The Daily Brief – 1st June 2019

The Punjab government has decided to make it mandatory for all online food aggregators to ensure that food supplied by them should compulsorily have hygiene rating as per Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) guidelines. FSSAI is an autonomous body established in 2011 under the Union Ministry of Health & Family Welfare. It is headed by a non-executive Chairperson who is appointed by Central Government.

Puerto Williams in Chile has become world’s southernmost city after its status upgraded from hamlet to city. It took over the title from Ushuaia in Argentina. Puerto Williams is a growing hamlet on remote southern tip of South American continent. It is the main settlement, port and naval base on Navarino Island in Chile.

The Indian Air Force’s (IAF) Flight Lieutenant Mohana Singh became first ever woman pilot to fly by day on Hawk advanced jet aircraft. She achieved this feat after rigorous training involving Air-to-Ground and Air-to-Air combat missions. In June 2016 three women officers including Mohana Singh, Bhawana Kanth and Avani Chaturvadi became first batch of women pilots to join fighter stream.

Admiral Karambir Singh assumed charge of the Indian Navy on May 31, 2019 to become 24th Chief of the Naval Staff. He will succeed Admiral Sunil Lanba and will have a tenure of 3 years. In his career spanning over 39 years, he has commanded Indian Coast Guard Ship Chandbibi, Missile Corvette INS Vijaydurg, as well as two Guided Missile Destroyers, INS Rana and INS Delhi.

The Reserve Bank of India will observe Financial Literacy Week across the country from 3rd to 7th of June with the theme ‘Farmers and how they benefit by being a part of the formal banking system’. It aims to spread awareness and spread the message of financial literacy among the farming community. The RBI has advised banks to display the posters and content in their rural bank branches, Financial Literacy Centres, ATMs and websites.

US President Donald Trump has said that the country will end its preferential trade treatment for India from 5 June, 2019 under the key GSP trade programme after determining that it has not assured the US that it will provide “equitable and reasonable access” to its markets. The Generalized System of Preference (GSP) is the decades’ old trade preference programme which allows designated beneficiary countries to export goods to the United States without paying duties.

Senior officials of India, US, Japan and Australia met in Bangkok on 1 June, 2019 to hold consultations on their collective efforts for a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific region and reaffirmed their shared commitment to preserving and promoting the rules-based order in the region. The consultations were part of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) an informal strategic grouping consisting of India, US, Australia and Japan.