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Sunday, June 25, 2017

Current Affairs: 21 to 24 June, 2017

Important Days:

International Yoga Day: 21 June 2017

§  Yoga in India is considered to be an around 5,000-year-old mental, physical and spiritual practice. 
§  The practice has turned into a rage across the world and on 11th December 2014, the United Nations General Assembly decided to observe one common day in the year as International Yoga day or World Yoga Day. 
§  United Nations General Assembly declared 21st of June as International Yoga Day.

World Music Day: 21 June 2017
§  World Music Day 2017 (not to be confused with International Music Day) is being celebrated today, June 21, marking the beginning of summer solstice, i.e., the longest day of the year. 
§  Initiated by France in 1982, World Music day has been adopted by over 120 nations across the world, including India. 
§  Musicians from all genres and all ages, amateurs and experienced performers, gather together to perform at various public places.

United Nations Public Service Day: 23 June
§  The United Nations Public Service Day is celebrated on June 23 of every year. 
§  The prestigious UN Public Service Awards are given away on this day. 
§  The UN Public Service Day was designated by the United Nations General Assembly's resolution to “celebrate the value and virtue of public service to the community”. 
§  The United Nations Economic and Social Council established that the United Nations Public Service Awards be bestowed on Public Service Day for contributions made to the cause of enhancing the role, prestige, and visibility of public service.


National Events

India's First Indigenously Built Floating Dock Goes On Stream

§  The country's first indigenously built floating dock FDN-2 for the Indian Navy, was formally launched at the L&T Shipbuilding Yard at Kattupalli near Chennai.
§  The floating dock, awarded to Larsen and Toubro by the Ministry of Defence in May 2015, was to design and build at an order value of Rs. 468 crore.
§  The floating dock will be delivered to Indian Navy, Port Blair in the coming months after undergoing a series of "harbour trials,"
§  The floating dock was launched by Anjali Deshpande, the wife of Vice Admiral D M Deshpande, Controller of Warship Production and Acquisition at a function.
§  The Floating Dock is an indigenously built designed and built platform with state-of-the-art machinery and control systems capable of docking ships of upto 8,000 tonne displacement.
§  The dock covers facilitate "repair" and "refit" activities even in inclement weather conditions.
§  The company had invested in building state-of-the-art facilities at Kattupalli and look keen to continue service to the Indian Navy, Larsen and Toubro

Meghalaya Govt signs two MoUs with SBI for digital transaction
§  Meghalaya government today signed two MoUs with the State Bank of India as a part of an initiative towards migrating government transactions to digital mode. 
§  With implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST), these MoUs are expected to give dealers and other citizens the desired platform for conducting financial transactions with the state government on a digital platform
§  The state government has already established a new treasury called as Cyber Treasury, which dedicatedly handles all online transactions of government receipts across the state centrally for a few selected departments
§  The state government will now escalate its transactions for collection of tax and non-tax revenue through the online system - Government Receipt Accounting System (GRAS) covering all departments in a phased manner
§  SBI CMP will help the state government to make its payments online and will reduce paper work and manual reconciliation of government transactions

Punjab Announced Free Education For Girls From Nursery To PhD
§  The Captain Amarinder Singh-led government in Punjab has announced free education for girls in government schools and colleges from Nursery to PhD. 
§  free textbooks will be provided to all students in government schools from the next academic session.
§  Nursery and LKG classes will be reintroduced in government schools from next year. Fulfilling another election promise Singh also announced free Wi-FI for 13,000 primary schools and all 48 government colleges.

Government of India and the ADB Sign $275 Million Loan for Upgrading Urban Services in 64 Small Towns in Madhya Pradesh
§  The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Government of India signed a $275 million loan on 19th June, 2017 for improving urban services in 64 small towns in the State of Madhya Pradesh.
§  Madhya Pradesh needs substantial investments to keep pace with rapid urbanization. Availability of continuous piped water supply is vital for improving the urban infrastructure, and it will facilitate improved access to safe drinking water for residents in the project area
§  ADB's continued support to the State's urban development, through this project, will improve further the quality, coverage, efficiency, and sustainability of urban service delivery, stabilize and deepen institutional capacity, and improve long term water service management.

Indore installs India's 1st 14-foot robot to control traffic
§  In what is being considered as a first for India, Indore has installed a 14-foot-tall robot to control traffic.
§   It's equipped with a public address system and can take photos of traffic violators to generate e-challans when connected to police control room. 
§  Developed by Shri Venkteshwar Institute of Technology, the robot reportedly took two years and Rs.20 lakh to complete.

Bengaluru firm 1st in India to deliver diesel at home
§  The 'dieselwallah' is here. 
§  Bengaluru has become the country's first city where one can have fuel delivered at one's doorstep, just like milk and newspapers, only weeks after oil ministry announced that the Centre was thinking of rolling out such a system.
§  On June 15, Mypetrolpump, a one-year-old startup, conducted a soft launch with three delivery vehicles -each with a capacity of 950 litres. 
§  It has already delivered more than 5,000 litres of diesel. Diesel is delivered at the day's running price with a fixed delivery charge.
§  For up to 100 litres, the one-time delivery charge is `99. 
§  Above 100 litres, one needs to pay the diesel price plus one additional rupee per litre. The startup has got 20odd customers, including 16 schools (which have 250-300 buses) and a few apartments.One can place orders online, through a phone call or by downloading the free app.

First unit of 100 MW Sainj hydropower project commissioned
§  The first 50 MW unit of 100 MW Sainj Hydro Power project of Himachal Pradesh Power Corporation Limited (HPPCL) commissioned and synchronised with northern grid through Parvati-Kol Dam transmission line.
§  The impounding of water in the reservoir was started on February 2 this year and mechanical testing was done successfully on April 25.
§  The second unit of 50 MW would also be commissioned soon and the project would produce 322 million units of electricity every year accruing an income of Rs 100 crore to the state government.
§  Sainj Hydro Power Project has been constructed on Sainj River, a tributary of Beas river and its barrage has been constructed near village Niharini while the underground power house was located on the right bank of Sainj at Siund village.

Axis Bank and Kochi Metro Join Hands to Launch India’s First Single-Wallet Contactless, Open Loop Metro Card
§  Axis Bank, India’s third largest private sector bank in association with Kochi Metro Rail Corporation (KMRL) has launched KMRL Axis Bank ‘Kochi1’ Card, India’s first open loop EMV contactless metro card that would make travel a convenient and hassle free experience for commuters in Kochi. Axis Bank has partnered with National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) in developing this transit EMV contactless specification on interoperable open standards.
§  The prepaid card has integrated benefits and offers a plethora of services to commuters such as:
§  Shopping experience at merchant outlets: No hassle of carrying multiple cards. 
§  Instant issuance of Personalized Cards: The commuter will receive a completely personalized (with name) KMRL Axis Bank ‘Kochi1’ Card across the counter in a matter of minutes.
§  Convenience of recharge: The commuter can easily top up the card through cash or debit or credit card.

Mumbai continues to be most expensive city for expatriates in India
§  Mumbai is the most expensive city for expatriates in India and is ranked higher than major global cities such as Paris, Canberra, Seattle and Vienna, says a report.
§  According to Mercer's 23rd annual Cost of Living Survey, Mumbai is placed 57th on the list while New Delhi was placed at 99. Chennai (135), Bangalore (166) and Kolkata (184) were the other Indian cities on the list.
§  Luanda, the capital of Angola, was the costliest city, driven by cost of goods and security, followed by Hong Kong and Tokyo at the second and third places, respectively.

