Current Affairs (15-30 June 2021)
National
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Aditi Sharma from Uttarkashi and Kajal from Dehradun has become the first two transwomen in Uttarakhand to get their ‘Official Trans Identity’.
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Foreign Secretary of India Harsh Vardhan Shringla (IFS) will address the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) High-level Open Debate on Children and armed Conflict on 28 June 2021 through video conferencing.
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India Ratings and Research’s (Ind-Ra) earlier estimate of GDP growth at 10.1% for the current financial year (FY-22) is unlikely to hold due to the speed and scale of Covid 2.0.
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Gujarat on 27 June 2021 to inaugurate a Zen Garden and Kaizen Academy at Ahmedabad Management Association (AMA).
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Malaysia has become India’s biggest crude palm oil exporter by surpassing Indonesia.
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Mawya Sudan has become the 1st woman fighter pilot in the Indian air force.
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India will host the summit on Green Hydrogen initiatives involving the BRICKS Nation.
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India has recently approved the “Deep Ocean Mission“.
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The foreign minister of India S.Jaishankar has inaugurated the MK Gandhi library in Kenya.
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India has possessed 156 nuclear warheads as per SIPRI yearbook 2021.
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IIT Bombay has hosted the conference of BRICS network universities as part of the 13th BRICS Summit.
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India has agreed to host the 9th Asian Ministerial Energy Roundtable (AMER9) in 2022, as informed by the International Energy Forum (IEF).
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Ramgarh Vishdhari Sanctuary will be the 52nd Tiger Reserve in India in the state of Rajasthan.
Awards & Recognitions :-
Bangalore has topped the list of most liveable cities of India in the ease of living index 2020.
Chhattisgarh state has been declared the top-performing state in India on the gender inequality parameter of the sustainable development goals.
India has achieved the 135th rank in the global peace index 2021.
India has achieved the 120th rank in the sustainable development report 2021.
India ranked 43rd in the world competitiveness index 2021.
India ranked 14th in the world giving index 2021.
Surat and Indore won the smart city award 2020 for overall development by the central government.
National Defence/ Security Current Affairs :-
The Shatrujeet Brigade of the Indian Army with IAF on 27 June 2021, conducted Maroon Strike, an airborne exercise to validate its Rapid Response Capability
The Indian Airforce Chief has been invited as the Chief Guest of the Commissioning Ceremony on the occasion of President Parade 2021 at BAF Academy, Jessore.
The two-day station commanders conference of western air command was held on 24th and 25th June 2021.
Defense Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) successfully test-fired an extended-range version of an indigenously developed Pinaka rocket from a Multi-Barrel Rocket Launcher at Integrated Test Range, Chandipur, Odisha, on 25 June 2021.
Business, Economy & Finance:-
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has announced that once the government starts issuing visas again, the first 5 lakh tourist visas will be given absolutely free of cost.
ADB (Asian Development Bank) has provided a 484 million dollar loan for the Chennai- Kanyakumari Industrial Corridor (CKIS) in Tamil Nadu.
Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) issued guidelines for the Calculation of Mandatory Liquid Holdings in Loans mutual funds.
Hero Cycles has delivered its first batch of “Made in India” e-bikes to Europe.
Large Packaged Consumer Goods Companies Including Dabur, Patanjali, Baidyanath, Hamdard Laboratories announces Formation of India Honey Alliance (IHA).
The Competition Commission of India has approved the acquisition of the Zuarinagar plant of Zuari Agro Chemicals Limited (ZACL) by Paradeep Phosphates Limited (PPL).
The central government has announced tax exemption for expenditure on COVID-19 treatment and Ex-gratia received on death due to COVID-19.
Law Minister of India Ravi Shankar Prasad launched the e-filing portal of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) on 25 June 2021.
SBI Cards and Payment Services has tied up with Fabindia to launch an exclusive co-branded contactless credit card called “ Fabindia SBI Card”.
The first consignment of fiber and minerals-rich dragon fruit was exported to Dubai on 26 June 2021.
Navi Mutual Fund, part of BFSI group Navi, has announced the launch of the Navi Nifty 50 Index Fund.
Maruti Suzuki India has expanded its vehicle subscription services to 4 more cities – Jaipur, Indore, Mangalore, and Mysore.
HDFC Bank has allotted 26,51,520 equity shares to the employees of the Bank pursuant to the exercise of options under its Employees Stock Options Scheme.
