Daily Current Affairs and GK | 2 June 2023

Topic: Defence

1. India carries out successful training launch of Agni-1 ballistic missile.

• Strategic Forces Command conducted a successful training launch of Agni-1 from APJ Abdul Kalam Island in Odisha on 01 June 2023.
• In October 2022, India successfully fired ‘Agni Prime’-a new generation of ballistic missiles.
• In December 2022, India successfully test-fired nuclear capable ballistic missile Agni-V that can strike targets at ranges up to 5,000 km.
• Agni 1 to 4 missiles have ranges from 700 km to 3,500 km. They have already been deployed.
• Agni-1 is a Medium-Range Ballistic Missile. It is a single-stage missile.
• It was 1st launched from a road mobile launcher at Integrated Test Range, Wheeler Island in January 2002.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: National News

2. Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) has notified 31 Indian standards related to Ayush.

• These include 30 herbs and 1 product (stainless steel neti pot).
• BIS has also set up an additional department for enabling a dedicated focus on Ayush at BIS.
• BIS will also formulate International Standards in collaboration with the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). It has taken the initiative for this purpose.
• A Working Group (WG–10) on ‘Traditional Medicine’ has been set up in the ISO/TC-215 ‘Health Informatics’.
• Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS):
  • It is an Indian national standard body that works under the aegis of the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution.
  • It is a statutory body that was established by the Bureau of Indian Standards Act, 2016.
  • Its headquarters is in New Delhi. Pramod Kumar Tiwari is its current Director General.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: Indian Economy

3. UPI reached to record 9 billion transactions worth ₹14 lakh crore.

• According to the data released by the National Payments Corporation of India, 9 billion transactions has been made through UPI in May.
• The overall value of the UPI transactions stood at ₹14.89 lakh crore with an increase of 43 per cent on a year-over-year basis.
• 8.89 billion UPI Transactions were recorded in April while transactions in March were 8.68 billion.
• In FY 2022-23, the UPI payment system processed a total of 83 billion transactions, amounting to a value of 139 lakh crore rupees.
• In 2022-23, UPI accounted for about 75 per cent of the total transaction volume in the retail segment.
• Unified Payments Interface (UPI) is one of the globally accepted payment systems and has emerged as a trusted payment mode ever since its launch in 2016.
• UPI is an instant payment system. It has been developed by NPCI. It makes the possible instant transfer of money between any two individuals' bank accounts.

Topic: Sports

4. India wins Men’s Junior Asia Cup for fourth time by defeating Pakistan.

• India defeated Pakistan by 2-1 at the Sultan Qaboos Youth Complex Stadium in Salalah, Oman.
• India become the most successful country in the history of the Men's Junior Asia Cup by clinching the title for the fourth time.
• Angad Bir Singh and Araijeet Hundal Singh scored one-one goal from the Indian side while Basharat Ali scored one goal from the Pakistan side.
• India had previously won the title in 2004, 2008 and 2015. Pakistan is the second most successful team in the tournament with three titles.
• In the group stage, India vs Pakistan hockey match ended with a 1-1 draw.
• In the semi-finals, India defeated the Republic of Korea by 9-1 while Pakistan defeated Malaysia by 6-2.
• Men's Hockey Junior Asia Cup is an under-21 field hockey tournament. It is organized by the Asian Hockey Federation.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: State News/Telangana

5. Union Culture Ministry is organising 2-day celebrations at Golkonda Fort in Hyderabad on the occasion of Telangana Formation Day (02 June).

• G Kishan Reddy, Union Tourism and Culture Minister, hoisted the national flag at Golkonda Fort in Hyderabad on the occasion.
• The Ministry of Culture is celebrating the 10th Telangana Formation Day at the Golconda Fort.
• The activities to be held include classical dance performances by Anandaji and her group as well as performances by Manjula Ramaswamy and her group.
• The day will conclude with a performance by singer Shankar Mahadevan.
• Dimsa, Dappu, and Gussadi will be among the captivating folk dance performances.
• A theatrical play about Raja Ram Mohan Roy will also be presented.
• Telangana came into existence officially as the 29th state of the country on 2 June 2014.
• Telangana:
  • Telangana is a state in southern India. Its capital is Hyderabad.
  • The Current Governor of Telangana is Tamilisai Soundararajan and Chief Minister is K. Chandrasekhar Rao.
  • Telangana has 17 seats in the Lok Sabha and 119 assembly seats.

