Daily GK Updates - 1st June, 2019

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. The first session of 17th Lok Sabha from June 17th: The first session of the 17th Lok Sabha will commence on 17th of this month. The Rajya Sabha will have its sitting from 20th onwards. Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javdekar stated the session will continue till 26th of next month (July). The election for the Speaker of the Lower House will be held on 19th of June. The President will address the Joint sitting of both the Houses of Parliament on the 20th. The Economic Survey will be tabled on the 4th of July and the Union Budget will be presented on the 5th of July.

2. Nirmala Sitharaman to Present First Union Budget On 05th July: The first session of the newly-elected Lok Sabha has been convened from 17th June to 26th July 2019 and the new government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi will present its first Budget on 05th July 2019 by Nirmala Sitharaman, who is Minister of Finance and Minister of Corporate Affairs. The 40-day session will have 30 sittings.

Note: Nirmala Sitharaman is the only woman to hold the portfolio (Minister of Finance) after former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. The Modi government had on 01st February 2019 presented the interim Budget in view of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

3. Union Cabinet approves the extension of PM-KISAN scheme: The newly-sworn in NDA government at the Centre has taken four major decisions related to farmers’ and traders welfare in the first meeting of the Union Cabinet. It has approved the extension of Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) to all the farmers in the country. Earlier the benefit of the scheme was applicable to farmers having two hectares of land. Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar stated that nearly 14 crores 50 lakh farmers will be now covered under the revised scheme. Total burden on the exchequer will be over 87,000 crore rupees for the year 2019-20. Over three crore farmers have been benefited so far. Six thousand rupees per year is being given in three installments to the farmers, under the scheme.

Note: Centre also approved the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Pension Yojana under which small and marginal farmers will get a minimum fixed pension of 3,000 rupees per month on attaining the age of 60 years. Pradhan Mantri Kisan Pension Yojana scheme aims to initially cover 5 crore farmers in the first 3 years. PM-KISAN scheme was launched in Uttar Pradesh’s Gorakhpur on 24th February 2019 by transferring the first installment of ₹2,000 each to over one crore farmers.

4. PM Modi hikes National Defence Fund scholarship assistance: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved changes to the Prime Minister’s Scholarship Scheme for wards of deceased defense personnel under the National Defence Fund. The quota of new scholarships for children of state police officials will be 500 in a year. The rates of scholarship have also been increased from Rs. 2000 per month to Rs. 2500 per month for boys and from Rs. 2250 per month to Rs. 3000 per month for girls. Under the scheme, every year new scholarships are given for 5500 wards of armed forces controlled by Ministry of Defence, for 2000 wards of paramilitary forces controlled by Ministry of Home Affairs and for 150 wards of forces controlled by Ministry of Railways.

5. India removes restriction on air space usage: The Indian Air Force (IAF) has removed all the temporary restrictions on all air routes in the Indian air space. The Indian Air Force had put temporary airspace restrictions on Indian air space on February 27. Incidentally, Pakistan had extended the restriction on Indian aircraft overflying its territory till June 15 earlier this week.

6. Kasturirangan committee submits new draft education policy to HRD Ministry: Former ISRO chief Dr. Kasturirangan led Committee submitted the draft National Educational Policy (NEP) to HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank in New Delhi. The policy draft recommends incorporation of Indian knowledge systems in the curriculum, constituting a National Education Commission and curbing arbitrary fees hikes by private schools. The existing NEP was framed in 1986 and revised in 1992.

7. Assam govt hikes parental income limit under the fee waiver scheme: Assam government has waived admission fees for students taking admission up to Post Graduate level whose parental income is less than 2 lakh rupees per year. All provincialized government colleges and 5 universities are incorporated under the scheme.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. World Milk Day being: 1st June: World Milk Day is celebrated every year on 1st June to educate people about the importance of milk in our diet (science 2001). The theme for World Milk Day 2019 in India is "Drink Milk: Today & Everyday”. World Milk Day is a day established by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) to recognize the importance of milk as a global food.

2. Global Day of Parents: 1st June: The Global Day of Parents is observed on the 1st of June every year. The Global Day provides an opportunity to appreciate all parents in all parts of the world for their selfless commitment to children and their lifelong sacrifice towards nurturing this relationship. The Day was proclaimed by the UN General Assembly in 2012 with resolution A/RES/66/292 and honours parents throughout the world.

3. Indian-origin Anita Bhatia appointed UN Deputy Executive Director: Indian-origin Anita Bhatia, a veteran in strategic partnerships, resource mobilization, and management, has been appointed as the Deputy Executive Director of the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN-Women) for Resource Management, Sustainability and Partnerships. She was appointed by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in the global body's agency focussed on women empowerment and gender equality. Anita Bhatia had a distinguished career at the World Bank Group, serving in various senior leadership and management positions, both at the headquarters and in the field. Veteran Indian diplomat and a gender equality champion Lakshmi Puri had previously served as the Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations and Deputy Executive Director of UN Women.

OTHER UPDATES:

SPORTS 

1. Rani Rampal to lead Indian Women Hockey squad for FIH Series Finals: Hockey India named an 18-member Indian team for the upcoming FIH Women's Series Finals starting in Hiroshima, Japan on the 15th of next month. Rani Rampal will captain the team and experienced goalkeeper Savita will share the responsibility of Vice-Captain. Indian women's team is grouped in Pool A along with Poland, Uruguay and Fiji. Pool B features 18th Asian Games Gold Medallist Japan, Chile, Russia and Mexico. India will begin their campaign on an opening dayagainst Uruguay.

2. Pakistan to host 2020 Asia Cup: Pakistan will host the 15th edition of the 2020 Asia Cup cricket tournament (in September 2020). The matches will be played as Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is) in the quadrennial event. In the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) meeting, it was also decided that the tournament will be shifted to another venue if diplomatic ties between India (defending champions) and Pakistan do not improve. India had defeated Bangladesh in the final of the previous edition held in the United Arab of Emirates (UAE). ACC also reaffirmed its stand to include cricket in the 2022 Asian Games scheduled in Hangzhou, China.

Note: The 2018 Asia Cup (14^th-edition) was a One-Day International (ODI) cricket tournament that was held in the United Arab Emirates in September 2018.

AWARDS AND HONOURS

1. 6 Indian-origin students among 8 win US National Spelling Bee: Six Indian-origin students are among the eight participants who won the prestigious Scripps National Spelling Bee after defeating over 550 other contestants in an unprecedented competition in the US. It is the first time in the 94-year history of the competition that more than two co-champions have been named. Rishik Gandhasri, Saketh Sundar, Shruthika Padhy, Sohum Sukhatankar, Abhijay Kodali, Rohan Raja, Christopher Serrao and Erin Howard were named as co-champions. Each will receive the full winner's prize of 50,000 US Dollar in cash. The six boys and two girls combined to spell the final 47 words correctly over five consecutive perfect rounds. The 565 contestants ranged in age from 7 to 14 and came from across the US and several other countries, including Canada, Ghana and Jamaica. The National Bee is a high-profile, high-pressure endurance test as much as a nerd spelling match and spellers spend months preparing for it.