DAYS AND EVENTS
1. World Ocean Day-8 June
• June 8 is World Oceans Day, the United Nations day for celebrating the role of the oceans in our everyday life and inspiring action to protect the ocean and sustainably use marine resources.
• Theme for World Oceans Day 2020 is "Innovation for a Sustainable Ocean".
2. World Accreditation Day (WAD)-9th June
• The World Accreditation Day (WAD) is celebrated on 9th June every year to highlight as well as promote the role of accreditation in trade & economy.
• Theme for 2020-“Accreditation: Improving Food Safety”
• National Accreditation Board for Certification Bodies (NABCB) and National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL), the two accreditation boards of the Quality Council of India (QCI), organised a Webinar to commemorate the event, in which all concerned stakeholders participated.
• WAD is a global initiative started by the International Accreditation Forum (IAF) and the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC).
3. June 12-World Day against Child Labour
• Theme 2020-Covid-19: Protect Children from Child Labour, now more than ever!
• The International Labour Organization (ILO) launched the World Day Against Child Labour in 2002 to focus attention on the global extent of child labour and the action and efforts needed to eliminate it.
• Each year on 12 June, the World Day brings together governments, employers and workers organizations, civil society, as well as millions of people from around the world to highlight the plight of child labourers and what can be done to help them.
• This year, the World Day is conducted as a virtual campaign and is being organized jointly with the Global March Against Child Labour and the International Partnership for Cooperation on Child Labour in Agriculture (IPCCLA) .
• The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), adopted by world leaders in 2015, include a renewed global commitment to ending child labour. Specifically, target 8.7 of the Sustainable Development Goals calls on the global community fight against child labour.
NATIONAL NEWS
1, Jammu and Kashmir among top performers in Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojna
• The Union Territory administration of Jammu and Kashmir is among the top performers in Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojna while distributing around 100 percent of Ration among the beneficiaries till June 6, during the COVID-19 pandemic situation.
• It has relentlessly reached-out to the people to mitigate their sufferings during the lockdown following the outbreak of coronavirus pandemic crises.
• Another Union Territory Lakshawdeep is the only Union Territory in India which has distributed 100 percent of ration for the month of April, May and June among the beneficiaries.
• Under PMGKAY, 5 kg food grains per ration card holder and one kg pulses per household is being provided for next three months.
• This is over and above the monthly quota of subsidised foodgrain of 5 kg per person under the National Food Security Act (NFSA).
• It is worth mentioning that in order to help people during the lockdown period, J&K government through the Department of Food, Civil Supplies & Consumer Affairs (FCS&CA) has supplied about 11.50 lakh quintals of ration to more than 1.19 crore beneficiaries in Jammu and Kashmir through its public distribution network in March and April this year.
2. India-China standoff: Both sides agreed to peacefully resolve situation in border areas, says MEA
• In an official statement, the MEA said that India and China have agreed to resolve the standoff in accordance with various bilateral agreements. It also mentioned that peace and tranquility in the border areas is essential for the development of bilateral relations.
• Both sides agreed to peacefully resolve the situation in the border areas in accordance with various bilateral agreements and keeping in view the agreement between the leaders that peace and tranquility in the India-China border regions is essential for the overall development of bilateral relations.
• India and China also agreed that an early resolution would contribute to the further development of the relationship between the two countries.
• Accordingly, the two sides will continue the military and diplomatic engagements to resolve the situation and to ensure peace and tranquility in the border areas.
• India had sought restoration of status quo as on April 2020 end, before the faceoff at Pangong Lake triggered an escalation in Ladakh leading to a massive build-up by both sides in Ladakh.
• India also asked China to reduce their mobilisation near the Galwan valley and that the troops must be sent to their original location.
3. INS Shardul to evacuate Indians from port of Bandar Abbas, Iran to Porbandar, Gujarat
• Indian Naval Ship (INS) Shardul started the process of evacuating Indians from Bandar Abbas in Iran to Porbandar in Gujarat.
• The evacuation is part of Operation Samudra Setu, which is itself a part of the Vande Bharat Mission that began in early May to bring back stranded Indians from abroad amid the coronavirus-triggered lockdown.
• INS Jalashwa and INS Magar have already evacuated 2,874 personnel from Maldives and Sri Lanka to ports of Kochi and Tuticorin.
• Operation Samudra Setu began on May 8.
• Covid-related social distancing norms have been created on board INS Shardul and the ship has been especially provisioned for the evacuation operation, including embarkation of additional medical staff, rations, personal protective equipment, masks, lifesaving gear, the Navy said.
4. IIT, Hyderabad researchers develops low cost and Artificial Intelligence-based test kit for COVID-19
• Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology-Hyderabad have developed a low cost and Artificial Intelligence-based test kit for COVID-19. These kits can give results in about 20 minutes.
• The test kits have already been tried at the ESIC hospital and the results are encouraging and the test kits are Reverse Tranion Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR)-free and get rid of many processes.
• The cost of COVID testing with these IIT-H BioChips will be around 600 rupees and can be almost halved in case of mass production of the chips.
• The 100 per cent indigenous technology can be handled by a high school graduate student.
• These kits can be transported to rural areas as they are very light and helpful to increase the testing for COVID-19 in the country.
5. ITBP opens its countrywide health centres for veterans suffering from Covid19
• The Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) has thrown open the gates of its countrywide health centres and hospitals for its veterans suffering from the novel coronavirus.
• The decision has been taken after the force came across media reports of people facing problems in getting admission or treatment at COVID-19 designated hospitals.
• ITBP Jawans have sweated throughout their life and we do not want them to suffer and hence all our veterans are being offered health services in case anyone of them are affected by COVID-19. He further said that all hospitals of the force throughout the country will admit veterans with coronavirus infection and treat them.
• The ITBP has about 20,000 retired and dependent personnel. The ITBP runs a super specialty Referral hospital for the Central Armed Police Forces in Greater Noida, has two base hospitals at Tigri in Delhi and Kimin in Arunachal Pradesh and composite hospitals at Dehradun and Chandigarh apart from health centres at its every base in the country.
• The ITBP was the first organisation in the country to have created a 1,000-bed quarantine centre for coronavirus-affected people.
• The centre in Chhawla area of south-west Delhi has treated about 1,200 people including 42 foreigners who were brought to India on special evacuation flights from Wuhan in China and Italy after the COVID-19 outbreak a few months back.
• The facility is still operational and is taking care of those ITBP troops who are joining back work after easing of restrictions imposed during the countrywide lockdown.
