• It was launched in March 2019.

PM KUSUM Yojana: Objectives

• The primary objective of PM KUSUM Yojana is to make the latest technology available to every farmer in India.
• To make the farmers familiar with the de-dieselized irrigation system in the agricultural sector.
• The solar pumps will enable the farmers to work more effectively and use an eco-friendly irrigation system, as solar pumps will produce safe energy.
• The pump sets comprise an energy grid that will generate more energy than diesel-driven pumps.
• The Farmers will be able to generate extra power and sell it to the Government directly and enhance their income

• State-owned Bank of Maharashtra (BoM) has emerged as the top performer among public sector lenders in terms of loan and deposit growth in percentage terms during 2021-22.
• The Pune-headquartered lender recorded a 26% increase in gross advances at `1,35,240 crore at the end of March 2022.
• It was followed by State Bank of India and Union Bank of India with 10.27% and 9.66% growth, respectively.
• However, in absolute terms, aggregate loans of SBI were nearly 18 times higher at `24,06,761 crore, while Union Bank of India’s five times higher at `6,99,269 crore compared to that of BoM’s at the end of Q4FY22.
• With regard to deposit growth, BoM witnessed a 16.26% growth and mobilised `2,02,294 crore at the end of March 2022.
• Union Bank of India was second with an 11.99% growth in deposits (`10,32,102 crore) while Indian Bank recorded a 10% increase at `5,84,661 crore, according to the published data.
• Business growth of BoM was also the highest at 20% at `3,37,534 crore followed by Union Bank of India at 11.04%

• A first-of-its-kind Asia’s largest liquid mirror telescope in the country atop Devasthal hill in Uttarakhand’s Himalayan range will now help in surveying the sky making it possible to observe several galaxies and other astronomical sources just by staring at the strip of sky that passes overhead.
• The telescope will keep a watch on the overhead sky to identify transient or variable objects such as supernovae, gravitational lenses, space debris, and asteroids.
• It is built by astronomers from India, Belgium and Canada.
• The novel instrument employs a 4-meter-diameter rotating mirror made up of a thin film of liquid mercury to collect and focus light.
• It is located at an altitude of 2450 metres at the Devasthal Observatory campus of Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences (ARIES), an autonomous institute under the Department of Science and Technology (DST) in Nainital, Uttarakhand.
• “ILMT is the first liquid mirror telescope designed exclusively for astronomical observations installed at the Devasthal Observatory of ARIES,”
• Devasthal Observatory now hosts two four-meter class telescopes – the ILMT and the Devasthal Optical Telescope (DOT). Both are the largest aperture telescopes available in the country.

• India and Israel resolved to further strengthen their defence and strategic ties during the talks between Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and his counterpart Benjamin Gantz.
• The two sides also adopted a ‘vision statement’ to expand their defence and military co-operation.
• Israel has emerged as one of the major defence equipment exporters to India since diplomatic ties were established between the two nations 30 years ago.
• A Letter of Intent on enhancing cooperation in the field of Futuristic Defence Technologies was also exchanged.
• This year marks the 30th anniversary of the formation of the official diplomatic ties between India and Israel.

• In a major development, an Indian delegation for the first time met the senior Taliban leaders in Kabul since it took control of Afghanistan in August last year.
• The Indian team headed by a senior diplomat discussed humanitarian assistance to the people of the strife-torn nation.
• The on-going visit comes against the backdrop of reports indicating that India may reopen its Embassy in Kabul, shut shortly after the Taliban took over the country on August 15 last year.
• More than 15 countries have already reopened their Embassies there.
• The Ministry said the team is on a visit to Kabul to oversee the delivery operations of India’s humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan.
• In this endeavour, India has already dispatched several shipments of humanitarian assistance consisting of 20,000 MTs of wheat, 13 tonnes of medicines, 500,000 doses of Covid vaccine and winter clothing,”

• Director of Ruchi Foodline, Eastern India’s leading food brand and Odisha’s No.1 spices company, Rashmi Sahoo has been presented the Times Business Award 2022.

About the Rashmi Sahoo:

• While working as director of Ruchi Foodline, she started and established Frozit – Odisha’s first frozen food company.
• She not only revolutionized the food processing segment in Odisha but also changes the lives of thousands of women by proving employment opportunities.
• Sahoo and Frozit have won various accolades across the world for their innovative food product line, quality and hygiene standards.

Key points:

• In 2003, he was chosen to take lead in the initiative to create awareness and promote polio prevention in India.
• Later in 2008, he was roped in to create and promote hygiene and sanitation among communities and has been continuing to do so over the years.
• In 2013, he was appointed UNICEF Ambassador for South Asia to advocate good hygiene and sanitation across the region.
• In 2019, he went on a three-day trip to Nepal to raise awareness for UNICEF Nepal’s ‘Bat for Brain Development’ campaign. 

• The Governor addressed the inaugural session of a five-day training program for Capacity Enhancement of Investigation and Supervisory Officers of Drug Law Enforcement Agencies of Himachal Pradesh organized by Himachal Pradesh Nasha Nivaran Board in collaboration with United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) at HP Institute of Public Administration (HIPA), Fairlawn.
• The should be discussion on the ill effects of drugs, so that effective steps can be taken in future and this topic must be discussed with children to make them aware for the future”,
• Shri Arlekar said that drug addiction is a very sensitive issue and it should also be resolved emotionally besides implementing law and policies made by the Government in this direction.

• The IIT-Mandi has declared Bhattakuffer Fruit Mandi on the outskirts of Shimla unsafe for trading and gathering of people until remedial measures are taken to restore the site that was damaged in a landslide two years back.
• The report has also suggested that no activity be carried out even on that portion of the yard that was not affected in the landslide. The arhtiyas had used the unaffected portion for trading activity last year.
• According to report “Though the remaining portion of the platform is structurally stable, it is still in a potential threat zone in case of a landslide.”

• GST was launched in India on 1 July 2017 as a comprehensive indirect tax for the entire country.
• It is a destination-based taxation system.
• It has been established by the101st Constitutional Amendment Act.
• GST revenues bucked the two-month rising trend in May and stood at nearly 1.41 lakh crore, registering a year on-year increase of 44 per cent.
• Although the May Goods and Services Tax (GST) revenues came in lower than the record high collection in April at 1.68 lakh crore and 1.42 lakh crore in March, it is still the fourth highest collection since the rollout of the new tax regime on July 1, 2017.
• The revenues for the month of May 2022 are 44 per cent higher than the GST revenues in the same month last year at 97,821 crore.
• This is the fourth time that the monthly GST collection has crossed the 1.40 lakh crore mark since the inception of GST and the third straight month since March 2022.