IPCI Info

14 June

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14 Jun

International News Affairs

  • Today (14th June) is World Blood Donor Day
    • This day  is celebrated every year on the day of birth anniversary of Austrian-American biologist and physician Karl Landsteiner (14th of June in 1868) who discovered the existence of different types of blood groups in 1901.
    • He was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1930 for his discovery.
    • This day is observed to raise the public awareness about the need for safe blood donation.
    • Theme of World Blood Donor Day 2017: “Give Blood. Give Now. Give Often”
    • Important Note: World Blood Donor Day is one of eight official global public health campaigns marked by the World Health Organization (WHO), along with
      • World Health Day,
      • World Tuberculosis Day,
      • World Immunization Week,
      • World Malaria Day,
      • World No Tobacco Day,
      • World Hepatitis Day and
      • World AIDS Day.
    • Pakistan has claimed that its ally China will fund its long-delayed ₹77-crore mega dam project over the Indus basin in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
      • India has opposed the construction of the dam ever since it was proposed. The dam aims to generate 4,500 MW of electricity and to regulate the water flow to farmlands that are vulnerable to increasingly erratic weather patterns.
    • Indian warships have reached Australia’s port city of Freemantle to take part in AUSINDEX, a week-long naval exercise off the Western Australian coast.
      • Exercise Australia-India (AUSINDEX) was first conducted off the East Coast of India in September 2015.
      • AUSINDEX-17 will be the second overall bilateral drill between Indian Navy and Royal Australian Navy.
      • AUSINDEX bilateral exercise aims to enhance interoperability and professional interaction between two navies.

Australia

♦ Capital: Canberra

♦ Currency: Australian Dollar

♦ PM: Malcolm Turnbull

 

National News Affairs

  • The Telangana government today launched the website ‘PashuBazar‘ to facilitate online sale or purchase of cattle.
    • The online platform has been developed to help farmers in selling their animals without physically taking them to weekly markets.
  • Recent Approvals by Central government –On June 14, 2017, Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved following bilateral agreements and initiatives:
  1. i) The Central Government will provide interest subvention of 5% per annum to all prompt payee farmers for short term crop loan up to one year for loan up to Rs. 3 lakhs borrowed by them during the year 2017­18.
  2. ii) Union Cabinet has given its ex­post facto approval to the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare and the Ministry of Agriculture in the State of Palestine on agriculture cooperation.

iii) On June 14, 2017, Union Cabinet was apprised about an Memorandum of Understanding which has already been signed in April 2017, between India and Armenia for cooperation on youth matters.

  1. iv) Union Cabinet has approved the proposal to introduce a Financial Resolution and Deposit Insurance Bill, 2017. v. Cabinet was apprised about an Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) which has already been signed in April 2017, between India and Bangladesh for promoting cooperation in the field of Information Technology and Electronics (IT&E).
    • Ministry of Railways launches Mission Retro ­Fitment
      • Minister of Railways Suresh Prabhu has launched Mission Retro­Fitment to enhance the passenger experience by upgrading the existing fleet of coaches.
      • Key Notes:

i)Mission Retro­ Fitment is a program of railways to upgrade the level of furnishing & facilities in the coaches of Indian Railways.

  1. ii) It aimed at providing a safe and comfortable travel to the railway passengers.

iii) The refurbished coaches will have the following features will be World class ambiance, Enhanced Passenger Safety, Caring for the Environment, Enhanced Passenger convenience.

  1. iv) The mission will be carried out without affecting the traffic operation.

v)The mission will be one of the largest retro fitment projects in the world.

  1. vi) Under Mission Retro­ Fitment, 40,000 coaches will be refurbished and retrofitted in the next five years.

vii) The mission aims to induct about 40,000 coaches with upgraded interiors by 2022­23. viii. The cost of refurbishing per coach will be approximately Rs 30 lakhs.

 

 

Banking, Business & Economic News

  • The government today approved the Interest Subvention Scheme for 2017-18 under which it will give an interest subsidy of 2% per annum to farmers for short term loans of up to ₹3 lakh.
  • Technology giant Google has topped the 2017 BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands list, with a brand value of over $245 billion.
    • Further, US tech giants Apple, Microsoft, and Facebook were also among the five most valuable brands.
  • The Union Cabinet has approved the proposal to introduce a Financial Resolution and Deposit Insurance Bill, 2017 which will provide a comprehensive resolution framework for financial sector entities to deal with bankruptcy situation in banks, insurance companies, and other entities.
  • Telecom giant Verizon has acquired Yahoo’s core business for $4.48bn (£3.51m), thus ending Yahoo’s two-decade long run as an independent company.
    • Note : Verizon is the No.1 wireless operator in the US.

