ANSWER: D

• At Raxaul in Bihar, the union minister for health and family welfare and Chemicals and Fertilizers Mr. Mansukh Mandaviya, inaugurated the National Food Laboratory of FSSAI. 
• Under the bilateral agreement between Indo-Nepal, this laboratory was established to reduce the time of testing of food samples imported from Nepal to Raxaul.
• The testing of food was a time taking because the food samples with legal sanity were sent to the National Food Laboratory of Kolkata. 

Key points:

• It will increase the scope of Nepal to import more food products to India and connect both the countries with each other by trading more efficiently.
• The food laboratory will be accredited by July-August of this year by the National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL). The laboratory will start testing samples of cereals, fats and oils, spices, fruits, vegetables, and packaged drinking water very soon.
• India will provide assistance to get National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL) accreditation to the Kathmandu Food Lab if needed.
• The inauguration of the Food Laboratory in Raxaul was a constant request of the exporters from Nepal.
• The inauguration of the National Food Laboratory has fulfilled the wishes of the neighbouring country and it shows the commitment of India to improving the relationship between the two countries, making it a strong bond economically and improving the connection between both the countries.

ANSWER: C

• Indian Railways have been awarded by the UIC International Sustainable Railway Awards (ISRA) in the category of “Best use of Zero-Carbon Technology” for feeding Solar Energy directly to 25 KV AC Traction System on 1st June 2022, in Berlin, Germany.
• Indian Railways is observing World Environment Day on 5th June, 2022 in an appropriate and befitting manner keeping in line with the theme of this year’s World Environment Day.

ANSWER: D

• The Digital payment markets in India are expected to increase triple from the current three trillion dollars to ten trillion dollars in the coming four years, which is by 2026.
• This was confirmed by the report titled (‘Digital Payments in India: A $10 trillion opportunity’) issued by PhonePe after the collaboration with Boston Consulting Group (BCG).
• The report highlights the growth of India’s digital payments in the last five years.
• The growth in five years has resulted in aiming those digital payments will aim to constituting two out of three payment transactions by 2026.

Key points of the report:

• The report highlights the in-depth scenario of the growth of digital payments in India and focuses on factors and enablers to understand and unleash the potential of digital payments and its massive growth in the Country.
• UPI saw about a nine times transaction volume increase in the past three years, increasing from five billion transactions in FY19 to about 46 billion transactions in FY22: accounting for more than 60% of non-cash transaction volumes in FY22. This indicates that digital payment has gained acceptance across the country.
• The report says that multiple platforms offer digital payments now, which has disrupted the digital payments ecosystem. 

ANSWER: D

• India-Bangladesh bilateral defence cooperation, a joint military training exercise Ex SAMPRITI-X is being conducted at Jashore Military Station in Bangladesh from 05 June to 16 June 2022.
• The aim of the exercise is to strengthen interoperability between the two armies and to understand each other’s tactical drills and operational techniques.

About the Ex SAMPRITI-X:

• The Indian contingent of company strength is being represented by a Battalion of the DOGRA Regiment and the contingent departed by road for the exercise location on 4 Jun 2022.
• During the joint military exercise Ex Sampriti-X, armies of both the Nations will share expertise in multiple simulated scenarios of Counter Terrorism, Humanitarian Assistance & Disaster Relief and UN Peacekeeping Force under UN mandate.
• Exercise Sampriti is an important bilateral defence cooperation endeavour conducted alternately by both countries which aims to strengthen and widen the aspects of interoperability and cooperation between both the armies.

ANSWER: B

• Prime Minister has launched the ‘Lifestyle for the Environment (LiFE) Movement’, a global initiative, and asserted that its vision is to live a lifestyle that is in tune with our planet and does not harm it.
• The launch initiated ‘LiFE Global Call for Papers’ inviting ideas and suggestions from academics, universities and research institutions etc to influence and persuade individuals, communities and organisations across the world to adopt an environment-conscious lifestyle.

Key points:

• The idea of LiFE was introduced by the Prime Minister during the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties COP-26 in Glasgow last year.
• The idea promotes an environment conscious lifestyle that focuses on mindful and deliberate utilisation instead of mindless and destructive consumption.
• Mission LiFE borrows from the past, operates in the present and focuses on the future

ANSWER: C

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi released a special series of 1, 2, 5, 10, and 20 coins. These special series of coins will have the theme of the logo of the “Azadi Ke Amrit Mahotsav” (AKAM) and will be easily identifiable to visually impaired persons. Inaugurating the “iconic week celebrations” of the Ministry of Finance (June 6- 11).
• PM also launched the National Portal — “Jan Samarth Portal” — a credit linked portal of 13 Government schemes, to ensure ease in credit availability to youth, entrepreneurs, and farmers. The celebrations are part of the AKAM.
• This portal will improve the lives of students, farmers, businessmen, and MSME entrepreneurs and will help them in realising their dreams.

ANSWER: D

• Voters in the Central Asian nation of Kazakhstan have given overwhelming approval to proposed constitutional changes widely seen as an attempt to repudiate the legacy of former strongman Nursultan Nazarbayev, who led the ex-Soviet republic for three decades.
• According to Kazakhstan’s Central Election Commission, 77% of voters supported the constitutional amendments in referendum, according to preliminary results, while just under 19% voted against them and about 2.6% of ballots were found invalid. The turnout was 68%.
• Referendum included specific questions on modifications like prohibiting the death penalty and banning some officials from joining political parties.
• President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev vowed Political reforms, including reducing the power of the presidency and strengthening parliament, reducing government involvement in the economy, and to bridge the gap between rich and poor.

ANSWER: A

• Sakshi Malik, Rio Olympics Bronze medallist won her first international gold medal at the Bolat Turlykhanov Cup in almost five years.
• In the 62 Kg category, Sakshi Malik won against Irina Kuznetsova, via fall.
• In the 57 Kg category, Mansi won against Emma Tissina, by 3-0.
• In the 68 Kg category, Divya Kakran won against Zorigt and Delgerma by scoring more points from both of them.

ANSWER: D

• The Cabinet today gave nod to the Himachal Pradesh Drone Policy 2022 with the objective of propagating Drone-enabled technology for heralding economic prosperity and creating employment avenues.
• Drone technology being used to check illegal felling, mining and to deliver medicines in remote and inaccessible areas of the state.
• The policy envisions creating a holistic Drone ecosystem built upon the foundation of Governance and Reforms Using Drones (GARUD).
• It aims at harnessing digital sky opportunities through institutional linkages with the National Education Policy, 2020, HP Industrial Investment Policy, HP Start-up/Innovation Scheme, National Skill Qualification Framework for ensuring future readiness of students and empowering them to access the job opportunities in the Drone Sector.

ANSWER: B

• The bench strength of the High Court of Himachal Pradesh has been increased from 13 to 17 judges, consisting of 13 permanent Judges and 4 Additional Judges.
• The proposal for a hike in the sanctioned bench strength was first sent to the Union Law Minister by the then Chief Justice of the High Court Justice Surya Kant on March 1, 2019.
• The judges strength of the High Court has been reviewed and increased from 13 to 17 judges.
• Now as per the enhanced Judge strength of High Court of HP the share of members of Bar quota (Advocates) and Service quota (District Judges) would be 11 and 6, respectively.
• According to sources, Union Law Minster Kiran Rijiju had sent a communication to the Acting Chief Justice Sabina requesting therein to send the proposal for filing the vacant posts of judges.