1. YSR Yantra Seva Scheme launched by Andhra Pradesh
Tags: Government Schemes State News
YSR Yantra Seva Scheme has been launched by the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, YS Jagan Mohan Reddy.
About the Scheme
Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy started this scheme from the village of Chuttugunta.
Under this scheme, tractors and combine harvesters will be provided to the farmers at low rates.
The total cost of this scheme is 2016 crores.
The government will give a 40 percent subsidy on all machinery and loans will also be provided to the farmers.
Apart from this, it was also decided by the state government to set up custom hiring centres in the entire state.
In this program, an amount of Rs 175 crore was sent to the accounts of 5260 farmers under the Ritu Bharosa scheme.
The Andhra Pradesh government aims to set up a total of 10,750 YSR Yantra Seva Kendras (CHCs).
About Andhra Pradesh State
Historically, Andhra Pradesh has been called the "Rice Bowl of India".
Andhra Pradesh was formed on 1 November 1956.
Kuchipudi is the most famous classical dance form of the state.
Capital- Amravati
Official language - Telugu
Governor- Biswa Bhushan Harichandan
Chief Minister- Jagan Mohan Reddy (Congress)
Legislative Assembly seats- 176
Rajya Sabha Seats - 11
Lok Sabha seats - 25
2. Ministry of Textile inaugurated the 'Lota Shop' at National Crafts Museum, New Delhi
Tags: National News
The Ministry of Textile inaugurated the 'Lota Shop' at National Crafts Museum, New Delhi on 14 June.
Central Cottage Industries Corporation of India Limited (CCIC), popularly known as Central Cottage Industries Emporium, has opened 'Lota Shop'.
It displays the finest handicrafts, souvenirs, handicrafts and textiles based on the traditional craft forms of India.
It has immense potential to attract foreign tourists and buyers.
It will give a new direction to the handicrafts sector as well as the artisans in the light of the 'One Nation One Product' initiative launched by the Centre.
The centre is also working towards one district one product which will give impetus to the handicrafts sector as well as the artisans.
The museum provides accommodation facilities and also provides audio-visual facilities for the visitors.
What is One District One Product scheme?
It aims to realize the true potential of a district, promote economic development and generate employment and rural entrepreneurship.
The Ministry of Food Processing had entered into an agreement with NAFED to develop 10 brands into one district one product brand.
Of this, six brands have been launched till now.
All products will be available across NAFED markets, e-commerce platforms and leading retail stores across India.
It was launched by the Uttar Pradesh government in January, 2018, and was later adopted by the central government after seeing its success.
Its aim is to identify, promote and brand a product from one district.
3. Cabinet approves auction of 5G spectrum
Tags: National
The Union Cabinet has approved the proposal of the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to conduct a 5G spectrum auction by the end of next month.
The successful bidders will be assigned spectrum for providing 5G services.
A total of 72097.85 MHz spectrum with a validity period of 20 years will be auctioned by the end of July 2022.
The auction will be held for spectrum in various Low (600 MHz, 700 MHz, 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz, 2300 MHz), Mid (3300 MHz) and High (26 GHz) frequency bands.
The auction will be conducted for spectrum in various low, medium and high frequency bands.
DoT has started spectrum auction and Notice Inviting Applications (NIA) has been issued on 15th June 2022.
What is 5G technology?
The fifth generation mobile network is called 5G.
The 5G network will operate in the millimeter-wave spectrum (30-300 GHz) which can send huge amounts of data at very high speeds.
It is the newest upgrade in Long Term Evolution (LTE) mobile broadband networks.
Internet speeds in the high-band spectrum of 5G have been tested to exceed 20 Gbps (gigabit per second).
4. BJP wins eight out of 16 Rajya Sabha seats while Congress bags five seats
Tags: National News
The BJP won eight of the 16 Rajya Sabha seats in four states, while the Congress won five in a tight contest.
Biennial elections to the Upper House of Parliament were held on June 10 for six seats in Maharashtra, four each in Karnataka and Rajasthan and two in Haryana.
Winners from BJP include Union Minister Piyush Goyal, former state minister Anil Bonde and party leader Dhananjay Mahadik.