• It also created the first standard operating procedures for management of the pandemic among the various CAPFs and central and state police organisations.
6. WMO lauds India Meteorological Department for its accurate prediction of cyclone Amphan
• The World Meteorological Organisation, has lauded the India Meteorological Department for its “accurate prediction" of Cyclone Amphan.
• In a letter dated June 2, addressed to IMD Director General Mrutunjay Mohapatra, WMO Secretary General E Manaenkova said the cyclone advisories were provided to the WMO and in particular Bangladesh which was also affected by the storm.
• Amphan intensified into a super cyclonic storm. It hit the Sundarbans and West Bengal coast as an extremely severe cyclonic storm on May 20.
• The Regional Specialised Meteorological Centre for Tropical Cyclones over the North Indian Ocean is based in Delhi. Through it, the IMD provides cyclone-related information to all the related countries in the North Indian Ocean, Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal.
7. Karnataka to provide tap connections to all rural households by 2022-23
• Karnataka has planned to provide tap connections to all rural households under Jal Jeevan Mission by 2022-23.
• The State presented their Annual Action Plan for implementation of the Mission in the State to the Ministry of Jal Shakti.
• The Central Government has approved a fund of over Rs 1,189 crore for implementation of Jal Jeevan Mission in Karnataka in 2020-21, which is a considerable increase from around 546 crore rupees in 2019-20.
• The Ministry of Jal Shakti has been working with the States in preparing a roadmap to implement the Prime Minister's flagship programme Jal Jeevan Mission.
• The mission aims at providing 55 litres of potable water per person per day to every rural household of the country by 2024.
• The Jal Shakti Ministry said, out of 89 lakh rural households in Karnataka, 24.50 lakh have been provided with tap connections.
• It said, in 2019-20, only 22,127 tap connections were provided and there is an immense scope to provide tap connections to remaining rural households.
• In 2020-21, the State is planning to enable 23.57 lakh households with tap water connections.
• In the prevailing COVID-19 pandemic situation, the Ministry has asked the State to start works related to water supply and water conservation immediately in villages so as to provide works to the migrant workers to provide livelihood as well as to ensure potable water in the households of rural people.
8. Madhya Pradesh tops wheat procurement in country with 1.27 crore tonnes
• Breaking all past records, Madhya Pradesh has emerged as the leading state in the country in terms of procurement of wheat for the year 2020.
• Madhya Pradesh has emerged the top state in the country in wheat procurement on support price by purchasing over 1.27 crore tonnes from farmers, which accounts for 33 per cent of all wheat procured in the country.
• Madhya Pradesh follows a decentralised model of procurement, under which, the state government procures wheat on behalf of the Centre and retains only the quantity required to run the state's public distribution system (PDS), while the remaining stocks are moved out by the union government.
• On June 8, Madhya Pradesh recorded a total procurement of 1,28,69,553 tonnes (128 lakh tonnes) of wheat as against 1,27,67,473 tonnes (127 lakh tonnes) by traditional leader Punjab.
• Procurement in Punjab closed on May 31, while procurement is continuing in four districts of Madhya Pradesh -- Indore, Bhopal, Ujjain and Dewas. Haryana with 73.98 lakh tonnes is the third-largest procurer of wheat in the country.
• The total wheat procurement in the country has touched 386 lakh tonnes as against an estimate of 440.66 lakh tonnes by the Centre. Madhya Pradesh's share in the total procurement in the country is 33 per cent. The total procurement in the country in 2019 was 368 lakh tonnes.
• Madhya Pradesh's previous record in the procurement of wheat was in the year 2012- 2013, when the state procured 84.89 lakh tonnes. In 2019, wheat procurement stood at 73.69 lakh tonnes. The present procurement is 74 per cent above last year's and is still continuing.
• Interestingly, Madhya Pradesh commenced wheat procurement only on April 15 as against March 25 in usual years, owing to the lockdown imposed due to the coronavirus outbreak.
• Initially, arrangements were made for the procurement of 100 lakh tonnes, but preparations were then undertaken for an additional 25 lakh tonnes more to be procured. The availability of gunny bags was an issue, however, stocks were procured while the lockdown was in force.
• While Punjab has been a leading player in wheat procurement for years, government procurement has become big in Madhya Pradesh only, in the last few years.
9. Supreme Court directs Centre, states to send migrant workers to their native places
• The Supreme Court directed the Centre and state governments to identify and send back within 15 days the stranded migrant workers willing to return to their native places and advocated for their counselling and help to find avenues of employment lost during COVID-19-induced country-wide lockdown.
• The apex court, which was dealing with the plea on "problems and miseries" of migrant workers, also asked authorities to consider "withdrawal" of criminal cases lodged against them for violating social distancing norms.
• It also directed the authorities to set up a help desk for those workers who wanted to come back to their old places of work.
• The apex court said the Central Government may give details of all schemes which can be availed by migrant workers who have returned to their native places.
• The top court, which on May 28 had passed a slew of directions including asking the states not to charge fare from the workers and provide them food free of cost till they board trains of buses, took note of the fact that so far, 171 'Shramik' trains have been demanded by various states from the Centre and further directed that any additional demand for trains will be fulfilled by Railways within "a period of 24 hours”.
10. Highest ever provision of more than one lakh crore rupees is made under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme in 2020-2021
• A provision of one lakh one thousand 500 crore rupees has been made under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme in the current financial year 2020-2021.
• It is the highest ever provision of funds under the programme. A sum of 31 thousand 493 crores has already been released in 2020-2021, which is more than 50 percent of the budget estimate of the current Financial Year.
• Minister for Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare Narendra Singh Tomar said that a total of 60.80 crore person days have been generated so far and work has been offered to 6.69 crore persons.
• Average number of persons to whom work offered in May this year has been 2.51 crore per day, which is 73 percent higher than the work offered in May last year.
11. Telangana Govt to promote all 10th class students without holding board exams due to COVID-19 situation
• Telangana state Government decided to promote all tenth class students without holding board examinations due to current situation in the wake of COVID-19 Pandemic.
• This was decided at a high level meeting held by Chief Minister K Chandrasekhra Rao in Hyderabad.
• Over 5.34 lakh students will now be promoted based on the grades decided through the internal assessment marks given by their respective schools earlier.
• The decision was taken following the state High Court directing the government that it can hold examinations for tenth class except in Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation, GHMC purview due to high incidence of COVID cases.
• Tenth class is the most crucial board exam in Higher Secondary School level education in Telangana state as the students will be given optional subjects from Intermediate education, the next level.
