13 Jun
IPCI Info

13 June

International NEWS Affairs

  • Britain and France have announced a new joint campaign to stop the internet from being a safe space for terrorists as they plan tougher action to tackle online radicalisation.
  • Israel has approved the construction of over 8,000 new homes in West Bank, making it the largest expansion of Jewish settlements in the area in 25 years.
  • Panama has established formal diplomatic ties with China and broke all of its relationship with Taiwan in a move that is seen as a victory for China in its drive to isolate Taiwan from the rest of the world.
    • Note : China claims Taiwan as its own territory.
    • Panama has established formal diplomatic ties with China and broke with Taiwan on 12 of June.

Key Notes:

  • Panamanian President Juan Carlos Varela said to media that Panama was upgrading its commercial ties with China.
  • Panama is establishing full diplomatic links with the second most important customer of its key shipping canal.
  • China has commended Panama for its decision.
  • The Panamanian government has announced that it is breaking its ‘diplomatic ties’ with Taiwan, and pledges to end all relations or official contact with Taiwan.
  • Panama is one of the Taiwan’s oldest friends. vi. Some diplomats in Beijing had speculated that the Central American country could become the next nation to break ties.
  • Taiwanese President Tsai Ing­wen visited Central American allies earlier this year but did not stop in Panama.

About Panama :

♦ Capital : Panama City

♦ President: Juan Carlos Varela

♦ Vice President: Isabel Saint Malo

 

SRK, Salman, Akshay part of Forbes’ highest­ earning

  • The Forbes list of the ‘World’s Highest­Paid Celebrities of 2017‘ has been topped by American rapper and entrepreneur Sean Combs, known by his more famous stage name ‘Diddy’, with earnings of 130 million dollars. It was published on 13th of June 2017.

 

  • Indian superstars Shahrukh Khan, Salman Khan and Akshay Kumar are among Forbes’ annual list of the highest­earning entertainers in the world.

 

  • The list includes American singer and icon Beyonce on the second spot with earnings of USD 105 million.Author J K Rowling, is at number three with USD 95 million.

 

 

National nEWS Affairs

  • MHA panel to examine rules on people’s movement near Indo­ Myanmar border On June 12, 2017, Union Home Minister, Rajnath Singh decided to set up an expert committee to examine the rules which allows free movement of Indian and Myanmarese citizens within 16 kms of the border.
    • The decision to setup the committee was taken by Rajnath Singh while chairing the meeting of Indo­Myanmar Border States in Aizawl, Mizoram on June 12, 2017.
    • The committee will be headed by the special secretary (Internal Security) in the Ministry of Home Affairs.
  • With 2.5 lakh Child labourers, Uttar Pradesh ranks first – CRY report As per a report released by Child Rights and You (CRY), Uttar Pradesh has the highest number of children (250672) engaged in labour.
    • Over 8 lakh children in India between the age group 5 and 6 years are engaged in child labour.Over 60% of these children do not attend school. Majority of these kids are engaged in family based employments.
    • Uttar Pradesh has the highest number of children engaged in labour, followed by Bihar (128087 children) and Maharashtra (82847 children).

 

  • Sikkim govt signs Mou with British Council

The Human Resource Development department of Sikkim government has signed a MoU with the British Council on 13 of June, 2017

Key Notes:

i.Objective: To enhance the quality of education in the state.

  1. The MoU was signed by G P Upadhaya, additional chief secretary cum principal Human Resource Development department and Alan Gemmell, Head of British Council.

iii. The main aim of signing the MoU is to improve the educational structure of the schools of Sikkim.

  1. The purpose of the MoU is to support the aims and aspirations of the young people of Sikkim through collaborative projects.
  2. The CM of Sikkim also planned his vision to revolutionise Sikkim’s education and help children achieves greater feats in life.
  3. The programme includes capacity building in teaching, learning and research pedagogy of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) and Social Science teachers from undergraduate colleges and universities in Sikkim by UK higher education experts along with internship of young faculties at relevant UK Universities.

About Sikkim

  • Capital: Gangtok
  • Governor: Shriniwas Dadasaheb Patil
  • Chief Minister: Pawan Chamling

 

 

Recent Committees in News

  • Ministry of Home Affairs has constituted an expert committee to examine the rules which allow free movement of people near Indo-Myanmar border.
    • This expert committee would be headed by the special secretary (Internal Security) in the Ministry of Home Affairs.
  • BJP constitutes 3-member high level committee to consult political parties for reaching consensus on Presidential candidate.
    • Members of this Committee :
      • M Venkaiah Naidu
      • Rajnath Singh
      • Arun Jaitley

 

New Appointments

  • Uber has appointed Wan Ling Martello, the Executive Vice President of Nestle in South Asia, as an independent board director.
    • Note : Martello is only the second woman on Uber’s seven-member board after Arianna Huffington, who joined the board in April 2016.

 

Awards & Honors

  • ‘Project Jal Sanchay’, a water conservation model which is successfully adopted in Nalanda district of south-central Bihar, has been chosen for the National Award for excellence inMGNREGP (Mahatma Gandhi national rural employment guarantee programme) by the Ministry of Rural Development.
    • The award will be conferred on June 19 at a function held at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi.

