1.
Assam to institute own versions of Bharat Ratna and Padma awards: The Assam
government will present its own versions of the Bharat Ratna and the Padma
awards from next year. The cabinet also instituted other civilian honours such
as the AsomBibhushan Award to be presented to three persons, the Assam Bhushan
to five, and the Asom Shree to 10 people every year. These 4 awards will carry
cash prizes of Rs 5 lakh, Rs 3 lakh, Rs 2 lakh &Rs 1 lakh respectively.
Note: Assam Governor: JagdishMukhi; Assam
Chief Minister: HimantaBiswaSarma.
2.
Weyan village in Bandipora, India’s first to inoculate all adults: Weyan, a village in
district Bandipora (J&K) has become the first village in the country, where
the entire population above 18 years has been vaccinated. The vaccination in
Weyan village was covered under the J&K model, a 10-point strategy to
inoculate everyone who is eligible for the shots at a faster pace. The Union
territory also achieved 70 per cent vaccination for those in the 45+ age group
despite the initial vaccine hesitancy, almost double the national average. The
village is located only 28 kilometres away from Bandipora district headquarters,
but a distance of 18 kilometres has to be covered by foot as there is no
motorable road.
3.
‘Home in the World’ Book: by Amartya Sen’s memoir: One of the world’s
leading public intellectuals of our time, Nobel laureate Amartya Sen has penned
his memoir ‘Home in the World’. The book will be published in July by Penguin
Random House. In this book, Sen shares how it was Rabindranath Tagore who gave
him his name Amartya. He also reminisces the conversations at Calcutta’s famous
Coffee House and at Cambridge, and Marx’s, Keynes’ and Arrow’s ideas all of
which shaped his views.
INTERNATIONALUPDATES:
1. K
Nagaraj Naidu named to lead UN bureaucracy for a year: Indian Foreign
Service (IFS) officer, K Nagaraj Naidu was named chef de cabinet by the
incoming UN general assembly president, Maldivian foreign minister Abdulla
Shahid. He was appointed for the duration of one-year tenure to lead the world
body through its return to normalcy as countries strive to bring the pandemic
under control. Naidu is India’s deputy permanent representative to the UN, and
he will be on loan from the Indian government to the United Nations for a
position that is comparable to the Indian prime minister’s principal secretary,
who oversees the cabinet bureaucracy; also something like the chief of staff to
the US president.
2.
Auckland tops Global Liveability Index 2021: New Zealand and Australian cities
dominated the Global Liveability Index 2021 published by the Economist
Intelligence Unit (EIU). Auckland has been ranked the best on liveability
rankings due to the ability of New Zealand city to contain Covid-19 faster.
Japanese cities of Osaka and Tokyo grabbed second and fourth place and
Adelaide, Australia spot 3rd place on EIU’s Global Liveability Index 2021.
Living conditions remained worst in the Syrian capital Damascus.
The top 10 most livable cities in
the world:
1.
Auckland,
New Zealand
2.
Osaka,
Japan
3.
Adelaide,
Australia
4.
Wellington,
New Zealand
5.
Tokyo,
Japan
6.
Perth,
Australia
7.
Zurich,
Switzerland
8.
Geneva,
Switzerland
9.
Melbourne,
Australia
10. Brisbane, Australia
Here’s the list of the 10 least
liveable cities in the world:
1.
Damascus
(Syria)
2.
Lagos
(Nigeria)
3.
Port
Moresby (Papua New Guinea)
4.
Dhaka
(Bangladesh)
5.
Algiers
(Algeria)
6.
Tripoli
(Libya)
7.
Karachi
(Pakistan)
8.
Harare
(Zimbabwe)
9.
Douala
(Cameroon)
10. Caracas (Venezuela)
3.
World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought: 17th June: World Day to Combat
Desertification and Drought is observed on 17th June every year. The day is
celebrated to raise awareness of the presence of desertification and drought,
and highlight methods of preventing desertification and recovering from
drought. “Restoration. Land. Recovery. We build back better with healthy land” is
the theme for 2021 World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought.
