Daily Current Affairs and GK | 8 June 2022

Topic: National News

1. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the Biotech Startup Expo-2022 on 9 June.

• Biotech Startup Expo – 2022 will be organized on 9-10 June at Pragati Maidan in New Delhi.
• It is being organized by the Department of Biotechnology and Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC).
• ‘Biotech Startup Innovations: Towards AatmaNirbhar Bharat’ is the theme of the Biotech Startup Expo.
• It will bring entrepreneurs, investors, industry leaders, scientists, researchers, bio-incubators, etc. to one platform.
• Around 300 stalls will be set up at this expo to showcase the applications of biotechnology in various fields.
• Biotech Startup Expo 2022 will also mark the 10th anniversary of the Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC).
• Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC):
  • It is a public sector enterprise under the Department of Biotechnology (DBT).
  • It promotes and supports new ventures in the field of Biotechnology under the Start-up India and Make in India programmes.
  • It has set a target to support more than 10,000 biotechnology start-ups by 2024.

Topic: State News/ Goa

2. Goa CM launches "Beach Vigil App" to ensure holistic management of beaches.

• Goa CM Pramod Sawant launched Beach Vigil App to keep an eye on beaches.
• It will enable users to report violations like drinking/cooking on the beach, unattended litter, illegal hawking, etc.
• The tourism department will monitor the complaint and direct its agencies to take action against it.
• The app will help institutions working in the beach tourism sector.
• Goa has a coastline of 103 km. Varca Beach, Aguada & Candolim Beach, and Vagator Beach are the famous beaches in Goa.

Topic: Reports and Indexes/Rankings

3. World Bank lowered its forecast for global economic growth in 2022.

• The World Bank reduced its forecast for global economic growth in 2022 due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict, supply chain disruptions, and other factors.
• According to the World Bank's Global Economic Prospects report, the global economy undergoes its sharpest deceleration in more than 80 years after the initial recovery from the global recession.
• The global economy is expected to grow by 2.9 percent this year, according to forecasts.
• It will be lower than last year's global growth of 5.7 percent and the 4.1 percent it predicted for this year in January.
• Global growth rate is being hammered by the war in Ukraine, Chinese lockdowns, supply-chain disruptions, and the threat of stagflation.

Topic: New Developments

4. Miniproteins developed by IISc scientists may help to prevent COVID infection.

• The Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bangalore has developed a new class of artificial peptides or miniproteins that can render viruses like SARS-CoV-2 inactive.
• The miniproteins can not only inhibit virus entry into our cells but also clump virus particles together, decreasing their potential to infect, according to the study, which was published in the journal Nature Chemical Biology.
• The researchers noted that protein-protein interaction is often like that of a lock and a key.
• This interaction can be disrupted by a laboratory-made miniprotein, which mimics, competes, and prevents the 'key' from binding to the 'lock', or vice versa.
• Miniproteins has been designed to block the spike protein on the surface of the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

Topic: State News/ Sikkim

5. Sikkim declared the Blue Duke as its official state butterfly.

• On the occasion of World Environment Day on 5 June, Sikkim Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamang declared Blue Duke the state butterfly.
• In a recent online poll conducted by the Forest Department, the Blue Duke, one of the 720 species of butterflies found in Sikkim, has been chosen as the state butterfly with 57% of the vote.
• The Blue Duke, scientifically known as Bassarona durga, is only found in Sikkim and the eastern Himalayas. It was discovered in 1858 in the state.
• The Blue Duke is a protected species in the Himalayas, listed in Schedule 2 of the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972.
• In the online polls, Krishna Peacock (Papilio Krishna) received 43% of the votes and secured the second position.
• The Chief Minister also awarded Sonam Wangchuk Lepcha for discovering a new butterfly species in 2021. 
• The new butterfly species is called Zographetus dzonguensis and is also known as the chocolate-border flutter.

Topic: Important Days

6. World Oceans Day 2022: 8 June

• Every year on June 8, World Oceans Day is celebrated.
• The day is celebrated to highlight the role of the oceans in sustaining life on Earth and to inspire action to preserve it.
• The theme of World Oceans Day 2022 is ‘Revitalisation: Collective Action for the Ocean’.
• The United Nations (UN) declared 8^th June as World Oceans Day in 2008.
• The idea of celebrating World Oceans Day was first proposed in 1992 at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
• In 1973, the International Marine Organization was formed to deal with problems like pollution from ships, garbage in the ocean, and air pollution from ships.

Topic: Defence

7. Government has amended the rules of the Army, the Navy and the Air Force for the appointment of the next CDS.

• Ministry of Defence has issued three separate notifications amending the rules.
• Serving three-star officers Lieutenant General in Army, Air Marshal in Air Force and Vice-Admiral in Navy or retired Service Chiefs or three-star officers can be appointed CDS if considered necessary in the public interest.
• The officers should not have attained the age of 62 years.
• The service of CDS may be extended by the government for such period as it may deem necessary subject to a maximum age of 65 years.
• The post of Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) has been lying vacant since the passing away of General Bipin Rawat.
• General Bipin Rawat lost his life in a chopper crash in Tamil Nadu on 8th December 2021.

