IMPORTANT DAYS
World Blood Donor Day 2024 celebrated on 14 June
• World Blood Donor Day is commemorated annually on June 14th to emphasize the critical role of blood and blood products, advocate for blood donation, and ensure the safety of blood transfusions.
• The theme for World Blood Donor Day 2024 is "20 years of celebrating giving: thank you blood donors!", marking two decades of honoring blood donors worldwide for their life-saving contributions.
• This date coincides with the birth anniversary of Karl Landsteiner, credited with the discovery and classification of the ABO blood groups.
• In 2004, the World Health Organization (WHO) established World Blood Donor Day, officially recognizing it as an annual event the following year during the World Health Assembly.
• The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, founded in 1919, plays a pivotal role in promoting global awareness of the importance of safe blood donations for maintaining public health.
NATIONAL NEWS
First session of the 18th Lok Sabha will begin from June 24.
• The inaugural session of the 18th Lok Sabha is set to commence on June 24.
• This initial session will span from June 24 to July 7, during which newly elected members will be sworn in or confirm their offices.
• The 264th session of the Rajya Sabha will start on June 27 and conclude on July 3.
• During the first three days, newly elected members of the Lok Sabha will take their oaths or confirm their membership and elect the Speaker of the House.
• On June 27, President Draupadi Murmu will address a joint session of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, presenting the new government’s roadmap for the next five years.
• Article 87 of the Indian Constitution empowers the President to address both the Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha at the beginning of the first session following a general election and at the start of the first session of each year.
Current Chief Ministers for each state and union territory in India:-
• In India, each of the 28 states and occasionally a union territory (UT) is governed by an elected Chief Minister.
• At present, the UTs of Delhi, Jammu and Kashmir (vacant), and Puducherry have Chief Ministers in office. Although the governor is the constitutional head of a state, but de facto executive authority rests with the chief minister
• Article 164 of the Constitution envisages that the Chief Minister shall be appointed by the governor.
• List of currently serving Chief Ministers:-
✓ Andhra Pradesh: Sri Nara Chandrababu Naidu is the Chief Minister. (Telugu Desam Party)
✓ Arunachal Pradesh: Shri Pema Khandu is the Chief Minister. (Bharatiya Janata Party)
✓ Assam: Shri Himanta Biswa Sarma is the Chief Minister. (Bharatiya Janata Party)
✓ Bihar: Shri Nitish Kumar is the Chief Minister. (Janata Dal (United))
✓ Chhattisgarh: Shri Vishnu Deo Sai is the Chief Minister. (Bharatiya Janata Party)
✓ Delhi (NCT): Shri Arvind Kejriwal is the Chief Minister. (Aam Aadmi Party)
✓ Goa: Shri Pramod Sawant is the Chief Minister. (Bharatiya Janata Party)
✓ Gujarat: Shri Bhupendra Patel is the Chief Minister. (Bharatiya Janata Party)
✓ Haryana: Shri Nayab Singh Saini is the Chief Minister. (Bharatiya Janata Party)
✓ Himachal Pradesh: Shri Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu is the Chief Minister. (Indian National Congress)
✓ Jharkhand: Shri Champai Soren is the Chief Minister. (Jharkhand Mukti Morcha)
✓ Karnataka: Shri Siddaramaiah is the Chief Minister. (Indian National Congress)
✓ Kerala: Shri Pinarayi Vijayan is the Chief Minister. (Communist Party of India (Marxist))
✓ Madhya Pradesh: Shri Mohan Yadav is the Chief Minister. (Bharatiya Janata Party)
✓ Maharashtra: Shri Eknath Shinde is the Chief Minister. (Shiv Sena)
✓ Manipur: Shri N. Biren Singh is the Chief Minister. (Bharatiya Janata Party)
✓ Meghalaya: Shri Conrad Kongkal Sangma is the Chief Minister. (National People's Party)
✓ Mizoram: Shri PU Lalduhoma is the Chief Minister. (Zoram People's Movement)
