Daily Current Affairs and GK | 2 June 2022

Topic: International News

1. Israel and UAE signed Free trade agreement.

• The United Arab Emirates becomes the first Arab country to sign a free trade agreement with Israel.
• In a U.S.-brokered deal in 2020, both countries had agreed to normalize their relations.
• The agreement’s main aim is to boost trade between the two countries.
• Under this deal, tariffs will be removed or reduced on 96% of goods including food, medicine, diamonds, jewellery, fertilisers and other chemicals.
• The free trade deal is expected to increase the bilateral trade between Israel and the UAE beyond $10 billion within five years.
• The deal has been signed by the Israeli Minister of Economy and Industry Orna Barbiva and her counterpart, UAE Minister of Economy Abdulla bin Touq Al Marri.
• Recently, UAE has also signed a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) with India.
• UAE is in trade talks with several other countries, including Indonesia and South Korea.
• Free Trade Agreement:
  • It is a pact between two or more countries to import and export goods and services and reduce restrictions to do business.
  • It is of two types- Bilateral trade agreements and Multilateral trade agreements.

Topic: Government Schemes and Initiatives

2. Har Ghar Dastak 2.0 campaign has been launched by Union Health Ministry.

• It is two month-long Covid-19 vaccination drive. It will be implemented from 1^st June 2022 to 31^st July 2022.
• It has been launched to accelerate Covid-19 vaccination coverage across all eligible age groups.
• It aims to vaccinate the eligible population groups for first, second and precaution doses through door-to-door campaigns.
• Har Ghar Dastak is a nationwide COVID-19 vaccination campaign launched on 3^rd November 2021.

Topic: State News/Rajasthan

3. Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award will be started in Rajasthan for sportspersons.

• Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot made this announcement recently while addressing a ceremony at Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur.
• CM inaugurated Rajasthan High Performance Sports and Rehabilitation Centre, Renovated Synthetic Hockey Astro Turf and Badminton Indoor Hall, Olympic.
• He also awarded medalists of Para Olympic and players of Asian Games-2022 and Commonwealth Games-2022.
• He said that Rajiv Gandhi Rural Olympics will begin on August 29, 2022.
• He said winners in rural Olympics will get priority in the recruitment of vacant posts in the Panchayat cadre.
• Rajasthan:
  • Rajasthan is made up of two words, ‘Raj’ and ‘sthan’, which means the place of kings.
  • It is the largest state of India in terms of area.
  • It is surrounded by Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, and Punjab.
  • Ashok Gehlot is its Chief Minister. Kalraj Mishra is its governor. Jaipur is its capital.

Topic: State News/Bihar

4. Bihar CM Nitish Kumar has announced that caste-based counting will be carried out in Bihar.

• He chaired an all-party meeting on caste census. The meeting was attended by all parties which have representation in Bihar legislature.
• Consensus was reached in the meeting and unanimous decision was taken to start caste-based counting.
• Three parties (Vikassheel Insaan Party, Lok Janshakti Party, Rashtriya Lok Janshakti Party) did not attend the meeting as they have no representation in the legislature.
• CM Nitish Kumar said the state government will bear the cost of the caste census exercise.
• He said that cabinet decision will be taken in this regard and made available in public domain.
• Caste-based census would be a time-bound exercise. Bihar legislature has earlier passed resolutions twice for caste-based census.
• The first decadal census was carried out in 1881; it included data on caste. 1931 Socio Economic and Caste Census was the last caste census data that was made public.

Topic: National Appointments

5. Rajesh Gera appointed as next Director-General of NIC.

• On May 31, 2022, Shri Rajesh Gera has been appointed Director-General, National Informatics Centre (NIC), Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY).
• Shri Rajesh Gera has served as the head of numerous important divisions at NIC during his more than 31-year tenure.
• National Informatics Centre (NIC):
  • It was established in 1976.
  • It is the attached office of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY).
  • It is responsible for providing ICT infrastructure and services for the government in different aspects of Governance.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: Sports

6. India won the bronze medal in Asia Cup men's hockey 2022 in Jakarta by defeating Japan 1-0.

• Rajkumar Pal's early goal and some excellent defense helped enough to defeat Japan in the game.
• For his strong defensive work, Indian men’s hockey captain Birendra Lakra is named player of the match.
• South Korea won the Asia Cup 2022 for the fifth time with a 2-1 victory over Malaysia in the final match.
• Men's Hockey Asia Cup:
  • The Asian Hockey Federation organizes a men's international field hockey tournament.
  • The winning team qualifies for the FIH Hockey World Cup and becomes the champion of Asia.
  • It was started in 1982.
  • South Korea has won the most with five titles in this tournament.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: State News/Telangana

7. Telangana is celebrating its formation day on 2 June 2022.

• On this occasion, the main ceremonial programme is being organized at the Public Gardens in Hyderabad.
• The government of India is for the first time celebrating ‘Telangana Day’ or ‘Telangana Formation Day’.
• Ministry of Culture is organising Telangana Formation Day celebrations in New Delhi on 2nd June 2022.
• Union Home Minister Shri Amit Shah will be the Chief Guest at the program.
• Telangana was formed on 2 June 2014 and the day is celebrated as ‘Telangana Day’ or ‘Telangana Formation Day’.
• Telangana was formed by carving out ten districts of Andhra Pradesh.
• Kalvakuntla Chandrashekar Rao is the first and current Chief Minister of Telangana.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: National News

