1. India announces to Double Investment in Clean Energy Research in next five years
a) Union Minister for Science and Technology Harsh Vardhan announced India’s plan to double the investment for its clean energy research for a period of next five years.
b) This decision would hike India’s current investment from $72 million to $145 million said an official statement
c) The CEM7 and MI meet was held at San Francisco, the US from 1 and 2 June 2016. The announcement was made along with other MI partner countries who also released plans to double the clean energy research and development funding over the next five years.
d) India announced its collaboration with Britain by setting up a Joint Virtual Clean Energy Centre to address the challenges in solar energy and launching a new Research Track on Smart Energy Grids and Energy Storage under the India-US Partnership to Advance Clean Energy Research.
2. Green signal for BSE’s online bidding platform for SGBs
a) Asia’s oldest bourse, BSE, received a nod from Reserve Bank to start an online bidding platform for Sovereign Gold Bond scheme.
b) SGBs – government securities denominated in grams of gold – provide an alternative to holding gold in physical form. The bond is issued by RBI on behalf of government and investors can apply for the bonds at the price as circulated by RBI.
c) This bidding platform is part of the iBBS (Internet-based Book Building System) – exchange’s existing web-based online bidding platform for IPO, Offer for Sale, offer to buy issues.
3. NK Chari is the new MD of State Bank of Mysore
a) N.K.Chari has been appointed as the new Managing Director of State Bank of Mysore. Prior to this new position, he served as the Deputy Managing Director of State Bank of India.
b) Mr. Chari, a postgraduate in commerce from Delhi University, joined State Bank of India as a Probationary Officer in September 1978.
4. Argentina retain top spot in FIFA rankings
a) Argentina continues to hold its first position while Belgium also ranks 2nd on the list of latest FIFA rankings.
b) India have fallen down one spot to 163, while England have been replaced in the top 10 by Austria.
c) FIFA rankings were introduced in December 1992 and teams of Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain have held the top positions consistently, of which Brazil has topped the list highest number of times.
5. Boxing Legend, Muhammad Ali, passes away
a) Legendary boxing champion, Muhammad Ali, passed away at the age of 74 after battling with prolonged illness.
b) Ali was diagnosed of Parkinson’s disease after three years of his retirement from boxing in 1981.
c) He won the heavyweight boxing championship title thrice and won 57 matches from the total of 62 he played.
6. Navin Agarwal posted as DG of National Anti-Doping Agency
a) Senior IPS Officer, Navin Agarwal, has been appointed the Director General (DG)/ Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA).
b) Agarwal is a 1986 batch IPS officer of Jammu and Kashmir cadre and is appointed for a period of five years.
7. Asia’s first Gyps Vulture Reintroduction Programme launched
a) To promote breeding and conservation of vultures, Haryana Government has launched Asia’s First ‘Gyps Vulture Reintroduction Programme’ at Jatayu Conservation Breeding Centre, Pinjore.
b) The Union Government became prominent vulture breeding and conservation centre in India after successfully breeding Himalayan Griffon Vultures which is old world vulture in the family of Accipitridae.
c) Vultures play an important role in keeping the environment clean however due to indirect consumption of Diclofenac (used for treating cattle) through cattle carcasses the number of vultures began to decline significantly.
d) With this achievement, the country hopes to have four crores vultures in coming 10 years.
8. Asia’s largest annual security forum Shangri-La Dialogue inaugurates in Singapore
a) Asia’s largest annual security forum Shangri-La dialogue has begun in the 15th Asia Security Summit. The Summit is being held at Singapore to discuss the security issues in the Asia-Pacific region.
b) The issues like territorial disputes in the South China Sea, military provocations of North Korea, Islamist extremism and cybersecurity are likely to be discussed in this dialogue.
c) The Asia Security was first launched in 2002 by the Singaporean government along with British think tank the International Institute for Strategic Studies. The forum is organized by the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS).
9. Odisha becomes first state to give social welfare benefits to transgender community
a) Odisha state has become the first ever state in the country to give social benefits to transgenders like pension, housing and food grains.
b) These benefits are aimed at improving their overall social and economic status. The socio-economic status of the transgenders people is in the worst condition. They very often do not get employment easily. They also have to face ostracism and discrimination, as well as verbal, physical and sexual abuse.
c) The Odisha State government is planning to give Below Poverty Line(BPL) cards to the people from this community which will benefit them in claiming various advantages from government schemes and policies.
10. India among top five innovation destinations: Capgemini report
a) As per the report released by consulting major Capgemini, in the six-month period till February this year Innovation centres in the country doubled to 16.
b) India has become among top five global locations for innovation centre. Bengaluru added four of the eight new innovation centres to emerge as the fifth global hub for innovation in a list led by Silicon Valley, London, Paris and Singapore.
c) The report also added that, 42 per cent of the leading financial organisations had innovation centres in February 2016 as compared to 28 per cent in July 2015.
11. PM inaugurated Friendship Dam in Afghanistan
a) Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has jointly inaugurated the Afghan-Indian Friendship Dam with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani.
b) The dam is a 1,700 crore project in the strategically important Herat province. The dam reflects the strong commitment of India towards the reconstruction of the Afghanistan. The project has been executed and implemented by WAPCOS Ltd, a government of India undertaking under ministry of water resources, river development and Ganga rejuvenation.
c) This dam is earlier known as Salma dam built on the river Chist-e-Sharif. It will irrigate 75,000 hectares of land and generate 42 MW power.
d) PM is on the five country tours. He will also visit Qatar, Switzerland, the U.S. and Mexico.
12. Sweden best country in the world: Good Country 2015 index
a) As per the Good Country 2015 index, Sweden has been voted as the best country in the world.
b) The report ranked a total of 163 countries taking 35 different UN and World Bank indices into account, including global contributions to science, culture, peace and security, climate change and health and equality.
c) The top ten best countries in the world are Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands, the UK, Germany, Finland, Canada, France, Austria and New Zealand. Libya was ranked as the least “good” country in the world.
d) India has been given the 70th rank. India stood 62nd in Science and technology and 37th in health and wellbeing. It was ranked 119th in culture, 106th in climate and 100th in world order.