ANSWER: C

• The Indian Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe) has started authorising Indian private firms, marking the beginning of private space sector launches in India.
• In-SPACe has headquarters in Ahmedabad.
• IN-SPACe is an autonomous, single window nodal agency; formed to promote, authorise, monitor and supervise the space activities of non-governmental private entities (NGPEs) in India.

Key Points:

• Dhruva Space Pvt. Ltd., Hyderabad and Digantara research & technologies Pvt. Ltd. Bengaluru, were authorised by IN-SPACe to launch their payloads.
• Dhruva Space is a space technology start-up focused on building full-stack space engineering solutions, involved in building application-agnostic satellite platforms.
• Digantara research and technologies is engaged in development of end-to-end solutions focused on safe and sustainable space operations through its Space Situational Awareness sensor network, platform and data products.

ANSWER: A

• Kerala state government has issued orders regarding the implementation of a medical insurance “MEDISEP” scheme for government employees and pensioners and the deduction of premium from the salary of June 2022 and pension of July 2022.
• MEDISEP scheme is applicable to government employees, pensioners/family pensioners and their eligible family members and employees and pensioners of universities that receive grant in aid from the state government and the local self-government institutions.

About the scheme:

• The scheme provides cashless medical assistance through an insurance company selected through the competitive bidding process. As per the scheme, the premium on behalf of the employees and pensioners towards MEDISEP shall be paid by the government in advance and will be recouped from the salary of employees and pensioners.
• The annual premium of the employees and the pensioners will be Rs 4,800 + 18% GST for the policy period of 2022-24, and the monthly premium of Rs 500 would be deducted from the salary/pension.
• The scheme is applicable to universities and local self-government institutions as well.
• The scheme is also applicable to directly recruited personal staff of the chief minister, ministers, opposition leader, the chief whip, Speaker, deputy speaker and chairman of the financial committees.

ANSWER: B

• The International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) chooses Mohammed Jalood as President 2022.
• Mohammed Jalood has been elected as the organization’s president, and 11 additional new members have been added to its Executive Board.

About IWF:

• The international governing organisation for Olympic weightlifting is the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF), which has its headquarters in Lausanne.
• The 192 Member Federations of the IWF date back to its founding in 1905.
• Between the 1972 and 1976 Summer Olympics, the Fédération Haltérophile International (FHI), now known as the IWF, underwent a name change.

ANSWER: B

• The Commonwealth of Nations now has 56 member nations after the admission of Togo and Gabon.
• The two historically French-speaking nations were formally admitted to the union at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, which was presided over by Rwandan President Paul Kagame in Kigali, the country’s capital.
• According to Patricia Scotland, the organization’s secretary-general, admission is determined by evaluations of a number of standards, including the democratic process, effective leadership, and rule of law.

KEY POINTS:

• The choice was taken following the heads of state and government’s consultation at the meeting.
• Never were the two African nations British colonies.
• According to Togo’s Foreign Minister Robert Dussey, the goal of the country’s membership in the Commonwealth is to broaden its network of diplomatic, political, and commercial relations.
• According to Michael Moussa Adamo, the foreign minister of Gabon, joining would strengthen economic diversification while retaining ties with France.
• President Ali Bongo of Gabon thinks modernization is a goal of joining the Commonwealth.
• While Togo, a country in West Africa, began the process of legally entering the Commonwealth in 2014, the Central African nation’s formal application procedure began five years earlier.

ANSWER: D

• In a Caribbean mangrove swamp, researchers found the largest bacterium known to science. While the majority of bacteria are tiny, this one is so large that it can be seen with the unaided eye.
• According to Jean-Marie Volland, a marine biologist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and a co-author of a paper reporting the finding in the journal Science, it is by far the largest bacterium known to date. The thin white thread is about the size of a human eyelash.
• The cell has a shape that is unusual for bacteria, according to the researchers, but they have not yet been able to develop it in lab culture.
• One significant distinction is that it includes a sizable central compartment, or vacuole, which enables some cell functions to take place there rather than all across the cell.
• The reason the bacteria is so enormous is unknown to the researchers, although co-author Volland proposed that it might be an adaptation to assist it avoid being eaten by smaller creatures.

ANSWER: B

About Ambubachi Mela:

• An annual Hindu festival known as the Ambubachi Mela takes place at the Kamakhya Temple in Guwahati, Assam.
• This annual festival is held in the middle of June, when the Brahmaputra River is at its highest flow, during the monsoon season, which also happens to fall within the Assamese month of Ahaar.

KEY POINTS:

• Devotees were finally permitted to take part in the annual Ambubachi Mela at Assam’s renowned Kamakhya Temple after a two-year absence.
• The head priest of Maa Kamakhya Devalaya, or “Bor Doloi,” Kabinath Sarma, explained that the “Pravritti” was used to symbolically close the temple doors for four days as part of the rites. The door will be unlocked or Nivriti in the morning of the first day.
• This year, the holiday is being observed in a more subdued manner due to the state’s terrible floods.

