Daily Current Affairs and GK | 1 June 2022

Topic: Miscellaneous

1. Titan Raga roped Alia Bhatt as its brand ambassador.

• Titan Raga made Alia Bhatt its new ambassador and launch a new TVC campaign.
• Electronics brand Swott named Indian cricketer Ravindra Jadeja as its brand ambassador.
• Chicnutrix roped Shilpa Shetty Kundra as its brand ambassador.
• Apparel brand ENGN signed Esha Deol as its brand ambassador.
• Lakme Academy announces Ananya Panday as its Brand Ambassador.

Topic: National Appointments

2. Natarajan Sundar has been appointed as MD & CEO of NARCL.

• Sundar has been appointed with effect from 30 May 2022.
• He retired on April 30 as deputy managing director and chief credit officer of the State Bank of India.
• Karnam Sekar has been appointed non-executive chairman of the National Asset Reconstruction Company (NARCL).
• Malvika Sinha has joined NARCL Board as an independent director. Sinha retired as executive director of RBI.
• The NARCL board has five nominee directors from shareholder banks.

Topic: State News/Karnataka

3. Karnataka chief minister Basavaraj Bommai has launched AAYU app.

• AAYU app is a health and wellness app to address and help heal chronic diseases with the help of yoga and meditation.
• It also aims to address and help heal lifestyle disorders with the help of yoga and meditation.
• Swami Vivekananda Yoga Anusandhana Samsthana has developed this app in partnership with RESET TECH, an AI-driven integrated health-tech platform.
• AAYU app is available in many languages. It aims to reach and impact over five million chronic disease patients in five years.

Topic: Summits/ Conferences/ Meetings

4. National Education Ministers’ Conference started in Gujarat on 1st June 2022.

• The conference will end on 2nd June 2022. Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan along with other union Ministers is taking part in conference.
• Education Ministers of States and Union Territories are also taking part in the conference.
• The conference is expected to deliberate on strengthening the education ecosystem in the country.
• The implementation of the National Education Policy 2020 and skill development in schools will be discussed at the conference.
• Digital initiatives like National Digital Education Architecture, National Educational Technology Forum etc. will be also discussed at the conference.

Topic: Government schemes and Initiatives

5. Government raised the premium rates for flagship insurance schemes.

• The premium rates for the government's two main social security schemes- Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY) and Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY), have been revised.
• PMJJBY premium rates have been raised to 436 rupees per annum, up from 330 rupees per annum previously.
• The new premium for the PMSBY will be 20 rupees per annum, up from the current 12 rupees per annum.
• The new premium rates will become effective from June 1, 2022.
• This is the first time the premium rates have been revised since the start of both schemes in 2015.
• According to the Union Finance Ministry, a target has been set to increase coverage from 6.4 crores to 15 crores under PMJJBY and from 22 crores to 37 crores under PMSBY during the next five years.
• PM Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY):
  • It was launched on 9 May 2015. The age limit for this scheme is 18-50 years.
  • It provides life cover of Rs 2 lakhs in case of death of the insured, due to any reason.
  • The scheme is offered by Life Insurance Corporation and all other life insurance companies.
• PM Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY):
  • It was launched on 9 May 2015 to provide affordable insurance for poor & underprivileged people of 18 to 70 years.
  • Risk coverage under scheme is Rs 2 lakh for accidental death & full disability and Rs 1 lakh for partial disability.
  • The scheme is offered by Public Sector General Insurance Companies or any other General Insurance Company.

(Source: News on Air)

Topic: Personality in News

6. Popular singer Krishnakumar Kunath, popularly known as KK, passed away at the age of 53. 

• KK was given the opportunity to sing for the first time in the Tamil film Kadhal Desam by AR Rahman.
• He got his break in Bollywood with "Tadap Tadap" from Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam.
• The Delhi-born singer has recorded songs in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Bengali, Assamese, and Gujarati languages.
• KK has sung more than 250 songs in Hindi, and more than 50 songs in Tamil and Telugu.

(Source: News on Air)

Topic: Defence

7. Ministry of Defence signed 2971 crore rupees contract with Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) on May 31, 2022.

• The contract is for supply of ASTRA MK-I Beyond Visual Range (BVR) Air to Air Missile (AAM) for the Indian Air Force and Indian Navy.
• Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has indigenously designed and developed ASTRA MK-I BVR AAM.
• Air to Air missile gives large Stand-Off Ranges to own fighter aircraft which can neutralise the adversary aircraft without exposing themselves to adversary Air Defence measures.
• The Transfer of Technology from DRDO to BDL for the production of the ASTRA MK-I missile has been completed.
• ASTRA MK-I missile is fully integrated on the Su 30 MK-I fighter aircraft.
• It will be integrated with other fighter aircraft in a phased manner, including the Light Combat Aircraft (Tejas).
• Indian Navy will integrate ASTRA MK-I on the MiG 29K fighter aircraft.
• ASTRA is a Beyond Visual Range (BVR) class of Air-to-Air Missile (AAM) system. It has all weather day and night capability.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: Indian Economy

8. India’s GDP grew at 4.1% for the January-March quarter of FY22 as per National Statistical Office data.

• India’s GDP for the financial year 2021-2022 grew at 8.7%. This is slightly less than 8.9% projected in February.
• The GDP rate for the January-March quarter was lower than the 5.4% GDP rate recorded for the October-December quarter.
• Among the eight core sectors, the only sector that has shown contraction in the January-March quarter is manufacturing. It has shown contraction at -0.2%.
• Private final consumption expenditure increased by 1.8% year-on-year in Q4 of FY22.
• Gross fixed capital formation increased by 5.1%. Government final consumption expenditure grew at 4.8% in January-March.
• Gross Value Added grew at 8.1% for FY22. The GDP in nominal terms grew at 19.5%.  