✓ Nagaland: Shri Neiphiu Rio is the Chief Minister. (Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party)
✓ Odisha: Shri Mohan Charan Majhi is the Chief Minister. (Bharatiya Janata Party)
✓ Puducherry (UT): Shri N. Rangaswamy is the Chief Minister. (All India N.R. Congress)
✓ Punjab: Shri Bhagwant Singh Mann is the Chief Minister. (Aam Aadmi Party)
✓ Rajasthan: Shri Bhajan Lal Sharma is the Chief Minister. (Bharatiya Janata Party)
✓ Sikkim: Shri PS Tamang is the Chief Minister. (Sikkim Krantikari Morcha)
✓ Tamil Nadu: Shri M. K. Stalin is the Chief Minister. (Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam)
✓ Telangana: Shri A Revanth Reddy is the Chief Minister. (Indian National Congress)
✓ Tripura: Dr. Manik Saha is the Chief Minister. (Bharatiya Janata Party)
✓ Uttar Pradesh: Shri Yogi Adityanath is the Chief Minister. (Bharatiya Janata Party)
✓ Uttarakhand: Shri Pushkar Singh Dhami is the Chief Minister. (Bharatiya Janata Party)
✓ West Bengal: Km. Mamata Banerjee is the Chief Minister. (Trinamool Congress)
SPORTS
Jyoti Vij has been appointed as director-general of the FICCI.
• Jyoti Vij has been appointed as the new Director-General of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI).
• She has immediately taken up her new role as Director-General.
• Prior to this, Vij served as the Additional Director General at FICCI and has experience working across various sectors.
• Shailesh Pathak has stepped down from his position as Secretary General of FICCI for personal reasons.
• Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI): Founded in 1927, following the guidance of G.D. Birla and Purshottamdas Thakurdas.
• Its main objective is to support and advocate for the interests of Indian businesses both within the country and internationally.
• Headquartered in New Delhi, it is the oldest, largest, and premier non-governmental trade association in India.
INDEX AND RANKINGS
World Economic Forum's (WEF) Global Gender Gap index
• India has fallen to 129th place in the World Economic Forum's (WEF) Global Gender Gap Index, dropping two positions from the previous ranking.
• Iceland continues to hold the top spot, followed by Finland, Norway, New Zealand, and Sweden.
• India remains among the nations with the lowest economic parity levels but has achieved the highest gender parity in secondary education enrollment.
• In terms of political empowerment of women, India ranks 65th globally and has closed 64.1% of its overall gender gap as of 2024.
• The decline in India's ranking from 127th to 129th is attributed to drops in the 'Educational Attainment' and 'Political Empowerment' categories, despite improvements in 'Economic Participation and Opportunity.'
• The United Kingdom is positioned at 14th, while the United States stands at 43rd in this index.
• Within South Asia, India ranks fifth behind Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Bhutan, with Pakistan at the bottom.
• Sudan occupies the last place out of the 146 countries on the Global Gender Gap Index.
BANKING, ECONOMY AND FINANCE
India growth forecast raised by World Bank for FY25 to 6.6%.
• The World Bank has revised India's growth forecast upward for fiscal year 2025 to 6.6%.
• India is anticipated to maintain its position as the fastest-growing economy among major global economies.
• However, according to the World Bank's June Global Economic Outlook, India's growth rate is expected to stabilize at an average annual rate of 6.7% from fiscal year 2025 to fiscal year 2027.
• The forecast for India's growth in fiscal year 2025 has been increased by 0.2 percentage points to 6.6%, and for fiscal year 2026 to 6.7%, compared to earlier projections in January.
• Despite this upward revision, the World Bank's forecast is lower than the 7.2% growth projected by the Reserve Bank of India recently.
• According to the bank's report, global growth is expected to remain steady at 2.6% this year, marking the first time in three years without significant changes, despite challenges such as geopolitical tensions and high interest rates.