm, HSBC holds 26% and PNB 23%.
Kerala becomes Asia’s Best Startup Ecosystem
- Kerala’s efforts to become the world’s best startup hub get global recognition.
- The ‘Global Startup Ecosystem Report (GSER)’ presented by the US-based startup genome and global entrepreneurship network indicates Kerala holds 1st rank in availing employees at lower costs (Affordable Talents) in Asia.
- The global ranking is 4th. In 2020, they were in 20th place.
- Kerala achieved the award based on initial funding, venture investment and attracting and retaining professionals.
- In the venture capital funding category, Kerala is among the top three Asian nations where most funding was received.
NPCI to launch UPI, RuPay Cards in France
- The National Payments Corporation Of India’s (NPCI) international arm, NPCI International, has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Lyra Network of France for acceptance of UPI and RuPay Cards in the country.
- The UPI payment system is currently available in countries including Bhutan, Singapore, Nepal, and the UAE. The NPCI International is also in talks to extend UPI services in the United States, West Asia and other European countries.
- Nepal also adopted the payment mechanism for digital transactions in March this year.
- NPCI International was incorporated in 2020 as a wholly-owned subsidiary of NPCI.
- The international arm works on deployment of RuPay and UPI outside India.
B.S. Patil sworn in as Karnataka Lokayukta
- Former Karnataka High Court judge Bhimanagouda Sanganagouda Patil has been sworn in as the Lokayukta of Karnataka.
- Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot administered the oath of office to Justice Patil at a ceremony in Raj Bhavan, Bengaluru.
- Justice Patil, who also served as the Upalokayukta of Karnataka.
- The move to appoint Justice Patil as the Lokayukta comes nearly six months after the tenure of the previous Lokayukta, Justice Vishwanath Shetty, ended in January.
India Successfully Test-fires Short-range Ballistic Missile Prithvi-II
- India successfully test-fired it's indigenously developed nuclear capable Prithvi-II missile as part of a user training trial from a test range off the Odisha coast.
- The missile is a proven system and is capable of striking targets with a very high degree of precision.
- The trial of the surface-to-surface missile, which has a strike range of 350 km, was carried out from a mobile launcher from launch complex-3 of the Integrated Test Range at Chandipur near Balasore.
- Prithvi-II is capable of carrying 500-1,000 kilogram of warheads and is powered by liquid propulsion twin engines.
- Already inducted into the armory of Indian defence forces in 2003, the nine-meter-tall, single-stage liquid-fuelled Prithvi is the first missile to have been developed by the DRDO under the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP).
Indian para-powerlifters Manpreet Kaur won bronze medal
- Indian para-powerlifters Manpreet Kaur and Parmjeet Kumar won bronze medals at the ongoing The Pyeongtaek 2022 Asia Oceania Open Championships in South Korea.
- Manpreet Kaur, Para-Powerlifter from SAI National Centre of Excellence, Gandhinagar won the bronze medal in the 41 kg category.
- Paramjit Kumar, who created history by winning India's first medal at the World Championships by claiming bronze in Tbilisi 2021, has won a bronze medal in the men's 49kg Open final.
Sunil Chhetri becomes fifth highest goalscorer
- The Captain of the Indian Men Football Team Sunil Chhetri has become the joint fifth highest goalscorer in International Football history.
- Sunil Chhetri achieved this feat during the AFC Asian Cup Qualifier clash against Hong Kong where he scored his 84th goal.
- Chhetri is now equaled legendary Real Madrid and Hungarian Player Ferenc Puskas goals scoring exploits on the international level.
- Currently, Ronaldo is the highest goalscorer in international football with 117 goals, while Messi is in the 4th spot with a total of 86 goals.
Govt Panel Approves India’s First Indigenously Developed Vaccine qHPV Against Cervical Cancer
- The DCGI’s Subject Expert Committee recommends Serum Institute’s indigenously developed quadrivalent human papillomavirus (qHPV) vaccine for cervical cancer patients above 9 years to 26 years of age.
- Cervical cancer in India ranks as the second most frequent cancer among women between 15 and 44 years of age.
- Every year in India, 122,844 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer and 67,477 die from the disease.
- The HPV vaccine reduces a woman’s risk of cervical cancer. Men cannot develop cervical cancer, but the HPV vaccine may prevent genital warts, penile cancer, anal cancer, and the spread of HPV to sexual partners.
India got 37th rank in the World Competitiveness Index
- India has jumped six positions from 43rd to 37th rank on the annual World Competitiveness Index for the year 2022.
- The 63-nation list, which is compiled by the Switzerland-based Institute of Management Development (IMD), ranks Denmark on top, while Switzerland slipped from the top to the second position.
