Monthly Current Affairs - June 2021

Shankar School of Banking July 5 , 2021 825

ONE LINE FACTS

  • Article 240 - Power of President to make regulations for certain Union territories. The President may make regulations for the peace, progress and good government of the Union territory.
  • Bal Swaraj, an online tracking portal of a national child rights body.
  • Justice Arun Kumar Mishra has been appointed as the chairman of National Human Rights Commission (NHRC).
  • INS Sandhayak was the 1st indigenously designed and built hydrographic survey ship, decommissioned recently.
  • INS Airavat is the third Shardul-class amphibious warfare vessel of the Indian Navy, built indigenously and commissioned in 2009.
  • Agriculture and processed food production export Development Authority is an apex body that promotes export trade of agricultural products in India.
  • Cabinet approved Deep Ocean Mission to explore resources and develop technologies, to support the Blue Water Initiatives of Government of India.
  • ADI PRASHIKSHAN portal developed by the Ministry would act as a Central Repository of all training programs conducted by Tribal Research Institutes
  • On 18-19 June 2021, the EU and India conducted a joint naval exercise in the Gulf of Aden.
  • NTPC is pioneering Green Hydrogen Initiatives in India.
  • Project Seabird: Construction of Naval Bases. Phase 1 completed in 2005, Phase 2 is the INS Kadamba in Karnataka.
  • itat e-dewar: e-filing portal of Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) was launched recently.
  • “The India Story” – a booklet on Indian initiatives shaping energy transition.
  • Enforcing Contracts Portal: to provide easy access to latest information on commercial cases in Dedicated Commercial Courts of Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Kolkata and also provide access to repository of commercial laws

 

NATIONAL NEWS

Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules 2021

  • The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has notified Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021.
  • These new rules broadly deal with the regulation of social media and over-the-top (OTT) platforms and digital news.
  • The notified rules set out an elaborate time-bound three-tier process whereby each and every such grievance:
    • First handled at the level of the portal itself by its own grievance officer.
    • If not satisfactorily settled, it passes on to the self-regulatory body of the sector or industry.
    • If yet not resolved, moves further up to an inter-ministerial oversight committee of the central government.

 

Asia’s longest High Speed Track

  • NATRAX- the High Speed Track(HST) in Indore was inaugurated recently has became the longest such track in Asia.
  • NATRAX, developed in an area of 1000 acres of land, is a one stop solution for all sorts of high speed performance tests for widest categories of vehicles from 2 wheelers to heavy tractor trailers.
  • This track is also the 5th longest in the world.

 

Indian Certification of Medical Devices Plus Scheme

  • The ICMED 13485 PLUS Scheme was launched digitally recently by the Quality Council of India (QCI).
  • This is the first scheme around the world in which quality management systems along with product certification standards are integrated with regulatory requirements.
  • This scheme will undertake verification of the quality, safety and efficacy of medical devices.

 

Surakshit Hum Surakshit Tum Abhiyan: Aspirational Districts

  • Surakshit Hum Surakshit Tum Abhiyan was launched by NITI Aayog along with Piramal Foundation in 112 Aspirational Districts.
  • This drive was launched to assist the administration in providing home care support to Covid-19 patients, who are either asymptomatic or have mild symptoms.

 

Dagmara Hydro-Electric Project

  • Recently, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed between National Hydro Power Corporation (NHPC) Limited and Bihar State Hydroelectric Power Corporation Limited (BSHPC) for Implementation of Dagmara Hydro-Electric Project, Supaul, Bihar.
  • Project location: near village Dagmara on the right bank and Simri on the left bank.
  • River: about 22.5 km downstream of Bhimnagar barrage on Kosi river.
  • The project will have the total capacity of generating 130 MW energy, in which 17 units of 7.65 MW will be installed for power generation.
  • The estimated cost of construction of this project is at Rs. 2478.24 crore.

 

Hallmarking of Gold Jewellery

  • Hallmarking of Gold Jewellery was made mandatory in India. It came into force from 16th June, 2021.
  • According to World Gold Council, India has around 4 lakh jewellers, out of this only 35879 have been BIS certified.
  • Under Hallmarking scheme of Bureau of Indian Standards, Jewellers are registered for selling hallmarked jewellery and recognise testing and Hallmarking centres.
  • BIS (Hallmarking) Regulations, were implemented from 14.06.2018.

 

NITI Aayog’s SDG India Index 2020-21

  • NITI Aayog released its 3rd edition of SDG Index for 2020-21 recently.
  • The report was developed in collaboration with UN.
  • India has improved the performance in attaining SDG goals, however, no states are under either in aspirant or achiever categories.
  • Kerala retained its position at the top of the rankings in the third edition of the index, with a score of 75.
  • Tamil Nadu and Himachal Pradesh, both scoring 72, ranked 2nd.
  • Bihar, Jharkhand and Assam were the worst performing states under NITI Aayog’s index.
  • UN SDG was adopted under the UNs General Assembly adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in the year 2015 with 17 goals.

