1. India has recently signed a loan agreement of $36 million with the World Bank (WB) for Himachal Pradesh Public Financial Management Capacity Building Programme. The purpose of the project is to improve the efficiency of public expenditure management and tax administration in Himachal Pradesh. The programme size is $45 million, of which $36 million will be financed by the Bank, and the remaining amount will be funded out of State Budget. The programme duration is 5 years.
2. Tapan Ray, the 1982 batch Gujarat cadre IAS officer and currently the corporate affairs secretary, has taken additional charge as the new Economic Affairs Secretary. He succeeded Shaktikanta Das, who retired on May 31, 2017 after serving the government for 37 years in various capacities.
3. The 2nd annual meeting of the board of governors of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) will be held in Jeju, South Korea from June 14-15, 2017. The purpose of the AIIB is to promote economic development of the region by supporting major infrastructure projects. From India, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will attend the meeting. AIIB is headed by Jin Liqun, the former Assistant Chinese Finance Minister. D J Pandian from India is the Vice President and Chief Investment Officer of the organization.
4. Ram Shankar Katheria, a BJP MP from Agra, has been appointed as the new chairman of National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC) for a period of three years. The post has been lying vacant since the retirement of the previous chairman PL Poonia in 2016. Beside this, L. Murugan has appointed as Vice-Chairman of the NCSC and K. Ramulu, Dr. Yogendra Paswan and Dr. Swaraj Vidwan as its Members. The commission is a constitutional body to safeguard interests of the dalits.
5. India's first 'freight village' will be developed by the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh. The freight village, a one-of-its-kind infrastructure platform, will attract companies that require logistics services and can cluster to improve their competitiveness. This will allow relocation of retailers, warehouse operators and logistics service providers supplying the regional FMCG market. The facility will come around the proposed multi-modal terminal adjacent to the city on the banks of the Ganga.
6. Nirupama Rao, the former Indian Ambassador to US, has been appointed as a public policy fellow to a Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (WWICS) where she will work on a project on the Sino-India ties. Rao will be affiliated with the Wilson Centre's Asia program and spend 3 months in residence at the Wilson Centre from June 2017, which is a key non-partisan policy forum for tackling global issues. The WWICS is the living, national memorial to President Wilson, created by Congress in 1968 and headquartered in Washington DC. The Wilson Center provides a strictly nonpartisan space for the worlds of policymaking and scholarship to interact.
7. The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit will be held in Astana, Kazakhstan on June 8-9, 2017. In this summit, India and Pakistan will become full members of the organization. The SCO is a Eurasian political, economic, and military organisation which was founded in 2001 in Shanghai by the leaders of China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. It is mainly aimed at military cooperation between the members and involves intelligence- sharing, counter-terrorism operations in Central Asia. Afghanistan, Belarus, India, Iran, Mongolia and Pakistan have observer status.
8. The World Milk Day (WMD) is observed every year on June 1 by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) to recognise the importance of milk as a global food. The day is intended to provide an opportunity to bring attention to activities that are connected with the dairy sector. In India, the National Milk Day (NMD) is observed every year on November 26 to mark the birth anniversary of of Dr. Verghese Kurien, the father of India's White Revolution.
9. Anita Kundu, a Haryana police sub-inspector from Hisar, has made history by becoming the first Indian woman to climb Mount Everest from the China side on May 2017. Earlier, she had scaled the Mt. Everest from Nepal side in May 2013.
10. The Sri Venkateshwara National Park is located at Chittoor and Cuddapah districts in Andhra Pradesh. The total area of the park is 353 km2. The park is known for its many waterfalls including the Talakona, Gundalakona and Gunjana. It is home to hyena, golden jackal, Indian fox, small Indian civet, jungle cat, etc.
11. The National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) of India has won prestigious International Award of Asia Pacific Quality Network (APQN) titled "APQN Quality Award 2017 for International Co-operation in Quality Assurance" in Moscow, Russia on May 26, 2017. The NAAC is an organisation that assesses and accredits institutions of higher education in India. It's headquarters is located in Bangalore, Karnataka.
12. Aleksandar Vucic, the chairman of the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), has been sworn-in as the new President of Serbia on May 31, 2017 and succeeded Tomislav Nikolic. He won the 2017 Serbian Presidential election by 55% of votes on April 2017. Prior to this post, Vucic was the Prime Minister of Serbia.
13. The Telangana Government has officially launched a digital wallet "T-Wallet", which doesn't charge transaction fee from consumers. This is the first official e-wallet from any state government in India. The wallet can be used over the web version. One can top up the wallet using credit or debit cards, Internet banking or through cash at Mee Seva centres. It allows a maximum transaction of Rs. 1 lakh for e-KYC (know your customer) users. For non-KYC users, the limit is set to Rs. 20,000. The wallet is developed by Transaction Analysts (TA) & Vijaya Bank is a banking partner for the initiative. Presently, the wallet is available in Android version and supports English, Telugu and Urdu.
14. India has ranked 137th out of 163 countries on the 2017 Global Peace Index (GPI), published by The Institute of Economics and Peace (IEP). The 2017 GPI provides a comprehensive analysis on the state of peace. It shows that amidst continuing social and political turmoil, the world continues to spend enormous resources on creating and containing violence but very little on peace. The index is topped by Iceland, followed by New Zealand, Portugal, Austria and Denmark, whereas Syria remains the least peaceful country in the world, followed by Afghanistan, Iraq, South Sudan, and Yemen.
15. S Ganesh Kumar has been appointed the new Executive Director (ED) of Reserve Bank of India (RBI). He succeeded Chandan Sinha, who has taken voluntary retirement on May 31, 2017. As Executive Director (ED), Kumar will look after the departments of Information Technology, Payment and Settlement Systems and External Investments and Operations. Prior to being promoted as ED, he was Chief General Manager-in-Charge, Department of Information Technology. Currently, the central bank has 11 Executive Directors.
16. The Punjab government has decided to collaborate with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) as part of its efforts to root out the drug menace in the State. The MoU will be signed between the health department, the Special Task Force (STF) on drugs and the UNODC in the second week of June 2017. It was also decided to develop a roadmap for the project implementation for which a project committee will be set up. The committee will be headed by principal secretary (Health) with STF chief ADGP Harpreet Singh Sidhu as co-convenor, besides two representatives of UNODC.
17. India's first automatic coastal warning for disasters will come up in Odisha from July 2017. Through alert system, Odisha will be able to warn its coastal population by pressing a single button from a control room in the Odisha capital in the event of natural disasters like tsunami or cyclone. The loud sirens will then go off simultaneously from towers at 122 spots locations including tourist destinations, fish landing centres and coastal habitations. The new system will also enable authorities to alert people in smaller pockets, depending on the severity of the disaster.
18. Parvathamma Rajkumar (77), Kannada film producer and the wife of the legendary Kannada superstar Dr Rajkumar, has passed away in Bangalore, Karnataka on May 31, 2017. She was the first woman producer, distributor, exhibitor who only marketed Kannada films. She produced 87 films under her banner Vajreshwari Combines — one of the oldest and most successful banners in Kannada film — and Poornima Enterprises.
19. Tamil poet S. Abdul Rahman (79), popularly known as 'Kavikko,' has passed away in Chennai, Tamil Nadu on June 2, 2017. He belonged to the Vanambadi literary movement and was one of the most admired poets of modern Tamil literature. His poetry collection 'Aalapanai' won the prestigious Sahitya Akademi award in the year 1999. Apart from that he has won a lot of awards. His noted works includes Aalapanai, Paal veedhi, Neyar viruppam, Pithan, etc.
20. Miroslav Lajcak, the Slovak foreign minister, has been elected as the new President of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) at UN Headquarters in New York for the upcoming 72nd session. He will succeed Peter Thomson on September 12, 2017. The UNGA is the powerful body of 193 Member States that provides a forum for multilateral discussion of the full spectrum of international issues covered by the UN Charter. It meets in regular session intensively from September to December each year, and thereafter as required. The 72nd session of the UNGA will commence from September 12, 2017.
21. Leo Varadkar, the leader of the Fine Gael Party, will become the new Prime Minister of Ireland after defeating his rival Simon Coveney with 60% of votes. Varadkar will become the first gay Prime Minister and will also be the country's youngest ever leader. He will succeed Taoiseach Enda Kenny as leader of the centre-right party in June 2017.
22. Shashi Shekhar Vempati, a former principal architect of Infosys Technologies, has been appointed the new chief executive officer (CEO) of public broadcaster Prasar Bharati for a period of five years. Currently, Vempati is a part-time member of the Prasar Bharati Board. The appointment comes 7 months after the last Jawhar Sircar resigned from the post. He will succeed Rajeev Singh, member (finance) of the board, who was serving as the interim CEO after S C Panda retired in 2017.
23. India has been ranked 37th out of 103 nations in the 2017 global Multi-dimensional Poverty Index (MPI), according to a new report by the Oxford Poverty & Human Development Initiative. The OPHI is an economic research centre at the Oxford University, led by Professor Sabina Alkire. The 2017 global MPI has covered 76% of the world's population, living in 103 countries. The index measures the nature and intensity of poverty, based on the profile of overlapping deprivations each poor person experiences. It aggregates these into meaningful indexes that can be used to inform targeting and resource allocation and to design policies that tackle the interlinked dimensions of poverty together.
24. The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has formed committee to improve standards of corporate governance of listed companies. The committee under the chairmanship of Uday Kotak, chief of Kotak Mahindra Bank, will submit the report within a period of 4 months. The committee would make recommendations to SEBI on ensuring independence in spirit of independent directors and their active participation in functioning of the company and steps for improving safeguards and disclosures pertaining to related party transactions. Besides, the panel would suggest measures for addressing issues faced by investors on voting and participation in general meetings and ways for improving effectiveness of board evaluation practices.
25. Ananya Vinay (12), the 6th-grader from California, has won the 90th Scripps National Spelling Bee competition by successfully spelling "marocain" in the final round at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland on June 1, 2017. She won $40,000 in cash among other prizes. Ananya is the 13th consecutive Indian-American to win the bee and the 18th of the past 22 winners with Indian heritage, a run that began in 1999 with Nupur Lala's victory.
26. Nepali-Hindi film Ralang Road will represent India at the 52nd Karlovy Vary International Film Festival at Karlovy Vary in Czech Republic, which is scheduled to be held from June 30 to July 8, 2017. It will be after 13 years that an Indian film will compete with other international films at this film festival. Ralang Road tells the stories of four people living in the Himalayan countryside. The film explores cultural immigration and lifestyles in a complex social setup. The film is directed by Karma Takapa and produced by HumanTrail Pictures.
27. Indian wild card Nitin Kumar Sinha has won the boys singles title at the 2017 HCL Asian Junior Tennis Championship. He defeated Malaysian player Christian Didier Chin in a final match held at the Shri Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex, Mahalunge – Balewadi, in Pune. In girls singles final, Mihika Yadav defeated top seed Mahak Jain in two straight sets 6-3, 6-3. The championship is the second highest tournament anywhere in the world after the junior grand slams and provides top Indian players a chance to compete against their global counterparts as well as earn valuable ITF points to build on their overall international ranking.
28. Ganeshan Neelakanta Iyer has become the first Indian to be nominated as a member of the ITTF Umpires and Referees Committee (URC). His term will be for two years and is extendable. Iyer is the only assigned competition manager of the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) in India. Beside this, Ganeshan has also been recommended as the Technical Commissioner from the Asian Continent to ITTF and his term will be for a period of four years. He is also the chairman of the South Asian Federation technical committee and a member of the Technical Committee of the Commonwealth Table Tennis Federation (CTTF).
29. The researchers at IIT Kharagpur has developed a wireless technology 'AmbuSens' for remote monitoring of patients' condition ferried in ambulances. The technology will allow doctors to monitor ECG, heart-rate, temperature and blood-pressure of patients moving in ambulances and fitted with wireless sensors. This will help doctors to advise technicians travelling with the patient to deal with the situation. The web interface of the AmbuSens system provides an easy-to-use graphical interface for doctors and paramedics alike with data visualisation tools such as real-time ECG graph. It can be accessed from internet-enabled laptops, tablets and smartphones.