- Singapore has also regained the third spot in 2022 from fifth in 2021.
- India's ranking in the index has improved after no change for three years i.e. 2019, 2020 and 2021. During these years, India's competitive ranking stayed the same at 43. In 2018, it was 44.
- Denmark reached the number one spot in the IMD World Competitiveness Ranking (WCR) for the first time in the ranking’s 34-year history.
"Jal Bhushan Bhawan" and "Gallery of Revolutionaries" inaugurated in Mumbai
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Jal Bhushan Building and Gallery of Revolutionaries at Raj Bhawan in Mumbai.
- The gallery has come up in the subterranean network of 13 pre-World War-I British era bunkers, discovered in the Raj Bhavan campus in August 2016 during the tenure of the then Governor C. Vidyasagar Rao.
- The gallery includes information on the freedom movement heroes, their role in the movement, sculptures, rare photographs, murals and details on tribal revolutionaries drawn by school-kids.
Russia becomes India's second largest oil supplier
- Russia has overtaken Saudi Arabia to become India's second-biggest supplier of oil behind Iraq as refiners snap up Russian crude available at a deep discount following the war in Ukraine, industry data showed.
- Indian refiners bought about 25 million barrels of Russian oil in May, or more than 16 per cent of all their oil imports.
- Iraq remained the top supplier to India in May and Saudi Arabia is now the third biggest supplier.
- After the U.S. and China, India is the world’s third-largest consumer of oil, over 85 per cent of which is imported.
China begins construction of planetarium at ‘roof of the world' in Tibet
- China has started constructing a planetarium at the world's highest altitude in Tibet for exploration of the universe at the "roof of the world”.
- The planetarium, scheduled to be completed in 2024, is expected to receive over 100,000 visitors annually.
- The planetarium will have the region's largest optical astronomical telescope, with a one-meter-diameter lens and become a major regional base for astronomical research and public science education.
India got the recognition of 'country of the year'
- Europe's biggest start-up conference - Vivatech 2020 has recognized India as the "country of the year."
- It has been given this recognition due to the contribution of Indian start-ups in the world.
- Around 65 start-ups from India participated in VivaTech 2022 with government support.
Anand Mahindra, Ravindra Dholakia, Venu Srinivasan, Pankaj Patel appointed to RBI Board
- The government has named Anand Mahindra, Ravindra Dholakia, Venu Srinivasan and Pankaj Patel to RBI's board.
- These appointments will be for a period of four years.
- The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet gave its nod to these appointments.
- Mahindra is the chairman of the Mahindra Group. Patel is chairman of Zydus Lifesciences. Srinivasan is the chairman emeritus of TVS Motor Company. Dholakia, an economist and member of the first monetary policy committee, is a retired professor of IIM-A.
Abnormal Titanosaurid Dinosaur Egg discovered in Madhya Pradesh
- A team of researchers from Delhi University has discovered an 'egg-in-egg' dinosaur egg from Madhya Pradesh, which is probably the first time in the fossil history.
- According to the researchers, the discovery is a "rare and important find" as no ‘ovum-in-ovo’ egg was found in reptiles until now.
- The abnormal titanosaurid dinosaur egg was discovered from Bagh area in MP’s Dhar district.
- The Upper Cretaceous Lameta Formation of central India has been long known for discovery of dinosaur fossils (both skeletal and egg remains).
Airtel launches India’s first multiplex in the Metaverse
- Bharti Airtel (“Airtel”), India’s premier communications solutions provider unveiled India’s first multiplex on the Partynite Metaverse platform.
- Users will be able access the multiplex service on a metaverse platform called Partynite Metaverse.
- The Xstream multiplex is an extension of Airtel’s Xstream Premium offering, which recently achieved a 2-million subscriber milestone within 100 days of its launch.
Microsoft Is Shutting Down Internet Explorer Browser after 27 Years
- Microsoft announced the retirement of its oldest browser, Internet Explorer after 27 years of service.
- It was first released in 1995 as an add-on package for Windows 95. Later, the company began providing the browser for free as part of the package.
- As per the company notification, Internet Explorer will be rendered inoperable from June 15, 2022.
NASA set to take the plunge into Venus' hellish landscape in 2029
- NASA has set a launch date for its exploration of Venus’ hellish landscape.
- In June 2029, the space agency’s DAVINCI Mission will launch, with the goal of plunging through the harsh layers of atmosphere to the planet’s surface by the end of 2031.
- DAVINCI — which stands for Deep Atmosphere Venus Investigation of Noble gases, Chemistry, and Imaging — will be the first mission to study Venus using both spacecraft flybys and a descent probe.
