NASA Scientists and scientists form other universities from Boston to California are aiming to create computer models which can be used with satellite data to learn which parts of their dwindling deltas can be shored up and which deltas are past hope.
It is a state in south-central regions of United States. It is 19th-smallest by area and 25th most populous among 50 U.S. states. It shares its border with state of Texas in west, Arkansas in north, Mississippi in east, and Gulf of Mexico in south. Its eastern boundary is demarcated by Mississippi River. It is the only state in U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes. It, along with Alaska, are two U.S. states which are not subdivided into counties. Baton Rouge is its capital while New Orleans is its largest city.
It is the second-longest river in North American continent after the Hudson Bay drainage system. Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota is the source of river. It flows generally south for 2,320 miles to form Mississippi River Delta in Gulf of Mexico. Mississippi’s watershed drains about 32 U.S. states and two Canadian provinces. Main stem of the river is entirely within United States. It is the fourteenth-largest river by discharge worldwide.
United Nations published its report on Racial Justice & Equality and called to immediately dismantle systemic racism against black people worldwide to avoid repeating outrages such as killing of George Floyd.
UN Human rights office was mandated to produce a comprehensive report in June 2020 following Floyd’s death. It was mandated to produce a comprehensive report on systemic racism and human rights violations by law enforcement agencies against black people.
It is commonly known as United Nations Human Rights Office. This department of Secretariat of United Nations works to promote and protect human rights guaranteed under international law and stipulated in Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948. This office was established in 1993 by United Nations General Assembly following 1993 World Conference on Human Rights. This office is headed by High Commissioner for Human Rights. He co-ordinates human rights activities throughout United Nations System and acts as secretariat of Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland.
Mobile World Congress (MWC) is world’s biggest mobile event of the 2021. It started on June 28 in Barcelona.
Mobile World Congress or MWC Barcelona is an annual event focused on innovations in telecom industry. It is being hosted by GSMA. This event is attended by major telecom operators, component manufacturers, smartphone companies, trade insiders, media, and representatives from telecom ministries across the world.
Spain has eased COVID-19 restrictions on June 26, 2021 and scrapped a requirement to wear face masks outdoors. However, Masks is mandatory indoors in public places and on public transport.
Barcelona is being hosting MWC since 2006. MWC 2021 was originally scheduled for March 2021 but it was postponed due to covid-19 pandemic. This year, MWC is being conducted from June 28 to July 1. This event was cancelled altogether in 2020. Cancellation led to major economic blow in the city with lost revenue for hotels, restaurants and taxi companies because this event costs 473 million euros and about 14,000 part-time jobs for locals.
GAMA is also called as Global System for Mobile Communications. It is an industry organisation representing the interests of mobile network operators across the world. About 750 mobile operators are full GSMA members while 400 companies are associate members. GSMA represents its members through industry programmes, working groups and industry advocacy initiatives. Mats Granryd is the present Director General of GSMA.
Noted journalist, P. Sainath, was selected as one of the three recipients of Fukuoka Prize 2021.
It is an award established by city of Fukuoka and Fukuoka City International Foundation. It is given to honor work of individuals or organizations in preserving & creating Asian culture. Fukuoka prize has three prize categories- Grand Prize, Academic Prize and Arts & Culture Prize. Fukuoka has organised Asia-Pacific Exposition with the concept of interaction between Asia-Pacific region in 1989. This prize was inaugurated in 1990 to carry on spirit of Expo. Prizes are given annually to distinguished people for fostering & increasing awareness of Asian cultures.
Grand Prize has been awarded to Muhammad Yunus from Bangladesh, historian Romila Thapar and sarod maestro Amjad Ali Khan. So far, eleven Indians have received Fukuoka Prize. About 115 people from 28 countries and areas have received Prize in past 30 years.
He is an Indian journalist and author of book called “Everybody Loves a Good Drought”. He has been actively campaigning over famer’s issues and backed Samyukta Ekta Morcha that leads farmers’ agitations in India. He was awarded with Ramon Magsaysay Award in 2007 because he believes “journalism is for people, not for shareholders”. He founded People’s Archive of Rural India (PARI) in 2014 which is an online platform focussing on social & economic inequality, poverty, rural affairs, poverty and aftermath of globalization in India.