Nirmala Sitharaman Launches Startup India Virtual Hub
§  India is the world’s third largest startup ecosystem in the world, and to further cement that position, Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman launched the Startup India Virtual Hub.
§  The Hub is an online platform for entrepreneurs to discover, connect and engage with each other. 
§  The government is claiming that the platform will attempt to solve the problem of information asymmetry and lack of access to knowledge, tools and experts, especially in the nascent ecosystems across Tier-II and Tier-III towns
§  Startup India Virtual Hub is an effort to create a marketplace where all the stakeholders can interact, exchange knowledge, and enable each other to grow. 
§  It will streamline the lifecycle of existing and potential startups, helping them access the right resources at the right time

Uttarakhand, Haryana become Open Defecation Free states
§  Uttarakhand and Haryana have become the fourth and fifth Open Defecation Free (ODF) states of India under the Swachh Bharat Mission
§  The two states joined the league of Sikkim, Himachal Pradesh and Kerala, which were the first three states to be declared ODF. 
§  Uttarakhand's 13 districts, 95 blocks, 7,256 gram panchayats and 1,5751 villages, while Haryana has 21 districts, 124 blocks, and 6,083 gram panchayats, all of which have declared themselves as ODF in formal declarations in Dehradun and Chandigarh, respectively. 

EPFO signs MoU with HUDCO under new Housing Scheme of EPF & MP Act-1952
§  Retirement fund body EPFO signed a pact with the Housing and Urban Development Corp (HUDCO) to enable members of its housing scheme to avail subsidy and interest subvention under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana.
§  Under the housing scheme, the Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) allows its subscribers from societies for withdrawing up to 90 per cent of their EPFaccumulations to buy homes.
§  The agreement is regarding coverage of EPFO subscribers under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana by providing them various benefits like cheaper loans for buying homes.

India’s biggest municipal bonds programme launched in Maharashtra
§  To finance its 24x7 water supply project, the Pune Municipal Corporation on Thursday launched India’s biggest municipal bonds programme.
§  The project looks to raise Rs 2,264 crore in five years.
§  Pune’s bond programme is the first since the publication of the Issue and Listing of Debt Securities by Municipalities Regulations, 2015, by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).
§  In its first part, the corporation raised Rs200 crore through the Bombay Stock Exchange’s bond trading platform at a coupon rate (a fixed security amount) of 7.59% for 10 years. The issue received a good response with bonds being over-subscribed by six times.
§  Municipal bonds are debt instruments through which a corporation or municipality raises money from individuals or institutions. 
§  The civic body floating the bonds returns the principal amount on a maturity date with a specific amount of interest. 
§  There are usually two kinds of bonds – general bonds, where money is raised without mentioning the cause in particular, and revenue bonds, where funds are raised for income-generating projects and revenue from the projects is used to repay the buyers.

Rajdhani, Shatabdi trains set for revamping under 'Operation Swarn'

§  Rajdhani and Shatabdi Express were started to move people who could afford to pay more for a somewhat luxurious travel. 
§  But after years of service, the trains have lost their sheen. The service has deteriorated, the cleanliness is missing, quality of food has suffered. 
§  After years of complaints by the travelling public, the premium trains are now set for a makeover. The Railway Ministry is to launch "Operation Swarn" to improve services in Rajdhani and Shatabdi Expres train
§  In the first phase, the Mumbai-Delhi Rajdhani Express and Mumbai-Ahmedabad Shatabdi Express have been selected for upgradation. Work will start from September 26. More trains will be identified in a phased manner. 

Centre Launches Index To Rank 116 Cities On Quality Of Life
§  The Centre today launched a liveability index which will rank the country's 116 major cities on the basis of the quality of life they offer. Launching the first 'City Liveability Index', Urban Development Minister Venkaiah Naidu said, it will cover cities with the population above one million, including the capital cities.
§  The first-of-its-kind index will enable the cities know where they stand in terms of the quality of life and the interventions required to improve it.
§  The cities will be assessed on a comprehensive set of 79 paratmeters, including availability of roads, education, healthcare, mobility, employment opportunities, emergency response, grievance redressal, pollution, availability of open and green spaces, cultural and entertainment opportunities. 
§  Meanwhile, Mr Naidu disbursed Rs. 500 crore as an incentive to 16 states that performed well in implementing urban reforms during 2016-17.
§  Andhra Pradesh topped the list with the highest score in implementing urban schemes, followed by Odisha, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh.
Passport fee reduced for applicants under age of 8 years and over 60
§  External Affairs minister Sushma Swaraj announced that the passport application fee for applicants under the age of eight and over the age of 60 had been reduced by 10 per cent.
§  Swaraj also informed that from now onwards, all new passports issued will be in Hindi and in English both. 
§  It was also decided in December, that all applicants can submit any one of the following documents - Matriculation Certificate, PAN card, Aadhaar Card or E-Aadhaar - that have the date of birth of the applicant. 
§  Applicants now can also provide a copy of the extract of their service record, driving licence, Election Photo Identity Card or LIC policy bond.

Uttarakhand HC bans state govt from buying cars, cellphones
§  Taking a stern view of the state government’s failure to provide basic minimum amenities to children in the state-run schools, the Uttarakhand High Court today put a ban on purchase of cars, mobile phones and other luxury items by the government.
§  In furtherance of the previous court orders, justices Rajiv Sharma and Alok Singh said that the state government has miserably failed to provide bare minimum facilities to students in the government-run schools.
§  Keeping this in view the division bench restrained the state government from buying items such as luxury cars, furniture, air conditioners etc. till further orders.
§  The high court observed that the government that cannot provide basic amenities to children has no moral right to spend money on luxuries.
§  The mandatory directions were given by the High Court on a plea by Deepak Rana.

Trivandrum tops Govt's new list of 30 Smart Cities; 20 cities to contest for remaining 10 slots
§  Kerala's capital Trivandrum has topped the government's latest list of 30 Smart Cities selected under its Smart City mission.
§  Following Trivandrum, Naya Raipur in Chattisgarh came in at the second spot while Rajkot in Gujarat came at the third city to be taken up for development by the government under the Smart City mission. 
§  Other cities like Amaravati, Gandhinagar, Bengaluru, Pimpri Chinchwad, Dehradun, Jammu, Jhansi, etc., have been selected in the new 30 Smart Cities list. 
§  With the addition of 30 new cities, the total cities taken up for Smart Cities Mission total to 90. 

Maharashtra government to launch ‘My Plant’ mobile app on tree plantation
§  Maharashtra forest minister Sudhir Mungantiwar announced that a mobile app named ‘My Plant’, which would help in recording data about tree plantations in the state, would be launched on July 1.
§  Using this app, people and organisations can feed the data about the saplings they have planted with the forest department, which would help it in creating a database of trees.
§  The forest department has set a target of planting four crore saplings through public participation between July 1 and 7.

Government launches VAJRA scheme to attract Indian scientists abroad
§  In a bid to bring together the Indian scientists abroad and India-based researchers for conducting joint researches in India, the Department of Science and Technology (DST)  launched a scheme named 'Visiting Advanced Joint Research Faculty' (VAJRA).
§  The endowments for faculties would be US $15,000 in the first month of residency and US $10,000, for the remaining months, said Harsh Vardhan, adding that the central government had been stressing upon converting brain-drain into brain-gain.

