NATIONAL NEWS

LinkedIn and UN Women

• LinkedIn, the world’s largest professional network will invest USD 5,00,000 (Rs 3.88 crore) in partnership with UN Women to advance women’s economic empowerment.

• The project will launch a pilot in Maharashtra to cultivate the digital, soft and employability skills of 2,000 women and present them with a range of career-building opportunities through job fairs.

• The three-year regional collaboration will digitally upskill women, providing them greater access to jobs and equipping them to fully participate in the economy.
• The partnership will be guided by the Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs), a set of effective, actionable principles that guide businesses on how to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment in the workplace, marketplace and community.

PMJAY

• The state which disburses highest amount of funds under Pradhan Mandri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY) is “Karnataka”.

• PMJAY is the world largest health assurance scheme, aims at providing a health cover of Rs. 5 lakhs per family per year for secondary and tertiary care hospitalization to poor and vulnerable families.

• The scheme was launched in the year of 2018.

India to Hosts SAIFMM

• On 16 June 2022, India hosted a Special ASEAN-India Foreign Ministers’ Meeting (SAIFMM), in order to commemorate 30 years of ASEAN-India Dialogue Relations.

• Meeting was co-chaired by External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Singapore, Vivian Balakrishnan.

• During the meeting, foreign ministers highlighted the importance of India-ASEAN relations. They underlined the role played by ASEAN in India’s Act East Policy vision for a wider Indo-Pacific.
• They further discussed on the implementation of ASEAN-India Joint Statement on Cooperation on ASEAN Outlook on Indo-Pacific. They also exchanged views on important international and regional developments.

Government Extends Upper Age Limit for Agnipath Scheme

• The Central government extended the upper age limit for the Agnipath recruitment scheme from 21 years to 23 years.

• Defence Ministry announced that the age waiver will be given only “one time” for the proposed recruitment cycle for 2022.

• The scheme provides an opportunity for Indian youth to serve in the regular cadre of the Armed forces for a period of four years.

Joint Border Operation Friendship 2022

• The eighth meeting of the heads of the border services of the member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation was held under the Chairmanship of India.

• The meeting was attended by the representatives of the border services of India, China, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Russia, Kyrgyz Republic, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and the Executive Committee of the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation.
• The participants exchanged information reflecting the assessment of the situation on the state borders of the SCO member states, trends and forecasts of its development.
• The plan for the preparation and conduct of the Joint Border Operation Friendship Border 2022 was reviewed and approved.

75 beaches in India to be cleaned

• 75 beaches of India will be cleaned up to commemorate ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’. The coastal clean-up drive will be carried out in the country for 75 days from July 3 to September 17, 2022.

• The drive to clean the beaches aims at removing one thousand 500 tonnes of garbage from the coasts.

• The mission was disclosed by the Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh, while he was chairing a meeting to preview the preparations for International Coastal Clean-Up Day-2022.
• The Union Minister informed that this will be a unique and longest-running coastal clean-up campaign with the highest number of people participating in it.

Projects PMITC

• The “Pragati Maidan Integrated Transit Corridor project” at New Delhi has been built at a cost of more than Rs. 920 crore, entirely funded by the Central Government.
• It is aimed to provide hassle free and smooth access to the new world class exhibition and convention centre being developed at Pragati Maidan, thereby facilitating easy participation of exhibitors and visitors in the programmes being held at Pragati Maidan.
• The impact of the project, however, will be much beyond Pragati Maidan as it will ensure hassle-free vehicular movement, helping save time and cost of commuters in a big way.
• It is part of the overarching vision of the government to ensure ease of living for people through transforming urban infrastructure.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

APEDA Organises Mango Festival in Bahrain

• The Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) launched an eight-day-long Mango Festival in the Kingdom of Bahrain in association with the Indian Embassy and Al Jazira Group.
• The mango show in Bahrain is part of APEDA’s new initiatives to explore international markets for Indian mangoes under the ‘Mango Festival 2022’.
• At the show, 34 varieties of mangoes from eastern states of West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh and Odisha, are being displayed at eight different locations of Bahrain.
• The mango show will continue till 20 June 2022.

BANKING

RBI Lifts Restrictions on Mastercard

• On 16 June 2022, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) lifted the restrictions imposed on Mastercard.

• The Central bank had announced restrictions on Mastercard in 2021 for failing to comply with the local data storage norms.

• Under RBI Mastercard restrictions, the US-based payment gateway was restricted from onboarding the new customers until it complies with the Storage of Payment System Data norms.
• The RBI had given Mastercard almost three years to comply with the regulatory directives.

ECONOMY

Sovereign Gold Bond Scheme

• The first tranche of Sovereign gold bond for 2022-23 will open from June 20 for first five days, said by RBI.

• The RBI further said that the second tranche (2022-23 Series II) will be available from August 22-26.

• The scheme was launched in the year of 2015.
• The Central bank issues the bond on behalf of government and these bonds are sale to resident individuals,Hindu Undivided Families (HUFs),trusts,universities and charitable institutions.
• The tenure of the bond will be period of 8years, with an option of premature redemption after 5 th year to be exercised on the date on which interest is payable.
• The minimum investment limit will be 1gm. of gold and maximum limit will be 4 KG for individual, 4 Kg for HUF and 20 Kg for trusts and similar entities.

AWARDS & PRIZES

Mrs India World 2022-2023

• Mrs. India World 2022-2023 was held on 15 June 2022 in Mumbai.

• Mrs. Sargam Koushal was crowned the winner and will represent India at Mrs. World 2022.

• She was followed by Mrs. Juhi Vyas as first runner and Mrs. Chahat Dalal secured third position.

RANKS, INDICES & REPORTS

IMD's World Competitiveness Index

• The annual World Competitiveness Index compiled by the Institute for Management Development (IMD) was released.

• India has witnessed the sharpest rise among the Asian economies, with a jump from 43rd to 37th rank.
• Denmark has risen to the top of the 63-nation list followed by Switzerland.
• The top-performing Asian economies are Singapore which secured 3rd position, Hong Kong secured 5th, Taiwan secured 7th, China secured 17th and Australia secured 19th positions.

APPOINTMENTS & RESIGNATIONS

New Chairperson of PCI

• Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai, a former judge of the Supreme Court was appointed as the chairperson of the Press Council of India (PCI).

• She succeeded Justice Chandramauli Kumar Prasad.

• Justice Desai had recently headed the Delimitation Commission on Jammu and Kashmir, which was set up to redraw the assembly constituencies of the Union Territory.
• Justice Desai is also a former judge of the Bombay high court.

Chairperson of COAI for 2022-2023

• Industry body COAI appointed Pramod K Mittal, President of Reliance Jio Infocomm, as the new Chairman of the association for 2022-23.
• Prior to this, Mittal was the Vice Chairperson of the Cellular Operators' Association of India (COAI).
• Mittal will replace Ajai Puri who held the position for the two consecutive terms.

IMPORTANT DAYS

World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought

• World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought is observed every year on 17 June.

• The main aim of this day is to find out achievable solutions for combating desertification and need to restore the degraded land which in turn will help bring economic resilience, raise income and ensure food security.

• The theme for the year 2022 is ‘Rising up from drought together.’
• Established in 1994, World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought was declared by the United Nations General Assembly.