VISION

1)  International Day for Countering Hate Speech: 18 June

•International Day for Countering Hate Speech falls on June 18. According to the UN, hate speech is any kind of speech or writing that attacks or discriminates against a person or a group based on religion, ethnicity, nationality, race, color, descent, gender, or any other identity factor. Speech should not be a weapon for creating more mayhem in this volatile world; thus, the International Day for Countering Hate Speech will help to stop hate-mongering.

2)  Sustainable Gastronomy Day 2022 observed on 18 June

•Every year, the world observes Sustainable Gastronomy Day on 18 June. The objective of this day is to recognise the practices associated with sustainable food consumption, especially with the art of collecting and preparing the food we eat. To make this day a memorable one, the organisations work in collaboration with global and regional bodies to observe the day.

3)  International Picnic Day 2022: 18th June

•International Picnic Day is celebrated annually on 18 June. On this day, people spend time with their loved ones and go for picnics to get a break from their monotonous everyday routine. A picnic is a very good way to not only spend some quality time but also explore new feast spots.

4)  Japan to participate in NATO summit for the first time

•Japanese Prime Minister, Fumio Kishida will attend this month’s NATO summit in Madrid, becoming the country’s first leader to join a top meeting of the transatlantic alliance. The June 28-30 gathering is seen as a crunch moment for the 30 North Atlantic Treaty Organization allies, four months into Russia’s war in Ukraine.

•Japan, a key U.S. ally and not a NATO member, has delivered defensive supplies to Ukraine and imposed tough sanctions on Russia in tandem with the other Group of Seven countries.  Sweden and Finland, which have applied to join NATO, are sending delegations to the summit, and South Korea’s new President Yoon Suk-yeol will also be the first leader from his country to attend.

5)  Govt establishes 10% quota for Agniveers, alters upper age limit

•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.

6)  47th meeting of GST Council to be held in Srinagar

•The 47th meeting of the GST Council will be held on June 28 and 29, 2022 in Srinagar. The GST Council is chaired by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. This is the second time that the GST Council meeting is being held in Srinagar. Before the launch of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) on July 1, 2017, the 14th meeting of the Coun cil was held on May 18 and 19 in the city.

•The Council had last year set up a seven-member panel of state ministers, headed by Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, to suggest ways to augment revenue by rationalising tax rates. The GoM had last met in November 2021.

7)  Ministerial meeting on GST rationalisation fails to reach agreement

•According to insiders, a group of state ministers working on GST rate rationalisation was unable to achieve an agreement because some members were opposed to modifications to tax slabs and rates. They stated that the Group of Ministers will provide a status report to the GST Council on the consensus reached at the Group of Minister’s previous meeting on November 20, 2021.

8)  Hamza Abdi Barre appointed as PM of Somalia

•Somalia’s President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has appointed a former chairman of the Jubbaland state election commission, Hamza Abdi Barre as the Prime Minister. The 48-year-old Hamza Abdi Barre from the semi-autonomous state of Jubaland replaced Mohamed Hussein Roble. Barre served in a number of public and political roles and from 2011 to 2017 was secretary-general of the Peace and Development Party (PDP), the precursor to the Union for Peace and Development (UDP) now led by Mohamud.

•Mohamud won the presidency for the second time in May, having previously served from 2012 to 2017, after a long-delayed election that took place against a backdrop of the worst drought in 40 years and a bloody armed rebellion.

9)  China Becomes the Largest Importer of Indian Broken Rice

•China has emerged as the largest importer or buyer of broken rice from India. China takes over the largest importer of broken rice in India, which were the African countries. During the pandemic, China took the lead as the largest importer of broken rice in India. 7.7 percent has been imported to China which is 16.34 lakh metric tonnes, and India’s total export is 212.10 Lakh metric tonnes in the year 2021-2022.

•According to the analysis of the trade, out of 16.34 LMT, 96 percent of the rice exported to China was broken rice. China has become the top buyer of broken rice from India. The total export for basmati and non-basmati altogether was 212.10 LMT in 2021-2022, which is 19.30 percent higher than the earlier export in 2020-2021 which stood at 177.79 LMT. During this time export of broken rice to China from India increased from 3.31 LTM to 16.34 LMT.

10)  Piyush Goyal: After several years, India able to win favourable WTO outcome

•Despite a strong global campaign against Indian farmers and fishermen, India was able to secure a favourable outcome at the WTO after many years, commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal told the media after the conclusion of the 12th ministerial conference — the WTO (World Trade Organisation)‘s highest decision-making body .

11)  World’s biggest plant discovered off Australian coast

•The world’s largest living plant has been identified in the shallow waters off the coast of Western Australia. The sprawling seagrass, a marine flowering plant known as Posidonia australis, stretches for more than 112 miles (180 kilometers) in Shark Bay, a wilderness area protected as a World Heritage site.

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📰 Bubble in the air

 The national symbols of India represent the culture and unique identity of the country. It represents the people, values, and characteristics of the nation. India is a divorce country where there are several languages in every state, similarly, there are various national symbols of India which represent its culture and heredity. The national symbols represent the rich culture that is immersed in our country. Indian citizens are proud of their national symbols.

The various categories in which the national symbols are found in India are the national flag, national emblem, national song, national bird, national animal, National tree, national fruit, the national flower, National anthem, national game, National calendar, national vegetable, National aquatic animal, national heritage animal, national river, and national currency.

