TNPSC Current Affairs English June 2017 Vetrii IAS Academy
TNPSC Current Affairs English June 2017 Vetrii IAS Academy
TNPSC Current Affairs English June 2017 Vetrii IAS Academy
TNPSC
Current Affairs
June-2017 (English)
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My Dear Aspirants,
Greetings to all of you! What we think we become said Gautama Buddha. We all have dreams. To turn
dreams into reality it takes a lot of determination, dedication, self discipline and hard work.
We at VETRII IAS Study Circle are committed to provide the right guidance, quality coaching and help
every aspirant to achieve his or her lifes cherished goal of becoming a civil servant.
The class room coaching at VETRII IAS Study Circle is meticulously planned to equip the aspirants with
all the relevant facts and fundamentals of the subjects. Further the VETRII IAS Study Circle Study
material aim to support the candidate by providing the most relevant study material in a
comprehensive manner.
M. SHUNMUGAM
DIRECTOR
Vetrii IAS Study Circle.
TNPSC CURRENT AFFAIRS IRCL JUNE 2017
CONTENT
SL. NO TITLE PAGE NO
2. National Affairs 4 13
3. State Affairs 14 - 20
4. International 21 -27
5. Schemes 28 - 32
6. Economy 33 - 36
9. Sports 48 - 52
10. Personalities 53 - 55
11. Defence 56 - 57
13. Summit 63 - 64
15. Appointment 68 - 71
9600124042/ 9840097666
TNPSC CURRENT AFFAIRS I JUNE 2017
IMPORTANT DAYS
01 JUNE - WORLD MILK DAY
World Milk Day is an initiative of the United Nations Food and Agriculture
Organisation, to celebrate the contribution of the dairy industry around the globe on 1st
June.
NOTE
Albinism is a genetic condition resulting in little or no pigmentation in the skin,
hair, and eyes.
World Music Day is first incorporated into France in 1982. It is a day of national
importance which was later adopted by many countries.
Theme - Musicians gather to perform at a public place.
In order to mark the birth anniversary of Prof. Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis, a renowned
and eminent statistician, this day was celebrated.
The very first observed in 29th June, 2007
IMPORTANT EVENTS:
SABARMATI ASHRAM:
It was from his base here that Gandhi led the Dandi march also known as the Salt
Satyagraha on 12 March 1930.
NATIONAL AFFAIRS
PM VISITS IN THREE COUNTRIES
Portugal visit:
In the first leg of his tour, he reached Portuguese capital, Lisbon.
Over there, India and Portugal have signed eleven MOUs for cooperation in areas
including double taxation avoidance, science and technology, trade and investment,
nanotechnology, space research, administrative reforms and culture.
India and the United States agreed to enhance cooperation in fighting the menace
of terrorism, extremism and radicalization.
India and Netherlands also signed three MOUs on water management, cultural
cooperation and on amending social security arrangement.
NOTE :
Netherlands is host to one of the largest population of people of Indian origin in
Europe. It is home to about 220,000 Indian and Suriname Hindustani Diaspora.
India has contributed $100,000 to a United Nations fund to help developing countries
actively participate in the discussion of tax issues,india has becoming the first country to
NOTE : The UN Tax Committee a subsidiary body of the UN Economic and Social Council
(ESOSOC) provided guidance on current issues such as double taxation treaties, transfer
pricing (profit shifting) taxation of the extractive industries and taxation of services.
India and Russia have identified key areas to cooperate in the Science and Technology
sector, including Space and Marine Technologies, IT and deep ocean engineering.
The meeting was attended by Defence Minister Arun Jaitley and Russian Deputy Prime
Minister Dmitryi Rogozin.
NOTE :
It is Inspired by India's 'Make in India' initiative and Moscow has launched a Do It
In Russia initiative to promote local manufacturing and technology development.
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 on 17th May, 2017
in Lisbon, Portugal.
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).
NOTE :
These volumes serve as the most important primary source for the study of the
Portuguese expansion in Asia and their trade rivalries with the Arabs and European
powers as well as their relations with neighboring Kings in South Asia and East Asia
India agreed to sign a roadmap for the development of bilateral defense cooperation.
The roadmap includes specific activities to be concluded by both sides and aims to enhance
cooperation in the field of political and military dialogue, exercises, exchange of visits,
NOTE :
The agreement was reached at the 17th meeting of the India-Russia Inter-Governmental
Commission on Military-Technical Cooperation held in Moscow.
The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi approved the
proposed MoU between Export-Import Bank of India (EXIM Bank) and Export-Import
The decision is expected to promote the countrys international exports and deepen
The MoU was signed by Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan and Speaker of National
The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) granted full membership status to Pakistan
India and the UN Office for South-South Cooperation have launched a partnership fund
NOTE :
The United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC) was established
with an objective to promote, coordinate and support South-South and triangular
cooperation across the world and within the United Nations system
India signed the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development multilateral
Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley signed the multilateral convention in Paris, France to
implement tax treaty related measures to prevent base erosion and profit shifting.
Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) which is resorted to by Multi National Company's
through tax planning strategies by exploiting gaps and mismatches in tax rules.
NOTE :
SIMO will be implemented through the National Skill Development Mission and
will specifically target labor market entrants.
World Banks SIMO is a six- year program in support of the Indian Governments
National Policy for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (2017-23).
NOTE :
In Myanmar
It is a multi-modal transport project having three different stretches involving
shipping, Inland Water and road transport stretches.
Being administered by Ministry of External Affairs
GoI is funding the project.
Will connect Mizoram to Bay of Bengal
Project seeks to facilitate connectivity between the mainland India and the
landlocked North Eastern States through maritime shipping, inland waterways and
roads of Myanmar
The link between landlocked north eastern states and Myanmar will lead to
Enhanced trade and commerce across the border
Enable cultural and social integration at the regional level
It was the first major project undertaken by the Indian government in Myanmar
Agreement was signed in 2008
Construction began in 2010
When completed, the KMTT will shorten the current time taken to transport goods
from Kolkata to Mizoram by three-four days, and the distance by around 950 km.
KMMT is hailed as Future gateway to South East Asia
PM Narendra Modi inaugurates filing of Aji dam with Narmada waters under Sauni Yojana.
He launched Smart Rajkot Hackathon where the urban local body will engage with young
students to find innovative solutions to improve the efficiency of various Government
departments.
India has signed the Memorandum of Understanding for Participation in the ANUGA
Exhibition.
ANUGA 2017 is the 34th edition, which is held in Cologne, Germany.
ANUGA Background:
ANUGA an acronym for Allgemeine Nahrungs Und Genussmittel Ausstellung
(General Food and Drink Trade Fair).
ANUGA is the worlds biggest and most important trade fair for Food and beverage trade.
ANUGA offers an extensive supporting programme with Lectures, Special exhibition and
attractive industry events.
Recently, India signs the 318 million US Dollar credit line agreement with Srilanka for
developing railway sector.
Note :
NITI AAYOG SELECTS CCMB AS India has already provided four
INCUBATION CENTRE FOR BIOTECH START- Lines of Credit through its EXIM
Bank amounting of USD 966
UPS million approximately. Currently,
Indian development focusses on
NITI-Aayog has chosen the CSIR -Centre for Education
Capacity building.
Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) in
Improvement of
Hyderabad for hosting 10-crore Atal Incubation infrastructure
Livelihood development
Centre for biotechnology start-ups. health care
Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) under NITI Aayog is aimed at promoting a culture of
innovation and entrepreneurship in the country.
Under the scheme, Atal Incubation Centre can be established either in Publicly funded
institutions or Private sector funded institutions or in Public Private Partnership
(PPP) mode.
India Programme (KIP) for young overseas Indians at a function in New Delhi.
This programme is aimed at promoting awareness on different facets of life in India and
the progress made by the country in various fields such as economic and education.
22ND EUROPEAN UNION FILM FESTIVAL (EUFF) KICKED OFF IN NEW DELHI
The 22nd European Union Film Festival (EUFF) kicked off in New Delhi which will screen
Aim:-
To improve cultural ties between India and European countries.
Inaugural session of the film festival opened with Estonian film 'Cherry Tobacco'.
Ambassador of the European Union to India - Tomasz Kozlowski.
The 15th Presidential Election of India going to be held on 17th July 2017.
The term of President Pranab Mukherjee who assumed the office in July 2012 will come
to an end on 24th July 2017.
As per the latest reports by ZSI (Zoological Survey of India) and BSI (Botanical Survey
of India), 499 new species have been discovered in last one year in the country.
Key facts:
Of these, 313 species are animal species and 186 are plants species.
Most of the new species were from the four biological hotspots of the country the
Himalayas, the northeast, the Western Ghats and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
Indian Railways will start the final location survey of the 498 km long Bilaspur-Manali-
NOTE :
The proposed new rail line will connect all important locations between Bilaspur and Leh
namely Sunder Nagar Mandi, Manali, Tandi, Keylong, Koksar, Darcha, Upshi, and Karu.
The first 50 MW unit of 100 MW Sainj Hydro Power project of Himachal Pradesh Power
Corporation Limited (HPPCL) commissioned with northern grid through Parvati-Kol Dam
transmission line.
NOTE :
Sainj Hydro Power Project has been constructed on Sainj River, a tributary of Beas River.
It will generate an income of Rs 100 crore to the State Government
State-run power giant NTPC has energised 150 kWp canal top solar PV System on cooling
water (CW) channel inside power station premises at its 2,320 MW, Mouda Thermal Power
Project, near Nagpur in Maharashtra.
This novel Solar PV system makes use of side walls of CW channels as load bearing structure
thereby significantly decreasing cost of civil and mounting structure.
An old Masonry Arch Bridge on Savitri and Kal River near Mahad in
Maharashtra constructed in 1928 collapsed due to heavy rainfall on the night of 2nd
August, 2016.