38th India-Indonesia Coordinated Patrol begins in Andaman Sea and Straits of Malacca
- The 38th India-Indonesia Coordinated Patrol (IND-INDO CORPAT) between the Indian Navy Units of Andaman & Nicobar Command (ANC) and Indonesian Navy is being conducted from June 13 to 24 2022 in the Andaman Sea and Straits of Malacca.
- The 38th CORPAT is the first post pandemic Coordinated Patrol (CORPAT) between the two countries.
- The two Navies have been carrying out CORPAT along their International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) since 2002.
Central government approved the Agneepath scheme
- The Centre has cleared the AGNIPATH Scheme for recruitment of youth in the Armed Forces.
- The youth selected under this scheme will be known as Agniveers.
- The AGNIPATH Scheme cleared by Cabinet Committee on Security allows patriotic and motivated youth to serve in the Armed Forces for a period of four years.
- Over forty six thousand Agniveers to be recruited this year.
- This is a major defence policy reform introduced by the Government to usher in a new era in the Human Resource policy of the three services.
- Agniveers will get a salary of 30,000 rupees to 40,000 rupees per month and allowance as applicable.
- Agniveers will be provided non-contributory Life Insurance Cover of 48 lakh rupees for the duration of their engagement period in the Indian Armed Forces.
Indian Railways launch first train under ‘Bharat Gaurav’ scheme
- The first train operated by a private operator between Coimbatore and Shirdi under the Indian Railways' 'Bharat Gaurav' scheme has been flagged off.
- Southern Railway becomes the first zone to get its first Registered service provider under the ‘Bharat Gaurav’ Scheme & commence operations of the maiden service from Coimbatore North to Sainagar Shirdi.
- The train is being operated by a private operator – South Star Rail.
- The theme-based ‘Bharat Gaurav’ trains were announced in November last year. The objective of the themes is to showcase India’s rich cultural heritage, as well as historical places, to the people of India and the world.
National e-governance service delivery assessment (NeSDA) Report 2021
- The National e-governance service delivery assessment (NeSDA) report 2021 was published recently.
- In this edition, Jammu and Kashmir was assessed for the first time. It has been ranked at 1st position among Union Territories, with overall compliance of around 90 per cent for national e-governance service delivery assessment (NeSDA).
- The report was released on June 13, 2022.
- Overall, in NeSDA 2021, Kerala had the highest overall compliance score amongst all the States and UTs.
- Meghalaya and Nagaland were ranked at top in State Portals with overall compliance of over 90 per cent on all assessment parameters among northeast and hill states.
- NeSDA was constituted in 2019, by the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG) under its mandate for boosting e-government endeavours and driving digital government excellence.
US State Department launches Gandhi-King Scholarly Exchange Initiative
- The US Department of State has launched Gandhi-King Scholarly Exchange Initiative.
- The two great luminaries Mahatma Gandhi and Dr Martin Luther King, Jr were patrons of civil rights and social justice.
- The Department of State`s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs announced the launch of the Gandhi-King Scholarly Exchange Initiative, which brings together 20 emerging young civic leaders from India and the United States.
Angelo Mathews and Tuba Hassan Crowned “ICC Players Of The Month” For May 2022
- The International Cricket Council (ICC) announced that Sri Lankan batting star Angelo Mathews and Pakistan’s spin sensation Tuba Hasan have been selected as the ICC Men’s and Women’s Players for May 2022.
- Mathews has surpassed compatriot Asitha Fernando and Bangladeshi Mushfiqur Rahim to win the award, while Tuba Hasan has surpassed his captain Bismah Maroof and Trinity Smith of the jersey.
- Right-handed batsman Angelo Mathews, one of Sri Lanka’s most experienced players, has been named the ICC Player of the Month (May 2022) for scoring runs during his team’s impressive ICC World Test Championship series win against Bangladesh.
- Pakistan’s Tuba Hasan had significant success with the ball during her first international series. Because of this, she was nominated for the ICC Women’s Player of the Month.
Haryana won the title of Khelo India Youth Games 2021
- Haryana has won the title of Khelo India Youth Games 2021.
- Host state Haryana has won the Khelo India Youth Games (KIYG) 2021 title with 52 gold medals
- Haryana won 39 silver and 46 bronze medals, taking their total medal tally to 137 medals - the most medals won by any state.
- Maharashtra finished second with 125 medals, winning 45 gold, 40 silver and 40 bronze medals.
- Karnataka finished third with 67 medals with 22 gold, 17 silver and 28 bronze.