30. The Gumti Wildlife Sanctuary is located in Tripura that covers an area of about 389.54 sq km. It is home to animals like elephants, sambar, buffalo, yapping deer, sarow, wild goa, etc. The sanctuary is one of the prominent sanctuaries that speck the bush clad landscapes of Tripura; this sanctuary is a sign of the common legacy of the state and affirms the various Tripura wild life and it is one of the best places of the animal visitors.
31. The World Environment Day (WED) is observed every year on June 5 to raise awareness about forests and wider issues of environmental protection. The 2017 theme is 'Connecting People to Nature'. It implores us to get outdoors and into nature, to appreciate its beauty and to take forward the call to protect the Earth that we share. The host country for the WED 2017 is Canada, where the official celebrations take place.
32. Bhamidipati Sai Praneeth from India has won the Men's Singles Crown in the Thailand Open Grand Prix Gold badminton tournament by defeating Indonesia's Jonatan Christie in a tough three-game final on June 4, 2017 in Bangkok. This is the first Grand Prix Gold title for Sai Praneeth.
33. Real Madrid has won the 2017 UEFA Champions League football competition by defeating Juventus 4–1 in the final. This is the first time in UEFA Champions League a team won consecutive seasons. Thus, Real Madrid became the first team in the UEFA Champions League era to successfully defend their title. Real Madrid is a professional football club based in Madrid, Spain.
34. India's first smartcard-based Public Bicycle Sharing (PBS) initiative has launched in Mysuru, Karnataka on June 4, 2017. The cost of the project, partly funded by World Bank's Global Environmental Facility, for the next six years is Rs 20.5 crore, covering the maintenance of the docking stations and bicycles. About 450 bicycles will be available for public use in the city. To rent a bicycle, the citizens of Mysuru or tourists need to register themselves either online or by visiting one of the six registration centres situated close to tourism centres and obtain a smart card after paying Rs. 350, including a refundable deposit of Rs. 250. Though the use of the bicycle is free for the first one hour, the users will have to pay a nominal fee of Rs. 5 for two hours, Rs. 10 for three hours and so on.
35. Ranjit Kumar is the present Solicitor General of India, whose tenure has been extended by the Government of India (GoI). Beside this, the terms of Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi and five other senior law officers have also been extended. The Additional Solicitor Generals who have been given extension for an indefinite period are Pinky Anand, Maninder Singh, P S Patwalia, Tushar Mehta and P S Narsimha. The Attorney General, along with the Solicitor General and Additional Solicitor General, represents the government in various courts and tender legal advice on complex issues.
36. The World Bank (WB) in its latest report "Global Economic Prospects (GEP)" has projected India's GDP growth rate at 7.5% in 2018 and 7.7% in 2019. As per the report, the World Bank has also projected a strong 7.2% growth rate for India in FY 2017 against 6.8% growth in 2016, as India is recovering from the temporary adverse effects of demonetisation. However, World Bank has maintained its forecast for global growth in 2017 and 2018 unchanged at 2.7% and 2.9% respectively, as manufacturing and trade are picking up and confidence is improving.
37. India has acquired the top position among 30 developing countries on ease of doing business at the 2017 A.T. Kearney Global Retail Development Index (GRDI). The 2017 GRDI titled "The Age of Focus" ranked China at second place, followed by Malaysia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Vietnam. The 16th edition of GRDI ranked top 30 developing countries for retail investment worldwide and analyzed 25 macroeconomic and retail-specific variables to help retailers devise successful global strategies to identify emerging market investment opportunities.
38. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has successfully launched its 3136 kg GSAT-19 communication satellite with its brand new and heaviest – Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark-III D-1 (GSLV-Mk III D-1) satellite into Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO) from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh on June 5, 2017. The satellite GSAT-19 has an intended life span of 10 years and is developed to improve telecommunication and broadcasting areas. The GSLV-Mk III is popularly known as "fat boy" and is developed for 15 years at a cost of around Rs 300 crore. The rocket is capable of carrying payloads of up to 4,000 kg into the GTO and 10,000 kg into the Low Earth Orbit (LEO). The GSLV-Mk III is a three stage rocket. Its first stage is made of two strap on motors filled with solid fuel. The second stage uses the liquid fuel and the third is the cryogenic upper stage "C25", which is powered by the highly complex indigenous cryogenic engine "CE20". The number 20 denotes the 20-ton thrust it generates for the rocket to reach the intended height with the heavy mass on board.
39. The United Nations' (UN) International Day of Innocent Children Victims of Aggression is observed every year on June 4 to acknowledge the pain suffered by children throughout the world who are the victims of physical, mental and emotional abuse. It is a time for people all over the world to become aware of the impact of monstrosity of abuse, in all its forms, against children. It is also a time when organisations and individuals learn from or take part in awareness campaigns centred on protecting children's rights. This day affirms the UN's commitment to protect the rights of children.
40. The Abohar Wildlife Sanctuary is located in the Fazilka District of Punjab. The formation of sanctuary relates to a unique success story of wildlife conservation in which people of Bishnoi community united themselves for protecting the Black Buck which is regarded as a sacred animal by them. It is also the State Animal of Punjab. It is home to several varieties of flora and fauna viz. Albizia lebbeck, Acacia nilotica, Azadirachata indica, A. tortilis, Wild Boar, Blue Bull, Porcupines, Hare, Jackal, etc.
41. The United Nations is hosting its first-ever World Oceans Conference at the UN Headquarters in New York, United States from June 5, 2017. The 5-day conference is co-hosted by the Governments of Fiji and Sweden with theme "Our oceans, our future: partnering for the implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 14". The purpose of the conference is to find solutions to some of the toughest problems facing the oceans — that includes coral bleaching, plastic pollution, overfishing and rising sea levels. It also includes measures to protect coastal and blue carbon ecosystems such as mangroves, tidal marshes, seagrass, and coral reefs, and wider interconnected ecosystems, as well as enhancing sustainable fisheries management, including to restore fish stocks in the shortest time feasible at least to levels that can produce maximum sustainable yield.
42. India's first-ever Rural LED Street Lighting Project will be implemented by the Government of India (GoI) in Andhra Pradesh (AP). The Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) under the Ministry of Power will retrofit10 lakh conventional street lights with LED lights in Gram Panchayats of 7 districts in AP. This is the first project for rural LED street lighting in the country under the GoI's Street Lighting National Project (SLNP). In the first phase, the replacement will be undertaken in gram panchayats of the districts of Guntur, Prakasham, Nellore, Kurnool, Kadapa, Ananthapur and Chittoor. This replacement drive in rural areas will help the gram panchayats to cumulatively save approximately 147 million units of electricity annually and lead to reduction of 12 crore tonnes of CO2. The entire upfront capital cost of this project is being funded by French Development Agency Agence Française de Développement (AFD).
43. India has signed a $39.2 million loan agreement with the World Bank (WB) for the 'citizen-centric service delivery' project in Assam. The programme size is $49 million, of which $39.2 million will be financed by the World Bank and the remaining amount will be funded out of state budget. The programme duration is 5 years. The purpose of the project is to improve access in the delivery of selected public services in Assam. The Project seeks to enable citizens to access services under the RTPS Act in a timely, efficient, and accountable manner. The Project adopts an integrated approach to improve access and accountability.
44. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has inaugurated the 5th international conference of Spic Macay on June 5, 2017 at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi via video conferencing. The 7-day conference coincides with the 40th year of inception of SPIC MACAY. Every year Spic Macay organizes an International Convention to expose the youth from across the world to the rich and multi-hued culture of India. It is the Society for the promotion of Indian classical music and culture amongst youth.
45. Dr. Sharad Kumar Jain has assumed the additional charge of Director General (DG) of National Water Development Agency (NWDA) under Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation. Presently, he is working as Scientist G with National Institute of Hydrology (NIH), Roorkee. Jain succeeds S. Masood Husain who has moved over as Member (WP&P), Central Water Commission.
46. India has been ranked 45th out of 63 countries in the IMD's world competitiveness rankings 2017. The list is compiled by the Switzerland-based International Institute for Management and Development (IMD)'s World Competitiveness Center (WCC). Hong Kong has topped the list, followed by Switzerland, Singapore, United States, Netherlands, Ireland and Denmark. The IMD measures how well countries manage all their resources and competencies to facilitate long-term value creation.
47. Sudha Singh from Uttar Pradesh has won a gold medal in the women's 3000m steeplechase at the 21st Federation Cup National Senior Athletics Championship in Patiala, Punjab on June 4, 2017. In the men's 3000m steeplechase event, it was Naveen Kumar of Haryana who took the gold with a time of 8:50.85.
48. The Telangana Government has become the only state government in India to launch the single-women pension scheme. Under the scheme, a financial assistance of Rs. 1,000 financial is given to single women of the state per month on humanitarian grounds. The scheme will benefit unmarried women, joginis and divorced women. About 1, 08,302 beneficiaries from 31 Districts have been identified by the officials. The single-women pension scheme is the result of petitions filed on the plight of single women deserted by their husbands and relatives.
49. The TATA Projects has launched unique "Green Thumb" initiative in India to promote green cover and to protect the environment on 2017 World Environment Day (WED). The Green Thumb 2017 is in continuation to 2016 TATA Projects' programme wherein it aimed to get 10,000 people to click (pledge) to plant a sapling on their behalf – the response received was a tremendous 23,000. Encouraged by the response, TATA Projects planted a total of over 42,000 saplings across the country in over 100 locations in the last one year (2016-17). This year, under Green Thumb initiative, the company will plants trees, citizens who wish to do their bit to save the environment, can express their support for the cause. They can do so by clicking on the banner to plant a sapling on the Green Thumb Microsite or on Facebook page, LinkedIn pagea/155507/ or on the company website www.tataprojects.com.
50. India has been ranked 51st out of 63 countries in the 2017 IMD World Digital Competitiveness ranking. At the top of the digital ranking is Singapore, followed by Sweden, the USA, Finland and Denmark. For the first time, the IMD World Competitiveness Center has published a separate report ranking countries' digital competitiveness. The new Digital Competitiveness Ranking (DCR) provides a measure of a country's ability to adopt and explore digital technologies leading to transformation in government practices, business models and society in general. The ranking is based on three factors, which reflect the standing of a country in the dimensions of Knowledge, Technology and Future Readiness.
51. India has signed an agreement with Sri Lanka to provide fresh assistance of $318 million credit line to develop the island nation's railway sector. The agreement was signed in Colombo, Sri Lanka on June 6, 2017. India has already provided four Lines of Credit for the development of railway sector in Sri Lanka through its EXIM bank amounting to approximately $966 million. These credit facilities have been utilized to improve the Southern and Northern railway lines and for the procurement of rolling stocks for the Sri Lanka Railways.
52. Sher Bahadur Deuba, the Nepali Congress President, has been sworn-in as the new Prime minister of Nepal at Rashtrpati Bhawan in Kathmandu, Nepal. Deuba has taken the charge of prime minister for the 4th time. He first became PM in 1995 and later in 2001 and 2004. The 2017 Election for new prime minister was held due to resignation by the CPN (Maoist Centre) Chief Pushpa Kamal Dahal from the post of prime minister. Dahal had resigned on May 24 as per the power sharing understanding with the coalition partner Nepali Congress.
53. J P Nadda, the Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare, has launched "Skill for Life, Save a Life" initiative in New Delhi to promote skill development in the health sector. The purpose of the initiative is to upscale the quality and quantity of trained professionals in the healthcare system. Under this initiative various courses are planned in specific competencies for healthcare professionals as well as for general public.
54. As per second bi-monthly monetary and credit policy review for 2017-18 of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the policy repo rate under the liquidity adjustment facility (LAF) remain unchanged at 6.25%. Consequently, the reverse repo rate under the LAF remains at 6.0%, Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) remains at 4% and the Marginal Standing Facility (MSF) rate and the Bank Rate at 6.50%.Though, the Central bank has cut the Statutory Liquidity Ratio (SLR) by 0.5%. It has projected inflation in the range of 2% to 3.5% for first half of 2017-18 and 3.5% to 4.5% for the second half. It has also cut the growth projection for current fiscal to 7.3% from 7.4%.