Commemorative Stamp Released On 50th Anniversary Of Passport Act 1967
§  The Ministry of External Affairs celebrated the completion of 50 years of the Passport Act 1967 as the 5th Passport Seva Divas and held a conference of regional passport officers in New Delhi 
§  The Passport Act came into effect on June 24, 1967
§  Senior officials of the Ministry of External Affairs and other government departments, besides 38 passport officers and officials of service provider TCS, attended the function where awards of excellence were presented to the best performing passport officers and police officers for best passport and verification services.

Shri Piyush Goyal launches POSOCO-IMD Weather Portal for Power Sector & Web Portal ‘MERIT’
§  Shri Piyush Goyal Union Minister of State (IC) for Power, Coal , New & Renewable Energy and Mines launched Weather Portal for Power Sector in association with POSOCO and IMD at the meeting of the Forum of Regulators 
§  The information available in the Portal regarding weather forecast shall help State Discoms to take pro-active steps regarding short term and medium term management processes and supply planning requirements and also for better planning for infrastructure availability to ensure cost effective and reliable supply.
§  Another portal ‘MERIT’ (Merit Order Despatch of Electricity for Rejuvenation of Income and Transparency). This has been developed by Ministry of Power in association with POSOCO and Central Electricity Authority. 
§  The MERIT Web portal displays extensive array of information regarding the merit order of Electricity procured by State(s) such as daily state-wise marginal variable costs of all generators, daily source-wise power purchases of respective states/UTs with source-wise fixed and variable costs, energy volumes and purchase prices. 
§  The web-portal also give information regarding reasons for deviation from merit order such as must run conditions, transmission constraints etc.

Incubation centre for biotech start-ups to be set up at CCMB, Hyderabad
§  An incubation centre for biotechnology start-ups is to be set up at the CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology in Hyderabad.
§  To be supported by the NITI Aayog, it will create facilities and bring in stakeholders to ensure the success of innovative ideas.
§  The CCMB is one of the 10 organisations identified to host the ‘Atal Incubation Centre', according to Rakesh Mishra, its Director. Under this, the government will release funds of Rs. 10 crore in the coming five years.
§  The Centre has set up the Atal Incubation Centre in the NITI Aayog to promote a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship.
§  The incubation centre would engage with all the stakeholders of a biotechnology translational journey, including intellectual property agencies, regulators, seed funders, business developers, successful businessmen and research institutions.

International Events

Saudi Arabia's Mohammed bin Salman appointed Crown Prince

§  Saudi Arabia's King Salman on Wednesday appointed his 31-year-old son Mohammed bin Salman as crown prince, placing him firmly as first-in-line to the throne and removing the country's counterterrorism czar and a figure well-known to Washington from the royal line of succession.
§  According to a royal decree, Mohammed bin Salman, 31, was also named deputy prime minister, and maintains his post as minister of defence.
§  The newly announced Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman heads an economic council tasked with overhauling the country's economy. 
§  He had previously been the second-in-line to the throne as deputy crown prince, though royal watchers had long suspected his rise to power under his father's reign might also accelerate his ascension to the throne.

India and Portugal Sign A Historical agreement to promote Cooperation in The Field of Archives
§  A Protocol of Cooperation was signed between the National Archives of India and the Minister of Culture of the Portuguese Republic in the field of archives
§  As a first step under this agreement, the Torre do Tombo (National Archives of Portugal) handed over to the National Archives of India digital copies of 62 volumes of the collection known as ‘Moncoes do Reino’ (Monsoon correspondence).
§  These volumes were originally part of over 456 volumes that cover the period from 1568 to 1914 and form the largest of all record collections in the Goa State Archives. 
§  The collection consists of direct correspondence from Lisbon to Goa and is important primary source for the study of the Portuguese expansion in Asia, their trade rivalries with the Arabs and European powers and their relations with neighbourings Kings in South Asia and East Asia. 

Reliance Defence inks pact with Serbia's Yugoimport
§  Anil Ambani Group company Reliance Defence Ammunition has entered a strategic partnership with Serbia's state-run defence major Yugoimport
§  to manufacture ammunition in India and target business opportunities of Rs 20,000 crore over the next 10 years.
§  Two companies will work together in the field of ammunition amongst others, with projected minimum requirement of Rs 20,000 crore over next 10 years from Indian armed forces
§  There is also an option for exporting ammunition, adding the proposal envisages transfer of technology by the original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and indigenous manufacturing in India.
§  Yugoimport, a state-owned enterprise, is a market leader in the field of ammunition production and has offered a fully compliant technical solution to meet the Make in India requirements of the Indian government, as per RDL. 
§  RDL has proposed to set up a greenfield facility for the production of ammunition.

UN says world population will reach 9.8 billion in 2050
§  India's population is expected to surpass China's in about seven years and Nigeria is projected to overtake the United States and become the third most populous country in the world shortly before 2050, according to a U.N. report 
§  The report by the Department of Economic and Social Affairs' Population Division forecasts that the current world population of nearly 7.6 billion will increase to 8.6 billion by 2030, 9.8 billion in 2050 and 11.2 billion in 2100. 
§  The UN agency forecasts that from now through 2050 half the world's population growth will be concentrated in just 10 countries _ India, Nigeria, Congo, Pakistan, Ethiopia, Tanzania, United States, Uganda and Indonesia. 

Pakistan tightens business, work visas for Chinese nationals
§  Pakistan has announced new rules to tighten visa issuance - especially business and work visas - for Chinese nationals
§  The tightening comes in the form of extra layers of security, through requirements like endorsed letters from chambers of commerce, as well as through clearances required even from Chinese authorities, in some cases.
§  Chinese nationals seeking business visas for Pakistan would have to show an invitation from a body recognized by Pakistani missions in China
§  That invitation has to then be certified and endorsed by a recognised chambers of commerce and industry. 
§  Further, Chinese nationals will need a letter from commercial attaches and other designated officers of Pakistan who are posted abroad for the promotion of business activities
§  In addition, Pakistani embassies and missions in China would be authorised to issue only one-year multiple-entry work visas for Chinese nationals coming to Pakistan to work on projects. 
§  Even those will be issued only after the Pakistani mission receives security clearance from Chinese authorities.

China unveils train that runs on virtual tracks
§  China has unveiled a track-less train that runs on virtual rails in a bid to speed up public transportation in major cities. 
§  The new trains were announced on June 2 in Zhuzhou, China's Hunan province and are said to be non-polluting
§  The transit system uses rubber wheels on a plastic core and has new technology copyrighted by the Chinese rail corporation. 
§  It means that the trains can be automatically guided without rails. 
§  It is set to be launched in the city of Zhuzhou in a bid to help traffic numbers in the area. 
§  According to reports, the new train is set to cost around the fifth of the price of a traditional subway system which usually costs around 400 million yuan to 700 yuan (£45.6 - £79 million). 
§  The track-less train is also said to have a life-span of around 25 years. 

Uganda and UN to convene 'solidarity summit' amid fast-growing refugee emergency
§  Facing a fast-growing refugee crisis, Uganda is set to host in its capital, Kampala, a 'Solidarity Summit' with the support of the United Nations, to rally international support for refugees and host communities in the form of donations, investments and innovative programmes.
§  The two-day Summit, which opens Thursday, 22 June, comes as the UN estimates that in just one year, largely due to an influx of people fleeing violence and instability in South Sudan, the refugee population in Uganda has more than doubled – from 500,000 to more than 1.25 million – making the country host to the world's fastest growing refugee emergency.
§  Hosted by President Yoweri Museveni and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, the event, which is expecting 30 Heads of State and international donors, looks to raise $2 billion to meet the humanitarian needs of refugees and to support the hosting communities over the next four years.