To harness the export potential of agricultural & processed food products from north-eastern states, fresh Burmese grapes shipment was exported to Dubai from Guwahati.
It is a slow-growing evergreen tree of family Phyllanthaceae with a spreading crown and thin bark. It is found in Asia and most commonly cultivated in Burma, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Bangladesh, India and Malaysia. It grows in evergreen forests on variety of soils. It is eaten as fruit, stewed or made into wine, or is used medicinally to treat skin diseases.
Centre government has planned to link e-court with land records and registration base in order to help bonafide buyers know if land is under any legal dispute.
As per Department of Justice, “registration of property easily and transparently” is a parameter evaluated by World Bank to assess performance of 190 global economies on Ease of Doing Business (EoDB) Index. Thus, to comply with this index, linking was done.
Department of Land Resources (DoLR) is responsible for registering property index.
NJDC, launched in 2015, is a part of e-Courts Integrated Mission Mode Project. It was launched with the aim of tracking judicial performance across different courts in India. It is working as National data warehouse for case data like orders or judgments for Courts. NJDC acts as a monitoring tool to identify, manage & reduce pendency of cases. It will also help in providing timely inputs on policy decisions to reduce delay in the system & facilitate better monitoring of court performance. It has helped India in improve its ranking in World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business Report.
Mastercard announced a strategic equity investment in Instamojo on June 28, 2021.
Instamojo platform offers small and micro merchants a ready-made virtual platform on which they can quickly set up e-commerce business and accept digital payments through fast and easy onboarding process. Using Instamojo’s platform, merchants will get ready access to a functional online store with facilities like in-built payments, shipping capabilities, marketing tools, logistics and credit facilities. This investment and partnership will strengthen companies’ initiative to support gig workers such as personal trainers, electricians, tutors, and small F&B operators to grow and run their businesses.
Mastercard is committed to support small merchants with company’s strategic investment and partnerships to unlock power and potential of digital commerce. With this partnership, Mastercard along with Instamojo will enable small businesses to grow by strengthening their digital footprint and payment acceptance capabilities. Mastercard had also committed Rs 250 crores to support small businesses in India in 2020 and launched several initiatives such as providing low-cost digital, growing digital payments awareness and physical acceptance solutions.
Team Cashless India was started by Mastercard to educate and upskill small merchants to benefits and practicalities of accepting digital payments.
It is full-stack e-commerce platform for DTC brands and Micro, Medium & Small Enterprises (MSMEs). It helps them in starting, managing and growing their business online. It was founded in 2012 by Sampad Swain, Akash Gehani and Aditya Sengupta.
Mastercard is a global technology company in payments industry. It seeks to connect and power an inclusive & digital economy.
Ukraine and United States is conducting a military exercise, joined by 30 countries, in Black Sea and southern Ukraine. Exercise was started despite Russia called to cancel it.
This exercise started on June 28, 2021 and will last for two weeks. It will involve some 32 warships and 40 aircraft from US, NATO allies and Ukraine. Drill will witness the participation of 5,000 troops and 18 special operations. From US side, US destroyer Ross has arrived at Ukrainian port of Odessa jo join the drills. According to Ukraine, exercise is being conducted with the goal of gaining experience in joint actions during multinational peacekeeping and security operations.
Sea Breeze exercise is the largest exercise since 1997. Their aim is to train headquarters and subdivisions of Ukrainian Navy to perform assigned tasks as per NATO standards and procedures. It also seeks to gain experience in joint actions in multinational operations. Primary aim of the drill is to improve naval and land operations besides improving cooperation between the participating counties.
National Statistics Day is being observed on June 29, 2021. This day commemorate the birth anniversary of late Professor Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis.
June 29 has been selected to celebrate this day at national level to recognise Mahalanobis’ invaluable contribution in establishing National Statistical System.