 

  • IDBI Bank only PSB to get ‘high’ rating for code compliance According to the Code Compliance
    • Rating of banks done by the Banking Codes and Standards Board of India (BCSBI) 2017, out of 26 public sector banks and 8 out of 17 private sector banks got ‘high’ rating for their adherence to code compliance.

Key Notes:

i)IDBI Bank was the only public sector bank that got ‘high (H)’(85   and above score out of 100) rating in two successive surveys.

  1. ii) The eight private sector banks that got ‘high’ rating are — Axis Bank, DCB Bank, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, IndusInd Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, RBL Bank and YES Bank.

iii) The three foreign banks — Citibank, HSBC and Standard Chartered Bank — that were surveyed got ‘high’ ranking.

  1. iv) The code compliance rating, which is based on five parameters: Information dissemination, transparency, grievance redressal, customer­ centricity, and customer feedback.
  2. v) A total of 51 banks were surveyed for code compliance in 2017 and in the latest round, five urban co­operative banks were included.
  3. vi) The survey is based on a sample size of 2.5 per cent of the branch network of 51 major banks.

vii)12 banks got ‘high’ rating in the survey, 29 got ‘above average (AA)’ rating (70 to less than 85 score) and 10 got ‘average (A)’ rating (60 to less than 70 score).

viii)The public sector banks, the ratings of which improved in the latest round, are: Central Bank of India, Corporation Bank, UCO Bank and Union Bank of India, with their rating going up to AA from A.

  1. ix) The public sector banks, the ratings of which came down a notch, are: Andhra Bank and Bank of Maharashtra (to A from AA).
  2. x) In the private sector banks category, while DCB Bank’s rating improved to ‘H’ from ‘AA’, Dhanlaxmi Bank’s rating declined to ‘AA’ from ‘H’.
  3. xi) BCSBI chairman: AC Mahajan

 

IDBI Bank :

♦ Headquarters: Mumbai

♦ CEO: Mahesh Kumar Jain

 

 

 

  • Emkay and DBS Ink Pact For Equity Research Distribution
    • Emkay Global Financial Services has entered into an exclusive pact with DBS Bank arm DBS Vickers Securities (Singapore) on 13 of June.

Key Notes:

  1. The pact has signed for co­-branding and distribution of equity research to the latter’s global clients.
  2. The agreement involves sharing of knowledge, co­branding of research and its distribution to the global clients of DBS Vickers.
  • The agreement involves Emkay and DBS Vickers to jointly organise, arrange and participate in events to showcase and market India Research Reports and India Equities.
  1. Emkay Global Managing Director is Krishna Kumar Karwa. v. The alliance will enable both DBS and Emkay to expand their horizon and benefit from each other’s knowledge and expertise.

DBS Bank :

♦ Headquarters: Singapore

♦ CEO: Piyush Gupta

 

 

Awards & Honors

  • IIT Kanpur is set to confer an honorary doctorate on former sprinter PT Usha on June 16 to mark the 50th convocation of the institute.

 

APPOINTMENTS & RESIGNS

  • India appoints Envoys to Italy, Denmark, Belgium and EU– The government has appointed ambassadors to three European countries, Italy, Denmark th and Belgium.
    • Key Points:

i.Gaitri Issar Kumar is a 1986­batch Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer, has been appointed as India’s next ambassador to Belgium.

  1. According to the external affairs ministry she will also be accredited as India’s ambassador to the European Union (EU).

iii. Reenat Sandhu, a 1989­batch IFS officer, will head India’s diplomatic mission in Italy.

  1. Ajit Vinayak Gupte from the 1991 batch, who is presently joint secretary in the ministry, has been appointed as ambassador to Denmark.

Denmark:

♦ Capital: Copenhagen

♦ Currency: Danish krone

 

Science & Technology

  • The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has successfully test fired anti-tank ‘Nag’ missile in Rajasthan.
    • This test was conducted by Scientists of the Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Missile Complex at Hyderabad, Defence Laboratory at Jodhpur, High Energy Materials Research Laboratory (HEMRL) at Pune and Armament Research and Development Establishment (ARDE) at Pune.
    • Important Points to Note :
      • Nag missile is one of the five missile systems developed by DRDO under the integrated guided missile development programme (IGMDP).
      • The four other missiles developed under this programme include Agni, Akash, Trishul and Prithvi.

 Current Sports Affairs

  • Pakistan defeated hosts England by 8 wickets to reach the final of the Champions Trophy tournament for the first time.
    • Note : Pakistan last played the final of an ICC ODI tournament 18 years ago, in the 1999 World Cup.