NATIONAL NEWS

Sickle cell disease

• The Ministry of Tribal Affairs, in collaboration with the All India Institute of Medical Science, Delhi, will undertake a competition for drug development for the treatment of sickle cell disease, which disproportionately affects India’s tribal populations.
• India has committed to eradicate sickle cell disease from the country by the end of 2047.

MoPR signs MoU with Bhashini

• Ministry of Panchayati Raj (MoPR) signed MoU with Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology’s Bhashini to Bridge language barriers in Rural Governance.
• The MoU aims to promote the use of AI-enabled public digital infrastructure to empower Panchayati Raj Institutions and strengthen participatory democracy at the grassroots level.

STATE SPECIAL NEWS

YogAndhra 2025

• The YogAndhra 2025 campaign, a flagship initiative by the Andhra Pradesh government, reached the rural heartland of Nagayalanka village in Krishna district.

Andhra Pradesh

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

SPIEF 2025

• St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF 2025) was organised in St. Petersburg, Russia and India was represented by Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw.

Grant Thornton India Meets Britain Tracker

• The 12th edition of the Grant Thornton India Meets Britain Tracker was officially launched today by Indian Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal, during a special opening session at India Global Forum 2025 London at the Queen Elizabeth II Centre.

Israel- Iran

• Israel has accused Iran of using cluster munitions in the ongoing conflict.
• Cluster bombs they spread many small explosives over a wide area, and many do not explode right away, creating long-term dangers for civilians.

ECONOMY & BANKING

RBI issued project finance directions to banks

• · The Reserve Bank (RBI) issued RBI (Project Finance) Directions 2025 asking Regulated Entities (REs) to maintain a general provision of 1.25% for under-construction commercial real estate (CRE) loans and 1% for infrastructure projects under construction.

Reserve Bank of India (RBI)

IMPORTANT DAYS

World Refugee Day

• UN designated World Refugee Day is being observed globally which honour refugees around the globe.
• The theme for this year is “Solidarity with Refugees”.

PERSON IN NEWS

Justice Yashwant Varma

• The three-member panel comprising Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court Sheel Nagu, Chief Justice of the Himachal Pradesh High Court GS Sandhawalia and Karnataka High Court judge Anu Sivaraman formed to investigate the allegations of cash discovery at the residence of Justice Yashwant Varma, has concluded that there was sufficient substance to initiate proceedings for the removal of the former Delhi High Court judge.

Vivek Lagoo

• Veteran actor-director Vivek Lagoo, who has worked in both Marathi and Hindi films, passed away at the age of 74.

Bangladesh: Asad Alam Siam

• The Bangladesh government appointed Secretary Asad Alam Siam, who served as Bangladesh Ambassador to the United States, as the Foreign Secretary of the country.

Bangladesh

RANKS, REPORTS & INDICES

World Investment Report 2025

• United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), released World Investment Report 2025 which shows how foreign investment is playing a shrinking role in India’s development, with foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows making up 2.3% of all capital formation in India in 2024, down from 8.8% in 2020.

UNCTAD

ART & CULTURE

Kailash Mansarovar Yatra

• · In Sikkim, the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra started from Nathula after 5 years.

Mount Kailash

ENVIRONMENT + SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Axiom Mission 4

• Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla’s Axiom-4 mission to the International Space Station has again been postponed which was earlier expected to be launched on the 22nd of June.
• Peggy Whitson, former NASA astronaut and director of human spaceflight at Axiom Space, will command the commercial mission, while ISRO astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla will serve as pilot.

NASA

APPOINTMENTS

Apurva Chandra

• The Defence Ministry has appointed former IAS officer Apurva Chandra as the Principal Advisor to the Committee who has previously served as DG (Acquisition).

SPORTS

Billie Jean King Cup 2025

• International Tennis Federation (ITF) has announced that India will host the Billie Jean King Cup 2025 play-offs for the first time in November.

FIH Men’s Junior World Cup 2025

• Hockey India (HI) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Government of Tamil Nadu to host the FIH Men’s Junior World Cup 2025.