 

SATAT Initiative

  • Sustainable Alternative Towards Affordable Transportation, shortly as SATAT is an initiative launched by the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas and Skill Development & Entrepreneurship in October 2018.
  • The objective of SATAT initiative is to boost the availability of more affordable transport fuels, better use of agricultural residue, cattle dung and municipal solid waste as well as to provide an additional revenue source to farmers.
  • The initiative mainly aims to produce the Compressed Bio-Gas, as an alternate green fuel for transports.

 

Operation Sagar Aaraksha

  • Operation Sagar Aaraksha is by Indian Coast Guard (ICG) to safeguard the marine environment, as a responsibility of a member of South Asia Co-operative Environment Programme (SACEP).
  • Operation Sagar Aaraksha 2 coordinated jointly by ICG with Sri Lankan authorities in fighting a major fire onboard the Chemical laden container vessel MV X-Press Pearl anchored off Colombo since 25 May 2021.
  • The vessel when caught with fire was carrying 1486 containers containing chemical cargo classified as International Maritime Dangerous Goods (IMDG).
  • Among other chemicals, the IMDG cargo consisted of highly inflammable Nitric Acid, Methanol, Methyl Acetate, Sodium Hydroxide and Polystyrene beads.
  • SACEP is an inter-governmental organisation established in the year 1982 by south Asian governments to promote and support protection, management and enhancement of environment in the region.
  • The Member countries of SACEP are Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

 

SAGE Initiative

  • Under the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment “Senior care Ageing Growth Engine (SAGE)” project has been launched.
  • The project aims to select, support and create a “one-stop access” of elderly care products and services by credible start-ups.
  • The applications for this project can be submitted through the dedicated SAGE Portal.
  • The SAGE project is shaped on the recommendations of the empowered expert committee (EEC) report on start-ups for elderly.

 

RDSO – 1st Institution under One Nation One Standard

  • RDSO (Research Design & Standards Organization) of Indian Railways has become the FIRST Institution to be declared Standard Developing Organization (SDO) under "One Nation One Standard" mission
  • The Mission is under BIS (Bureau of Indian Standards) which is Institution under Department of Consumer Affairs.
  • Research Designs & Standards Organization (RDSO), Lucknow, is the only R&D Wing of Ministry of Railways, is one of India’s leading Standard formulating Body undertaking standardization work for railway sector.

 

All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE) 2019-20

  • AISHE was established by the Ministry of HRD for conducting an annual web-based survey, thereby portraying the status of higher education in the country.
  • The following are the key highlights of the report released recently
    • The Total Enrolment stood at 3.85 crore in 2019-20 compared to 3.74 crore during 2018-19.
    • The Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) increased to 27.1 % in 2020 from 26.3 %in 2019. GER is the total enrolment in higher education as a percentage of the population in the age-group 18–23 years.
    • Gender Parity Index in Higher Education in 2019-20 is 1.01 against 1.00 in 2018-19
    • Pupil-Teacher Ratio in Higher Education in 2019-20 is 26.
    • 18.2% increase in female enrolment in Higher Education from 2015-16 to 2019-20

 

COMSOL Platform through I-STEM for academic researchers

  • Through the I-STEM portal academic users in India will now be able to access the COMSOL Multiphysics software suite at no cost.
  • The Indian Science Technology and Engineering facilities Map (I-STEM), the national web portal for sharing R&D facilities, and the COMSOL Group headquartered in Sweden, have entered a collaborative arrangement for this.
  • I-STEM is an initiative of Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Govt. of India under the PM-STIAC mission.
  • The COMSOL Multiphysics software suite, developed by the COMSOL Group, is used worldwide as an indispensable tool for a variety of computer simulations for R&D as well as for learning and instruction.

 

Mission Van Dhan

  • Under Ministry of Tribal Affairs the “Sankalp Se Siddhi – Mission Van Dhan” was launched recently.
  • This scheme merges several schemes under Tribal Affairs Ministry and will be implemented in Mission mode.
  • The Mission enable to establish Van Dhan Vikas Kendras, Haat Bazaars, Godowns, Mini TRIFOOD Units, Common Facility Centres, TRIFOOD parks, SFURTI clusters, Tribes India retail stores, ecommerce platforms for TRIFOOD and Tribes India brands is being targeted.
  • Van Dhan Software Application too was launched to  to receive and process the Van Dhan proposals online.