• It may be recalled that the examinations for three out of 11 papers have already been held before the lockdown commenced.
12. Delhi LG orders Delhi govt hospitals to treat all COVID-19 patients
• Delhi Lieutenant-Governor Anil Baijal has overruled Arvind Kejriwal government's decision to restrict people from other states from getting Covid-19 treatment at Delhi government-run hospitals.
• The L-G directed the concerned departments and authorities of NCT of Delhi to ensure that treatment is not denied to any patient on grounds of not being a resident of Delhi.
• The decision will bring relief to patients and their families from outside Delhi who are seeking treatment during the pandemic.
• Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, while announcing the restriction, had argued that if Delhi continued to cater to people from other states then the hospitals will soon be out of beds.
• However, the L-G has overruled the decision and has said that anyone who seeks medical attention at any hospital in Delhi will be catered to.
• Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal also changed another decision regarding the testing criteria for asymptomatic patients.
• Now, even asymptomatic people who have come in direct contact with a coronavirus positive patient can get the coronavirus test done within five to ten days.
• The final decision in the matter rests with Lieutenant-Governor Anil Baijal as he heads the Delhi Disaster Management Authority, while CM Arvind Kejriwal serves as his deputy on the committee. However, currently, the CM is in isolation as he is exhibiting the symptoms of Covid-19.
• So far, Delhi has registered 28936 cases of Covid-19 and 812 people have died because of the virus.
13. 958 dedicated COVID hospitals set up; Testing facilities increased across country: Dr Harsh Vardhan
• The 16th meeting of the Group of Ministers (GoM) was held in New Delhi through a video conference in which containment measures of COVID-19 were reviewed.
• The GoM Chairman Dr Harsh Vardhan said that India is in a much better place than rest of the world but there was no scope for complacency. The GoM was also apprised about the growing medical infrastructure in the country.
• As of 9th June, the COVID related health infrastructure was strengthened with the availability of 958 dedicated COVID Hospitals with over 1.67 lakh isolation beds, over 21,000 ICU beds and over 73,000 oxygen-supported beds.
• Besides, 2,313 dedicated COVID Health Centres and 7,525 COVID Care Centres are now available to combat COVID-19 in the country. The ventilators available for COVID beds are 21,494. The Centre has further placed an order of 60 thousand 848 ventilators.
• It was also informed that ICMR's testing capacity has increased through 553 government and 231 private laboratories and more than 49 lakh cumulative tests have been conducted in the country so far. It was also apprised that a total of one lakh 29 thousand and 214 people were cured. This takes the total recovery rate from the infection to 48.47 per cent. The total number of active cases now stood at one lakh 29 thousand 917.
• During the meeting, a brief snapshot was presented to the GoM highlighting the comparative position of India with respect to other countries in a similar stage of easing lockdown, underscoring the benefits that had accrued from the lockdown. The GoM was also briefed on the progress made in the spheres of the tasks assigned to the 11 Empowered Groups.
14. PM reviews Kedarnath Nath development & reconstruction project with Uttarakhand govt
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi conducted a review of the Kedarnath Math development and reconstruction project with the Uttarakhand State Government.
• The State Government should envision and design development projects for holy sites like Kedarnath and Badrinath in a way that stands the test of time and is yet eco-friendly and in harmony with nature and its surroundings.
• In Uttarakhand , Char Dham Yatra will not begin till 30th of this month at least. Pilgrims from within the state except for three districts where Four shrines are situated and pilgrims outside of the state will not be allowed in the four Char Dham shrines of Badrinath, Kedarnath, Yamunotri, and Gangotri before 30 June. Local pilgrims of Chamoli, Rudraprayag and Uttarkashi will be allowed in limited numbers to perform puja- Archana where Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri Dham are situated.
• A decision to start the yatra will be taken after 30 June. Priests and Teerth purohits of the Char Dham shrines have welcomed the decision.
• Meanwhile with strict COVID -19 precautionary measures like wearing of Masks and social distancing norms put in place, temples of the state except Dehradun have been reopened after a gap of over two months. However, the devotees' turnout remained low in most of the shrines.
15. Gujarat CM announces Phase-2 of SAUNI Yojana to be completed before 15th August
• Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani has announced that the Phase-2 of the Saurashtra-Narmada Avtaran Irrigation (SAUNI) Yojana will be completed before 15th of August.
• Mr. Rupani instructed the State Water Resources Department to complete the work of the scheme, which has an objective to meet the drinking water requirements of Saurashtra and Kutch regions with Narmada waters.
• Chief Minister Rupani had held a high-level review meeting with senior officials in Gandhinagar last evening to review the progress made in the Sauni Yojana.
• The Sauni Yojana is a vital engineering skilled scheme to fill 115 water reservoirs of arid Saurashtra and Kutch region to meet its drinking and irrigation requirement. This will provide benefit of Narmada water to the 737 villages of 11 districts and 31 cities of this region.
• The scheme provides water to as many as 16 dams. The work of the second phase to fill the 57 water reservoirs through laying pipeline networks of 541 kilometres is on the verge of completion.
• An amount of 14,707 crore rupees has been spent for four links of all the three phases of SAUNI Yojana. Out of this, 6,854 crore rupees were spent on the first phase while the second phase is about to complete with the cost of 6,973 crore rupees.
• The first phase of Saurashtra-Narmada Avataran Irrigation (SAUNI) Yojana was launched by Prime Minister Naredra Modi in 2016.
16. Health Ministry directs all CGHS empanelled hospitals shall provide facilities for COVID treatments
• The Health and Family Welfare Ministry has ordered that all CGHS empanelled hospitals, which are notified as COVID-Hospitals by State Governments shall provide treatment facilities to CGHS beneficiaries for all COVID related treatments.
• It has also been directed that all the CGHS empanelled hospitals, which are not notified as COVID hospitals, shall not deny treatment facilities or admission to CGHS beneficiaries and shall charge as per CGHS norms, for all other treatments.
• The Ministry said that action will be taken in case of violation of the guidelines.
• In this regard, the Ministry has issued an order today to all the Health Care Organizations (HCOs) empanelled under CGHS after reviewing the representations from CGHS beneficiaries regarding the difficulties in availing of treatment facilities at private hospitals and Diagnostic Centres empanelled under CGHS.
17. NCERT, Rotary India ink MoU for providing e-learning telecast content
• The National Council of Educational Research and Training- NCERT and Rotary India have signed a Memorandum of Understanding - MoU for providing e-learning telecast content for class one to 12th overall NCERT TV channels.