55. Hoshiar Singh, a 1994 batch officer of the Indian Telecom Service, has been appointed as new Registrar of Copyrights for a period of five years. The Office of Copyrights, under the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DoPT) is mandated to protect the music and film industry besides addressing its concerns, among others. According to norms, the Copyright Office is under the immediate control of a Registrar of Copyrights, who acts under the superintendence and directions of the Central Government. The headquarters is located in New Delhi.
56. Sachin Tendulkar has joined UNICEF's 'Super Dads' campaign that highlights the critical role played by fathers in children's early development. The campaign features stars from the world of entertainment and sport including David Beckham, Novak Djokovic, Mahershala Ali, Lewis Hamilton and Hugh Jackman. The UNICEF campaign will celebrates Father's Day and highlights the importance of love, play, protection and good nutrition for the healthy development of young children's brains. The heart-warming videos and photos of celebrity dads in the campaign will be coupled with stories of super dads from across the world, including those who are doing their best to raise their children in extremely difficult circumstances.
57. Montenegro has officially become the 29th member of North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) at a ceremony in Washington, United States on June 5, 2017. The purpose of NATO is to guarantee the freedom and security of its members through political and military means. The headquarters of NATO is located at Brussels, Belgium.
58. The Kerala government has implemented Green Protocol for making weddings more naturally in the state. The purpose of the initiative is to reduce the use of plastic in daily life. With the implementation of the protocol, use of plastic and other non-degradable articles including disposable glasses and plates and thermocol decorations will be discouraged at marriage functions. Inspections will be held at marriage halls, convention centres and hotels and other venues of the wedding ceremony in this regard and action would be taken if the protocol is violated. The state nodal agency for sanitation 'Suchitwa Mission' has already launched the initiative in Kannur, Ernakulam, Kollam and Alappuzha on a pilot basis. As per officials, the protocol would be implemented in the rest of the districts soon.
59. Veteran journalist Vinod Dua will be honoured with the RedInk Award for Lifetime Achievement (LTA) in Journalism for 2017 by the Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on June 7 in Mumbai in recognition of his extensive and versatile contribution in different formats and subjects. The awards are part of the National RedInk Awards for Excellence in Journalism and instituted by the Mumbai Press Club. Star India is the Presenting Partner for the Mumbai Press Club RedInk Awards. The Hindu Group and Facebook are the media partners.
60. The Mukurthi National Park (MNP) is a 78.46 km2 protected area located in the western corner of the Nilgiris Plateau west of Ootacamund hill station in the northwest corner of Tamil Nadu state in the Western Ghats mountain range of South India. It is home to an array of endangered wildlife viz. royal Bengal tiger, Asian elephant, Nilgiri langur, Bonhote's mouse, Nilgiri tahr, etc. The park is a part of Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve, India's first International Biosphere Reserve.
61. The 17th summit of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit has started in Astana, Kazakhstan from June 8, 2017. In this summit, India and Pakistan has become full members of the organization. The SCO is a Eurasian political, economic, and military organisation which was founded in 2001 in Shanghai by the leaders of China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. It is mainly aimed at military cooperation between the members and involves intelligence- sharing, counter-terrorism operations in Central Asia. Afghanistan, Belarus, India, Iran, Mongolia and Pakistan have observer status.
62. The World Oceans Day (WOD) is observed every year on June 8 to raise global awareness of the benefits derived from the oceans and the current challenges faced by the international community in connection with the oceans. This year, in 2017, the main conservation focus will be on plastic pollution prevention and cleaning the ocean of marine litter with theme "Our Oceans, Our Future". The 2017 WOD has coincided with the first-ever United Nations World Oceans Conference taking place from 5 to 9 June at UN headquarters in New York. The purpose of the conference is to mobilize action for the conservation and sustainable use of the oceans, seas and marine resources.
63. The Vijaya Bank will set up 100 digital villages in various States of the country as part of its initiative to promote digital banking among the rural population. It is the only public sector financial institution to develop digital villages with focus on rural areas and it has already developed five villages including the one in Guntur district. In those villages, the bank will provide Internet, free Wi-Fi connectivity, mobile payment facilities, ATM cards, online banking and others besides educating the villagers through door-to-door campaign. The bank will also open bank accounts to all the eligible villagers including children and encourage them to make transactions digitally.
64. The Anshi National Park is located at a distance of 60 km from Karwar in Uttara Kannada district, Karnataka. It is located in an eco-sensitive part of the Western Ghats, at a height between 200 m to 925 m above sea level. The park is a habitat of melanistic leopard, tigers and elephants, among other wildlife. The reptiles like King Cobra, Krait, Python, Rat snake and Viper are found here. It is home to more than 200 species of birds viz. Adjutant Stork, Ashy Black-crested Crested Serpent Eagle, Great Hornbill, Golden-backed Woodpecker, Bulbul, Blue-headed Pitta, Woodswallow, Brahminy Kite, etc.
65. K G Karmakar and Gauri Shankar have been appointed as new Independent Directors of India Post Payments Bank (IPPB). The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved their appointment to the post on the board of directors of the bank for a period of 3 years. The IPPB has been incorporated as a public sector bank under the Department of Posts with 100% equity of the Government of India (GoI). IPPB will offer demand deposits such as savings and current accounts upto a balance of Rs 1 Lac, digitally enabled payments and remittance services of all kinds between entities and individuals and also provide access to third party financial services such as insurance, mutual funds, pension, credit products, forex, and more, in partnership with insurance companies, mutual fund houses, pension providers, banks, international money transfer organisations, etc.
66. Adnan Khashoggi (81), a Saudi Arabian billionaire international businessman, has passed away in London, UK. He was best known for his involvement in arms dealing.
67. Nepal has recently signed a financing agreement with China Gezhouba Group Corporation (CGGC) to build 1,200-megawatt Budhi-Gandaki hydroelectric project. The estimated cost of the project is $2.5 billion. This project will be helpful for Nepal, which is facing acute power shortage.
68. Rohan Bopanna from India and his Canadian teammate Gabriela Dabrowski have won the 2017 French Open mixed doubles tournament by defeating the pair of Germany's Anna-Lena Groenefeld and Colombia's Robert Farah in the final by 2-6, 6-2, 12-10.
69. Raj Kamal Jha, the Chief Editor of The Indian Express, has been bestowed with the RedInk Award for the 'Journalist of the Year' 2017 for providing exemplary stewardship over the last couple of years to the newspaper; and for pulling it back from an aimless drift to focused reporting and restoring what it has always been known best for—investigative journalism. The award was presented to him by the Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on June 7 in Mumbai. The awards are part of the National RedInk Awards for Excellence in Journalism and instituted by the Mumbai Press Club (MPC) to raise the bar of news and feature writing in India and to encourage fair play and high ethical standards in media.
70. The 2nd edition of National Health Editors' Conference on Yoga will be inaugurated by Shripad Yesso Naik, the Minister of State for AYUSH (Independent Charge), at National Media Centre in New Delhi on June 9, 2017. The theme of 2017 conference is "Yoga for Health and Harmony". The aim of the conference is to give insight to the journalists about the scientific aspects of yoga & its benefits for human health. More than 150 Health Editors and media persons from National, Regional and International media organizations are expected to attend the conference. Senior officers of PIB and Ministry of AYUSH will also remain present on the occasion.
71. Axis Bank has become the first Indian bank to launch a bio-degradable prepaid gift plastic card to offer its customers a simple way of contributing towards environment-friendly payment solutions. The plastic card is made up of Polyethylene Terephthalate Glycol (PETG) and can decompose easily and can also be recycled. The cards will be acceptable at all domestic merchant outlets and online portals. According to a circular issued by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 1 July 2014, the maximum validity of pre-paid gift instruments is 3 years.
72. Basudev Chatterji, the noted historian, has passed away in Guwahati, Assam on June 8, 2017. He was also the former chairman of Indian Council for Historical Research (ICHR). Chatterji was an academician and used to taught at St Stephen's College in Delhi, University of Hyderabad besides supervising undergraduates at the University of Cambridge. The books 'Trade, Tariffs and Empire : Lancashire and British Policy in India', and 'Dictionary of Martyrs India's Freedom Struggle' were among his works.
73. India and the UN Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC) have launched a partnership fund that will support sustainable development projects across the developing world. The fund was launched on the occasion of the World Oceans Day (WOD) at a special ceremony held at the Permanent Mission of India to the UN on June 8, 2017. The India-UN Development Partnership Fund will implement country-level projects that are catalytic towards achieving the 17 sustainable development goals of the 2030 Agenda. The purpose of the initiative is to reduce poverty and hunger, improving health, education and equality, and expanding access to clean water, energy and livelihoods.
74. Indian-American Raja Chari, a Lieutenant Colonel with the US Air Force, has been chosen for the 2017 NASA Astronaut Candidate Class. He is among 12 new astronauts who will be trained for missions into Earth orbit and to deep space. Chari may become the 3rd person of Indian origin from the US after the late Kalpana Chawla and current NASA astronaut Sunita 'Suni' Williams to fly to space. Currently, he is a commander of the 461st Flight Test Squadron and the director of the F-35 Integrated Test Force at Edwards Air Force Base in California.
75. Palvai Govardhan Reddy (81), the noted politician from the Indian National Congress (INC) party, has passed away due to heart attack in Kullu Manali, Himachal Pradesh on June 9, 2017. Reddy was in Kullu Manali to attend a Parliamentary committee meeting. Presently, he was representing the Telangana State as a Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha).
76. The Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare, J P Nadda has been conferred with the WHO Director-General's Special Recognition Award for accelerating India's tobacco control initiatives and taking bold measures to protect people against hazards of tobacco use. The global recognition was presented to him by Poonam Khetrapal Singh, Regional Director of WHO South-East Asia, at the 'National Consultation on Accelerating Implementation of WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) for achievement of Sustainable Development Goals'.
77. China's state-run news agency Xinhua will set up a $1 million fund to institutionalize media cooperation among the BRICS countries including awards for journalists from the five member states. The purpose of BRICS media forum is to promote six objectives, including "balanced reporting". The proposal would also focus on joint development of BRICS digital media, financial information services and promoting people- to-people contacts. The BRICS media forum is the result of a joint initiative by Xinhua News Agency, Brazil's CMA Group, Russia's Sputnik News Agency and Radio, The Hindu group of publications from India, and South Africa's Independent Media.
78. Mehrunnisa Dalwai (87), the protagonist of a reformist movement 'Muslim Satyashodhak Mandal', has passed away in Pune, Maharashtra on June 8, 2017. She worked for justice and equal rights for Muslim women and spearheaded a march in Mumbai seeking abolition of triple 'talaq'. Dalwai also founded Islamic Research Institute and Maharashtra Talaq Mukti Morcha. Her autobiography, "Mi Bharun Pawle" is considered an inspirational piece for progressive movement. She was the wife of prominent Muslim activist and thinker late Hamid Dalwai.
79. The Tamil Nadu government has recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Union Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) for the implementation of the UDAN scheme in the state. In the first phase of regional air connectivity scheme "UDAN", the steps will be taken to start flight services to Hosur, Salem and Neyveli.The purpose of the Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik (UDAN) is to make regional connectivity easy at low cost so that common people could opt for air travel. Also, it would enhance infrastructure, employment opportunities and lead to trade and industry growth.
80. The Mahananda Wildlife Sanctuary (MWS) is located on the foothills of the Himalayas, between the Teesta and Mahananda rivers. It is situated in the Darjeeling district of West Bengal. It got the status of a sanctuary in 1959 to protect the Indian bison and royal Bengal tiger, which were facing the threat of extinction It is also home to very endangered birds like Rufous-necked Hornbill, Oriental Pied Hornbill, Great Hornbill etc.
81. Indian cricket team captain Virat Kohli is the sole sportsperson from India to feature among the world's 100 highest paid athletes in the 2017 Forbes list. Kohli has been ranked 89th on the 2017 Forbes list with a total pay of $22 million that includes $3 million from salary and winnings and another $19 million from endorsements. The list is topped by soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo, followed by American basketball star LeBron James, Argentine football player Lionel Messi and Swiss Tennis star Roger Federer.