 

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Two new Missions to Venus by NASA

  • NASA has selected two new missions to Venus, Earth’s nearest planetary neighbour.
  • The selected missions are:
  • DAVINCI+ (Deep Atmosphere Venus Investigation of Noble gases, Chemistry, and Imaging)
    • This will measure the composition of Venus’ atmosphere to study its formation and evolution, as well as to determine whether the planet ever had an ocean.
    • In addition, DAVINCI+ will return the first high resolution pictures of the unique geological features on Venus known as “tesserae,”
  • VERITAS (Venus Emissivity, Radio Science, InSAR, Topography, and Spectroscopy)
    • VERITAS will map Venus’ surface to determine the planet’s geologic history and understand why it developed so differently than Earth.
  • These missions are yet to be launched between 2028 and 2030.

 

CORPAT Exercise

  • The 31stedition of India-Thailand Coordinated Patrol (Indo-Thai CORPAT) between the Indian Navyand the Royal Thai Navyis conducted from 09 – 11 June 2021.
  • Indian Naval Ship (INS) Saryu, an indigenously built Naval Offshore Patrol Vessel and His Majesty’s Thailand Ship (HTMS) Krabi, anOffshore Patrol Vessel, along with Dornier Maritime Patrol Aircraft from both navies are participating in the CORPAT.
  • The CORPAT exercise has been performed bi-annually by the two navies in their International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) since 2005.

 

QS World University Rankings 2022

  • QS - Quacquarelli Symonds, global higher education analysts recently released the 18th edition of the world’s International University rankings.
  • Three Indian Universities have achieved top-200 positions in QS World University Rankings 2022.
    • IIT Bombay – 177
    • IIT Delhi – 185
    • IISc Bengaluru - 186
  • IISc Bengaluru ranked number 1 in the world for research.

 

47th G7 Summit

  • India was invited along with Australia, Republic of Korea and South Africa as the guests in the G7 summit.
  • The Group of 7 (G7) is an informal group of seven countries — the United States of America, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United Kingdom.
  • UK currently holds the Presidency of the G7 currently.
  • The theme for the Summit is ‘Build Back Better’
  • India had been invited by the G7 French Presidency in 2019 to the Biarritz Summit as a "Goodwill Partner” and Prime Minister participated in the Sessions on ‘Climate, Biodiversity and Oceans’ and ‘Digital Transformation’.

 

Naftali Bennett became the PM of Israel

  • Naftali Bennett has become the 13th Prime Minister of Israel.
  • He belongs to the party: Yamina
  • His candidature was approved by the “Knesset” – Parliament of Israel.
  • Capital: Jerusalem
  • Currency: Shekel

 

Ebrahim Raisi became the President of Iran

  • Sayyid Ebrahim Raisolsadati, commonly known as Ebrahim Raisi became the 13th President of Iran by winning the election.
  • He was the former Chief Justice of Iran.
  • Combatant Clergy Association is the party he belongs to.
  • Capital: Tehran
  • Currency: Rial

 

Tax Inspectors Without Borders Initiative

  • Tax Inspectors Without Borders (TIWB), a joint initiative of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), launched its programme in Bhutan.
  • India was chosen as the Partner Jurisdiction and has provided the Tax Expert for this programme.
  • The focus of the programme will be in the area of International Taxation and Transfer Pricing.

 

SPORTS NEWS

Asian boxing championship

  • Sanjeet won silver in 91 kg category and also won gold in the Men’s section
  • Amit Panghal (52kg), Shiva Thapa (64kg) also won silver.

 

APPOINTMENTS & RESIGNATIONS

Election Commissioner

  • Shri Anup Chandra Pandey assumed charge as the new Election Commissioner (EC) of India.
  • He joins the Election Commission of India as second Election Commissioner in a three- member body headed by Chief Election Commissioner Shri Sushil Chandra and Election Commissioner Shri Rajiv Kumar.

 

IMPORTANT DAYS

World Environment Day

  • June 5
  • Theme: Reimagine, Recreate, Restore
  • Host: Pakistan along with UNEP
  • UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration – 2021 to 2030

 

World Food Safety Day

  • June 7
  • Theme: ‘Safe food today for a healthy tomorrow’
  • The days is celebrated to draw attention and inspire action to help prevent, detect and manage foodborne risks, contributing to food security, human health, economic prosperity, agriculture, market access, tourism and sustainable development. 

 

World Milk Day

  • June 1
  • Host: Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations
  • Purpose: to highlight the importance of milk.
  • Theme: Sustainability in the dairy sector with messages around the environment, nutrition and socio-economics.

 

World Day Against Child Labour

  • June 12
  • Host: International Labour Organisation
  • Theme: Act Now: End Child Labour
  • Purpose: to spread awareness about the illegal practice of child labour
  • PENCiL - an online portal in India to achieve the target of child labour free society.