The Minister for Road Transport and Highways and Shipping, Shri Nitin
Gadkari immediately announced to construct new bridge at this location within 6 months.
As announced by the Shri Gadkari, the project has been speedily rebuild on a record time
of 165 days before the onset of monsoon rain with a total Cost of Rs.35.77 Cr.
The Minister for Road Transport and Highways and Shipping, Shri Nitin Gadkari and
Chief Minister of Maharashtra will inaugurate the newly constructed Savitri Bridge and
throw it open for the public on 05th June, 2017.
India will be having its own GPS system. 'NavIC' will be operational early 2018.
The Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) with an operational name of NavIC
is currently being tested for its accuracy and is most likely to be available in the market for
public use within the country early next year.
The report of a study conducted on child marriages by Young Lives in coordination with
the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has been released.
Background:
The study is based on the 2011 Census.
The study zeroes in on 70 districts spread across 13 States, which comprise more than 20%
of child marriages.
Minister of state for AYUSH Shripad Yesso Naik announced proposals for setting up of 100
Ayurveda, Unani, Siddha, and Homeopathy (AYUSH) hospitals across the country.
Union government had approved posting of 4000 AYUSH doctors in primary health
The Ministry has approved setting up of two 50-bedded integrated AYUSH hospitals at
OPERATION SWARN(GOLD)
The Indian Railways like Rajdhani and Shatabdi Express, Railways to launch Operation
Swarn (gold).
The operation is aimed at improving the services in these premium trains.
Under the initiative, Indian Railways will work towards improving 10 aspects, namely,
punctuality, cleanliness, linen, coach interiors, toilets, catering, staff behavior, security,
entertainment, housekeeping and regular feedback.
NOTE :
The Indian Railways also launched a new series of fully air-conditioned express trains
like Humsafar, Mahamana, and Gatimaan for overnight travel.
IRCTC has collaborated with a Mumbai-based firm ePayLater for adding the new service
option.
Through this service, a passenger can book a ticket five days prior to the journey with a
service charge of 3.5 per cent and pay it in the next 14 days.
University Grants Commission and All India Council for Technical Education will be
replaced with Higher Education Empowerment Regulation Agency (HEERA).
The Modi Govt will replace these 2 education regulators with a new Higher Education
Regulator. To remove the irrelevant regulatory provisions, this decision is taken.
AADHAAR MUST FOR ATAL PENSION YOJANA AADHAAR HAS NOW BEEN
MADE MANDATORY TO GET BENEFITS OF THE ATAL PENSION YOJANA.
Those subscribing to the pension scheme will be required to submit their ID proof of Aadhaar
card to get the benefits.
NOTE:
The Atal Pension Yojana became operational from June 1, 2015 and is available to all the
citizens of India in the age group of 18-40 years.
Under the scheme, a subscriber would receive a minimum guaranteed pension of Rs 1,000 to
Rs 5,000 per month, depending upon his contribution, from the age of 60 years.
INDIA SIGNS LOAN AGREEMENT WITH THE WORLD BANK FOR THE
PROJECT ASSAM CITIZEN CENTRIC SERVICE DELIVERY
India signed a loan agreement of USD 39.2 million with the World Bank for the Assam
The total Project worth is USD 49 million where 39.2 will be financed by the World Bank
The loan will be provided by the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development
(IBRD).
building technology to further reduce building energy consumption and promote low-
carbon growth.
NOTE :
ECBC 2017 was developed by BEE with technical support from United States Agency for
International Development (USAID) under the U.S.-India bilateral Partnership to
Advance Clean Energy Deployment Technical Assistance (PACE-D TA) Program.
The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) signed an agreement with
program.
CSIR will enhance the capacity and capability of MIDI to enable it to contribute more
The sites have been added to their list of Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas.
The inclusion of these ecological hotspots in a new book come after systematic data
collection by the Goa Bird Conservation Network (GBCN).
Now, seven areas in Goa have been termed important biodiversity areas by BirdLife.
Goa earlier had four recognised biodiversity areas:
Bhagwan Mahavir Wildlife Sanctuary and Mollem National Park,
Carambolim Wetlands,
Cotigao Wildlife Sanctuary and
Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary.
The list has now added Bondla Wildlife Sanctuary, Navelim Wetlands and Netravali Wildlife
Sanctuary.
Short News
India has signed a loan agreement of 36 million dollars with the World Bank for Himachal
Union Government has cleared the proposal for setting up a New Airport in Jewar in Greater
Noida.
STATE AFFAIRS
GST BILL INTRODUCED IN TAMIL NADU
Commercial Taxes Minister K.C. Veeramani introduced the Tamil Nadu Goods and
Service Taxes Bill, 2017 in the Assembly.
NOTE:-
The proposed legislation will confer power upon the State government for levying goods
and services taxes on the supply of goods or services or both which takes place within the
State.
It will simplify and harmonise the indirect tax regime in the State.
It will also provide for elaborate provisions for the smooth transition of existing tax
payers to the goods and service tax regime.
Tamil Nadu Government has announced free education for the transgender community in
the Manonmaniam Sundaranar University in Tirunelveli.
One seat in every course of all the colleges affiliated to the university has been reserved for
the transgenders.
NOTE:-
Manonmaniam Sundaranar University is the first in India to offer free education to the
transgenders.
The Union Minister of State for Road Transport & Highways and Shipping Shri Pon.
Radhakrishnan opened the centre has implemented various schemes like Ujwala, Jan
Dhan Yojana and Skill Development for the benefit of the weaker sections of the society.
Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas Sammelan organised by V.O. Chidambaranar Port Trust at
Esakki Mahal in Tenkasi in Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu.
The Sagarmala programme launched by the Prime Minister last year aims to increase the
capacity of Major and Non-Major Ports to 3000 Metric tonnes per annum from the present
1054.
Enayam Port Project is implemented Tamil Nadu become the first state to have four Major
Ports.
TAMIL NADU HAS SIGNED MOU WITH CENTRE: HOSUR, NEYVELI TO HAVE
LOW-COST FLIGHT SERVICES
In the presence of Chief Minister K Palaniswami, the Tamil Nadu State Government has
signed a MoU with the Civil Aviation Ministry for the implementation the scheme.
Tamil Nadu Government will set up low-cost flight services under Ude Desh Ka Aam
Naagrik (UDAN) scheme.
Kolkata city will set to have an underwater Metro Rail Service under the river Hoogly.
It is the India's first underwater transportation tunnel of India.
The project connects Howrah to the west and Salt Lake to the east.
The project is expected to be completed by December 2019.
Odisha is the first State in India to have developed an automatic public address system
that can be activated along its entire coast.
Government of India, through the Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) under the
Ministry of Power.
This is the first project for rural LED street lighting in the country under the Government
of Indias Street Lighting National Project (SLNP).
Varanasi will get the country's first 'freight village' spread over around 100 acres.
The plan to set up this project close to the upcoming multi-mode terminal along the Ganga
has attracted major players including Dubai Port World and IL&FS.
A 'Freight Village' is a specialised industrial estate which attracts companies that require
logistics services and can cluster to improve their competitiveness.
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah launched Indias first public bicycle sharing (PBS)
initiative Trin Trin in Mysuru, a cultural and heritage city with a population of 12 lakh
people.
Odisha is the first state in the Country to open a Blood Bank for cattle.
The proposal has received the approval from the National Agriculture Development
Programme (NADP).
The blood bank for cattle would be set up on the premises of the Odisha University of
Agriculture and Technology (OUAT) .
An e-taxi service launched in the city of Hyderabad to mark the World Environment Day.
Hyderabad Mayor Bonthu Rammohan flagged off five e-taxis at an event organized on
Necklace Road.
The e-taxis have been launched by Green Mile, an electric vehicle infrastructure start-up
company working towards sustainable transportation.
The first Mega Food Park in the state of Odisha M/s MITS Mega Food Park Pvt. Ltd. was
recently inaugurated at Rayagada.
This is the 7th Mega Food Park operationalized in the last 3 years by the present
government.
NOTE:-
Ministry of Food Processing Industries is implementing Mega Food Park Scheme in the
country.
The Scheme of Mega Food Park aims at providing a mechanism to link agricultural
production to the market by bringing together farmers, processors and retailers so as to
ensure maximizing value addition, minimizing wastages, increasing farmers income and
creating employment opportunities particularly in rural sector.
Madhya Pradesh government has launched a new debt relief scheme Krishi Rin Samadhan
Yojana for farmers.
The cabinet also allocated Rs 1,000 crore for the scheme.
The interest rate on loans would be less, which would in turn also help defaulting farmers
get loans.
The 135 JagannathYatra starts from June 25 and ends on July 3 is celebrated every year on
AshadhShuklaDwitiya in Odisha.
This yatra includes three majestic chariots Nandighosa (Lord Jagannath), Taladwaja
(Balabhadra) and Darpadalan (Subhadra).
NOTE:-
Sudarsan Pattnaik has carved beautiful art on RathYatra of Lord Jagannath at the Puri
beach in Odisha with message Let us all immerse in the spirit of unity & brotherhood".
Making of Developed India (MODI), a three-day festival has been launched in Andhra
Pradesh.
It is being celebrated to mark the successful completion of three-year rule by the Central
Government.
It will have Jan Ki Baat voice of the people stall and a survey on Namo App, with an
exhaustive list of questions.
Kerala joined the nation in observing World Environment Day with the Government taking
lead by distributing one crore saplings for planting across the state.
Schools, local self-government bodies and voluntary associations took part in the plant
sampling programs of the government under Green Kerala Mission.
A campaign titled Connecting People to Nature launched besides starting a program to cut
down trees that were harmful to the environment.
Sulabh International Founder and Chief Bindeshwar Pathak announced that an open
defecation-free (ODF) village (Dhanduka village) in Mewat will be named after the US
President Donald Trump.
The move will help draw the attention of the world towards Indias cleanliness campaign.
