1. WHO launches ‘C-TAP’ for equitable access to life-saving tech

• WHO has launched the ‘COVID-19 Technology Access Pool’ for equitable access to life-saving tech. 
• This comes after at least 37 countries jointly appealed to the World Health Organisation for common ownership of vaccines, medicines and other diagnostic tools to combat the global health crisis.
• C-TAP aims to accelerate the development of vaccines and medicines through the sharing of research and information and to increase manufacturing capacity for any products that are developed. 
• WHO has also issued a ‘Solidarity Call to Action’ urging other stakeholders of the UN health agency to join the cause.

Foot Notes: About WHO
Founded: 07 Apr 1948
Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland
Director-General: Tedros Adhanom

2. PM Modi greets people on 6th Telangana State Formation Day

• Telangana is celebrating the 6th anniversary of its Formation Day on 02 June. 
• The Government of India declared this historic day for Telangana, the youngest state in India in 2014.
• This day signifies the sustained Telangana Movement history through the years for a separate state.

Foot Notes: About  Telangana
Founded: 2 June 2014 
Capital: Hyderabad
Governor: Tamilisai Soundararajan
Chief Minister: K. Chandrashekar Rao

3. Moody’s downgrades India’s rating, maintains negative outlook

• Moody's Investors Service downgraded the Government of India's foreign-currency and local-currency long-term issuer ratings to Baa3 from Baa2 and also downgraded India's local-currency senior unsecured rating to Baa3 from Baa2.
• The negative outlook reflects dominant, mutually-reinforcing, downside risks from deeper stresses in the economy and financial system that could lead to a more severe and prolonged erosion in fiscal strength than Moody’s current projects.
• 'Baa3' rating is the lowest investment grade -- just a notch above 'junk' status. Moody's had last downgraded India's rating in 1998.

Foot Notes: About Moody
CEO: Raymond W. McDaniel Jr.
Headquarters: New York, United States
Founder: John Moody
Founded: 1909

4. DRDO develops “Ultra Swachh” for disinfection of PPEs, electronic items, fabrics

• DRDO develops ‘Ultra Swachh’ for disinfection of PPEs, electronic items, fabrics Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) has developed a disinfection unit named Ultra Swachh to disinfect a wide range of materials, including Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs), electronics items, fabrics and others. Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences, the Delhi-based laboratory of DRDO has developed this product with industry partner Gel Craft Health care Private Ltd.  
• The system uses an advanced oxidative process consisting of multiple barrier disruption approaches using Ozonated Space Technology for disinfection. Ultra Swachh is double-layered, with specialized Ozone sealant technology ensuring trapping of Ozone for the necessary disinfection cycle. 
• It also has a catalytic converter to ensure environment friendly exhaust. Ultra Swachh comes in two variants namely Ozonated Space and Trinetra Technology. Trinetra technology is the combination of Ozonated space and radical dispenser.

Foot Notes: About DRDO
Founded: 1958
Parent organization: Ministry of Defence
Minister responsible: Rajnath Singh, Minister of Defence
Chairman: Dr G. Satheesh Reddy

5. Centre launches three new schemes to boost Electronics sector

• On June 2, 2020, the Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad launched three new schemes to boost electronics sector. They are Production linked incentive scheme, cluster scheme  and component manufacturing scheme .
• The schemes are expected to attract investments. They will increase the manufacturing of mobile phones and their parts to around Rs 10 lakh crores by 2025. Also, the scheme will help generate 5 lakhs direct and 15 lakhs of indirect jobs.
• The scheme will provide an incentive of 4% to 6% to the goods manufactured in India.

6. R.K. Chaturvedi assumed charge as Secretary in Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals

• RK Chaturvedi assumed charge as Secretary in the Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals, Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers, Government of India. Chaturvedi has replaced P.Raghavendra Rao who superannuated on 31 May 2020.
• RK Chaturvedi is a 1987-batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of Madhya Pradesh cadre. Prior to this, he served as an Additional Secretary and Financial Advisor in the Ministry of Culture. He has worked as Chairman of the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and as DG in the National Skill Development Authority (NSDA).

