1) National Statistics day celebrated on 29th June
•The government of India is celebrated National Statistics day on 29th June on the birth anniversary of Prof. P C Mahalanobis. The Day is celebrated to create awareness among youth about the role of statistics in socio-economic planning and policy formulation. The Day to popularize the use of Statistics in everyday life and sensitize the public as to how Statistics helps in shaping and framing policies.
•End Hunger, Achieve Food Security and Improved Nutrition and Promote Sustainable Agriculture (Sustainable Development Goal or SDG 2 of the UN) is the theme of this year’s National Statistics Day.
2) Andhra Pradesh introduces SALT programme
•Andhra Pradesh has started a Supporting Andhra’s Learning Transformation (SALT) programme to transform foundational learning in government schools for which the World Bank has approved a loan of 250 million dollars. The main objectives of the programme are strengthening foundation schools and providing training and skill development to teachers. Andhra Pradesh’s public school education system has more than 40 lakh children and nearly 2 lakh teachers.
3) DRDO successfully flight-tests ‘Agni P’ Ballistic Missile off Odisha Coast
•The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) successfully flight-tested a New Generation Nuclear-Capable Ballistic Missile “Agni P (Prime)” from Dr APJ Abdul Kalam island off the coast of Odisha, Balasore. As per Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) officials, Agni-Prime is a new generation advanced variant of the Agni class of missiles.
4) FM Sitharaman’s announces relief package worth Rs 6,28,993 crore against COVID-19
•Union Finance & Corporate Affairs Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman has announced a slew of measures, to provide relief to people and businesses affected by the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Minister announced a total of 17 measures worth Rs. 6,28,993 crore.
5) Ukraine and U.S. launch “Sea Breeze drills”
•Ukraine and the United States launched joint naval exercises “Sea Breeze drills” in the Black Sea in a show of Western cooperation with Kiev as it faces off with Russia. The drills come just days after the British Royal Navy’s HMS Defender passed near Russian-annexed Crimea in the Black Sea, with Moscow saying it fired warning shots at the destroyer to ward it off.
•The Sea Breeze drills, which have taken place 21 times since 1997, will involve some 5,000 military personnel from more than 30 countries. The exercises will last two weeks and involve around 30 ships, including the missile destroyer USS Ross.
6) Turkey, Azerbaijan begin joint military drills in Baku
•Turkey and Azerbaijan have begun joint military drills “Mustafa Kemal Ataturk – 2021” in Baku, deploying tanks, helicopters and drones in an effort to improve the two countries’ combat interoperability. The exercises involve up to 600 personnel in an effort to improve the allies’ combat interoperability.
•The main purpose of the exercises is to improve the interaction between the two countries’ army units during combat operations, to develop the commanders’ military decision-making skills and their ability to manage military units.
7) A book titled “Kashmiri Century: Portrait of a Society in Flux” released
•A book titled “Kashmiri Century: Portrait of a Society in Flux” authored by Khemlata Wakhlu. She is a writer, a political leader and a social worker, who has devoted the past fifty years to using her many talents to improve a lot of the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
8) Praveen Sinha appointed as Special Director of CBI
•The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has approved the appointment of Praveen Sinha as the Special Director of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Special Director is the second senior-most position in the agency after the Director.
•The post was vacant since the last three years and was earlier held by Rakesh Asthana. Sinha is an IPS officer of the 1988 batch from Gujarat-cadre and prior to this, he was posted as Additional Director in the CBI.
9) Twitter appoints California-based Jeremy Kessel as India Grievance Officer
•Twitter has announced the appointment of California-based Jeremy Kessel as the new Grievance Officer for India. Kessel is the Global Legal Policy Director of Twitter. The appointment of Grievance Officer by social media companies is mandated under the new Information Technology Rules, 2021.
•However, the appointment of Kessel is not seen to be in line with new IT rules guidelines, which mandate that the grievance redressal officer should be a resident of India.
10) WhatsApp appoints Manesh Mahatme as Head of Payments in India
•WhatsApp has appointed former Amazon executive Manesh Mahatme as a director to lead the growth of its payments business in India. As Director, WhatsApp Payments-India, Mahatme will focus on enhancing the payments experience for users, scaling the service and work towards contributing to the messaging app’s vision of digital and financial inclusion in India.
11) A book titled “Policymaker’s Journal: From New Delhi to Washington, DC” by Kaushik Basu
•A book titled “Policymaker’s Journal: From New Delhi to Washington, DC” authored by Kaushik Basu released soon. This book charts the course of Kaushik Basu’s career over seven years, as he moved out of the cloisters of academe to the frenetic world of policymaking, first in India as Chief Economic Adviser to the Indian Government and after that as Chief Economist at the World Bank in Washington.
12) Deepika Kumari wins Gold Medal at Archery World Cup Stage 3
•The ace Indian archer Deepika Kumari, created a new world record as she claimed three back-to-back gold medals in a single day, during the Archery World Cup Stage 3, held in Paris. The Ranchi daughter claimed gold in each of women’s recurve individual, team and mixed pair events. India topped the medals tally with four gold medals. The fourth gold medal came by Abhishek Verma, from men’s individual event in the compound section.
