1) UN Russian Language Day: 06 June
•The UN Russian Language Day is observed annually on 06 June. It is one of the six official languages used by the United Nations throughout the Organization. The day was established by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 2010.
•6 June is chosen as UN Russian Language Day as it coincides with the birthday of Aleksandr Pushkin, a Russian poet who is considered the father of the modern Russian language. Each of the six official languages has been assigned a day of celebration by the UN’s Department of Public Information in 2010 to celebrate multilingualism and cultural diversity as well as to promote equal use of all six official languages throughout the Organization.
2) World Pest Day: 06 June
•Every year, World Pest Day (also sometimes called World Pest Awareness Day) is observed on 06 June. The main purpose of the day is to increase public, government, and media awareness of the important role pest management organization plays in protecting public health, project the professional image of the pest management industry, promote the use of professional pest management in a scientific and socially responsible way and call attention to the big threats caused by small pests.
•The first World Pest Day was marked in 2017. World Pest Day was initiated by the Chinese Pest Control Association, and co-sponsored by the Federation of Asian and Oceania Pest Managers’ Association (FAOPMA), the National Pest Management Association (NPMA), and the Confederation of European Pest Management Associations (CEPA).
3) World Food Safety Day: 7th June
•World Food Safety Day is observed on 7th June globally. The aim of the day is to raise awareness about different foodborne risks and the measures of how to prevent it. The campaigns will also spread awareness that how food safety is very much important and related to different other important factors of life such as human health, economic growth, and many others. Also, the day will surely ensure in building up a connection between food safety and other elements such as agriculture, sustainable development, and market access.
•This year’s theme is “Safe food today for a healthy tomorrow”. It discusses the fact that the production and consumption of safe food have immediate and long-term benefits. Recognizing the systemic connections between the health of people, animals, plants, the environment and the economy will help us meet the needs of the future.
4) PM Modi Launches Three E-100 Ethanol Dispensing Stations in Pune
•Prime Minister Narendra Modi virtually addressed the World Environment Day event, which was jointly organised by the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas and the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. During the event, PM Modi also released the “Report of the Expert Committee on Road Map for ethanol blending in India 2020-2025”. The theme of the report is ‘promotion of biofuels for a better environment’.
5) India Launches Global Energy Initiative “Mission Innovation CleanTech Exchange”
•The Governments of 23 nations, including India, have collectively launched a bold new plan called Mission Innovation 2.0, to catalyze action and spearhead a decade of innovation for global investment in clean energy research, development and demonstrations. Mission Innovation 2.0 is the second phase of the global Mission Innovation initiative, launched alongside the Paris Agreement at the 2015 COP21 conference. The new initiative was launched at the Innovating to Net Zero Summit, hosted by Chile.
Purpose: To make clean energy affordable, attractive and accessible throughout this decade; To accelerate action towards the Paris Agreement; and Net-zero pathways.
Plan: Under this new MI 2.0, a series of new Missions will be undertaken, which will be supported by a new global Innovation Platform to strengthen confidence and awareness in emerging innovations and maximize the impact of national investments.
India’s Effort: As a part of this Platform, India has launched the Mission Innovation CleanTech Exchange, to create a network of incubators across member countries. The network will provide access to the expertise and market insights needed to support new technologies to access new markets globally.
6) Kerala launches ‘Knowledge Economy Mission’
•Kerala government has launched ‘Knowledge Economy Mission’ to boost job prospects in the state by supporting knowledge workers. The initiative was announced in State Budget on June 4. It was being spearheaded by Kerala Development and Innovation Strategic Council (K-DISC) and they will submit a comprehensive project report before July 15.
7) Ladakh LG RK Mathur Launches “YounTab Scheme”
•The Lt Governor of Ladakh, RK Mathur launched a scheme called ‘YounTab’, under which 12,300 tablets would be distributed among the students in the Union Territory. As part of the first phase of the YounTab Scheme, Mr Mathur distributed the tablets to the students of Classes 9 to 12 standards.
8) RBI approves re-appointment of Vishwavir Ahuja as MD, RBL Bank
•The Reserve Bank of India has approved the appointment of Vishwavir Ahuja as the Managing Director and CEO of RBL Bank for a one-year period with effect from June 30, 2021. He has been the Managing Director & CEO of RBL Bank since June 30, 2010. Before RBL Bank, Ahuja was the Managing Director & CEO of Bank of America, India.
