NATIONAL UPDATES:
1. Union
Minister Hardeep Singh Puri launches NIPUN for Promoting Upskilling of Nirman
workers: Housing and Urban Affairs Minister, Hardeep Singh
Puri has launched an innovative project National Initiative for Promoting
Upskilling of Nirman workers (NIPUN) in New Delhi. NIPUN is an initiative of
the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs under its flagship scheme of the
Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana-National Urban Livelihoods Mission DAY-NULM to train
over one lakh construction workers, through fresh skilling and upskilling
programmes and provides them with work opportunities in foreign countries also.
About the
NIPUN Project: NIPUN Project will enable the construction workers
to seek better job opportunities, increase their wages and even pursue overseas
placements – an indication of a new eco-system. The NIPUN project
implementation is divided into three parts, training through Recognition of
Prior Learning (RPL) at construction sites, training through Fresh skilling by
Plumbing and Infrastructure SSC, and International Placement through
industries, builders, and contractors.
2. IISc
Centre for Brain Research officially opened by PM Modi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Centre for Brain Research
and lay the foundation stone for Bagchi Parthasarathy Multispeciality Hospital
at IISc Bengaluru. This centre will be at the cutting edge of research into how
to treat brain problems. The Centre for Brain Research is a one-of-a-kind
research centre dedicated to undertaking critical research in order to develop
evidence-based public health treatments to treat age-related brain illnesses.
The Bagchi Parthasarathy Multispeciality Hospital, with its eighty-two beds,
will be built on the campus of IISc Bengaluru, assisting in the integration of
science, engineering, and medicine at the prominent institute. It will provide
clinical research in the country a big boost, and it will work to identify new
solutions that will assist the country’s healthcare systems improve.
3. Union
Minister Bishweswar Tudu inaugurates 20th Folk Fair in Odisha’s Puri: Minister of State for Tribal Affairs and Jal Shakti, Bishweswar Tudu
inaugurated the 20th Folk Fair (National tribal/folk song & dance festival)
and 13th Krishi Fair 2022 at Saradhabali in Puri, Odisha. The two fairs which
aimed at preserving tribal culture and promoting innovation in agriculture
respectively will continue for five days and conclude on 24th June.
The objective of
the 20th Folk Fair 2022 is to emphasize the importance of tribal culture and
establish its originality and uniqueness. Through the fair, attempts are being
made to help the groups and individuals from the tribal communities to showcase
their talents in the preserve their culture. The 13th Krishi Fair in the
meantime is a platform for all organisations and companies with innovations,
products, solutions and services related to agriculture. The exhibition has
representatives from the entire spectrum of agriculture and allied industry,
manufacturers, dealers, traders, exporters and consultants in agriculture,
floriculture, aquaculture, sericulture and more.
Note: Odisha
Capital: Bhubaneswar; Odisha Governor: Ganeshi Lal; Odisha Chief Minister:
Naveen Patnaik.
4. A book
titled “Gautam Adani: The Man Who Changed India” by RN Bhaskar: The biography of billionaire industrialist, Gautam Adani, titled
“Gautam Adani: The Man Who Changed India” will hit the stands in October,
announced Penguin Random House (PRHI). The book written by journalist-author RN
Bhaskar, claims to bring to light, for the first time, the unknown aspects of
one of the richest men in the world. The book, according to the publishers,
delves deep, detailing a range of fascinating anecdotes from Adani’s life,
illuminating his early childhood, his initiation into business, and the
learnings and opportunities he pursued.
INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:
1. ‘Fujian,’ China’s third most
advanced domestically built aircraft carrier launched: China launched its
third aircraft carrier, the country’s most modern and first “completely
domestically made” naval warship, as an aggressive Beijing pushed to expand its
navy’s range in the key Indo-Pacific area. The ‘Fujian’ aircraft carrier was
launched at a brief ceremony at Shanghai’s Jiangnan Shipyard, according to
official media reports from the eastern metropolis. Key Points:
a)
Due
to the COVID lockdown of Shanghai, the ship’s launch was delayed by two months.
