1. Sachin Tendulkar to be the face for Kerala Government’s Anti-Drug Campaign
a) Cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar will be a part of Kerala government’s awareness campaign against alcohol and drugs details of which will be revealed after a meeting with Sachin’s manager.
b) The announcement was made on 1st june by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan stating that Tendulkar has given his consent for the same.
2. Centre’s green signal for Chennai Metro Rail Project Phase-I
a) Union cabinet approved the proposal for Chennai Metro Rail Phase-I Project from Washermanpet to Wimco Nagar. It will cover a length of 9.051 km. The expected budget is Rs. 3770 crore.
b) The project will be executed by the existing SPV of Government of India and the Government of Tamil Nadu having 50:50 equity of each i.e. Chennai Metro Rail Ltd. The project is expected to be complete by March 2018.
c) This extension will provide improved access to public transport for dense population comprising predominantly industrial workers to move towards the central business district of the city for work.
3. India-US MoU on enhancing cooperation in Wildlife Conservation approved
a) India and the United States recently signed an MoU to strengthen mutual cooperation on conserving wildlife and combating its trafficking.
b) It was signed by Indian Ambassador to the US, Arun K Singh, and Catherine Novelli, Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy and the Environment, at the Foggy Bottom headquarters of the State Department.
c) Under the MoU, the two countries agreed to cooperate and boost their capacities for wildlife conservation and management in India, including efforts to protect critical habitats.
d) India and the US also committed to cooperate regionally and globally for combating of illegal trade in wildlife through capacity building, strengthening cooperation and sharing best practices.
4. The Unseen Indira Gandhi authored by Dr KP Mathur released
a) The Unseen Indira Gandhi authored by Dr KP Mathur was released in May 2016 and is published by Konark Publishers.
b) Dr KP Mathur was personal physician of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi for nearly 20 years till her assassination in 1984.
c) The 151 page book provides a glance at responses to challenges in Indira Gandhi’s personal and political life. The foreword for the book is written by her granddaughter Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.
d) It covers several milestone moments in Indira’s life: the Bangladesh War of 1971; Pokhran Nuclear tests of 1974, imposition of Emergency; death of Sanjay Gandhi and circumstances in Maneka’s walk out of the family.
5. Indus Valley Civilization is 8000 years old: IIT Kharagpur Research
a) Research findings from various institutes like IIT Kharagpur, Institute of archaeology, Deccan College Pune, Physical Research Laboratory and Archaeological Survey of India indicate that Indus Valley Civilization is much older than thought before and climate was not only the cause behind collapse of Harappan civilization.
b) The finding was published in prestigious journal Nature Scientific report on 25 May 2016 and claims that the Indus Valley Civilisation existed well before the Egyptian (7000 BC to 3000 BC) and Mesopotamian (6500 BC to 3100 BC) civilisations.
c) Also, ‘optically stimulated luminescence’ was incorporated to date pottery shards of the Early Mature Harappan time which was found to be nearly 6,000 years.
d) As per the report, the research could lead to a major shift in the study of ancient civilisations.
6. India and US sign an agreement on ‘exchange of terrorist screening information’
a) India and the US signed an agreement for exchange of intelligence on terror on a real time basis that include biographic information of known and suspected terrorists.
b) The arrangement was signed by Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi and US Ambassador to India Richard Verma
c) With signing of the key pact, India has formally entered into the US Homeland Security Presidential Directive-6 (HSPD-6) which is a model text agreement for exchange of terrorist screening information between Terrorist Screening Centre (TSC) of the US and an Indian agency.
d) It will enable the access of ‘unclassified biographic information of known and suspected terrorists’ maintained by the US on a reciprocal basis.
e) The agreement is expected to enhance the counter terrorism cooperation between India and USA.