 

Science & Technology

  • In the first-ever study of dating Jupiter‘s age, an international group of scientists have confirmed that Solar System’s largest planet is also the oldest.
    • Scientists showed through analyses of meteorites that Jupiter’s solid core was the first to form after the explosion of a nebula (cloud of dust and gas) 4.6 billion years ago, that led to Solar System’s formation.

 

Business & Economic Affairs

  • The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is going to introduce a new batch of₹500 currency notes, which will have inset letter ‘A‘.
    • However, old notes, which were introduced following Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s demonetisation move, will continue to remain legal tender.
    • The note will bear the signature of RBI Governor Urjit Patel and will have the year of printing ‘2017’.
  • India’s retail inflation in May cooled to a record low of 2.18% from 2.99% in April, according to government data.
    • May’s inflation level is the lowest since India began measuring consumer price inflation in 2012, and remains well below RBI’s 4% target for the seventh straight month.
    • The drop was due to lower prices of pulses, cereals, and perishable goods.
  • Government imposes anti­dumping duty on Chinese ceramic items India has imposed an anti­dumping duty on import of ceramic table and kitchen ware items from China.

Key Notes:

  • The government has done to protect domestic industry against goods being sold at below normal value.
  • The anti­dumping duty imposed shall be levied for a period not exceeding six months (unless revoked, amended or superseded earlier).
  • The main reason of dumping is that the ceramic tableware and kitchenwareare being exported from China to India below its normal value.
  • The Directorate General of Anti­Dumping and Allied Duties (DGAD) has recommended the imposition of provisional anti­dumping duty in order to remove the injury to the domestic industry

Current Sports Affairs

  • Golden State Warriors have been crowned NBA Champions for the fifth time after defeating LeBron James-led Cleveland Cavaliers in the best-of-seven NBA Finals today.
  • In a meeting with FIFA President Gianni Infantino, South Korean President Moon Jae-inoffered to co-host the 2030 World Cup with rival North Korea and other northeast Asian countries in an attempt to promote peace in the region.
  • Virat Kohli has become the Top-ranked ODI batsman, rising two places in the ICC ODI rankings after scoring 157 runs in three matches in the ongoing Champions Trophy.
    • Top 10 in the List
      • Virat Kohli (India)
      • David Warner (Australia)
      • AB de Villiers (South Africa)
      • Joe Root (England)
      • Kane Williamson (New Zealand)
12 Jun
IPCI Info

12 June

International News Affairs

  • Prime Minister Narendra Modi accepted an invitation to meet US President Donald Trump for the first time during his two-day visit to Washington DC from June 25.
    • The two leaders will hold discussions on enhancing bilateral ties in the meeting.
  • The poverty-stricken unincorporated US territory of Puerto Rico today voted in favour of becoming the 51st US state with 97% voters supporting the referendum.
    • The final decision to accept Puerto Rico as a state lies with US Congress.

National News Affairs

  • Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah has inaugurated the upgraded version of police helpline Namma 100, where police officials will be deputed within 15 minutes to the spot of emergency, for Bengaluru.
    • Based on the model adapted in London, which has helpline 999, and USA, where 911 helpline operates, Namma 100 helpline allows the public to access several facilities on a single number.
  • The Meghalaya Assembly today passed a resolution against the Centre’s ban on sale of cattle for slaughter.
    • It said that “the order will hamper the rights of the people”, adding that laws for cattle are already in place.
  • Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Pema Khandu has demand for a separate time zone for the northeastern states to improve work efficiency and save electricity in the region. According to him, several daylight hours are getting wasted as government offices opens only at 10am and closes as early as 4pm.

Awards & Honors

  • Filmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar was today honored with the Bharat Gaurav Award at the United Nations hall in New York.
    • He dedicated his win to the Indian Armed Forces and their families.
    • Note : Spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and late astronaut Kalpana Chawla were among the other honourees this year.

New Appointments

  • Amit Sinha, the Vice President of business and human resources at Paytm’s parent company One97 Communications, has been appointed as the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Paytm Mall.
    • He will be responsible for Paytm Mall’s overall operations, hiring, and logistics.
    • Note : Last year, Paytm de-merged its three-year-old e-commerce business into a separate unit—Paytm Mall.
  • Technocrat Shashi Shekar Vempati took over as the CEO of Prasar Bharti 
    • Note : He is the first non-Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer to head the public broadcaster which runs Doordarshan (DD) and All India Radio (AIR).

Science & Technology

  • The US Navy today commissioned a new warship, USS Gabrielle Giffords, in the name of former Arizona congresswoman who was severely injured in a 2011 shooting, as a tribute to her perseverance.

Deaths

  • Legendary Telugu poet and writer C Narayana Reddy (85), a recipient of the prestigious Jnanpith award, passed away today.