1)  World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought 2022

•The World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought is observed on 17 June each year to promote public awareness of international efforts to combat desertification. The day offers a chance to recognize that land degradation neutrality is achievable through problem-solving, strong community involvement and co-operation at all levels. The theme of 2022 Desertification and Drought Day “Rising up from drought together”.

Desertification and Drought Day 2022: Host Country

•The global observance of the event will take place in Madrid, Spain, the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) has announced.

2)  India successfully test-fired Prithvi-II Ballistic Missile at Chandipur

•India has test-launched Short-Range Ballistic Missile, Prithvi-II from an integrated test range in Chandipur, Odisha. This missile system is capable of striking targets with a very high degree of precision. It is an indigenously developed, surface-to-surface missile. It is powered by liquid propulsion twin engines. Its range is 350 km and can carry one-ton payload.

3)  Tamil Nadu launched Ennum Ezhuthum scheme to bridge learning gap

•Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, MK Stalin launched the Ennum Ezhuthum scheme to bridge the learning gap that was caused due to the COVID pandemic among students aged below eight. The scheme aims to ensure foundational literacy and numeracy by 2025. It was launched at an event in Azhinjivakkam panchayat union middle school, Tiruvallur.

4)  8th Global Conference of Young Parliamentarians hosted in Egypt

•The Eighth Global Conference of Young Parliamentarians has been started in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt to address climate change. The two-day conference is being 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. She, along with two other young Lok Sabha MPs from India, will be sharing her thoughts on the ‘Young MPs for Climate Actions’.

5)  Nitin Gadkari inaugurates Industrial Decarbonization Summit 2022

•In New Delhi, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari kicks off the Industrial Decarbonization Summit 2022. Inaugurating the Industrial Decarbonization Summit 2022 (IDS-2022) – Road Map for Carbon Neutrality by 2070, he stated that developing alternative fuels is critical to overcoming electricity shortages. He believes that taking a one-sided, idiosyncratic attitude to these issues is harmful to the country.

6)  B S Patil sworn in as Lokayukta of Karnataka

•Former Karnataka High Court judge, Bhimanagouda Sanganagouda Patil was sworn in as the Lokayukta of Karnataka. Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot administered the oath of office to Justice Patil. Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, Leader of Opposition Siddaramaiah, ministers in the State Government and legislators attended the programme, and greeted Justice Patil.

•Justice Patil, who served as the Upalokayukta of Karnataka, was elevated to the post of Lokayukta on June 14. The post of the head of the anti-corruption ombudsman in Karnataka was vacant after the end of the tenure of Justice P. Vishwanath Shetty in January 2022, served in the post for five years.

7)  Pramod K Mittal named as chairperson of COAI for 2022-23

•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 COAI, whose members include Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, and Vodafone Idea (VIL).

•Mittal will replace Ajai Puri as the COAI Chairperson. Mittal comes with a rich experience of 42 years in telecommunications. Prior to joining India’s leading telecom operator, the Reliance Jio Infocomm President has also served in the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) for over 37 years.

8)  IMD’s World Competitiveness Index 2022: India ranked 37th

•India has seen the sharpest growth among the Asian economies, with a six-position jump from 43rd to 37th rank on the annual World Competitiveness Index 2022. The Index has been compiled by the Institute for Management Development (IMD). Meanwhile, the top-performing Asian economies are Singapore (3rd), Hong Kong (5th), Taiwan (7th), China (17th) and Australia (19th).

•India is also a driving force in the global movement to fight climate change and Mr. Modi’s pledge of net-zero by 2070 at the COP26 summit in November 2021, sits in harmony with its strength in environment-related technologies in the ranking. The top five attractive factors of India’s economy for business are – a skilled workforce, cost competitiveness, dynamism of the economy, high educational level and open and positive attitudes.

9)  RBI lifted the restrictions on Mastercard 2022

•The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) relaxed the limitations placed on Mastercard Asia/Pacific Pte Ltd on onboarding new domestic clients. For non-compliance with RBI standards for data storage in India, Mastercard has been barred from onboarding new domestic users (debit, credit, or prepaid) onto its card network as of July 22, 2021. The RBI had given Mastercard almost three years to comply with the regulatory directives, but it was unable to do so.

10)  Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai as New PCI Chief

•Former Supreme Court judge Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai is believed to have been chosen as the next head of the Press Council of India (PCI). Justice Desai recently served as the chairman of the Delimitation Commission on Jammu and Kashmir, which was established to redesign the Union Territory’s assembly constituencies.

11)  Sowmyanarayan Sampath, an Indian-American, named CEO of Verizon Business

•According to a Verizon news release, Sowmyanarayan Sampath, an Indian American, will be the new CEO of Verizon Business. Sampath joined Verizon in 2014 and will continue in his present role as Chief Revenue Officer for Verizon Business until June 30. According to the press release, Sampath has demonstrated strategic planning prowess in several roles during his stint with the organisation.

What is the Agnipath Military scheme?

On 14th June 2022, the Cabinet Committee on Security approved the Agnipath scheme, which enables the Indian youth to serve in the Indian Armed Forces. Rajnath Singh, the Union Defence Minister said that through the ‘Agnipath‘ scheme, all useful efforts will be made to create opportunities for youth to serve in Armed Forces. This scheme will help the youth to train and learn new technologies and improve their health levels. With increasing employment opportunities, the youth will learn new skills in various sectors. He also said that the ‘Agniveers’, who will be a part of the Armed Forces under the Agnipath scheme will be given a good pay package and an exit retirement package after 4 years of service.

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