82. NITI Aayog has launched a program 'Sustainable Action for Transforming Human capital (SATH)' with the State Governments for cooperative federalism. The vision of the program is to initiate transformation in the education and health sectors. The aim of SATH is to identify and build three future 'role model' states for health systems. NITI will work in close collaboration with their state machinery to design a robust roadmap of intervention, develop a program governance structure, set up monitoring and tracking mechanisms, hand-hold state institutions through the execution stage and provide support on a range of institutional measures to achieve the end objectives. The program will be implemented by NITI along with McKinsey & Company and IPE Global consortium, who were selected through a competitive bidding process. Of the five shortlisted states three will be selected on the basis of further evaluations. The program will be launched in the three selected states after the signing of MoUs.
83. Love Raj Singh Dharmashaktu, an Indian mountaineer, has been honoured by Adventure Sports Tourism Society in Lalitpur Metropolitan City near Kathmandu, Nepal on June 9, 2017. He was appointed Tourism Ambassador of Nepal to north India. Recently, Dharmashaktu has become the first Indian mountaineer to conquer the world's highest peak Mount Everest for a record sixth time on May 27, 2017. He works as an assistant commandant with the Border Security Force (BSF) in Dehradun. He first summited Everest in 1998 and followed it with up with successive ascents in 2006, 2009, 2012 and 2013. He hails from Bona village of Munsiyari in the Kumaon region of Uttarakhand.
84. Muttiah Muralidaran, the most successful bowler in Tests and One Day Internationals, has been inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame in London on Thursday. He was honoured during the innings break of the India versus Sri Lanka ICC Champions Trophy match at The Oval in London on June 8, 2017. With this, he became the first player from Sri Lanka and the 83rd overall to be inducted into the Hall of Fame when ICC CEO Dave Richardson presented him with a commemorative framed cap.
85. The Union Minister of Railways Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu has inaugurated the first-ever Indian Railways Human Resources Round Table Conference in New Delhi on June 10, 2017. The aim of the Conference is to improve the productivity of the human resources through inter-change of ideas with various stakeholders and HR practitioners and academics. There are 3-themes of the conference viz. Stakeholders Expectations from HR, The Future of Work – HR Role and Creativity Within Constraints.
86. Jeje Lalpekhlua and Sasmita Malik were awarded 2016 AIFF Player of the Year and the AIFF Women's Player of the Year respectively at the first ever All India Football Federation (AIFF) Awards in Mumbai, Maharashtra. Malik won the award for her immense contribution to the success and growth of the Indian women's football team, while Mohun Bagan striker Jeje Lalpekhlua won the award for scoring a total of 7 goals in the last 9 games he has played for India in the 2016-17 season.
87. Vikram Limaye will be the new Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) after he gets relieved from his duties at apex cricket body BCCI. Limaye is a member of a panel appointed by the Supreme Court to administer the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). Now, Limaye will approach the Supreme Court (SC) in July when it reopens from vacation to relieve him from his duties at the committee of administrators (CoA) of BCCI. Once the Supreme Court relieves him, he will join NSE.
88. The President of India, Pranab Mukherjee has launched a mobile Application 'Selfie with Daughter' at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi on June 9, 2017 to raise awareness among people about female foeticide and sex selection. The President has urged the people to take selfies with their daughters to make the campaign a huge success. The 'Selfie with Daughter' campaign was started by Sunil Jaglan in June 2015 at village Bibipur in Haryana, which was praised by the President on this occasion. The aim of the campaign is to motivate society to feel proud to be parents of a girl child which will result in improving the child sex ratio.
89. The 22nd edition of European Union Film Festival (EUFF) has started at Siri Fort Auditorium in New Delhi with an aim to improve cultural ties between India and European countries. The film festival will not only showcase films from Estonia, Austria, Belgium, Hungary, Greece, among several countries, but also explore different styles of cinema with a blend of varying cultures. The EUFF, which is started in New Delhi, in association with Directorate of Film Festivals will also travel to Pune, Mumbai, Goa, Kolkata, Ranchi, Coimbatore and Puducherry till August 3, 2017. The fest will screen 22 films from 22 European countries to serve the purpose of knowing and understanding each other better.
90. The Van Vihar National Park is located in Bhopal, the capital city of Madhya Pradesh. It covers an area of about 4.45 km2 and is home to Bengal Tiger, Asiatic Lions, wild cats, Indian Wolf, Sloth Bear, Red Fox, Indian Jackal, Wild Dog, Mongoose, Striped Hyena, Mugger Crocodile, Gharial, Snakes, Python, etc.
91. Spain's Rafael Nadal has won the 2017 French Open Men's Singles Tennis Tournament by defeating Swiss star Stanislas Wawrinka in final by 6-2, 6-3, 6-1 in Paris, France. With the win, Nadal has become the first player in the Professional arena to win the same Grand Slam title 10 times. Nadal, the world's 4th ranked player, has 15 Grand Slams to his credit. Now, his collection of Slams stands just three behind great rival Roger Federer.
92. Veteran Bengali actor Soumitra Chatterjee has been selected for France's highest civilian award "Legion of Honour" for his outstanding contribution to cinema and theatre. With this, Chatterjee has become the first Bengali actor to be chosen for the award. The honour comes almost 3 decades after the same recognition was conferred on master director Satyajit Ray in 1987. Chatterjee has acted in several of Ray's films including 'Apur Sansar', 'Debi',' Aranyer Din Ratri', 'Ghare Bairey' and 'Ganashatru'. Earlier recipients of the Legion of Honour include sitar meastro Pandit Ravi Shankar, Amitabh Bachaan, Shahrukh Khan and Kamal Hasan. Chatterjee was awarded the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 2012.
93. The Union Government has launched a video conferencing aided legal service 'Tele Law' for the people living in rural areas. Through Tele-Law, the legal aid to poor will fulfill the government's commitment to ensure access to justice and empowerment of the poor. Under the scheme, the Tele-Law portal will be available across the Common Service Centre (CSC) network connecting the citizens to legal service providers. The portal will connect law school clinics, District Legal Service Authorities, voluntary service providers and Non-Government Organisations working on legal through the CSCs. Also, the National Legal Services Authority's panel of lawyers from state capitals will provide legal advice and counseling to the applicants across the 1000 CSC through video conferencing. In the first phase, the Tele-Law scheme will be tested as a pilot across 500 CSCs in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.
94. The Canara Bank has tied up with the state-owned general insurer New India Assurance Company to sell policies through its branches.. The purpose of the partnership is to provide best-in-class general insurance products to Canara Bank customers at highly competitive rates. Under the agreement, New India Assurance will make offer a bouquet of products such as motor, home, health, travel, fire, marine, and engineering insurance policies through branches of Canara Bank.
95. Adam West (88), the well known US actor, has passed away in Los Angeles, United States. He was the popular star of 1960s "Batman" TV show.
96. Dr C Narayana Reddy (86), the renowned poet and Jnanpith Award recipient, has passed away in Hyderabad on June 12, 2017. He was popularly known as 'CiNaRe' and also honoured with Padmasri and Padma Bhushan for his scholarly writings. He was proficient in Telugu, Urdu and Hindi and several other languages and wrote hundreds of books in all forms of literature. He also wrote lyrics for hundreds of Telugu Films.
97. Vietnam Grand Master Nguyen Duc Hoa has clinched the 10th Mumbai Mayor's Cup International Open Chess Tournament by defeating Indian chess player GM Neelotpal Das in the final round with 8.5 points on June 11, 2017.
98. Poet Haraprasad Das, the legendary poet and essayist, has been conferred with the 2017 Kalinga Literary Award for his work and contribution to literature at the 4th edition of Kalinga Literary Festival (KLF) on June 11, 2017. This year the KLF introduced two new awards — the 2017 Kalinga International Literary Award was received by Anand Neelakantan for his contribution towards literature and the 2017 Kalinga Karubaki Award was given to Paramita Satpathy for her contribution to Odia poetry. The 2017 theme of the fest is "Literature for Peace and Harmony".
99. The World Day Against Child Labour is observed every year on June 12 to focus attention on the global extent of child labour and the action and efforts needed to eliminate it. The 2017 theme is "In conflicts and disasters, protect children from child labour" that focuses on the impact of conflicts and disasters on child labour. The day brings together governments, employers and workers organizations, civil society, as well as millions of people from around the world to highlight the plight of child labourers and what can be done to help them.
100. The Nawabganj Bird Sanctuary is located in Unnao district on the Kanpur-Lucknow highway in Uttar Pradesh. In 2015, the sanctuary is renamed asShahid Chandra Shekhar Azad Bird Sanctuary. It is home to arus crane, painted stork, peafowl, white ibis, dabchick, whistling teal, open-bill stork, white-necked stork, etc. The major reptiles found in the sanctuary are cobra, viper, krait, ratsnake and water snakes. It also houses a deer park, watchtowers and boats.
101. The International Albinism Awareness Day (IAAD) is observed every year on June 13 to raise worldwide awareness on albinism and to prevent attacks and discrimination against persons with albinism. Albinism is a genetic disorder resulting in little or no pigmentation in the skin, hair, and eyes. The lack of melanin in the skin makes albinos more prone to sunburn and skin cancers. Albinism is also associated with visual problems such as photophobia, amblyopia (lazy eye),nystagmus, etc.
102. Indian shooters Jitu Rai and Heena Sidhu have clinched the gold medal in mixed team 10m air pistol event by defeating Russian pair in the final at the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup Rife/Pistol stage held at Gabala, Azerbaijan. They defeated Russian pair 7-6 in the finals. This is the pair's second World Cup gold following their success in ISSF World Cup in New Delhi in February 2017. In all, 430 athletes from 45 countries are competing for medals at the Gabala World Cup, which is the last chance for rifle and pistol shooters to qualify for the ISSF World Cup Finals (WCF). Only 8 best shooters of the world in each Olympic discipline along with reigning Olympic and World Championship medalists and wild-cards will be able to compete in the WCF. The mixed team air pistol event is one of the new events added for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
103. Lewis Hamilton has won the 2017 Formula 1 Canadian Grand Prix tournament Canadian Grand Prix at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal, Canada. It is Hamilton's 6th win at the Canadian Grand Prix and 56th race win of his career.
104. The Punjab government will start free mortuary van service for it's' citizens in the state. All government hospitals have been directed to provide such vans free of cost. For this, hospital attendants will be required to fill up a form to record whether the family of the deceased has proper arrangements for transporting the body. Till now, there was no provision of providing mortuary vans in the government hospitals of state.
105. The water conservation model "Project Jal Sanchay" has been selected for the national award for excellence in the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme (MGNREGP). The award will be conferred at a function held at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi on June 19, 2017. The model is adopted successfully by the authorities in Nalanda district of south central Bihar. Under the project, check dams were created and traditional Aahar-Pyne irrigation system and traditional water bodies were desilted and renovated to create awareness about rainwater harvesting. In it, the traditional water conservation system was used in water management and in maintaining water table in the area. Thus, through campaigns and support from local farmers, the water conservation project has not only improved the availability of water but has also positively impacted farm production in the areas covered by the project.
106. India's first underwater metro tunnel will come up in Kolkata, West Bengal, which will pass through the Hooghly River. The tunnel has been constructed 30 metres below riverbed, just a few metres away from the famous Howrah Bridge. It will be connecting two main terminals: Howrah and Sealdah — each of which has a footfall of about 10-12 lakh passengers per day. With the cost of Rs 60 crore, the project is expected to be completed by December 2019. Notably, this is the first time in India that a tunnel has been made under a flowing river.
107. Jelena Ostapenk, a Latvian professional tennis player, has won the 2017 French Open Women's Singles Tennis Tournament by defeating Simona Halep from Romania in the final by 4–6, 6–4, 6–3. With this win, Ostapenk became the first Latvian player to win a Grand Slam singles tournament and the first unseeded woman to win the French Open since 1933. She is known for her highly aggressive playing style, including powerful inside-out groundstrokes and a tendency to aim for the lines.
108. India has signed a pact with Mauritius to institutionalize cooperation between Parliaments of the two countries. The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed by Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan and Speaker of National Assembly of Mauritius Santi Bai Hanoomanjee after their meeting in Port Louis. The relationship between the two countries provides a platform for the sustained growth of friendship and partnership.