Current Sports Affairs

  • Mercedes’ British Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton registered his Formula One career’s 6th Canadian Grand Prix title in Montreal today.
  • Indian shooters Jitu Rai and Heena Sidhu won Gold in the 10-metre air pistol mixed team event at the ISSF World Cup 
  • Rafael Nadal has won his 10th French Open Title in Men’s singles category by beating Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland.
    • French Open 2017 Winners List
      • Men’s Singles : Rafael Nadal (Spain)
      • Women’s Singles : Jeļena Ostapenko (Latvia)
      • Men’s Doubles : Ryan Harrison (United States) / Michael Venus(New Zealand)
      • Women’s Doubles : Bethanie Mattek-Sands (United States) / Lucie Šafářová (Czech Republic)
      • Mixed Doubles : Gabriela Dabrowski (Canada) / Rohan Bopanna (India)
11 Jun
IPCI Info

11 June

International News Affairs

  • The United Nations held its first-ever Ocean Conference to renew member nations’ commitment to combatting rising sea levels, pollution, and harmful fishing practices for the protection of world’s waterways.
    • This conference ended with the adoption by consensus of a ’14-point Call for Action’ to conserve and sustainably use oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development.
  • The voters of France began voting today in the first round of a parliamentary election.
    • The vote to elect the lower house’s 577 members comes a month after the presidential victory of Emmanuel Macron, who requires a majority in the National Assembly to implement reforms he promised during his campaign.
  • Aiming to reduce emissions and promote sustainability to help India’s smart city programme, France and the European Union today extended a grant of€3.5 million (nearly ₹25 crore) to India.
    • Nagpur, Kochi and Ahmedabad will get the grant as part of the EU’s commitment under the Paris Climate agreement for implementing the ‘Mobilise Your City’ (MYC) initiative.

National News Affairs

  • West Bengal’s capital Kolkata will get India’s first underwater metro system, which will pass through the Hooghly river.
    • The first tunnel, which has been completed, is built 30 metres below the earth’s surface, near the Howrah Bridge.
    • Note : This is the first time in India that a tunnel has been made under a flowing river.
  • The government has proposed to the Supreme Court an NEET-like examination to recruit judges to the lower judiciary.
    • There were vacancies of 4,452 judges in subordinate courts in India as per the figures released on December 31, 2015.
    • Besides the NEET model, the law ministry has also proposed a “centralised examination” that could be held by a “recruitment body”.

Awards & Honours

  • Bengali actor Soumitra Chatterjee will be honored with Legion of Honour, France’s highest civilian award.

Science & Technology

  • Israel is going to offer manufacturing of Spike hand held ‘fire and forget‘ Anti-Tank Guided Missile (ATGM) to India under Make in India.
    • This comes as Navy Chief Admiral Sunil Lanba, also the Chairman of Chiefs of Staff Committee, will be on a four-day visit to Israel from today.
  • US-based aviation company Cirrus Aircraft has launched the world’s smallest and most affordable private jet called ‘Vision Jet‘ for ₹12.62 crore.
    • The jet which had been in making for a decade has only one engine and can cruise at 555 kmph.
    • It has a maximum operating altitude of 28,000 feet, and takes off from just 620 metres of runway.

Obituary

  • Adam West (88), who played Batman in American Broadcasting Company’s (ABC) 1960’s television series, has died of leukaemia.
    • The actor also voiced characters from several shows including Rugrats, The Simpsons, Goosebumps, Johnny Bravo and SpongeBob SquarePants among others.

Banking, Business & Economic Affairs

  • Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today announced that the GST Council has decided to reduce tax levels of 66 items.
    • The council has lowered tax rates on insulin from 12% to 5%, packaged food including some fruits and vegetables from 18% to 12%, and agarbatti from 12% to 5%.
    • Additionally, tax rate on computer printers has been lowered to 18%.
  • India has moved the World Trade Organisation (WTO) against the US as it has not yet complied with the rulings of the WTO pertaining to imposition of high import duty on certain Indian steel products.
    • In December 2014, the WTO’s appellate body pronounced a ruling against the act of US which is imposing high import duty on certain Indian steel products.
    • It had ruled that the imposition of import duty on steel products was inconsistent with various provisions of the Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures.

Current Sports Affairs

  • Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko (20) became the first ever unseeded women’s singles player in the Open Era to win the French Open after defeating Romania’s Simona Halep in the final today.

Careers

  • The result of the IIT Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) Advanced 2017 were announced today morning.
    • At least 1.7 lakh candidates had registered for the exam, which was held on May 21 and conducted by IIT Madras
    • Sarvesh Mehtanifrom Panchkula, Haryana, has secured All India Rank 1 with 339 marks out of 366.
  • The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) today announced that candidates who bring any gadgets inside the examination hall will be barred from giving the exam in future as well.

It included all electronic gadgets like cellular/mobile phones, any other devices for communication, laptops, bluetooth devices, and calculators in the list of banned gadgets.