9) Thomas Vijayan Wins Nature TTL Photographer of the Year 2021
•Kerala-based Thomas Vijayan, who is now settled in Canada, has won the 2021 Nature TTL Photography Awards for his photo of an Orangutan clinging to a tree. The photograph is titled ‘The World is Going Upside Down’.
•Vijayan was adjudged as the overall winner of the competition from over 8,000 entries for Nature TTL Photographer of the Year 2021, which carries a grand prize of 1,500 pounds (Rs.1.5 lakh). Nature TTL is the world’s leading online nature photography resource.
10) CBSE to introduce coding, data science in curriculum
•The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has collaborated with Microsoft to introduce Coding as a new subject for students of Class 6-8 and Data Science as the new subject for Class 8-12 in the 2021-2022 academic session. Both these new skilling subjects are being launched in line with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
•Coding and Data Science Curriculum are focused on building critical thinking, computational skills, problem-solving skills, creativity and hands-on exposure to new technologies. In keeping with the NEP 2020, the introduction of these courses aims to build next-generation skills in students. The new course curriculum on coding and data science that we have developed in partnership with Microsoft will equip students with future-ready learning skills. This is an important step to enable self-reliance in our students and equip them with skills like problem-solving, logical thinking, collaboration and design thinking that are critical for success.
11) India slips two spots on 17th Sustainable Development Goals report
•India’s rank has slipped by two places from last year to 117 on the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted as a part of the 2030 agenda by 193 United Nations member states in 2015. India ranks below four South Asian countries: Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.
•The State of India’s Environment Report 2021 revealed that India’s rank was 115 last year and dropped by two places primarily because of major challenges like ending hunger and achieving food security (SDG 2), achieving gender equality (SDG 5) and building resilient infrastructure, promoting inclusive and sustainable industrialisation and fostering innovation (SDG 9) remain in the country.
12) GST collections at Rs 1.03 lakh crore for May
•The goods and service tax collections for May clocked Rs 1,02,709 crore, making it the eighth straight month of collections crossing the Rs 1 lakh crore mark. The collections have been 65% higher than the GST revenues in the same month, despite many states being under lockdown due to the Covid pandemic.
•The May GST collections were also a 27.6 per cent drop from a record sum of Rs 1.41 lakh crore in April, which was the highest monthly collection since the introduction of the nationwide tax.
13) Ranjitsinh Disale Appointed as the World Bank Education Advisor
•Ranjitsinh Disale has been appointed as the World Bank Education advisor, starting from June 2021 to June 2024. He is the first Indian to have been awarded the Global Teacher Award in 2020, will now be working on the Coach Project, launched by the World Bank in March 2021. The project’s aim is to ‘help countries accelerate learning by improving teacher professional development.’
14) A book title ‘1232 km: The Long Journey Home’ by Vinod Kapri
•A new book titled ‘1232 km: The Long Journey Home’ by filmmaker Vinod Kapri chronicles the journey of seven migrant workers from Bihar, who journeyed back home on their bicycles and reached their destination after seven days. The book is published by Harper Collins. The nationwide lockdown in March 2020 forced thousands of migrant workers to return to their native villages by covering thousands of kilometres on foot.
•Kapri accompanied these seven migrant workers — Ritesh, Ashish, Ram Babu, Sonu, Krishna, Sandeep and Mukesh — on their 1,232-km journey from Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh to Saharsa in Bihar. It is a story of courage as well as the desperation of seven men braving police lathis and insults, battling hunger and exhaustion to reach their home. According to the author, he was curious to know what makes labourers’ cycle 1,232 kilometres without food or any help in such extreme circumstances. He wanted to see them up close.
15) Germany’s FIFA World Cup-winner Sami Khedira announces retirement
•Germany’s FIFA World Cup-winner, Sami Khedira has announced retirement. He began his career at VfB Stuttgart and helped them win the league title in the 2006-07 season before moving to Real Madrid, where he won the league and Champions League in a trophy-laden spell. He played 77 games for Germany scoring seven goals and helped them win the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