• The MoU was signed digitally in presence of Union Human Resource Development Minister Ramesh Pokhariyal Nishank in New Delhi.
• Amidst COVID-19, the collaboration of Rotary India Humanity Foundation and NCERT with the guidance and support of his Ministry will ensure that e-learning reaches children across the country with approved content.
• Under Vidya Daan 2.0 Rotary International will provide the e-content in Hindi language to NCERT for classes I to 12th for all subjects.
• This high class material will be very beneficial to all the school children.
• Rotary International will also provide material for special needs children as well as contribute its entirety to the Adult Literacy Mission. It will also provide the Teacher Training content.
18. Uttar Pradesh govt amends 65 years old cow slaughter act of state
• The Uttar Pradesh government has amended the 65 years old cow slaughter act of state and made stringent provisions in a new ordinance to stop cow slaughter in the state.
• The State Cabinet approved Cow-Slaughter Prevention (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020. The amendments are aimed to protect the cow and prevent crimes related to cow slaughter.
• Cabinet observed that although there have been amendments to the original act of 1955 but still some loopholes were there because of which it was not implemented properly and reports of illegal cow slaughter were coming from different parts of state.
• The people involved in cow slaughter were getting bail and again get involved in such acts.Under the new law, anyone found guilty of cow slaughter will have to face maximum 10-year jail term and Rs 5 lakh of fine.The new section makes inflicting injury and torture with intent to endanger the life of a cow a punishable offence. To name and shame offenders, the government will also put out pictures of those indulging in cow slaughtering and harming them in prominent public places across the area they reside.
• In case someone does such a crime again after conviction then he will be punished with double penalty provided for this offense.
• Section 5 of the ordinance suggests punishment for transportation of bovine animals.
• If someone puts the life of a cow in danger by not providing food and water with the intention of endangering their life, rigorous imprisonment may be awarded for at least 1 year, which may extend to 7 years.
• According to the proposed legislation, the expenditure incurred on the maintenance of the captured cows will be recovered from the owner of the vehicle for a period of one year or until the cow or bovine is released.
19. PM Modi holds telephonic conversation with Philippines President
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke on telephone with President of Philippines Rodrigo Duterte and discussed the steps being taken by the two Governments to address the challenges arising out of the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Both leaders expressed appreciation for the cooperation extended to ensure the welfare of their citizens in each other's territory, as also for their repatriation home, during the ongoing health crisis.
• The Philippines President also appreciated the steps taken by India to maintain supply of essential pharmaceutical products to the Philippines.
• Prime Minister assured President Duterte of India's commitment to support the Philippines in its fight against the pandemic, and stressed that India's well-established capacity for manufacturing affordable pharmaceutical products, including for an eventual vaccine once it is found, would continue to be deployed for the benefit of the entire humanity.
• The leaders shared their satisfaction at the progress seen in recent years in all aspects of the bilateral relationship, including defence cooperation. The Prime Minister emphasised that India sees the Philippines as a vital partner in the Indo-Pacific Region.
• The Prime Minister conveyed his best wishes to His Excellency President Duterte and the people of the Philippines for the forthcoming National Day of the Philippines.
20. High level multi-disciplinary central teams deployed in 15 most affected States and UTs
• Central teams have been deputed to assist state health officials in reviewing the public health measures being undertaken to combat COVID-19 in six cities of Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Kolkata and Bengaluru which are among the major contributors to India's rising tally of coronavirus infections.
• These teams will provide technical support and handhold the state health departments and municipal health officials for reviewing public health measures implemented for containment and management of COVID-19 outbreak in the six cities, the Union health ministry said.
• The teams will visit these cities within the next one week to review public health measures being undertaken for COVID-19 and submit a daily report of activities undertaken in collaboration with the local administration there.
• They will inform them regarding any issue of urgent importance and also submit a report of its observations and suggestions before concluding the visit.
• India currently is the fifth worst-hit nation by the COVID-19 pandemic after the US, Brazil, Russia and the UK, according to data issued by Johns Hopkins University.
21. PM Modi holds telephonic conversation with Cambodian counterpart; discuss Covid-19 pandemic
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi had a telephonic conversation with his Cambodian counterpart Samdech Akka Moha Sena Padei Techo Hun Sen.
• The two leaders discussed the COVID-19 pandemic. They agreed to continue the ongoing cooperation for helping each other's expatriates and facilitating their evacuation.
• During the conversation, Mr Modi conveyed India's commitment for further strengthening its relationship with Cambodia, an important member of ASEAN with shared civilizational and cultural ties with India. The leaders also reviewed the robust development partnership between both countries, including capacity building programmes under the ITEC scheme and Quick Impact Projects under the Mekong-Ganga Cooperation framework.
• The Cambodian Prime Minister emphasised the importance that Cambodia attaches to relations with India. The Prime Minister reciprocate the sentiment and stressed Cambodia's valued role in India's Act East policy.
22. India-Israel partnership to grow ever stronger in post-COVID world: PM Modi
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that India-Israel partnership will grow ever stronger in the days to come.
• He had an excellent conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about how India and Israel can collaborate in the post-COVID world. Mr Modi had a telephonic discussion with his Israel counterpart yesterday. He reiterated his congratulations for Mr Netanyahu's recent assumption of office, and expressed confidence that the India-Israel partnership will continue to flourish under Mr Netanyahu's leadership and guidance.
• The two leaders discussed the potential areas in which India and Israel can expand their cooperation in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, including research and development efforts in the fields of vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics. They agreed to maintain the ongoing exchanges between expert teams of both countries. They also concurred that the fruits of such collaboration should be made available for the wider benefit of humanity.
• The leaders reviewed other important topics on the bilateral agenda, and agreed that the post-COVID world would create further avenues for mutually beneficial partnerships in many areas. They assessed tremendous scope for expanding the already robust India-Israel collaboration in areas like health technology, agricultural innovation, defence-cooperation and information technology.
• Both leaders agreed to remain in regular touch to share assessments and consult each other on the emerging opportunities and challenges in the changing global scenario.
23. BECL floats tender to provide “solution and services” related to “fact verification and disinformation detection” on social media platforms.
• Broadcast Engineering Consultants India Limited (BECIL), has floated a tender inviting agencies to provide “solution and services” related to “fact verification and disinformation detection” on social media platforms.