- This is Haryana's second Khelo India Youth Games title. Haryana won the inaugural title in 2018 but finished second behind Maharashtra in the next two seasons.
Max Verstappen won Azerbaijan F1 Grand Prix
- Red Bull’s Max Verstappen won the Azerbaijan Grand Prix as his world championship rival Charles Leclerc was forced to retire from the lead.
- This is Verstappen 25th GP win of his career.
- Verstappen had never previously finished on the podium in Baku.
- It is Verstappen’s 66th podium for Red Bull, breaking Vettel's team record.
Rahul Srivatshav becomes India's 74th Grandmaster
- Rahul Srivatshav P of Telangana has become India’s 74th Grandmaster, achieving the title after breaking the 2500 (Elo points) barrier in live FIDE ratings during the 9th Cattolica Chess Festival 2022 in Italy.
- The 19-year-old Rahul Srivatshav P reached the 2500 Elo live rating mark after drawing his 8th round game against Grandmaster Levan Pantsulaia in the Cattolica event.
- The current Elo rating of Srivatshav is 2468.
- Srivatshav secured five GM norms and also achieved the title when he crossed the rating threshold of 2500.
- Bharath Subramaniyam became the country’s 73rd GM in January.
- The legendary Viswanathan Anand is India’s first GM.
Saanapathi clinches Gold medal at IWF Youth World championship
- Indian weightlifter Saanapathi Gurunaidu clinched Gold medal in men's 55 kilogram event at the IWF Youth World Championships in Leon, Mexico.
- Saanapathi won Gold medal in men's 55 kilogram event with total lift of 230 kilogram.
- He lifted 104 kilogram in Snatch winning Silver while 126 kilogram lifting in Clean and Jerk to finish on the top to grab the Gold medal.
- Two other Indian weightlifters Vijay Prajapati and Akansha Kishor Vyavhare clinched silver medals on the opening day of the event.
World Blood Donor Day 2022: 14 June
- World Blood Donor Day is observed globally on 14 June every year.
- The day is celebrated to promote awareness about the need for blood donation and thank voluntary, unpaid blood donors for their life-saving gifts of blood.
- The day aims to promote regular blood donations to ensure that all individuals have access to affordable and timely supplies of safe blood in times of emergency needs.
- The host nation for World Blood Donor Day 2022 is Mexico.
- The theme of the World Blood Donor Day 2022 is “Donating blood is an act of solidarity. Join the effort and save lives”.
OmniCard becomes 1st RBI licensed PPI to launch cash withdrawal across all ATMs PAN India
- OmniCard has announced that it became the 1st RBI licensed PPI (prepaid payment instrument) to launch cash withdrawal using a RuPay-powered card from any ATMs across the country.
- The move came in after RBI permitted the non-bank licensed entities to enable cash withdrawals from the digital wallets.
- Sanjeev Pandey, OmniCard Co-Founder and CEO said that they provide an alternative platform for users to keep their bank account safe where savings are stored from cyber frauds using digital wallets linked with Rupay Card and UPI.
Rajesh Exports announces setting up of India's first display plant with an investment of $3 billion
- Jeweller Rajesh Exports has to invest $3 billion in Telangana to set up the country's first electronic-display plant.
- The Telangana government signed an MoU with Karnataka-based Elest for the proposed fabrication unit which will manufacture next generation displays for smartphones, tablet computers, and laptops.
- Karnataka-based Elest was incorporated for the purpose of manufacturing innovative technology products such as AMOLED displays, Lithium-ion cells, batteries and electric vehicles, among others.
- The proposed investment of Elest is one of the largest investments in India’s electronics sector and the largest-ever investment by size into Telangana.
XPay.Life launches India's first blockchain-enabled UPI services
- Fintech startup XPay.Life, which claims to be India’s first blockchain-enabled transaction framework, launched its UPI services targeted at rural India, as it completes three years of operations.
- XPay.Life aims to make financial facilities accessible for people in rural areas who need financial support the most.
- The launch of its UPI services is expected to benefit XPay.Life’s 4 million consumers across more than 15 states and 1 lakh villages.
- XPay.Life’s major focus has been to reach out to unbanked and financially excluded customers of India; especially those in rural India.
N J Ojha appointed as MGNREGA ombudsman
- N J Ojha has been appointed as ombudsman for a two-year term under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme.
- Ojha has the power to investigate allegations by MGNREGA staff, consider them, award awards within 30 days of receipt of the complaint.
- An ombudsman has the power to receive complaints from MGNREGA workers, consider such complaints, pass awards within 30 days from the date of receipt of complaint and issue direction for conducting spot investigation and also initiate proceedings ‘suo motu’ if there are any grievance including on issues related to delayed payment of wages or non-payment of unemployment allowance.