Pathak made the announcement at a community event organised in the suburbs of
Washington DC.
Under this scheme, paddy, bajra, maize and cotton crops would be covered during the
Kharif season while wheat, gram, barley and mustard would be covered during the Rabi
season.
The farmers would have to pay only two per cent premium of the sum insured for Kharif
crops and one per cent premium of sum insured for Rabi crops.
The Telangana state government will be launching its T-Wallet as an anytime anywhere
digital payment option for everyone.
The state government also got clearance from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to launch
the e-payment facility.
The service can also be availed by those people who do not have mobile phones. The
public who do not have smartphones can use the wallet for transactions using MeeSeva
centres. The Telangana Government has tied up with Vijaya Bank for providing this
service.
M. Venkaiah Naidu Minister for Information & Broadcasting has inaugurated the Saath
Hai Viswaas Hai, Ho Raha Vikas Hai Exhibition at Indira Niketan Park, Sarojini Nagar,
New Delhi.
The Exhibitions organized by DAVP is being put up across state capitals for duration of 5-7
days which would showcase the achievements of the Government in the last 3 years in
various sectors.
The Rajasthan High Court recommended that the Centre declare the cow as a national
animal and increase the punishment for cow slaughter to life imprisonment.
In a slew of directions passed on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL), the court asked the State
Chief Secretary to take steps to get the suggestions implemented.
The Punjab Government and the United Kingdom decided to join hands for imparting skill
training and technical education to the youths of the state in order to provide them better
employment opportunities abroad.
As per the MoU, the students who study degree courses would be provided a dual certificate
which would have International recognition.
The Mizoram Health Minister Lal Thanzara launched the Test and Treat Strategy of the
Mizoram state AIDS Control Society (MSACS) to improve treatment for HIV affected people
in the state.
NOTE:-
The Test and Treat Strategy is a new initiative of the Centre to combat the HIV/AIDS
disease.
Anti RetroviraTherapy (ART) has been found to be able to resist TB and other bacterial
diseases.
Short News:
The Haryana Cabinet has approved the extension of Metro rail from Narela (Delhi) to
Kundli (Sonepat District).
Konkan Railway Corporation Ltd (KRCL) is planning to develop 21 new stations on its
route and double a 147-km stretch of the track.
Arunachal Pradesh Government decided to increase the retirement age of regular State
Government employees to 60 years.
Uttar Pradesh Government signed an agreement with Asian Development Bank
(ADB) for a loan of 1950 crore rupees for the strengthening of roads in the different
district.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister CM Chandrababu launches the establishment of Micro,
Small, Medium Entrepreneurs (MSME) Development Corporation at Vijayawada with a
fund of Rs.100 crore on the occasion of International MSME Day.
INTERNATIONAL
WORLDS FIRST ATM CELEBRATED ITS 50TH BIRTHDAY
The Worlds first ATM (Automated Teller Machine) celebrated its 50th anniversary.
NOTE:-
The Worlds most important ATM machine is present at Longyearbyen, Svalbard,
Norway.
The most Southerly ATM is situated at the McMurdo station of the South Pole.
CHINA ANNOUNCED PUBLICLY FOR THE FIRST TIME TRAIN THAT RUNS ON
VIRTUAL TRACKS
China announced publicly about worlds first train that runs on a virtual track making use
Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte signed an executive order banning the private use
Health authorities recorded 350 fireworks-related injuries as the country welcomed 2017.
Sweden pledged to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by the year 2045 in an
The vote makes Sweden the first country to significantly strengthen its climatic changes
The first climate report will be presented in the second half of 2018, and first action plan
The Australian Government announced that Indian Nationals can apply for a visitor visa
It offers benefits like 24/7 accessibility, electronic payment of the visa application.
The Guinness World Record have given the Worlds largest festival of light, music and
ideas, Vivid Sydney installation Dreamscape the title for the Largest interactive lighting
display.
Vivid Sydney is an annual outdoor lighting festival held in Sydney city of Australia (from
the Sydney Opera House to the Sydney Harbour Bridge into one cohesive canvas of light)
The worlds first hybrid aeroboat built by an Indo-Russian joint venture announced
The Aeroboat has been designed by International Institute For Advanced Aerospace
Technologies (IIAAT)
The Estonia will be opening the world's first-ever data embassy next year in Luxembourg,
to keep backup files of its vital information on cloud servers and double secure its data
digitally.
Luxembourg has been chosen as the location for the embassy since it has capabilities to
provide a high level of security for the stored data.
NOTE:-
BIMSTEC or the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and
Economic Cooperation is a regional organisation which comprises of seven member
states which lie near the Bay of Bengal.
This sub-regional organisation was started on June 6, in the year 1997 through a
Bangkok Declaration.
BIMSTEC headquarters are situated in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres warned that by 2050 global demand
A Quarter of the world's population will live in countries with a chronic or recurrent lack
of clean water
United States Of America issues New visa Criteria for visa applicants from six Muslim
countries.
The countries were Iraq, Iran, Libya, Yemen, Somalia, Sudan and Syria.
NOTE:-
As per the new criteria, applicants from the six Muslim-majority countries must
prove a relationship with a parent, spouse, child, adult son or daughter, son-in-law,
daughter-in-law or sibling in the United States of America.
China launched cybersecurity law to ensure its national security, amid criticism from
foreign companies.
China successfully launched its first X-ray space telescope to study black holes, pulsars
and gamma-ray bursts.
A Long March-4B rocket carried the 2.5-tonne telescope into orbit from the Jiuquan
Satellite Launch Centre in northwest Chinas Gobi Desert.
NOTE:-
The Hard X-ray Modulation Telescope (HXMT), named Insight, will allow
Chinese scientists to observe magnetic fields and the interiors of pulsars and
better understand the evolution of black holes.
It will also help scientists search for gamma-ray bursts corresponding to
gravitational waves and study how to pulsars can be used for spacecraft
navigation.
The Third United Nations (UN) International Day of Yoga held in China where
thousands of Chinese would participate in scores of events organized across the country.
China also backed India's move in the UN to make June 21 as International Yoga Day,
The Indian embassy in collaboration of Egyptian Government has organized several events
The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that
The World Health Organization (WHO) revised the protocol for antibiotics.
This revision is the biggest such revision of the antibiotics section in the 40-year history of
The World Bank approved financing worth more than 500 million dollars for Afghanistan
It helps improve service delivery in five cities and support Afghan refugees sent back from
Pakistan. Some 205.4 million dollars, will go toward supporting communities affected by
The United States will be withdrawing from the Paris climate agreement, President
Donald Trump announced recently.
He said this move was aimed at protecting American and its citizens.
The US is the second-largest emitter of greenhouse gases in the world, right behind China.
The withdrawal process takes four years. But when its complete, the United States will
join a lonely club.
Just two other countries Syria and Nicaragua have rejected the nonbinding
agreement.
Panama accepted the Chinas One China Policy and breaks ties with the Taiwan.
With this, Panama and Taiwans decades-old relationships would likely face fresh
challenges.
Over the years Beijing has tried to choke Taiwan diplomatically in a bid to force the self-
ruled island to accept itself as a part of China.
NOTE:
One-China Policy:
The policy states in diplomatic acknowledgement that there is only one Chinese
government.
Under the policy, any country that wants diplomatic relations with mainland China must
break official ties with Taipei that it considers a breakaway province.
After Tsai came to power last year, China had cut official communication channels with
her government in a bid to pressure her to accept that Taiwan is part of China.
FOUR ARAB NATIONS CUT DIPLOMATIC TIES WITH QATAR AS GULF RIFT
DEEPENS
Four Arab nations cut diplomatic ties with Qatar, further deepening a rift between these
nations and that country for its support to Islamist groups.
Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates all announced that they would
withdraw their diplomatic staff from Qatar, a gas-rich nation that will host the 2022 FIFA
World Cup. Later, Yemen's internationally recognised government also cut ties with Qatar.
Montenegro officially joined North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and thereby
Montenegro Foreign Minister Srdjan Darmanovic submitted the official accession papers in a
Bosphorus Strait divides the continents of Europe and Asia in Turkeys largest city
Istanbul.
It is a natural strait connecting the Black Sea to the Sea of Marmara, thus being a very
strategic waterway.
The launch of a new logo reflects a commitment to evolving and adapting to remain
NOTE:-
The body was called the World Taekwondo Federation since 1973.
Its headquarters situated in South Korea
Qatar Airways announced as the World's Best Airline at SKYTRAX 2017 World Airline
Awards.
consultancy which runs an airline and airport review and ranking site.
The Doha-based carrier won the Best Airline of the year title for the fourth time.
USA is set to declare China as one among the Worlds Worst offenders on human
The move will be Donald Trump administrations first major public rebuke of Chinas
The declaration would place China in the same category as North Korea, Zimbabwe, and
Syria.
Short news
Japan launched an H-2A rocket which carries the satellite called "Michibiki No.2" from a
space center in Tanegashima, Southern Japan, to improve the help build a high precision
geolocation system.
China has condemned the European Commission for imposing new anti-dumping duties
on its steel products. EU would levy duties of up to 35.9 percent on Chinese hot-rolled flat
steel.
The United States of America (USA) designated Pakistan-based Hizb-ul-Mujahideen chief
Syed Salahuddin as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist.
SCHEMES
UNION GOVERNMENT LAUNCHES VAJRA SCHEME TO ATTRACT INDIAN
SCIENTISTS
Union Government launches 'Visiting Advanced Joint Research Faculty' (VAJRA) by the
NOTE:-
Under this scheme, scientists or senior researchers abroad of Indian origin or
otherwise can collaborate with faculties.
The endowments for faculties would be USD 15,000 in the first month of residency
and USD 10,000, for the remaining months.