It was supposed to be launched on April 23, around the time of the People’s
Liberation Army Navy’s 73rd anniversary (PLAN).
b)
China
State Shipbuilding Corporation Limited’s third aircraft carrier has a
displacement of more than 80,000 tonnes and is equipped with electromagnetic
catapults and arresting gear.
c)
The
‘Liaoning,’ China’s first aircraft carrier, was a refurbishment of a Soviet-era
ship that was commissioned in 2012, followed by the Chinese-built second
aircraft carrier, the ‘Shandong,’ in 2019. Two Chinese provinces are named
Liaoning and Shandong.
d)
According
to official Chinese media, China aims to have roughly five aircraft carriers.
China is planning to develop a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier as its next
project. According to the daily newspaper, the ship Fujian was launched at a
brief but lively ceremony.
2. Pakistan remains in FATF ‘grey
list’ for terror financing, money laundering: Pakistan will continue to be on
the “Grey List” of countries under increased monitoring of the Financial Action
Task Force (FATF), from the global money-laundering and terror-financing
watchdog. Pakistan has been on the grey list of the Paris-based Financial
Action Task Force (FATF) since June 2018 for failing to check money laundering,
leading to terror financing, and was given a plan of action to complete it by
October 2019. Key points:
a)
Since
then, the country continues to be on that list due to its failure to comply
with the FATF mandates. The concluding session of the plenary meeting of the
FATF is due and includes Pakistan’s review on the agenda.
b)
Pakistan
is now targeting the full completion of the 2021 action plan on anti-money
laundering and combating terror financing by the end of January 2023.
c)
In
October 2021, the FATF acknowledged Pakistan’s progress on a 27-point action
plan on completion of 26 items but kept the country on its increased monitoring
list to exhibit terror financing investigations against and prosecutions of top
cadres of UN-designated terror groups. Pakistan had to complete two concurrent
action plans with a total of 34 items.
Note: FATF Headquarters: Paris, France;
FATF President: Marcus Pleyer; FATF Purpose: Combat money laundering and
terrorism financing; FATF Founded: 1989.
OTHER UPDATES:
SPORTS
1. Sunil
Chhetri becomes joint 5th highest goalscorer: Indian
Men’s football team captain, Sunil Chhetri scored his 84th International goal
against Hong Kong during the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup 2023
Qualifiers and equalled the record of Real Madrid and Hungarian Football Legend
Ferenc Puskás. Sunil Chhetri has scored 84 goals in 129 appearances while
Ferenc Puskás (died in 2006 aged 79) scored 84 goals in 85 international
matches. Sunil Chhetri is the 3rd highest goal scorer in international football
among active players, after Cristiano Ronaldo with 117 goals and Lionel Messi
with 86 goals. He is also the highest active goal scorer from Asia and India.
Top 5
International Goal Scorer:
Cristiano
Ronaldo with 117 goals
Iran’s Ali Daei
managed 109 goals.
Malaysia’s
Mokhtar Dahari netted 89 goals.
Lionel Messi
with 86 goals.
Sunil Chhetri
and Ferenc Puskás with 84 goals.
2. Red
Bull driver Max Verstappen wins Canadian Grand Prix 2022: Red Bull’s Max Verstappen narrowly claimed his sixth victory of the
Formula 1 season after withstanding pressure from Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz in the
closing stages of the Canadian Grand Prix. For the second time this season,
Verstappen’s teammate Sergio Perez was forced to retire from the race due to
engine problems, while Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton grabbed his second podium this
campaign in third. Hamilton’s teammate George Russell kept up his own personal
streak of finishing in the top five of every race so far this season by
claiming P4, while Charles Leclerc put together a strong performance to come
home in P5 despite starting from the back of the grid.