• It is a Mini Ratna and Central Public Sector Enterprise (CPSE) under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
• The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) is also working on the final contours of the Information Technology Intermediary Guidelines and Guidelines for use of Social Media Regulations 2020. Its final draft of the rules is yet to be made public.
24. Corona: UP govt to launch state level sample collection campaign
• The Uttar Pradesh government is launching a state level sample collection campaign today to find out the level of corona infection among the different sections of society.
• The campaign will run for one week in which various clusters of the society will be tested which includes delivery boys, newspaper vendors and other daily workers.
• Under this campaign samples to those people will be taken who move frequently due to their work.
• On the first day the campaign team of health workers will visit old age homes, women's hostels, orphanage and juvenile homes and will take samples of the inmates.
• Samples will be taken from slums of city areas. Similarly those people who are involved in home delivery, newspaper vendors, employees of hospitals, milk suppliers, security guards, pharmacist salesman, and clerical staff of hospitals will be tested on different days.
• The aim of this exercise is to get the information about the spread of Corona infection so that measures can be taken to control this.
• Such a campaign was launched among migrant workers in 18 districts of state to know the level of infection.
• In these districts 72 villages were chosen where 50 or migrants have been returned and after completion of their 15 days Quarantine other persons of the village were tested to get the information about the spread of virus.
• The motive was to understand how successfully the workers spent the quarantine period and whether they infected other villages also or not. He said that all reports of tested persons came negative.
25. Assam OIL owned well catches fire on 14th day of natural gas leak
• A massive fire erupted at a leaking natural-gas oil well in Assam’s Tinsukia district on June 8, 2020.
• The oil well, part of Baghjan oil fields, is owned by Oil India Limited (OIL).
• The oil well is situated near Assam’s Dibru Saikhowa National Park and the Maguri-Motapung wetland.
• It has reportedly been leaking gas since the last 14 days after it suffered damage following a blowout on May 27. A blowout is a sudden uncontrolled release of crude oil or gas from a production well.
• A team of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) has been deployed in the area since the time of the gas leak. The Indian Air Force and the Army have also been called in to assist in the firefighting operations. The entire area has been cordoned off by paramilitary forces.
26. Flood warning system “IFLOWS-Mumbai” launched
• Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan will launch a flood warning system for Mumbai that has faced frequent flooding.
• In a bid to aid in the mitigation activities of the flood prone city, Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai approached the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) to develop an Integrated Flood Warning System for Mumbai referred to as IFLOWS-Mumbai.
• MoES initiated the development of IFLOWS-Mumbai in July 2019 using the in-house expertise available within the Ministry of Earth Sciences in close coordination with Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai.
• IFLOWS-Mumbai is developed as a state of art Integrated Flood Warning system for Mumbai to enhance the resilience of the city of Mumbai by providing early warning for flooding specially during high rainfall events and cyclones.
• It comprises seven modules of data assimilation, flood, inundation, vulnerability, risk, dissemination module and decision support system.
• The system will incorporate weather models from National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting (NCMRWF), India Meteorological Department (IMD), field data from the rain gauge network stations setup by Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) and IMD, thematic layers on land use, infrastructure etc provided by MCGM.
27. Gir Sanctuary Gujarat’s Asiatic Lion population risen to 29% in 5 years; “Poonam Avlokan” survey
• The population of Asiatic lions in Gujarat's Gir forest has increased by almost 29 per cent.
• The number of Asiatic lions in the Gir forest region has increased to 674 in 2020 from 523 in 2015.
• The Gujarat forest department carried out a population estimation exercise' on the night of June 5 and 6 when there was a full moon. Normally, a census is carried out.
• The Poonam Avlokan' (full-moon night estimation exercise) showed that the lion's population had reached 674, a 28.87 percent increase.
• The exercise also revealed that the area inhabited by lions has increased by 36 percent from 22,000 sq km in 2015 to 30,000 sq km in 2020.
• The Lion Census involves larger participation. Around 2,000 officers, experts and volunteers were involved in the 2015 Census. That makes the Census more transparent.
• The lion ‘observation’ this month was conducted by around 1,400 forest staff and a few experts.
28. Tamil Nadu govt. has changed names of 1018 districts and cities
• In a surprise announcement, the government of Tamil Nadu has changed the names of over a thousand cities and districts in the state to make their spellings closer to their Tamil pronunciation.
• A total of 1018 places have been renamed.
• The names of some places were reverted to their original Tamil names, others underwent a spelling change.
• Under the new rules, Coimbatore is set to by Koyampuththoor, Mylapore is now Mayilaappor and Vellore is now Veeloor.
• VOC Nagar is now Va.OO.Si. Nagar, Puducherry is Puthucherry, Dharmapuri is Tharumapuri.
29. Andhra Pradesh CM YS Jagan Mohan Reddy launches ‘Jagananna Chedodu’ scheme
• Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy launched the Jagananna Chedodu scheme.
• It will benefit a total of 2.47 lakh beneficiaries who will be helped with this scheme.
• A one-time financial aid of Rs. 10,000 each will be provided to Nayee Brahmins, Laundry men and Tailors as a financial aid.
• They should be under the age of 60 years.
30. Himachal Pradesh CM Jai Ram Thakur launched ‘Panchvati Yojana’ for the senior citizens of rural areas
• Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur launched the "Panchvati Yojana" for senior citizens of rural areas in the state.
• Under this scheme, parks and gardens will be developed in all the development blocks with necessary facilities under the MNREGA scheme of the Rural Development Department.
• The main objective of the scheme is to provide parks and gardens along with entertainment to the senior citizens of the state.
• Keeping in mind the health needs of senior citizens, these parks and gardens will be developed on the flat land of minimum one bigha in MNREGA, Swachh Bharat Mission (Rural) and 14th Finance Commission Convergence.
• Apart from planting Ayurvedic and medicinal plants in these parks, recreational equipment, walking paths and other basic facilities will be made available to the elderly for recreation.
ECONOMY, BUSINESS AND DEFENCE NEWS
1. World Bank lends Rs. 1,950 crore loans to W Bengal Govt for tackling COVID situation
• The World Bank has given Rs. 1,950 crore loans to the West Bengal Government for tackling COVID situation and developmental work in the State.
• Out of it, Rs. 1,100 crore will be spent for creating Industrial infrastructures and remaining Rs. 850 crore have been allocated for spending on various Social-Welfare schemes.
2. CBIC launches its flagship programme 'Turant Customs' at Bengaluru & Chennai
• Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs, CBIC launched its flagship programme Turant Customs, at Bengaluru and Chennai. This is a giant leap forward to leverage technology for faster Customs clearance of imported goods.
