Notes:
Imran Tahir, the leg-spinner of South Africa, has scripted history by becoming the first-ever spinner to bowl the first over in a World Cup during the opening match of the 2019 World Cup against England at the Oval. Tahir (40 years and 64 days) also became the oldest South African to play in a World Cup match. Prior to this, New Zealand great Martin Crowe had surprised everyone in the 1992 cricket World Cup by bringing off-spinner Dipak Patel into the attack in the second over. Patel bowled the second over in his side’s clash with Australia, which the Kiwis won by 37 runs.

Notes:
The Punjab government has decided to make it mandatory for all online aggregators to ensure that food supplied by them have hygiene rating as per the guidelines of Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI). The online order and delivery mechanism of food supply has created a physical disconnect between the consumer and the food maker. Hence, the onus of ensuring the quality of food and the hygienic condition under which food is prepared, has shifted to the intermediate food delivery mechanism. Thus, keeping this in mind, the state government has decided that all the online food order-delivery companies shall ensure that FBO’s registered or affiliated with them have their hygiene rating done from the FSSAI empanelled companies.

Notes:
Ajit Doval, a 1968-batch IPS officer & a former Intelligence Bureau (IB) chief, has been reappointed as the National Security Adviser (NSA) for a five-year tenure. He has also been given a cabinet rank in recognition of his contribution in the national security domain. This is for the first time that an NSA has been given a cabinet rank. Doval is among the best operational brains within intelligence circles. He had played a key role during the Balakot air strike after the Pulwama terror attack and the cross-border surgical strike. He also drew praise for his role during the 73-day stand-off between India and China at Doklam — situated at a tri-junction between India, China and Bhutan. He was also India’s main negotiator with the hijackers of Indian Airlines plane IC-814 taken to Kandahar in 1999. Doval worked as an intelligence officer for over 33 years during which he served in the North East, Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab.

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The Rajasthan government has recently increased the financial assistance given to school girls under the ‘Aapki Beti’ scheme and ex-gratia payment to the families of polling personnel who die during election duty. Under the Aapki Beti scheme, girls living under the Below Poverty Line (BPL) and whose mother or father or both have died get annual financial assistance in the state. The amount has been increased to 2,100 from Rs 1,100 for the girls studying in class 1 to 8 and for the girls in class 9 to 12, the financial aid has been increased to Rs 2,500 from Rs 1,500. Similarly, the government has also increased ex-gratia payment to the next of kin of an official killed on election duty to Rs 20 lakh from Rs 15 lakh.

Notes:
Enoplotrupes tawangensis is a new species of dung beetle that has been discovered in Tawang district of Arunachal Pradesh. The species is shining dark blue in colour and, measuring up to 27 mm, is relatively bigger than most of the dung beetles. The specimens were first collected and studied by two scientists from the Zoological Survey of India: Kailash Chandra and Devanshu Gupta. From India, approximately 65,000 species of insects are known, of them, more than 22,000 species are beetles. Dung beetles belong to the super family scarabaeoidea. They are the one of the fascinating group of insects because of their ability to bury dung deep in the soil and are indicators of the ecological health of an ecosystem, having clubbed antennae and pro-tibiae (pro-legs) modified for burrowing dung inside the soil. Often referred to as little recyclers, these scavenger beetles require mammalian dung to survive.

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Dinyar Contractor (79), the veteran actor and theatre legend, has passed away in Mumbai, Maharashtra on June 5, 2019. He was best known for his comic roles in films and was awarded a Padma Shri in 2019. He was appeared in many Bollywood films like Chori Chori Chupke Chupke, Khiladi, Badshah, Daraar and 36 China Town. He was also part of many TV shows such as Khichdi and Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah.

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The Indian junior women’s hockey team clinched the 2019 Cantor Fitzgerald U21 International 4-Nations title after beating Ireland 1-0 in the final at Dublin, Ireland on June 4. The win meant India ended the tournament with an unblemished record. With three goals in four games, Mumtaz Khan finished as the highest goal scorer of the tournament.

Notes:
Mrutyunjay Mahapatra, the renowned scientist and cyclone warning specialist, has been appointed as the chief of India Meteorological Department (IMD). Popularly known as the ‘Cyclone man of India’, he will take charge of his new assignment on August 1 for a period of five years. Mohapatra and his team at the Cyclone Warning Division (CWD) of the IMD have earned praise for their accurate forecasts on cyclones, its wind-speed and likely impact on life and property including during the recent cyclone ‘Fani’, when their timely warnings enabled the authorities to ensure early evacuation of millions of people. Over the last six years, the CWD has given accurate forecasts on cyclones including when Phailin (2013), Hudhud (2014) and Titli (2018) hit the eastern coast. The IMD is responsible for weather and climate-related forecasts in the country. It is also mandated to issue warning to people about severe weather phenomenon like cyclones, dust storms, heavy rain and snow, cold and heatwaves, among others.

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On June 6, the 6-member Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has reduced the repo rate by 25 basis points to 5.75% from 6.0% with immediate effect in its 2nd bi-monthly monetary policy statement for 2019-20. Repo rate is the interest rate at which the central bank provides liquidity to banks to overcome short-term liquidity mismatches. A repo rate cut allows banks to reduce interest rates for consumers on loans, and lowers equal monthly installments on home loans, car loans and personal loans. Consequently, the reverse repo rate stands adjusted to 5.50%, and the Marginal Standing Facility (MSF) rate and the Bank Rate to 6.0%. Beside this, RBI has also unanimously decided to change the stance of monetary policy from neutral to accommodative. The next meeting of the MPC is scheduled during August 5 to 7.

Notes:
China has successfully launched a space rocket from sea for the first time and became the third nation to successfully demonstrate the ability to launch satellites into orbit from a floating platform after Russia and United States. The China National Space Administration (CNSA) has announced that a Long March 11 rocket was launched from a floating launch pad in the Yellow Sea just off the coast of Shandong on 5th June 2019. China now spends more than Russia and Japan on its civil and military space programmes. Earlier this year, China became the first nation to land a rover on the far side of the moon. It also unveiled ambitious plans to build a research base on the lunar surface, send a probe to Mars and build a space station in Earth orbit.