North Korea appoints its first female foreign minister
- North Korea has appointed veteran diplomat Choe Son-hui as its first female foreign minister.
- Choe, who formerly served as the North's vice foreign minister, was tapped to lead the foreign ministry at a ruling party meeting overseen by leader Kim Jong Un.
- She replaces Ri Son Gwon, a hardline former military official who previously led talks with the South.
R Subramaniakumar appointed MD and CEO of RBL Bank
- Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has approved the appointment of R Subramaniakumar as Managing Director and CEO of the RBL Bank for three years tenure.
- Subramaniakumar's tenure will begin from the date of his taking charge, under Section 35B of the Banking Regulation Act 1949.
- R Subramaniakumar is a veteran Banker with 40 years of experience.
- He was an Executive Director at Indian Bank and Indian Overseas Bank.
- He also held the position of Managing Director & CEO of Indian Overseas Bank.
MapmyIndia collaborates with ISRO
- Homegrown navigation firm MapmyIndia has collaborated with India's space agency ISRO which will enhance the quality of its 3D maps.
- The company is developing new maps as part of its foray into the metaverse.
- MapmyIndia users will be able to see vegetation maps or heat maps, air quality maps, and other information on exact locations that are searched by people or on routes of their interest, through the collaboration with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
Indian teenage GM R Praggnanandhaa wins title in Norway Chess open
- India's Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa won the Norway Chess Group A open chess tournament after netting 7.5 points from nine rounds.
- The rising Indian star finished a point ahead Marsel Efroimski and Jung Min Seo, who tied for second place.
- While, Magnus Carlsen emerged as the winner of the Norway Chess 2022, the competition celebrating its 10th anniversary this year.
- Indian Grandmaster Viswanathan Anand defeated Norway's Aryan Tari in the ninth and final round of the Classical section to clinch the third place in the Norway Chess tournament
7-Year-Old Punjab Girl Creates History, Scales Mount Everest Base Camp at 5,364 Metres
- A seven-year-old girl from Punjab's Ropar has created history and made the country proud by reaching the base camp of Mount Everest.
- Saanvi Sood has now become the youngest girl in India to wave the Indian flag at the base camp of Mount Everest at a height of 5,364 metres.
- Since she is only seven, she was not allowed to go beyond the base camp.
National Customs and GST Museum ‘Dharohar' opened in Goa
- Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs Nirmala Sitharaman dedicated to the nation, Dharohar - the National Museum of Customs and GST in Panaji Goa.
- The two-storey ‘Blue building’, which was earlier known as Alfandega, during the period of Portuguese rule in Goa, has been standing on the banks of the Mandovi River in Panaji for more than 400 years.
- Dharohar is one of its kind museums in the country that showcases not only the artifacts seized by Indian Customs but also depicts various aspects of work performed by the Customs Department.
Ecuador, Japan, Malta, Mozambique, Switzerland elected non-permanent members of UN Security Council
- Ecuador, Japan, Malta, Mozambique, and Switzerland were elected non-permanent members of the UN Security Council for a two-year term.
- The newly elected members will take up their new responsibilities on Jan 1, 2023, and will serve till Dec 31, 2024.
- They will replace the outgoing non-permanent members of India, Ireland, Kenya, Mexico and Norway.
- Among the five newly elected members, Mozambique and Switzerland have never served on the Security Council.
- The Security Council has 15 members, five of which are permanent ones: Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States. The 10 non-permanent seats of the council are allocated by geographic region, with five replaced each year.
Panjab University alumnus Amandeep Singh Gill appointed as UN chief's Envoy on Technology
- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has appointed senior Indian diplomat Amandeep Singh Gill as his envoy on technology to coordinate programmes for international digital cooperation.
- Amandeep Singh Gill has been India's permanent representative to the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva from 2016-to 2018.
- Previously, Gill was the Executive Director and Co-Lead of the United Nations Secretary-General's High-Level Panel on Digital Cooperation (2018-2019).
- He was also a visiting scholar at Stanford University.
Queen Elizabeth II Becomes World's Second-Longest Reigning Monarch
- Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom (UK) overtook Thailand's King to become the world's second-longest reigning monarch in history, after France's Louis XIV.
- Queen Elizabeth has overtaken Thailand's King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who reigned for 70 years and 126 days between 1927 and 2016, to set another record.
- Louis XIV of France remains the longest-reigning monarch, with a 72-year and 110-day reign from 1643 until 1715.
- Crowned in 1953, Queen Elizabeth II became the longest-serving British monarch in September 2015, surpassing her great-great grandmother Queen Victoria.
