NATIONAL UPDATES:
1.
RDSO Becomes First Standards Body to Join ‘One Nation, One Standard’ Scheme: Research Design and
Standards Organisation (RDSO), which sets standards for the Indian Railway
Sector, has become the first standards body in the country to join the ‘One
Nation, One Standard’ scheme of the central government. The RDSO, the sole
R&D wing of the Railways Ministry, has now been recognised as a ‘Standard
Developing Organisation’ by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), for a three
years period.
BIS is the implementing agency for the ‘One
Nation, One Standard’ scheme. RDSO and BIS will be now jointly defining the
parameters to ensure quality goods and services for the Railways. The ‘One
Nation, One Standard’ scheme was launched in 2019 with the objective to develop
one template of standard for one given product in the country, instead of
having multiple agencies set it, thereby building a ‘Brand India’ identity in
the long run.
Note: RDSO Headquarters location: Lucknow;
RDSO Founded: 1921.
2.
Narendra Singh Tomar launches Horticulture Cluster Development Programme: Union Minister of
Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, Narendra Singh Tomar virtually launched the
Horticulture Cluster Development Programme (CDP) to ensure holistic growth of
horticulture. In a pilot phase, the programme will be implemented in 12
horticulture clusters out of the total 53 clusters selected for the programme.
A central sector programme implemented by the National Horticulture Board (NHB)
of the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, CDP aims at growing and
developing identified horticulture clusters to make them globally competitive.
The programme is designed to leverage
geographical specialisation and promote integrated and market-led development
of horticulture clusters. Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare
(MoA&FW) has identified 53 horticulture clusters, of which 12 have been
selected for the pilot launch of the programme. Based on the learnings from the
pilot project, the programme will be scaled up to cover all the identified
clusters.
3.
CBDT member JB Mohapatra gets additional charge of chairman: The Finance
Ministry JagannathBidyadharMohapatra, Member, CBDT, has been given the
additional charge of chairman of the direct taxes board for three months. The
extended tenure of the incumbent chairman Pramod Chandra Mody ended on May 31.
In February, he was given a third extension till May 31. Last week, the
government had appointed three new members to the Central Board of Direct Taxes
(CBDT), the administrative and policy-making body for the Income Tax
Department.
Note: Central Board of Direct Taxes
Established: 1924; Central Board of Direct Taxes Headquarters: New Delhi.
4.
IBF appoints Justice (retd.) Vikramjit Sen as the chairman: The Indian
Broadcasting Foundation (IBF) announced the appointment of former Supreme Court
judge Justice VikramjitSen as the Chairman of its newly formed self-regulatory
body Digital Media Content Regulatory Council (DMCRC). DMCRC is formed as per
the mandate of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital
Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021. The move was done to bring together the
broadcasters and OTT (over-the-top) platforms.
INTERNATIONALUPDATES:
1.
China reports first human case of H10N3 bird flu: A 41-year-old man
in China’s eastern province of Jiangsu has been confirmed as the first human
case of infection with the H10N3 strain of bird flu, China’s National Health
Commission (NHC). The man, a resident of the city of Zhenjiang, was
hospitalised on April 28 after developing a fever and other symptoms. He was
diagnosed as having the H10N3 avian influenza virus.
About the H10N3: H10N3 is a low
pathogenic, or relatively less severe, the strain of the virus in poultry and
the risk of it spreading on a large scale was very low. Many different strains
of avian influenza are present in China and some sporadically infect people,
usually those working with poultry. There have been no significant numbers of
human infections with bird flu since the H7N9 strain killed around 300 people
during 2016-2017.
Note: China Capital: Beijing; China
Currency: Renminbi; China President: Xi Jinping.
2.
World Health Assembly adopts decision to recognize 30 January as World NTD Day:
74th
World Health Assembly endorsed a decision recognizing 30 January as World
Neglected Tropical Diseases Day (‘World NTD Day’). World NTD Day commemorates
the simultaneous launch of the first NTD road map and the London Declaration on
NTDs on 30 January 2012. For countries where neglected tropical diseases (NTDs)
are prevalent and for the global community of partners, this is a new dawn.
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.
