NATIONAL NEWS

North India's First Skin Bank Inaugurated

• North India's first Skin Bank was inaugurated at New Delhi's Safdarjung Hospital.
• This facility serves as a repository where deceased donors can donate their skin, which can be utilized in the treatment of burns.
• Deceased donors can donate their skin within six hours of death. Once donated, the skin undergoes a processing procedure and can then be used for treating burns and trauma patients.
• Union Health Minister Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya highlighted that the Skin Bank facility will be a significant benefit for patients.
• It will contribute to providing a better quality of life for individuals suffering from severe burns and injuries.

UNDP Partners with DAY-NULM

• The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana-National Urban Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NULM) recently have joined forces in a collaborative partnership.
• The objective of this partnership is to empower women to make career choices in the field of entrepreneurship.
• The partnership aims to provide support to women who are interested in starting or expanding their own enterprises.
• It focuses on sectors such as the care economy, digital economy, electric mobility, waste management, food packaging, and more.
• The project, which spans three years and is extendable beyond 2025, is centered around fostering entrepreneurship development and accelerating enterprise growth.
• In the initial phase, it will cover eight cities.

BIS Makes License Mandatory For 24 Footwear Products

• The Bureau of Indian Standards, BIS license will be mandatory for 24 footwear products from 01 July 2023.
• Addressing media in New Delhi, Director General, BIS, Pramod Kumar Tiwari highlighted the importance of the Quality Control Orders issued recently by the Government for footwear and other products.
• BIS Licence will be mandatory for the manufacturing, importing or selling of products under these Quality Control Orders.
• Tiwari said the standards for footwear products are developed in consultation with trade and industry bodies, consumer organizations and representatives of various stakeholder groups to ensure quality and authenticity.
• In order to make compliance convenient for small-scale and micro-scale industries, the implementation date will be the 1st of January next year.
• The government recently announced an 80 percent cut on testing charges for footwear products under the Quality Control Orders for the certified start-ups and micro industrial units.

Uttar Pradesh Government to Launch ‘Didi Cafe’

• Uttar Pradesh government to launch ‘Didi Cafe’ to uplift women.
• ‘Didi Café’ in Uttar Pradesh (UP), which will provide cheap food.
• A strategy has been made to start ‘Didi Cafe’ in 17 municipal corporation cities including Mathura, Firozabad and Vrindavan in Agra division.
• This Didi Cafe will only be maintained by women’s self-help groups, which will provide access to low-cost meals, snacks, and other facilities in areas where women are employed through these canteens.
• The effort is part of the Centre’s goal of empowering women associated with self-help groups set up through the National Urban Livelihoods Mission (NULM).
• In the first phase, ‘Didi Cafe’ will be run in the municipal corporations of Agra division, as a result of which the authorities will be able to chalk out future strategies.

BANKING

SEBI Issues Guidelines on Product Offerings

• The Capital markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) restricted online bond platform providers (OBPPs) from offering products other than listed debt securities on their Online Bond Platform (OBP).
• The online bond platform provider means any person operating or providing such a platform.
• ‘Online bond platform’ means any electronic system, other than a recognised stock exchange or an electronic book provider platform, on which the debt securities which are listed or proposed to be listed, are offered and transacted.
• The holding company, subsidiary, or associate of an online bond platform provider will not utilise the name, brand name, or any name resembling that of the online bond platform provider for offering products and services that are not regulated by a financial sector regulator.

AWARDS & PRIZES

German Book Trade 2023 Peace Prize

• The Peace Prize of the German Book Trade for 2023 has been awarded to British-American author Salman Rushdie.
• It was established in 1950 and the award recognizes individuals who have made significant contributions to the promotion of international understanding between nations and cultures through their literary works.
• The prize is endowed with €25,000 ($27,300).
• The purpose of the award is to encourage efforts to promote peace, dialogue and cooperation.

Professor Jayashankar Award

• Acharya N. Gopi, a renowned poet and literary critic, has been selected as the recipient of the prestigious Prof. Kothapalli Jayashankar Award.
• This award is instituted by Bharat Jagruthi, a cultural organization affiliated with Bharat Rashtra Samithi, and aims to honor accomplished literary figures.
• Acharya Gopi's felicitation ceremony was held on 21 June at the Telangana Saraswat Parishad in Abids to remember his contribution to literature.
• Acharya Gopi has an impressive literary career with a total of 56 books to his name.
• Acharya Gopi's literary works have garnered widespread acclaim, leading to translations into several Indian languages, as well as foreign languages such as German, Persian, and Russian.
• This showcases the global recognition of his writings.

APPOINTMENTS & RESIGNATIONS

CEO of UIDAI

• Amit Agarwal has assumed charge as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI).
• Amit Agarwal is a senior IAS officer of 1993 batch of Chhattisgarh cadre.
• He has held important positions at the Center and in the states of Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh.
• Before becoming the CEO of UIDAI, he served as Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY).
• Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) is a government department established on 12 July 2016.
• It works under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.
• UIDAI is a statutory authority created under the Aadhaar Act 2016.

DEFENCE

Command and Control of Tapas Unmanned Aerial Vehicle

• The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and the Indian Navy successfully showcased the transfer of command-and-control capabilities of the Tapas Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV).
• The Tapas UAV took off from the Aeronautical Test Range (ATR) in Chitradurga and covered a distance of 285 kilometres to reach the Karwar naval base.
• The demonstration involved commanding the UAV from a distant ground station to the onboard Indian Naval Ship (INS) Subhadra, a warship situated 148 kilometres away from the Karwar naval base.
• During the demonstration, the Tapas UAV operated flawlessly at an altitude of 20,000 feet above sea level (AMSL).
• It completed a 3-hour and 30-minute flight, with the INS Subhadra assuming control of the UAV’s operations for a duration of 40 minutes.
• To facilitate the seamless control of the UAV, one Ground Control Station and two Ship Data Terminals were installed on board the INS Subhadra.
• Following the successful trial, the Tapas UAV safely landed back at the ATR.
• The Tapas UAV, developed by DRDO, is a Medium Altitude Long Endurance (MALE) UAV capable of operating at altitudes of up to 28,000 feet with an endurance of over 18 hours.

IMPORTANT DAYS

International Yoga Day

• International Yoga Day is celebrated every year on 21 June.
• The day aims to promote the many benefits of practicing yoga.
• International Yoga Day encourages physical, mental and spiritual harmony.
• The theme chosen for International Day of Yoga 2023 is ‘Yoga for Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’.
• The theme represents the shared desire of ‘One Earth, One Family, One Future’.
• Yoga promotes meditation, stress reduction, and overall health and vitality.
• In 2023, the International Day of Yoga took place on June 21 at the United Nations Headquarters under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

OBITUTARY

Former JNU Professor and Sociologist Imtiaz Ahmad

• Renowned sociologist, author and former professor of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in India Imtiaz Ahmad passed away. He was at the age of 83.
• Ahmad’s book, Caste and Social Stratification Among Muslims in India, is celebrated as pioneering work in the field.
• He worked with keen interest in social anthropology and taught Sociology, Political Science and Islamic Studies in various universities in India and abroad.
• He worked as a Senior Research Analyst with the UNESCO Research Centre.
• Ahmad joined JNU as associate professor in political sociology in 1972.
• He became a professor in the department in 1983 and taught there for three decades.
• Among his numerous publications are those which throw light on Muslim empowerment, minority rights, the role of education among Muslims, how Islamic ideologies mesh with social realities, how Muslim women are studied in India and communalism.