Weekly Current Affairs
Weekly Current Affairs
- SAI DG Sandip Pradhan gets another tenure extension of more than 2 years
- Zulfikar Hassan appointed as the new Director General of the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security
- Former executive director of Canara Bank A. Manimekhalai appointed as Managing Director of Union Bank of India
- Hindalco Industries MD Satish Pai, appointed the new chairman of the International Aluminium Institute (IAI)
- Alok Kumar Choudhary replaces Ashwini Bhatia as the new Managing Director of SBI
Weekly Current Affairs
- World's largest living plant identified in Western Australia
- Kiya.ai launches India's first-ever Banking Metaverse – Kiyaverse
- Jio becomes 1st telco to give 4G mobile services in Ladakh's Pangong Lake
- All India Council for Technical Education becomes the first accreditation body in the world to have office space in the metaverse
Weekly Current Affairs
- India's Anjum Moudgil won silver medal at Shooting World Cup 2022
- Basketball legend LeBron James becomes the first active NBA player to become a billionaire
- Iga Swiatek wins French Open 2022, beats Coco Gauff in final
- Rafael Nadal becomes oldest player to win French Open
- Joe Root created history, became the first England batsman to score 17,000 runs in international cricket
- Swapnil Kusale-Ashi Chouksey win 50m rifle 3P mixed gold, India end ISSF World Cup on 2nd spot
- Avani Lekhara of India won the gold medal in the 10m Air Rifle Standing SH1 category of the Para Shooting World Cup 2022
- India's great cricketer Mithali Raj announces retirement from all forms of international cricket
- Shreyas G Hosur becomes the first Indian Railway officer to complete the world's toughest single-day sport 'The Ironman' triathlon
- Virat Kohli becomes first Indian to cross 200 million followers mark on Instagram
Weekly Current Affairs
- India-Bangladesh joint military exercise "X Samprati-X" begins at Jashor Military Station in Bangladesh
- India successfully test-fired nuclear capable Agni-IV missile from APJ Abdul Kalam Island in Odisha
- Multinational peace exercise "Ex Khan Quest 2022" started in Mongolia
- India to participate in world's largest maritime exercise 'Rim of the Pacific'
Weekly Current Affairs
- World Food Safety Day 2022 celebrated on 7th June
- World Oceans Day 2022 celebrated on 8th June
Weekly Current Affairs
- Meghalaya Wins Best Project Award at UN World Summit
- Booker Prize winner Salman Rushdie to be honored with 'Companion of Honor'
Weekly Current Affairs
- Social media platform Instagram has launched a feature called 'Amber Alert' to help locate missing children
- IIFA Awards 2022 held in Abu Dhabi
Weekly Current Affairs
- “GHAR KE UPAR SOLAR IS SUPER” campaign launched by Union Minister Shri Bhagwant Khuba
- Chilka Lake, Asia's largest saltwater lagoon, has recorded a population of 176 fishing cats
- Amit Shah inaugurates National Tribal Research Institute in Delhi as part of 'Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav'
- Sant Kabir Academy and Research Center inaugurated in Maghar, UP
- India got 180th rank in Environment Performance Index 2022
- Tamil Nadu got the top position among the big states in the fourth state food security index
- Sir M Visvesvaraya Railway Terminal, India's first centralized AC railway terminal in Bengaluru has been made operational for the general public
- NHAI created new Guinness World Record on NH53, 75 km long highway built in 105 hours
Weekly Current Affairs
- Tata Projects wins bid to build Noida International Airport
- SBI Foundation partners with Khan Academy for “UpSchool” - A digital learning program for students
- Mahendra Singh Dhoni became the brand ambassador and minority shareholder of drone start-up company "Garuda Aerospace"
- World Bank cuts India's economic growth forecast to 7.5 per cent for FY23
- Reserve Bank of India hikes key repo rate by 50 basis points (bps) to 4.90 per cent
Weekly Current Affairs
- Kalash Gupta, a third year computer science student at IIT Delhi, won the title of 'World's Top Coder'
- Bajram Begaj to be the next President of Albania
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) got first place in QS World University Rankings
DD Director-General Mayank Kumar Agrawal given additionl charge of Prasar Bharati CEO
- Doordarshan and Doordarshan News Director-General Mayank Kumar Agrawal has been given the additional charge of Prasar Bharati Chief Executive Officer (CEO).
- He was previously associated with Doordarshan and Doordarshan News at the public broadcaster.
- The move came after the five-year tenure of Shashi Shekhar Vempati as Prasar Bharati CEO came to an end.