World Day to Combat Desertification
and Drought History:In
1994, the United Nations General Assembly declared June 17 the “World Day to
Combat Desertification and Drought” to market public awareness of the
difficulty. The World Day to Combat Desertification may be a unique occasion to
remind everybody that desertification is often effectively tackled, that
solutions are possible, which key tools to the present aim lay in strengthened
community participation and co-operation in the least levels.
OTHER UPDATES:
SPORTS
1.
Novak Djokovic wins French Open Tennis Title 2021: Novak Djokovic
defeated StefanosTsitsipas to lift the French Open title for the second time in
his career. Djokovic, with his 19th Grand Slam title, has closed in on Roger
Federer and Rafael Nadal on the all-time Grand Slam titles list. Both the
players have won 20 Grand Slams each.
Djokovic has also become the first man in
the Open Era to complete the career Grand Slam twice. (He has won the
Australian Open nine times, Wimbledon five times, and the US Open three times.)
He has become the first man in 52 years, after Rod Laver, to win all the four
Grand Slams twice. Overall, he is the third male tennis player to achieve this
unique feat. The third being Roy Emerson.
Winners of French Open Tennis
Tournament 2021:
Men’s Singles: Novak Djokovic (Serbia)
Women’s Singles: BarboraKrejčíková (Czech
Republic)
Men’s Doubles: Pierre-Hugues Herbert
(France) and Nicolas Mahut (France)
Women’s Doubles: BarboraKrejčíková (Czech
Republic) and KateřinaSiniaková (Czech Republic)
Mixed Doubles- Desirae Krawczyk (United
States) and Joe Salisbury (United Kingdom).
BANKING AND FINANCE
1.
IDFC FIRST Bank launches Customer COVID relief GharGhar Ration Program: IDFC FIRST Bank has
announced the launch of ‘GharGhar Ration’ Program, an employee-funded program
for its low-income customers whose livelihoods are affected by COVID-19. The
bank has also announced a comprehensive program for the families of employees
who unfortunately lost their lives due to COVID-19, and a number of other
social responsibility initiatives.
About the “GharGhar Ration”:
(1) “GharGhar Ration” is a unique program
where employees have contributed from their personal income to set up a
Customer COVID Care Fund to provide relief to 50,000 COVID affected low-income
IDFC FIRST Bank customers.
(2) Employees of the Bank contributed one
day to one month’s salary for the purpose.
(3) Employees are procuring ration kits
comprising 10 kg rice/flour, 2 kg dal (lentils), 1 kg sugar and salt, 1 kg
cooking oil, 5 packets of assorted spices, tea and biscuits and other
essentials needed to support a small family for about a month.
Note: IDFC FIRST Bank CEO: V. Vaidyanathan;
IDFC FIRST Bank Headquarters: Mumbai; IDFC FIRST Bank Founded: October 2015.
BUSINESS AND ECONOMY
1.
United States Tops Bitcoin Investment Gains in 2020: The US traders have
benefited the most in Bitcoin Investment Gain in 2020, with a profit of $4.1
billion, according to the latest report by Chainalysis, a blockchain analysis
company based in Manhattan, New York. Chinese traders stood second, with a profit
of $1.1 billion. India has been ranked at 18th spot with a profit of $241
million, among the top 25 countries, in Bitcoin investment gains 2020.
List of top 10 countries in realised
Bitcoin gains for 2020:
(1) United States; (2) China; (3) Japan;
(4) United Kingdom; (5) Russia; (6) Germany; (7) France; (8) Spain; (9) South
Korea and (10) Ukraine
AWARDS AND HONOURS
1.
