IPCI Info

22 June

INTERNATIONAL NEWS Affairs

  • Aimed at minimising the risk of injuries and casualties, Philippines President Rodrigo Dutertetoday signed an executive order banning the private use of firecrackers in the country
  • According to the United Nations’ annual population survey, the Global population will hit 8 billion in 2023.
    • The survey found that the world’s population has been increasing by roughly 83 million annually, and the number of people aged over 60 will top 1 billion next year.
    • Important Note : According to this survey, India will overtake China to become the world’s most populous nation by 2024.
  • New York’s Governor Andrew Cuomo has signed an anti-child marriage law to increase the marriageable age from 14 to 18.
  • India and Russia are celebrating 70th anniversary of establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
    • To commemorate this, a series of events has been planned in Russia and in India during 2017.
    • India will also be the Guest Country at the  Petersburg International Economic Forumin June 2017.

National news Affairs

  • A total of 23 Guinness World Records were set at an International Yoga Day event in Ahmedabad, Gujarat on 21st June 2017.
    • More than 54,000 people participated in the event, beating the earlier record of most people doing yoga by a margin of over 18,000.
  • West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has designed flags to be displayed on the state’s IAS officers’ carafter the central government banned beacons.
    • The flags for chief secretary and additional chief secretaries will be rectangular, while those of secretaries will be swallow-tailed and junior administrative grade or selection grade officers will get triangular flags.
  • The government has made it mandatory for the tuberculosis patients to submit their Aadhaar number for availing benefits under the Central government scheme.
    • The move has been made to check fraud and corruption in government schemes.
  • In an attempt to prevent road accidents, police in Andhra Pradesh have launched a ‘Face Wash and Go‘ initiative on national and state highways from 1 AM to 4:30 AM.
    • As part of the programme, the police stopped vehicles on highways and asked drivers to wash their faces.
  • Victims of acid attacks and people with autism, mental illnesses, and intellectual disabilitieswill get 1% reservation for central government jobs and promotions.
    • The move has been proposed by the Department of Personnel and Training and includes vacancies, promotion quotas, and age relaxation.
  • Under the Swachh Bharat Mission Gramin (SBM-G), rural Uttarakhand and rural Haryanahave been declared as the 4th and 5th Open Defecation Free (ODF) States of India.
    • Note : Sikkim, Himachal Pradesh and Kerala  have already been declared as Open Defecation Free.

 

People in News

  • The opposition led by Congress today announced former Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar as its candidate for the Presidential polls.
    • The Dalit leader from Bihar, will contest the elections against BJP-led NDA’s candidate Ram Nath Kovind, who is also a Dalit.

 

Banking, Business & Economic news

  • The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has asked banks to resolve 55 identified high value cases of bad loans within a period of six months.
    • Otherwise, the central bank would examine those cases and refer for resolution under the new Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code.
    • Earlier this month, RBI had identified 12 accounts for insolvency proceedings, which accounted for 25% of total bad loans of banks.
  • China today announced plans to link its economic corridor in Pakistan to its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) involving India.
    • The BRI is a part of China’s initiative to link Europe with Asia.
    • Note: India has raised concerns about the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) that passes through PoK, as a threat to its sovereignty.

 

Science & Technology news

  • Social networking platform Facebook has announced India-specific tools that will let users set up a ‘guard’ on their profile picturesto prevent others from downloading and sharing them.
    • Facebook also announced an Android-only tool that will prevent others from taking a screenshot of users’ profile pictures.
    • Note: A blue border and shield will be displayed around the protected pictures.
  • The Delhi Metro has introduced its own smart watches, Watch2Pay.
    • Watch2Pay will enable commuters’ faster entry and exit at metro stations.
    • The watches, priced at ₹6,000 per year, made in partnership with an Austrian company, will have a sim card inside for recharging, but won’t require mobile network to function.

NEW APPOINTMENTS

  • US President Donald Trump’s top aide Kenneth Juster is set to be US’ new ambassador to India.
    • Juster will replace acting US ambassador to India MaryKay Carlson.
  • The UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has appointed Russian diplomat Vladimir Voronkov to head the newly established UN Counter-Terrorism Centre (UNCCT), despite growing tensions between the US and Russia.
  • Rajiv Gauba was appointed as the new Home Secretary.
    • He is presently working as a Secretary in the Ministry of Urban Development.
  • Pakistan’s limited overs captain, Sarfraz Ahmed, who led Pakistan to their maiden ICC Champions Trophy title, is set to be appointed as the captain of Pakistan’s Test team.
    • The 30-year-old wicketkeeper-batsman will be replacing Misbah-ul-Haq, who retired last month after serving as captain for seven years.

 

 

AWARDS & HONORS

  • Ramamani Iyengar Memorial Yoga InstitutePune has become the 1st recipient of the Prime Minister’s Award for outstanding contribution to promotion and development of Yoga.
  • Indo-Canadian YouTube personality Lilly Singh, also known as Superwoman, was ranked 1st in the Entertainment category of 2017 Top Influencers list by Forbes.
    • American YouTuber Tyler Oakley was ranked second.

 

Current Sports Affairs

  • Indian shuttler Kidambi Srikanth defeated world number one Son Wan-ho for the second time in a week to reach the quarter-finals of the Australian Open Super series
    • World number 11 Srikanth had earlier defeated the South Korean in the semi-finals of the Indonesia Open, which he eventually won.
    • Note: Srikanth will face compatriot B Sai Praneeth in the quarters.
  • The Indian Olympic Association’s (IOA) chief N Ramachandranhas revealed that IOA has asked the government for permission to bid for the 2032 Olympics and 2030 Asian Games.
    • Ramachandran said the IOA also wanted India to host the Asian Beach Games in 2020 alongside hosting 2020’s Olympic Council of Asia General Assembly meeting and the International Olympic Committee’s 2021 session.