Theme of National Statistics Day 2021 is UN sustainable development goal 2 to “End Hunger, Achieve Food Security and Improved Nutrition and Promote Sustainable Agriculture”. It seeks “sustainable solutions to end hunger by 2030 and to achieve food security.
C. Mahalanobis is often referred to as ‘father of Indian statistics’. He was born on June 29, 1893 in Calcutta. He is best remembered for Mahalanobis distance which is a statistical measure. He was one of the members of first Planning Commission of India. He founded Indian Statistical Institute (ISI) and contributed to design of large-scale sample surveys.
This formula is used to find distance between a point and a distribution. It is based on measurements in multiple dimensions. This formula is widely used in field of cluster analysis and classification.
Statistics is the discipline concerning collection, analysis, organization, interpretation, and presentation of data. Statistics is applied to a scientific, industrial, or social problem which start with studying a statistical population or statistical model. Statistics helps in formulating economic plans and policies. It presents facts in a precise form. It also plays a significant role in health field and helps conduct social surveys. It is a significant part of Mathematics.
China operationalised the two units of giant Baihetan hydropower plant, which is the largest hydro project under construction worldwide on June 28, 2021.
Dam has been operationalised in the backdrop of 100th anniversary of ruling Communist Party of China (CPC) on July 1. Project symbolises the efficiency of CPC in planning and completing large-scale projects.
It is the longest river in Asia and third-longest in world. This river is also the longest worldwide to flow entirely within one country. It originates from Jari Hill in Tanggula Mountains in Tibetan Plateau and flows for 6,300 km in east direction to drain into East China Sea. It is considered as sixth-largest river by discharge volume in world. The river drains one-fifth of China’s land area.
It is the Chinese name for upper stretches of Yangtze River. River flows across Qinghai, Sichuan, and Yunnan provinces in western China. It passes through Tiger Leaping Gorge. It is significant in generating hydroelectric power. Several world’s largest hydroelectric power stations have been constructed on Jinsha river.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announce Rs 6.28 lakh crore stimulus package on June 28, 2021 with the aim of boosting Covid-affected sectors following the eight measures proposed by Ministry of Finance.
Credit guarantee scheme and an amount of Rs 23,220 crore was earmarked to expands medical infrastructure for one year. Funding aims to increase the number of ICU beds and enhance availability of equipment & liquid medical oxygen (LMO). It will emphasise on preparedness of healthcare infrastructure in terms of child and paediatric care.
As issuance of visa resumes, first five lakh tourist visas will be issued free of cost. This visa incentive will cost government around Rs 100 crore. She also announced loan guarantee scheme for tourism sector because it has been one among worst-hit sectors by covid-19 pandemic. Under the scheme, loan will be given with 100 per cent guarantee of up to Rs 10 lakh for travel agencies and Rs 1 lakh for regional tourist guides.
A Rs 1.1 lakh crore loan guarantee scheme was announced for Covid-affected sectors. Out of Rs 1.1 lakh crore, Rs 50,000 crore will be provided to health sector. It will benefit 25 lakh beneficiaries as they will be able to borrow up to Rs 1.25 lakh through micro-finance institutions (MFIs). Both public and private hospitals can avail a maximum of Rs 100 crore with a guarantee duration of three years.
Cap of Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) was increased from Rs 3 lakh crore to Rs 4.5 lakh crore. ECLGS scheme was announced as part of Aatmanirbhar Bharat package in 2020.
Ministry of finance announced a corpus that will enable National Export Insurance Account (NEIA) to underwrite an additional Rs 33,000 crore of project exports over five years. NEIA facilitates cover for buyer’s credit to project exporters and borrowers having lesser creditworthiness, through EXIM Bank.
Aatmanirbhar Bharat Rozgar Yojana was extended from June 30, 2021 till March 31, 2022. This wage subsidy scheme was announced with the aim of incentivizing employers through EPFO to generate fresh employment.
New process is being adopted for speedy clearance of public-private partnership projects. Rs 3.03 lakh crore was allocated to revamp DISCOMs. Additional Rs 19,041 crore was allocated to BharatNet to improve broadband connectivity to villages.
