07 June 2019 - Daily Current Affairs
1. ‘Cyclone Man’ Mrutyunjay Mohapatra appointed IMD Chief
- Renowned scientist & cyclone warning specialist Dr Mrutyunjay Mohapatra has been appointed as the chief of India Meteorological Department (IMD) for a five-years.
- The IMD is responsible for weather and climate-related forecasts in the country.
- It is also mandated to issue warning to people about severe weather phenomenon like cyclones, dust storms, heavy rain and snow, cold and heat waves, among others.
- Prior to joining the IMD, Mr Mohapatra (known as Cyclone Man of India) joined the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) laboratory in Chandipur.
Note:
- The India Meteorological Department (IMD) is an agency of the Ministry of Earth Sciences of the Government of India, headquartered in Delhi.
- It has the responsibility for forecasting, naming and distribution of warnings for tropical cyclones in the Northern Indian Ocean region, including the Malacca Straits, the Bay of Bengal, the Arabian Sea and the Persian Gulf.
2. PM Modi approves reconstitution of NITI Aayog
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the reconstitution of National Institution for Transforming India (NITI Aayog).
- Mr Modi will be the Chairperson of the Aayog and Rajiv Kumar will be the Vice Chairman.
- An official release said V K Saraswat (former DRDO Chief), Ramesh Chand (Agriculture Expert) and Dr V K Paul (Public Health expert)will be the full-time members of the NITI Aayog.
- Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Home Minister Amit Shah, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar will be the Ex-Officio Members.
- Road, Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari, Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Thaawarchand Gehlot, Rail Minister Piyush Goyal and Statistics and Programme Implementation Minister Rao Inderjit Singh will be the special invitees of NITI Aayog.
Note:
- The ‘NITI Aayog’ established (in 2015) with the aim to achieve Sustainable Development Goals and to enhance cooperative federalism by fostering the involvement of State Governments of India in the economic policy-making process using a bottom-up approach.
- ‘NITI Aayog’ replaced the Planning Commission (योजना आयोग) which followed a top-down model.
3. RBI approves the appointment of Rakesh Makhija as Chairman of Axis Bank
- The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has approved the appointment of Rakesh Makhija as chairman of the Axis Bank for a period of 3 years.
- He has held a number of top management positions within the SKF Group
- The board of the bank in March had approved the appointment of Makhija as chairman subject to RBI clearance.
4. Nigeria's envoy to UN elected President of the 74th session of UNGA
- Nigeria's Ambassador to the United Nations Tijjani Muhammad-Bande (61-year) has been elected as President of the 74th session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA).
- He succeeds Ecuadorian MarÃa Fernanda Espinosa, whose term ends in September 2019.
- Tijjani Muhammad-Bande had been nominated by Nigeria and endorsed by the African group, at the election by acclamation.
- In accordance with the rules, the President of the 74th session of the General Assembly (193-member) should be elected from among the African States.
- The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN).
Note:
- The President of the United Nations General Assembly is a position voted for by representatives in the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on a yearly basis.
- The President presides over the sessions of the General Assembly.
Source: Business Standard
National Affairs
5. Preparations underway for seventh Economic Census
- Preparations for 7th Economic Census are underway In New Delhi.
- The Common Service Centres (CSCs) are being partnered in the census for the first time, providing quality training to the workforce of CSCs is the responsibility of the Ministry so that data collected by them is effective and of better quality.
- The Economic Census provides disaggregated information on various operational and structural variables of all establishments of the country.
- The Census also provides valuable insight into geographical spread and clusters of economic activities, ownership pattern, persons engaged in all economic establishments of the country.
- The output of the census will be released in January 2020.
Note:
- Economic Census is the complete count of all economic establishment located within the geographical boundary of the country.
6. IT dept extends the deadline for employers to issue Form 16 till July 10
- The Income Tax (IT) department has extended the deadline for employers to issue Form 16 TDS (Tax Deducted at Source) certificate for the financial year 2018-19 to its employees (till 10th July) 2019.
