Daily GK Update: 2nd June 2022

 National & International Appointments

1. Rajesh Gera appointed as Director General of National Informatics Centre

• Rajesh Gera has been appointed as the Director General of National Informatics Centre (NIC) under the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY) with effect from 31st May 2022.
• Earlier, he was on deputation in the Ministry of Defence as CEO, DPIT and joined back NIC as Deputy Director General.
• He has completed his B.Tech (Electrical Engineering) with Honors from IIT Varanasi, Banaras Hindu University.
• NIC Headquarters: New Delhi; Founded: 1976

 Schemes

2. Premium rates of PMJJY and PMSBY revised from June 1

• The Finance Ministry has approved hiking the premium rates of Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY) and Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY).
• The premium rates have been revised by making it ₹1.25 per day premium for both schemes.
• Revised premium rate for PMJJBY is ₹436, earlier it was ₹330 and PMSBY hiked from ₹12 to ₹20.
• Government set a target to increase the coverage to 15 crore under PMJJBY and to 37 crore under PMSBY in the next five years .

 Sports

3. Indian men's hockey team win bronze at Hockey Asia Cup 2022

• The Indian men's hockey team defeat Japan by 1-0 to clinch the bronze medal at Asia Cup men’s hockey 2022 at Jakarta, Indonesia.
• Indian hockey team captain, Birendra Lakra wins the player of the match award award for his sturdy defensive work.
• South Korea wins Asia Cup men’s hockey 2022 for the 5th time (1994, 1999, 2009, 2013 2022) and Malaysia placed at second.
• Top scorer of the tournament: Razie Rahim of Malaysia (scored 13 goals)

 International Affairs

4. Bangladesh top recipient of Covid vaccines under UNICEF's COVAX

• Bangladesh becomes the top recipient of Covid-19 vaccine doses with the delivery over 190 million doses of vaccines under UNICEF's COVAX  programme.
• COVAX is a global initiative which is led by the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovation, Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, and the World Health Organization with UNICEF.
• Under the COVAX programme, more than 62% of the doses has been delivered to Bangladesh.
• Bangladesh President: Abdul Hamid; Prime minister: Sheikh Hasina

 Honours & Awards

5. Former West Indies skipper, Darren Sammy received Sitara-e-Pakistan award

• Former skipper of West Indies, Darren Sammy has conferred with the civil honour of Sitara-e-Pakistan award.
• It is considered as the third-highest civil award conferred by Pakistan.
• Sammy has represented West Indies in Tests (38), ODIs (126), and T20Is (68).
• Last year, he received the highest civilian medal of Pakistan (Nishan-e-Pakistan) for his part in helping bring international cricket back to Pakistan.
• Pakistan President: Arif Alvi; Prime minister: Shehbaz Sharif

 National & International Appointments

6. Dr Swati Dhingra appointed to the Monetary Panel of Bank of England

• UK-based academic, Dr Swati Dhingra has been appointed as the first Indian-origin woman as an external member of the Bank of England's interest rate-setting committee.
• She is an Associate Professor of Economics at the London School of Economics (LSE) and having a specialisation in international economics and applied microeconomics.
• She will join the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) on August 9, 2022 for a three-year term.

 National & International Appointments

7. Centre appointed SL Thaosen as SSB chief

• The central government has appointed Senior IPS officers Zulfiquar Hasan and S L Thaosen as the new directors general of the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) and the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) respectively.
• Hasan is a West Bengal-cadre IPS officer and now serving as the special director general of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) in Delhi.
• Thaosen is a Madhya Pradesh-cadre IPS officer and working in the same capacity in the Border Security Force (BSF).

 Honours & Awards

8. Young women entrepreneur, Rashmi Sahoo wins Times Business Award 2022

• Director of Ruchi Foodline, Rashmi Sahoo has been awarded the Third Times Business Award 2022 in the category of Eastern India’s Leading READY -TO-EAT brand.
• She was given the award by renowned Bollywood actor and social activist Sonu Sood.
• She has established Frozit, which is Odisha’s first frozen food company. 
• Sahoo and Frozit have won various recognition across the world for their innovative food product line, quality and hygiene standards.

 Sports

9. Para - Canoeist Prachi Yadav wins bronze at 2022 ICF Paracanoe World Cup

• Para -Canoeist, Prachi Yadav wins a bronze medal with a timing of 1:04.71 seconds at the 2022 ICF Paracanoe World Cup held in Poznan, Poland and become the first Indian to win a World Cup medal.
• Susan Seipel (Australia) and Brianna Hennessy (Canada) have bagged Gold and silver respectively.
• Manish Kaurav (KL3 Men 200m) and Manjeet Singh (VL2 Men 200m) have also reached the finals for the first time ever in the history of the tournament in their respective categories.

 State Affairs

10. Tamil Nadu signs MoU with IPPB for pensioners’ digital life certificate

• The Tamil Nadu government has signed an MoU with the India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) for obtaining life certificate from pensioners through doorstep services of the Postal Department.
• As per the MoU, the IPPB would render the doorstep services at a cost of ₹70 only per digital life certificate.
• Over 7.15 lakh State government pensioners/ family pensioners submit their life certificate during July, August and September every year for annual mustering.

 Obituaries

11. INA Veteran Anjalai Ponnusamy passes away

• Indian National Army (INA) veteran solider from Malaysia, Anjalai Ponnusamy has passed away at the age of 102.
• She was born in 1920 in Sentul, Kuala Lumpur.
• During World War II when Japanese forces invaded Malaysia, then she joined the army.
• She belonged to the Jhansi Rani Division of the Indian National Army.
• It was created by SC Bose in 1943 to recapture India from British rule.
• After the defeat of Japan in World War II, the Indian National Army was disbanded.

 Banking & Finance

12. SBI revises up FY23 economic growth forecast to 7.5%

• SBI Research has estimated the growth of the Indian economy at 7.5% in 2022-23, an upward revision of 20 basis points from its earlier estimate.
• According to the official data, the economy will grow by 8.7% in FY22, net adding ₹11.8 lakh crore in the year to ₹147 lakh crore.
• Nominal GDP will inflate by ₹38.6 lakh crore to ₹237 lakh crore, or 19.5% annualised.
• In FY23 also, as inflation remains elevated in the first half, nominal GDP will grow 16.1% to ₹275 lakh crore.

 Banking & Finance

13. Govt collects Rs 1.41 lakh crore GST in May 2022

• The government has collected Rs 1,40,885 lakh crore Goods and Services Tax (GST) revenue for the month of May 2022.
• The numbers have been surged 44% as against Rs 97,821 during the corresponding period of preceding fiscal year.
• GST revenues has been recorded lower than the record high collection in April at Rs 1.68 lakh crore.
• In March GST revenues were at Rs 1.42 lakh crore, while in February it was Rs 1.33 lakh crore.