Nutrient Based Subsidy (NBS) for fertilizers was increased to Rs 42,275 crore. Additional Rs 14,775 crore will be given to stakeholders, for DAP (Di-ammonium Phosphate) and NPK-based complex fertilisers.
Franklin Templeton (FT) has been given interim relief from Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) on June 28, 2021.
SAT put stay on Securities Exchange Board of India’s (SEBI) order on FT that prevented it from launching new debt scheme. Tribunal also put a temporarily stayed on SEBI’s order of recovery of Rs 512 crore from Franklin Templeton and its direction on FT to deposit Rs 250 crore in three weeks. Next hearing on Franklin Templeton-SEBI’s matter will be on August 30, 2021. Order of SAT will be applicable until further orders from it.
SEBI had put a penalty of Rs 5 crore and ordered to disgorge Rs 512 crore investment management by fund house to manage six suspended schemes. Fine of Rs 3 crore was levied on Franklin Templeton Trustee Services Pvt Ltd while Rs 2 crore each on President of Franklin Asset Management (India) Pvt Sanjay Sapre and its Chief Investment Officer Santosh Kamat. Sebi had also imposed a penalty of Rs 15 crore on senior officials of Franklin Templeton AMC and its trustee because they violated regulatory norms in case of winding up of six debt schemes in 2020.
Six of the schemes namely, Franklin India Low Duration Fund, Franklin India Credit Risk Fund, Franklin India Dynamic Accrual Fund, Franklin India Ultra Short Bond Fund, Franklin India Short Term Income Plan, and Franklin India Income Opportunities Fund, together had an estimated Rs 25,000 crore as assets under management.
It is a global investment firm which was founded in New York City in 1947. It is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under ticker symbol BEN. Company has been named so in honor of Benjamin Franklin.
As per U.N. Food & Agriculture Organisation (FAO)’s report, traditional food gathering techniques of indigenous communities are under threat because of accelerated climate change and economic pressures right from Arctic to the Amazon.
There are around 500 million people across 90 countries who are self-identify as indigenous people. Food systems of eight indigenous people are examined in depth and it comes among most sustainable system in world with respect to efficiency, no waste, seasonality and reciprocity. These indigenous people generate hundreds of food items from environment without depleting natural resources and achieve high levels of self-sufficiency. For instance, in Solomon Islands, Melanesians people combine agroforestry, wild food gathering and fishing and generate 70 per cent of their dietary needs.
Report emphasises on the urgent need for governments and international community to establish and enforce intercultural policies which support the efforts of indigenous people in protecting their food systems.
Food system of Indigenous people was analysed on-
Food system of indigenous people comprises of different food generation techniques such as hunting, gathering, fishing, pastoralism and shifting cultivation. Mobile practices & nomadism are important to link food generation and production activities to natural cycles.
Britain’s financial regulator, Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), has banned world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges, Binance.
Binance cannot conduct any regulated activity as it will come under growing scrutiny globally.
Binance Markets was acquired by Binance company in 2020. It was not using regulatory permissions. However, FCA’s move will not affect services offered on its website called Binance.com.
Binance had announced in June 2021 that it bought an FCA-regulated entity and it will offer cryptocurrency trading services using pounds and euros.
FCA’s move will extends a regulatory crackdown on cryptocurrency sector because of rising concerns about its involvement in money laundering and fraud.
Trading of cryptocurrencies is not directly regulated in Britain. Services like trading in cryptocurrency derivatives does require authorization.
Binance is a cryptocurrency exchange from Cayman Islands. It provides a platform to trade several cryptocurrencies. It was founded in 2017. Binance is the largest cryptocurrency exchange worldwide in terms of trading volume, as of April 2021. This cryptocurrency exchange was founded by Changpeng Zhao. It was initially based in China. But due to increased regulation of cryptocurrency in China, it moved headquarters out of China.
FCA is a financial regulatory body in United Kingdom. It operates independently of UK Government. It is financed by charging fees to members of financial services industry. Its function is to regulate financial firms providing services to consumers. It works alongside Prudential Regulation Authority and Financial Policy Committee.