- The due date of filing of TDS statement by employers to the Income Tax department in Form 24Q for the financial year 2018-19 has been extended till June 30, 2019.
- With a view to redressing genuine hardship of deductors in timely filing of TDS statement on account of revision of its format and consequent updating of the file validation utility for its online filing, the deadline is being extended.
Source: AIR News
7. L&T Financial Services launches ‘Digital Sakhi’ in Tamil Nadu
- L&T Financial Services (LTFS) ‘Digital Sakhi’ was launched in 20 villages of Villupuram district in Tamil Nadu.
- It is an educational programme aimed at digital financial inclusion of rural women.
- LTFS in association with Sri Aurobindo Society will train and develop a team of 100 rural women (Digital Sakhis) as digital enablers, who in turn, will train about 40,000 others in using digital modes of payments.
- The company has also identified 500 women from trades such as dairy, poultry and goat-rearing, to impart enterprise development training and upskilling.
Honours & Awards
8. Sunder Pichai, Friedman to receive 2019 Global Leadership Award
- In the United States, Google's India-born CEO Sundar Pichai (46-years) and Nasdaq president Adena Friedman (50-years) have been chosen for the prestigious Global Leadership Awards 2019 by business advocacy group USIBC.
- They recognised for companies' contribution as the leading technology-driven platforms.
- The award by Washington-based US-India Business Council (USIBC) would be conferred Mr. Pichai and Mrs. Friedman during the next week's 'India Ideas Summit'.
Note
- The Global Leadership Award given annually (since 2007).
- The USIBC Global Leadership Awards recognise top corporate executives from the United States and India whose companies play a major role in catalysing growth in the US-India commercial corridor.
- Achievements in over 30 categories will be recognised and honoured with its unique award.
Source: Business Standard
Important Days
9. World Food Safety Day being observed today
- The World Food Safety Day (WFSD) observed every year across the world on 7th June.
- The theme for World Food Safety Day (WFSD) 2019 is " Food Safety, everyone's business".
- Food safety is key to achieving several UN Sustainable Development Goals and is a shared responsibility between governments, producers and consumers.
Source: UN.org
International Affairs
10. Russia launches the first Arctic train service ‘Zarengold’
- The first tourist train travelling through Russia's Arctic region and on to Norway set off from St. Petersburg station (Russia) with 91 passengers aboard for the inaugural trial journey.
- The tourists came from seven countries including the US, Germany, Norway and Russia.
- The train, named, Zarengold, complete with two restaurant cars will travel from Saint Petersburg through according to the organisers.
- The whole trip will take 11 days and allow passengers to discover areas difficult to access by other means.
Source: DD News
Obituaries
11. Sweden's former UEFA president Lennart Johansson passes away
- Former President of UEFA ‘Lennart Johansson’ (89-years) passed away following a short illness.
- Lennart Johansson was president of European football body UEFA from 1990 to 2007.
- Johansson's long reign at the head of UEFA coincided with a transformation in the finances of football as the game became big business and saw a huge increase in TV revenue.
- In 1998, he was defeated by Sepp Blatter in his bid to become head of football's global federation FIFA.
Source: BBC
Science & Defence
12. India-France to Hold Mega Air Exercise “Garuda VI” in July
- The Air Forces of India and France will carry out a two-week-long mega air exercise “Garuda VI” beginning July 1, 2019, at an air base in France.
- “Garuda VI” will boost the military-to-military ties between the two countries.
- From the Indian side, a fleet of Sukhoi 30 fighter jets will engage in dogfights with France’s Rafale multirole aircraft in simulated scenarios as part of the exercise.
Sports
13. Indian Jr. women's hockey team clinch Cantor Fitzgerald U21
- The Indian junior women's hockey team clinched the Cantor Fitzgerald U21 International 4-Nations title after beating Ireland 1-0 in the final at Dublin, Ireland.
- The win meant India ended the tournament with an unblemished record.
- With three goals in four games, Mumtaz Khan finished as the highest goal scorer of the tournament.
Source: AIR News