1) World Milk Day celebrated on 01st June
•The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations celebrates World Milk Day every year on 01st June to recognize the importance of milk as a global food, and to celebrate the dairy sector. It aims to encourage people to talk about the advantages of dairy with regards to health including nutrition, accessibility and affordability.
•This year, our theme will focus on Sustainability in the dairy sector with messages around the environment, nutrition and socio-economics. In doing so we will re-introduce dairy farming to the world.
2) Madhya Pradesh Government launches ‘Ankur’ scheme
•In Madhya Pradesh, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan government has launched a scheme named ‘Ankur’ under which citizens will be awarded for planting trees during monsoon. Citizens taking part in this initiative will be given the Pranvayu Award, to ensure public participation in the programme.
3) WHO honours Dr Harsh Vardhan for efforts in tobacco control
•World Health Organisation (WHO) has awarded Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan with `WHO Director-General Special Recognition Award` for his accomplishments in the area of tobacco control. Every year, WHO recognises individuals or organisations in each of the six WHO Regions for their accomplishments in the area of tobacco control.
•This recognition takes the form of the WHO Director-General Special Recognition Award and World No Tobacco Day Awards. Dr Harsh Vardhan leadership was instrumental in the 2019 national legislation to ban E-cigarettes and heated tobacco products.
4) IFFCO introduces world’s first ‘Nano Urea’ for farmers across world
•Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Limited (IFFCO) has introduced the world’s first Nano Urea Liquid for farmers across the world. According to an official statement issued by IFFCO, the world’s first Nano Urea Liquid was introduced in its 50th annual general body meeting held in the online-offline mode in India.
5) NATO Conduct Steadfast Defender 21 war Games
•North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) is organising “Steadfast Defender 21 war games” military exercises in Europe as tensions with Russia increases. These war games are being organised with the aim of simulating the response of a 30-nation military organisation for the attack on any one of its members. It seeks to test the ability of NATO to deploy troops from America.
•Top NATO brass insists that the military exercises, involving some 9,000 troops from 20 nations, are not aimed at Russia specifically, but they focus on the Black Sea region, where Russia stands accused of blocking the free navigation of ships.
6) A book title ‘Savarkar: A contested Legacy (1924-1966) authored by Vikram Sampath
•Decorated historian and author Vikram Sampath has come out with the second and concluding volume of the book on the life and works of Veer Savarkar titled “Savarkar: A contested Legacy (1924-1966)”. The book will hit the stands on July 26, 2021, under the publication of Penguin Random House India.
•The first volume, “Savarkar: Echoes from a Forgotten Past” was released in 2019 and covered Savarkar”s life from his birth in 1883 to his conditional release from prison in 1924. The second volume will bring to light the life and works of Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, from 1924 to 1966, the year he died.
7) Ravi Shahtri’s Debut Book Titled ‘Stargazing: The Players in My Life’
•Cricket all-rounder, commentator and coach, Ravi Shastri is now making his publishing debut, as he has penned a book titled ‘Stargazing: The Players in My Life’. The book is being published by HarperCollins India. It is been co-authored by Ayaz Memon. It is expected to be released on June 25, 2021. In the book, Shastri has written about some 60 extraordinary talents he has met from across the world who have inspired him.
8) IIT Guwahati researchers design “smart windows” to cut carbon emissions
•IIT Guwahati researchers have developed a “Smart Window” material that can effectively control the amount of heat and light passing through it in response to an applied voltage. This material can help in developing automatic climate control systems in buildings. Such materials can help develop efficient automatic climate control systems in buildings, the scientists claimed. This study was recently published in the journal- ‘Solar Energy Materials & Solar Cells.
•However, achieving such a target is made easier by innovation by Debabrata Sikdar, an assistant professor at IIT’s Department of Electronics and Electrical Engineering, and his research student Ashish Kumar Chowdhary.
9) Tata Steel’s T.V. Narendran takes over as CII president
•Tata Steel Ltd chief executive officer and managing director, T.V. Narendran has taken over as president of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) for 2021-22. He takes over the leadership of the industry body from Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd managing director and chief executive officer Uday Kotak, who has completed his term.
•Narendran, an alumnus of the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta, has been associated with the CII for many years. He was the chairman of CII eastern region during 2016-17 and has led the industry body’s national committees on leadership and human resources, besides being chairman of CII Jharkhand.
10) CBDT member JB Mohapatra gets additional charge of chairman
•The Finance Ministry Jagannath Bidyadhar Mohapatra, 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.
11) RBI cancels licence of Shivajirao Bhosale Sahakari Bank
•The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has cancelled the licence of Pune-based Shivajirao Bhosale Sahakari Bank. The bank ceases to carry on banking business, with effect from the close of business on May 31. The bank does not have adequate capital and earning prospects. As such, it does not comply with the provision of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949.
•The RBI observed that the bank with its present financial position would be unable to pay its present depositors in full. The bank was placed under RBI Directions from the close of business on May 4, 2019.
•With the cancellation of licence and commencement of liquidation proceedings, the process of paying the depositors of the bank as per the Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation (DICGC). Act, 1961, will be set in motion. As per the data submitted by the bank, more than 98 per cent of the depositors will receive full amounts of their deposits from DICGC.
12) Utah Jazz’s Jordan Clarkson wins 2021 Sixth Man of the Year
•Utah Jazz guard Jordan Clarkson has won the 2020-21 Kia NBA Sixth Man Award for his contributions in a reserve role. This is the first Sixth Man honour for Clarkson, who becomes the first player to win the annual award with the Jazz.
•Clarkson becomes the first player in Jazz franchise history to win the award and was presented the trophy by his teammate and fellow Sixth Man of the Year Finalist Joe Ingles. Clarkson received 65 first-place votes and earned 407 total points from a global panel of 100 sportswriters and broadcasters.