10 Jun
IPCI Info

10 June

International News Affairs

  • Prime Minister Narendra Modi today joined several global leaders at the inauguration of Kazakhstan’s Astana World EXPO 2017 which showcases vital innovation and technological prowess of the resource-rich central Asian country.
    • Shaikh Ahmad Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, President of Dubai Civil Aviation, Chairman and Chief Executive of Emirates airline and Group, and UAE Minister of State Sultan Bin Ahmad Al Jaber opened the UAE’s pavilion at the Astana Expo 2017.
    • What is Astana Expo 2017 ?
    • This is an International Exposition (large international exhibition designed to showcase achievements of nations) being held at Astana (Kazakhstan) today.
    • Subtitle : “Solutions for Tackling Humankind’s Greatest Challenge.”
    • Theme of this expo : “Future Energy”
    • Aim : To create a global debate between countries,  nongovernmental organizations, companies and the general public on the crucial question: “how do we ensure safe and sustainable access to energy for all while reducing CO2 emissions ?”
    • Note : India is among over 100 countries which are presenting their pavilions at the expo which is expected to be visited by millions of visitors over the next three months.
  • Canada has introduced a bill that will decriminalise practising witchcraft and challenging people to duels.
    • The nation is set to decriminalise 20 criminal offences, including telling fortunes and publishing crime comics.

National News Affairs

  • The Union Minister for Finance, Defence and Corporate Affairs, Arun Jaitley will chair the 16th Meeting of the GST Council scheduled to be held tomorrow (11th June, 2017) at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi.
    • The one day Meeting will also be attended among others by the Finance Ministers of different States and UTs (having elected assembly) being the members of the GST Council.
    • Important Note : This meeting will be important in the sense that the GST Law is going to be rolled-out with effect from 1st July, 2017.
  • Government has awarded a Rs 1,600-crore contract for constructing 109-km road connecting Paletwa river terminal to Zorinpui in Mizoram border as a part of the$484-million Kaladan multi-modal transport (KMTT) projects in Myanmar which will offer connectivity to Mizoram.
  • A week after announcing that combat roles for women would be open soon, Army chief General Bipin Rawat today said, “Firstly, we will start with women as military police jawans, will take next step after success.”
    • The Indian Army had kept combat roles off limit for women until now reportedly due to operational concerns and logistical issues.
  • NITI Aayog has launched SATH‘Sustainable Action for Transforming Human capital’ with the State Governments for furthering the agenda of cooperative federalism.
    • NITI Aayog under the SATH initiative plans to identify and build three future ‘role model’ states for health systems.
    • After identification of three states, NITI Aayog will work in close collaboration with the state machinery of these three states.
    • Note : SATH program will be implemented by NITI Aayog along with McKinsey & Company and IPE Global consortium.

New Appointments

  • The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has approved the appointment of Vikram Limaye as the new Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (MD & CEO) of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) today subject to his resignation from India’s cricketing body.
    • The conditional approval has come four months after the exchange selected Limaye for the job following Chitra Ramkrishna’s sudden exit.
  • Preet Kaur Gill has become the first Sikh to be elected to the British Parliament’s House of Commons.
  • Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi has become the first turban-wearing Sikh to be elected to the House of Commons.
    • Note : In a first, the House of Commons will have a record 12 Indian-origin MPs, which will be two more than the present record of 10 (five each from Labour and Conservative).

Banking, Business & Economic Affairs

  • India’s forex reserves surged by $2.404 billion to reach life-time high of $381.167 billion in the week to June 2 on account of rise in foreign currency assets, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced today.
    • In the previous week, the reserves had declined by $547 million to $378.763 billion.
    • Foreign currency assets (FCAs), a major component of overall reserves, increased by $2.748 billion to $357.290 billion in the reporting week, RBI said.
  • The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT)today declared that Aadhaar will be a “must” for filing of Income Tax Returns or for obtaining a new PAN from July 1.

Current Sports Affairs

  • The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has officially included mixed gender relay racing and 3-on-3 men’s and women’s basketball as Olympic events for the Tokyo Games to be held in 2020.
    • The committee has added a total of 15 events, including mixed gender relays in swimming, track and triathlon, mixed team events in archery and judo, and mixed doubles in table tennis.
09 Jun
IPCI Info

9 June

International News Affairs

  • The 17th SCO Summit is being held in Astana, Kazakhstan during 8th to 9th June 2017.
    • Highlights :
    • Prime Minister Narendra Modi held bilateral meetings with the leaders of Kazakhstan, China and Uzbekistan, on the sidelines of this Summit.
    • India and Pakistan joined SCO, potentially making way for joint military exercises in the future.
    • India’s membership was strongly pushed by Russia while Pakistan’s entry into the group was backed by China.
    • As an SCO member, India is expected to have a bigger say in pressing for concerted action in dealing with terrorism.
    • Note : India and Pakistan signed the memorandum of obligations on 24 June 2016 at Tashkent, thereby starting the formal process of joining the SCO as full members
    • About SCO :
      • SCO – Shanghai Cooperation Organisation
      • Formed on – 26th April 1996
      • Headquarters – Beijing, China
      • Member Countries –  8 (India,  Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan)
      • Secretary General – Rashid Olimov
      • Deputy Secretaries General :
        • Sabyr Imandosov
        • Wang Kaiwen
        • Aziz Nosirov
        • Vladimir Potapenko
      • The upper house of the Japanese parliament today passed a legislation paving the way for 83-year-old Emperor Akihito to abdicate.
        • The law sets the stage for the first abdication of a reigning monarch in two centuries.
      • The UK elections today ended in a hung parliament, as PM Theresa May lost her parliamentary majority after calling an election to strengthen it.
        • Although May’s Conservative Party lost the majority, it emerged as the largest and was followed by the Labour Party.
        • The Conservative government will remain in office until it is decided who will form the new government.
      • India and the UN Office for South-South Cooperation have launched a partnership fund to promote sustainable development projects across the developing world.
        • Note : The India-UN Development Partnership Fund was launched on occasion of the World Oceans Day at a special ceremony held at the Permanent Mission of India to the UN.