NITI Aayog has launched SATH, a program providing Sustainable Action for
This program will be implemented by NITI along with McKinsey & Company and IPE
Minister for forests C. Srinivasan launched Amma Arogya Thittam, part of master health
check-up scheme, at Government Headquarters, Dindigul.
This master health check-up includes the following tests:
Blood Sugar, Cholesterol, Blood Pressure and Haemoglobin count, Skin test and X-ray,
Cancer test, ECG and other diseases in all government hospitals and primary health
centres free of cost.
Recently, the MP state Govt has launched the Krishi Rin Samadhan Yojana for Farmers.
The Central government has allocated Rs 1,000 crore for this scheme. Through this Krishi
Rin Samadhan Yojana scheme, the interest rate on loans would be less. And this will
ultimately help the defaulting farmers to get loans.
Shri C K Mishra, Secretary (Health and Family Welfare) inaugurated the Vatsalya
Maatri Amrit Kosh, a National Human Milk Bank and Lactation Counselling Centre at the
This will be the largest milk bank and lactation counseling center available in the North
India.
Minister of State for Skill Development Rajiv Pratap Rudy confirmed that 1.17 crore
Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) launched in the year 2015 witnessed
more than 26. 5 lakh people getting trained in skills of their choice till date, of which 50
National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme (NAPS) has given training to 5.9 lakh people.
Union Minister Mr. Kalraj Mishra launched 'Digital MSME Scheme', exchanged MoUs
NOTE:-
International Trade Centre (ITC) has celebrated the first International MSME Day on
JUNE-27 with the theme of MSME is Small business big impact.
Minister of State for Development of North Eastern Region Dr. Jitendra Singh launched a
Main objectives:
To improve the public service delivery mechanism and Provide citizen-centric
administration through capacity building of officials who interact with the citizens on a
day-today basis.
NOTE:-
It is cost effective and has the potential to cover about 3.3 lakh officials annually,
compared to 10,000 officials under existing 12-Day Induction Training Programme
(ITP).
NOTE:-
The SSA event is a unique initiative to address the major issues being faced by
public transport drivers, with almost all of them being users of CNG (Compressed
natural gas).
It is a two month long mega campaign focusing on providing preventive healthcare
to the auto, taxi and bus drivers of the region.
It will provide free health checkup which includes blood test, sugar test, and eye
test.
SSA is an initiative of Indraprastha Gas Limited (IGL).
The Election Commission of India has joined hands with Facebook to launch nationwide
voter registration reminder aimed at reminding eligible Indian voters to register
themselves on the electoral rolls.
As a part of the initiative, Facebook will activate a unique Register Now button
reminding all the eligible Indian users to enrol themselves as voters.
The remainder will be made available for four days beginning July 1.
NOTE:-
Election Commission of India is a permanent body entrusted for the conduct of free
and fair elections. An independent Election Commission has been provided for in
Article 324 of the Constitution of India
The Minister of Road Transport & Highways and Shipping Shri Nitin Gadkari launched
INAM-Pro + in New Delhi.
It is a web-based application for Infrastructure and Material Providers.
INAM-Pro+ is an upgraded version of INAM-Pro, the web portal designed by National
Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd (NHIDCL)
MAHASWAYAM PORTAL
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis launched a web portal 'Mahaswayam' that
will cater to job seekers, employers, entrepreneurs, and training institutes who can avail
details regarding skill development and employment.
Earlier three different portals are there, now been merged into 'Mahaswayam',
Maharashtra State Skill Development Society portal for Skill Development, 'Maharojgar'
for employment and 'Mahaswayamrojgar' for entrepreneurship.
President Pranab Mukherjee launched the 'Selfie with Daughter' mobile application.
Aim:-
To Raise awareness about female foeticide and sex selection. The campaign was started
by Sunil Jaglan in June 2015 in village Bibipur in Haryana's Jind district.
NOTE:-
The forest department has planned to plant four crores samplings through public
participation between July 1 to July 7.
WEBSITE:-PASHUBAZAR.TELANGANA.GOV.IN
The Telangana government launched the website to facilitate the buying and selling of
cattle online.
The state said that the website pashubazar.telangana.gov.in would save the farmers
transportation costs, as they need not keep taking them to markets.
The website also mentions that the limit for number of animals that can be registered for
sale at one time is five.
TRAI launched three new apps to help customers rate quality of services, speed, and
performance.
The MyCall app is an Android application for crowd sourced voice call quality
monitoring.
My Speed app will enable TRAI to obtain test-data from users in all service areas, without
any action by the users.
The DND service app will enable users to register their mobile number under DND to
avoid unsolicited commercial communication/telemarketing calls/SMS.
Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has announced the launch of the BaNCS
app development kit that will help financial institutions develop their own apps and
deploy it across devices.
The Government of India launched Tele Law service to provide legal support for the
people living in rural areas through video conferencing.
The Ministry of Law and Justice partnered with the Ministry of Electronics and
Information Technology to provide legal services through its Common Service Centres
(CSC) at the panchayat level, spread across the country.
In the first phase, the Tele-Law scheme will be tested as a pilot across 1000 CSCs in Uttar
Pradesh and Bihar.
The CRPF launched a toll-free helpline called 'Madadgaar' to help Kashmiri people in
distress in a bid to regain the lost trust of people in the security forces.
Madadgaar is a step to serve the citizens of Kashmir located all over the country.
Union Minister for Power, Coal New & Renewable Energy Shri Piyush Goyal and Mines
launches Weather Portal for Power Sector
In association with POSOCO and IMD at the meeting of the Forum of Regulators.
Day to day weather variations have an impact on load demand and energy production,
transport and distribution management, as well as energy prices.
Another portal MERIT (Merit Order Despatch of Electricity for Rejuvenation of Income
and Transparency) launched during the same meeting.
ECONOMY
SWITZERLAND SIGN AUTOMATIC EXCHANGE OF INFORMATION WITH
INDIA TO FLUSH BLACK MONEY
According to the Swiss Federal Council, the implementation of the exchange sharing
agreement has been planned for 2018 and hence the first set of data is likely to be
The Statistics Ministry is set to change the base year of national accounts to 2017-18 from
2011-12 after completion of the household consumer expenditure survey and labour force
data by the end of 2018.
Earlier in 2015, the Central Statistics Office (CSO) under the Statistics Ministry had
changed the base year for tabulating the Gross Domestic Product or size of economy to
2011-12 from 2004-05.
Last month, the CSO has changed the base of Index of Industrial Production (IIP), which
measures factory output, to 2011-12 from 2004-05.
Besides, the base year of Wholesale Price Index (WPI) has also been changed to 2011-12
from 2004-05.
Through a separate notification, the government also extended by one year till June 6,
2018 the anti-dumping duty on imports of 'plain gypsum plaster boards' from China,
Indonesia, Thailand and the UAE.
The Union Cabinet gave its approval for SEBI to enter into two separate MoU with
In the case of the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), the MoU is likely to
Axis Bank has become the first bank to introduce biodegradable Gift cards in the country.
The card has the look and feel just like the regular plastic cards and can be used in PoS
terminals and ATMs. It can also recycle Biodegradable cards
Axis Bank, India's third largest private sector bank in association with Kochi Metro Rail
India's first open loop EMV contactless metro card that would make travel a convenient
India's most comprehensive indirect tax reform the Goods and Services Tax (GST) is
The council revised rates on 66 items such as pickles, sauces, fruit preserves, insulin,
cashew nuts, insulin, school bags, coloring books, notebooks, printers, cutlery, agar batties
Vijaya Bank started to develop as many as 100 digital villages in various States across the
country
In the Digital Villages, the bank would offer Internet, free Wi-Fi connectivity, mobile
payment facilities, ATM cards, online banking and will carry out a door-to-door campaign
The National Aviation University (NAU) signed a MoU with the Bird Worldwide Flight
Services (India) Private Limited on 1st of June 2017,
To develop professional aviation and aerospace education programmes and research for
the benefit of the Indian civil aviation industry.
The focus of the skill development programmes would be on quality of skilling which is
aligned to the National Skill Qualification Framework (NSQF).
National Stock Exchange (NSE) launched its International exchange in the Gujarat
All the trades will be cleared and settled through NSE International financial services
NSE's rival BSE already operationalised its global exchange India International Exchange
Bank of Baroda (BoB) has entered into a MoU with Small Farmers Agribusiness
Consortium (SFAC).
Under this MoU, BoB would play an active role in providing collateral free loans to
Farmers Producer Companies (FPC) for which credit guarantee cover up to 85 percent of
the loan amount maximum up to Rs 1 crore will be made available by SFAC.
India lost its fastest-growing major economy tag in the fourth quarter of 2016-17, with GDP
growth coming in at 6.1% compared with Chinas 6.9% in the same period.
Data from the Ministry of Statistics on Wednesday showed GDP grew 7.1% in the financial
year 2016-17, slower than the 8% registered in 2015-16.
The GDP numbers were based on the new 2011-12 base year recently adopted for data
including the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) and Wholesale Price Index (WPI).
Bank of India conducted a mass-contact programme, Star Mahotsav, across its branch
network.
The thrust was in contacting every customer at their doorstep for recovery of bad loans,
disbursement of retail loan, including housing and vehicle loan, disbursement under
MSME and agriculture, and promotion of its products including debit/credit cards, PoS
machines, internet banking, etc
Short News;
New Delhi-based telecommunications services company Bharti Airtel received the merger
approval between Airtel and Telenor Communications from Securities Exchange Board of
India (SEBI), Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and National Stock Exchange (NSE).
Canara Bank has inked pact with the state-owned general insurer The New India
Assurance Co to sell policies through its branches.
The RBI issued a new batch of Rs 500 notes with inset letter 'A' in both the number
panels , bearing the signature of Dr. Urjit R. Patel Governor with the year of printing '2017'
on the reverse.
Messaging app Hike added payments feature with YES Bank allows its over 100 million
users to transfer money, recharge and pay mobile bills through the messaging platform.