History of World Food Safety Day: The first-ever
World Food Safety Day, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in
December 2018. The theme of the first-ever Food Safety Day 2019 is “Food
Safety, everyone’s business”. In this direction, the World Health Organisation
(WHO) in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the
United Nations decided to celebrate 7th June as the First food safety day since
7th June 2019.
Note: Director-General of WHO:
TedrosAdhanom; Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland;
Food and Agriculture Organization
headquarters: Rome, Italy; Food and Agriculture Organization Established: 16
October 1945; Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization: Dr QU
Dongyu.
OTHER UPDATES:
SPORTS
1.
Asian Boxing Championship: India’s Sanjeet Kumar wins gold medal: India’s pugilist
Sanjeet Kumar won a gold medal in the 91 kg weight category at the ASBC Asian
Boxing Championships. Sanjeet pulled off a massive upset as he defeated
five-time Asian Championships medallist and Rio Olympic silver medalist
VassiliyLevit of Kazakhstan in a 3-2 split decision in the final of Asian
Championships in Dubai to clinch the gold.
BANKING AND FINANCE
1.
ICICI Lombard companions with Microsoft to automate audits of service calls: The country’s
largest private sector general insurer, ICICI Lombard has tied up with
Microsoft to strengthen and automate the quality control processes. The insurer
will make use of Microsoft’s Azure Speech Services and Natural Language
Processing (NLP) to screen its daily service calls made by customer service
reps. The deployment of Azure’s synthetic instruments has, amongst different
issues, allowed ICICI Lombard to enhance the accuracy of its high-quality
audits. In response to Girish Nayak, ICICI Lombard’s chief expertise officer,
the usage of cognitive intelligence expertise will automate high-quality checks
which can in flip make their service extra environment friendly.
The sooner course required the corporate to
manually display screen a pattern of 20% of the over 1000 calls a day that the
corporate made for potential enhancements. The improved effectivity will allow
ICICI Lombard to enhance its customer support, mentioned Nayak. The brand new
system permits Lombard to display screen 100% of its calls now.
Note: ICICI Lombard CEO: BhargavDasgupta;
ICICI Lombard Headquarters: Mumbai; ICICI Lombard Founded: 2001.
BUSINESS AND ECONOMY
1.
OECD estimate growth cut of India to 9.9% FY22: The Organisation
for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has cut India’s growth
projection to 9.9 % for Financial Year 2022. In March, it estimated growth to
12.6%. The rate was cut witnessing covid cases lockdowns which have threatened
to stall the nascent economic recovery of India. As per OECD, “pandemic can be
contained quickly but GDP (gross domestic product) growth will still be about
10% in 2021-22 and 8% in 2022-23.
Note: OECD Headquarters: Paris, France;
OECD Founded: 30 September 1961.
2.
Magma Fincorp appoints Adar Poonawalla as chairman: Magma Fincorp has
appointed Adar Poonawalla as its chairman as part of a management overhaul
following the Poonawala-controlled Rising Sun Holdings acquiring a controlling
stake in it. Rising Sun invested Rs 3,456 crore in the non-bank lender earlier
this month. Magma will soon be rebranded as Poonawalla Group company. The
lender has also appointed AbhayBhutada as MD & Vijay Deshwal as CEO.
Note: Magma Fincorp Headquarters: West
Bengal; Magma Fincorp Founder: MayankPoddar and Sanjay Chamria; Magma Fincorp
Founded: 1988.
AWARDS AND HONOURS
1.
Lost Children Archive by Valeria Luiselli wins the 2021 Dublin Literary Award: 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. With
prize money of €100,000, the Award is the world’s largest prize for a single
novel published in English. Valeria Luiselli is the first writer from Mexico
and the fifth woman to claim the prestigious award in its 26 year history.
OBITUARIES
1. T.M. Kaliannan, last surviving member of Constituent Assembly, passes away: T.M. KalliannanGounder, the last surviving former member of the Indian Constituent Assembly, died at the age of 101. He served as a Member of the Legislative Council in Tamil Nadu and also as an MLA thrice, between 1952 and 1967. He was reportedly the youngest member in the Constituent Assembly then and also a member of India’s first provisional parliament.
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