ANSWER: D

• 835 Squadron (CG), an indigenous Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) MK III squadron, was commissioned into Indian Coast Guard at its Air Enclave in Porbandar, Gujarat on June 28, 2022.
• DG, Coast Guard Shri VS Pathania presided over the commissioning ceremony which was attended by various military & civil dignitaries based at Porbandar and Gujarat area.
• Virender Singh Pathania is from Ladori village in Nurpur, Himachal Pradesh.
• The commissioning of this squadron marks a tremendous leap towards self-reliance in the field of Search and Rescue (SAR) and maritime surveillance, in line with Prime Minister’s vision of ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’.
• The ALH MK III helicopters have been indigenously manufactured by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL).
• They feature state-of-the-art equipment including advanced RADAR as well as Electro optical sensors, Shakti engines, full glass cockpit, high-intensity searchlight, advanced communication systems, automatic identification system as well as SAR homer.
• The features enable them to undertake maritime reconnaissance as well as carry out SAR at extended ranges even while operating from ships during both day and night. The aircraft has the ability to switch roles from an offensive platform with heavy machine gun to that of a benign one carrying a Medical Intensive Care Unit to facilitate transfer of critically ill patients.
• So far, 13 ALH MK-III aircraft have been inducted in the Indian Coast Guard in a phased manner and four of these aircraft are positioned at Porbandar. Since the induction, the squadron has flown over 1,200 hours and conducted numerous operational missions, including the maiden night SAR mission off Diu coast.
• The 835 Sqn (CG) is commanded by Commandant Sunil Dutt. The commissioning will give a major fillip to the abilities of the Indian Coast Guard in the Gujarat region and further strengthen the country’s maritime security.

ANSWER: D

• As per the EY India-SED Fund report, India will need 115 GW of renewable power generation capacity and 50 billion litres of demineralised water supply to achieve the goal of five million tonnes of green hydrogen by 2030.
• In this decade, industrial feedstock-based applications will drive the demand for green hydrogen.
• According to the EY-SED Fund report titled ‘Accelerating Green Hydrogen Economy’, released at the CII’s conference on ‘Green New Energy for a Net Zero India’ in Bengaluru, the Price parity between green and grey hydrogen production will determine the speed and scale of transition.
• The report highlights that India’s ambition to produce 5 million tonnes of green hydrogen by 2030 will need 115 GW of renewable power generation capacity and 50 billion litres of demineralised water supply.
• To get a sense of this scale, the current all-India installed capacity of renewable power generation is 113 GW as of May 2022.
• The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing global conflict are stark reminders of how India’s dependence on energy imports and other commodities linked to global supply chains can threaten its strategic interests.
• The emergence of green hydrogen as a promising low carbon feedstock and energy carrier for industrial applications is a boon for India’s long-term energy security, sustainability and self-reliance.
• The levelized cost of green hydrogen production and storage (LCOH) is currently Rs 400/kg.
• Around 40-50 per cent of this cost can be attributed to the renewable energy power plant, 30-40 per cent for electrolyser stack and balance of system, including demineralised water supply and 20-30 per cent for compressed storage.

ANSWER: B

• Prem Lal, a postman from Himachal Pradesh, who covers 32 km daily to give mail to people in the far reaches of Lahaul bagged the prestigious Meghdoot Award of the Department of Posts.
• Instituted in 1984, the award is the highest recognition of the Department of Posts at the national level for overall performance and excellence of its employees. This award is conferred in eight separate categories and carries a medallion, certificate and a cash award of Rs 21,000.
• Posted as a mail runner in Mandi division, Prem Lal covers the Udaipur Shalgran Mail Line of Lahaul, which spans a distance of 32 km. His work involves moving across difficult terrains at an altitude of over 9,000 feet.
• Prem Lal was among the eight awardees, which also saw the government launch ‘Dak Karmayogi’, an e-learning portal of the Department of Posts to impart digital training to four lakhs rural ‘gramin sewaks’ of the government.

ANSWER: C

• With the ban on single-use plastic all set to be implemented nationwide from July 1, the Himachal Pradesh Council for Science, Technology and Environment (HIMCOSTE) has come out with a buyback policy for plastic waste.
• As many as 100 eco club schools — about 10 from rural and urban areas in each district — have been identified for the buyback scheme. Students from Class VI onwards are members of such clubs.
• Being the state nodal agency for the National Green Corps, a programme conceptualised by the Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, the HIMCOSTE has formed eco clubs in 3,000 schools and 100 colleges.
• The waste thus collected will be put to use in road construction through the Public Works Department and also sent to cement plants where it is used as fuel.
• Those heading the clubs will have to coordinate with civic bodies concerned and the block development officer for collection and final disposal of the waste.
• Under the Novel eco scheme, Waste to be bought at Rs 75 a kg; Rs 50 lakh marked for plan and Max 50 kg waste/month to be bought from each club.