Center eases pension rules for kin of missing government employees

• According to the earlier rule, the next of the kin of an employee would not receive the family pension, if he went missing and the family pension would not be paid till the missing Government was declared dead in accordance with the law or till seven years had passed since he went missing.
• Now, in all cases where a government servant covered by NPS goes missing during service, the benefits of family pension will be immediately paid to the family of the missing government servant.
• In case he re-appears and resumes service, the amount paid as family pension during the intervening time of his missing period can be accordingly deducted from his salary.
• This is going to provide huge relief particularly in those regions where instances of government employees going missing are reported more frequently.
• It is a major relief, particularly for government employees serving in militancy-affected areas like Jammu and Kashmir, North-East as well as Naxal-prone pockets.

Khadi commission head Vinai Kumar Saxena is Delhi’s new Lieutenant

• President Ram Nath Kovind accepted the resignation of Anil Baijal from the post and appointed Vinai Kumar Saxena to be the Lt. Governor of National Capital Territory of Delhi with effect from the date he assumes charge of his office.
• Saxena, in 1991, had formed an NGO, National Council for Civil Liberties, which opposed Medha Patkar’s Narmada Bachao Andolan.
• Saxena is one of the members of the national committee to commemorate the 75th anniversary of India’s Independence. This committee is headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Two F-18 Super Hornet jets in Goa to showcase compatibility with Indian aircraft carriers

• The demonstration is expected to continue up to the first week of June.
• These are part of demonstrations by the manufacturers to showcase the compatibility of their aircraft to fly from Indian Navy’s aircraft carriers.
• Both the Rafale-M and F/A-18 are originally designed to operate from carriers with a catapult launch mechanism.
• India’s first indigenous aircraft carrier Vikrant, which is in advanced stages of sea trials, is scheduled to be commissioned in August.

India’s ASHA workers among six recipients of Global Health Leaders Award at World Health Assembly

• ASHA workers are volunteers from within the community who are trained to provide information and aid people in accessing benefits of various healthcare schemes of the government.
• They act as a bridge connecting marginalised communities with facilities such as primary health centres, sub-centres and district hospitals.
• The role of these community health volunteers under the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) was first established in 2005.
• ASHAs are primarily married, widowed, or divorced women between the ages of 25 and 45 years from within the community. They must have good communication and leadership skills; should be literate with formal education up to Class 8, as per the programme guidelines.

How many ASHAs are there across the country?

• The aim is to have one ASHA for every 1,000 persons or per habitation in hilly, tribal or other sparsely populated areas.
• There are around 10.4 lakh ASHA workers across the country, with the largest workforces in states with high populations – Uttar Pradesh (1.63 lakh), Bihar (89,437), and Madhya Pradesh (77,531).
• Goa is the only state with no such workers, as per the latest National Health Mission data available from September 2019.

Russia has deployed the Terminator tank support system – the BMPT, also known as the BMPT ‘Terminator’

• The Terminator or the Boyevaya Mashina Podderzhki Tankov (BMPT), is a tank support fighting vehicle developed by Russia.
• The tank support vehicles are designed to protect the Russian tanks against enemy infantry. They are basically a replacement for mechanised infantry troops in the urban battlefield.
• The list of potent weaponry that Terminator is equipped with are capable of firing in multiple directions in quick succession, thus suppressing firepower to prevent any attempt to take out the tank columns being protected.
• The BMPT destroys targets such as infantry personnel carrying anti-tank weapons, as well as lightly and heavily armoured targets, like tanks.

WORLD OF WORK REPORT

• After significant gains during the last quarter of 2021, the number of hours worked globally dropped in the first quarter of 2022, to 3.8 per cent below the pre-crisis benchmark (fourth quarter of 2019). This is equivalent to a deficit of 112 million full-time jobs.
• Multiple new and interconnected global crises, including inflation (especially in energy and food prices), financial turbulence, potential debt distress, and global supply chain disruption – exacerbated by war in Ukraine – means there is a growing risk of a further deterioration in hours worked in 2022.
• The gender gap in hours worked also grew during the pandemic.
• The report spells out a series of measures as a way forward, which are in line with ILO’s Global Call to Action for a human-centred recovery , and the ILO-led UN initiative, the Global Accelerator for Jobs and Social Protection.

Discovery of a primitive forest at the bottom of a giant sinkhole in China

• In Mandarin, giant sinkholes are called Tiankeng or “heavenly pit”.
• Sinkholes are depressions formed in the ground when layers of the Earth’s surface start collapsing into caverns.
• They can occur suddenly and without warning, because the land under the surface of the Earth can stay intact for a period of time until the spaces get too big.
• Sinkholes can be formed due to natural processes or human activity.
• Typically, sinkholes form in areas of “karst” terrains, where the rock below the surface of the Earth can be easily dissolved by groundwater.
• Karst terrain is created from the dissolution of soluble rocks, mostly limestone and dolomite and is characterised by distinctive landforms such as caves, sinkholes and springs.
• Sinkholes can also be formed due to human activity due to broken land drains, water mains and sewerage pipes, increased rainfall, storm events, underlying limestone and diverted surface water, among other reasons.

Battery-like device that captures carbon dioxide while charging

• Then, when it discharges, the carbon dioxide can be released in a controlled way and collected to be reused or disposed of responsibly.
• The supercapacitor device, which is similar to a rechargeable battery, is the size of a coin, and is made in part from sustainable materials including coconut shells and seawater. The supercapacitor consists of two electrodes of positive and negative charge.
• The supercapacitor could help power carbon capture and storage technologies at much lower cost. The most advanced carbon capture technologies currently require large amounts of energy and are expensive.

ONGC first Indian Exploration & Production company to trade domestic gas on Indian Gas Exchange

• The first online trade was made on 23 May 2022 by ONGC Director (Onshore) In-charge Marketing on India’s first automated national level Gas Exchange, IGX.
• The gas traded is from ONGC Krishna Godavari 98/2 block.
• The Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) is an Indian oil and gas explorer and producer.
• It is under the ownership of Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Government of India.
• Its headquarters is situated in New Delhi.
• ONGC was founded on 14 August 1956 by the government of India.
• It was conferred with ''Maharatna'' status by the Government of India in November 2010.
• On Jan 30th 2018, ONGC acquired the entire 51.11% stake of Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL).