Current Affairs 02nd June 2021| Current Affairs News

 CURRENT AFFAIRS: IMPORTANT DAYS

Telangana Formation Day – Observed on June 02

• Telangana Day commonly known as Telangana Formation Day is a state holiday in the Indian state of Telangana, commemorating the formation of the state of Telangana.
• It has been observed annually on 2 June since 2014.
• After several years of protest and agitation, the central government, under the United Progressive Alliance, decided to bifurcate the existing Andhra Pradesh state and on 7 February 2014, the Union Cabinet unilaterally cleared the bill for the creation of Telangana.
• In the General Elections held in April 2014, Telangana Rashtra Samithi emerged victorious by winning 63 of the 119 seats and formed the government.
• Sri K Chandrashekar Rao was sworn in as the First Chief Minister of Telangana.

About Telangana:

• Capital: Hyderabad
• Chief Minister: Sri K. Chandrashekar Rao
• Governor: Tamilisai Soundararajan

CURRENT AFFAIRS: NATIONAL NEWS

Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan launches digitized versions of NHA’s IT platform

• The Health Minister has launched the revamped Central Government Health Scheme, CGHS and the Umbrella schemes of Rashtriya Arogya Nidhi, RAN and Health Minister’s Discretionary Grant, HMDG on NHA’s platform, making them cashless, paperless and the citizen centric.
• Dr Harsh Vardhan stated, the initiative will enable seamless delivery of healthcare services to eligible beneficiaries under these schemes by making the whole process paperless.
• This is a solid step towards digitalization of healthcare services.

About NHA:

• National Health Authority (NHA) is the apex body responsible for implementing India’s flagship public health insurance/assurance scheme called “Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana” & has been entrusted with the role of designing strategy, building technological infrastructure and implementation of “National Digital Health Mission” to create a National Digital Health Ecosystem.
• National Health Authority is the successor of the National Health Agency, which has been functioning as a registered society since 23rd May, 2018.

GST Council forms 8 member panel under to examine GST exemption on Covid material

• The group of ministers was constituted after several member states of the council, such as West Bengal and Punjab asked for exempting GST on all Covid-essential materials.
• Other members of the group of ministers (GoM) are – Gujarat deputy chief minister Nitinbhai Patel, Maharashtra deputy CM Ajit Pawar, Goa transport minister Mauvin Godinho, Kerala finance minister KN Balagopal, Odisha finance minister Niranjan Pujari, Telangana finance minister T Harish Rao and UP finance minister Suresh Kr Khanna.
• Vaccines and cotton masks attract 5% GST, most of these items fall in the 12% tax slab.
• Testing kits, drugs, medical oxygen, oxygen concentrators and ventilators fall under the 12% tax bracket.
• Alcohol-based sanitizers, hand wash gels, disinfectants and thermometers attract 18% GST.

WHO labelled Two Covid-19 Variants in India as ‘Kappa’ and ‘Delta’

• The WHO has advised against using location-based terms for variants, and has designated an official name for the variant first detected in India: B.1.617.
• The organization took six weeks to announce the name “COVID-19” after cases of the corona virus infection were first reported in Wuhan, China.
• WHO renames COVID-19 variants with Greek letters to avoid stigma; Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta.
• The 1.617.1 and B.1.617.2 variants of the Covid-19, first identified in India, has been named as ‘Kappa’ and ‘Delta’ respectively, the World Health Organisation (WHO) announced as it named various variants of the corona virus using Greek alphabets.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: STATE NEWS

Karnataka state Health Dept introduces ‘doctors ride towards village side’ programme

• InKarnataka, the Health Department has launched Doctors ride towards village side programme. 
• Under this scheme, the Government provides necessary logistic support for the teams led by medical students to visit villages and provide better healthcare during the pandemic.
• MBBS final year students, BSc Nursing, BDS, MDS, Ayush graduating doctors are deputed to rural areas to carry out Covid tests.
• A team of medical students, nurses, ASHA and Anganwadi workers visit door to door to identify vulnerable members of the family and carry out tests.

About Karnataka:

• Capital: Bengaluru
• Governor: Vajubhai Vala
• Chief minister: B. S. Yediyurappa

CURRENT AFFAIRS: BUSINESS NEWS

OECD forecasts India’s Growth projection for FY22 to 9.9%

• The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) cut its growth projection for India for FY22 to 9.9% from 12.6% estimated in March, as the second wave of coronavirus infections has paused economic recovery in Asia’s third largest economy.
• OECD mentioned that while India is projected to be the fastest-growing G20 economy in 2021, it will also be the one which is the furthest away from its pre-crisis GDP trend.
• The OECD has revised up its growth projections across the world’s major economies since its last full Economic Outlook in December 2020. 
• It now sees global GDP growth at 5.8 % this year (compared with 4.2% projected in December), helped by a government stimulus-led upturn in the United States, and at 4.4% in 2022 (3.7% in December).