BIO International Convention 2017
§  San Diego Convention Center will host the 2017 BIO International Convention featuring the latest trends, technology, companies, and breakthrough ideas in biotech and pharma.
§  The BIO International Convention is scheduled to have 16,000+ attendees from 5,000+ companies which include leading biotech and pharma companies and more than 300 academic institutions including the major research labs and government agencies of the world.

US approves sale of 22 Guardian drones to India
§  The US has cleared the sale of 22 unmanned Guardian drones to India a deal being termed as a “game changer” ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Washington for his maiden meeting with President Donald Trump.
§  The deal, estimated to be worth $2to 3 billion, has been approved by the State Department,
§  The designation of India being a “major defence partner” was decided by the previous Obama Administration, and formally approved by the Congress.
§  The Indian Navy had made the request for this intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) platform last year.

Qatar in landmark first Indian football league deal
§  Qatar has made its first leap into the growing Indian football market by announcing, on Thursday, a "technical partnership" between Doha's Aspire Academy and Delhi Dynamos FC.
§  The deal will allow for Aspire to share its expertise in areas such as scouting, training and sports science with the Indian Super League (ISL) club.
§  In return, youth players from the Dynamos will join the "Aspire Residential Programme", which gives young footballers the chance to train and learn at the Doha academy.
§  The tie-up brings together two of the most ambitious "young" footballing nations, pairing the 2022 World Cup hosts with a country which has potentially one of the sport's largest audiences in the world.

Saudi imposes family tax
§  Saudi government’s plan to introduce an ‘expat levy’ from July 2017, with charges of up to SR800 per worker to be phased in by 2020, is going to cost them heavily, which many of them may be unable to bear. 
§  In 2017 itself, each dependent of expats will incur a monthly fee of Saudi Riyal (SR) 100 (about Rs 1700) from July onwards, which will increase every year until 2020. 
§  The levy on expat workers will also be gradually revised upwards from next year, providing an additional impetus for employers to hire more Saudis.
§  Dependents of expats will each incur a monthly fee of SR100, from July onwards

World Bank sanctions 44 million dollars for ASPIRe
§  World Bank's Board of Executive Directors has approved a loan assistance of 44 million dollars for the Assam State Public Finance Institutional Reforms (ASPIRe) Project. 
§  Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal expressed his gratitude towards Prime Minister Narendra Modi for supporting the ambitious project and facilitating the approval. 
§  The project aims at improving predictability and transparency in budget execution and efficiency in tax administration in Assam.
§  All government departments and functionaries - specially finance, taxation and excise departments - will benefit immensely from this project while the citizens of Assam will see transformative benefits accruing to them through efficient processes, better service delivery such as electronic payments and collections for services. 
§  ASPIRe project is based on three important components that act as pillars for institutional reforms - strengthening public finance institutional capacity, strengthening expenditure and revenue information systems and on-project management, monitoring and evaluation, and coordination. 

Banking & Finance

CBDT notifies secondary adjustment transfer pricing rules

§  The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has notified the rules for operationalising the provisions of secondary adjustment in the arena of transfer pricing.
§  The Finance Act, 2017 , had introduced the concept of secondary adjustment. 
§  In simple words, if there is an upward transfer pricing adjustment made to the income of an Indian company that has earned such revenue through transactions with its parent or group companies (known as related parties), then the quantum of such addition needs to be brought back to India within a stipulated time. 
§  Else, it will be treated as a loan given by the Indian company, which will attract a notional interest charge and a tax on such interest income.
§  Now, CBDT has notified Rule 10CB, which prescribes the time limit for repatriation of the excess money from the overseas group company and the rate of interest which would apply for failure to repatriate within the prescribed time.

Hike, Yes Bank tie up for UPI payments
§  Hike — the Indian WhatsApp rival — will offer payment facilities to its 10 crore users through the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) by partnering with Yes Bank.
§  According to Hike CEO Kavin Bharti Mittal, the partnership will make Hike Messenger the largest UPI-based platform in India. 
§  It will empower over 10 crore of our users to transact seamlessly on the revolutionary UPI platform, which was launched by National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) to accelerate the adoption of digital payments in the country
§  This development will revolutionise the way P2P and P2M payments are done within the chat platform, including mobile top-ups, among others
§  Yes Bank has been one of the early movers on the UPI platform, partnering Flipkart's PhonePe to enable UPI payments through the latter's app.
§   As a result, the private lender is currently responsible for close to 35% all UPI transactions in the country, and over 80% of merchant transactions done on the UPI ecosystem.

IDBI Federal Life partners with SunTec for GST rollout
§  IDBI Federal Life Insurance today said it has partnered with SunTec, which will help facilitate in computing and invoicing of debit tax and credit tax that will be GST compliant.
§  Under the agreement, for the debit tax mandate SunTec will help in analysing data from various sources for computation and invoicing purposes
§  MetLife announced the appointment of Sanjeev Kapur as senior vice-president and chief marketing officer (CMO) of Asia.
§  Kapur will report to Esther Lee, MetLife executive vice-president and global chief marketing officer, and Chris Townsend, president of Asia, the company said in a release here.
§  He will also join the Asia leadership team of the private insurer.

Govt wants banks to deposit banned Rs 500, Rs 1000 notes at RBI by July 20

§  The government has permitted banks and post offices to deposit junked Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes with the Reserve Bank by July 20.
§  This is the second window the government has provided to banks, post offices and cooperative banks for depositing the junked notes with RBI.
§  RBI will accept deposits collected by any bank or post office by December 30, 2016 or by any District Central Cooperative Bank from November 10-14, 2016 should be deposited within 30 day
§  India is the second-largest producer and consumer of currency notes. Circulation of banknotes has increased to 90.27 billion pieces from 64.58 billion over the last five years.

State Bank of India gets mandate to take three steel companies to bankruptcy court
§  State Bank of India the country’s biggest bank, has been authorised to refer Essar Steel Bhushan Steel and Electrosteel to the bankruptcy court raising the possibility that some of these companies could be merged in an effort to return them to health. 
§  The three companies between them owe banks nearly Rs 1 lakh crore. By early next week, SBI will file applications at the National Company Law Tribunal for these three companies under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code. 
§  The lenders, and the management and promoters of these companies will have 270 days to resolve the problem after the NCLT admits the applications. 
§  The reorganisation could involve a restructuring of the debt or a consolidation with two companies merging. 

Amazon ties-up with ClearTax to make e-sellers GST ready
§  E-commerce giant Amazon has tied up with ClearTax to help sellers on their platform make a seamless transition to the GST regime and help them file their tax returns with ease, the company said in a statement.
§  ClearTax Biz and Cleartax Biz+, two softwares launched by ClearTax, will be available to the sellers free of cost for the first two months after sign-up. 
§  Subsequently, the software will be provided at a 30 per cent discount for sellers registered with Amazon India
§  The product aims to be a one-stop GST solution for sellers on Amazon’s marketplace through seamless integration with the Amazon platform as well as offline channels. 
§  Sellers can create GST-compliant sales and purchase invoices from day one of the GST regime, reconcile and file their GSTR forms, and have access to dashboards that enable better cash flow management and maintenance of GST-compliance ratings.