BANKING AND FINANCE
1. MeitY
declares HDFC, ICICI, NPCI’s IT resources as critical information infra: The Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY) has declared the IT
resources of ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and UPI managing entity NPCI as ‘critical
information infrastructure’, implying any harm to them can have an impact on
national security and any unauthorised person accessing these resources may be
jailed for up to 10 years. The IT resources under CII include Core Banking
Solution, Real Time Gross Settlement and National Electronic Fund Transfer
(NEFT) comprising Structured Financial Messaging Server. Key Points:
a) The persons authorized to access IT resources of ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank,
and NPCI are their designated employees, authorized team members of contractual
managed service providers or third-party vendors who have been authorised by
them for need- based access and any consultant, regulator, government official,
auditor and stakeholder authorised by the entities on case-to-case basis.
b) This decision, to put their IT resources under CII, has been taken due
to cyber-attacks which raised the need for a protected system by all the banks
and financial institutions.
CII
imply: It means any harm to this infrastructure can have
an impact on national security and any unauthorized person accessing these
resources may be jailed for up to 10 years, and also be liable to fine. The
Central Government, under the IT Act, 2000, has the power to declare any data,
database, IT network or communications infrastructure as CII to protect that
digital asset. The National Critical Information Infrastructure Protection
Centre (NCIIPC), established in 2014, is the nodal agency for taking all measures
to protect India’s CII. NCIIPC will monitor and forecast national-level threats
to CII for policy guidance, expertise sharing and situational awareness for
early warning or alerts.
2. RBI
spent more to print ₹20, ₹50, ₹100, ₹200 notes in FY22: Selling price of bank notes in the denomination of ₹20, ₹50, ₹100 and
₹200 has gone up in FY22. However, for notes in the denomination of ₹500, the
prices have remained unchanged. Key Points:
a) Selling price for 1,000 pieces of ₹50 recorded a maximum increase of around
23 per cent in FY22 over FY21, while that of ₹20 registered the lowest increase
of a little over 1 per cent, according to information sourced through RTI from
the Bharatiya Reserve Bank Note Mudran Ltd (BRBNML).
b) Although notes of ₹500 denomination are the highest in terms of volume
(34.9 per cent of all denomination) among all the paper notes in circulation,
and also in terms of value (73.3 per cent of value of all denomination), their
selling price has not seen any change in FY22 and FY21.
c) Interestingly, even as RBI spent ₹4,984.8 crore, which is 24 per cent
more than it did in FY21 (₹4,012.09 crore), the total supply was lower. The
overall cost of printing currency in FY22 was the second highest, after an
all-time high of around ₹8,000 crore during the year of demonetisation
(2016-17).
BUSINESS AND ECONOMY
1. Fitch upgrades 9 Indian Banks’
IDRs to Stable: Fitch
Ratings upgraded nine Indian institutions, including SBI, ICICI Bank, and Axis
Bank, from negative to stable. Bank of Baroda (BOB), Bank of Baroda (New
Zealand) Ltd, Bank of India, Canara Bank, Punjab National Bank (PNB), and Union
Bank of India are among the other institutions to get a upgrade. Fitch Ratings
has upgraded 9 India-based banks’ Long-Term Issuer Default Ratings (IDRs) to
Stable from Negative, while upholding their IDRs. Key Points:
a)
The
IDRs are based on Fitch’s evaluation of the sovereign’s ability and tendency to
offer extraordinary support for these institutions, which takes into account
Fitch’s assessment of the sovereign’s ability and inclination.
b)
It
takes into account the government’s track record of backing systemically
important banks, the lenders’ relative systemic importance, and their various
ownership structures.
c)
Fitch
also changed the outlook on the Export-Import Bank of India’s (EXIM) Long-Term
IDR from negative to stable.
d)
These
steps come after Fitch changed the outlook on India’s ‘BBB-‘ rating from
negative to stable last week, citing reduced downside risks to the country’s
medium-term growth, as evidenced by its rapid economic recovery and lessening
financial sector problems.