- Mr. Vempati was appointed as CEO of the public broadcaster in June 2017, on the recommendation of a three-member committee headed by the then Vice-President.
International Monetary Fund Appoints Krishna Srinivasan as APAC Department Head
- India's Krishna Srinivasan has been appointed as the director of the Asia and Pacific Department of the International Monetary Fund.
- Srinivasan's new appointment will begin from 22 June. His predecessor, Changyong Rhee, announced his retirement on 23 March.
- He is currently a Deputy Director in the Asia-Pacific department.
- He has more than 27 years of work experience at IMF.
- Srinivasan led the IMF's work on G20 during the Global Financial Crisis as an integral member of the research department.
Music maestro AR Rahman appointed ambassador of "The Season of Culture"
- Music Maestro AR Rahman has been appointed as ambassador of The Season of Culture, which marks the 75th anniversary of India's independence.
- It was officially launched by Britain's Deputy High Commissioner to India Jan Thomson and Director (India) of the British Council Barbara Wickham.
- The Season of Culture aims to strengthen India-UK collaboration in the areas of arts, English and education.
For the first time an Indian recognized as Global SDG Pioneer by UNGC
- For the first time in the world, an Indian has been recognized by the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) as a Global Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Pioneer for Water Stewardship from India.
- Ramkrishna Mukkavilli, the Founder and Managing Director of Maithri Aquatech, a Make-In-India company.
- Using the technology of atmospheric water generation, his company Maithri Aquatech has generated over 100 million litres of fresh water from the air.
- He was previously selected as India’s SDG Pioneer by the UN Global Compact Network India and has now been recognised as one of the 10 new SDG Pioneers for 2022.
Union Ministers Dharmendra Pradhan, Anurag Thakur Released Books Titled ‘Loktantra ke Swar’ & ‘The Republican Ethic’
- Union Education and Skill Development & Entrepreneurship Minister Shri Dharmendra Pradhan along with Union Minister for Information & Broadcasting and Sports Shri Anurag Thakur released a book ‘Loktantra ke Swar’ and ‘The Republican Ethic’ having selected speeches of the President of India Shri Ram Nath Kovind.
- This the fourth volume of the series featuring the fourth year of presidency of Shri Ram Nath Kovind.
- The Minister highlighted that this book captures President’s thoughts on varied topics such as public service, ethics, education, aspirations of our youth, contemporary global issues.
Anocovax: India launches its first COVID-19 vaccine for animals
- Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar launched Anocovax, India's first homegrown COVID-19 vaccine for animals, produced by the ICAR-National Research Centre on Equines (NRCE) in Haryana.
- The vaccine uses Alhydrogel as an adjuvant and contains inactivated SARS-CoV-2 (Delta) antigen. It is also safe for dogs, lions, leopards, mice, and bunnies.
- According to the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), the immunity elicited by Anocovax neutralises both the Delta and Omicron versions of SARS-CoV-2.
India's FDI rank jumps to 7th position: UNCTAD
- India jumped one position to 7th among the top recipients of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the last calendar year (2021).
- UNCTAD said FDI inflows into India declined to $45 billion in 2021 from $64 billion in the preceding year.
- While the United States ($367 billion) remained the top recipient of FDI, China ($181 billion) and Hong Kong ($141 billion) also retained second and third position respectively.
PM Modi inaugurates India's first Biotech Startup Expo 2022 in Delhi
- PM Narendra Modi inaugurated India's first Biotech Startup Expo 2022 at Delhi's Pragati Maidan.
- The department of biotechnology and the biotechnology research assistance council (BIRAC) organized the event.
- It is being conducted to commemorate BIRAC's tenth anniversary.
- The theme of the expo is 'Biotech startup innovations: towards AatmaNirbhar Bharat'.
- Biotech expo is a two-day event that will host over 300 stalls displaying biotechnology applications in a variety of disciplines such as the pharmaceutical industries, agriculture and industrial biotechnology as well as waste-to-value and renewable energy sources, as per available reports.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh hands over 12 high-speed guard boats to Vietnam
- Defence Minister Rajnath Singh handed over to Vietnam 12 high-speed guard boats built under a USD 100 million Line of Credit granted to the Southeast Asian country by India.
- The boats were given at a ceremony in Hong Ha shipyard.
- The initial five boats were manufactured at the L&T Shipyard in India and remaining seven were built in Hong Ha shipyard.
Thailand becomes first Asian country to legalise consumption of marijuana
- Thailand becomes the first Asian country on to legalise the growing of marijuana and its consumption in food and drinks.
- Its main aim of boosting its agriculture and tourism sectors, but smoking pot is still against the law.