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) committed USD 10 billion to support infrastructure
building and to cater to the immediate development needs of less-developed States in
India.
Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) made an agreement with Kawasaki Heavy
Industries Ltd (KHI) of Japan for manufacturing of stainless steel coaches and bogies for
metros.
SIERRA ODC building is recognised as the worlds second highest ranking Green
Building.
NOTE:-
Green Buildings are designed and operated to reduce the overall impact of the built
environment on human health and the natural environment.
The green buildings efficiently use energy, water, and other resources, protects
occupant health, improves employee productivity, and reduces waste, pollution and
environmental degradation.
MANUSHI CHHILLAR FROM HARYANA WINS THE TITLE OF MISS INDIA 2017
The 54th Femina Miss India World 2017 Title winner is Manushi Chhillar from Haryana.
The first runner-up is Sana Dua from Jammu and Kashmir.
Vinali Bhatnagar won the Miss Active crown.
Vamika Nidhi won the special award of Body Beautiful.
Reita Faria was the first Miss India ever to win any international beauty pageant.
NOTE:-
She gained points in three categories individual posing, body posing and bagged her
the Miss World title and the gold medal at the world championship in Venice, Italy.
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) named
Sharjah as World Book Captial.
Sharjah is the 19th city to become World Book Capital.
NOTE:-
World Book Capital is a special name given to the city by the United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to recognize the quality
and progress of a citys activity in books and instruments.
It is a World Book and Copyright Year from April 23 to April 22 next year.
The Sharjah is the first in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and third in the Arab
world and the Middle East received this recognition.
Madrid (2001), Alexandria (2002), New Delhi (2003), Antwerp (2004), Montreal (2005),
Turin (2006), Bogota (2007), Amsterdam (2008), Beirut (2009), Ljubljana (2010), Buenos
Aires (2011), Yerevan (2012), Bangkok (2013), Port Harcourt (2014), Incheon (2015),
Wroclaw (2016), Conakry (2017) and Athens (2018).
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee received the highest prize in United Nations
Public Service Award for the State Governments Kanyashree Prakalpa (Girl Child)
scheme in The Hague, Netherlands.
NOTE:-
Kanyashree Prakalpa scheme of West Bengal came first among the 552 project
nominations received by the UN from 62 countries.
West Bengal has been awarded in the Asia-Pacific group for the category is
'Reaching the Poorest and Most Vulnerable through Inclusive Services and
Participation.
The Swachh Bharat Mission Gramin (SBM-G), rural Uttarakhand and rural
Haryana declared as the 4th and 5th Open Defecation Free (ODF) the States of India.
NOTE:-
The Ministry of Environment Award is the highest honor given in the
environmental sector every year.
It is jointly by the Ministry of Environment, Japan, National Institute for
Environmental Studies (NIES), Japan and The Nikkan Kogyo Shinbun.
The Taj Mahal Palace in Mumbai has got trademarked under the Trademark Act 1999, for
its architectural design.
This is the first time in India, the place, 114-year-old building in the country to get such a
registration.
This trademarks list includes the Empire State Building in New York, the Eiffel Tower in
Paris and Sydney Opera House.
NOTE:-
Trademark Act 1999:
An Act to amend and consolidate the law relating to trade marks, to provide for
registration and better protection of trade marks for goods and services and for
the prevention of the use of fraudulent marks.
Usually, logos, brand names, combination of colours, numerals and even sounds
are trademarked but the registration of an architectural design has never been
attempted since the Trademark Act came into force in 1999.
Taj Mahal Palace:
The Taj Mahal Palace which was built in 1903 even before the Gateway of India.
With IHCL trademarking the building, nobody can now use Taj Mahal Palaces
images for commercial purposes without paying the company a licensing fee.
The award for excellence will be conferred on Project Jal Sanchay, the water conservation
model developed in chief minister Nitish Kumars native district.
Dr Sudam Kate received the prestigious 2017 Sickle Cell Advocate of the Year award.
He is first Indian to receive this International award.
NOTE:-
The award is presented to the doctor for his extraordinary work in sickle cell
screening and research.
He has screened more than two lakh people for sickle cell and identified over 3,000
patients in the tribal community from Maharashtra, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh.
Anti-hunger activist Ankit Kawatra selected for prestigious Queens Young Leaders
Award with 60 others from all 53 Commonwealth countries.
NOTE:-
The Queens Young Leader Award recognizes and celebrates exceptional people aged
18-29 from across the Commonwealth, who are taking the lead in their communities
and using their skills to transform lives.
Poet and essayist Haraprasad Das conferred with Kalinga Literary Award for his work
and contribution to literature at the fourth edition of Kalinga Literary Festival (KLF).
This year the KLF introduced two new awards namely the Kalinga International Literary
Award, Kalinga Karubaki Award.
The Kalinga International Literary Award was received by Anand Neelakantan for his
contribution towards literature, and the Kalinga Karubaki Award was given to Paramita
Satpathy for her contribution to Odia poetry.
As many as 8,387 schoolchildren formed the longest yoga chain in front of the iconic
Mysuru palace eyeing the Guinness World Records.
The previous record is held by 3,849 students of Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu, who
created a yoga chain in 2014
Popular Bollywood actors Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan and Akshay Kumar are among
the Worlds Highest-Paid Celebrities list.
Shah Rukh Khan at the 65th spot
Salman Khan at the 71st spot
Akshay Kumar at the 80th spot
Top three names in the list are-
Sean Combs with the pay of $130 Million (Musicians),
Beyonce Knowles with the pay of $105 Million (Musicians),
J.K. Rowling with the pay of $95 Million (Authors).
The Fifth Bhupen Hazarika National Award 2017 awarded to an eminent writer from
Arunachal Pradesh Yeshe Dorjee Thongshi.
The award has been instituted by Sarhad, a Maharashtra-based organisation.
NOTE:-
His famous novel includes Mauna Onth Mukhar Hriday (Silent lips, murmuring
hearts) which won the Sahitya Akademi award in 2005.
12 year old Padmalaya Nanda from Odisha has created history by becoming the youngest
girl to bag the Little Miss Universe Internet 2017 and Little Miss Actress crowns at the
Little Miss Universe 2017 at port city of Batumi in Georgia.
Ramamani Iyengar Memorial Yoga Institute, Pune become the first recipient of the Prime
Ministers Award for outstanding contribution to promotion and development of Yoga.
NOTE:-
Ramamani Iyengar Memorial Yoga Institute worked to spread Yoga both
domestically and internationally over a period of four decades
Uttarkhand state conferred the award of excellence at the 2nd Global Skill Development
Summit held in Paris.
It has been awarded for innovations and extensive use of IT for skill developments the
states youth.
NOTE:-
Uttarakhand Skill Development Committee was also running International
language training programmes for the states youth to strengthen the prospects of
their employability by foreign companies
An Oxford poet Dr Padmesh Gupta, has been honoured with a Padmabhushan Moturi
Satyanarayana Award by the Indian Government for promoting Hindi literature abroad.
Short news
Indian American author Jhumpa Lahiri has been announced as the recipient of the 2017
PEN/Malamud Award for Excellence in the Short Story.
Former India hockey captain Dhanraj Pillay honored with East Bengal football clubs
highest honor that is Bharat Gaurav.
Godrej Group Chairman Adi Godrej and Dow Chemical CEO Andrew Liveries won
the Global Leadership Awards of the United States-India Business Council (USIBC) for
their role in integrating India into the global supply chain.
India launched the worlds lightest satellite weighing 64 grams called Kalamsat.
NOTE:-
The satellite was designed by 18-year-old Tamil Nadu student Rifath Sharook and
his team.
It is Equipped with nano Geiger-Muller counter for measuring the radiation in
space, the satellite is built with reinforced carbon fiber polymer
The ISRO GSAT-17 communication Satellite onboard the Ariane-5 launch vehicle from the
It will be placed in the Geostationary orbit which has a mission life of 15 years.
NOTE:-
It is the 21st Indian launch for the Arianespace.
Its upcoming GSAT- 11 which also be launched by Arianespace
NOTE:-
Out of the 30 nano-satellites, 29 will be of foreign origin and one will be of India.
The 29 nano-satellites will be from 14 countries such as Austria, Belgium, Britain,
Chile, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania,
Slovakia, and the US.
This will be the seventeenth flight of PSLV in XL configuration
Sahithi Pingali, a twelfth grader from Bengaluru will get a minor planet in Milky
Way named after her as a reward for developing an integrated mobile phone app and lake
Sahithi Pingali had presented her paper titled An Innovative Crowdsourcing Approach to
Monitoring Freshwater Bodies at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair
(ISEF).
NASA testing the effectiveness of a flexible solar array, the Roll-Out Solar Array (ROSA) on
NOTE:-
It is an advanced, flexible solar array that rolls out like a tape measure.
ROSA is smaller and lighter than the traditional panels and has a center wing
build of a flexible material containing photovoltaic cells to convert light into
electricity.
According to National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), May 2017 was the
May 2016 is the hottest on record with 0.93 degrees Celsius warmer than the May 2017
mean temperature.
NOTE:-
NASAs Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) does the monthly analysis of
global temperature by analysing the publicly available data acquired by about
6,300 meteorological stations around the world
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Parker Solar Probe launched
The satellite is named as the Parker Solar Probe in honour of astrophysicist Eugene Parker.
The 10-feet high Parker Solar Probe will fly within 6.4 million km of the suns surface right
This will be NASAs first mission to the sun and its outermost atmosphere corona.
China launched worlds largest floating solar farm in in Huainan City, Anhui province.
NOTE:-
As per the Reports, China has been the world's largest investor in clean energy
since 2012, spending $88 billion on the wind and solar power in 2016.
2D MAGNET CREATED
NOTE:-
As per the Reports, China has been the world's largest investor in clean energy since
These 2D magnets will contribute to new openings in Information Technologies.