109. The four northeast Indian states share 1,643-km border with Myanmar – Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Mizoram and Manipur. It is in news recently, because the Indian Government has set up an expert committee to examine the rules which allow free movement of Indian and Myanmarese citizens within 16 kms of the border, but are exploited by militants for smuggling arms, drugs, and fake Indian currency. The committee will be headed by the special secretary (Internal Security) in the Ministry of Home Affairs. The committee will give its report for uniform and effective implementation of free movement regime within 3 months. It will also prepare standard operating procedures common for all the four states so that militants, criminals and contraband are filtered at the border without causing inconvenience to genuine people.
110. The book "Indira Gandhi – A life in nature" presents the former prime minister's life as a naturalist and examines how she steered India's conservation policy, which is authored by Jairam Ramesh, the senior Congress leader and former Environment Minister . The author noted that Mrs. Gandhi used her political authority to save ecologically sensitive areas from destruction like the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, the entire northeast and the rainforests in the Western Ghats. The book also refers to Indira Gandhi's association with nature lovers Salim Ali, Billy Arjan Singh, Sunderlal Bahuguna and Anne Wright. In all, the book highlighted the former PM Indira Gandhi's love for nature, wildlife and forests.
111. The Nalanda University has signed MoU with South Korea's Academy of Korean Studies for academic linkages and collaborations in Patna, Bihar. As per the MoU, both the universities will increase their bilateral ties through joint research programmes, faculty and student exchange, mutual sharing of data, academic research/education, joint teaching & cooperation in other areas. The MoU will be in effect for 5 years.
112. The Union Home Ministry has constituted an expert committee to examine methods to curb the misuse of free movement along the Myanmar border. The committee will be headed by Rina Mitra, the special secretary (Internal Security) in the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). The committee will examine the present rules and regulations adopted by the border States for implementation of free movement regime and submit the report within 3 months. Notably, India's 1,643-km border with Myanmar touches four states — Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur and Mizoram. It is unique in many ways as it has a visa-free movement regime for people living within 16 kms on either side of the border. They can stay up to 72 hours with effective and valid permits issued by the designated authority on either side. However, it is misused by militants and criminals who smuggle weapons, narcotics, contraband goods and fake Indian currency notes (FICN).
113. The World Blood Donor Day (WBDD) is observed every year on June 14 to raise awareness of the need for safe blood and blood products, and to thank blood donors for their voluntary, life-saving gifts of blood. Every pint of blood donated can save more than 3 lives. Thus, if you began donating blood at age 18 and donated every 90 days until you reached 60, you would have donated 30 gallons of blood, potentially helping save more than 500 lives. The 2017 theme "Give Blood. Give Now. Give Often" focus on blood donation in emergency situations.
114. Padmalaya Nanda (12) from India has created history by becoming the youngest girl to bag the "Little Miss Universe Internet 2017", "Little Miss Universe Grand Prix" and "Little Miss Actress" crowns at the Little Miss Universe 2017 beauty contest at port city of Batumi in Georgia, United States. Nanda, who hails from Odisha, has become the first Indian girl to win the crown. Now, she will participate in the "Little Miss World 2017" competition that will be held at Greece from Sept 25 to Oct 1, 2017.
115. Delhi Metro Railway Corporation (DMRC) Principal Adviser E. Sreedharan has been bestowed with the 2017 Nanniyode Rajan Memorial Award for his contributions to the development of the country. The award consists of a purse of Rs. 25,000 and a trophy. It is instituted by the Milma Thiruvananthapuram Regional Cooperative Milk Producers' Union (TRCMPU) in memory of its former chairman.
116. The 2nd edition of bilateral maritime exercise 'AUSINDEX-17' has started between Indian Navy and Royal Australian Navy in Fremantle, Australia from June 13 to increase inter-operability and cooperation between the two forces. The Eastern Naval Command of the Indian Navy under the command of Rear Admiral Biswajit Dasgupta is participating in the naval exercise. Indian warships INS Shivalik (a muIti-role stealth frigate), INS Kamorta (an anti-submarine warfare corvette) and INS Jyoti (the fleet replenishment tanker) are a part of this 5-day venture.
117. Cirrus Aircraft, the US-based aviation company, has launched the world's smallest and cheapest private jet 'Vision Jet' at Rs.12.6 Crore. The Jet can haul five adults up to 1,150 miles at 28,000 feet. It is the first Private Jet with a single engine and can be conveniently operated by a single pilot, thus keeping production and maintenance costs low for the users. The jet can fly at a speed of 345mph and has an operating altitude of 28,000 feet.
118. The world's biggest and most important trade fair for food and beverage trade "ANUGA 2017" will be held in Cologne, Germany on October 7, 2017. The acronym of ANUGA is Allgemeine Nahrungs- und Genussmittel-Ausstellung ( or General Food and Non essential Provisions Exhibition). India will be co-partner country in ANUGA 2017 and is expected that more than 200 Indian companies will participate in the food fair. ANUGA offers an extensive supporting programme with Lectures, Special exhibition and attractive industry events.
119. According to the latest Child Rights and You (CRY) report, over 8 lakh children in India between the age group 5 and 6 years are engaged in child labour. A large percentage, over 5 lakh of these children do not attend school. Majority of these kids are engaged in family based employments. The report revealed that Uttar Pradesh has the highest number of 2,50,672 children engaged in labour, followed by Bihar with 1,28,087 children and Maharashtra where the number stands at 82,847. The report further stated that the Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) have many limitations and has covered only 50% of the child labourers. Thus, many children in this age group are seen accompanying their parents to their workplace or end up living with minimal care.
120. The Valmiki National Park (VNP) is located in the West Champaran district of Bihar. It is home to tiger, Rhinoceros, Black bear, Leopard, Wild dog, wild buffalo, wild boar etc. At present 241 bird species have been reported in the forest. Some of the interesting birds are Nepal kaleej pheasant, three-toed quail, flycatcher, grey shrike, green willow warbler and tree pipit.
121. The Union Health Ministry has launched an Intensified Diarrhea Control Fortnight (IDCF) across the country to reduce child deaths due to diarrhoea. Through this initiative, the Ministry will mobilize health personnel, State Governments and other stakeholders in controlling the disease, which is one of the most common childhood illnesses. During the IDCF, the awareness campaign on hygiene and promotion of ORS and Zinc therapy will be conducted at state, district and village levels. Nearly 12 crore under five children will be covered during the programme. As per an estimate, 1.1 million children die every year in India out of which about one lakh death occur due to this disease. Diarrhoea can be prevented with safe drinking water, sanitation, breastfeeding and appropriate nutrition.
122. Dr. Neeru Chadha has become the first Indian woman to be elected as the judge of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) for a nine-year term from 2017 to 2026. She got most of the votes in Asia Pacific Group. With this election, Dr. Chadha has also become the first Indian woman to occupy a top UN position, after Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit, who served as the President of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). The Hamburg-based ITLOS, established in 1996, is one of dispute settlement mechanisms under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) that entered into force in 1994.
123. Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan has inaugurated the 16th North East Region Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (NERCPA) Conference at Imphal in Manipur on June 15, 2017. The theme of the Conference is "North East and Look East Policy". The Conference will deliberate on three significant themes – North East and Look East Policy, special plan for development of railways, airways, surface road and inland waterways connectivity for speedy economic development of North East Region and setting up of a chapter of Speaker's Research Initiative in the North Eastern Region for capacity building of the legislators of the region and generating research for the North Eastern legislatures. In the conference, Manipur Governor Dr. Najma Heptulla, Meghalaya Legislative Assembly Speaker and NERCPA Chairman Abu Taher Mondal, Manipur Deputy Chief Minister Yumnam Joykumar Singh, Presiding Officers and members of the legislatures of North East States are participating.
124. India has topped the global remittance-receiving list of 2016, as per the latest United Nations report 'One Family at a Time'. As per the report, Indians working across the globe sent home $62.7 billion US dollars in 2016, followed by China ($61 billion), Philippines ($30 billion) and Pakistan ($20 billion). The 'One Family at a Time' study by the UN International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) stated that about 200 million migrants globally sent more than $445 billion dollars as remittances in 2016 to their families. Remittance flows have grown over the last decade from $296 billion in 2007 to $445 billion in 2016. It has risen at a rate averaging 4.2 per cent annually. The study is the first-ever of a 10-year trend in migration and remittance flows over the period 2007-2016. The report has made several recommendations for improving public policies and outlines proposals for partnerships with the private sector to reduce costs and create opportunities for migrants and their families to use their money more productively.
125. The Sikkim government has signed MoU with the British Council to increase quality of education in the state. The purpose of the MoU is to support the aims and aspirations of the young people of Sikkim through collaborative projects in the area of English, education and skills by strengthening the capacity of the teachers and other professionals, working with youth in the state and support its cultural economy. The programme also include capacity building in teaching, learning and research pedagogy of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) and Social Science teachers from undergraduate colleges and universities in Sikkim by UK higher education experts along with internship of young faculties at relevant UK Universities.
126. The 2017 G7 Environment Ministers Meetings was held in Bologna, Italy on June 11-12. The meeting was attended by the Environment Ministers of US, UK, France, Germany, Italy, Canada and Japan and the Commissioners of the European Union for Environment and Climate. The meeting discussed various issues ranging from climate change to sustainable development and litter at sea. In it, the '5 year Bologna Roadmap' was adopted, which focuses on important issues such as resource efficiency indicators, citizen involvement, awareness on food waste and economic analysis of the efficient use of resources.
127. NTPC has commissioned a150 KW India's first canal top solar PV System on Cooling Water (CW) channel at its 2320 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. The system also has several other unique advantages such as land conservation and water conservation due to reduced evaporation. It also increases PV generation due to cooling from the water and a reduction in dirt.
128. The book titled "Yug Purush, Bharat Ratna, Atal Ji" is based on the on the social and political life of former Prime Minister of India Atal Bhihari Vajpayee. It is authored by Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank", who is the BJP MP and former Uttarakhand chief minister. Recently, Pokhriyal has officially handed over the first copy of the 450-page book to the President of India Pranab Mukherjee. Though, the book will be launched soon in the market for all.
129. The Telangana government has launched Pashu Bazar website for online cattle sale. The online sale or purchase of cattle through pashubazar.telangana.gov.in website will help farmers as the cattle need not be brought to shandies every time and farmers can save on transportation cost on cattle. Farmer can keep maximum five registrations for sale at any time. Thus, the online platform has been developed to help farmers to sell their animals without physically taking them to weekly markets.
130. The three state-run Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) – Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL) and Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) have signed an agreement to jointly set up the world's largest refinery and petrochemical complex at Ratnagiri district of Maharashtra at a cost of $40 billion. The IOC will hold 50% stake and HPCL & BPCL will will take 25% stake each in the new complex. The refinery will produce petrol, diesel, LPG, ATF and feedstock for making petrochemical that are basic building blocks in plastic, chemical and textile industries. The refinery is expected to be completed by 2022.
131. The World Summit on Information Society (WSIS) Forum-2017 has held in Geneva, Switzerland on June 12-16 to represent the world's largest annual gathering of the 'ICT for development' community. The WSIS 2017 theme is 'Information and Knowledge Societies for SDGs' and has served as a platform for discussions on the role of Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs) as a means of implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Manoj Sinha, the Minister of Communications, has represented India in the WSIS forum and highlighted the success story of India in leveraging ICT for providing citizen centric information and services in timely and reliable manner under the visionary leadership of Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi.
132. The Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations for coordinating the economic, social and environmental issues, as well as for implementing internationally agreed development goals. Recently, it is in news because India has been re-elected to the United Nations ECOSOC for another 3-year term. India was among 18 nations to win election to the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). India obtained 183 votes, the second highest after Japan in the Asia Pacific category. The elected members of ECOSOC for a three-year term beginning 1 January, 2018 are Belarus, Ecuador, El Salvador, France, Germany, Ghana, India, Ireland, Japan, Malawi, Mexico, Morocco, Philippines, Spain, Sudan, Togo, Turkey and Uruguay. The headquarters of the ECOSOC is located in New York, Unites States.
133. Prafullachandra Natwarlal Bhagwati (95), the former Chief Justice of India (CJI), has passed away in New Delhi on June 15,2017. Justice Bhagwati is known for introducing and pioneering Public Interest Litigation (PIL) which transformed the legal landscape in India.