National News Affairs

  • Following the misuse of biometrics by a developer working for Aadhaar’s parent body UIDAI, new security features have been added to make the enrolment process secure.
    • The previous system of taking biometrics allowed operators to store data.
    • The new system will eliminate this vulnerability by attaching the biometric reader’s serial number with the fingerprint to generate an encrypted Personal ID.
  • The President of India, Pranab Mukherjee has launched a mobile Application ‘Selfie with Daughter’ at Rashtrapati Bhavan today.
    • This App is aimed at raising awareness among people about female foeticide and sex selection.
    • Aim of this Campaign : To motivate society to feel proud to be parents of a girl child which in turn is expected to have a positive impact in improving the child sex ratio.
    • Note : This campaign was started in village Bibipur, Jind, Haryana by a former Sarpanch Sunil Jaglan in June 2015.

Banking, Business & Economic Affairs

  • The State Bank of India (SBI) has reduced rates for home loans above ₹75 lakh by 10 bps.
    • The revised interest rates will be 8.55% per annum for salaried women and 8.60% per annum for others.
    • The revised interest rates on home loans by the SBI will come into effect from June 15 this year.
  • Wipro has become the first Indian IT firm to declare US President Donald Trump a potential threat to business, by officially mentioning it in its filings.

MOUs & Agreements

  • India has signed the OECD multilateral convention that aims to check cross-border tax evasion by multinational companies.
    • This will modify India’s treaties to curb revenue loss through treaty abuse and profit shifting strategies by ensuring that profits are taxed where substantive economic activities generating the profits are carried out.
    • Note : More than 65 countries signed the convention.
    • OECD – Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
08 Jun
IPCI Info

8 June

International News Affairs

  • Today (8th June) is World Oceans Day.
    • This is a global day of ocean celebration and collaboration for a better future.
    • This day was officially recognized by the United Nations in late 2008.
    • The 2017 World Oceans Day will coincide with the The United Nations Ocean Conference.
    • Theme of World Oceans Day 2017 :  “Our Oceans, Our Future
  • Today is World Brain Tumor Day.
    • This day was initiated by German Brain Tumor Association in the year 2000.
    • Aim of this Day : To spread awareness about this lethal disease.
  • Voting in UK’s general election began today with Conservative Party’s Theresa May and Labour Party’s Jeremy Corbyn contesting to become Britain’s next PM.
    • The vote will determine who gets to negotiate Britain’s departure from the EU over the next two years.
  • The BRICS grouping has established a1 million dollar fund for boosting media cooperation.
    • BRICS – Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa

National News Affairs

  • The government is planning to introduce “Digital Unique Identification”, such as Aadhaar, PAN, or passport number for air travel, Union Minister Jayant Sinha announced today.
    • Air travellers are already required to carry a copy of their identity while entering an airport.
  • The Centre has drafted a proposal to allow mercy killing of wild animals in order to control their population and also to save crops.
    • Mercy killing involves killing animals for reasons of space, lack of proper centres, resources and personnel, according to the draft of the policy.
    • The plan also recommends identifying the relevant procedures for mercy killing.
  • Health Secretary C K Mishra has inaugurated the ‘Vatsalya – Maatri Amrit Kosh’, a National Human Milk Bank and Lactation Counselling Centre at the Lady Hardinge Medical College (LHMC) in New Delhi.
    • This centre would be the largest public sector human milk bank and lactation counselling centre available in North India
  • The government has directed all colleges and universities to stop accepting students’ fees in cash and resort to digital modes from the next academic session.
    • Campus canteens were “encouraged” to use the government’s BHIM payments app for all transactions.
  • The Union Ministry of Law and Justice has cleared the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Karnataka Amendment) Bill 2017, and thus legalising Kambala. The bill will now be sent to the President for getting his assent.
    • Kambala : This is the traditional slush track buffalo race that is held annually in coastal districts of Karnataka to entertain rural people of the area.

New Appointments

  • US Air Force’s Lt Col Raja Chari has been selected by NASA from over 18,300 applicants for its 2017 Astronaut Class.
    • The 39-year-old, whose father hails from India, is the 3rd Indian-origin NASA astronautafter Sunita Williams and late Kalpana Chawla.
  • Flipkart-owned fashion e-tailer Myntra has appointed former Amazon and Snapdeal executive Jeyandran Venugopal as its Chief Technology Officer (CTO).
    • Note : Venugopal would be Myntra’s third CTO in less than a year.
    • He will replace Ajit Narayanan, who held the responsibility since September last year.