The scientists used chromium tri-iodide, or CrI3 to show that it has magnetic
properties in its monolayer form.
Previously, the scientists found CrI3 in its multi layered, 3D, and bulk crystal form
is ferromagnetic and it has some magnetic properties.
A special type of microscopy was used to detect magnetic properties in Crl3.
New study found magnetic properties in monolayer Crl3 flakes, in two layers it
disappeared and again reappeared in three-layer Crl3.
NASA is going to launch the worlds first mission to studying rapidly spinning neutron
stars, the densest objects in the universe.
The US space agency plans to launch the Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer, or
NICER, into the SpaceX CRS-11, a cargo resupply mission to the International Space
Station
The Union Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) planned to launch Deep Ocean Mission by
January 2018.
Deep Ocean Mission will improve Indias position in ocean research field.
India designated an area of 75,000 square km for deep sea exploration. This area has an
estimated resource of about 100 million tonnes of strategic metals such Copper, Nickel,
United States-based aviation company Cirrus Aircraft launched the world's smallest and
most affordable private jet called 'Vision Jet' for 12.62 crores.
It has a maximum operating altitude of 28,000 feet and takes off from just 620 meters of
runway.
The QR-SAM was jointly developed by the DRDO and Bharat Electronics Limited.
Space X launched its first recycled cargo ship to the International Space Station.
An unnamed Falcon rocket lifted off from Florida's Kennedy Space Center with a Dragon
This is Space X's 11 mission under a National Aeronautics and Space Administration
(NASA) contract.
Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has successfully launched the countrys
heaviest rocket Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle-Mark III (GSLV-Mk III)
along with a communications satellite GSAT-19.
GSAT-19 communications satellite is the heaviest to be lifted by an Indian rocket till date
to an altitude of around 179km above the Earth.
NOTE:-
The GSLV Mark III D1 is a three-stage vehicle with indigenous cryogenic upper
stage engine.
It is designed to carry heavier communication satellites into the Geosynchronous
Transfer Orbit (GTO).
The rockets main and bigger cryogenic engine has been developed by space
scientists indigenously.
It will help India get a greater share of the multi-billion dollar global space market
and reduce dependency on international launching vehicles.
QUESST
NASA has completed the preliminary design review of its Quiet Supersonic Transport or
QueSST aircraft design.
QueSST is the initial design stage of the agencys planned Low Boom Flight
Demonstration (LBFD) experimental airplane, otherwise known as an X-plane.
GENEXPERT
It is a device released recently by the WHO which can be used to diagnose TB and HIV
infections, and quantitatively measure HIV and hepatitis C viral loads.
The WHO is recommending use of these state-of-the-art portable machines the size of a
microwave oven, which can run molecular tests.
DEPLOYBOT
Scientists from South Korea have designed the first foldable walking robot that opens up
when deployed.
And it could be used for future space missions as well as seabed exploration on Earth.
It is named as DeployBot, in their folded state, the modules lie flat, and after they are
deployed they pop up into roughly a square shape.
A team of Astronomers discovered the hottest planet ever known, with a dayside
The new hottest giant planet KELT-9b is a planet that is hotter than most stars.
Aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) suspended the flying
license of Coimbatore-based carrier Air Carnival, which has not operated a single flight
Air Carnival has become the third regional carrier, after Air Pegasus and Air Costa,
NOTE:-
DGCA is the regulatory body governing the safety aspects of civil aviation in India.
National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) launched a web application for free Legal
Services to Prisoners at the conference held at Indian Law Institute, New Delhi.
The Legal Services Management System is developed by the National Informatics Centre
(NIC).
The software will also help in generating reports showing the total number of inmates, the
SPORTS
KAVITA DEVI BECOMES FIRST INDIAN WOMAN WRESTLER TO COMPETE IN
WORLD WRESTLING ENTERTAINMENT (WWE)
Former Indian powerlifter and South Asian Games gold medal winner, Kavita
Devi became the first Indian woman to appear in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE).
NOTE:
The May Young Classic (July 13-14) in Orlando, Florida.will feature 32 of the top female
competitors from around the world participating in a single-elimination tournament.
Anish Bhanwala won 25-metre standard pistol gold with a World Junior Record in the
Junior World Shooting Championship in Suhl, Germany.
NOTE:
He defeated Florian Peter of Germany.
International Shooting Sports Federation (ISSF) Junior World Championship Rifle/Pistol
in Germany
NOTE:-
RAAM is considered as the toughest cycle race in the world. It is about 30 percent
longer than the Tour de France and the riders have to pedal over 400 km a day to finish
the race in 12 days.
NOTE:-
The World Games, organised by the International Sports Council (ISC) (Canada), saw
participation from 11 countries, competing in 42 different categories.
NOTE:-
She also won a bronze medal in the Under-6 category of the National Age group chess
championships category in Singapore.
The International Olympic Committees Executive Board added 15 new events for the 2020
Olympics to be held in Tokyo.
Tokyo Games would include 321 events, up from 306 at Rio 2016.
Important Person:- IOC sports director - Kit McConnell
Shashikant Kutwal, a railway employee with Pune Division, has won the gold medal at the
17th World Individual Chess Championship for differently-abled, held in Slovakia from
May 27 to June 6, 2017.
The West Indies cricket team has been officially renamed as WINDIES while the West
Indies Cricket Board has rebranded itself as Cricket West Indies on its 90th anniversary.
The new name will apply to all teams representing the Board and will be used on all team
playing shirts.
SHUTTLE PLAYER SAI PRANEETH WON THAILAND GRAND PRIX GOLD TITLE
Indian shuttler B Sai Praneeth defeated Indonesian Jonatan Christie in the mens singles
final of the Thailand Open series.
He won the Thailand Grand Prix Gold title by this victory.
This is Praneeths second consecutive title win, following the Singapore Open victory.
Rohan Bopanna (Playing only his second Grand Slam final) lifted his maiden Grand Slam
title by winning the French Open mixed doubles trophy with Canadian partner Gabriela
Dabrowski, becoming only the fourth Indian ever to clinch a Grand Slam.
,
India and Mohun Bagan striker Jeje Lalpekhlua received the All India Football
Federation's (AIFF) inaugural player of the year 2016 award.
Sasmita Malik was adjudged the 2016 AIFF Women's player of the year.
NOTE:-
Australia's Margaret Court won a single Grand Slam tournament, with 11 Australian
Open wins between 1960 and 1973.
Roger Federer won ninth Halle Open title
Roger Federer won the ninth Halle Open title recently.
He defeated Alexander Zverev from Germany.
He won the Cup for the first time in his career, one tournament nine times
The Indian wushu team won six medals, including two gold, at the BRICS Games.
Taijiquan/Taijijian event:
M Gyandas - gold medal,
M Bidheswari Devi - silver
L Sanatgombhi Chanu - bronze.
Changquan event:
Anjul Namdev - gold medal (changquan overall event)
Ng. Toshibala - silver (womens changquan event)
Sajan Lama - bronze medal (nanquan allround event).
NOTE:-
Wushu is a martial art and a full-contact sport derived from traditional Chinese martial
arts. It is also known as Kung Fu.
Ankush Dahiya (60kg) won a gold medal and L Devendro Singh (52kg) won
a silver medal on the final day of the Ulaanbaatar Cup boxing tournament in Mongolia.
The 19-year-old Ankush, who is a former Asian youth silver medallist, defeated Korean
Man Choe Chol.
JITU RAI, HEENA SIDHU WIN GOLD AT ISSF SHOOTING WORLD CUP
Indian shooting pair of Jitu Rai and Heena Sidhu outclassed their Russian counterparts in the
mixed team air pistol final event to win a gold medal at the International Shooting Sport
Federation (ISSF) World Cup in Azerbaijan.
Kidambi Srikanth won his first ever Indonesia Open Superseries title by defeating Japans
Kazumasa Sakai in Jakarta, Indonesia.
He defeated world no 1 Son Wan Ho of South Korea in the semifinals.
NOTE:-
The first Indian to win a Super Series Premier Mens title.
Mens's Doubles Ryan Harrison (USA) and Michael Venus Santiago Gonzalez (Mexico)
(New Zealand) and Donald Young (USA)
Note: Rafael Nadal has won his 10th French Open title (highest number of French Open singles
titles).
Yuvraj Singh became the Fifth Indian cricket player to feature in 300 One Day
Internationals (ODI).
After Mohammed Azharuddin, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, and Rahul Dravid
Yuvaraj obtained the pride.
Short news
Indian shuttler B Sai Praneeth won the men's singles title at the Thailand Open Grand Prix
Title.
Sudha Singh won a gold medal in the women's 3000 m steeplechase at 21 St Federation
Cup National Senior Athletics Championship.
Indian Tennis player Ramkumar Ramanathan won The International Tennis Federation
(ITF) men's Future's Tennis title.
Sri Lankan cricketer Muttiah Muralitharan was admitted into the International Cricket
Council's (ICC) Hall of Fame.
England won the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) under-20 World
Cup final at Suwon World Cup Stadium.
Jelena Ostapenko won her first Grand Slam title in the womens final of the French
Open 2017.
Vietnam Grand Master Nguyen DucHoa won 10th Mumbai Mayors Cup International
Open Chess Tournament.
Indias Skipper Virat Kohli created a record by becoming the quickest batsman to score
8000 runs in One-Day International Cricket (ODI).
PERSONALITIES
BIHAR GOVERNOR RAM NATH KOVIND RESIGNED ON 20TH JUNE 2017
Bihar Governor Ram Nath Kovind resigned from his post on 20th June 2017.
Subsequently, West Bengal Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi was assigned the
responsibility to serve as the Bihar Governor along with his own duties.
The father of Indias nuclear fusion reactor research programme, Padma Shri Prof.
Predhiman Krishan Kaw, passed away.
NOTE:-
Predhiman Krishan Kaw was an Indian plasma physicist.