134. Gaitri Issar Kumar, the joint secretary in the President's Secretariat and a 1986 batch IFS officer, has been appointed as the India's new Ambassador to Belgium and the European Union (EU) which has its headquarters in the Belgian capital of Brussels. Beside this, Reenat Sandhu and Ajit Vinayak Gupte have been named as the India's new Ambassador to Italy and Denmark.
135. The ASEAN Dengue Day (ADD) is observed every year on June 15 to raise awareness on dengue and to mobilise resources for prevention and control involving private and public sector stakeholders. The day observed as a collective advocacy event to reiterate calls on all sectors of society to unite against dengue, as well as to highlight innovative and effective strategies in the prevention and control of dengue. The 2017 theme is "United Fight Against Dengue".
136. Yeshe Dorjee Thongchi, the renowned litterateur from Arunachal Pradesh, will be conferred with the 5th edition of Bhupen Hazarika National Award-2017 in a ceremony at Srinagar, Jammu & Kaskmir in September 2017. The award was instituted by Pune-based social organization Sarhad in 2012 and is conferred on a person every year who has rendered an outstanding work at the national and international level. It consists of Rs. 51,000, a memento and a certificate.
137. David Grossman has become the first Israeli author to win the 2017 Man Booker International prize for his novel "A Horse Walks Into a Bar". The novel was translated by Jessica Cohen and is published in Britain by Jonathan Cape. The book is an ambitious high-wire act of a novel that shines a spotlight on the effects of grief, without any hint of sentimentality. Since 2016, the Man Booker International Prize awards both the winning author and translator £25,000. To be considered for the prize, books had to be translated into English and published in the UK between May 1, 2016 and April 30, 2017.
138. The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur has conferred honorary doctorate degree "Doctor of Science (D.Sc)" to former sprinter queen PT Usha at its 50th convocation in Kanpur on June 16, 2017 for her contributions to Indian sports and women empowerment.The D.Sc (honoris causa) is the highest (honorary) academic degree of IIT Kanpur. The Kannur University had conferred the Doctor of Letters (D. Litt) on Usha in 2000.
139. The World Elder Abuse Awareness Day (WEAAD) is observed every year on June 15 to highlight the often silent suffering of the elder generation. This is the one day of the year when the whole world voices its opposition to the abuse and suffering inflicted to some defenseless older people. The 2017 theme "Understand and End Financial Abuse of Older People: A Human Rights Issue" underscores the importance of preventing financial exploitation in the context of elder abuse to the enjoyment of older persons' human rights.
140. India has been ranked 60th out of 130 nations on the Global Innovation Index (GII) 2017. The 2017 index highlighted the continual improvement of India in terms of investment, tertiary education, quality of its publications and universities, its ICT services exports and innovation clusters. Among India's neighbors, Sri Lanka has acquired 90th spot, Nepal 109th, Pakistan 113th and Bangladesh 114th spot. The list is topped by Switzerland, followed by Sweden and the Netherlands. The theme of the 2017 Index is "Innovation Feeding the World" that focuses on innovation in agriculture and food systems. The index is co-authored by Cornell University, INSEAD and World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO).
141. India has been ranked 75th out of 102 countries in terms of the human impact on environment per person, as per latest study by UK-based financial services website "Money Super Market". Mozambique has topped the list as the greenest nation because it uses 100% green energy, followed by Ethiopia, Zambia, Latvia and Kenya. The study gave most weight to Carbon dioxide emissions, municipal solid waste and energy consumption. It highlights the individual contribution to the world's climate and also highlighted areas for improvement for each country. Trinidad and Tobago ranks last because it hardly relies on any green energy sources and have CO2 emissions on an average of 37.1 tonnes per person.
142. The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) has approved $150 million equity investment loan to the India Infrastructure Fund (IIF), which is AIIB's first such loan to fund private projects. The purpose of the Infrastructure Fund is to invest in mid-cap infrastructure companies in India and to expand the bank's equity and loan deal sourcing pipelines in the private sector through its equity participation in this fund. 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.
143. The World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought is observed every year on June 17 to promote public awareness of international efforts to combat desertification. The day is a unique moment to remind everyone that land degradation neutrality is achievable through problem-solving, strong community involvement and co-operation at all levels. The 2017 theme is "Our Land. Our Home. Our Future".
144. Helmut Kohl (87), the former German Chancellor, has passed away in Oggersheim, Germany on June 16, 2017. Kohl, who led the centre-right Christian Democrats, was the longest-serving German chancellor of the 20th Century. As Germany's leader for 16 years, Kohl is remembered for reuniting the country and for making a huge political and economic contribution to Europe's integration. Kohl is credited with bringing East and West Germany together after the fall of the Berlin Wall. Together with his French ally President Francois Mitterrand, he was responsible for the introduction of the Euro.
145. The third annual meeting of the board of governors of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) will be held in Mumbai, India in June 2018. India is AIIB's second-largest shareholder. The AIIB is a new multilateral development bank founded to bring countries together to address the daunting infrastructure needs across Asia. The headquarters of AIIB is located in Beijing, China. Its mission is to improve economic and social development in Asia by investing in high quality, financially viable and environmentally friendly infrastructure projects. The 2nd annual meeting of the board of governors was held in Jeju, Republic of Korea in 2017.
146. H S Shivaprakash, the noted Kannada poet and playwright, has been conferred with the prestigious 2017 Kusumagraja Rashtriya Puraskar for his outstanding contribution in social and educational fields. The award is constituted by Nashik-based Yashwantrao Chavan Maharashtra Open University's (YCMOU) Kusumagraja Adhyasan (Chair). It carries a cash prize of Rs 1 lakh, a memento and citation. Beside this, Latur-based Menka Dhumale has been honoured with the YCMOU's 2016 'Baburao Bagul story writing award' for her book "Korda Paus".
147. Syama Sanju has won the Kerala's first-ever beauty contest for transgenders "Queen of Dhwayah-2017", which was held at CIAL Convention Centre in Nedumbassery, Kerala. Apart from this, Jaz D'souza was crowned the first runner-up while Harini Chandana came third from among fifteen participants. The Queen of Dhwayah 2017 was organized by Dhwayah Arts and Cultural Society with the aim to draw attention to the third gender in the society and its inclusion.
148. Ana Brnabic, a graduate of the University of Hull in England, will become the first gay and first female prime minister of Serbia, following her nomination by the nation's president, Aleksandar Vucic. She will succeed Ivica Dacic on June 2017. The role of the Prime Minister in Serbia is to direct the work of the Government, and to submit to the National Assembly the Government's Program, including a list of proposed ministers. The resignation of the Prime Minister will cause the fall of the Government.
149. Ajmer Singh Aulakh (75), the renowned Punjabi playwright and Sahitya Akademi awardee, has passed away in Mansa, Punjab. He was known to depict the real picture of rural life of Punjab, especially the Malwa region, under the stress of capitalism. His plays raised a voice against the ills that plague society, be it honour killings, domestic violence, female foeticide, militancy, etc.
150. The Union External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has inaugurated Know India Programme (KIP) for young overseas Indians at a function in New Delhi on June 17, 2017. The purpose of the programme is to promote awareness on different facets of life in India and the progress made by the country in various fields such as economic and education. The Know India Programme (KIP) is a three-week orientation programme for the Indian diaspora. It provides a unique forum for students and young professionals of Indian origin to visit India, share their views, expectations and experiences and develop closer bonds with the contemporary India.
151. Sachin Tendulkar's mother-in-law and social activist, Annabel Mehta has been conferred with the MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) in recognition of her 40 years of service to underprivileged communities in Mumbai and the NGO "Apnalaya". The award will be presented to her at Buckingham Palace in London later this year. The Order of the British Empire (which has several ranks) was created in 1917 by King George V to recognise individuals, who have contributed valued service to their communities. MBE is a rank of the order and stands for Member of the Order of the British Empire.
152. John G. Avildsen (81), the Oscar-winning director of Rocky and The Karate Kid, has passed away in California, United States. Other films he directed include Joe, Save the Tiger, Fore Play, The Formula, Neighbors, For Keeps, Lean on Me, The Power of One, etc.
153. Indian shuttler Kidambi Srikanth has become the first Indian men's singles player to win the Indonesia Open Super Series men's singles tournament by defeating Kazumasa Sakai of Japan in the final at Jakarta by 21-11, 21-19. With this win, Srikanth clinched his third Super Series title after he had notched up victories at the 2014 China Open and the 2015 India Open.
154. The Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) has launched digital enrollment process "APY@eNPS" for Atal Pension Yojana (APY) to expand the outreach of the scheme. The APY is the government's flagship social security scheme which may be availed by every citizen of India who is in the age group of 18-40 years. The scheme provides a minimum guaranteed pension to everyone enrolled. Currently, the scheme boasts of over 54 lakh subscribers and has generated a return of 13.91%.
155. The International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict is observed every year on June 19 to raise awareness of the need to put an end to conflict-related sexual violence, to honour the victims and survivors of sexual violence around the world and to pay tribute to all those who have courageously devoted their lives to and lost their lives in standing up for the eradication of these crimes. The 2017 theme is "Preventing Sexual Violence Crimes through Justice and Deterrence".
156. The State Bank of India (SBI) has tied-up with Tirumala Milk Products to provide loans to dairy farmers who supply milk to the latter. As per the scheme for financing dairy units, SBI offers loans for construction of shed, and purchase of milch animals, milking machine, and chaff cutter. Apart from this, the bank also provides loans to dairy societies for modernisation and creation of infrastructure such as purchase of automatic milk collection system, purchase of transport vehicles and bulk chilling unit. The Tirumala Milk Products is a South- based company, which was acquired by France-based Groupe Lactalis in 2014.
157. The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) has recently approved the membership of Argentina, the Republic of Madagascar and the Kingdom of Tonga at its 2nd annual meeting of Board of Governors in Jeju, South Korea, June 16, 2017. The three prospective members will officially join the AIIB once they complete the required domestic processes and deposit the first installment of capital with the bank. The 2017 AIIB annual meeting was held under the theme of "Sustainable Infrastructure," seeking strategic directions of the international infrastructure bank and making major decisions on the bank's management.
158. Sahapedia, an open online interactive heritage portal on Indian arts, in partnership with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has recently launched a fellowship programme, to inspire and provide an opportunity for young people to expand their knowledge and encourage documentation of India's rich cultural heritage. The Sahapedia-UNESCO Fellowships will be available to post-doctoral scholars, doctoral candidates, post-graduates, and graduates. The fellowships will be available in two variants — the Sahapedia Project Fellowship (SPF) and the Sahapedia Research Fellowship (SRF) — that gives the applicants the option of participating either at the level of primary documentation or in the content curation process.
159. The Jigme Dorji National Park is the second-largest National Park of Bhutan. The park provides sanctuary for 37 known species of mammals including several endangered, threatened or vulnerable species, such as the takin, snow leopard, clouded leopard, Bengal tiger, bharal or Himalayan blue sheep, etc. It is also home to the Indian leopard, serow, sambar, barking deer, goral, marmot, pika and more than 300 species of birds. It is also the only park in Bhutan where the national animal (takin), flower (blue poppy), bird (raven) and tree (cypress) exist together.
160. John Bew has been bestowed with the 2017 Orwell Prize for his extraordinary biography "Citizen Clem" , which is about Clement Attlee, the founder of the NHS. The £3,000 award is the Britain's most prestigious prize for political writing, which is awarded annually by the Orwell Foundation to a book that comes closest to the George Orwell's ambition to make political writing into an art in London.
161. The first-ever BRICS Games has started at the Guangzhou Baiyun International Convention Center in Guangzhou, China on June 17, 2017. It featured some 300 athletes from five countries- Brazil, China, India, Russia and South Africa with 10 events in 3 sports – men's basketball, women's volleyball and Wushu. Recently, India has won six medals in the Wushu competition of the first ever BRICS Games. The medals haul comprised two each in gold, silver and bronze. M. Gyandas and Anjul Namdev won one gold each. The two silver medals came through Bidheswari Devi and Toshibala while L. Sanatgombhi Chanu and Sajan Lama settled for bronze in the Wushu competition.