Banking, Business & Economic Affairs

  • Retail giant Walmart has topped Fortune’s annual list of America’s top 500 companies for the fifth consecutive year with a revenue of $485.8 billion.
    • Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway emerged at the second position on the list followed by tech giant Apple.
  • Oil marketing companies will extend the new pricing mechanism for fuel across India from June 16.
    • Under the new system, companies won’t wait for 15 days to adjust prices, and instead change them everyday based on crude price movements.
    • This will move India to an international fuel pricing standard and prevent losses due to crude movements over a 15-day period.
  • India ranked 15thin the global 4G availability list, according to OpenSignal’s State of LTE report, up nine places from its November 2016 rank of 24.

Awards & Honours

  • A minor planet in the Milky Way galaxy would be named after 16-year-old Sahithi Pingalifrom Bengaluru.
    • The class 12 student represented India and finished second at ISEF, world’s largest international pre-college science competition, following which MIT decided to name a planet after her.
    • She had developed a mobile application which obtains data by crowdsourcing to measure pollution in lakes.
  • Union Minister of Health and Family WelfareJ P Nadda has been conferred the WHO Director-General’s Special Recognition Award for global tobacco control.
  • The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi has surpassed the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bangalore, to become the top-ranked Indian institute according to Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings.
    • Note : With rankings of 172 (IIT-Delhi), 179 (IIT-Bombay) and 190 (IISc), three universities have found a place in the top 200 for the first time.

Current Sports Affairs

  • Indian professional tennis player Rohan Bopanna has become the 4th Indian to win a Grand Slam, winning the French Open mixed doubles along with Canadian partner Gabriela Dabrowski today.
  • Forbes’ world’s highest-paid athletes list of 2017
    • Footballer Cristiano Ronaldo topped the list followed by American basketball player LeBron James and Argentine footballer Lionel Messi.
    • Virat Kohli (89th Spot) is the only Indian and lone cricketer in Forbes’ world’s highest-paid athletes list of 2017.
    • Tennis player Serena Williams is the only woman in Forbes’ 2017 list of world’s 100 highest paid athletes.
    • Top 10 in the List :
      • Cristiano Ronaldo
      • LeBron James
      • Lionel Messi
      • Roger Federer
      • Kevin Durant
      • Andrew Luck
      • Rory McIlroy
      • Stephen Curry
      • James Harden
      • Lewis Hamilton
07 Jun
IPCI Info

7 June

International News Affairs

  • The United States today warned that it might withdraw from the United Nations Human Rights Councilunless reforms are ushered in including the removal of what it sees as an “anti-Israel bias”.
    • Important Note : The US earlier boycotted the body for three years on its stance on Israel under President George W Bush before rejoining under Barack Obama in 2009.
  • US Defence Department Pentagon has said that China is likely to establish additional military bases in Pakistan and other countries with which it has friendly relationships.

 

  • This reflects China’s growing influence and expansion of its armed forces, the Pentagon added.
  • Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Ravi Karunanayake on a visit to India.
    • He called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and thanked him for India’s quick assistance in the aftermath of the recent floods and landslides.
    • He also called on External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj  and discussed a number of key issues besides exploring ways to further ramp up bilateral ties.
    • Note : This is his first visit overseas as Minister of Foreign Affairs

MOUs & Agreements

  • India has signed an agreement with Sri Lanka to provide USD 318 million as line of credit for developing Sri Lanka’s railway sector.
    • The agreement was signed between Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Finance and Mass media, and Managing Director of India’s Export Import Bank in Colombo.

National News Affairs

  • Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi today announced that the last date for nomination of candidates for Presidential elections is June 28 and the polls (if needed) will be held on July 17.
    • The vote counting for the elections will take place on 20th July 2017.
    • Note : The term of incumbent President Pranab Mukherjee will end on July 24.
  • As a part of the government’s anti-plastic drive and Green-Kerala Mission, the Kerala State government has come out with a Green Protocol to make the weddings in the state more nature-friendly.
    • As per this protocol, plastic and other non-biodegradable articles including disposable glasses and plates and thermocol decorations will not be permitted to be used in wedding ceremonies.
    • Instead of these non-biodegradable articles, the marriage parties would be persuaded to use tumblers, plates and other utensils made of glass and environment-friendly metals.

New Appointments

  • Hoshiar Singh, a 1994 batch officer of the Indian Telecom Service has been appointed as Registrar of Copyrights.

Awards & Honours

  • Calvin Klein’s creative director Raf Simons won both the Menswear Designer of The Year and Womenswear Designer of The Year at the CFDA Fashion Awards.
    • CFDA – Council of Fashion Designers of America

Science & Technology

  • The world’s first hybrid ‘Aeroboat’ which has been built by an Indo-Russian joint venture has been unveiled at a start-ups event organized by Russia’s state-run Skolkovo Foundation.