Topic: Government Schemes and Initiatives

6. PM SVANidhi mobile app has been launched by Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri.

• The app will ease the loan application process for street vendors and provide information to them about the scheme.
• Union Minister praised the Prime Minster Street Vendor’s AtmaNirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi) Scheme on its three years completion.
• The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs organised an event at Vigyan Bhawan to celebrate 3 years journey of PM Street Vendor's AtmaNirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi) Yojana on 01 June 2023.
• A facility for ‘Udyam’ registration and obtaining a ‘Udyam Assist’ certificate for Street Vendors on the PM SVANidhi portal was also launched.
• This facility was launched with the help of the Ministry of Small and Medium Enterprises.
• Amongst RRBs, Andhra Pradesh Grameen Vikas Bank was felicitated for good performance under the Scheme.
• From State Cooperative banks, Stree Nidhi Credit Cooperative Federation Ltd. was felicitated for good performance under the Scheme.
• PM SVANidhi Scheme:
  • It was launched on 01 June, 2020. It aims to restore self-employment, self-sustenance, and self-confidence among street vendors.
  • It has become one of the fastest growing micro-credit schemes of the Government of India.
  • The scheme facilitates working capital loans in three tranches to the Street Vendors. Digital onboarding and training have been key component of the scheme.

Topic: India and its Neighbours

7. India and Nepal signed seven agreements in various fields on 01 June 2023.

• These fields include trade and commerce, cross-border petroleum pipelines, development of Integrated Check Posts and hydroelectric projects and payment mechanisms.
• The agreements were signed after delegation-level talks between the Prime Ministers of both countries.
• Delegation-level talks were held between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Nepal Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda in New Delhi.
• The Indian Railway cargo train from Bathnaha to Nepal Customs yard was jointly flagged off by both Prime Ministers.
• An integrated Check Post between Rupaidiha-Nepalgunj and Sunauli-Bhairahawa was also inaugurated by them.
• The foundation stone of the Motihari-Amlekhguj Oil Pipeline - Phase 2 project was laid.
• The construction work of the Gorakhpur-New Butwal sub-station 400 kv cross-border transmission line was initiated by them.
• The Prime Minister of Nepal is on a four-day official visit to India. He arrived in New Delhi on 31st May 2023.
• This is his first bilateral visit abroad after he assumed office in December 2022. Mr Prachanda will visit Ujjain and Indore on 02 June 2023.

Topic: National Appointments

8. Ashwani Kumar has been appointed as MD & CEO of UCO Bank.

• Ashwani Kumar will lead the UCO Bank for three years.
• His appointment has been approved by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC).
• He has replaced Soma Sankara Prasad, who superannuated on May 31.
• His term could be extended by two years or until further orders, whichever is earlier, after the review of performance.
• Earlier, he had served as Chief General Manager of Punjab National Bank and an executive director of Indian Bank.
• He has worked in five public sector banks-- Bank of Baroda, Corporation Bank, Oriental Bank of Commerce, Punjab National Bank and Indian Bank.
• UCO Bank is a Kolkata-headquartered public sector bank. It was put under the PCA framework in May 2017 due to high net non-performing assets and a negative return on assets.

Topic: State News/ Maharashtra

9. Ahmednagar of Maharashtra to be renamed ‘Ahilyanagar‘.

• Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde announced that Ahmednagar city would be renamed ‘Ahilyanagar’ after the Maratha queen Ahilyabai Holkar.
• This announcement has been made on the occasion of the 298th birth anniversary of Ahilyabai Holkar.
• Earlier, the Maharashtra government decided to rename Aurangabad as ‘Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar’ and Osmanabad as ‘Dharashiv.’
• BJP leader and MLC Gopichand Padalkar of initiated the demand for the renaming of Ahmednagar.
• Ahilyabai and Malharrao Holkar were from the the Dhangar (shepherd) community.
• Ahmad Nizam Shah founded Ahmednagar in 1494. Ahmednagar and Sangamner are the largest cities in the district.
• Ahilyabai Holkar:
  • She was an extremely able ruler of Malwa province in the 18th Century.
  • She established Maheshwar (in Madhya Pradesh) as the seat of the Holkar dynasty.
  • She built hundreds of temples and Dharmashalas throughout India.
  • The current structure of Kashi Vishwanath Temple was constructed by Ahilyabai Holkar in 1780.

Topic: Corporates/Companies

10. Union government is planning to sell 3% stake in Coal India through an offer for sale (OFS).

• The government will sell around 9.24 crore shares of Coal India through the offer for sale (OFS).
• The offer for sale will take place on June 1-2 through a separate window on the stock exchanges.
• The floor price of the offer has been fixed at Rs 225. It is nearly a 6.7 per cent discount to the last traded price.
• At present, the Government of India owns about 66% stake in Coal India while rest of the stake lies with public shareholders.
• On 1 June, Non-retail investors can place their bids and retail investors can participate in the OFS on June 2 (T+1).
• It is anticipated that Coal India will raise up to Rs 4,000 crore through the offer for sale (OFS).
• This OFS is part of the government's strategy to divest its stake in public sector undertakings.
• Offer for Sale is a method wherein promoters in public companies can sell their shares and transparently reduce their holdings through the bidding platform for the Exchange.

