The Daily Brief – 6th June 2019

Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions appointed Mrutyunjay Mohapatra as Director-General the India Meteorological Department (IMD). The 54-year-old cyclone warning specialist is Scientist ‘G’ (grade) in IMD. He leads the Cyclone Warning Division (CWD) of the IMD and is well known as ‘Cyclone Man’ for his cyclone forecasts.

Veteran Malayalam actress Sheela became second woman to win prestigious J C Daniel Award after Aranmula Ponnamma (in 2005). She was awarded for her contributions to Malayalam Cinema field. The award is Kerala government’s highest honour for outstanding contribution to Malayalam cinema. She holds Guinness book of records to her name for acting as Prem Nazir’s heroine in 130 films.

The Airports Authority of India (AAI) signed a technical assistance agreement with Boeing to develop a comprehensive 10-year roadmap India’s Air Traffic Management. The roadmap will be undertaken with a grant from the United States Trade and Development Agency (USTDA). Airports Authority of India (AAI) owns and manages around 125 airports across India.

Every year World Environment Day is celebrated on 5 June globally to raise awareness globally about environmental issues and action that has to be taken to tackle them. After the Conference on the Human Environment, or the Stockholm Conference in June 1972, the United Nation General Assembly (UNGA) adopted a resolution (A/RES/2994 (XXVII)) in December 1972 to designate June 5 as World Environment Day. The theme for this year was ‘Beat Air Pollution’.

The Reserve Bank of India has done away with the charges levied on fund transfers through RTGS and NEFT. It has also asked the banks to pass on the benefits to customers, a move that will boost digital transactions. The decision was announced by the RBI as part of its measures to deepen and broaden the financial markets. The decision comes after the Nandan Nilekani-led Committee on Digital Payments gave out a few suggestions lately to promote digital payments in India.

The World Bicycle Day was globally celebrated on 3 June 2019 to popularize the use of bicycles in daily life by organising group rides on the event. In 2018, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) declared 3 June as World Bicycle Day to observe the day as a celebration of “uniqueness, longevity and versatility” of the bicycle. Also days ahead of World Bicycle Day celebration in 2018, Bengaluru appointed its first ever ‘Bicycle Mayor’ the first of its kind in India, Satya Shankaran.

Union Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri launched Swachh Survekshan 2020 League in New Delhi on June 6, 2019. The league will be a quarterly cleanliness assessment of cities and towns in India and will be integrated with Swachh Survekshan 2020, the 5th edition of the annual cleanliness survey of urban India to be conducted between January – February 2020.