Banking, Business & Economic Affairs

  • The Reserve Bank of India (RBI)kept the Repo Rate unchanged at 6.25% during its bimonthly monetary policy review today.
    • This is the fourth time in a row that the repo rate has been kept unchanged.
    • The reverse repo rate also remains unchanged at 6%.
  • India’s largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) launched the country’s largest institutional share sale programme today, to raise up to ₹15,000 crore.
    • With this, SBI looks to strengthen its capital base to increase loan growth and protect the balance sheet from bad loans.
    • SBI also broke its own record of 2014 when it raised ₹8,032 crore through qualified institutional placement (QIP).
06 Jun
IPCI Info

6 June

International News Affairs

  • Yemen and Libya have followed the decision by Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the UAE to cut diplomatic ties with Qatar, accusing it of supporting terrorism.

National Current Affairs

  • Habibganj Railway Station (Bhopal) is going to become India’s first railway station to be redeveloped in a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) mode.
    • The idea is to develop Habibganj railway station as a world-class transit hub equipped with all amenities.
  • The government has changed an over 50-year-old rule by setting a deadline of six months to complete probes in corruption cases involving government employees.
    • It has amended the Central Civil Services (Classification, Control and Appeal) Rules, 1965, in order to speed up investigation in such cases.
    • Earlier, there was no such time frame to complete such enquiries.
  • India saw its hottest winter in recorded history in 2016-17, with temperatures reaching 2.95ºC above the 1901-1930 baseline , according to the Centre for Science and Environment.
  • The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has announced that it is working on a forecasting system that will give a  15 day warnings on the likelihood of Malaria or Chikungunya outbreak across different regions of the country.
  • The Energy Efficiency Services Ltd (ESSL)has initiated a French agency funded project to retrofit 10 lakh conventional street lights with LED lights in Gram Panchayats of 7 districts in Andhra Pradesh.
    • This is the first project for rural LED street lighting in the country under the Centre’s Street Lighting National Project (SLNP).

Science & Technology

  • The National Board of Wildlife has approved Rutland Island in South Andaman to be the site for India’s long-range missile test facility.
  • Technology major Apple today announced that Safari will be the “world’s fastest desktop browser” with its latest High Sierra OS for Mac
    • The company claims that its web browser will be 80% faster than its Google competitor, Chrome.

New Appointments

  • Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba (70) elected new Prime Minister of Nepal.
    • He will take charge of Prime Minister fourth time.
    • He will be 40th Prime Minister of Nepal.

Banking, Business & Economic Affairs

  • Vijaya Bank has today announced that it is going to develop as many as 100 digital villages in various States across the country as part of its initiative to promote digital banking among the rural population.
    • Important Note :As of now, Vijaya Bank is the only public sector financial institution to develop digital villages with focus on rural population.
  • Adani Group will proceed with its $16.5 billion Carmichael coal project in Australia’s Queensland after its board approved a final investment decision.
  • South Africa‘s economy, one of Africa’s biggest, falls into recession.
    • A 0.7 percent decline in GDP in the first quarter of this year followed a 0.3 percent contraction in the last quarter of 2016, meeting the definition of a recession as two or more quarters of negative growth, the South African government announced today.

MOUs & Agreements

  • Nepal has signed a major deal with a Chinese company China Gezhouba Group Corporation (CGGC) to develop a1,200 MW hydroelectric project, the biggest hydro project in the landlocked country that could resolve its perennial power crisis.

Current Sports Affairs

  • Sachin Tendulkar joined stars from various fields including David Beckham, Hugh Jackman, Lewis Hamilton and Novak Djokovic among others for UNICEF’s ‘Super Dads’ campaign.
    • Note : The aim of this campaign isto highlight the significance of fathers in children’s early development.
05 Jun
IPCI Info

5 June

International News Affairs

  • Today (5th June 2017) is World Environment Day.
    • This day is observed to raise global awareness to take positive environmental action to protect nature and the planet Earth.
    • This day was established by the United Nations General Assembly in the year 1972 on the day that United Nations Conference on the Human Environment began.
    • This year’s host country : Canada
    • Theme of World Environment Day 2017 : “Connecting people to nature”
  • The UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Egypt today broke off all diplomatic ties and land and sea contact with fellow Gulf Arab state Qatar, citing “terrorism” and “flagrant violation” of international law.
    • This comes after Qatar’s state news reported that a Qatari emir criticised Donald Trump and praised Saudi Arabia’s regional rival Iran, although Qatar claimed this was fake news.
  • For the first time, Pakistan’s Sindh government has recruited 46 women in the police’s counter-terror department for combat operations and intelligence gathering.
    • Note : Less than 2% of Pakistani police officers are women.

Awards & Honours

  • The Ministry of Rural Development has selected Vizianagaram (Andhra Pradesh) as one among the 17 districts for MGNREGA annual award.
    • The award will be given to Vizianagaram for its effective implementation of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act during the time period 2015-16.

