• The Soviet-era Kakhovka dam, which separates Russian and Ukrainian soldiers, was breached, causing flooding to spread throughout the conflict area.
• The attack has been attributed to both Russia and Ukraine, which has heightened tensions between the two nations.

ABOUT KAKHOVKA DAM

• The Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant is in the city of Nova Kakhovka in the Kherson The city is currently under Russian occupation.
• The dam is one of six that line the Dnipro river, which flows from the country’s far north to the Black Sea.
• It was constructed during the Soviet era. Russia holds the left, or southern, bank in the Kherson region, while Ukraine has the right, or northern, bank.
• The dam, 30 metres (98 feet) tall and 2 km (2 miles) long, was built in 1956 on the Dnipro river as part of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant.
• The reservoir also provides water to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear reactor, which is also under Russian control, and the Crimean peninsula, which Russia claims to have annexed in 2014.
• It has a reservoir with a volume of 18 km3, which is roughly equivalent to the Great Salt Lake in the U.S. state of Utah.

ZAPORIZHZHIA NUCLEAR POWER PLANT

• It is the biggest nuclear power plant in Europe and is located in the southeast of Ukraine.
• One of only four nuclear power plants in operation in the nation, the plant features six nuclear reactors.
• It produces up to 42 billion kWh of power, or around 40% of the electricity produced by all Ukrainian NPPs combined and one-fifth of the nation’s yearly electrical output.
• Despite not posing an immediate threat to the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (NPP), experts from Ukraine and the UN indicated that the collapse of the Kakhovka dam will have long-term effects on the plant’s future.

• Improved road connectivity has provided easy access to Kamrunag deity’s temple, a popular tourist destination, in Mandi district.
• Kamrunag temple is situated at a height of 3,334 metres.
• In front of the temple, there is a beautiful view of a lake, the Dhauladhar hills and the Balh valley.

• President Droupadi Murmu was honoured with the Grand Order of the Chain of the Yellow Star, the highest civilian award in Suriname.
  • She is the first Indian to receive this award.

• World Food Safety day is celebrated on June 7^th annually across the globe to highlight the importance of maintaining food standards.
• The theme of World Food Safety Day 2023 is “Food standards save lives.”
• The inaugural World Food Safety Day was observed on June 7, 2019.

• It is an annual exercise conducted between the navies of India and Maldives.
• It aims to enhance interoperability in diving and special operations.
• Other exercises:
  • The Indian Army and the Maldives National Defence Forces have been conducting Exercise Ekuverin meaning ‘Friends’ since 2009.

• Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Mr. Shaktikanta Das recently launched a Financial Inclusion Dashboard, named Antardrishti.
• The dashboard will provide the required insight to assess and monitor the progress of financial inclusion by capturing relevant parameters.
• The dashboard, presently intended for internal use in the RBI, will further facilitate greater financial inclusion through a multi-stakeholder approach.

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) launched the ‘100 Days 100 Pays’ Campaign for Return of Unclaimed Deposits

• Balances in savings / current accounts which are not operated for 10 years, or term deposits not claimed within 10 years from date of maturity are classified as “Unclaimed Deposits”.
• These amounts are transferred by banks to “Depositor Education and Awareness” (DEA) Fund maintained by the Reserve Bank of India.
• The campaign is aimed for banks to trace and settle the top 100 unclaimed deposits of every bank in every district of the country within 100 days.

• The Union Minister of Ports, Shipping & Waterways flagged off MV Empress, India’s first international cruise vessel – from Chennai to Sri Lanka.
• The MV Empress will sail to three Sri Lankan ports: Hanbantota, Trincomalee, and Kankesanturei.
• An MoU was signed during the first Incredible India International Cruise Conference in 2022 between Chennai Port and M/S Waterways Leisure Tourism Pvt Ltd to start domestic and international cruise service.
• The government also plans to develop three new international cruise terminals in Andamans, Puducherry, and Lakshadweep, which are expected to be operational by 2024.

• Morgan Stanley and Nomura in their recent assessments said that this decadal growth will be led by countries like India and from southeast Asia (Indonesia etc.).
• They reported that Asia’s flying geese model is back in operation.

ABOUT FLYING GEESE MODEL

• It is a theory of industrial development in latecomer economies, was developed in the 1930s by Japanese economist Kaname Akamatsu.
• It intends to explain the catching-up process of industrialization of latecomer economies, especially Japan and the East Asian Economies.
• This approach saw the US (on global scale) and Japan (in Asia) as the lead geese, followed by Asian emerging economies, resulting in their economic success.
• The regional development as per this model presupposes the existence of hierarchy, with a dominant economy acting as the growth centre and followed by other developing economies.

• Bihar government has decided to sign an MoU with Geological Survey of India for conducting remote sensing and aerial survey of the southern part of the state to prove the presence of magnetite-bearing rocks as well as ultramafic rocks which usually host Chromite (Cr), Nickel (Ni), Platinum Group of Elements (PGE) and

ABOUT MAGNETITE

• Magnetite is an oxide of iron.
• It is the most magnetic of all the naturally occurring minerals on earth.
  • It is a natural magnet.
• Magnetite contains about 72% metallic iron.
• Magnetite is a black, opaque, magnetic mineral that leaves a black streak when rubbed across a hard rough surface.
• It is one of the most abundant metal oxides, and its crystal structure contains both the ferrous and ferric forms of iron ions.
  • It is often confused with hematite and ilmenite (Titanium).
• More often, magnetite occurs in its massive form, commonly called ‘lodestone’.