WORLD BICYCLE DAY 2022 OBSERVED ON 3RD JUNE
- World Bicycle Day is marked on 3rd June every year to recognise bicycling as a way to get a sustainable form of travelling that also ensures one’s physical well being.
- World Bicycle Day was first marked on June 3, 2018, when the United Nations first adopted a resolution during the 72nd Regular Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York City in April.
UNION MINISTER ANURAG THAKUR LAUNCHES NATIONWIDE FIT INDIA FREEDOM RIDER CYCLE RALLY
- Union Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports, Anurag Thakur has launched a nationwide ‘Fit India Freedom Rider Cycle rally’ on World Bicycle Day.
- Notably, World Bicycle Day is observed on June 3 every year to promote the use of bicycles and their benefits.
INSTAGRAM’S NEW FEATURE TO HELP FIND MISSING CHILDREN
- Instagram has launched an ‘alert’ feature to help find missing children. The photo-sharing app has partnered with various organisations globally to set up the feature. The feature will display details about missing children on users’ Instagram feed if they are in a specific area where an active search is taking place.
PUNJAB GOVERNMENT TO START E-STAMP INSTEAD OF PAPER STAMP
- The Punjab government has decided to abolish the physical stamp papers in an attempt to bring efficiency and check the pilferage of State revenue. Punjab Revenue Minister Bram Shanker Jimpa launched the ‘e-stamp facility’ here.
- Following this, stamp paper of any denomination can now be obtained via ‘e-stamp’, which includes computerised print-out from any stamp vendor or from banks authorised by the State government.
JAVIER OLIVAN TAKING OVER AS THE META NEW CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER
- Javier Olivan, the current chief growth officer at Meta Platforms, will take over as the company’s chief operating officer after Sheryl Sandberg stepped down from the post. Olivan has been with Meta, formerly known as Facebook, for several years, contributing to its explosive expansion.
- Olivan will be responsible for the advertising and business products while continuing to head infrastructure and corporate development.
- Olivan grew up in a small town in the Pyrenees Mountains of northern Spain but now lives in Palo Alto, California, with his family.
FORMER SBI MD ASHWANI BHATIA TAKES CHARGE AS WHOLE-TIME MEMBER AT SEBI
- Ashwani Bhatia has taken charge as a whole-time member (WTM) at the market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi). Bhatia was previously the managing director of the state-owned State Bank of India (SBI). After Bhatia’s joining, Sebi now has three WTMs.
- For the appointment of the WTM post at Sebi, the candidates are shortlisted by the Financial Sector Regulatory Appointments Search Committee (FSRASC), headed by the Cabinet Secretary.
COUNTRY’S FIRST LIQUID MIRROR TELESCOPE COMES UP IN UTTARAKHAND
- The first liquid mirror telescope in the country and the largest in Asia – was commissioned atop Devasthal, a hill in Uttarakhand. This will now keep a watch on the overhead sky to identify transient or variable objects such as supernovae, gravitational lenses, space debris, and asteroids.
- The Indian Liquid Mirror Telescope (ILMT) will help in surveying the sky, making it possible to observe several galaxies and other astronomical sources just by staring at the strip of sky that passes overhead.
- Built by astronomers from India, Belgium and Canada, the novel instrument employs a 4-meter-diameter rotating mirror made up of a thin film of liquid mercury to collect and focus light.
- It is located at an altitude of 2,450 metres at the Devasthal Observatory campus of Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences (ARIES), an autonomous institute under the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India in Nainital district, Uttarakhand.
ISRO CHAIRMAN INAUGURATES NEW SPACECRAFT MANUFACTURING FACILITY
- Dr S Somanath, the chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), inaugurated ANANTH Technologies’ spacecraft manufacturing unit at Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board (KIADB) Aerospace Park. The new state-of-the-art spacecraft manufacturing facility can conduct assembly integration and testing of four large spacecraft simultaneously.
- This is a first of its kind facility in India, adding that since its establishment in 1992, Ananth Technologies has contributed to the manufacturing of 89 satellites and 69 launch vehicles built/launched by ISRO.
INDIAN AMERICAN HARINI LOGAN WINS 2022 SCRIPPS NATIONAL SPELLING BEE
- Harini Logan was eliminated from the Scripps National Spelling Bee once, then reinstated. She missed four words in a gruelling standoff against Vikram Raju, including one that would have given her the title. In the first-ever lightning-round tiebreaker, Harini finally claimed the trophy.
- The 13-year-old eighth-grader from San Antonio, Texas, who competed in the last fully in-person bee three years ago and endured the pandemic to make it back, spelt 21 words correctly during a 90-second spell-off, beating Vikram by six.
DELHI GOVT TO NAME COLONIES & STREETS AFTER BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR
- Following the Central government’s guideline advising against the usage of the word ‘Harijan’, the Delhi government is set to replace the word ‘Harijan’ from names of colonies & streets and name them after Babasaheb Ambedkar instead.
- In this vein, Social Welfare Minister Rajendra Pal Gautam has tabled a proposal to rename all streets and colonies under Delhi Government titled as ‘Harijan’ after Dr Ambedkar.
SANTOOR MAESTRO BHAJAN SOPORI PASSES AWAY
- Santoor maestro and Padma Shri awardee, Bhajan Sopori has passed away at the age of 73. The santoor player was born in Sopore in Kashmir Valley in 1948 and belonged to the Sufiana Gharana of Indian classical music.
- He was the great-grandson of Pandit Shankar Pandit, who had developed the style popularly known as the ‘Sufi Baaj’ (style), based on Sufiana Qalam and Hindustani Classical music.
- Hailed as ‘Saint of the Santoor’ and the ‘King of Strings’, Sopori won the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1992 and the Padma Shri in 2004. In 2009 he was honoured with the Baba Allaudin Khan Award and M N Mathur award in 2011 for his contribution to Indian classical music.
FREEDOM FIGHTER ANJALAI PONNUSAMY PASSES AWAY
- Freedom fighter Anjalai Ponnusamy, who fought for India’s independence from colonial Britain, died, aged 102. At the age of 21, Anjalai joined the Rani of Jhansi Regiment – the women’s regiment of the Indian National Army – in the hopes of discarding the yoke of British colonialism from the Indian people.
- A prominent figure in the struggle for India’s independence, Bose was a contemporary of Mahatma Gandhi, who shared his dream of an India free from British rule.
- To accomplish this, he founded the Indian National Army in 1943, albeit with the support of the Japanese, during World War II. After the war ended with the Japanese defeat, the Indian National Army was disbanded, and Anjalai returned home to continue her life in Malaysia.
Read & Download Current Affairs of 2nd June, 2022: https://blog.o2academia.org/month/2nd-june
