NATIONAL NEWS

G20 Summit

• The union territories of Jammu and Kashmir will host the 2023 meetings of the G20 summit.

• The Ministry of External Affairs announced that India will hold the G20 presidency from 01 December 2022 and will convene the G20 leaders' summit in 2023 for the first time.

• Union Commerce and Industry Minister, Piyush Goyal was appointed India's Sherpa for the G20.
• The Jammu and Kashmir government has set up a five-member high-level committee for overall coordination.
• Union Territory's housing and urban development department principal secretary will be the chairman of the committee.
• The summit is likely to be held in January 2023.

Government to Transfer NDPS

• The government is reportedly considering moving the administration of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 and the Prevention of Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1988 from the finance ministry to the Ministry of Home Affairs to consolidate all matters relating to narcotics under one department.

• The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), significant law enforcement and intelligence agency tasked with combating drug usage and trafficking, was established by the NDPS Act.

• The Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act of 1985, or NDPS Act, prohibits the production, manufacturing, cultivation, holding, sale, purchase, transportation, storage, use, and possession of any narcotic drugs or psychotropic substances.

7th Anniversary of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Urban

• The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) organized a virtual event to celebrate 7 years of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Urban (PMAY-U) which was launched by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi on 25th June 2015.

• It highlights the important initiatives implemented under the PMAY-U Mission, which is one of the largest urban housing programs in the world.
• Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana is an initiative by the Government of India in which affordable housing will be provided to the urban poor with a target of building 2 crore affordable houses by 31 March 2022.

BLS International Partners with West Bengal

• BLS International Services, a tech-enabled services partner for governments and citizens has entered into an agreement with the West Bengal government for the computerization and e-governance of registration offices in the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model in the Presidency Zone.

• BLS International Services has been selected by the Directorate of Registration and Stamp Revenue of West Bengal.
• Under this project, the company will procure, install & commission the hardware for 81 offices under the Presidency Zone.
• Deployment of manpower, management and maintenance of manpower and hardware will be done for 5 years.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

G7 Summit

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who will visit Germany for the G7 summit.

• This year, the summit is being hosted by Germany in its capacity as the chair of G7.

• During the summit they will exchange views with the leaders on issues such as energy, food security, counter-terrorism, environment and democracy.
• G7 is an informal group of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States.

BANKING

Karnataka Bank Launches V-CIP

• Karnataka Bank has launched Online SB Account opening facility through 'Video based Customer Identification Process (V-CIP)'.

• The facility empowers any prospective customer to open a Savings Account through online process and complete KYC verification through a video call at their place of convenience.

• The end-to-end paperless digital process leverages the bank's Application Programming Interface (API) that auto-fills the account opening form, validates PAN/ Aadhaar number instantly and completes the Know Your Customer (KYC) process through a video call.
• As a private sector bank its products and services include current account, demand, time, cumulative, cash certificates, insurance linked savings bank deposits, resident foreign currency accounts and senior citizens deposit schemes.

SPORTS

Ranji Trophy Title

• Under the leadership of Aditya Shrivastava, the Madhya Pradesh team defeated 41-time champions Mumbai by 6 wickets at M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru, to win their first-ever Ranji Trophy title.

• Madhya Pradesh chased down 108 in the fourth innings for the fall of four wickets to lift the trophy.

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, won the women’s discus throw with a 56.24m effort.
• Karina Vasilyeva (44.61m) from Kazakhstan and Yulianna Shchukina (40.48m) from Uzbekistan won the silver and bronze respectively.
• Dhilon has also been named in India’s Athletics squad for the 2022 Commonwealth Games.

RANKS, INDICES & REPORTS

EIU Global Liveability Index 2022

• Global Liveability Index 2022 was published by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU).

• According to a report, the Austrian capital Vienna is the world’s most livable city for the 3rd time in the past 5 years.