- Thailand, which has a tradition of using cannabis to relieve pain and fatigue, legalised medicinal marijuana in 2018.
Pramod Sawant launches 'Beach Vigil App'
AICTE Becomes First Accreditation Body to Hold Office Space in Metaverse
- The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has become the first accreditation body in the world to have its very own office space in the metaverse.
- Polyversity, an educational metaverse was launched on Monday by Dharmendra Pradhan, Minister of Education and Minister of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship in the Government of India.
- The AICTE's metaverse version, which is a simulated digital environment using augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR), was launched by IDS.
Mithali Raj announces retirement from all forms of International Cricket
- The legendary Indian cricketer Mithali Raj announced her retirement on June 8, 2022, from all forms of International Cricket.
- She made her debut for India in 1999.
- Mithali Raj has played 12 Tests, 232 ODIS, and 89 T20Is for India in her 19-year career.
- Mithali Raj made her One Day International debut in 1999 against Ireland and scored an unbeaten 114 runs. She made her test debut in the 2001-2002 season against South Africa at Lucknow.
Shreyas G Hosur became 1st Indian Railways officer to complete gruelling ‘Ironman’ Triathlon
- Shreyas G Hosur has created history by becoming the first officer from the Indian Railways to complete the 'Ironman Triathlon'.
- It is toughest single-day sports event in the world.
- The event includes a 3.8 km swim, 180 km cycling, and 42.2 km running.
- Hosur completed the event - held in Germany's Hamburg on Sunday - in 13 hours and 26 minutes.
Virat Kohli has 200 million followers on Instagram
- Indian cricket star Virat Kohli has crossed the 200 million followers mark on the social media site Instagram.
- He became the first Indian to have 200 million followers on Instagram.
- Kohli is also the third most followed sportsperson on Instagram.
- Portugal football star Cristiano Ronaldo tops the chart with 451 million followers, ahead of Argentina football captain legend Lionel Messi with 334 million followers.
India’s 1st Centralised AC Railway Terminal in Bengaluru Becomes Operational
- Sir M Visvesvaraya Railway Terminal in Bengaluru has now become functional
- The railway terminal, named after Bharat Ratna recipient M Visvesvaraya and modelled after the Kempegowda International Airport, has state-of-the-art facilities, spacious parking, a centralised water harvesting system, and a clean water recycling unit.
- The terminal is equipped with first-class waiting rooms, a VIP lounge fortified with digital real-time passenger information, food courts by the IRCTC, lifts, ramps, stairways connected to the subway, and a foot overbridge.
- The terminal also has specialised parking spaces for buses.
NHAI sets new Guinness World Record, lays 75-km long highway in 105 hrs
- Union Minister Nitin Gadkari announced that a new Guinness World Record was created by NHAI in laying 75 km of bituminous concrete in a single lane on NH53 in 105 hours and 33 minutes.
- The total length of the 75 km of single-lane continuous bituminous concrete road is equivalent to 37.5 km of two-lane paved shoulder road and the work started on 3rd June 2022 at 7:27 am and was completed on June 7, 2022, at 5 pm
Union Health Minister Dr Mansukh Mandaviya releases 4th State Food Safety Index
- On the occasion of World Food Safety Day, Union Health Minister Dr Mansukh Mandaviya releases 4th State Food Safety Index
- SFSI was started from 2018-19 with the aim of creating a competitive and positive change in the food safety ecosystem in the country.
- The index will help in providing safe and nutritious food to our citizens.
- This year, among the larger states, Tamil Nadu was the top ranking state, followed by Gujarat and Maharashtra.
- Among the smaller states, Goa stood first followed by Manipur and Sikkim.
- Among UTs, Jammu & Kashmir, Delhi and Chandigarh secured first, second and third ranks.
Repo Rate hiked by 50bps to 4.90 percent
- The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) hiked key repo rate by 50 basis points (bps) to 4.90 per cent in a bid to tame the soaring inflation in the country.
- This the second straight hike by the central bank in 2 months and is expected to
- The RBI also raised inflation forecast for the current financial year to 6.7 per cent from its earlier projection of 5.7 per cent hike borrowing costs for corporates and individuals.
IISc is top Indian university in global rankings, overtakes IITs
- Indian Institute of Science (IISc) in Bengaluru has emerged as the highest ranked Indian institute in the 2023 edition of the QS World University rankings, pushing IIT-Bombay to the second position, followed by IIT-Delhi.
- The total number of Indian institutes among the top 1,000 globally has risen to 27 from 22.
- Overall, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is the world’s top University for the 11 consecutive year.
- The University of Cambridge has risen to second place, while Stanford University remains in the third position.