Ola ties up with Jio Money to give customers more cashless options for payment
§  Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Jio has made an entry into the app-based taxi service space. 
§  Travel aggregator Ola has tied up with India’s leading wallet Jio Money to provide customers with more cashless options for payment. 
§  The current payment options available are pay in cash, by using credit/debit cards and Ola Money. 
§  This means that now when you have sufficient funds in your Jio Money wallet, you can opt to use it to pay for your Ola rides.
§  With Jio Money, Ola riders will get special offers and hassle free travel, giving it precedence over other payment options available. 

SBI, Tirumala Milk Products tie up for providing loans to dairy farmers
§  State Bank of India has entered into a tie-up with Tirumala Milk Products, a South- based company which was acquired by Groupe Lactalis in 2014, to provide loans to dairy farmers who supply milk to the latter.
§  France-based Groupe Lactalis, which also acquired Indore-based Anik Dairy in 2016, wants to double the number of dairy farmers under its fold to three lakh and ramp up the amount of milk it procures daily to 25 lakh litres by 2020 from 14 lakh litres now.
§  Under its scheme for financing dairy units, SBI offers loans for, among others, construction of shed, and purchase of milch animals, milking machine, and chaff cutter.
§  Under another scheme, the bank provides loans to dairy societies for modernisation and creation of infrastructure such as purchase of automatic milk collection system, purchase of transport vehicles and bulk chilling unit.

For the first time, RBI makes banks accountable for Misselling

Banks for the first time have been made accountable for misselling third-party products like insurance policies or mutual fund schemes. Customers can also file complaints against banks for problems with mobile and digital banking services.
The RBI on Friday said that it has widened the scope of its Banking Ombudsman Scheme 2006 to include deficiencies arising out of sale of third-party investment products by lenders.
Under the amended scheme, a customer would also be able to lodge a complaint against banks for non-adherence to the RBI instructions with regard to mobile or electronic banking services.
Following the amendment, the pecuniary jurisdiction of the ombudsman to pass an award has been doubled from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 20 lakh.
The ombudsman has been empowered to award compensation not exceeding Rs 1 lakh for loss of time, expenses incurred and also harassment and mental anguish suffered by the complainant.
Until now, if the buyer of an insurance policy or mutual fund was missold s/he had to seek redressal from the insurance company or the mutual fund.
However, before filing a complaint with the ombudsman the customer has to approach the grievance redressal department of the bank and wait 30 days for a response.


Appointments

Ayurveda specialist appointed special secretary in Ayush ministry

§  Ayurvedaphysician 'Vaidya' Rajesh Kotecha has been appointed as special secretary in Ayush ministry.
§  Usually a senior bureaucrat is appointed to such a post.
§  The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved Kotecha's appointment for three years on a contract basis
§  Vaidya (meaning physician) Kotecha is chief consultant of Chakrapani Ayurveda Clinic, Jaipur.
§  The appointment is in line with the Centre's efforts to bring in specialists from the private sector in the government.

UNICEF appoints 19-year-old Syrian refugee as goodwill ambassador
§  The UN children’s agency has announced the appointment of its youngest goodwill ambassador, 19-year-old Syrian refugee and education activist Muzoon Almellehan. UNICEF Deputy Executive Director Justin Forsyth said Monday that Muzoon is the first goodwill envoy with official refugee status.
§  Muzoon fled the conflict in Syria along with her family in 2013, living as refugee for three years in Jordan before being resettled in the United Kingdom. 
§  It was during her 18 months in the Za’atari camp that she began advocating for children’s access to education, particularly for girls.

Rajiv Gauba to be next Union home secretary

§  The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved a major reshuffle of top bureaucrats, with the Urban Development Secretary, Rajiv Gauba, being named as the next home secretary.

 

Other Changes

§  Durga Shanker Mishra will be the next urban development secretary.
§  Mehrishi is likely to be appointed the next chief election commissioner 
§  NK Sinha will be the I&B secretary.
§  Ajay Mittal will take over as the secretary, Department of Personnel & Training.
§  Aruna Sundararajan, secretary will take over as secretary, Department of Telecommunications in the existing vacancy.
§  Yudhvir Singh Malik will take over as secretary, Ministry of Road Transport & Highways. 
§  Deepak Kumar will take over as Chairman, National Highways Authority of India.
§  Avinash K Srivastava has been appointed as the secretary, Department of Consumer Affairs,
§  Jagdish Prasad Meena has been moved to Ministry of Food Processing Industries.
§  Subash C Garg has been appointed as secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, 
§  Rajeev Kapoor will be the secretary of Ministry of New & Renewable Energy.
§  Sanjeevanee Kutty will be Secretary, Department of Ex-Servicemen Welfare.
§  Arun Kumar Panda will take over as secretary, Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises.
§  Ravi Kan will take over as secretary, Ministry of Shipping.
§  Anand Kumar will take over as secretary, Ministry of New & Renewable Energ
§  Ajay Prakash Sawhney will take over as secretary, Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology.
§  Ajay Kumar Bhalla director general, Foreign Trade, will be the next power secretary.

Manappuram Home Finance announces appointments of MD, CEO
§  Manappuram Finance announced the appointment of Jeevandas Narayan as the Managing Director and Subhash Samant as CEO of its fully-owned home loans subsidiary, Manappuram Home Finance.
§  Prior to this Narayan, who has more than 37 years of experience in the financial services industry, was Managing Director of State Bank of Travancore
§  Kenneth Juster to be new US ambassador to India
§  Kenneth I Juster, a top aide of US President Donald Trump, is set to be America’s new ambassador to India
§  Juster, 62, who is the deputy assistant to the US president for International Economic Affairs and deputy director of his National Economic Council, would replace Richard Verma if nominated and confirmed by the Senate.
§  The move has been welcomed by widely respected Ashley Telis, the top India expert in the US.

UN chief appoints Lebanese official as head of operations in Libya
§  A Lebanese political science professor and political advisor to the United Nations in Iraq has been appointed as the Organization's top official in Libya.
§  UN Secretary-General António Guterres announced the appointment of Ghassan Salamé as his Special Representative and Head of the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), which is working to facilitate a Libyan-led political solution to the challenges facing the country.
§  Mr. Salamé will succeed Martin Kobler of Germany, whom the UN spokesperson said that Mr. Guterres is grateful for his dedication and service, as well as for his effective leadership of UNSMIL.

Russian diplomat appointed to lead new UN counter-terror unit
§  The United Nations has appointed veteran Russian diplomat Vladimir Voronkov to head a newly-established counter-terrorism division, despite growing tensions between the US and Russia. 
§  It will oversee the counter-terrorism efforts of 36 UN-funded programmes currently housed under a variety of UN agencies, 12 inter-agency working groups, as well as Interpol, and the World Customs Organisation.
§  The existing Counter-Terrorism Implementation Task Force is under the political affairs division. There are also two related offices under the Security Council, which will remain in place.

Subhash C Garg appointed as new DEA Secretary
§  Subhash C Garg, a 1983 batch Rajasthan cadre IAS officer, has been appointed as Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, Finance Ministry. 
§  This was part of the major secretary level reshuffle and appointments announced by the Centre
§  The committee also gave its nod for the appointment of Rajiv Gauba, a Jharkhand cadre IAS officer, as the next Home Secretary. 
§  He will take over from Rajiv Mehrishi on August 30. Until then Gauba will serve as Officer on Special Duty in the Home Ministry.
§  Meanwhile, Ajay Prakash Sawhney, an Andhra Pradesh cadre IAS officer, will be the new Electronics & IT Secretary. 
§  He was earlier Additional Secretary in the Petroleum Ministry. Yudhvir Singh Malik, a 1983 Haryana batch IAS officer, will be the new Road Transport and Highways Secretary. He was earlier NHAI’s Chairman.