162. The Union Power Minister Piyush Goyal has launched Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC) 2017 in New Delhi to prescribe the energy performance standards for new commercial buildings to be constructed across India. The updated version of ECBC provides current as well as futuristic advancements in building technology to further reduce building energy consumption and promote low-carbon growth. The purpose of the code is to optimize energy savings with the comfort level for occupants, and prefers life-cycle cost effectiveness to achieve energy neutrality in commercial building. The ECBC 2017 was developed by Bureau of Energy Efficiency (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.
163. Baldwin Jacobson Lonsdale (67), the current President of Vanuatu, has passed away in Port Vila, Vanuatu on June 17, 2017. He was a former senior civil servant and served as the secretary general of the Torba provincial government before becoming an Anglican priest. Father Lonsdale was the 2nd Anglican priest to become head of state in Vanuatu. He served the nation from September 22, 2014 until his death.
164. The iconic Taj Mahal Palace hotel of Mumbai has acquired an `image trademark' under the Trademark Act of 1999. Thus, the Palace has become the first building in India to get intellectual property rights protection for its architectural design. Now, it is will be difficult to use Taj Mahal Palace's images for commercial purposes without paying the company a licensing fee. Though, it does not prevent locals and tourists from clicking pictures of the iconic building as long as it is not sold for commercial benefits. The Trade Marks Act of 1999 is the current governing law relating to registered trademarks which replaced The Trade and Merchandise Marks Act of 1958.The act enables to deal with the precise nature of rights which a person can acquire in respect of trademarks.
165. The World Refugee Day (WRD) is observed every year on June 20 to honor the courage, strength and determination of women, men and children who are forced to flee their homeland under threat of persecution, conflict and violence. This year, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has appointed Syrian refugee Muzoon Almellehan as its newest and youngest Goodwill Ambassador on June 20, 2017 to promote child education. The WRD 2017 has marked a key moment for the public to show support for families.
166. The Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) has appointed Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan as new brand ambassador for Goods and Services Tax (GST). A 40-second video "GST – An initiative to create a unified national market" featuring him has already been shot and is being circulated by the Finance Ministry. In the video, Bachchan explains GST as a unifying force just like the three colours in the national flag. The GST will simplify a web of taxes, regulations and border levies by subsuming an array of central and state levies including excise duty, service tax and VAT.
167. The Union Minister for Science & Technology Dr. Harsh Vardhan has launched a mobile app "Celebrating Yoga" in New Delhi to connect people through Yoga for scientific healthy living. The mobile app has been developed by Department of Science & Technology on the occasion of International Yoga Day (IYD) 2017. The aim of the app is to popularize Yoga and encourage people to practice yoga for a scientifically healthy living.
168. India has re-nominated Justice Dalveer Bhandari as its candidate for another term as judge at the International Court of Justice (ICJ). His current term runs through February 2018. The ICJ elections will be held in November and if elected, he will serve a term of 9 years. During his term at the ICJ, Justice Bhandari has been engaged actively in the work of the Court. He has delivered individual opinions in eleven cases covering a broad spectrum of subjects such as maritime disputes, whaling in Antarctica, crime of genocide, nuclear disarmament, financing of terrorism and violation of sovereign rights. ICJ is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations based in The Hague in the Netherlands.
169. The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has appointed Syrian refugee Muzoon Almellehan as its newest and youngest Goodwill Ambassador on World Refugee Day (WRD) on June 20, 2017. With this, the 19-year-old female education activist Muzoon has become the first goodwill ambassador with official refugee status.
170. Prof Predhiman Krishan Kaw (69), an internationally recognised plasma physicist and pioneer of thermo-nuclear fusion in India, has passed away in Gandhinagar, Gujarat on June 18, 2017. He was the founder director of the Institute of Plasma Research (IPR), Gandhinagar and served as the Professor of Department of Science and Technology (DST) at the institute till he breathed his last. The veteran scientist was honoured with Padma Shri in 1985 for his contribution in the field of producing energy through thermonuclear fusion. He was internationally known for his outstanding contribution to the physics of non-linear collective phenomena in plasmas with special emphasis on applications to thermonuclear fusion.
171. The Ramamani Iyengar Memorial Yoga Institute (RIMYI), Pune has been selected as the first recipient of the Prime Minister's Award for outstanding contribution to promotion and development of Yoga. The institute has worked to spread Yoga, internationally, over a period of four decades. Apart from this RIMYI has also published many books on Yoga and these have been translated into multiple languages. There are thousands of Iyengar Yoga teachers popularising and propagating yoga across the world. The Award was recommended by an Evaluation Committee (Jury) constituted under the Chairmanship of the Cabinet Secretary and included Additional Principal Secretary to Prime Minister, the Foreign Secretary, Secretary (AYUSH) and Dr. Veerendra Heggade as its members.
172. The International Yoga Day (IYD) is celebrated every year on June 21 to highlight the fact that yoga can contribute in a holistic way to achieving an equilibrium between mind and body. The 3rd edition of IYD 2017 has celebrated world-wide from New Delhi to New York and Paris to Panama. About 5,000 events are taking place across 180 countries to mark the Yoga day. The United Nations (UN) theme of this year is "Yoga for Health". Yoga is an ancient Indian practice which is very useful for curing many diseases and health disorders.
173. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has signed a loan agreement of $275 million with Government of India (GOI) for improving urban services in 64 small towns in Madhya Pradesh. As part of the agreement, the project will develop sustainable, inclusive, and climate-resilient water supply in 64 small and medium-sized towns, and integrated storm water and sewerage infrastructure in two heritage towns of Khajuraho and Rajnagar. Along with ADB's loan, the Government of Madhya Pradesh will provide counterpart support of $124 million. The project will run for almost 5 years with an expected completion date of June 2022.
174. India has recently signed a historical agreement with Portugal to promote cooperation in the field of archives in Lisbon, Portugal. As a part of the cooperation, the Torre do Tombo (National Archives of Portugal) has handed over digital copies of 62 volumes of the collection known as 'Moncoes do Reino' (Monsoon correspondence) to the National Archives of India (NAI). 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.
175. India's first indigenously built Floating Dock (FDN-2) for the Indian Navy has launched at the L&T Shipbuilding Yard at Kattupalli near Chennai, Tamil Nadu. The Floating Dock is 185 metres long and 40 metres wide and will enable docking of all kinds of vessels, including Naval ships and submarines (excepting aircraft carriers and tankers) of up to 8,000 tonnes displacement, with draughts of up to seven metres, during both day and night. FDN-2 was designed and built by Larsen & Toubro Ltd. (L&T) at a cost of Rs 468 crore.
176. The 2017 BIO International Convention has started at the San Diego Convention Centre in San Diego, California from June 19 to 22, 2017, which is hosted by the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO). It is the largest global event for the biotechnology industry that offers key networking and partnering opportunities and provides insights and inspiration on the major trends affecting the industry. Y S Chowdary, Minister of State for Science & Technology and Earth Sciences, is leading the Indian delegation at the 2017 Convention. The event features keynotes and sessions from key policymakers, scientists, CEOs, and celebrities. The Convention also features the BIO Business Forum (One-on-One Partnering), hundreds of sessions covering biotech trends, policy issues and technological innovations, and the world's largest biotechnology exhibition – the BIO Exhibition.
177. The Punjab Government has recently announced free education for girls in Government Schools and colleges from Nursery to PhD for women empowerment. To promote English in schools, the state government will also launch a pilot project that will roll out from July 2017in all government schools. In addition, the free Wi-FI service will also roll-out for 13,000 primary schools and all 48 government colleges. Meanwhile, the reservation for women in Panchayati Raj Institutions and Urban Local Bodies has already been increased by the government from 33% to 50%.
178. Indian agricultural microbiologist Dr. Shrihari Chandraghatgi, the President and CEO of EcoCycle Corporation, has been conferred with the 2017 Ministry of Environment Award in Japan for developing cutting edge technologies to address burning environmental problems. With this, Chandraghatgi has become the first foreigner to receive this award. The Ministry of Environment Award is the highest honour given in the environmental sector every year jointly by the Ministry of Environment, Japan, National Institute for Environmental Studies (NIES), Japan and The Nikkan Kogyo Shinbun (a media group).
179. Rajiv Gauba, the 1982 batch IAS officer of Jharkhand cadre, will be the new home secretary in the union ministry for home affairs. He will succeed Rajiv Mehrishi, who will complete his term on August 30, 2017. Until then Gauba will serve as Officer on Special Duty in the Home Ministry. Prior to this appointment, he was posted as urban development secretary as officer on special duty.
180. The Lahugala Kitulana National Park is one of the smallest national parks in Sri Lanka. Despite its land area, the park is an important habitat for Sri Lankan elephant and endemic birds of Sri Lanka. It is home to Endemic toque macaque, Sri Lanka leopard, Indian muntjac, Sri Lankan axis deer, Sri Lankan sambar deer, Indian pangolin, Indian hare, etc.
181. The renowned Ayurveda physician 'Vaidya' Rajesh Kotecha has been appointed as new special secretary in Ministry of Ayush for three years on a contract basis. Kotecha is the chief consultant of Chakrapani Ayurveda Clinic, Jaipur. The appointment is in line with the Centre's efforts to bring in specialists from the private sector in the government.
182. Luanda, the capital of Angola, has topped the list of most expensive cities for expatriates, according to Mercer's 23rd annual Cost of Living Survey. Hong Kong has acquired 2nd position, followed by Tokyo, Zurich, Singapore, Seoul and Geneva. From India, Mumbai is the most expensive city for expatriates that has ranked 57th on the list, followed by New Delhi (99), Chennai (135), Bangalore (166) and Kolkata (184). The Mercer's survey includes 209 cities across five continents. The world's least expensive cities for expatriates, according to Mercer's survey, are Tunis (209), Bishkek (208) and Skopje (206). Mercer's authoritative survey is one of the world's most comprehensive, and is designed to help multinational companies and governments determine compensation allowances for their expatriate employees.
183. Narendra Kumar Sinha, the 1980 batch IAS officer of Bihar cadre, will be the new secretary of Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Ministry. Currently, Sinha is posted as cultural secretary. He will succeed Ajay Mittal who has been appointed as the new secretary of Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT). The current DoPT Secretary B P Sharma will retire from the post on June 30, 2017.
184. The world's first-ever data embassy will be established by the Estonian government in Luxembourg in 2018. For this, Prime Minister of Estonia Jüri Ratas and Prime Minister of Luxembourg Xavier Bettel has signed an agreement on housing data and information systems, that will pave the way to open data embassy in Luxembourg. Its establishment is part of the Estonian general strategy of data management and fundamentally a double guarantee to their data and services. In addition, the data embassy will have the same rights as any other physical embassy of Estonia.
185. Russian diplomat Vladimir Ivanovich Voronkov has been appointed as the head of the newly created United Nations Counter-Terrorism Office (UNCTO) and will hold the title of Under-Secretary-General. The Under-Secretary-General will provide strategic leadership to United Nations counter-terrorism efforts, participate in the decision-making process of the United Nations and ensure that the cross-cutting origins and impact of terrorism are reflected in the work of the United Nations. The purpose of the UNCTO is to strengthen counterterrorism efforts of 36 UN-funded programs under the ambit of a variety of UN agencies, 12 inter-agency working groups, Interpol and the World Customs Organisation (WCO). Currently, Voronkov is the Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the International Organizations in Vienna.
186. Subhash C. Garg, a 1983 batch lAS officer of Rajasthan cadre, has been appointed as the new the economic affairs secretary in the Union Finance Ministry. The post fell vacant after Shaktikanta Das retired on May 31, 2017. Currently, Tapan Ray, the corporate affairs secretary, has the additional charge of the economic affairs department. Prior to this appointment, Garg was Executive Director at World Bank for Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Sri Lanka.
187. Carla Fendi (79), the Italian luxury fashion designer, has passed away in Rome, Italy. She played a key role along with her four sisters in developing and expanding her parents' small leather workshop, transforming the business into a global luxury fashion brand.
188. The Bhawal National Park is located at Gazipur in Dhaka Division of Bangladesh.The core area of the park covers 940 hectares but extends to 5,022 ha of surrounding forest. Its purpose is to protect important habitats as well as to provide opportunities for recreation. The park has 345 plant species, including 152 different tree species, 53 shrubs, 106 herbs and 34 climber species.