He had been the founding director of the Institute for Plasma Research and served
the institute as the director from 1986 to 2012.
Kaw was the first chairman of the ITER Council Science and Technology Advisory
Committee and led the committees deliberations from 2007 to 2009.
He was named the 2015 laureate of the Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar Prize for
outstanding contributions in the field of plasma physics.
About him:
Abdul Rahman was aTamil poet from Tamil Nadu, India.
He was known by the title Kaviko.
Abdul Rahman was born in Madurai in 1937 and died on 2nd june 2017.
He was a professor of Tamil for 29 years at Islamiah College, Vaniyambadi.
In 1999, his poetry collection Aalapanai won the Sahitya Akademi Award for Tamil.
And also he received the Umaru Pulavar award in 2008.
About him:
Era Sezhiyan or Rajagopal Seziyan was an Indian writer and politician.
As parliament member, he highly reminded for his recommendation of the abolition of the
Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS).
He was the younger brother of late Navalar V.R. Nedunchezhian and both of them were
the founding members of the DMK.
He jointly edited the Magazine Manram with his brother.
Former Chief Justice of India PN Bhagwati (July 1985 and December 1986, as the 17th
Chief Justice of India) passed away in New Delhi.
NOTE:-
As a Supreme Court judge, Bhagwati introduced the Public Interest Litigations (PIL)
concepts and absolute liability in the Indian judicial system
Veteran Cong (I) leader and Rajya Sabha member from Telangana, Palvai Govardhan
Reddy, died of cardiac arrest in Kulu, Himachal Pradesh.
Palvai was first elected to the Legislative Assembly in 1967 from Munugodu constitutency
in Nalgonda district in the United Andhra Pradesh.
He was elected as the President of the Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission on
3rd December 2007.
Union Minister Venkaiah Naidu launched the book which titled 'The Emergency - Indian
Democracys Darkest Hour'.
A book is written by Surya Prakash who is a chairman of Prasar Bharati.
The book was launched to honor all those who fought for the restoration of democracy in
the country in the mid-1970s.
The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee received the first copy of book Garuda
Purana (Critical Edition) published by All India Kashiraj Trust at Rashtrapati Bhavan.
NOTE:-
All India Kashiraj Trust, which was inaugurated by the first President, Dr. Rajendra
Prasad to preserve and propagate our ancient texts
The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee received the first copies of book Lalan Shah
Fakir Ke Geet written by Prof. Muchkund Dubey and DVD of selected songs of Lalan Shah
Fakir at Rashtrapati Bhavan.
DEFENCE
INDIAN ARMY GETS MODERN BULLET PROOF HELMETS
The Indian Army finally received its first batch of bullet-proof helmets.
The helmets were manufactured by Kanpur-based MKU Industries at the cost of Rs 180
crore.
NOTE:-
The new bullet-proof helmets are capable of withstanding the impact of 9mm fired
shots from a short range.
The helmets match global standards of equipment for armed forces.
The Anti-Tank Guided Missile Nag was successfully flight tested in the desert ranges of
Rajasthan.
About Nag:
Nag is a third-generation, fire-and-forget, anti-tank guided missile developed by Indias
state-owned Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) to support both
mechanized infantry and airborne forces of the Indian Army.
It is designed to destroy modern main battle tanks and other heavily armoured targets.
Nag can be launched from land and air-based platforms.
A team of four Indian Army personnel successfully climbed Mount Everest without
using oxygen cylinders.
They have become the first team to scale the worlds highest peak without supplementary
oxygen.
More than 4,000 people have so far climbed the 8,848-metre peak, of which only 187 people
have done this without oxygen on individual basis.
Navies of India and Australia are participating in bilateral maritime exercise AUSINDEX-
17 with an aim to enhancing interoperability and cooperation between the two forces.
Indian naval ships Jyoti, Shivalik and Kamorta are on a port visit to Freemantle, Australia
from June 13 to 17 to join the exercise.
Indian Army is actively now considering the recruiting civilian staff in peace stations with
the colonial-era Sahayak system.
Sahayaks are soldiers and their duties include protecting the officers, maintaining their
weapons and equipment and also helping them in carrying out their responsibilities.
They will employ in main areas and keys stations in Sahayaks.
NOTE:-
The Type 055 vessels will weigh more than 12,000 tonnes and are larger more
powerful than Indias latest Project- 15B Visakhapatnam class destroyers.
The United States of America (USA) decided to sell one Boeing C-17 transport aircraft to
India.
NOTE:-
It also includes one Missile Warning System, one Countermeasures Dispensing
System, one Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) Transponder and precision navigation
equipment.
The Boeing C-17A Globemaster III military airlift aircraft is one of the most flexible
cargo aircraft of the US Air Force fleet.
GENERAL KNOWLEDGE
Important Latitudes
Latitude Position Countries Through Which It Passes
Tropic of Cancer 23 26' N Mexico, The Bahamas, Mauritania, Mali, Algeria,
Niger, Libya, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Oman, India,
Bangladesh, Myanmar, China and Taiwan
Tropic of Capricon 23 26' S Namibia, Botswana, South Africa, Mozambique,
Madagascar, Australia, Chile, Argentina, Paraguay,
Brazil, French Polynesia, New Caledonia, Fiji and
Cook Islands
Arctic Circle 66 33' N Norway, Sweden, Finland, Russia, USA (Alaska),
Canada, Denmark (Greenland), and Iceland
Antarctic Circle 66 33' S Territories on Antarctic claimed by Australia, France,
New Zealand, Argentina, Chile and UK
Equator 0 Ecuador, Colombia, Brazil, Sao Tome e Prncipe,
Gabon, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of
the Congo, Uganda, Kenya, Somalia and Indonesia
Important Longitudes
Indian Standard Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Andhra
82.5 E
Time Pradesh
First train in India was started by Lord Dalhousie on April 16, 1853 from Bombay to thane (34
Kms).
Indian Railways was nationalised in 1950 and presently, it is the largest Railway Network in
Asia and second largest in the world.
In the above list of the Major Railways Zones in India that will help the aspirants to attune and
equipped for examinations like UPSC, IAS, SSC, CDS, NDA, Railways etc.
Railway zones
The longest flowing river in India is the Ganges or Ganga followed by Godavari, Yamuna,
Krishna and Narmada.
The Ganges is also known as the Bhagirathi since King Bhagirath was responsible for
bringing it from the heavens to the earth. The part of the River Ganga which flows into
Bangladesh is known as Padma.
Most of the Indian rivers flow into the Bay of Bengal but some like Narmada,Tapti and
Periyar flow into the Arabian Sea.
There are three Trans-Himalayan rivers which originate in the high Tibetan Plateau and cut
across the mighty Himalayan ranges. Indus, Brahmaputra, and Sutlej.
Luni, Machhu, Banas, Rupen, Saraswati and Ghagghar are examples of rivers with inland
water drainage, i.e. they do not empty into the ocean but get lost into the sand.
The longest flowing river in India is the Ganges or Ganga followed by Godavari, Yamuna,
Krishna and Narmada.
The river known as Singi Khamban (Lion's mouth) in Tibet River Indus
The river known as Bengals sorrow is River Damodar
River Tributaries
Ganga 1. Gomti 2. Ghaghra 3. Gandak 4. Kosi 5. Yamuna 6. Son 7. Hoogly
Yamuna 1. Chambal 2. Sindh 3. Betwa 4. Ken 5. Tons 6. Hindon
Godavari 1. Indravati 2. Manjira 3. Bindusara 4. Sarbari 5. Penganga 6.Pranahita
Krishna 1. Tungabhadra 2. Ghataprabha 3. Malaprabha 4. Bhima 5. Vedavati 6. Koyna
Cauvery 1. Kabini 2. Hemavathi 3. Simsha 4. Arkavati 5. Bhavani
Narmada 1. Amaravati 2. Bhukhi 3. Tawa 4. Banger
Indus 1. Sutlej 2. Dras 3. Zanskar 4. Shyok 5.Gilgit 6. Suru
Brahmaputra 1. Dibang 2. Lohit 3. Jia Bhoreli (Kameng) 4. Dikhow 5. Subansiri 6. Manas
Damodar 1. Barakar 2. Konar
Ravi 1. Budhil 2. Nai or Dhona 3. Seul 4. Ujh
Mahanadi 1. Seonath 2. Hasdeo 3. Jonk 4. Mand 5. Ib 6. Ong 7. Tel
Chambal 1. Banas 2. Kali Sindh 3. Shipra 4. Parbati 5. Mej
Town River
Agra Yamuna
Ahmedabad Sabarmat
Allahabad Ganga, Yamuna
Ayodhya Saryu
Badarinath Ganga
Calcutta Hooglhly
Cuttack Mahanadi
Delhi Yamuna
Dibrugarh Brahmaputra
Ferozepur Sutlej
Gauhati Brahmaputra
Haridwar Ganga
Hyderabad Musi
Jabalpur Narmada
Kanpur Ganga
Kota Chambal
Leh Indus
Lucknow Gomti
Ludhiana Sutlej
Nasik Godavari
Panchiharpur Bhima
Patna Ganges
Srinagar Jhelum
Surat Tapti
Tiruchirapalli Cauvery
Varanasi Ganga
Vijayawada Krishna
Wetlands in India
The Ramsar List is a list of wetlands all over the world. The list was established in response
to an article of the Convention on Wetlands (Ramsar, Iran, 1971). The following is the list
of major wetlands in India in descending order of area.
Wetland State
SUMMIT
1ST INDIAN RAILWAYS HUMAN RESOURCES ROUND TABLE CONFERENCE
Minister of Railways Shri Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu inaugurated Indian Railways' 1st HR
Round Table Conference.
The United Nations has held its first ever summit on protecting the world's seas and
waterways.
Member nations are using the Ocean Conference to renew their commitment to combatting
rising sea levels, pollution, and harmful fishing practices.