Topic: National Appointments

8. Alok Kumar Choudhary replaced Ashwani Bhatia as MD of SBI.

• Alok Kumar Choudhary has been appointed MD of SBI with effect from June 7, 2022.
• Ashwani Bhatia recently assumed charge as a whole-time member of SEBI.
• The State Bank of India (SBI) now has four MDs. The other three MDs are CS Setty, Swaminathan Janakiraman and Ashwini Kumar Tewari.
• State Bank of India (SBI):
  • It is a nationalized public sector bank. Dinesh Kumar Khara is its chairperson.
  • Its headquarters is in Mumbai, Maharashtra. Its tagline is “The Banker to Every Indian”.

Topic: Environment and Ecology

9. Maharashtra State Board for Wildlife (MSBWL) approved 12 new conservation reserves and three wildlife sanctuaries.

• For the wildlife conservation and environment protection movement, 12 new conservation reserve and three wildlife sanctuaries have been approved in Maharashtra.
• These protected areas comprise almost 1,000 sq km (around 692.74 sq km for conservation reserves and 303 sq km for wildlife sanctuaries).
• The 12 new conservation reserves are as follows:

• Lonar wildlife sanctuary (0.8694 sq km), Kolamarka in Gadchiroli (180.72 sq km) and Muktai Bhawani in Jalgaon (122.74 sq km) are the new wildlife sanctuaries.
• There are a total of 27 conservation reserves in Maharashtra.
• According to the Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972, the consent of the wildlife board is necessary before notifying any Protection Area in the state.

Topic: State News/ Odisha

10. A week-long festival 'Sital Sasthi' is being celebrated in Odisha.

• 'Sital Sasthi' is a Hindu festival in Odisha. It is observed to celebrate the marriage of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati.
• It is observed on the sixth day of the Jyestha month during the Shukla Paksha.
• The most famous Sheetla Shashthi Yatra is taken out in Sambalpur in western Odisha.
• ‘Sital Sasthi’ is celebrated every year in a form of a grand carnival. More than 6,000 artists from across Odisha as well as other states participated in the celebration.
• Famous festivals of Odisha:

Topic: Important Days

11. World Food Safety Day: 7 June

• World Food Safety Day is observed every year on 7 June to promote awareness about the health hazards associated with unsafe food.
• United Nations had declared this day in 2018 to draw global attention to the health consequences of contaminated food and water.
• The theme of 2022 World Food Safety Day is 'Safer Food, Better Health'.
• According to a 2019 report by WHO, more than 600 million cases of foodborne diseases come annually.
• On the occasion of World Food Safety Day, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya launches a logo for 'Ayurveda Aahar’.
• He also released FSSAI 4^th State Food Safety Index (SFSI) to measure the performance of states across five parameters of food safety.

Topic: Defence

12. ‘BALTOPS 2022’ naval exercise kicked off in Baltic Sea.

• NATO members along with Finland & Sweden are taking part in this multilateral exercise.
• Sweden is the host of the BALTOPS 22 exercise. More than 7,000 sailors, airmen and marines from 16 countries are taking part in this naval exercise.
• BALTOPS naval exercise was started in 1972. This year, 45 vessels and 75 aircraft will participate in this Naval Exercise.
• Finland and Sweden are participating in this exercise since the mid-1990s.
• This exercise is scheduled to conclude at the German port of Kiel on June 17.

Topic: Award and Prizes

13. ‘Shershaah’ won Best Picture award at the International Indian Film Academy Awards.

• The International Indian Film Academy Awards (IIFA) ceremony was held in Abu Dhabi on 3-4 June.
• The IIFA 2022 Awards was hosted by Salman Khan, Manish Paul and Riteish Deshmukh.

Important Awards list is given below:

Topic: Reports and Indices/Ranking

14. India ranks lowest in the Environmental Performance Index prepared by US researchers.

• India ranked 180^th on the Environmental Performance Index due to its poor policies and its implementation.
• Denmark is on the top of the Index and emerging as the most sustainable country.
• The United States is on 43^rd place in the index.
• The Index predicted that the United States will be among the four largest greenhouse gas emitters in 2050. China, India, and Russia will be the other three countries.
• The United Kingdom and Denmark are on the track to achieve their net-zero emissions target by 2050.
• The Environmental Performance Index prepared by Yale and Columbia University researchers gives ranking to 180 countries on 40 indicators.
• Climate change, environmental public health, biodiversity etc. are one of the parameters of the Environmental Performance index.