Why in news ?

The Defence Minister has approved the budgetary support of Rs 498.8 crore for iDEX-DIO (Innovations for Defence Excellence – Defence Innovation Organisation) for the next five years.

About:

• Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX) were launched by the Government of India in 2018.
• Aim: It aims to create an ecosystem to promote innovation and technology development in Defence and Aerospace. For that, it will attract industries including MSMEs, start-ups, individual innovators, R&D institutes & academia.
  • It will also provide grants/funding and other support to them to carry out R&D. However, R&D should have a good potential for future adoption for Indian defence and aerospace needs.
• Objectives of IDEX:
  • Facilitate rapid development of new, indigenized, and innovative technologies for the Indian defence and aerospace sector in shorter timelines.
  • Create a culture of engagement with innovative startups, to encourage co-creation for defence and aerospace sectors.
  • Empower a culture of technology co-creation and co-innovation within the defence and aerospace sectors.
• Nodal Body: iDEX will be funded and managed by Defence Innovation Organisation (DIO).

Why in news ?

Union Minister of Women and Child Development appealed to citizens to report the instances of Child Labour on the PENCIL Portal or by calling on Childline-1098. This appeal came on World Day Against Child Labour.

About:

• PENCIL Portal stands for Platform for Effective Enforcement for No Child Labour.
• Purpose: It is an electronic platform that aims at achieving the target of a child labour free society. For this aim, it coordinates actions of the Centre, State, District, Governments, civil society, and the public.
• Nodal Ministry: The portal is administered by the Ministry of Labour & Employment.
• Components: PENCIL Portal has five components- Child Tracking System, Complaint Corner, State Government, National Child Labour Project, and Convergence.
• Significance: The portal has been launched for the effective implementation of the Child Labour Act and the National Child Labour Project (NCLP) Scheme.
  • NCLP aims to eliminate all forms of child labour and rehabilitate them through education in Special Training Centres.

Why in News ?

Ministry of Heavy Industry has announced major amendments in ongoing FAME-II scheme. Ministry has fixed incentives for India-made electric two-wheelers.

About:

• With the recent amendments on price side and subsidies government aims to promote electric two-wheeler usage across India.
• Reduction is price will help in EV adoption and strengthen government’s plans of making India an electric vehicle nation by 2030.

What are the recent amendments?

Earlier, subsidy rate for electric two-wheelers was Rs 10,000/kWh. It has been increased to Rs 15,000/kWh, which is nearly 40 percent of vehicle cost.

Procurement of EVs

Central government will procure electric buses and three-wheelers on large scale. EESL will be directed to procure three lakh electric rickshaws and has been told to aggregate demand for electric buses across nine major cities namely, Surat, Pune, Mumbai, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Delhi and Bengaluru.

FAME India Scheme

This scheme was launched with the aim of incentivising vehicle segments including 2-Wheeler, Passenger 4-Wheeler Vehicle, 3-Wheeler Auto, Light Commercial Vehicles and Buses. It also covers Hybrid & Electric technologies such as Mild Hybrid, plug in Hybrid, Strong Hybrid and Battery Electric Vehicles. This scheme is monitored by Department of Heavy Industries. It has four focus areas viz., Technology development, Demand Creation, Charging Infrastructure and Pilot Projects.

Why in News ?

India’s forex reserves crossed $600 mark for the first time and as on June 4; it stood at $605 billion. With this, India equals Russia as the fourth largest reserve holder worldwide.

Highlights

• India’s forex reserve was $605.008 billion while for Russia it was $605.2 billion.
• It took a year for reserves to rise by $100 billion.
• Huge forex reserves have improved India’s import cover substantially.
• By December 2020, foreign exchange reserves cover of imports increased to 18.6 months.

Foreign exchange or Forex reserves

Forex are assets on reserves which are held by central bank in foreign currencies. It includes bonds, treasury bills and other government securities. Most of the foreign exchange reserves are held in U.S. dollars. These reserves serve several purposes and ensure that central bank has backup funds in case national currency rapidly becomes insolvent or devaluate. India’s Forex Reserves include- Gold, Foreign Currency Assets, Special Drawing Rights and Reserve position with International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Why in News ?

Pulitzer Prize 2021 was recently conferred recently. Megha Rajagopalan, an Indian-origin journalist, has won this top journalism award of USA on June 11, 2021.

Highlights

• Megha won the prize along with two contributors.
• She has won Prize for innovative investigative reports exposing infrastructure of prisons and mass internment camps which were built secretly by China and detained Muslims in Xinjiang region.
• Other two winners are Tampa Bay Times’ Neil Bedi who won for local reporting and Kathleen McGrory who has been awarded for series exposing a Sheriff’s Office initiative which used computer modelling to identify some 1000 people who could be future criminals.