• New Delhi, Capital of India ranked 112th on the list of the most liveable cities and Mumbai ranked 117th place.
• As for the bottom of the list, Damascus in Syria (172), Lagos in Nigeria (171) and Tripoli in Libya (170) continue to lag.
• In ELU’s index every city is assigned a rating for relative comfort for over 30 factors across 5 general categories namely Stability, Healthcare, Culture and environment, Education and Infrastructure.

BNEF Report

• According to a BloombergNEF (BNEF)’s report titled Financing India’s 2030 Renewables Ambition, published in association with the Power Foundation of India, India will need USD 223 billion of investment to meet its goal of wind and solar capacity installations by 2030.

• The government has set a target of increasing non-fossil power capacity to 500 GW by 2030.

• As per the report, corporate commitments from Indian companies could help India achieve 86 percent of its 2030 goals of building 500GW of cumulative non-fossil power generation capacity.

AWARDS & PRIZES

Golden Achievement Award by ITF

• The Golden Achievement Award is presented annually by the International Tennis Hall of Fame and International Tennis Federation.

• India's Vijay Amritraj has been emerged as the winner and named the 2021 recipient of the Golden Achievement Award.

• The award is given to a person who has made important contributions internationally to tennis in the fields of administration, promotion or education and has devoted long and outstanding service to the sport.
• The award was presented at a special celebration hosted in Amritraj's honour in London.

APPOINTMENTS & RESIGNATIONS

President of India International Centre

• Former foreign secretary Shyam Saran has been elected as the new president of the India International Centre.

• He succeeds N N Vohra.

• The President of the India International Centre is elected once in five years.
• Saran has also served as Prime Minister's Special Envoy for Nuclear Affairs and Climate Change.
• Saran was awarded the Padma Bhusan, the third highest civilian award, in 2011 for his contributions to civil service.

Head of R&AW

• The Government extended the tenure of Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) chief Samant Kumar Geol by another one year.

• Samant Kumar Goel is an IPS officer from the Punjab cadre class of 1984 and will hold the position of agency secretary through 30 June 2023.

• In June 2019, Samant Kumar Goel succeeded Anil Dhasmana as the Chief of RAW.

• The appointment of Tapan Kumar Deka as the next director of the Intelligence Bureau (IB) was also confirmed by the Cabinet's Appointments Committee.
• Deka, a 1988 IPS officer from the Himachal Pradesh cadre will take over the position on June 30 and hold it for two years.

CEO of NITI Aayog

• Former Drinking Water and Sanitation Secretary Parameswaran Iyer, who appointed as the CEO of NITI Aayog.
• He will replace Amitabh Kant and will take charge on 30 June 2022.
• Iyer has been appointed for a period of two years term.
• A 1981-batch IAS officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre, Iyer is a well-known sanitation specialist and best known for spearheading Prime Minister Narendra Modi government’s flagship scheme the Swachh Bharat Mission between 2016 and 2020.

IMPORTANT DAYS

International Day of the Seafarer

• International Day of the Seafarer is celebrated every year on 25 June.

• It is observed by the International Maritime Organization (IMO).
• It is celebrated to pay respect to Seafarers and sailors who help the entire world function by conducting sea transport.
• The theme of this year is 'Seafarers: at the core of shipping’s future.
• The day was proposed by International Maritime Organization in 2010 to celebrate the contribution of the seafarer to the world economy and civil society.
• Day of the Seafarer recognizes the invaluable contribution of seafarers to the worldwide commerce and economic system.

International Day against Drug Abuse & Illicit Trafficking

• International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking is celebrated every year on 26 June.

• It is observed to raise awareness about the impact and negative consequences that drugs have on society.

• It has been observed annually since 1989.
• The theme of this year 2022 is ‘Share Drug Facts, Save Lives’.
• According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), is to counteract misconceptions about drugs by disseminating facts about them, ranging from health dangers and remedies to evidence-based prevention, treatment and care.