Appointments And Resignations:-
Vigilance Commissioner Suresh N Patel will act as the central vigilance commissioner (CVC) in the Central Vigilance Commission of India.
Upasana Kamineni has been appointed by WWF India as “Ambassador of Forest Frontline Heroes”.
CBI Additional Director Praveen Sinha (IPS) as the Special Director of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
Twitter has appointed its Global Legal Policy Director as the new Grievance Officer for users in India.
Esther Duflo has become a member of the Economic Advisory Council to the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu.
Rohini Nilekani will retire as Chairperson and member of the board of Arghyam Foundation on September 30, 2021.
Ajay Puri has been appointed as the chairman of the cellular operator association of India.
Labour and Employment Secretary, Apurva Chandra, completed his tenure as Chairman of the Governing Body of International Labour Organization (ILO) on 25 June 2021.
Deepak Agarwal (IAS) has been appointed the first Director of the Directorate of Religious Affairs (DRA) of Uttarpradesh, headquartered in Varanasi.
Meenesh Shah, Executive Director of Anand-headquartered National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) has been given additional charge by the Chairman.
Justice Ravi Vijay kumar Malimath has been appointed as the acting Chief Justice of the Himachal Pradesh High Court.
Government Initiative And Schemes:-
Bihar state has launched the Mukhiyamantri Yuva Udyami Yojana and Mukhiyamantri Mahila Udyami Yojana to promote entrepreneurship.
PM Modi launched the MYoga App on the occasion of International Yoga Day.
Central minister Narendra Singh Tomar has inaugurated 3 centers of excellence under the Indo-Israel agriculture project in Karnataka.
The Government of Rajasthan will set up a Vedic education and Sanskar board to promote the Sanskrit language.
1.12 crore houses have been sanctioned for their beneficiaries under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Urban (PMAY-U).
Information and Broadcasting Minister, Prakash Javadekar has relaunched IIMC’s research journals, Communicator and Sanchar Madhyam.
Union Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh inaugurated the mega quintal capacity seed processing plant in the Kathua district of Jammu and Kashmir, on 26 June 2021.
The government of Telangana has decided to send Rs 10 lakh financial assistance directly to the bank accounts of Dalit beneficiaries under the Chief Minister Dalit Empowerment Programme.
Agreements And MoU’s:-
India and Greece signed the agreement on the international solar alliance.
India has recently signed an MOU with Fiji for cooperation in the field of agriculture and the allied sector.
The government of Assam and Survey of India (SOI) have signed MOU for the implementation of SVAMITVA SCHEME.
India has recently signed an MOU with Bhutan for cooperation in the area of the environment.
Ministry of shipping, ports and waterways & Ministry of Culture has signed the MOU with Gujarat to develop the national maritime heritage complex.
The first edition of the India-Arab energy forum was held under the co-chairship of India and Morocco.
Japan will provide assistance to India with cold chain equipment including medical equipment such as cold-storage facilities, as ‘Last One Mile Support’ to ensure vaccination in each country, through UNICEF.
The National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) and WhatsApp have announced an alliance to launch the Digital Skill Champions Program (DSCP).
Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited (Jio) and Google Cloud will collaborate for 5G power in the enterprise and consumer segments nationwide.
Science & Technology:-
Scientists of Bihar Agriculture University, Bhagalpur have developed a unique variety of guava ‘black guava’.
Scientists have developed electrically configured nanochannels that can eliminate unwanted energy waste and promise wave-based computing.
ISRO will launch the first uncrewed mission in December 2021, as part of the human spaceflight program ‘Gaganyaan’.
India successfully carried out the test-firing of a new missile of the Agni series known as Agni-Prime off the coast of Odisha on 28 June 2021.
Minister of State for Education, Sanjay Dhotre has launched a Rapid Antigen Test kit for COVID-19 which was developed by IIT Delhi.
India will soon get the world’s first DNA plasmid vaccine by Zydus Cadila which has been Made in India.
Film Industry/ Entertainment:-
- National Award-winning cinematographer and director Sivan passed away in June 2021.
Sports:-
Veteran India goalkeeper PR Sreejesh and former women’s team player Deepika have been nominated by Hockey India for the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award for 2021.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin has announced prize money of Rs 3 crore for sportspersons from the state who win gold medals in the Tokyo Olympics.
Max Verstappen has won the French Grand Prix 2021.