7. Government Approves Mau-Tarighat New Railway Line Project
a) The Union cabinet gave a nod for a new broad gauge line between Mau Station of North-Eastern Railway and Tarighat Terminal station of East Central Railway which aims to provide an easy transit to areas separated by river Ganga and boost the socio economic development.
b) With a length of 51 kilometres, the new line runs through the river Ganga at the downstream of the existing road bridge for NH 97 and is located almost parallel to it and joins the existing BG line from Tarighat to Dildar Nagar. It will be alternative route for train passing from Howrah to New Delhi and back.
c) Construction of this line will provide a link to Allahabad-Patna double line electrified section but will decongest the Allahabad-Mughalsarai-Patna route particularly around Mughalsarai yard.
8. TRAI launches mobile app for subscribers to register complaints against pesky calls, SMSes
a) To tighten the noose on telemarketers, regulator Trai today launched a mobile application ‘DND (do not disturb) services’ for telecom subscribers to register their complaints against pesky calls and SMSes in an easy way.
b) The new mobile app will help people in easily filing complaints and help us in monitoring such activities and will be available on Android and Apple iOS soon
c) Earlier options of filing a complaint included forwarding the SMS to 1909 and mentioning the mobile number or inform telecom operators through customer care number or through e-mail.
d) The mobile app will show SMS in a list form and mobile numbers from the source. Customers need to click on the check box to select such SMSes or calls and then click on report option to file complaint.
e) As per rule, Trai has mandated all telecom operators to disconnect telephone numbers from which a pesky call or SMS has originated on receipt of the first complaint.
9. BRICS bank to issue first yuan denominated bonds
a) Shanghai-based New Development Bank (NDB) is set to issue its first yuan-denominated bonds, and is eyeing future funding for infrastructure projects.
b) The bank’s first five-year yuan-denominated bonds, also referred as green bonds, will be issued after receiving a rating from international ratings agencies as well as getting authorities’ approval said an official statement.
c) India is the only country among the BRICS countries whose GDP continues to grow above seven per cent while the rest of the economies including that of China reported sharp slowdown.
10. ICICI Bank cuts lending rate by 0.05%
a) ICICI bank has recently decided to cut it’s marginal cost of funds based lending rate (MCLR) by 0.05% to remain in the competition against the rates offered by SBI & HDFC Bank.
b) This will help reduce the rate of interest to new borrowers. From 1st June, ICICI bank will give loans to new borrowers at 8.95% while the one-year MCLR, to which its housing loans are linked, now comes down to 9.15 per cent.
11. 2 Indian-origin women in Forbes’ self-made American women list
a) Two Indian-origin women, Neerja Sethi and Jayshree Ullal, have been listed on the Forbes’ annual list of America’s 60 wealthiest and most successful self-made women entrepreneurs.
b) India-born Neerja Sethi, co founder of IT consulting and outsourcing firm Syntel with her husband Bharat Desai, ranked 16th on ‘America’s Richest Self-made Women’ list while President and CEO of Arista Networks, Jayshree Ullal (55) stood 30th on the list.
c) Diane Hendricks, the owner of ABC Supply, the largest wholesale distributor of roofing and siding in the country topped the list.
12. German Parliament passes Resolution to recognise Massacre of Armenians as Genocide
a) The German parliament has recently recognised the atrocities inflicted on the 1.5 million Armenians by Ottoman Turks starting in 1915.
b) Turkey on other side denies the killing and terms it as victims of civil war and unrest. Turkey has also objected the word ‘Genocide’ used in this context.
c) This decision of Germany will hamper the Turkish-German relations. The concerns are made over the already fragile Turkey-EU deal over how to handle the ongoing migrant and refugee crisis.
13. Raghavan Seetharaman bags Green Economy Visionary Award
a) Indian Banker, Raghavan Seetharaman, Group CEO of Doha Bank, was honoured with the ‘Green Economy Visionary award’ at the 2016 Union of Arab Banks International Banking Summit held in Rome
b) He has been awarded for his contribution in environment-friendly activities and for promoting green economy for nearly two decades.
c) In 2015, business magazine Forbes ranked Seetharaman 6th in the Forbes’ Top Indian Leaders in the Arab World 2015 list.