Imran Khawaja appointed as ICC deputy chairman
§  The International Cricket Council (ICC) has appointed Chairman of Associates Imran Khawaja as its deputy chairman.
§  Khawaja, a veteran administrator from Singapore, was unanimously elected for the post created following the constitutional change approved at the ICC Full Council.
§  Khawaja will deputise in ICC meetings in case the chairman Shashank Manohar is absent.
§  Khawaja was part of the five-man ICC working group, led by Manohar, that had drafted the new constitution last year.
§  Khawaja will be one of the frontrunners for the role of ICC chairman with Manohar's term coming to an end next June.

Dr Taraprasad Das appointed as President of Vision 2020 India
§  Dr Taraprasad Das, Vice Chair, L V Prasad Eye Institute, and Regional Chair, International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness, South East Asia (IAPB, SEA), has been elected as the President of Vision 2020 India. 
§  The mission of Vision 2020 – The Right to Sight – India is to reduce the cases of avoidable visual impairment by the year 2020.
§   It is part of a global initiative of the World Health Organisation (WHO) and International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB). 
§  Every quarter, the board of Vision 2020 India discusses the progress of the strategic plan and issues related to eye health.
§  Some of the other members elected on the board of Vision 2020 India are Dr Santosh Moses, Regional Manager - South Asia, Operation Eyesight Universal (India) as Vice President; Govind Hari, Chairman, Administration, Pushpagiri Vitreo Retina Institute as Secretary; and Dr Rahul Ali, Country Director, India, Orbis International as Treasurer.

Indian professor named Harvard B-school Dean

§  An India-born professor and IIT alumnus who has long championed a pledge for organisational leaders and managers on the lines of the Hippocratic Oath for doctors to enhance accountability in the corporate world has been named Dean of the prestigious Harvard Business School.
§  Nitin Nohria, who is currently the Richard P. Chapman Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School (HBS), will become the School's 10th dean
§  Nohria is the first Indian, and indeed the first non-white, to become the dean of the 102-year old institution that typically ranks among the top three business-schools in the world.
§  Nohria, who will take up his new role on July 1, succeeds Jay Light, who in December announced his plans to retire at the end of the 2009-10 academic year after five years as dean.

Reserve Bank of India expands oversight committee
§  RBI has expanded the oversight committee by appointing three more members to the high-level panel that will vet the process to resolve mounting bad loans bogging down the banking sector. 
§  Former chief vigilance commissioner Pradeep Kumar will head the now 5-member panel that will work through multiple benches
§  Besides Kumar, the other members of the committee are former SBI Chairman Janki Ballabh, former Canara Bank Chairman and Managing Director M B N Rao, former Chairman and Managing of L&T Finance Y M Deosthalee and S Raman, member Sebi. 
§  Raman would be inducted into the panel from September 7, 2017 after he completes the term at Sebi.

Science & Technology

ISRO to launch earth-observation Cartosat-2E and 30 Nanosatellites
§  The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is all set to launch an earth-observation satellite, named Cartosat-2E on June 23. 
§  A from the Cartosat-2E, 30 other nano satellites, both national and international , will be transported by the PSLV as well. 
§  This comes after earlier this month, India successfully launched its heavy rocket GSLV Mk-III which boosted ISRO’s reach to a new height.
§  This is the 40th flight of the rocket which will carry the Cartosat-2E, a pivotal sattelite when it comes to earth-observation and the rest 30 nano satellites. 
§  While almost 29 of the satellites onboard are from foreign countries, the only one nano satellites sent by India is the one which was created by the students of Noorul Islam University of Tamil Nadu.
§  The rest of the countries who shall use the Indian PSLV for transporting their own nano satellites are, Austria, Belgium, Chile, the Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia, the UK and the US.
§  Cartosat-2E will facilitate monitoring of the earth and using its panchromatic and multispectral cameras it shall provide regular remote sensing services. 
§  Apart from that, it shall also be useful as its name suggests, in cartographic applications, meaning in creation of land use maps, coastal land use and regulation, change detection to bring out geographical and man-made features and various other land information system applications. 
§  It shall also be useful in utility management for example in road network monitoring and water distribution.
§  Cartosat-2E weighs 712 kilogram and along with the other 30 satellites, it will be launched from the launchpad one of Satish Dhawan Space Centre, popularly known as Sriharikota launch range at 9.29 am(IST). 
§  The satellites will be placed in a 505 kilometer polar sun synchronous orbit, the report suggested.


MOM completes 1000 Earth days
§  India's Mars orbiter, launched in 2013, was expected to last six months or 180 days after reaching its destination. 
§  But having completed four years and 1,000 Earth days in orbit, the spacecraft shows no signs of fatigue, continuing to relay back a mass of images and data, each contributing to better understanding of the red planet. 
§  After its launch on November 5, 2013 by the PSLV-C25 rocket, the spacecraft travelled to the red planet for nine months and entered the Martian orbit on September 24, 2014 in its very first attempt. 
§  1,000 Earth days correspond to 973.24 Mars Sols (Martian Solar day) and the MOM completed 388 orbits. 
§  The long life of the spacecraft indicates two things: first, there was no fuel leakage and second, the orbiter withstood all the rigours of the difficult journey.

Rare extreme helium star bigger and hotter than our Sun discovered for first time in 40 years
§  A rare example of an extreme helium star has just been identified by astronomers. It is known as GALEX J184559.8−413827 - or J1845−4138 for short.
§  Extreme helium stars are very rare and mysterious, made up mostly of helium rather than hydrogen, which is the most common element in the Universe.
§  This oddity has long puzzled scientists, but they have also been fascinated by the fact that these stars are supergiants much larger and hotter than the Sun.
§  Besides helium, these stars also have significant amounts of carbon, nitrogen and hydrogen. The first one ever identified was spotted in 1942 by an astronomer called Daniel Popper.
§  Over the 30 years that followed, a small number of extreme helium stars were discovered with the help of spectroscopic surveys but astronomers continued arguing about how these stars formed. Identifying them beyond doubt also proved tricky on many occasions.

Nasa launches world's lightest satellite designed by 18-year-old TN student
§  India once again broke a global space record by launching the world's lightest satellite weighing a mere 64 grams, called Kalamsat, designed and developed not by professional space scientists and engineers, but by 18-year-old Tamil Nadu student Rifath Sharook and his team.
§  The tiny satellite, named after Abdul Kalam, was flown by a Nasa sounding rocket and the lift-off was from the space agency's Wallop Island facility around 3pm (IST). 
§  Kalam had his training in the sounding rocket programme at Wallops Island in the '60s. Kalamsat was the only Indian payload in the mission.