About OECD:

• The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development is an intergovernmental economic organization with 38 member countries, founded in 1961 to stimulate economic progress and world trade.
• OECD has 37 member countries.
• Indiais now the 27th member of the Centre, joining many OECD countries as well as Argentina, Brazil and Chile.
• Headquarters: Paris, France

RDSO enhance First Standards Body to Join ‘One Nation, One Standard’ Scheme

• Lucknow – based RDSO, which sets standards for the railway sector, has become the first standards body in the country to join the central government’s ‘One Nation, One Standard’ scheme that aims to ensure quality products to Indian consumers.
• The Research Design and Standards Organization (RDSO) has now been recognized as a ‘Standard Developing Organization’ by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), which is implementing the scheme.
• The partnership will help RDSO, the sole R&D wing of the railways ministry, to realign its standard formulation procedures as per the code of good practices mentioned under the WTO-Technical Barriers to Trade (WTO-TBT).
• The recognition will be valid for three years.

About ‘One Nation, One Standard’ Scheme:

• The objective of the government’s ‘One Nation, One Standard’ scheme, launched in 2019, is to ensure there is a synergy and no overlap in the standardization work in the country, thereby building a ‘Brand India’ identity in the long run.

SBI Economists predicts GDP Growth Estimate in FY22 to 7.9%

• The State Bank of India (SBI) has revised India’s growth outlook downwards for the current financial year.
• The latest SBI Ecowrap report has projected a 7.9 percent growth for India’s GDP, down from its previous projection of 10.4 percent growth.
• The SBI Ecowrap noted that the real GDP for FY21 in the provisional estimates has been revised upwards to Rs 135.13 lakh crore from Rs 134.09 lakh crore as per the second advance estimates.
• Thus, for FY21 the real GDP growth was registered at -7.3 percent against the earlier SBI estimate of -8.0 per cent.

About SBI:

• Headquarters: Mumbai
• Chairperson: Dinesh Kumar Khara
• Tagline: The Nation banks on us; Pure Banking Nothing Else; With you all the way; A bank of the common man; The banker to every Indian.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: BANKING NEWS

RBI drop the licence of Shivajirao Bhosale Sahakari Bank

• The RBI stated it has cancelled the licence of Shivajirao Bhosale Sahakari Bank, Pune as the lender does not have adequate capital and earning prospects.
• RBI mentioned, Shivajirao Bhosale Sahakari Bank has more than 98% of the depositors will receive full amount of their deposits from the Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation (DICGC)
• The RBI Stated the bank does not have adequate capital and earning prospects and as such, it does not comply with the certain provisions of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: APPOINTMENT AND RESIGNATION NEWS

Vice Admiral DK Tripathi take oath as Chief of Personnel

• The spokesperson of the Indian Navystated that Vice Admiral Dinesh K Tripathi, who has commanded various operation and staff appointments, assumed charge as Chief of Personnel.
• The flag officer is a specialist in communication and electronic warfare and has served on frontline warships of the Navy.
• VAdm Dinesh K Tripathi, AVSM, NM, assumes charge as Chief of Personnel, 01 Jun 2021.

Tata Steel’s T.V. Narendran assumed as CII president

• Industry chamber CII stated it has elected T V Narendran, CEO and MD, Tata Steel, as its new president for 2021-22.
• He takes over from Uday Kotak, Managing Director, and Chief Executive Officer, Kotak Mahindra Bank. 
• He was the Chairman of CII Eastern Region during 2016-17 and has led CII national panels on leadership and HR besides being Chairman of CII Jharkhand.
• He takes over the leadership of the industry body from Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltdmanaging director and chief executive officer Uday Kotak, who has completed his term.

