IPCI Info

25 June

International  News Affairs

  • Today (25th June) is the Day of the Seafarer.
    • Seafarer means “person who travels by sea”
    • This day is observed as an expression of thanks to the seafarers for their contribution to the economy and civil society of the world.
    • The observance of the day also acknowledges the risks and personal costs endured by seafarers while being in their jobs.
    • Day of the Seafarer (DotS) Theme 2017: “Seafarers Matter”.
  • PM Narendra Modi presented the Overseas Citizen of India card to Portugal’s Indian-origin PM Antonio Costa during his visit to Lisbon yesterday.
    • Important Note: During a visit to India in January, Costa was awarded the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman by the President.
  • Pakistan has issued its 1st third-gender passportto a transgender activist.

 

MOUs & Agreements

  • India and Portugal have signed 11 agreementsafter in-depth talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Portuguese counterpart Antonio Costa.
    • Note: This is the first-ever bilateral visit by an Indian Prime Minister to Portugal.
    • Both countries agreed to set up a joint Science and Technology fund of four million euros.
    • The agreements signed by them are :
      • MoU on Nano Technology
      • MoU on Biotechnology
      • MoU on Collaborative Research
      • MoU on Public Administration & Governance Reforms
      • MoU on Cultural Cooperation
      • MoU on Youth & Sports
      • MoU between Portugal India Business Hub & Indian Chamber of Commerce
      • MoU on Cooperation in the fields of Higher Education and Scientific Research
      • MoU for the creation of an India Portugal Space Alliance for advancing collaborative research.
      • Protocol amending the Double Taxation Aviodance Agreement
      • MoU between Portugal India Business Hub & AICEP Portugal Global

 

National Current News

  • For the first time in the history of Manipur, Chief Minister Biren Singh-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government has launched a toll-free 24/7 helpline number ‘181‘ for women.
    • This helpline will help fight and reduce crime against women in the state.

 

Science & Technology

  • China has developed world’s most powerful magnetic detectorwhich can find hidden metallic objects, including minerals and submarines.
    • The device is different from conventional designs because it uses a large number of probes and a superconductive computer chip cooled by liquid nitrogen which increases its signal sensitivity, reports said.

 

Current Sports Affairs

  • India’s Kidambi Srikanth has won the Australian Open Superseries title today by beating Rio Olympics champion China’s Chen Long.
    • This is the second consecutive Superseries title for world number 11 Srikanth, who won the Indonesia Open last week.
    • This is Srikanth’s first win over Long, having lost to the world number six in all of their five earlier meetings.
  • Haryana’s Anish Bhanwala set a junior world record to win the Gold medal in the 25-metre standard pistol at the ISSF Junior Shooting World Championship in Germany today.
    • The 15-year-old registered a score of 579, going past the previous record of 574 set in 2002.
    • Note : India also bagged the team silver, moving to second place in the medals tally.
  • The World Taekwondo Federation has changed its name to World Taekwondo after its acronym ‘WTF’ was found to have “negative connotations”.
  • India opened their ICC Women’s World Cup 2017 campaign with a 35-run win over hosts England in a match which saw Indian captain Mithali Raj break two world records. 
    • Raj scored her career’s 47th fifty, overtaking England’s Charlotte Edwards to record most fifties in women’s ODI cricket.
    • Raj also became the only woman player to score seven consecutive ODI fifties.