• Importers will now get their goods cleared from Customs after a faceless assessment is done remotely by the Customs officers located outside the port of import.
• Now, the goods imported at Chennai may be assessed by the Customs officers located at Bengaluru and vice versa, as assigned by the Customs' automated system.
• Turant Customs is a mega reform for the ease of doing business.
• The start of Turant Customs at Bengaluru and Chennai will be the first phase of the All India roll out which will get completed by 31st December this year. The first phase will cover imports of Mechanical, Electrical and Electronics machineries at the ports, airports and ICDs of Bengaluru and Chennai.
• CBIC said that Turant Customs will benefit the importers by eliminating routine interface with the Customs officers and providing uniformity in assessment across the country.
3. India and Denmark have signed an MoU for developing cooperation in the power sector.
• India and Denmark have signed an MoU for developing cooperation in the power sector.
• The MoU signed between the Ministry of Power and the Ministry for Energy, Utilities and Climate, Government of Denmark, is to develop a strong, deep and long-term co-operation between two countries in the power sector on the basis of equality, reciprocity and mutual benefit.
• It provides for collaboration in areas like offshore wind, long term energy planning, forecasting, flexibility in the grid, consolidation of grid codes to integrate and operate efficiently variable generation options, flexibility in the power purchase agreements and variability in renewable energy production.
• Indian electricity market will benefit from this cooperation with Denmark. Under the MoU, a Joint Working Group will also be established. It will be co-chaired by Joint Secretary level officials.
4. EPFO settles 36.02 lakh claims, disburses Rs 11,540 cr to members during lockdown
• To enhance the ease of living experience of its members during the challenging times of COVID -19 lockdown, Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO), a statutory body under Union Ministry of Labour & Employment, ensured timely and effective delivery of services to its members. Despite the lockdown restrictions EPFO settled a staggering 36.02 lakh claims thereby disbursing Rs. 11,540 crore to its members during the last two months of April and May 2020.
• Out of this, 15.54 lakh claims, disbursing Rs. 4580 crore to claimants, were related to the recently introduced COVID-19 advance under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (PMGKY).
• The COVID-19 advance has been a great help to EPFO's members during these difficult times, especially for the members with monthly wages of less than Rs 15,000. Receiving the COVID-19 advance to the extent of basic wages and DA for three months or up to 75% of the amount standing to member's credit in the EPF account, whichever is less, has provided timely relief to many workers, preventing them from falling into indebtedness.
• More than 74 % of total claimants during the lockdown period belonged to a slab of less than Rs.15,000 wage.
• The high income category with wages more than Rs. 50,000 accounted for a mere 2% of the claimants. Approximately 24% of claims were made by the members with wages falling in the Rs.15,000 to less than Rs.50,000 category.
5. Govt extends validity date of motor vehicle documents till Sept. 2020
• The government has further extended the validity of essential motor vehicle documents, including driving licences, fitness certificates, vehicle registration certificates and permits, till September 30, 2020.
• The decision has been taken in the wake of the prevailing Covid-19 situation in the country.
• The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) has issued an advisory to all the states and UTs regarding extension of the validity of the motor vehicle documents.
• In March 2020, the MoRTH had extended the validity of several documents, including fitness certificates, permits (all types), driving licences, registration certificates or any other concerned document under the Motor Vehicle Rules, which had expired since February 1, 2020 or were set to expire by May 31, 2020 till June 30, 2020.
6. Customs duty hiked on bamboo imports from 10% to 25%
• Union Government has hiked Customs duty on bamboo imports by agarbatti manufacturers from 10 per cent to 25 per cent with immediate effect.
• The decision has been taken to encourage use of domestic bamboo under the Atma Nirbhar Bharat scheme.
• The 25 per cent customs duty rate shall now uniformly apply to any import of bamboo, including by traders.
• The uniform rate will help in avoiding misuse and rate-related disputes. This measure is seen to benefit farmers and MSME agarbatti manufacturers. Earlier, the gains were utilized by only the large agarbatti manufacturers as they were able to import bamboo at lower rates.
7. Railways transports approximately 60 lakh migrant workers to their destination states since 1st May
• Indian Railways will continue to provide Shramik Special trains within 24 hours after the demand is received from the states. Railway Ministry has requested the State Governments to indicate their requirements about Shramik Special trains.
• Railway Board Chairman Vinod Kumar Yadav said that Indian Railways will provide the desired number of Shramik Special trains immediately within 24 hours of the request made by the State Governments. Railways has also assured that it will provide additional Shramik Special trains for any future requirement.
• More than 4,347 Shramik Special trains have been operated by Railways to transport approximately 60 lakh migrant workers to their destination states since 1st of May.
8. Railways transported 82.27 million tonnes of essential commodities in April
• Indian Railways continues in its endeavour to ensure availability of essential commodities through its freight and parcel services during the lockdown due to COVID-19.
• Railways Freight is showing forward movement as lockdown is getting lifted. In the month of May, Railways transported 82.27 million tonnes of essential commodities compared to 65.14 million tonnes in April. This is a hike of 25 percent.
• In total, from 1st April to 9th June, Indian Railways has transported 175.46 million tonnes of essential commodities through its uninterrupted 24X7 freight trains operations across the country.
• From 24th March till now, more than 31.90 lakh wagons carried supplies to keep the supply chain functional. Of these, more than 17.81 lakh wagons carried essential commodities like food grains, salt, sugar, milk, edible oil, onions, fruits and vegetables, petroleum products, coal, and fertilizers throughout the country.
• Apart from this, 3,861 Parcel Trains have also been run of which 3,755 are time-tabled trains. Over one lakh 37 thousand tonnes of consignment have been loaded in these Parcel Trains. Railways has made railway parcel vans available for quick mass transportation by e-commerce entities and other customers including state governments.
9. Deep Submergence Rescue Vehicle Complex inaugurated at Visakhapatnam
• The Deep Submergence Rescue Vehicle (DSRV) Complex was inaugurated at Visakhapatnam by Vice Admiral Atul Kumar Jain, PVSM, AVSM, VSM Flag Officer Commanding in Chief ENC.
• The DSRV Complex is designed to accommodate the newly inducted Submarine Rescue System with state of the art facilities to store the DSRV assets in a Rescue-Ready state.
• The DSRV system consists of a Submarine Rescue Vessel, a Remote Operations Vehicle, Side Scan Sonar and associated equipment.