NASA tests flexible solar array on space station
§  NASA is testing for the first time the effectiveness of a flexible solar array on space station that could one day power satellites and spacecraft.
§  The Roll-Out Solar Array, or ROSA, an advanced, flexible solar array that rolls out like a tape measure “can be easily adapted to different sizes, including very large arrays, to provide power for a variety of future spacecraft,
§  It also has the potential to make solar arrays more compact and lighter weight for satellite radio and television, weather forecasting, GPS and other services used on the Earth.
§  In addition, the technology conceivably could be adapted to provide solar power in remote locations.
§  NASA tested the ROSA technology in vacuum chambers on the Earth several years ago, but this is its first test in space.
§  Over the weekend of June 17-18, 2017, engineers on the ground remotely operated the International Space Station’s robotic Canadarm2 to extract the Roll Out Solar Array (ROSA) experiment from the SpaceX Dragon resupply ship.
§  The new solar array design rolls up to form a compact cylinder for launch with significantly less mass and volume, potentially offering substantial cost savings as well as an increase in power for satellites

Awards & Honors’


Ramamani lyengar Memorial to be awarded for contribution in Yoga

§  The Ramamani lyengar Memorial Yoga Institute has been selected as the first recipient of the Prime Minister’s Award, for outstanding contribution for promotion and development of Yoga.
§  The selection was done among 85 nominations out of which 15 were recommended by the screening committee.
§  On June 21, 2016, Prime Minister Narendra had announced the institution for the award for its promotion and development of Yoga.
§  The Ministry of AYUSH developed the guidelines for the awards after which two committees were constituted namely, the Screening Committee for preliminary evaluation and Evaluation Committee (Jury), to ensure a transparent process while finalising the awards.

Deepika Padukone nominated for Teen Choice Awards
§  Hindi cinema actor Deepika Padukone has been nominated in Teen Choice Awards for her breakthrough role in xXx: Return of Xander Cage and the actor will compete with Wonder Woman Gal Gadot for the trophy.
§  Deepika, 31, has been nominated in the Choice Action Movie Actress category for essaying the role of xXx agent Serena Unger, who helps Xander Cage in saving the world in the DJ Caruso directed film.

Annabel Mehta, renowned social activist will get MBE
§  Annabel Mehta has been a known social activist for a long time. 
§  She is also the mother of Anjali Tendulkar, cricket great Sachin Tendulkar’s wife. Annabel who is a British national and is married to an Indian has been confirmed to get an MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) later this year. 
§  She will get the award in her capacity as a social worker for her tireless work with the underprivileged in Mumbai.



Francis Spufford wins 2017 Desmond Elliot prize
§  Francis Spufford has been awarded the 2017 Desmond Elliott Prize for his "miraculously constructed" debut fiction, Golden Hill .
§  Set in New York in 1746, when the Big Apple was just a small town on the island of Manhattan, Golden Hill follows the story of Mr Smith, a mysterious young man who steps off a boat from England with an order for a huge sum of money.
§  The book was chosen as the best debut novel of 2017 from a shortlist which also included acclaimed books such as, My Name is Leon by Kit de Waal, and Harmless Like You by Rowan Hisayo Buchanan.
§  The Desmond Elliott Prize is an annual award for the best debut novel written in English and published in the UK.
§  The winning novel can be from any genre of fiction and must exhibit depth and breadth with a compelling narrative.
§  The winner receives £10,000. The prize is named in honour of the distinguished late publisher and literary agent, Desmond Elliott.

Ferrari clinches 2017 International Engine of the Year award
§  Ferrari's 3.9-litre V8 from the 488 GTB has won the 2017 International Engine of the Year award for the second consecutive year. 
§  The twin-turbo V8 fended off close competition from Porsche's 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo powering the 911 Carrera. 
§  Apart from the overall prize, the 3.9-litre V8 won top honours in the 'Performance Engine' and the '3.0 to 4.0-litre' categories.
§  With its win, Ferrari's V8 joins four other powertrains such as BMW M's V10, BMW's 3.0-litre twin-turbo six, Volkswagen's 1.4-litre 'Twincharged' TSI and Ford's 1.0-litre EcoBoost that have won the award at least twice.

Indian Agri Microbiologist given environment award in Japan
§  Indian agricultural microbiologist Shrihari Chandraghatgi has been conferred the Ministry of Environment Award for 2017 in Japan for developing cutting edge technologies to address burning environmental problems.
§  Chandraghatgi, who is President and CEO of EcoCycle Corporation, is the first foreigner to be given the Ministry of Environment Award, the highest award in environmental sector in Japan
§  Chandraghatgi, hailing from Siddapura in Uttara Kannada district of Karnataka, has been residing in Tokyo for almost two decades. 
§  He has over a dozen patents against his name. These patented technologies have been applied over 400 sites in Japan, Taiwan, Thailand, India, China and the US

Indian Anti-Hunger Activist To Be Honoured by Queen Elizabeth II
§  Anti-hunger activist Ankit Kawatra, who has been committed to solving hunger and malnutrition in India, is all set to receive the prestigious Queen's Young Leaders Award with 60 others from all 53 Commonwealth countries.
§  Ankit Kawatra, 25, will be honoured by Queen Elizabeth II at a ceremony to be held in the Buckingham Palace on June 29.
§  In 2014, Mr Kawatra quit his corporate business job and founded a not for profit organisation Feeding India that works towards solving problems of hunger, malnutrition and food wastage, mainly by redistributing extra food from restaurants, canteens, households, corporates etc. to help people in need.
§  He started working for the cause after witnessing massive amount of extra food being thrown away in a wedding and feels that his mission is to end hunger in his lifetime.

International Dublin Literary Award goes to José Eduardo Agualusa
§  This year's International Dublin Literary Award has been awarded to the Angolan writer Jose Eduardo Agualusa for his 14th novel, A General Theory of Oblivion , translated into English by Daniel Hahn. The 100,000 prize is divided between author and translator, with Agualusa receiving 75,000 and Hahn 25,000.
§  A General Theory of Obliviontells the story of a traumatised woman Luanda, who retreats from the world and history and stays in an apartment while Angola endures a civil war and a sequence of horrors. 
§  Her isolation is shared with an albino dog Phantom, whose spirit continues to sustain her after he dies.
§  The Dublin Literary Award is the world's largest prize for a single novel published in English

Awards for Bengal in rural development
§  Bengal has received five state-level and two district-level excellence awards for implementation of flagship programmes of the ministry of rural development during 2016-17.
§  In the implementation of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, Bengal has received a gold memento and a certificate for outstanding performance in convergence and livelihood augmentation. 
§  Among districts, Nadia was awarded for the progress made in strengthening river dam as well as building greenhouse for cultivation of flowers and vegetables. Cooch Behar was also awarded for implementation of Geo-MGNREGA, which comprises the geo-tagging of assets.

Indian-origin doctor appointed honorary VP of UK medical body
§  A veteran Indian-origin doctor in the UK has been appointed as honorary vice-president of the country's prominent medical body, becoming the first professional from the community to be appointed to the post. 
§  Kailash Chand, a general practitioner (GP), has been associated with the British Medical Association (BMA), for nearly 25 years.
§  Chand has been regularly named as being among one of Britain's top 50 most influential GPs in the annual 'National Pulse Power' list. 

World’s top 10 airlines of 2017
§  The Skytrax World Airline Awards are generally considered to be the ‘Oscars of the aviation industry
§  The award winners have been ranked based on traveller-voting across the world as part of Skytrax’s annual passenger survey. 
§  Indigo and Jet Airways were on 57th and 73rd positions respectively.
§  Qatar Airways, the national airline of Gulf nation Qatar, has been rated the Best Airline of 2017 by aviation website Skytrax. 
§  The airline, which topped the list for the fourth time in 10 years, was followed by Singapore Airlines. 