14. India joins Hague Code of Conduct against Ballistic Missile Proliferation
a) India has joined the Hague Code of Conduct (HCoC) against Ballistic Missile Proliferation as it’s 138th subscribing state by notifying the HCoC central contact in Vienna. It will neither impact on country’s national security or country’s missile programmes.
b) The HCoC is a voluntary, legally non-binding international confidence building and transparency measure. The core objective of HCoC is to seek to prevent the proliferation of ballistic missiles that are capable of delivering weapons of mass destruction.
c) It intends to supplement the Missile Technology Control Regime which will be administered collectively by all subscribing states.
d) It came into effect on 25th November, 2002 at a conference hosted by Netherlands in The Hague. The number of signatories has increased from 96 to 138.
15. Constitution of National Company Law Tribunal and Appellate Tribunal Notified
a) Union government has constituted National Company Law Tribunal and Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT). It will help in expediting adjudication matters under company law.
b) The tribunal and appellate authority are part of the Companies Act, 2003 which came into force from 1st April, 2004.
c) Retired Judge of the SC Justice S J Mukhopadhaya has joined NCLAT as its chairperson and Justice M M Kumar has joined as the president of NCLAT.
d) The NCLAT will have 11 branches across the country including New Delhi & Mumbai. With constitution of NCLAT, the Company Law Board constituted under the Companies Act, 1956 stands dissolved.
16. Tamil actor-director Balu Anand dies at 62
a) Tamil actor and film maker Balu Anand passed away after suffering from a cardiac arrest.
b) The 62-year-old Anand acted in around 100 films and directed a few Tamil movies.
c) Few of his most notable films were “Pistha,” “Anbe Sivam,” “Anna Nagar Mudhal Theru” and “Nane Raja Naane Mantri.” He had also directed films like “Anna Nagar Mudhal Theru.” His last directorial film was “Anandha Thollai.
17. Commonwealth Boxing Council grants affiliation to Indian Boxing Council
a) Commonwealth Boxing council has recently received an affiliation from the Indian boxing Council (IBC).
b) The CBC will now formally register Raja as a Director in its Annual General Meeting scheduled in December this year.
c) IBC is the national boxing governing body which sanctions the professional boxing matches. It also confers awards on national and subordinate levels.
18. Singapore International Arbitration Centre to open Representative Office at GIFT City
a) A MoU was recently signed between Singapore International Arbitration centre (SIAC) , Gujarat International Finance Tec-City Company Ltd. (GIFTCL) & GIFT SEZ Ltd. The objective of this MoU is to establish a representative office in India.
b) The representative office will be in the Gujarat International Finance Tec-City Company Ltd. (GIFTCL) and it will work in resolving the international commercial disputes.
c) The dispute resolution mechanisms include Arb-Med-Arb-Med service. In this process, the dispute is first referred to arbitration before attempting mediation.
19. India, Tunisia sign MoUs for co-operation in IT, handicrafts sector
a) A MoU was recently signed between India & Tunisia for co-operation in the sectors like Information technology and promotion of traditional handicrafts.
b) This MoU was signed in between visiting Vice president of India Hamid Ansari & Tunisian Prime Minister Habib Essid in Tunis. This MoU will help both the countries to strengthen their bilateral ties in the areas like IT & education.
c) India has also appreciated Tunisia’s support to India’s candidature to the expanded UN security. India has also given the invited around 350 tunisians to India for the purpose of training over next five years.
20. Minimum support prices for Kharif crops for 2016-17 approved by CCEA
a) Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has given their nod to new Minimum Support Prices (MSPs) for Kharif crops of 2016-17.
b) The prices will come into force from 1 October, 2016. The higher value of MSPs will increase investment and production and it will assure benefits to farmers.
c) The approved MSPs are given by the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP) which takes into account the cost of production, overall demand-supply among others.
d) The CCEA has also decided to give bonus of Rs. 425/quintal on Arhar, Urad & moong and Rs. 200/quintal for Sesamum and Rs.100/ quintal for Ground nuts, sunflower seed, Niger Seed and soyaseed.