NCP's Praful Patel, Congress' Imran Pratapgadi and Shiv Sena's Sanjay Raut were also elected to Rajya Sabha.
In Haryana, BJP candidate Krishan Lal Panwar and Independent candidate Kartikeya Sharma, have won the two Rajya Sabha seats.
BJP got three seats and Congress got one seat from Karnataka.
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, actor Jaggesh and MLC Lehar Singh Siroya have been elected to Rajya Sabha from BJP.
Jairam Ramesh of Congress won the remaining one seat.
The Congress won three of the four Rajya Sabha seats while one seat was won by the BJP In Rajasthan.
Randeep Singh Surjewala, Mukul Wasnik and Pramod Tiwari are the winners from Congress.
Ghanshyam Tiwari won a seat for the BJP in Rajasthan.
Important facts about Rajya Sabha
Article 80 of the Constitution provides provisions for members of the Rajya Sabha.
Members - 245 - including 233 elected members and 12 nominated members
Upper House of parliament strength cannot exceed 250
Nominated members - nominated by the President of India in the field of art, literature, science and social service
Chairperson of the Rajya Sabha - Vice-President
Tenure of members - six years
Elections to one-third seats are held every two years
Process of election - members are elected indirectly by the people, that is, by the MLAs.
Voting is by single transferable vote
NOTA button is available in the Upper House polls
5. World Bank cuts India's economic growth forecast to 7.5% for FY23
Tags: Economics/Business
The World Bank on June 7 slashed India's economic growth forecast for the current fiscal to 7.5 per cent, keeping in mind rising inflation, supply chain stagnation and geopolitical tensions.
This is the second time that the World Bank has revised its GDP growth forecast for India in the current fiscal year 2022-23 (April 2022 to March 2023).
In April 2022, the World Bank had lowered the forecast from 8.7 percent to 8 percent, after which it is now estimated to be 7.5 percent.
Economic growth forecast expected to be 7.1 percent in 2023-24
The World Bank report also said that India's growth is expected to slow further to 7.1 per cent in 2023-24.
However, this is 30 basis points higher than the previous estimate of 6.8 percent.
India's GDP growth 6.5 percent in 2025
India's GDP growth for the financial year 2024-25 has been pegged at 6.5 percent by the World Bank.
However, this figure of decline in the growth forecast for the financial year 2022-23 is higher than the local estimation.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has pegged GDP growth at 7.2 per cent for the financial year 2022-23.
India's other growth projections
Global rating agencies also downgraded India's economic growth forecast.
Moody's Investors Service cut its GDP forecast for 2022 to 8.8 percent from 9.1 percent, citing high inflation.
S&P Global Ratings too had cut India's growth projection for 2022-23 to 7.3 per cent, from 7.8 percent.
In March, Fitch had cut India's growth forecast to 8.5 per cent, from 10.3 percent.
The IMF has also lowered the projection to 8.2 percent from 9 per cent.
Asian Development Bank (ADB) has pegged India's growth at 7.5 per cent.
In April, the RBI lowered the forecast to 7.2 per cent from 7.8 per cent amid volatile crude oil prices and supply chain disruptions due to the Russia-Ukraine war.
6. D2M Technology
Tags: Science and Technology
The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) and Prasar Bharati are exploring the feasibility of ‘direct-to-mobile’ (D2M) broadcasting.
What is D2M Technology?
This technology is based on the convergence of broadband and broadcast, using which mobile phones can receive terrestrial digital TV.
This would be similar to how people listen to FM radio on their phones, where a receiver within the phone can tap into the radio frequency.
Using D2M, multimedia content can also be beamed to phones directly.
Benefit and need of D2M Technology
It allows video and other forms of multimedia content to be transmitted directly to mobile phones without the need for an Internet connection.
It improves consumption of broadband and utilisation of spectrum.
This technology can be used to directly broadcast content related to citizen-centric information.
It can also be used to combat fake news, issue emergency alerts and provide assistance in disaster management.
In addition, it can be used to broadcast live news, sports, etc. on mobile phones.
Government's initiative to facilitate D2M technology
The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has constituted a committee to study the feasibility of a spectrum band to provide broadcast services live on users' smartphones.
Band 526-582 MHz is envisaged to work in sync with both mobile and broadcast services.