• It also has Diver Decompression Chambers and hyperbaric medical equipment to decompress submariners after being rescued from a sunken submarine. The DSRV system can be rapidly mobilised by air or road to facilitate submarine rescue operations even at distant locations.
• The Indian Navy has inducted two such systems which will provide rescue cover to submarines on the West and East coast of India respectively.
• Currently, there are about 40 nations that operate submarines in the world out of which only a few have any form of submarine rescue capability. The third generation IN submarine rescue capability can, therefore, be called upon to assist during submarine contingencies of other navies in the IOR.
10. Govt issues advisory on providing urban transport services in view of COVID-19
• The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs has issued an advisory to the States, Cities and Metro Rail Companies suggesting measures to be taken by them for providing urban transport services in view of COVID-19.
• In the advisory, the Ministry has suggested a three-pronged strategy related to Short term within six months, Medium term within one year and Long term from one to three years.
• The advisory suggested encouraging and reviving Non-Motorised Transport (NMT).
• As most of the urban trips are clocked in under five kilometres, NMT offers opportunity in this COVID 19 crisis as it requires low cost, less human resource and it is environment friendly as well as easy to implement.
• On recommencing Public Transport with greater confidence of Commuters, the advisory said that public transport is the backbone in urban areas especially for the low and middle income commuters for which these services are the mainstay of their daily transit needs. It said, however, it is imperative at this stage that transmission of infection through usage of public transport should be curbed by adopting the right sanitization and social distancing measures.
• The advisory has been issued in view of COVID-19 pandemic which has suddenly impacted the way of life and local, regional and global transport systems.
• There is a steep drop in public transport ridership volumes by 90 per cent and upto 60 per cent reduction in air pollution has been observed. It said, re-establishing the earlier level of ridership in public transport is a big challenge for cities, as people may be looking for more options, especially personal modes that allow for safer travel in the post lockdown scenario.
11. Twitter launches a new feature-Fleet
• Microblogging platform Twitter has rolled out a new feature –Fleets –in India that will make tweets disappear after 24 hours and will have no retweets, likes or public comments.
• The feature has been rolled out in India in testing phase while Twitter has sought comments and feedback on the same.
• Fleets are similar to tweets. Though they are primarily text, people can include videos, GIFs or photos in them.
12. Adani Green Energy has won the world's largest solar order
• Billionaire Gautam Adani's renewable energy firm Adani Green Energy has won the world's largest solar order to build 8 gigawatts of photovoltaic (PV) power plants along with a domestic solar panel manufacturing unit at an investment of Rs 45,000 crore.
• Adani Energy will set up a domestic solar panel manufacturing capacity of 2 GW (2,000 megawatts) as well as built 8 gigawatts (GW) of generation projects.
• The firm will get a fixed tariff of Rs 2.92 per kilowatt-hour (per unit) from the power plant over a contract period of 25 years.
With this contract, Adani Green now has a portfolio of 15 GW of renewable power generating assets.
• The projects will include a variety of locations, including a 2 GW single-site generation project that is tied for the rank of the largest single-site project announced globally.
• The solar cell and module manufacturing capacity of 2 GW will be established by 2022 and along with the existing 1.3 GW of capacity will further consolidate the group's position as India's largest solar manufacturing facility.
13. RBI proposes to limit tenures of CEOs & whole-time directors of commercial lenders
• The Reserve Bank of India has proposed to restrict the tenure of chief executive officers (CEOs) and whole-time directors (WTDs) of commercial banks to 10 years if the person is from the promoter group and 15 years in the case of professional management.
• Thereafter, the individual should be eligible for re-appointment as WTD or CEO only after the expiration of three years.
• During this three-year period the individual should not be appointed or associated with the bank in any capacity, either directly or indirectly, advisory or otherwise. On the date of issuance of the guideline, banks with WTDs or CEO who have completed 10 or 15 years should have two years or up to the expiry of the current tenure, whichever is later, to identify and appoint a successor
• The RBI has said it is desirable to limit the tenure of the WTDs or CEOs “to build a robust culture of sound governance practice, professional management of banks and adopt the principle of separating ownership from management”.
• It is felt that 10 years is an adequate time limit for a promoter/ major shareholder of a bank as WTD or CEO of the bank to stabilise its operations and transition the managerial leadership to a professional management.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
1. OPEC & its allies agree to cut oil production by about 10% till July
• Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allied nations have agreed to extend a production cut of nearly 10 million barrels of oil a day through the end of July, hoping to boost energy prices hard hit by the Coronavirus pandemic.
• Ministers of the cartel and outside nations like Russia met via video conference to adopt the measure, aimed at cutting out the excess production depressing prices as global aviation remains largely grounded due to the pandemic. It represents some 10 percent of the world's overall supply.
• Algerian Oil Minister Mohamed Arkab, the current OPEC president, warned attendees that the global oil inventory would soar to 1.5 billion barrels by the mid-point of this year.
2. Global economy to shrink 5.2% this year due to coronavirus pandemic
• The global economy, which has plunged into a severe contraction, will shrink by 5.2 per cent this year due to the massive shock of the coronavirus pandemic and the shutdown measures to contain it.
• The coronavirus recession is the first since 1870 to be triggered solely by a pandemic, World Bank President David Malpass said in his foreword to the latest edition of the Global Economic Prospect report released in Washington.
• According to the report, economic activity among advanced economies is anticipated to shrink by seven per cent in 2020 as domestic demand and supply, trade and finance have been severely disrupted.
• Emerging Markets and Developing Economies (EMDEs) are expected to shrink by 2.5 per cent this year, their first contraction as a group in at least 60 years, it said. Per capita incomes are expected to decline by 3.6 per cent, which will tip millions of people into extreme poverty this year, according to the report.
• According to World Bank President Malpass, beyond the staggering economic impacts, the pandemic will also have severe and long-lasting socio-economic impacts that may well weaken long-term growth prospects -- the plunge in investment because of elevated uncertainty, the erosion of human capital from the legions of unemployed and the potential for ruptures of trade and supply linkages.
• The current projections suggest that the coronavirus recession will involve a decline in global per capita Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 6.2 per cent, making it the deepest global recession since 1945-46, and more than twice as deep as the recession associated with the global financial crisis, the report said.
• Current forecasts suggest that in 2020, the highest share of economies will experience contractions in annual per capita GDP since 1870, it said.
3. Dhaka Metropolitan Police starts Yoga practice for its officers
• The Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) has started Yoga practice for its officers to make them physically and mentally fit at a time when Coronavirus is spreading rapidly in the country. A Yoga session was organized with about 100 police officers participating in various exercises and activities in Dhaka.