2. TCS, HDFC Bank, Infosys and LIC
featured among the top 100 global biggest brands: As per Kantar
Brandz, 2022 ‘Most Valuable Global Brands report’, 4 Indian companies namely,
Tata Consultancy Service (TCS), HDFC Bank, Infosys and Life Insurance
Corporation (LIC) were featured among the top 100 global biggest brands.
Indian Companies:
a)
TCS
was the most valuable brand coming out of India, which sat on the 46th spot of
the list. The company’s brand value is estimated to be $50 billion by Kantar
Brands 2022, the author of the ‘Most Valuable Global Brands’ report.
b)
Its
counterpart Infosys, a latest entrant in the list, was ranked at 64th position
as its brand value lingered at $33 billion.
c)
Meanwhile,
HDFC Bank stood at the 61st rank as the second biggest brand from India.
d)
LIC,
which recently held India’s biggest public issue of ₹21,000 crore — was at the
92nd spot, with a brand value of $23 billion.
e)
TCS
was the second biggest brand in the Asia Pacific Region, second only to Samsung
that has a brand value of $54 billion. HDFC Bank and Infosys stood at the third
and fourth position on the list.
Top Companies in the world:
|
Rank |
Brand |
Value (in USD) |
|
1 |
Apple |
947 billion |
|
2 |
Google |
819 billion |
|
3 |
Amazon |
705 billion |
|
4 |
Microsoft |
611 billion |
|
5 |
Tencent |
214 billion |
|
6 |
McDonalds |
196 billion |
|
7 |
Visa |
191 billion |
|
8 |
Facebook |
186 billion |
|
9 |
Alibaba |
169 billion |
|
10 |
Louis Vuitton |
124 billion |
a)
Apple
was the most valuable brand in the world, with a brand value of $947 billion.
It was followed by other tech giants Google, Amazon and Microsoft, in the same
order. Facebook, which recently changed its name to Meta, stood at the eight
position as its brand value was nearly a fifth of Apple’s.
b)
Louis
Vuitton is the 1st luxury brand that ranked No.10 with the brand value USD
124.3 billion and 64% and is the 1st European brand to reach the global Top 10
since 2010.
DEFENCE
1. Indian
Coast Guard inducts new Advanced Light Helicopter Squadron 840 CG: In the Indian Coast Guard, a new air squadron known as 840 Squadron
was established in Chennai, with an Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) Mark-III
aircraft as its first aircraft. In the presence of Inspector General AP Badola,
Commander of the Eastern Coast Guard Region, the aircraft was greeted with the
usual water cannon salute. This is the first time the defence force has
deployed such a plane in the eastern region.
According to the
Coast Guard, three more ALH aircraft will be added to the new Squadron’s
inventory in the near future. Modern radars are used to detect beyond the
visual range of the aircraft. It is armed with a mounted Heavy Machine Gun for
target neutralisation operations. The ALH is an indigenous aircraft built by
Hindustan Aeronautics Limited as part of the government’s ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’
initiative.
Advanced
Light Helicopter (ALH) Mark-III aircraft:
a) Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) created and developed the HAL Dhruv
utility helicopter (HAL). HAL Dhruv’s development was confirmed in November
1984.
b) The ALH MK- III is powered by two Shakti engines and is equipped with
surveillance radar, electro optic pod, medical urgent care unit, high-intensity
searchlight, infrared suppressor, heavy machine gun, and glass cockpit.
OBITUARIES
1. Veteran Photojournalist R. Raveendran passes away: Veteran photojournalist, R. Raveendran passed away at the age of 69. He was the recipient of numerous photography awards and is known for his iconic photo of Rajiv Goswami setting himself on fire during the Mandal agitation in the Capital. He has worked in AFP and ANI. He started his career as a teleprinter operator in AFP 1973 and then became a photographer. He was presently working with ANI as Photo Editor.
No comments:
Post a Comment