It was co-hosted by the Governments of Fiji and Sweden.
The United Nations General Assembly approved the establishment of a new United
Nations office of counter-terrorism to help Member States implement UNs global counter-
terrorism strategy.
The Counter-Terrorism Implementation Task Force Office (CTITF) and the UN Counter-
Terrorism Centre (UNCCT) currently under the DPA will be transferred to the new office
together with existing staff and associated budgetary resources.
The UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres appointed Russian diplomat Vladimir
Voronkov to head UNCCT
Meeting co-chaired by :
Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman, Minister of Commerce & Industry - India
Dr Than Myint, Union Commerce Minister from Myanmar was held in New Delhi.
NOTE:-
The JTC plays a key role related to the enhancement of the bilateral economic
partnership between the two countries.
Myanmar shares a long land border of over 1600 Kms with India as well as a
maritime boundary in the Bay of Bengal.
India became the 71st country to sign the United Nations International Convention on
Road Transports (TIR).
TIR will help India to integrate with Myanmar and Thailand as well as Bangladesh,
Bhutan, and Nepal.
NOTE:-
TIR is managed and developed by IRU - The world road transport organization
COMMITTE:
The Human Resource Ministry constituted a new nine-member panel headed by space
scientist K Kasturirangan to frame a new National Education Policy (NEP).
IMPORTANT INDEX
INDIA SECURES TOP POSITION IN GLOBAL RETAIL DEVELOPMENT INDEX
The 2017 Global Retail Development Index (GRDI) titled The Age of Focus placed India
at the top position among 30 developing countries on ease of doing business in the retail
sector.
This is the 16th edition of the Global Retail Development Index (GRDI).
China in second place.
India ranked 45th down from last year, in terms of competitiveness in the annual rankings
compiled by the International Institute for Management Development's (IMD) World
Competitiveness Center.
It has been publishing the rankings every year since 1989.
This year's list comprises 63 countries with Cyprus and Saudi Arabia making their first
appearance
India has ranked 75 in environmental impact survey conducted by UK-based Money Super
Market.
The survey has been topped by Southern African country Mozambique as almost all its
energy use comes from green sources.
South Africa ranked at 95 in the Environmental survey.
India is positioned 137 out of 163.Iceland has been named the worlds most peaceful
nation, besting the Global Peace Index for the tenth back to back year.
New Zealand and Portugal have finished the top three, while Syria has been named the
slightest peaceful.
India has become the top remittance-receiving country surpassing China in 2016.
80% of remittances are received by 23 countries, led by India, China, the Philippines,
Mexico and Pakistan.
India was the top receiving country for remittances in 2016 at $62.7 billion, followed by
China ($61 billion), the Philippines ($30 billion) and Pakistan ($20 billion).
NOTE:-
The report of the One Family at a Time study by the UN International Fund for
Agricultural Development (IFAD) has been released.
This report is about the foreign remittances.
The study is the first-ever of a 10-year trend in migration and remittance flows over
the period 2007-2016.
India is among the top five consumer markets in Asia offering retailers consumer spending
growth of an average of 6.1 percent over the next five years.
The other four countries are China, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Indonesia.
BMI Research was founded in 1984 Business Monitor International and later in 2014 was
acquired by Fitch Group.
The firm performs industry and financial market analysis in 24 Industries and 200 Global
markets.
About 31% of the worlds multi dimensionally poor children live in India, according
to a new report by the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI).
OPHI is an economic research centre at the Oxford University and the study is based on a
survey conducted among 103 countries.
NOTE:-
In terms of countries, fully 31% of the 689 million poor children live in India,
followed by Nigeria (8%), Ethiopia (7%) and Pakistan (6%).
In terms of the number of multi dimensionally poor children as a proportion of the
total population, India stood 37th among 103 countries.
Out of Indias 217 million (21.7 crore) children, 49.9% were multi dimensionally poor.
India has the second highest number of obese children in the world after China.
According to the recent study, 14.4 million kids in the country have excess weight.
Global Scenerio:
Globally, over two billion children and adults suffer from health problems related to being
obese, and an increasing number die from these conditions.
Among the 20 most populous countries, the highest level of obesity among kids and young
adults was in the US at nearly 13%;
Egypt topped the list for adult obesity at about 35%.
Lowest rates were in Bangladesh and Vietnam, respectively, at 1%.
China with 15.3 million and India with 14.4 million had the highest numbers of obese
children.
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.
Urban development minister M. Venkaiah Naidu launched its first liveability index which
will rank the countrys 116 major cities on the basis of the quality of life.
The index named City Liveability Index will cover cities with a population above one
million, including the capital cities.
He distributed Rs 500 crore as an incentive to 16 states that have performed well in
implementing urban reforms during 2016-17.
APPOINTMENT
PALBINDER KAUR SHERGILL BECOMES FIRST TURBANED SIKH WOMAN
APPOINTED AS JUDGE IN CANADA SUPREME COURT
Palbinder Kaur Shergill becomes the first turbaned Sikh woman to be appointed as
Canadas Supreme Court Judge.
NOTE:
The announcement was made by the minister of justice and attorney general of Canada
Jody Wilson-Raybould.
The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) appoints Muzoon Almellehan as Goodwill
Ambassador for Refugees.
She is the first person with an official refugee status to become an Ambassador for the
United Nations agency.
NOTE:-
According to UNICEF data, an estimated 25 million children of primary and secondary
school are out of school in conflict zones around the world.
Saudi Arabia's King Salman appointed his son, Mohammed bin Salman shuffle, and as
the predecessor.
NOTE:-
The newly-announced crown prince was also named Deputy Prime Minister and
maintained his post as defense minister.
Gaitri Issar Kumar has been appointed as India's next ambassador to Belgium.
While Reenat Sandhu, will head India's diplomatic mission in Italy, Ajit Vinayak Gupte has
been appointed as ambassador to Denmark.
A stamp on noted playwright and theatre director late Balwant Gargi was released.
Gargi was the founder-director of the Indian Theatre Department, Punjab University,
Chandigarh.
Gargi, who was born in 1916 in Bathinda, was awarded the Sahitya Akademi award, the
highest Indian literary award, in 1962 for his book Rang Manch. This was followed by the
Padma Shri (1972), and the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in Punjabi Playwriting in 1998.
Sachin Tendulkar joined Beckham, Djokovic and Lewis Hamilton for The United Nations
Children's Fund (UNICEF) Chief Super Dad Campaign.
Super Dads initiative forms a part of UNICEF's Early Moments Matter Campaign, aims to
drive understanding of children's environments and experiences in early childhood can
shape their future.
Hoshiar Singh a 1994 batch officer of the Indian Telecom Service appointed as Registrar of
Copyrights.
NOTE:-
His period of five years as per the recent order issued by the Department of
Personnel and Training (DoPT).
The Copyright Office is under the immediate control of a Registrar of Copyrights,
who acts under the superintendence and directions of the Central Government
Amit Sinha, the Vice President of Business and Human Resources at Paytm's Parent
Company One97 Communications appointed as the Chief Operating Officer of Paytm
Mall.
NOTE:-
Paytm recently demerged its e-commerce business into a separate entity called
Paytm E-Commerce Private Limited which runs Paytm Mall.a
International law expert Neeru Chadha has been elected and appointed as judge in ITLOS
Tribunal.
Neeru Chadha, an eminent lawyer and the first Indian woman to become the chief legal
adviser in the ministry of external affairs, is elected for a nine-year term from 2017 to 2026.
Chadha is only the second woman to be judge of ITLOS in its two decades of existence,
where there have been a total of 40 judges.
NOTE:- ITLOS:
The Hamburg, Germany based International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS),
established in 1996.
It is one of dispute settlement mechanisms under the UN Convention on the Law of
the Sea (UNCLOS) that entered into force in 1994.
He also served as senior vice-president and chief economist at the World Bank from 2012
to 2016.
NOTE:
The International Economic Association (IEA) is one of the key organisations of
professional economists and has been significant in determining global economic
policy and Research.
J&K Governor N Vohra appointed as the President of the India International Centre (IIC)
one of the premier cultural institutions in the country.
NOTE:
He is succeeded by Soli Sorabjee, former President of IIC.
The India International Centre (IIC) is a well known non-official organization located
in New Delhi, India.
Short news
Nirupama Rao appointed as the Public Policy Fellow at a top American think tank based
in Washington.
The UN General Assembly today elected Slovak foreign minister Miroslav Lajcak to be the
next president of the 193-member powerful body.
Mr. Param Jit Mann, presently Ambassador of India to the Slovak Republic, has been
appointed as the country's next Ambassador to Slovenia.
Ganeshan Neelakanta Iyer, the only assigned competition manager of International Table
Tennis Federation (ITTF), has become the first Indian to be nominated as a member of the
Umpires and Referees Committee (URC).
Dr. Sharad Kumar Jain has assumed the additional charge of Director General, National
Water Development Agency (NWDA) under Ministry of Water Resources, River
Development and Ganga Rejuvenation.
Shashi Shekar Vempati appointed as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Prasar Bharati.
Leo Varadkar is become the Republic of Ireland's Prime Minister
Ruchira Kamboj has been appointed as the next High Commissioner of India to the
Republic of South Africa.
Ruchira Kamboj (IFS: 1987) has been appointed as the next High Commissioner of India to
the Republic of South Africa.
Under the Niti Aayog, Ramanathan Ramanan appointed as the Mission Director of the
Atal Innovation Mission.
Ayurveda physician Vaidya Rajesh Kotecha appointed as special secretary in Ayush
Ministry.
Kenneth I Juster is set to become Americas new Ambassador to India.
The Uttar Pradesh government appointed Rajiv Kumar as the new Chief Secretary of the
state.
Bollywood actress Vidya named as the Ambassador of Indian Film Festival of
Melbourne.