National
Ajai Puri re-elected as COAI chairman:
⇒ COAI said, Chief Operating Officer of Bharti Airtel (India and South Asia), Ajai Puri has been re-elected as Chairman of the industry association for 2021-22 on 10 June 2021.
Announcing the leadership for 2021-22, Cellular Operators’ Association of India (COAI) said that Pramod Kumar Mittal, President of Reliance Jio Infocomm, will continue as Vice Chairman of the association.
SBI's Kavach Personal Loan
⇒ The State Bank of India has launched a collateral-free loan called Kavach Personal Loan. The loan covers expenses of COVID treatment of self and family members of the customer.
Under this scheme, customers can avail loans up to Rs 5 lakh at an effective interest rate of 8.5% per annum for 60 months which is inclusive of three months moratorium.
This unique product is being offered under the collateral-free personal loan category. Reimbursement of expenses already incurred for COVID related medical expenses shall also be provided under the scheme.
Allotment of 5 MHz Spectrum in 700 MHz frequency band to Indian Railways
⇒ The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has approved the proposal for allotment of 5 MHz Spectrum in 700 MHz frequency band to Indian Railways for public safety and security services at stations and in trains.
With this spectrum, Indian Railways has envisaged to provide LTE (Long Term Evolution) based Mobile Train Radio Communication on its route. The estimated investment in the project is more than Rs 25,000 Crore. The project will be completed in the next 5 years.
Purpose of the LTE for Indian Railways:
- The purpose of the LTE is to provide secure and reliable voice, video and data communication services for operational, safety and security applications.
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Use of LTE:
- It will be used for modern signalling and train protection systems and ensure seamless communication between loco pilots and guards.
- It will also enable Internet of Things (IoT) based remote asset monitoring especially of coaches, wagons & locos, and live video feed of CCTV cameras in the train coaches to ensure efficient, safer and faster train operations.
CAR-T Cell Therapy for Cancer Treatment
⇒ The Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-cell (CAR-T) therapy has emerged as a breakthrough in cancer treatment. Its Clinical trials have shown promising results in end stage patients, especially in patients suffering from Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia.
Each patient’s CAR-T cell therapy costs 3-4 crore (INR). In order to promote and support development of CAR-T cell technology against cancer and other diseases, BIRAC and DBT have taken initiatives and launched specialized calls to invite proposals in the last 2 years.
First CAR-T cell therapy in India:
Department of Biotechnology supported First CAR-T cell therapy (a type of gene therapy) was done at the Bone Marrow Transplant unit at ACTREC, Tata Memorial Center in Mumbai on 4 June 2021.
The CAR-T cells were designed and manufactured at Bioscience and Bioengineering (BSBE) department of IIT Bombay. This work is partly supported by BIRAC-PACE scheme.
It was a historic day for Tata Memorial Hospital, IIT Bombay team and cancer care in India.
Chief Information Officer of Wipro
⇒ IT Services Company Wipro ltd has appointed former Yes Bank executive Anup Purohit as its chief information officer (CIO). Anup Purohit has over 25 years of experience across the banking and financial services sectors. He was most recently the CIO at Yes Bank.
International
First Muslim American federal judge in US history:
⇒ Zahid N Quraishi, a federal magistrate judge was confirmed by the United States Senate as the federal judge in New Jersey. He was confirmed with an overwhelmingly bipartisan vote of 81-16, on 10 June 2021.
He becomes the first Muslim American Federal District Court judge in the nation’s history.
Sports
2021 Ziolkowski, Pytlasinski, Poland Open
⇒ The 2021 Ziolkowski, Pytlasinski, Poland Open was a sport wrestling event held in Warsaw, Poland from 8 June to 13 June 2021.
Indian Medallist at 2021 Poland Open Wrestling:
- In Men’s freestyle, Ravi Kumar Dahiya won the Silver medal in the 61KG weight category.
- In Women’s freestyle, Vinesh Phogat won the Gold medal in the 53KG weight category.
Death
Olympian long-distance runner, Surat Singh Mathur
⇒ Olympian long-distance runner, Surat Singh Mathur has died on 11 June 2021. He was 90.
Mathur is the first athlete from independent India to complete an Olympic marathon race, at the 1952 Summer Olympics Games in Helsinki. He also won a bronze medal at the 1951 Asian Games in Delhi.