 

World Sickel Cell Day

  • June 19
  • Recognised by UNGA
  • Theme: Shine the Light on Sickle Cell
  • Sickle cell disorders are a group of illnesses which affect the red blood cells. Sickle cell is a genetic condition, which means it is passed on from parents and children are born with it; One cannot catch it from other people i.e., non-contagious.

 

International Yoga Day

  • June 21
  • Theme: Yoga for wellness
  • ‘WHO M-Yoga’ App was launched by India on the occasion. The App contains videos of Yoga training and practice based on common Yoga protocol in many languages.

 

International Day of the Seafarer

  • June 25
  • The World Maritime Theme for 2021, "Seafarers: at the core of shipping's future"
  • Host: International Maritime Organisation

 

International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking

  • June 26
  • Theme: Share Drug Facts to Save Lives
  • A website for Nasha Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan was launched in India.
  • Nasha Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan was launched in 2020 under Ministry of Social Justice aims at reduction of adverse consequences of drug abuse through a multi-pronged strategy.

 

National Statistics Day

  • June 29
  • Birth anniversary of late Professor Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis.
  • He is the father of Indian statistics.
  • Theme: Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)-2 - End Hunger, Achieve Food Security and Improved Nutrition and Promote Sustainable Agriculture.

 

MISCELLENEOUS NEWS

Mucomicrosis

What is?

  • Mucormycosis (previously called zygomycosis) is a serious but rare fungal infection caused by a group of molds called mucormycetes.
  • Mucormycetes, the group of fungi that cause mucormycosis, are present throughout the environment, particularly in soil and in association with decaying organic matter, such as leaves, compost piles, and animal dung.

What does it do?

  • It mainly affects people who have health problems or take medicines that lower the body’s ability to fight germs and sickness.
  • It most commonly affects the sinuses or the lungs after inhaling fungal spores from the air.
  • It can also occur on the skin after a cut, burn, or other type of skin injury.

What are the symptoms?

  • Symptoms of rhinocerebral (sinus and brain) mucormycosis include: One-sided facial swelling, Headache, Nasal or sinus congestion and Black lesions on nasal bridge or upper inside of mouth that quickly become more severe, Fever
  • Symptoms of pulmonary (lung) mucormycosis include: Fever, Cough, Chest pain and Shortness of breath
  • Cutaneous (skin) mucormycosis can look like blisters or ulcers, and the infected area may turn black.
  • Symptoms of gastrointestinal mucormycosis include: Abdominal pain, Nausea and vomiting and Gastrointestinal bleeding.

 

Indigenous Tumour Antigen

  • National Institute of Immunology, an autonomous institute under Department of Biotechnology, received Trademark for India’s First Indigenous Tumour Antigen SPAG9.
  • The antigen is trademarked as ASPAGNIITM.
  • ASPAGNIITM is being used in dendritic cell (DC) based immunotherapy in cervical, ovarian cancer and will also be used in breast cancer.

 

GI tagged Mangoes

  • Laxmanbhog Mango - West Bengal
  • Khirsapati or Himsagar Mango – West Bengal
  • Fazli Mango – West Bengal
  • Malehibadi Dasheri Mango – Uttar Pradesh
  • Appamidi Mango – Karnataka
  • Gir Kesar Mango – Gujarat
  • Banganapalle Mangoes – Andhra Pradesh
  • Marathwada Saffron Mango – Maharashtra

 

NIXI

  • NIXI has been contributing to Indian Internet Ecosystem.
  • It is the first Internet Exchange of the country facilitate peering of ISPs among themselves for the purpose of routing the domestic traffic within the country
  • National Internet Exchange of India (NIXI) is a not-for-profit organization working since 2003 for spreading the internet technology to the citizens of India through the following activities:
    • Internet Exchanges through which the internet data is exchanged amongst ISPs and CDNs.
    • .IN Registry, managing and operation of .IN country code domain and. भारत IDN domain for India.
    • IRINN, managing and operating Internet protocol (IPv4/IPv6).

 

ARCI develops cost-effective catalysts for metal-air battery

  • International Advanced Research Centre for Powder Metallurgy and New Materials (ARCI), has developed the cost-effective electrocatalyst by anchoring transition metal ions into the sulfur-doped carbon framework via carbonization of a polymer called sPEEK (sulphonated polyether ether ketone).
  • ACRI is an autonomous R&D Centre of Department of Science and Technology (DST), Govt. of India.
  • This catalyst synthesis method can also be used to recycle used ionomers - polymer composed of both neutral repeating units and ionized units.
  • This catalyst is to be tested in the Zinc-Air Battery technology.

 

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