Banking, Business & Economic Affairs

  • 2017 Global Retail Development Index
    • The 2017 Global Retail Development Index (GRDI) titled ‘The Age of Focus‘ has placed India at the top position among 30 developing countries on ease of doing business in the retail sector.
    • China stood at the second place and Malaysia has been ranked third.
    • Top 10 in the List
      • India (71.7)
      • China (70.4)
      • Malaysia (60.9)
      • Turkey (59.8)
      • United Arab Emirates (59.4)
      • Vietnam    (56.1)
      • Morocco (56.1)
      • Indonesia (55.9)
      • Peru (54.0)
      • Colombia (53.6)
    • Note: This is the 16th edition of the Global Retail Development Index (GRDI).
  • Khadi yarn, Gandhi topi, and India’s national flag will not attract any tax under the new GST regime, which is to be implemented from July 1.
    • Further, chandan tika, unbranded honey, and wick for diya have also been exempted under the new indirect tax regime.
  • The World Bank has projected 2 per cent growth for India this year against 6.8 per cent last year.
  • State-run NTPC today announced that the company has forayed into electric vehicle charging business and has set up first such charging stations at its offices in Delhi and Noida.

Science & Technology

  • The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO)today successfully launched India’s heaviest rocket ‘Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) Mark III‘ carrying the 3,136 kg communication satellite GSAT-19.
    • The 43.43-metre rocket that weighs 640 tonnes is capable of lifting payloads of up to 4,000 kg into the Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit.
    • It was developed in 15 years at a cost of ₹300 crore.

Current Sports Affairs

  • India defeated Pakistan by 124 runs (D/L method) in their opening encounter of the Champions Trophy 2017, achieving the biggest margin of victory by runs against the arch-rivals in an ICC tournament.
04 Jun
IPCI Info

4 June

International News Affairs

  • Today (4th June) is International Day of Innocent Children Victims of Aggression.
    • This day affirms the UN’s commitment to protect the rights of children.
  • Prime Minister Narendra Modi kick-started the final leg of his six-day, four-nationEuropean trip with a visit to France.
    • He held bilateral talks with  newly – elected French President Emmanuel Macron.
    • The two world leaders discussed a wide range of issues including counter-terrorism, trade as well as the Paris climate agreement of 2015.
    • India and France decide to cooperate in fight against terrorism and climate change.
    • Modi invited Macron to visit India.
    • Macron to visit India towards the end of this year for a meeting of the International Solar Alliance.
  • Nepal Parliament is going to elect a new Prime Minister today.
    • Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba likely to be elected.

National News Affairs

  • Army Chief General Bipin Rawat today announced that women will soon be inducted in combat roles in the Army, the process for which has started.
    • Currently, women are only allowed in medical, legal, educational, signals and engineering wings of the Army.
    • Note : Most countries do not allow women in combat roles, with USA, UK and Germany being among the few who do.

Banking, Business & Economic Affairs

  • Tax rates on various commodities under GST
    • The GST Council today cleared the pending rules, including transition provisions and returns, with all the states agreeing to roll out GST from July 1.
    • The Council has fitted over 1,200 goods and 500 services in four tax brackets.
    • The Council announced that Gold, silver, and processed diamonds will be taxed at 3% under GST.
    • The tax slab for footwear below ₹500 has been fixed at 5%, while more expensive footwear will be taxed at 18%.
    • Readymade garments will be taxed at 12%, while apparel costing below ₹1,000 will attract a tax of 5%.
    • The Council has fixed the tax rate for biscuits at 18%.
    • Yarn and fabric cotton will be under the 5% tax slab.
    • Beedis will be put in the highest tax bracket at 28% without cess.

Science & Technology

  • Elon Musk-led aerospace startup SpaceX successfully launched a used Dragon spacecraft for the first time in the company’s eleventh cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station (ISS).
    • The mission marked the 100th launch from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, which was also used for the first moon landing missions.
    • Dragon is carrying instruments for first-ever neutron stars’ study by NASA.
  • India test-fired its indigenously developed Quick Reaction Surface-to-Air Missile (QR-SAM)for the first time from Chandipur, Odisha today.
    • The QR-SAM, developed jointly by DRDO and Bharat Electronics Ltd. for the Indian Army, is an all-weather, truck-mounted missile system with a range of 30 kilometres.
    • It is intended to replace the Army and Navy’s ageing quick reaction air defence systems.
  • The first ever developmental flight of the launch vehicle GSLV Mark III D-1 (GSLV Mk III D-1) will be held tomorrow by the Indian Space Research Organisation, ISRO, and the 25-and-a-half hour countdown for the epoch making launch will begin at 3.58 pm today at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikotta.
    • The most powerful ever rocket developed by the ISRO, will lift off the communication satellite GSAT-19 to a Geo-synchronous Transfer Orbit GTO in space, after its ignition at 5.28 hours on Monday.

Current Sports Affairs

  • Indian shuttler Sai Praneeth won the Men’s singles title at the Thailand Open, defeating Indonesia’s Jonatan Christie  in the final today.
    • This is the first Grand Prix Gold win and second title in a row for Praneeth, who had won the Singapore Open earlier this year.
  • Real Madrid became the first team to win back-to-back UEFA Champions League titles, defeating Juventus 4-1 at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff today.