Foot Notes:
About Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals:
Department of Chemicals and Petro Chemicals was established by GoI in 1991. The department functions under the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers. The department is responsible to make policy, planning, development, and regulation of Chemicals and Petrochemicals Industries.
Minister of Chemicals and Petrochemicals: Mansukh L. Mandaviya

7. Elections to 24 Rajya Sabha seats to be held on 19th of June

• Election Commission has announced that elections for 24 Rajya Sabha seats spread across 10 states will be held on June 19. Polling for 18 of these 24 seats were deferred due to the coronavirus pandemic. 
• Of these 18 seats, four each are from Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat, three each from Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, two from Jharkhand, and one each from Manipur and Meghalaya. The EC also announced that Rajya Sabha polls for a total of six seats in Arunachal Pradesh, Karnataka and Mizoram will also be held on June 19 along with the elections that were deferred from March.

Foot Notes: About Rajya Sabha
The Rajya Sabha is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of India. It currently has a maximum membership of 245.
Out of which 233 are elected by the legislatures of the states and union territories using single transferable votes through Open Ballot while the President can appoint 12 members for their contributions to art, literature, science, and social services.

8. Govt unveils PM SVANIDHI scheme to provide affordable loans to street vendors

• Union Government launched PM SVANIDHI - Pradhan Mantri Street Vendor’s Atmanirbhar Nidhi - a special micro-credit facility scheme for providing affordable loans to street vendors. The scheme is aimed at enabling the street vendors to resume their livelihoods that have been adversely affected due to COVID-19 lockdown.
• Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry launched the scheme in pursuance of the announcement made by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman last month.The street vendors belonging to the surrounding peri-urban or rural areas are being included as beneficiaries under the urban livelihoods programme for the first time.
• Under the scheme, each of these streets vendors will be given a credit loan of Rs 10,000, which they can return as monthly installments within a year. Those who repay their loans on time will get 7 percent annual interest as subsidy which will be transferred in their bank accounts

Foot Notes:
Minister of Housing and Urban affairs: Narendra Singh Tomar

9. Switzerland launches world’s first app “Swiss Covid” with Exposure Notification API of Apple and Google

• The developer team of Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne(Ecole polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne – EPFL) and ETH Zurich (Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich) developed the “SwissCovid”, first of its kind for digital contact tracing app utilizing the Exposure Notification API (Application Programming Interface) of Apple and Google and based on a decentralized approach to track the spread of coronavirus.
• The application was tested by the Swiss army, civil servants and hospital workers in its pilot phase and will be available to the users all around the world by the mid-June after the approval of Swiss parliamentarians.

Foot Notes: About EPFL
President: Martin Vetterli
Location: Switzerland
About ETH Zurich:
President: Joël François Mesot(Joel Mesot) 
Secretary General: Katharina Poiger Ruloff
Location: Switzerland

10. Former Tamil Nadu  BJP president KN Lakshmanan passes away

• Former two-time Tamil Nadu State BJP president K N Lakshmanan died. 
• Born in Salem on October 20, 1930, he completed schooling at the Gokulnatha Hindu Mahajana school and did his BA at what was then the Salem Municipal College. 
• In 1944, he joined the RSS and in 1957 started the Jana Sangh in Salem district along with nine others. 
• In 1969, he and senior RSS leader Vasudevan started the Vidya Mandir school at Shevapet in Salem city. From 1970 to 1974, he started branches of the school in 24 towns across the State.
• When the Jana Sangh became the BJP, Lakshmanan was appointed the party’s State president and held the post from 1984-89. 
• He also held the post from 1996 to 2000. In 2001, he was elected to the State Assembly from the Mylapore constituency in Chennai.

Foot Notes: About Tamil  Nadu
Capital: Chennai
Governor: Banwarilal Purohit
Chief Minister: Edappadi K Palaniswami