2021 Pulitzer Prize Announced: The 105th class of Pulitzer Prize 2021
winners in Journalism, Books, Drama and Music were announced. The Pulitzer
Prize is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine and online
journalism, literature, and musical composition in the United States. It was
established in 1917 by provisions in the will of American (Hungarian-born)
Joseph Pulitzer who had made his fortune as a newspaper publisher and is
administered by Columbia University in New York City. In twenty-two of the
categories, each winner receives a certificate and a US $15,000 cash award
(raised from $10,000 in 2017). The winner in the public service category is
awarded a gold medal.
Here is the complete list of 2021
Pulitzer Prize winners:
|
Sl. No. |
Category |
Winner |
|
JOURNALISM |
||
|
1 |
Public service |
The New York Times |
|
2 |
Criticism |
Wesley Morris of The
New York Times |
|
3 |
Editorial writing |
Robert Greene of the
Los Angeles Times |
|
4 |
International
Reporting |
MeghaRajagopalan,
Alison Killing and Christo Buschek of BuzzFeed News |
|
5 |
Breaking News
Reporting |
Staff of the Star
Tribune, Minneapolis, Minn. |
|
6 |
Investigative
Reporting |
Matt Rocheleau, Vernal
Coleman, Laura Crimaldi, Evan Allen and Brendan McCarthy of The Boston Globe |
|
7 |
Explanatory Reporting |
Andrew Chung, Lawrence
Hurley, Andrea Januta, JaimiDowdell and Jackie Botts of Reuters |
|
8 |
Local Reporting |
Kathleen McGrory and
Neil Bedi of the Tampa Bay Times |
|
9 |
National Reporting |
Staffs of The Marshall
Project; AL.com, Birmingham; IndyStar, Indianapolis; and the Invisible
Institute, Chicago |
|
10 |
Feature Writing |
Mitchell S. Jackson,
freelance contributor, Runner’s World |
|
11 |
Commentary |
Michael Paul Williams
of the Richmond (Va.) Times-Dispatch |
|
12 |
Breaking News
Photography |
Photography Staff of
Associated Press |
|
13 |
Feature Photography |
Emilio Morenatti of
Associated Press |
|
14 |
Audio Reporting |
Lisa Hagen, Chris
Haxel, Graham Smith and Robert Little of National Public Radio |
|
BOOKS, DRAMA, AND
MUSIC |
||
|
15 |
Fiction |
The Night Watchman by
Louise Erdrich |
|
16 |
Drama |
The Hot Wing King, by
Katori Hall |
|
17 |
History |
Franchise: The Golden
Arches in Black America, by Marcia Chatelain (Liveright/Norton) |
|
18 |
Biography or
autobiography |
The Dead Are Arising:
The Life of Malcolm X by Les Payne and Tamara Payne |
|
19 |
Poetry |
Postcolonial Love Poem
by Natalie Diaz |
|
20 |
General nonfiction |
Wilmington’s Lie: The
Murderous Coup of 1898 and the Rise of White Supremacy by David Zucchino |
|
21 |
Music |
Stride, by Tania León
(Peermusic Classical) |
|
22 |
Special Citation |
Darnella Frazier, The
teenager who recorded the killing of George Floyd |
OBITUARIES
1.
Padma Shri Awardee Eminent Environmentalist Radhamohan Passes Away: Padma Shri winning
noted Economist and Environmentalist, Prof Radhamohan Ji has passed away. He
was the former information commissioner of Odisha and had also served as a
lecturer of Economics in different colleges in Odisha. He along with his
daughter Sabarmatee were conferred with the prestigious Padma Shri Award in
2020 for their contribution to the agriculture sector.
2. Noted Kannada
Poet Siddalingaiah Passes Away: Noted Kannada poet, playwright and Dalit
activist, Siddalingaiah has passed away, due to Covid-19 related ailments. He
was one of Karnataka’s first prominent Dalit poets, and was popularly known as
“DalitaKavi”. He is credited with launching the Dalit-Bandaya literary movement
in Kannada and starting the genre of Dalit writing. He was also one of the
founders of the DalitaSangharshSamiti in the state.
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