Currently, this band is used by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting for TV transmitters across the country.
7. kinetic communication portal
Tags: National News
Minister of Communications, Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnav launched Gatishakti Sanchar Portal in New Delhi.
IMPORTANT FACTS -
The unified and centralised portal will facilitate the smooth expansion of digital communication infrastructure across the country.
The portal was envisioned to streamline the process for transparency, accountability and effective monitoring of various digital based projects.
This portal will be helpful in implementing a 5G network across the country.
This portal will speed up the integration process for the Government's Broadband for All initiative.
8. PM-WANI based public WiFi scheme launched at 100 railway stations
Tags: Government Schemes National News
RailTel, a Mini Ratna PSU, has launched Prime Minister Wi-Fi Access Network Interface (PM-WANI) scheme across 100 railway stations in the country.
This public-friendly service was launched by RailTel chairman and managing director Puneet Chawla on 9 May.
To access this WiFi network, Android users can download the mobile app 'Wi-Dot' available on Google Play Store.
This app is developed in collaboration with C-DOT.
This method is in addition to the existing method of accessing WiFi at these stations through the conventional method of selecting RailWire Service Set Identifier (SSID).
RailTel's WiFi network is now spread across 6,102 railway stations across the country and has 17,792 WiFi hotspots.
About PM-WANI Scheme
PM-WANI is an ambitious program of the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to connect all silo Wi-Fi networks for ease of use and increase broadband usage for the public.
The main objective of this scheme is to provide Wi-Fi facilities at all public places.
The government plans to extend PM-Vani-based reach of RailTel's public Wi-Fi services to all 6,102 railway stations in a phased manner by the end of June 2022.
Through this scheme now every citizen of the whole country can be connected to the internet.
It will also be easy to do business through this scheme.
9. Retired General Tej Kaul has been awarded the Nirmala Deshpande Memorial World Peace Prize
Retired General Tej Kaul has been awarded the Nirmala Deshpande Memorial World Peace Prize by the All India Creative Committee (ABRS).
General Tej Kaul was given this honour for his various incomparable efforts and for establishing peace with neighbouring countries like Pakistan and humanitarian services done during the Corona period.
General Kaul has also served in Army Headquarters as Assistant Military Secretary, Deputy Director General Military Intelligence and General Officer Commanding Gujarat and Goa Region.
The name of General Kaul is recorded as the first officer to be released from Officers Training Academy, Chennai, who has received PVSM (Param Vishisht Seva Medal).
He has also been honoured with Saraswati Puraskar for humanitarian and social services by the Government of Maharashtra.
Who was Nirmala Deshpande?
Nirmala Deshpande was a famous social worker associated with Gandhian ideology.
Born- 19 December 1929 Nagpur, Maharashtra
Died - 1 May 2008
He was awarded the Rajiv Gandhi National Sadbhavana Award and Padma Vibhushan in the year 2006.
Nirmala Deshpande contributed by joining Vinoba Bhave's Bhoodan movement in 1952 and then with Mahatma Gandhi's message of 'Gram Swaraj', walked around 40,000 kilometres across the country.
He played an important role in organising a peace mission in Kashmir in 1994 and India-Pakistan meet in 1996.
10. Union Cabinet approves upgradation of communication to 4G in Naxalite areas
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The Union Cabinet approved the Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) project to upgrade 2G mobile services to 4G at security locations in areas affected by Left Wing Extremism.
This will enable better internet and data services in these LWE affected areas.
The project envisages upgradation of 2,542 mobile towers to provide 4G services in LWE areas at a cost of Rs 2,426 crore in 10 states including Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha and Maharashtra.
All the sites will be upgraded by BSNL at a cost of Rs 2,426 crores.
The Union Cabinet also approved the Revised Cost Estimate on "Setting up of India Post Payments Bank".
The facility of India Post Payments Bank will be available in all 1.56 lakh branches of post offices, for which an additional Rs 820 crore will be spent.
This proposal is in line with the goal of providing mobile connectivity in rural areas and facilitating the delivery of various e-governance services, banking services, tele-medicine, tele-education etc. through mobile broadband in these areas.
The Cabinet also gave its approval for the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between India and Chile for cooperation in the field of disabilities.