8. Union Cabinet has expanded the mandate of Government e-Marketplace (GeM).

• Union Cabinet has allowed procurement by cooperatives as buyers on GeM.
• The decision would help cooperatives in getting competitive prices through open and transparent process.
• Ministry of Cooperatives will decide on the validated list of cooperatives to be onboarded on GeM.
• Ministry of Commerce and Industry launched Government e-Marketplace on August 9, 2016.
• It was launched to create an open and transparent procurement platform for Government buyers.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: Indian Economy

9. Fiscal deficit narrows down to 6.7% of GDP in FY 22.

• India's fiscal deficit for the financial year 2021-22 stood at 6.7% of the gross domestic product (GDP) as against the revised budget estimate of 6.9%.
• In February, the Finance Ministry estimated a Fiscal deficit of Rs 15,91,089 crore or 6.9 percent of GDP.
• According to the latest data, the tax receipts were Rs 18.2 trillion as against the revised estimates (RE) of Rs 17.65 trillion.
• For FY 2022, the revenue receipts stood at ₹21.68 lakh crore or 104.3% of the revised estimate.
• Overall expenditure was estimated at Rs 37. 9 lakh crore or 100. 6% of the revised estimate.
• The government missed the target of receipts from divestment.
• The government has estimated a fiscal deficit of 6.4% for the current financial year.
• Fiscal deficit is the difference between the government’s total income and total expenditure. Government meets its fiscal deficit from market borrowings.

Topic: Sports

10. Indian women's shooting team wins gold in 10m air rifle event at ISSF World Cup 2022.

• Elavenil Valarivan, Shreya Agarwal and Ramita were part of the Indian women's shooting team.
• It is India's first medal at the ongoing ISSF World Cup in Baku.
• The Indian trio defeated Anna Nielsen, Emma Koch and Rikke Maeng Ibsen of Denmark by 17-5 in the gold medal contest.
• Poland won the bronze medal in the 10m air rifle event.
• Croatia defeated the Indian men's 10m air rifle team in the match for the Bronze medal.
• India is at the fifth spot in the medals tally while Serbia is on the top spot with a total of four medals.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: International News

11. Canadian PM Trudeau brings a bill to restrict importing, buying and selling of handguns.

• After the shooting in the United States, Canadian PM Trudeau proposed a bill to restrict handgun ownership in Canada.
• As per the provisions of the bill, importing, buying and selling of handguns will become illegal in Canada.
• The legislation will also allow courts to suspend licenses of people who pose a threat to themselves or others.
• Magazines holding more than five rounds will also be banned under the proposed bill.
• The Canadian government has recently banned 1,500 types of military-grade or assault-style firearms.
• Since 2009, the rate of firing a gun with an intent to kill or wound has increased fivefold times. About two-thirds of gun crimes in urban areas are done by handguns.
• The government is planning to control gun smuggling by increasing criminal penalties.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: Corporates/Companies

12. NTPC released renewed Biodiversity Policy 2022.

• This Biodiversity Policy has been released as part of NTPC’s Environmental Policy.
• The main objective of this policy is to establish a comprehensive framework and guiding principle for the conservation, restoration, and enhancement of biodiversity.
• National Thermal Power Corporation Limited (NTPC) was the first public sector undertaking to issue Biodiversity Policy in 2018.
• NTPC has signed an agreement with the Andhra Pradesh Forest Department for the conservation of Olive Ridley Turtles.
• In 2018, NTPC became a member of the India Business and Biodiversity Initiative (IBBI).
• NTPC will strengthen its effort to achieve a ’no net loss’ of biodiversity at all currently operating sites.
• NTPC is raising awareness among local communities, employees, and its associates about biodiversity through proper training in collaboration with experts.
• NTPC:
  • It is a public sector undertaking involved in electricity generation.
  • It is a statutory corporation incorporated under the Companies Act 1956.
  • Gurdeep Singh is the current Chairman & Managing Director of NTPC.

Topic: State News/ Jharkhand

13. Jharkhand gets World No Tobacco Day (WNTD) Award for controlling tobacco consumption.

• The World Health Organization (WHO) gave the World No Tobacco Day (WNTD) Award-2022 to Jharkhand for its effort to control the use of tobacco.
• State Tobacco Control Cell of the Health Department received the award on the World No Tobacco Day in New Delhi.
• National Tobacco Control Programme (NTCP) was launched in Jharkhand in 2012.
• According to the Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS)-1 report, the tobacco prevalence rate in the Jharkhand was 51.1 percent in 2012.
• The GATS-2 report, published in 2018, states that tobacco users in the state have come down to 38.9 percent.
• Jharkhand government started several initiatives between 2018 and 2022 to reduce tobacco consumption in the state.

Topic: Important Days

14. World Milk Day: 1 June

• World Milk Day is celebrated every year on 1 June all over the world.
• It is observed to mark the contributions of the milk and dairy sector.
• World Milk Day was established by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations in 2001.
• The theme for this year’s World Milk Day is “Dairy Net Zero”.
• Milk is a rich source of calcium, potassium, and vitamin D. Its consumption strengthens bones and lowers the risks of heart diseases.
• India is one of the largest producers of milk in the world. Dr Verghese Kurein is known as the "Father of the White Revolution" in India.

(Source: News on AIR)