• Over the course of time about 1,200 police personnel will participate in the Yoga sessions organized by the DMP.
• Yoga was important to keep the police force stress free during the duty and the Yoga session was part of the exercise to morally boost the police during the time of the pandemic.
• More than 6000 police personnel across Bangladesh have been infected by Coronavirus since the first case was reported on March 8. Coronavirus has been spreading fast in Bangladesh.
4. NFL inks MoU with ITI Nangal for training of youth in 12 trades for employment
• With a view to give thrust to the Skill India initiative, National Fertilizers Limited, NFL, a Central Public Sector Enterprise Under Department Of Fertilizers, has started tying up with Industrial Training Institutes located near to its plants to train youth in various trades and to enhance the chances of their employability in heavy and process industry.
• The Nangal plant of the company in Punjab has signed an MoU with ITI, Nangal to train youth in 12 trades.
• The students will be skilled under the Dual System of Training Scheme under which they will learn theoretical skills in the institute and on-the-job training in NFL Nangal plant.
• ITI, Nangal is one of the oldest institutes in Punjab. With the signing of this MoU with ITI, NFL became the first CPSE to take this initiative in the state of Punjab. The company plans to explore more such options in future to give impetus to Skill India by training more youth from institutes. NFL has five gas based Ammonia-Urea plants in Nangal and Bathinda plants in Punjab, Panipat plant in Haryana and two plants at Vijaipur in Guna District of Madhya Pradesh.
5. Bangladesh launches plasma network for COVID 19 treatment
• The Government of Bangladesh has launched an online network to facilitate plasma exchange between recovered patients of COVID-19 and those undergoing treatment for Corona infection in the country.
• Named ‘Shohojodha’, the initiative has been launched by the ICT division of the government of Bangladesh in collaboration with Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), a2i innovation lab and eGeneration to facilitate collection and distribution of plasma from patients who have recovered from Coronavirus.
• Launching the network through a virtual programme on Tuesday, the State ICT Minister Zunaid Ahmad Palak said that the government is implementing IT infrastructure over the existing system to improve health outcomes concerning Coronavirus.
• The plasma therapy for the Coronavirus patients in Bangladesh is under trial process awaiting final approval from the government.
SPORTS NEWS
1. ICC approves replacements in test cricket, bans use of saliva to shine ball
• The ICC approved Covid-19 replacements in Test cricket, banned the use of saliva and re-introduced non-neutral umpires for bilateral series as part of its interim playing regulations to tackle the threat posed by the Covid-19 pandemic.
• In the five new regulations, recommended by the Anil Kumble-chaired Cricket Committee, and ratified by the Chief Executives Committee (CEC), the teams will also be allowed an additional DRS call as home umpires will now be officiating in bilateral Test series.
• Also, a 32-inch additional logo would be permitted on the players' jerseys, which will help teams make commercial gains as Boards battle the pandemic's financial blow.
• Teams will be allowed to replace players displaying symptoms of Covid-19 during a Test match. In line with concussion replacements, the Match Referee will approve the nearest like-for-like replacement.
• The CEC predictably ratified the ban on use of saliva, which is considered to be a transmitter of novel coronavirus unlike sweat which will still be allowed to shine the ball. Repeated violation of the ban would at first invite a warning before a five-run penalty is imposed.
• The introduction of two home team umpires for bilaterals after nearly two decades is purely due to the logistical challenges of travelling given the flight restrictions in place globally.
2. West Indies’ two-time T20 World Cup winning captain Darren Sammy
• West Indies' two-time T20 World Cup-winning captain Darren Sammy called out former SunRisers Hyderabad team-mates who had racially abused him during the 2013 and 2014 Indian Premier League seasons.
• He shared an emotional video on his Instagram account where he revealed that he and Sri Lanka’s all-rounder Thisara Perera were called "kalu" when they were part of the IPL.
• Sammy said that he was listening to Indian American comedian Hasan Minhaj who was explaining how "some in his culture" describes black people, and how he was angry after listening to him.
• Sunriser Hyderabad is owned by Kalanithi Maran of the Sun TV Network. It was founded in 2012.
RANKINGS AND INDEX
1. HRD Minister releases NIRF ranking; IIT Madras tops the overall list
• Indian Institute of Technology, Madras is the best higher education institution in the country, according to the National Institutional Ranking Framework released by Human Resource Development Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank.
• Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore has bagged the second position and IIT Delhi is in the third position.
• Miranda House has been chosen as the best college, followed by Lady Shri Ram and Hindu College.
• IISc, Bangalore has topped universities category in the rankings, followed by Jawaharlal Nehru University and Banaras Hindu University.
2. Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings (WUR) 2021
• In the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings (WUR) 2021, 21 Indian universities and institutes have found a place this year among the world’s top 1,000.
• In 2020, there were 25 institutes.
• IIT-Bombay retains its status as country’s top university, followed by IISc-Bangalore, IIT-Delhi, IIT-Madras, IIT-Kharagpur, IIT-Kanpur, IIT-Roorkee, IIT-Guwahati, Delhi University and IIT-Hyderabad.
• Globally, MIT is the number one university, followed by Stanford University and Harvard University.
3. Mercer’s 26th Annual ‘Cost of Living Survey 2020 ‘: Mumbai ranks 60th globally, 19th in Asia
• According to Mercer's '2020 Cost of Living Survey', Mumbai is the 60th most expensive city for expatriates globally, while it ranks 19th in Asia.
• Mumbai is the most expensive among Indian cities surveyed, followed by New Delhi (101st globally) and Chennai (143rd globally).
• Bengaluru (171) and Kolkata (185) are the least expensive Indian cities in the rankings.
• The global list was topped by Hong Kong, followed by Ashgabat (Turkmenistan) in second position. Japan's Tokyo and Switzerland's Zurich remain in the third and fourth positions, respectively, whereas Singapore is in fifth position.
• Tunis in Tunisia, Windhoek (Namibia), Tashkent (Uzbekistan), Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan) and Karachi (Pakistan) were ranked at the bottom as the least expensive cities in the world.
• The survey is designed to help multinational companies and governments determine compensation strategies for their expatriate employees. New York City is used as the base city for all comparisons and currency movements are measured against the US dollar.
• This year's ranking includes 209 cities across five continents, and measures the comparative cost of more than 200 items in each location, including housing, transportation, food, clothing, household goods and entertainment
