Current Affairs June 17, 2017

National News

1. Aadhaar must for bank accounts, transactions over Rs 50,000.

• The government has notified amendments to the Prevention of Money Laundering Rules making both Aadhaar and PAN mandatory starting June 1.
• Government has made it mandatory to provide Aadhaar to open a bank account and to conduct a transaction of Rs. 50,000 or more.
• Existing bank account holders will have to submit the Aadhaar by December 31, 2017, failing which the account will be declared invalid.
• Small accounts can now be opened at bank branches that have core banking solutions.

2. PM Modi flags off Kerala’s first metro in Kochi.

• Prime Minister Narendra Modiflagged off Kerala’s first metro line in Kochi.
• The rooftops of all stations have been set up with solar panels in order to generate power.
• The minimum fare to ride in the Kochi Metro is capped at Rs 10, maximum fare at Rs 40.
• KMRL has appointed as many as 23 transgenders for customer service operations and as ground staff.
• Chief Minister of Kerala – PinarayiVijayan

3.India to host AIIB’s 3rd annual meeting.

• Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank’s third annual meeting will be held in India.
• The third annual meeting of the AIIB’s board of governors will be held in Mumbai, India, in June 2018.
• The first annual meeting was held in Beijing and second meeting in South Korea.
• AIIB is a multilateral development bank that aims to support the building of infrastructure in the Asia-Pacific region.
• The bank was proposed by China in 2013 and is headquartered in Beijing, China.
• President of AIIB – JinLiqun

International News

1. First Gay and Female Prime Minister.

• Ana Brnabić is set to become both the first gay and first female prime minister of Serbia.
• She is currently serving as the minister of public administration and local government.
• The nomination is noteworthy as Serbia is known for its widespread homophobia. Homosexuality was officially considered an illness in Serbia prior to 2008.
• Capital of Serbia – Belgrade

2. India Ranks 75th in Environmental Impact Survey.

• One of the poorest in the world, Mozambique has topped a survey of nations with the lowest global environmental impact.
• India was placed was placed 75th, with renewable energy making up only 15.2 per cent of all energy used.
• Trinidad and Tobago finished at the bottom of the list.
• Rankings were based on different measurements that make up the average individual human impact in each country, including energy consumption, air pollution, waste production and CO2 emissions per capita

Business News

1. Amazon to acquire Whole Foods.

• Amazon has announced that it’s buying Whole Foods for just under $14 billion.
• Amazon has agreed to pay $42 a share in cash for the organic-food chain, including debt.
• The takeover is the biggest in Amazon’s history and is expected to be completed in the second half of the year.
• The grocery chain includes more than 460 stores in the United States, Canada and Britain with sales of $16 billion in the last fiscal year.
• CEO of Amazon – Jeff Bezos

2. Indian firms in top 100 companies in Asia300 ranking.

• As many as 20 Indian firms have been named in the latest list of top 100 companies in the Nikkei Asian Review’s Asia 300.
• While three Indian companies have made it to the top 10 list.
• No Indian company had made the cut in the previous financial year.
• Indian IT service provider HCL Technologies came in at the second place, followed by Zee Entertainment Enterprises and Tata Consultancy Services at the third and fourth place respectively.
• Taiwan’s Largan Precision topped the list.

Sports News

1. India bag five medals at Asian Junior Wrestling Championships.

• India has won five medals,including a gold in the 2017 Asian Junior Wrestling Championships.
• India’s female wrestlers won three medals while male wrestlers clinched two medals.
• Puja clinched the gold medal in women’s 51kg freestyle category.
• The 2017 Asian Junior Wrestling Championships is hosted by Taiwan.