Radio Mirchi bags Gold at 2017 NYF Radio Awards
§  New York Festivals International Radio Program Awards announced this year’s award-winning programmes at the annual Radio Awards gala last week at New York City’s Manhattan Penthouse. 
§  India won nine metals (one Gold, four Silver and four Bronze) and bagged 22 finalist certificates.
§  Radio Mirchi bagged a Gold Radio for ‘Five years of Nirbhaya,’under the Public Service Announcement Promotion category. The player also bagged a Bronze Radio for ‘Ha ja ba ra la’ under the Best Audio Book Fiction category. 
§  Reliance Broadcast Network Limited (RBNL) won two Silver Radio and seven finalist certificates. 

'Baahubali 2' to be screened at Moscow Int'l Film Festival
§  Yet another feather in the cap of 'Baahubali 2: The Conclusion.
§    The blockbuster movie will be screened at the 39th edition of the Moscow International Film Festival.
§  The special screening at the film festival is part of a series of events to celebrate the 70 years of bilateral relations between India and Russia.
§  The festival, which is to be held from June 22 to June 29, will also include screening of films like 'Badman', 'A Death In the Gunj', 'BeyYaar', 'U Turn' and 'Kothandi',

Sahitya awards for 2 Goan writers
§  Two Konkani literary personalities — Vincy Quadros and Amey Naik — from Goa have been chosen for awards by the the country's highest literary body - the Sahitya Akademi. 
§  While Quadros is being awarded Sahitya Akademi's Bal Sahitya Puraskar for his book 'Jaduche Petul' for children in Konkani, Amey Naik has been selected for Yuva Puraskar 2017 for his Konkani poetry collection 'Mog Dot Com'.

Sonam Kapoor's fashion label Rheson wins PETA award
§  Actress Sonam Kapoor and her producer-sister Rhea Kapoor's fashion label -- Rheson has bagged the Compassionate Business Award from the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India for a line of bags made exclusively of vegan materials. 
§  This is not the first time that Sonam, who was crowned PETA's Hottest Vegetarian Celebrity of 2016, has stood for animals. 

CM Naveen Patnaik confers Biju Patnaik Award on scientist Lalit Mohan Das
§  The prestigious Biju Patnaik Award for Scientific Excellence, 2014 was conferred on scientist Lalit Mohan Das for his outstanding contribution to science.
§  Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik gave away the award to Das at a function organised by Odisha Bigyan Academy (OBA) here. The award carries a cash prize of `2 lakh.
§  Similarly, the CM awarded scientists Pradeep Kumar Chand, Swati Mohanty and Ajay Parida with the Samanta Chandra Sekhar Award. The award carries a cash prize of `1 lakh.
§  Biswaranjan Paital, Sasmita Mohapatra, Milan Kumar Biswal and Swarup Kumar Parida were awarded in the young scientist category which carries a cash prize of `25,000. Besides, the CM felicitated Jibanananda Mohanty, Khageswar Pradhan and Dhruba Raj Nayak as senior scientists.

Intellecap CEO Nisha Dutt gets social entrepreneur of year award

§  Nisha Dutt, Chief Executive Officer of Hyderabad-based Intellecap has been honoured with the “Social Entrepreneur of the Year” award at The 7th Asian Awards in London.
§  She is the first Indian woman leader to have been conferred with this recognition. 
§  This award has been presented to her for leading Intellecap to become a globally known enterprise that focuses on social capital and impacts the under served communities.
§  The Asian Awards function held recently is an annual awards ceremony, was founded by businessman and philanthropist Paul Sagoo through his Lemon Group Company. The awards is presented in 14 categories. 
§  Earlier winners from India include Ratan Tata, Amitabh Bachchan, Shahrukh Khan and singers Asha Bhosle and Zayn Malik to name a few. In the Social Entrepreneur category, personalities such as Professor Muhammad Yunus, Masa Kogure and Vikram Patel have been honored over the years.
§  As CEO, Nisha guides the global positioning of Intellecap business. Her key contribution has been integrating technology with challenges of healthcare, financial services, incubation and conceptualising programs such as Innovations Labs and Credit-tree

Azim Premji honoured with Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy

§  Wipro Chairman Azim Premji is among the honorees of this years Carnegie Medal, considered the most prestigious prize in Philanthropy, for his efforts to reform Indias public school system.
§  Premji, 70, who founded the Azim Premji Foundation, is among the nine philanthropists named recipients of the 2017 Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy in "recognition of their outstanding and innovative leadership in philanthropy."
§  The foundation went on to establish the Azim Premji University in 2011, with a focus on school education and related fields of human development.
§  Forty-six per cent of the university's student body comes from villages and small towns, with a majority committing to work in the social sector after graduation.
UN honours Mamata Banerjee with highest public service award for girl child project Kanyashree
§  In a major boost to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's pet project 'Kanyashree', the United Nations today accorded its highest award for public service to the West Bengal government for the scheme initiated to empower the girl child with education.
§  The project was launched in 2011 soon after Mamata Banerjee came to power and has helped more than 40 lakh female students in the state.
§  'Kanyashree' was ranked the best among 552 such social sector schemes from across 62 countries that were nominated for the coveted award. The award was presented at the World Public Service Forum by UN Assistant Secretary General at a ceremony in Hague in Netherlands.
§  Kanyashree Prakalpa' is a targeted conditional cash transfer scheme aimed at retaining girls in schools and other educational and skill development institutions along with preventing child marriage.

Sports

Luke Ronchi announces international retirement

§  New Zealand wicketkeeper-batsman Luke Ronchi has announced his retirement from international cricket. 
§  The 36-year-old started his career at the highest stage with Australia in 2008, featuring in four ODIs and three T20Is, before moving backing to the country of his birth - New Zealand in 2012. 
§  In a year, he earned a spot in the national side there and ended up featuring in four Tests, 81 ODIs and 29 T20Is for them.
§  Ronchi's last outing in New Zealand colours came in the recently-concluded Champions Trophy.
Kuldeep 1st male Chinaman bowler to represent India in ODIs

Kuldeep Yadav became the first male Chinaman bowler to represent India in ODIs, making his debut in the first ODI against West Indies.
Yadav, who made his Test debut against Australia in March this year, is the 217th ODI cricketer to represent India. The 22-year-old was part of the Indian team at the 2014 ICC U-19 World Cup.

ICC announces two new Test nations
Ireland and Afghanistan were awarded Test match status taking the number of countries playing at the pinnacle of cricket from 10 to 12 in a decision described as "fantastic" and "remarkable".
Both countries were confirmed as full members after a unanimous vote at an International Cricket Council (ICC) meeting during its annual conference in London.
Now the Ireland and Afghanistan's men's teams will be eligible to play five-day Test cricket, widely regarded as the sport's supreme format.
Afghanistan and Ireland have joined an exclusive club that also includes founder members Australia and England, who played the first Test match at Melbourne in 1877, South Africa, New Zealand, the West Indies, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe.


Kavita Devi becomes first Indian woman wrestler to compete in WWE
Former competitive powerlifter Kavita Devi will become the first Indian woman to compete in the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) when she takes part in the company’s first ever tournament for women next month
The South Asian Games gold medal winner, who was a part of the WWE Dubai tryout earlier this year, will be among the 32 participants who will compete at the Mae Young Classic tournament.

The May Young Classic (July 13-14) will feature 32 of the top female competitors from around the world participating in a single-elimination tournament.

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