About CII:

• The Confederation of Indian Industry is a non-governmental trade association and advocacy group based in New Delhi, India founded in 1895.
• CII engages business, political, academic, and other leaders of society to shape global, regional, and industry agendas.
• It is a membership-based organization.
• Headquarters: New Delhi, India
• President: Uday Kotak

CURRENT AFFAIRS: AWARDS AND HONOURS

WHO honours Dr Harsh Vardhan with special recognition for tobacco control

• On May 31, 2021, The World Health Organization (WHO) honoured Union health minister Harsh Vardhan with Director-General Special award for his efforts to control tobacco consumption in India on World No Tobacco Day.
• WHO Director-General stated that Dr Harsh Vardhan’s leadership was instrumental in the 2019 national legislation to ban e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products.
• The World Health Organization has set this year’s theme for no tobacco day as ‘commit to quit’.
• WHO has also designated 31st May as ‘World No Tobacco Day’ with an aim to abolish the toxic material from the environment.
• The day was first observed by WHO in 1988.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: MOU’s AND AGREEMENTS

BSE signs ink pact with ESC 

• Leading stock exchange BSE stated it has joined hands with Electronics and Computer Software Export Promotion Council (ESC) to create awareness about the benefits of listing among small businesses and startups.
• BSE has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with ESC, the exchange said in a statement.
• Electronics and Computer Software Export Promotion Council (ESC) is an organization sponsored by the Government of India with a mandate to promote the export of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector from the country and works as a bridge between the government and the industry on policy and promotional matters.
• Ajay Thakur, Head of BSE SME and startup, mentioned that, “This MoU will help toreaching out to ESC’s pan India network of Electronics and IT exporters and create greater awareness amongst the SMEs and startups about benefits of listing on the BSE SME & Startup platform‘.

Fintech start-up Boxop ties up with Mahindra Insurance 

• Boxop, a Kerala-based start–uphas tied up with Mahindra Insurance Brokers Ltd (MIBL) to provide low-cost insurance protection for the Covid-19 treatment.
• Boxopis providing this comprehensive service across the State through Akshaya Kendras and support from MIBL.
• BOXOP has introduced a Group Covid plan in which individuals will get a lump sum benefit plan of 25000, who have tested positive for Covid in which 24hr of hospitalization is mandatory.

CURRENT AFFAIRS : SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

NCPCR Launches online portal ‘Bal Swaraj’ 

• The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) under the Ministry of Women and Child Development has devised an online tracking portal Bal Swaraj (COVID-Care link).

Purpose of the Portal :

• The portal has been created with the purpose of tracking and monitoring children who need care and protection in real-time, digitally.
• The portal will also be used to track children who have lost both their parents during COVID-19.
• The COVID-Care link on the portal has been provided for the concerned officer or department to upload the data of such children.

About National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) :

• Founded: 2007
• Headquarters : New Delhi
• Chairman : Priyank kanongoo

About Ministry of Women and Child Development :

• Founded: 30 January 2006
• Headquarters: New Delhi
• Minister of State :  Debasree Chaudhuri, Krishna Raj
• Union Minister : Smriti Irani

Bharti backed OneWeb successfully launches 36 New LEO satellites

• On May 28, 2021, Bharti group backed OneWeb, the Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite communications company, Co-owned by Bharati Global and the UK Government launched the next successful 36 satellites.
• It was done by Arianespace from the Vostochny Cosmodrome.
• It will form part of OneWeb’s 648 LEO satellite fleet that will deliver high-speed, low-latency global connectivity.
• It brings OneWeb’s total in-orbit constellation to 218 satellites.
• It is a part of Five to 50′ service, enabling OneWeb to offer connectivity across the United Kingdom, Alaska, Northern Europe, Greenland, the Arctic Seas and Canada.
• The company was also able to back an investment of almost $550 million from a Company named Eutelsat Communications, which is based in Paris, France, in April 2021.
• It has the acquisition of a total of 24% stakes of the company

About Bharati Enterprise :

• Bharti Enterprises Limited is an Indian multinational conglomerate.
• Headquarters : New Delhi
• Founded : 1976
• Chairman : Sunil Bharti Mittal

China successfully launches cargo spacecraft Tianzhou-2

• On May 29, 2021, China successfully launched an automated cargo resupply spacecraft named Tianzhou-2, or Heavenly Vessel.
• It was blasted off via a Long March-7 Y3 rocket from the Wenchang Space Launch Centre on the southern island of Hainan in the South China Sea.
• Tianzhou-2 is the second of 11 missions needed to complete China’s first self-developed space station around 2022.
• It is the third and largest orbital station launched by China’s increasingly ambitious space programme.