Topic: Indian Economy

9. India’s per capita income remains below the pre-COVID level in 2021-22.

• In 2021-22, India’s annual per capita income at constant prices was Rs 91,481.
• The per capita income at constant price was Rs 94,270 in 2019-20 and Rs 85,110 in 2020-21.
• Per capita income based on Net National Income (NNI) at constant price witnessed a growth of 7.5 per cent in FY22 as compared to the previous year.
• In the 2021-22 fiscal, the per capita income has increased by 18.3 per cent to Rs 1.5 lakh at current prices.
• At current rates, per capita income has decreased from Rs 1.32 lakh in 2019-20 to Rs 1.27 lakh in 2020-21.
• COVID-19 Pandemic and lockdowns had disrupted the economic activities during 2021-22 fiscal.
• Per capita income is the money earned per person in a geographic region. It is an important indicator of the prosperity of a country.

Topic: Infrastructure and Energy

10. Government aims to achieve 100 MT coal gasification by 2030.

• The Ministry of Coal in association with the Power Ministry, Steel Ministry and Mines Ministry organized the National Mineral Congress in Bhubaneswar.
• The National Mineral Congress was organized by the Indian National Committee of the World Mining Congress.
• Ministry of Coal has prepared a National Mission document to achieve 100 MT coal gasification by 2030.
• Coal gasification is a relatively cleaner option as compared to the burning of coal. It facilitates the use of the chemical properties of coal.
• Hydrogen for Refineries and fertilizer plants is currently produced from natural gas, which can be produced through coal by the process of coal gasification.
• Coal gasification is the process of converting coal into synthesis gas, which is a mixture of hydrogen (H2), carbon monoxide (CO) and carbon dioxide (CO2).
• The syngas can be used in the production of electricity and the making of chemical products.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: National News

11. PM Modi addressed Garib Kalyan Sammelan at Shimla.

• ‘Garib Kalyan Sammelan’ has been organized to mark the completion of eight years of the Modi government.
• It has been organized across the country at State Capitals, District Headquarters and Krishi Vigyan Kendras.
• Prime Minister also released the 11^th installment of the financial assistance under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) scheme.
• In this phase, around 21,000 crore rupee will be transferred to more than 10 crore beneficiary farmer families.
• He directly interacted with the beneficiaries of different programmes of nine Ministries of the Government of India.
• Under Direct Benefit Transfer Programme, the government has transferred around 22 lakh 44 thousand crore rupees directly to the bank accounts of beneficiaries since 2014.
• He said that welfare schemes, good governance, and welfare of the poor (Seva, Sushasan and Gareeb Kalyan) have changed the meaning of government for the people.

Topic: Government Schemes and Initiatives

12. PMEGP scheme extended till FY26 with an outlay of Rs 13,554 crore.

• The government has approved the extension of the Prime Minister's Employment Generation Programme till the financial year 2025-26.
• In the next five years, the scheme will create employment opportunities for about 40 lakh persons.
• PMEGP scheme will also help youth in setting up micro-enterprises in non-farm sectors.
• The definition of village industry and rural areas has also been changed for the Prime Minister's Employment Generation Programme.
• Areas under the Panchayati Raj Institutions will be treated as rural areas, while areas under municipal corporations will be treated as urban areas.
• Applicants from aspirational districts and transgender will be treated as special category applicants and they will get higher subsidies.
• Under this, the maximum project cost for manufacturing units has been increased to Rs 50 lakh, it was earlier Rs 25 lakh. For service sector units, it has been increased from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 20 lakh.
• Since its launch, around 7.8 lakh micro enterprises have received financial assistance under PMEGP.
• Prime Minister's Employment Generation Programme:  
  • It is a credit-linked subsidy scheme launched in 2008.
  • It is implemented by the Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) at the national level.
  • It was launched by merging two schemes- Prime Minister's Rojgar Yojana (PMRY) and Rural Employment Generation Programme (REGP).

Topic: Awards and Prizes

13. Noted filmmaker Sanjit Narwekar honoured with V Shantaram Lifetime Achievement award.

• At the 17^th edition of the Mumbai International Film Festival of India (MIFF 2022), Sanjit Narwekar has been conferred with the V Shantaram Lifetime Achievement award.
• Sanjit Narwekar is a film historian, author, publisher and documentary filmmaker. He has experience in Journalism, Public Relations, Publishing and Filmmaking.
• He has written more than 20 books on cinema. He has written and directed a number of documentaries on different subjects.
• V Shantaram Lifetime Achievement award:
  • It is instituted in memory of legendary filmmaker V Shantaram.
  • It comprises a cash prize of Rs. 10 lakhs, a trophy and a citation.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: Personality in News

14. National Panthers Party Chief Professor Bhim Singh passed away.

• The Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party founder and former MLA Prof Bhim Singh died at the age of 81.
• He was known for providing free legal aid to prisoners, farmworkers and youth.
• He founded the Panthers Party in 1982 and remained the Party Chairman for 30 years.
• He contested the Lok Sabha byelection from the Udhampur Lok Sabha constituency in 1989.

(Source: News on AIR)