D. Mukesh won the Gelfand challenge chess title.
The flying Sikh- Milkha Singh passed away at the age of 91.
The 60th National Inter-State Athletics Championships started on June 25th, at the Netaji Subhas National Institute of Sports (NSNIS), Patiala.
Indian judoka player Sushila Devi has qualified for the Tokyo Games through the continental quota.
Javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra won the bronze medal at the Kuortane Games in Finland on 26 June 2021.
Sajan Prakash has become the first Indian swimmer to qualify for the upcoming Tokyo Olympics.
The Indian shooting players Saurabh Chaudhary and Manu Bhaker settled for a silver medal in the 10m air pistol mixed team event at the ISSF Shooting World Cup in Osijek, Croatia on 26 June 2021.
Simranjit Kaur, Gaurav Solanki, and Sonia Chahal have been nominated for the Arjuna award by the Boxing Federation of India.
Authors:-
Filmmaker-writer Tahira Kashyap Khurrana announced her upcoming book about motherhood, titled The 7 Sins of Being A Mother.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik released a book of poems ‘Beyond Here and Other Poems’ written by senior bureaucrat Bishnupada Sethi.
Renowned neurologist Ashok Panagariya’s memoir “Monk in a Merc“, was released on 28th June.
Khem Lata Wakhlu is the author of the book ‘Kashmiri century’ launched this June.
Amitabh Ghosh’s book released titled, ‘The Nutmeg’s Curse: Parables for a Planet in Crisis’.
Suresh Raina wrote his autobiography titled “believe- what life and cricket taught me”.
Important Days:-
Bankim Chandra Chatterjee’s 183rd birth anniversary is celebrated on 27 June.
Micro, Small, and Medium-sized Enterprises Day is celebrated every year on 27 June.
United Nations international day Support for victims of torture is celebrated on 26 June.
United Nations public service day is celebrated on 23rd June.
International Olympic Day is celebrated on 23rd June.
World rain forest day is celebrated on 22nd June.
World day to combat desertification and drought is celebrated on 17th June.
World sea turtle day is celebrated on 16th June.
International day of family remittances is celebrated on 16th June.
International Affairs
Narendra Modi was the president of the 14th session of the conference of the parties to the UN conventions to combat desertification.
The 47th G7 leaders summit 2021 took place in a hybrid format in Cornwall, United Kingdom.
Ukraine and America launched Army exercises that involve more than 30 Countries in the Black Sea and South Ukraine on 28 June 2021, despite the Russian call to cancel it.
The theme of the 47th G7 leader’s summit 2021 was “Building Back Better”.
Montek Ahluwalia has been appointed as a member of the World Bank-IMF advisory group.
Karim Khan has sworn as the new Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court.
Ebrahim Raisi has won the 2021 Iranian Presidential Election.
World’s 3rd largest diamond unearthed in Botswana.
Antonio Guterres from Portugal has been re-elected as the secretary-general of the United Nations (UN) for a second 5-year term.
Ashish Chandorkar has been appointed as the counselor in India’s permanent mission in the World Trade Centre.
Finland has topped the sustainable development report 2021.
Satya Nadella has been appointed as the new chairman of Microsoft.
Facebook has launched a new initiative “report it, don’t share it! That encourages people to report child abuse.
The United Kingdom and Australia agreed on a free trade agreement.
Russia and the USA together possess over 90% of the global nuclear weapons.
The world’s first wooden satellite will be launched by New Zealand.
The 31st meeting of the heads of state of NATO was held in Brussels, Belgium.
The European space agency will launch the “Envision Mission” to explore Venus in 2023.
The World Bank has raised its forecast of China’s economic growth for 2021 to 8.5 percent from 8.1 percent.
Zhang Zhizhen has become the first Chinese man in the Open era to play in the Grand Slam tournament.
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has recommended a list of measures for Pakistan to stop money laundering and terror financing in the nation.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has extended sanctions against dozens of Russian banks blamed by Kyiv for involvement in aggression against Ukraine.
Reducing the global suicide mortality rate by a third is both an indicator and a target in the UN-mandated Sustainable Development Goals.
Scientists have discovered a new kind of early human in Central Israel after studying pieces of fossilized bone dug up at a site used by a cement plant.
Abu Dhabi will use facial scanners to detect Coronavirus infections in people after a trial of 20,000 people showed a high degree of its effectiveness.