Pulitzer Prize

This prize is awarded since 1942 for a distinguished example of reporting on international affairs. Till 1947, this award was called as Pulitzer Prize for Telegraphic Reporting – International. It is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine and online journalism, musical composition and literature within the United States. It was established by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer.  These prizes are awarded yearly in twenty-one categories. Winners receive a certificate and a US$15,000 cash award.

Why in News ?

Novak Djokovic has won his 19th Grand Slam title in French open 2021 in Men’s single category at Roland Garros in Paris.

Novak Djokovic

Born on 22 May 1987, Novak is a Serbian professional tennis player who is currently ranked as world No. 1 by Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). He has been No. 1 for record total of 325 weeks.  He has won 19 Grand Slam men’s singles titles and 84 ATP singles titles. It also includes a record nine Australian Open titles and a record 36 Masters events which he shares with Rafael Nadal. He is the only player who have won all Big Titles on all four Grand Slam tournaments, all nine ATP Masters events and ATP Finals.

French Open

French Open, also known as Roland Garros, is a major tennis tournament organised for two weeks at Stade Roland-Garros in Paris, France. It starts in late May each year.  Tournament and venue have been after French aviator Roland Garros. It is a clay court tennis championship tournament.

Why in News ?

Office of Principal Scientific Adviser to Government has initiated ”Project O2 for India” with the aim of ensuring supply of critical raw materials like zeolites, Manufacturing of compressors and setting up of small oxygen plants.

Background

This project was initiated in aftermath of second wave of COVID-19 which witnessed an increase in demand for medical oxygen across the country. Thus, it is important to meet the current demand as well as manufacture medical oxygen to ensure adequate supply of oxygen for future needs.

About Project O2 for India

This project has been launched by office of Principal Scientific Adviser to enable stakeholders who are working to augment India’s ability to meet surge in demand for medical oxygen. Under the project, a National Consortium of Oxygen will be set up which would enable adequate national level supply of critical raw materials like zeolites. It would also set up small oxygen plants, manufacture compressors and final products like oxygen plants, concentrators & ventilators. Consortium will look forward to provide immediate short-term relief as well as work to strengthen manufacturing ecosystem in long-term.

Why in News ?

49-year-old, Naftali Bennett has become new Prime Minister of Israel. He is a religious-nationalist and a multi-millionaire former tech entrepreneur who has also served as defence minister.  With this win, he has ended 12 unbroken years of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the helm.

Who is Naftali Bennett?

He is son of American-born parents who speaks perfect English. He is a religious Jew who began life with his parents in Haifa. He kept moving between North America and Israel for military service, law school and private sector. He is an ultra-nationalist and & hard-right leader. He served in elite Sayeret Matkal commando unit after which he went to law school at Hebrew University. He co-founded an anti-fraud software company called Cyota in 1999.  Cyota was sold to U.S.-based RSA Security in 2005.

Why in News ?

44^th meeting of Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council was chaired by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on June 12, 2021. Several changes in GST rate have been made which would be applicable till September 30, 2021.

What decisions were taken?

• As per the Finance Minister, GST Council has accepted recommendations of Group of Ministers (GoM) which was set up to look on tax relief on Covid-19 medical supplies.
• Following the recommendations, GST rate for ambulances has been reduced from 28 percent to 12 percent.
• GST rate for COVID-19 testing kits, medical-grade oxygen and ventilator have been reduced from 12 percent to 5 percent.
• Rate on hand sanitisers has been reduced from 18 percent to 5 percent.
• For temperature check equipment, rate was reduced from 18 percent to 5 percent.
• 5% GST tax will be applicable on pulse oximeters, including personal imports, from earlier 12 percent.
• On specified inflammatory diagnostic kits was reduced from 12 percent to 5 percent.
• GST rates on gas or electric or other furnaces used in crematorium including the installation charges has been reduced to 5% from 18%.
• No GST rate would be imposed on Covid-19 related drugs including Tocilizumab and Amphotericin B. Earlier it was kept at 5 percent.
• GST rates on anticoagulants such as Heparin and Remdesivir have been cut to 5 percent from 12 percent.
• 5% tax would be applied on ventilator masks or cannula or helmets.

Why in News ?

Recently, Coast Guard have enforced laws and started operation Olivia to protect Olive Ridley turtles in Odisha.

What is Operation Olivia?

Operation Olivia was started by the Indian Coast Guard (ICG), first in early 1980s. This operation helps in protecting Olive Ridley turtles every year when they start nesting along Odisha coast for breeding in months of November to December. Under it, round-the-clock surveillance is conducted from November till May through Coast Guard assets like Fast patrol vessels, Interceptor craft, Air cushion vessels and Dornier aircraft.