Download : 16th June, 2017 – Current Affairs PDF
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National Current Affairs
Haryana’s open defecation-free village to be named after Donald Trump
- The move will help draw the attention of the world towards India’s cleanliness campaign.
- The organisation is currently working in some villages of Mewat to make them ODF, one of which will be named after Trump.
Nalanda varsity to collaborate with South Korean Institute
- Nalanda University has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with South Korea’s Academy of Korean Studies for academic cooperation.
- As per the MoU, the two universities have agreed to enhance the bilateral ties through joint research program.
- They will exchange of faculty members, mutual sharing of data for academic research, joint teaching, undertake joint research projects and symposiums.
Centre launches IDCF to reduce child deaths due to diarrhea
- Nearly 12 crore children will be covered during the program.
- Diarrhoea can be prevented with safe drinking water, sanitation, breastfeeding and appropriate nutrition.
- Awareness campaign on hygiene and promotion of ORS and Zinc therapy will be conducted at state, district and village levels.
- An estimated 1.1 million children die every year in India out of which about one lakh death occur due to this disease.
- According to the Ministry there has been a consistent decline in the infant mortality rate and under-five mortality rate due to increased access to immunization and child healthcare services.
International Current Affairs
India top remittance-receiving country in 2016 – UN Report
- Indians working across the globe sent home USD 62.7 billionin 2016.During 10 year period from 2007 to 2016, India surpassed China to become top remittance-receiving country.
- In 2007 India received USD37.2 billion as compared to USD38.4 billion received by China. In 2016 China received USD 61 billion.
India 60th most innovative globally, China at 22nd – Global Innovation Index (GII) 2017
- Global Innovation Index 2017 – Top 5:
| Rank | Country |
| 1 | Switzerland |
| 2 | Sweden |
| 3 | Netherlands |
| 4 | United States of America |
| 5 | United Kingdom |
Business & Economy
Yes Bank partners with TerraPay for faster international remittance
- Its main aim is to enable real time money transfer to bank accounts in India.
- The partnership has been done is to make it faster and convenient for consumers and to send money to any bank account.
- Terra Pay has partnered with Yes Bank in a Rupee Drawing Arrangement.
- It enables TerraPay’s network partners to make instant cross-border money transfer to bank accounts in India.
- It means Indian migrants worldwide can walk into TerraPay’s partner outlet anytime and send money to their family and friends back home, instantly in their bank account.
- Yes Bank will disburse funds using the immediate payment service, popularly known as IMPS. The service is available 24X7.
- The partnership with Yes Bank would help the migrants by providing a real-time, 24X7 and seamless money transfer service experience.
RBI places restrictions on banking activities of Central Bank of India
- Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has placed Central Bank of India under prompt corrective action.
- It puts restricts on banking activities such as from lending, hiring and expanding branches.
- The RBI has mentioned that the PCA has been triggered in view of negative return on assets and high ratio of bad loans.
- The PCA is triggered so that it allows the regulator to engage closely with the bank’s management in order to improve their financial health.
- The PCA was initiated on the Central Bank of India has reported losses for two consecutive years.
- The CBI had negative return on assets and its share of bad loans has crossed 6%.
- Central Bank has reported loss of Rs 2439 crore for fiscal year 2016-17 against losses of Rs 1418 crore a year ago
AIIB grants USD 150 Mn loan for India Infrastructure Fund
- The Infrastructure Fund aims to invest in mid-cap infrastructure companies in India.
- This initiative will benefit local infrastructure development by enhancing private capital inflows from global long-term investors, such as public pension funds, endowments and insurance companies
- AIIB also approved loans to support transport and power projects in Georgia and Tajikistan.
- The Bank and will enhance the potential to source and fund high quality, private sector projects.
- The bank has granted USD 60 million loan for the Tajikistan Nurek Hydropower Rehabilitation Project Phase I, co-financed with the World Bank.
IOC, BPCL, HPCL sign agreement to set up $40 billion refinery in Maharashtra
- Indian Oil Corp (IOC) will be the lead partner with 50% stake while Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL) and Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) will take 25% stake
- The entire refinery will include three crude units of 20 million tonnes each.
India imposes anti-dumping duty of up to 118 dollar/tonne on import of hydrogen peroxide
- India has imposed anti-dumping duty up to 118 dollar/tonne on import of hydrogen peroxide-other than of food and electronic grade with concentration of 90 per cent and above from Bangladesh, Taiwan, Korea, Pakistan and Thailand.
- The duty has been levied to protect domestic manufacturers from material injury due to the cheap imports.
- The anti-dumping duty is in the range of USD 27.81-117.94 per ton.
- It will remain in place for five years.
People in News
Neeru Chadha elected as first Indian woman member of ITLOS
- Neeru Chadha became the first Indian woman to be elected as a judge at International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS).
- Neeru Chadha got 120 votes, the highest in the Asia Pacific group and was elected in the first round of voting itself.
- She has been elected for a nine-year term from 2017 to 2026.
TCS executive Ramanathan Ramanan to head Atal Mission under NITI Aayog
- Ramanan is presently working with the Tata Consultancy Services (TCS).
- He has been appointed to the post “without pay and allowances” but with the provision of entitlement for government accommodation at New Delhi and all other official expenses including travel.
- He has been appointed on secondment basis from the TCS, initially for a period of two years, an order issued by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) .
- The Atal Innovation Mission is the Centre’s endeavour to promote a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship.
- Its objective is to serve as a platform for promotion of world-class innovation hubs, start-up businesses and other self-employment activities, particularly in technology driven areas.
Kajal Singh appointed as Executive Vice President, GSTN
- He is a 1992 batch officer of Indian Revenue Service (Customs and Central Excise).
- The GSTN is a special purpose vehicle set up to provide Information Technology infrastructure for implementation of the GST.
Awards
Israel’s David Grossman wins Man Booker Prize for ‘A Horse Walks Into a Bar
- Israeli author David Grossman has won the Man Booker International Prize for his novel “A Horse Walks Into a Bar.”
- The prize was previously a career honor but changed last year to recognize a single book in a bid to increase the profile of international fiction in English-speaking countries.
- The award has a prize of 50,000 pounds ($64,000).The award will split between Grossman and translator Jessica Cohen.
Sreedharan selected for Nanniyode Rajan award
- It is instituted by the Milma Thiruvananthapuram Regional Cooperative Milk Producers’ Union (TRCMPU) in memory of its former chairman.
- The award consists of a purse of 25,000 and a trophy.
- The previous recipients of the award, instituted in 2008,included E. Chandrasekharan Nair, PrayarGopalakrishnan, V. Kurian, M.S. Swaminathan, P.J. Joseph, Vakkom B. Purushothaman, K.C. Joseph, and C. Divakaran.
Science & Technology
China launches its first X-Ray space telescope to study Black holes
- 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.
- Through this telescope, scientists will also study how to use pulsars for spacecraft navigation.
- The creative new function pushes the satellite’s observation band up to 3 MeV and a very good energy spectrum.
- In May 2017, China opened a “Lunar Palace” laboratory on Earth to simulate a moon-like environment and house students for up to 200 days as the country prepares for its long-term goal of sending humans to the natural satellite.
Telangana launches Pashu Bazar website for online Cattle sale
- The online sale or purchase of cattle through telangana.gov.in
- The website will help farmers as the cattle need not be brought to shanties every time.
- Farmers can also save transportation cost on cattle.
- The Pashu Bazaar platform was developed to help farmers to sell their animals without physically taking them to weekly markets.