1) World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought 2022
•The World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought is observed on 17 June each year to promote public awareness of international efforts to combat desertification. The day offers a chance to recognize that land degradation neutrality is achievable through problem-solving, strong community involvement and co-operation at all levels. The theme of 2022 Desertification and Drought Day “Rising up from drought together”.
Desertification and Drought Day 2022: Host Country
•The global observance of the event will take place in Madrid, Spain, the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) has announced.
2) India successfully test-fired Prithvi-II Ballistic Missile at Chandipur
•India has test-launched Short-Range Ballistic Missile, Prithvi-II from an integrated test range in Chandipur, Odisha. This missile system is capable of striking targets with a very high degree of precision. It is an indigenously developed, surface-to-surface missile. It is powered by liquid propulsion twin engines. Its range is 350 km and can carry one-ton payload.
3) Tamil Nadu launched Ennum Ezhuthum scheme to bridge learning gap
•Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, MK Stalin launched the Ennum Ezhuthum scheme to bridge the learning gap that was caused due to the COVID pandemic among students aged below eight. The scheme aims to ensure foundational literacy and numeracy by 2025. It was launched at an event in Azhinjivakkam panchayat union middle school, Tiruvallur.
4) 8th Global Conference of Young Parliamentarians hosted in Egypt
•The Eighth Global Conference of Young Parliamentarians has been started in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt to address climate change. The two-day conference is being jointly organized by the House of Representatives and the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU). Nagaland’s first woman elected as Member of Parliament to Rajya Sabha, S. Phangon Konyak is representing India at the Conference. She, along with two other young Lok Sabha MPs from India, will be sharing her thoughts on the ‘Young MPs for Climate Actions’.
5) Nitin Gadkari inaugurates Industrial Decarbonization Summit 2022
•In New Delhi, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari kicks off the Industrial Decarbonization Summit 2022. Inaugurating the Industrial Decarbonization Summit 2022 (IDS-2022) – Road Map for Carbon Neutrality by 2070, he stated that developing alternative fuels is critical to overcoming electricity shortages. He believes that taking a one-sided, idiosyncratic attitude to these issues is harmful to the country.
6) B S Patil sworn in as Lokayukta of Karnataka
•Former Karnataka High Court judge, Bhimanagouda Sanganagouda Patil was sworn in as the Lokayukta of Karnataka. Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot administered the oath of office to Justice Patil. Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, Leader of Opposition Siddaramaiah, ministers in the State Government and legislators attended the programme, and greeted Justice Patil.
•Justice Patil, who served as the Upalokayukta of Karnataka, was elevated to the post of Lokayukta on June 14. The post of the head of the anti-corruption ombudsman in Karnataka was vacant after the end of the tenure of Justice P. Vishwanath Shetty in January 2022, served in the post for five years.
7) Pramod K Mittal named as chairperson of COAI for 2022-23
•Industry body Cellular Operators’ Association of India (COAI) named Pramod K Mittal, President of Reliance Jio Infocomm, as the new Chairperson of the association for 2022-23. Mittal was previously the Vice-Chairperson of the COAI, whose members include Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, and Vodafone Idea (VIL).
•Mittal will replace Ajai Puri as the COAI Chairperson. Mittal comes with a rich experience of 42 years in telecommunications. Prior to joining India’s leading telecom operator, the Reliance Jio Infocomm President has also served in the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) for over 37 years.
8) IMD’s World Competitiveness Index 2022: India ranked 37th
•India has seen the sharpest growth among the Asian economies, with a six-position jump from 43rd to 37th rank on the annual World Competitiveness Index 2022. The Index has been compiled by the Institute for Management Development (IMD). Meanwhile, the top-performing Asian economies are Singapore (3rd), Hong Kong (5th), Taiwan (7th), China (17th) and Australia (19th).
•India is also a driving force in the global movement to fight climate change and Mr. Modi’s pledge of net-zero by 2070 at the COP26 summit in November 2021, sits in harmony with its strength in environment-related technologies in the ranking. The top five attractive factors of India’s economy for business are – a skilled workforce, cost competitiveness, dynamism of the economy, high educational level and open and positive attitudes.
9) RBI lifted the restrictions on Mastercard 2022
•The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) relaxed the limitations placed on Mastercard Asia/Pacific Pte Ltd on onboarding new domestic clients. For non-compliance with RBI standards for data storage in India, Mastercard has been barred from onboarding new domestic users (debit, credit, or prepaid) onto its card network as of July 22, 2021. The RBI had given Mastercard almost three years to comply with the regulatory directives, but it was unable to do so.
10) Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai as New PCI Chief
•Former Supreme Court judge Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai is believed to have been chosen as the next head of the Press Council of India (PCI). Justice Desai recently served as the chairman of the Delimitation Commission on Jammu and Kashmir, which was established to redesign the Union Territory’s assembly constituencies.
11) Sowmyanarayan Sampath, an Indian-American, named CEO of Verizon Business
•According to a Verizon news release, Sowmyanarayan Sampath, an Indian American, will be the new CEO of Verizon Business. Sampath joined Verizon in 2014 and will continue in his present role as Chief Revenue Officer for Verizon Business until June 30. According to the press release, Sampath has demonstrated strategic planning prowess in several roles during his stint with the organisation.