About China :

• Capital: Beijing
• President: Xi Jinping
• Currency: Renminbi

CURRENT AFFAIRS : APPS & SERVICES

IFFCO introduces world’s first Nano Urea Liquid Globally

• On May 31, 2021, Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Limited (IFFCO) introduced the world’s first Nano Urea for the farmers.
• This Nano Urea will be in liquid form.
• It is easy on the pocket of farmers and will be effective in increasing farmers’ income.
• The production of the urea will begin from June 2021.
• IFFCO has priced Nano Urea at Rs 240 per 500 ml bottle for the farmers, it is 10 per cent cheaper than the cost of a bag of conventional Urea.
• It will be primarily available to farmers through its cooperative sales and marketing channel apart from its sale on IFFCO’s e-commerce platform www.iffcobazar.in

About IFFCO :

• Headquarters: New Delhi
• Founded: 3 November 1967
• Chairman : S Nakai
• MD & CEO : U.S Awasthi
• General Manager- Research & Development : Ramesh Raliya

CURRENT AFFAIRS : ENVIRONMENT

New Species of Spider  Cricket – Jayanti Found in Chhattisgarh

• The Zoology Department of Panjab University, Chandigarh, in April 2021 by a team of zoologists headed by Dr Ranjana Jaiswara discovered a new species of Spider Cricket named Indimimus jayanti.
• It was found in the Kurra caves of Chhattisgarh.
• It has been published in the reputed journal Zootaxa.
• The new species was named after Professor Jayant Biswas, one of the leading cave explorers in the country.
• It was identified under the genus Arachnomimus Saussure, 1897.

About jayanti :

• The newly discovered subgenus, Indimimus.
• It has a lock-and-key model genitalia structure.
• Crickets are noticeable for their loud calls, the new Jayanti subgenus cannot produce sound and their females don’t have ears and may be communicating by beating their abdomen or any other body part on the cave wall. ( Unique way of Vibrational Communication ).
• Vibrational communication is one of the softest but fastest modes of signal transmission.

Daily CA On June 01 :

• Global Parents Day Observed on June 01. “Appreciate all parents throughout the world” is the theme of global parents’ day 2021.
• World Milk Day Observed on June 01. It is an international day established by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations to recognize the importance of milk as a global food.
• Union Minister Narendra Singh Tomar introduces Horticulture Cluster Development Programme. It was implemented by the National Horticulture Board (NHB) of the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare
• Indian Institute of Technology, Ropar (IIT Ropar) in Punjab has developed a first-of-its-kind IoT device – AmbiTag that records real-time ambient temperature during the transportation of perishable products, vaccines and even body organs and blood.
• The Union Ministry of Women and Child Development stated the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has devised an online tracking portal “Bal Swaraj (COVID-Care link)” for children in need of care and protection.
• Aimed at empowering small and marginal farmers, who constitute 86 per cent of India’s farming community, the Common Services Centres (CSC) has unveiled a unique Agri Services Portal that will act as a one-stop destination and marketplace for them.
• Union Minister of State (I/C) for Ports, Shipping & Waterways Shri Mansukh Mandaviya in the presence of Chief Minister of Goa Shri Pramod Sawant inaugurated the second floating jetty at Old Goa virtually on the occasion of Goa statehood day.
• Mali’s constitutional court declared Assimi Goita, the colonel who led a military coup while serving as vice president, to be the new interim president.
• Punjab Social Security Minister Aruna Chaudhary launched the women-empowerment oriented ‘Udaan Scheme’ on the occasion of International Menstrual Hygiene Day, under which sanitary pads of Rs 40.55 crore would be distributed free of cost annually to needy women and girls.
• One of the oldest crypto companies in India, ZebPay, launched a new lending platform for crypto asset exchange. ZebPaywill offer both open and fixed-term lending using the platform.
• Former chairman of the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), Dr Harsh Kumar Bhanwala, has joined Omnivore, an agritech venture capital firm, Senior Advisor.
• Magma Fincorp Ltd announced a series of leadership changes, including appointment of Adar Poonawalla as the chairman of the company.
• State-owned Canara Bank has appointed S K Majumdar as its chief financial officer (CFO) with immediate effect.
• Mamata Banerjee-led West Bengal government over the repatriation of Chief Secretary Alapan Bandyopadhyay, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee informed that Bandyopadhyay has retired and the Bengal government has appointed him as chief advisor to the CM for the next three years.
• Rear Admiral IB Uthaiah, VSM took over as the Admiral Superintendent, Naval Dockyard, Visakhapatnam from RearAdmiral Sreekumar Nair, NM during a formal ceremony held on 31 May 21.
• India’s Nagraj Adiga has been elected as the Asia-Oceania Representative at the recently concluded 2021 International Association of Ultrarunners (IAU) Congress at which the IAU council elections were held.
• Mexican author Valeria Luiselli has won the 2021 DUBLIN Literary Award, sponsored by Dublin City Council, for her novel Lost Children Archive (published by 4th Estate (Harper Collins) in the UK and Vintage Books (Alfred A. Knopf) in the USA.
• Bollywood actor Sanjay Duttwas thrilled to receive a golden visa for the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The 61-year-old actor mentioned that he was honoured to receive the prestigious visa “in the presence of Major General Mohammed Al Marri, Director General of General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs (GDRFA) – Dubai”.
• The authors made history by winning the prestigious International Business Book of the Year Award for 2021 for their recently launched book Transformation in Times of Crisis, published by Notion Press.
• To empower farmers with advance information about the possible pink bollworm infestation in cotton fields so that they could take preventive and control measures, Professor Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University (PJTSAU) has signed a memorandum of understanding with Wadhwani Institute for Artificial Learning, Mumbai, for providing AI-based interventions.
• On May 29, 2021, the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) Offshore Patrol Vessel (OPV) ‘Sajag’ was commissioned by National Security Advisor Ajit Doval. It has been constructed by Goa Shipyard Limited.
• Scientists have fabricated a device that can mimic human brain cognitive actions and is more efficient than conventional techniques in simulating artificial intelligence, thus enhancing the computational speed and power consumption efficiency.
• Cricket legend, commentator and one of Team India’s most successful coaches, Ravi Shastri has Penned a book titled ‘Stargazing: The Players in My Life’. The book will be published by HarperCollins India.
• A Book Titled Languages of Truth: Essays 2003-2020 Authored by Salman Rushdie. The book has been published by Random House.

