Russian forces ''storm'' Sievierodonetsk amid eastern Ukraine

• Located nearly 140 km south of the Russian border, Sievierodonetsk is one of the largest cities of the Donbas region.
• It is located near the left bank of the Siverskyi Donets river, and has a population of over a lakh.
• Administratively, Sievierodonetsk falls under Ukraine’s Luhansk oblast (province).
• It is a big industrial hub known for chemical works and machine-building factories.
• If the city of Sievierodonetsk falls, then it will allow Russia to control the entire Luhansk region.

Glacial advances in the Yankti Kuti Valley synchronizes with climate variability

• Scientists of the Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, an autonomous institute of the Department of Science and Technology has reported first time the oldest glacial advance during 52 Kilo years from the Central Himalaya.
• They found that moisture-deficient valleys of semi-arid Himalayan regions respond sensitively to enhance precipitation. The study suggests a regional synchronicity of glacier response to climate variability since MIS 3. The study carried out was in accordance with the synoptic-scale, climatic perturbation triggered by the North Atlantic millennial-scale climate oscillations.
• The study can help enhance the existing knowledge of the relationship between Himalayan climate and glacier dynamics and can help assessing the role of Indian Summer Monsoon (ISM) versus westerlies in driving the valley glaciers in the Central Himalayan region.

DAC gives preliminary approval for procurement projects worth ₹76,390 crore

• This will provide substantial boost to the Indian Defence Industry and reduce foreign spending significantly.
• For the Indian Navy, the DAC accorded AoN for procurement of Next Generation Corvettes (NGC) at an estimated cost of approx. Rs 36,000 crore.
• The DAC accorded AoNs for manufacture of Dornier Aircrafts and Su-30 MKI aero-engines by the Navratna CPSE M/s Hindustan Aeronautics Limited with focus on enhancing indigenisation particularly in indigenising aero-engine material.
• In pursuance of the Government’s vision for digital transformation in Defence, ‘Digital Coast Guard’ project under ‘Buy (Indian) Category has been approved by the DAC. Under this project, a pan India secure network for digitising of various surface and aviation operations, logistics, finance and HR processes in Coast Guard will be established.

FM Nirmala Sitharaman launches single nodal agency dashboard

• The Ministry of Finance & Ministry of Corporate Affairs’ Iconic Week celebrations from 6th June to 12th June 2022 was launched by the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi.
• The SNA Dashboard forms part of a major public financial management reform that was initiated in 2021 with regards to the manner in which funds for Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSS) are released, disbursed and monitored.
• This revised procedure, now referred to as the SNA model, requires each State to identify and designate a SNA for every scheme.
• All funds for that State in a particular scheme will be credited in this bank account, and all expenses will be made by all other Implementing Agencies involved from this account.
• The SNA model, therefore, ensures that allocation of funds to States for the CSS are made in a timely manner and after meeting various stipulations.
• In order to give the stakeholders of SNA model the necessary feedback and monitoring tools in the operation of the schemes, Public Financial Management System (PFMS) has developed the SNA Dashboard.

Minister of Civil Aviation Jyotiraditya M. Scindia launches National Air Sports Policy

• Aerobatics; Aero modeling and model rocketry; Amateur-built and experimental aircraft;
• Ballooning; Drones; Gliding and powered gliding; Hang gliding and powered hang gliding
• Parachuting (including skydiving, BASE jumping and wing suits etc.)
• Paragliding and para motoring (including powered parachute trikes etc.)
• Powered aircraft (including ultra light, micro light and light sports aircraft etc.)
• Rotorcraft (including autogyro)

four-tier governance structure for air sports in India namely

• Air Sports Federation of India (ASFI) as the apex governing body
• National associations for individual air sports or a set of air sports, as appropriate
• Regional (e.g. West/ South/ North East etc.) or State and Union Territory level units of the national air sports associations, as appropriate; and
• District-level air sports associations, as appropriate.

Key Objectives

• Promote an air sports culture in the country
• Enable adoption of international good practices in safety including but not limited to, air sports infrastructure, equipment, operations, maintenance and training
• Develop a simple, stakeholder-friendly and effective governance structure
• Enhance participation and success of Indian sportspersons in global air sports events; and
• Promote design, development and manufacturing of air sports equipment in India in line with the Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan.

ceramic implants can regenerate broken bones

• When people need a bone replacement following a fracture, it is often based on a metal part. But metal parts are sometimes toxic over time, and will not help the original bone regrow.
• Calcium phosphate ceramics are substitutes for the bone mineral hydroxyapatite. However, applications of such ceramics in medical settings have been limited, because there is insufficient control over the rate of absorption and replacement by bone after implantation.
• Now, in a study recently published in Science and Technology of Advanced Materials, researchers from TMDU and collaborators have studied the transformation of a ceramic into the bone mineral.
• This work will help move bone regeneration research from laboratories to medical use.
• The releases said the results of this study are important for healing bone fractures after surgery. By using chemical insights to optimise the rate of bone reformation after implantation of calcium phosphate ceramics, patient outcomes will improve, and returns to the hospital years later for further repairs will be minimised.

CDS selection pool widened: Rtd, serving 3-star officers too eligible

• The Ministry of Defence has issued three separate notifications amending the rules of the Army, the Navy and the Air Force for the appointment of the next Chief of Defence Staff CDS.
• Serving Three-star officers Lieutenant General in Army, Air Marshal in Air Force and Vice-Admiral in Navy or retired Sevice Chiefs or three-star officers can be appointed Chief of Defence Staff if considered necessary in the public interest.
• The Officers should not have attained the age of 62 years.
• The CDS post has been lying vacant since the passing away of General Bipin Rawat who lost his life in a chopper crash in Tamil Nadu on 8th December last year.

Change In Government Policy, If Reasonable And In Public Interest, Would Prevail Over Individual Interests: Supreme Court

• The judgment said that “in the case of conflict between public interest and personal interest, public interest should prevail… a change in policy by the Government can have an overriding effect over private treaties between the government and a private party, if the same was in the general public interest and provided such change in policy was guided by reason”.
• The case concerned the recovery of an additional 64.7% in payment from persons allotted plots by the Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (YEIDA).

PM urges bank chiefs to make loan process easier

• He said the new portal would make life easier for farmers, students and entrepreneurs as they could assess which scheme worked best for them, on that platform instead of visiting various websites.
• Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said as of now, 12 credit schemes that granted credit from banks were on the portal, to ensure that citizens need not answer the same questions whenever they applied for schemes.