Topic: National News

11. National Electricity Plan has been notified by Central Electricity Authority.

• National Electricity Plan (NEP) (Volume-1 Generation) has been notified by Central Electricity Authority for the period 2022-32.
• On 31 May, the plan document released through e-gazette includes review of last five years (2017-22), detailed plan for next five years (2022-27) and prospective plan for next five years (2027-32).
• As per 20th Electric Power Survey (EPS) demand for electricity all India peak demand and electrical energy requirement are estimated to be 277.2 GW and 1907.8 BU for 2026-27 and 366.4 GW and 2473.8 BU for 2031-32 respectively.
• Energy requirement and peak demand include adoption of electric vehicles, installation of solar roof tops, production of green hydrogen, impact of Saubhagya scheme etc.
• Based on the generation planning done under the scope of preparation of National Power Plan for 2022-27, there is a possibility of installing 6,09,591 MW capacity for 2026-27.
• This includes 2,73,038 conventional capacity and 3,36,553 MW of renewable energy-based capacity as well as BESS (Battery Energy Storage System) capacity of 8,680 MW/ 34,720 Mega Watt-hour (MWh).
• Potentially 9,00,422 MW capacity is estimated to be installed by the year 2031-32.
• This includes 3,04,147 MW of conventional capacity and 5,96,275 MW of renewable energy-based capacity as well as BESS capacity of 47,244MW/236,220MWh.
• This estimate of total capacity addition is in line with the country's target of achieving non-fossil based installed capacity of about 500 GW by the year 2029-30.
• The NEP envisages that the share of non-fossil-based capacity is estimated to be 57.4 per cent by the end of 2026-27 and is expected to increase to 68.4 per cent by 2031-32, from 42.5 per cent by April, 2023.
• The domestic coal requirement is estimated to be 866.4 million tonnes for the year 2026-27 and 1025.8 million tonnes for the year 2031-32 and the estimated coal import requirement for plants running on imported coal is 28.9 MT.
• A total of Rs 14,54,188 crore is estimated to be required for augmentation of production capacity during the period 2022-2027 and Rs 19,06,406 crore for the period 2027-2032.
• As per Section 3(4) of the Electricity Act, 2003, the Central Electricity Authority has been mandated to prepare a National Electricity Plan (NEP) under the National Electricity Policy and to notify such plan once in five years.

Topic: Indian Economy

12. Government's fiscal deficit for FY23 decreases to 6.4% of GDP.

• The fiscal deficit of the government decreased from 6.71% of GDP to 6.4% of GDP in 2022–23.
• In the Union Budget, the government had said it aims to further reduce the fiscal deficit to 5.9% of gross domestic product (GDP) during the current fiscal year 2023-24.
• Unveiling the government's revenue-expenditure figures for 2022-23, the CGA said the fiscal deficit in absolute terms stood at ₹17,33,131 crore (provisional), slightly less than the amount estimated in the Revised Estimates (RE) in the budget.
• The government received ₹24.56 lakh crore (101% of total receipts relating to RE 2022-23) during 2022-23.
• This includes ₹20.97 lakh crore tax revenue (net from the Centre), ₹2.86 lakh crore non-tax revenue and ₹72,187 crore non-debt capital receipts.
• The Centre's total expenditure was ₹41.89 lakh crore (100% of the corresponding RE 2022-23), of which ₹34.52 lakh crore was on the revenue account and ₹7.36 lakh crore on the capital account.
• Of the total revenue expenditure, Rs 9.28 lakh crore was in the form of interest payments and Rs 5.31 lakh crore in the form of major subsidies.
• The revenue deficit for the fiscal year ending March 2023 was 3.9% of GDP while the effective revenue deficit was 2.8% of GDP.

Topic: National News

13. Union Cabinet approved the establishment of a Regional Office of the Universal Postal Union (UPU) in New Delhi.

• India has signed an agreement with Universal Postal Union to undertake UPU’s development cooperation and technical assistance activities in the region.
• The approval to set up the regional office of the UPU will enable India to play an active role in various organizations in the postal sector to promote developing countries (South-South) and triangular cooperation.
• India will provide a Field Project Expert, staff and office set-up for UPU’s regional office.
• This initiative will help in expanding India’s diplomatic footprint and help in strengthening ties with other countries.
• It will help in enhancing India’s presence at the global postal forums.
• This regional office will prepare and implement Projects on capacity building and training, improving efficiency and quality of postal services, enhancement of Postal technology, etc. for the region.
• Universal Postal Union (UPU)
  • It is the second oldest international organization in the world.
  • It was established in 1874.
  • It is the postal sector's primary forum for international cooperation.

Topic: Important Days

14. World Milk Day: 1 June

• World Milk Day gives an opportunity to raise awareness about the nutritional value and benefits of milk.
• It also helps in recognizing the contributions of dairy farmers, processors, and consumers.
• The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations (UN) established World Milk Day in 2001
• "Showcasing how dairy is reducing its environmental footprint, while also providing nutritious foods and livelihoods" is the theme of this year’s World Milk Day.
• Union Minister Parshottam Rupala will launch a campaign - Feeding the Future: Five Days of Action for Feed and Fodder and Training of A-HELP for 2023-24.
• India is the world's largest milk producer, contributing 24% of global milk production.
• The second and third largest milk-producing countries in the world are the USA and China, respectively.