Current Context : The government has appointed senior IAS officer Saurabh Garg as Secretary, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation.

• He is an IAS officer of 1991-batch Odisha cadre currently serving as Secretary, Department of Social Justice and Empowerment.
• He has also been given the charge of Secretary, National Statistical Commission (NSC).

Current Context : 300th birth anniversary of the Maratha queen Ahilya Bai Holkar was celebrated on 31^st May.

ABOUT AHILYA BAI HOLKAR

• Ahilya Bai (1725 -1795) was one of the women rulers of Medieval India who belongs to the Holkar dynasty of the Maratha Empire.
• She was married at the age of 08 with Khanderao Holkar in 1733. Her husband was killed in the battle of Kumbher in 1754.
• Ahilya bai is famous for having built numerous forts and roads in the Malwa region, sponsoring festivals and offering donations to many Hindu temples.
• Her philanthropy was reflected in the construction of several temples, ghats, wells, tanks and rest houses stretching across the length of the country.
• She welcomed stalwarts such as Marathi poet Moropant, Shahir Ananta Gandhi, and Sanskrit scholar Khushali Ram into her capital.
• John Keay, the British historian, gave the queen the title of ‘The Philosopher Queen’.

Observed on June 1 each year.

Celebrated since 2001.

• Aim : To recognize the importance of milk as a global food and to celebrate the dairy sector.
• Theme : Vital role dairy plays in delivering quality nutrition to nourish the world.
• Established by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

Celebrated on 1^st June every Year.

2024 Theme: The Promise of Playful Parenting.

• Objective : to appreciate all parents around the world for their selfless commitment to their children and their lifelong sacrifice to foster that relationship.
• The day was proclaimed by the UN General Assembly in 2012 to honors parents around the world.

Current Context : The residents of Anni and Nirmand have been demanding construction of a tunnel below Jalori Pass to ensure all-weather road connectivity.

• Due to high altitude of pass, it receives heavy snow during winter months, which cuts off the residents of Anni and Nirmand areas from the district headquarter Kullu.

ABOUT JALORI PASS :

• Jalori Pass is a high-altitude mountain pass with height of 10,800 feet above sea level.
• It is located between the districts of Kullu and Shimla.
• The pass opens in the second week of March and shuts down in December due to snowfall.

Current Context : Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) successfully tested the RudraM-II air-to-surface missile from Su-30 MK-I platform of the Indian Air Force (IAF).

RudraM-II is an indigenously-developed solid-propelled air to surface launched missile system to neutralize many types of enemy assets.

• It will replace the Kh-31s.This is the latest version of the missile.
• It can pick up enemy radio frequencies and signals from radars from over 100 kilometers.
• Range : 300 kilometers.
• Speed : up to Mach 5.5

Payload of 200 kilograms

Current Context : The Reserve Bank of India has launched  the PRAVAAH portal.

Aim : To enhance public access to the central bank and facilitating regulatory approvals and transactions.

ABOUT :

• The PRAVAAH (Platform for Regulatory Application, Validation, and Authorisation) portal is a secure and centralized web-based platform for individuals and entities to apply online for various regulatory approvals from the RBI.
• An individual or entity can submit 60 application forms covering different regulatory and supervisory departments of the RBI online.
• Applicants can also track their applications online, monitor their status, and receive a decision from the RBI in a time-bound manner.

Current Context : The International Labour Organisation (ILO) has released the report for the Asia-Pacific region.

RELEVANT FACTS ABOUT REPORT :

• Asia-Pacific region is undergoing rapid population ageing with the ratio of people aged 65 years and above expected to double by 2050.
• A substantial proportion of workers still engaged in low-quality, informal employment. Productivity growth is needed in India to achieve high income status by 2050.
• The Employment to Population Ratio (EPR) improved in the region to 58.2% (2023) from 57.4% (2022) mainly due to growth of employment among Indian women.
• Around 76% of manufacturers in India reported skilled labour shortages.

ABOUT INTERNATIONAL LABOUR ORGANISATION (ILO) :

• The International Labour Organization (ILO) is the United Nations agency for the world of work.
• It is also a member of the United Nations Development Group (UNDP).
• Headquarter : Geneva, Switzerland.

Current Context : Genetically modified (GMO) mosquitoes were released in Djibouti, East Africa to fight malaria.

The release is part of the ‘Djibouti Friendly Mosquito Programme’ started two years ago to stop the spread of Anopheles stephensi, an invasive species of mosquito.

About GM Mosquitos :

• GM mosquitoes are mosquitoes that have been implanted with a gene that was not originally present or naturally occurring in the insect.
• They are mass-produced in a laboratory to carry two types of genes :
  • A self-limiting gene that prevents female mosquito offspring from surviving to adulthood.
  • A fluorescent marker gene that glows under a special red light.
• GM mosquitoes produced in a lab lay eggs, which carry the self-limiting and fluorescent marker genes.

Current Context : IIT-Bombay and Tata Consultancy Services(TCS) to build India’s first Quantum Diamond Microchip Imager.

• The new sensing tool will be built at IIT Bombay PQuest Lab by experts from TCS in the next two years.
• It will help to reduce chances of chip failures and improve efficiency of electronic devices.

ABOUT CHIP :

• It is an advanced sensing tool to test the quality of semiconductor chips.
• It uses the defects in a diamond’s structure known as Nitrogen-Vacancy (NV) centres, together with the other hardware and software for detecting and characterizing anomalies in semiconductor chips.
• It will have wide applications in microelectronics, biological, and geological imaging and fine-scale imaging of magnetic fields.
• It will enable better quality control of semiconductor chips, thereby improving product reliability, safety, and energy efficiency of electrical devices.