Daily CA On June 02 :

• Telangana Day commonly known as Telangana Formation Day Observed On June 02.
• The Health Minister has launched the revamped Central Government Health Scheme, CGHS and the Umbrella schemes of Rashtriya Arogya Nidhi, RAN and Health Minister’s Discretionary Grant, HMDG on NHA’s platform, making them cashless, paperless and the citizen centric.
• The group of ministers was constituted after several member states of the council, such as West Bengal and Punjab asked for exempting GST on all Covid-essential materials.
• The WHO has advised against using location-based terms for variants, and has designated an official name for the variant first detected in India: B.1.617.
• InKarnataka, the Health Department has launched Doctors ride towards village side programme. Under this scheme, the Government provides necessary logistic support for the teams led by medical students to visit villages and provide better healthcare during the pandemic.
• The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) cut its growth projection for India for FY22 to 9.9% from 12.6% estimated in March, as the second wave of coronavirus infections has paused economic recovery in Asia’s third largest economy.
• Lucknow – based RDSO, which sets standards for the railway sector, has become the first standards body in the country to join the central government’s ‘One Nation, One Standard’ scheme that aims to ensure quality products to Indian consumers.
• The State Bank of India (SBI) has revised India’s growth outlook downwards for the current financial year. The latest SBI Ecowrap report has projected a 7.9 percent growth for India’s GDP, down from its previous projection of 10.4 percent growth.
• The RBI stated it has cancelled the licence of Shivajirao Bhosale Sahakari Bank, Pune as the lender does not have adequate capital and earning prospects.
• The spokesperson of the Indian Navystated that Vice Admiral Dinesh K Tripathi, who has commanded various operation and staff appointments, assumed charge as Chief of Personnel.
• Industry chamber CII stated it has elected T V Narendran, CEO and MD, Tata Steel, as its new president for 2021-22.
• On May 31, 2021, The World Health Organization (WHO) honoured Union health minister Harsh Vardhan with Director-General Special award for his efforts to control tobacco consumption in India on World No Tobacco Day.
• Leading stock exchange BSE stated it has joined hands with Electronics and Computer Software Export Promotion Council (ESC) to create awareness about the benefits of listing among small businesses and startups.
• Boxop, a Kerala-based start–uphas tied up with Mahindra Insurance Brokers Ltd (MIBL) to provide low-cost insurance protection for the Covid-19 treatment.
• The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) under the Ministry of Women and Child Development has devised an online tracking portal Bal Swaraj (COVID-Care link).
• On May 28, 2021, Bharti group backed OneWeb, the Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite communications company, Co-owned by Bharati Global and the UK Government launched the next successful 36 satellites.
• On May 29, 2021, China has successfully launched an automated cargo resupply spacecraft named Tianzhou-2, or Heavenly Vessel 
• On May 31, 2021, Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Limited (IFFCO) introduced the world’s first Nano Urea for the farmers.
• The Zoology Department of Panjab University, Chandigarh, in April 2021 by a team of zoologists headed by Dr Ranjana Jaiswara discovered a new species of Spider Cricket named Indimimus jayanti.