189. The book titled 'Hope in a challenged democracy; An Indian narrative' has authored by Dr. Ashwini Kumar, the renowned lawyer, author and veteran parliamentarian. The principal themes of the book are firstly on the incestuous relationship between wealth and power' and its impact on the credibility and moral authority of the government and secondly on an insufferable atmosphere of intolerance. The book was launched by former Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh in New Delhi on April 10, 2017.
190. The World Hydrography Day (WHD) is observed every year on June 21 to publicise the work of hydrographers and to create awareness about hydrography which is an essential science before undertaking any activity on or under the sea. The 2017 theme is "Mapping our seas, oceans and waterways – more important than ever".
191. Indore has become the India's first city where robot is being used on an experimental basis to control its ever growing and unruly traffic. The traffic police in association with a private engineering college of the city for the first time have installed a metallic robot at a busy MR 9 intersection on an experimental basis to control the chaotic traffic in the locality. This traffic controller robot has been designed by 2 professors of an engineering college of the city Prof Rahul Tiwari and Aniruddh Sharma.
192. Axis Bank has launched India's first open loop EMV contactless metro card "KMRL Axis Bank 'Kochi1' Card" in association with Kochi Metro Rail Corporation (KMRL) to make travel a convenient and hassle free experience for commuters in Kochi. Axis Bank has partnered with National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) in developing this transit EMV contactless specification on interoperable open standards. The prepaid card has integrated benefits and offers a plethora of services to commuters such as instant issuance of personalized cards, convenience of recharge, hassle free shopping experience, etc.
193. Nisha Dutt, the CEO of Intellecap, has been honoured with the "Social Entrepreneur of the Year" award at The 7th Asian Awards in London in recognition of her work in making Intellecap a globally known enterprise that focuses on social capital. With this, Dutt has become the first Indian woman leader to be honoured with this award. Her key contribution has been integrating technology with challenges of healthcare, financial services, incubation and conceptualizing programs such as Innovations Labs and Credit-tree.
194. Facebook Inc has launched an Online Civil Courage Initiative (OCCI) in the United Kingdom (UK) to remove extremist and terrorism content from its social media platform. The new initiative will train Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) to help them monitor and respond to extremist content and create a dedicated support desk so they can communicate directly with Facebook.
195. Wipro Chairman Azim Premji will be honoured with the 2017 Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy for his efforts to reform India's public school system. He is among the 9 philanthropists named recipients of the 2017 Medal of Philanthropy, who are selected for their distinguished and longstanding contributions to the public good. The Carnegie institutions will award the medals during a formal ceremony in October 2017. The honorees are recognized as catalysts for good whose philanthropy has had a significant and lasting impact on a particular field, nation, or community of people.
196. Dr. Harsh Vardhan, the Union Minister of Science and Technology, has launched the Visiting Advanced Joint Research Faculty (VAJRA) scheme in New Delhi to bring together the Indian scientists abroad and India-based researchers for conducting joint researches in India. Under this scheme, scientists or senior researchers abroad – of Indian origin or otherwise – can collaborate with faculties in India and would receive endowments at par with those in their own countries. The endowments for faculties would be US $15,000 in the first month of residency and US $10,000, for the remaining month. As per the scheme, the broad areas of research like energy, health, advance material and others would be promoted.
197. Bengaluru has become the India's first city where one can have fuel delivered at one's doorstep just like milk and newspapers. Mypetrolpump, a one-year-old startup, has conducted a soft launch with three delivery vehicles – each with a capacity of 950 litres. It has already delivered more than 5,000 litres of diesel. Diesel is delivered at the day's running price with a fixed delivery charge. For up to 100 litres, the one-time delivery charge is Rs 99. Above 100 litres, one needs to pay the diesel price plus one additional rupee per litre. The startup has got 20 odd customers, including 16 schools (which have 250-300 buses) and a few apartments. One can place orders online, through a phone call or by downloading the free app.
198. The United Nations Public Service Day is observed every year on June 23 to recognize the work of public servants and to encourage young people to pursue careers in the public sector. The day is also observed to celebrate value and virtue of public service to the community and to raise awareness regarding the contribution of public service in the development of society and honouring the work of public servants.
199. Indian anti-hunger activist Ankit Kawatra has honoured with the 2017 Queen's Young Leaders award for his exceptional work in transforming the lives of others. Kawatra is among the 60 others from all 53 Commonwealth countries to be felicitated with the prestigious award by Queen Elizabeth (II) at a ceremony in Buckingham Palace in London on June 29, 2017. The honourees will also undergo a year-long mentoring and online learning by the University of Cambridge to build leadership capabilities and better their work towards the communities. He is the founder of Feeding India, a not-for profit organization that works towards solving problems of hunger, malnutrition and food wastage, mainly by redistributing extra food from restaurants, canteens, households, corporates etc. to help people in need.
200. The Kishtwar National Park (KNP) is located in the Kishtwar district of Jammu and Kashmir. is surrounded by Rinnay River in the north, Kibar Nala catchments in the southern part, the Great Himalaya in the east and Marwa River in the west. The park is located at the high altitude of 1,700 meters to 4,800 meters. It is home to brown bear, leopard, snow leopard, Himalayan musk deer, hangul, ibex, etc.
201. The West Bengal government has won the prestigious UN Public Service Award for year 2017 for its initiative to combat child marriage and ensure education to the girl child in the state. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee received the prestigious award at a ceremony held in The Hague, Netherlands on behalf of her government for the 'Kanyashree Prakalpa' initiative that sought to reduce the high child marriage rates and low female education rates in the state. Through the initiative, cash was deposited into the bank account of girls for every year they remained in school and were unmarried. The UN Public Service Awards are given by the world body to institutions from across the world for their innovation and excellence in providing public services. It highlights the pivotal role of public services in the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
202. The Maharashtra government will launch a mobile app 'My Plant' on July 1, 2017, which would help in recording data about tree plantations in the state. Using this app, people and organizations can feed the data about the saplings they have planted with the Forest Department, which would help it in creating a database of trees. The Forest Department has set a target of planting 4 crore saplings through public participation between July 1 and 7. After downloading this mobile app, people and organizations can record the data about tree plantation with the Forest Department and information on this app will be automatically recorded on the department's website.
203. Imran Khawaja, the Chairman of Associates counties and an administrator from Singapore, has been unanimously elected as the new Deputy Chairman of the International Cricket Council (ICC) board. He will deputize in ICC meetings in case the chairman Shashank Manohar is absent. Khawaja is a senior lawyer and serving in the ICC Board for several years. The post of deputy chairman is recently created by the ICC Full Council following the constitutional change on June 22, 2017.
204. The International Widows day (IWD) is observed every year on June 23 as an opportunity for action towards achieving full rights and recognition for widows that are too long invisible, uncounted and ignored. The day addresses the poverty and injustice faced by millions of widows and their dependents in many countries. The 2017 theme is "Empowering Women for Greater Achievements".
205. Kavita Devi, the former Indian powerlifter and South Asian Games gold medal winner, will become the first Indian woman to compete in the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) when she takes part in the first ever Mae Young Classic tournament for women from July 2017. She will be among the 32 participants who will compete at the tournament. The event is set to take place on July 13 -14 in Full Sail Live in Orlando, Florida.
206. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has successfully launched the world's smallest and lightest satellite "Kalamsat" built by Indian students into the space from its facility in Wallops Island on June 23, 2017. The satellite is named after the former President APJ Abdul Kalam and was designed and built by Tamil Nadu student Rifath Sharook along with six other teammates. The tiny satellite weighs around 64 grams and its structure is fully 3D-printed with reinforced carbon fiber polymer. It is equipped with a nano Geiger Muller counter which will measure radiation in space. The satellite has been designed in a way which will have a 240-minute mission in space and will operate for 12 minutes in a micro-gravity environment of space. With this launch, Rifath Sharook has become the first Indian student to have his experiment launched by NASA.
207. The 6th edition of International Federation of Sport Climbing (IFSC) World Cup was held at the CIDCO Exhibition Centre in Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra on June 24 – 25, 2017. Over 150 athletes from across the globe will participate at the World Cup including the top talent from India. The tournament will be hosted by the City Industrial Development Corporation of Maharashtra (CIDCO). The Italy-based IFSC has 86 member federations across five continents.
208. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has recently expanded the Oversight Committee (OC) from 2 to 5 for faster bad loan resolution in the banking sector. The three new members are M.B.N. Rao, Y.M. Deosthalee and S. Raman. According to the reconstituted structure, the 5-member OC will be led by a chairman and work through multiple benches to approve various cases of restructuring referred by banks. Pradeep Kumar has been appointed as the chairman of the OC. With the expanded mandate, the OC will be responsible for approving cases of restructuring under the central bank's S4A (Scheme for Sustainable Structuring of Stressed Assets) as well as for resolving stressed cases where the aggregate exposure of the banking industry is above Rs 500 crore.
209. The World Bank (WB) has approved a loan assistance of $44 million for the Assam State Public Finance Institutional Reforms (ASPIRe) Project. The ASPIRe project is based on three important components that act as pillars for institutional reforms – strengthening public finance institutional capacity, strengthening expenditure and revenue information systems and on project management, monitoring and evaluation, and coordination. The purpose of the project is to improve predictability and transparency in budget execution and efficiency in tax administration in Assam. The project is for 5 years and is expected to be completed by March 31, 2022.
210. Manu S Pillai has won the 2017 Sahitya Academy Yuva Puraskar in English Language for his book titled "The Ivory Throne – Chronicles of the House of Travancore", the biography of the last queen of Travancore. The book unfolds the rise and fall of Maharani Sethu Lakshmi Bai, who ruled Travancore between 1924 -193. The book discusses the unheard life and rare customs of the royal family. The book also unravels some of the interesting and rare practice of matrilineal system existed in the Travancore kingdom, where king emerges from the sons of sisters of the king and not of the king, unlike other Indian kingdoms. It is also interesting to find that queen is not the wife of the king, but is the mother, sister or niece of the king. The Yuva Puraskar is awarded annually for the first book or best book by an author of age 35 and below. It consists of a cash prize of Rs 50,000 and a copper plaque.
211. Bhumika Sharma from Uttarakhand has won the 2017 Miss World title in BodyBuilding Championship in Venice, Italy. She gained maximum points in three categories – individual posing, body posing and fall in that bagged her the Miss World title. The championship drew 50 competitors from different countries. Now, she is preparing for the Miss Universe title for bodybuilding, which is scheduled to be held in December 2017 by the National Amateur Body-Builders' Association (NABBA) of United Kingdom. In the event, bodybuilders from 60 countries will participate for the Miss and Mr Universe titles.
212. Desh Bandhu Gupta (79), the founder and chairman of pharmaceutical major Lupin Ltd, has passed away on June 25, 2017 in Mumbai, Maharashtra. He founded Lupin in 1968 and created a global pharmaceutical major with a presence in over 100 countries. Today, Lupin is the 4th largest generics pharmaceutical player by market capitalisation in the world.
213. Manushi Chhillar from Haryana has won the 54th edition of Femina Miss India World 2017 at Yash Raj Studios in Mumbai, Maharashtra on June 25, 2017. Sana Dua from Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) was declared the Femina Miss India Earth 2017, while Priyanka Kumari from Bihar adjudged as Femina Miss India Grand 2017. Besides, Vinali Bhatnagar won the Miss Active crown whereas Vamika Nidhi won the special award of 'Body Beautiful'.
214. The Union ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD) has appointed a new nine-member committee to work on a new National Education Policy (NEP). The former ISRO chief Dr. K Kasturirangan will head the committee on NEP. The committee also includes former IAS officer KJ Alphonse and Ram Shanker Kureel, who has a wide experience in the field of agricultural sciences and management. The committee has been appointed keeping in mind that the members bring expertise related to the diverse areas of education. Significantly, the panel also reflects the diversity of the country as the members belong to different sections as well as regions.
215. The International Day of Seafarer is observed every year on June 25 to give thanks to the Seafarer for their contribution to the world economy and civil society as 90% of worlds goods are transported by Seafarer. The 2017 theme is "Seafarers Matter".
216. Indian film 'Sultan' has won the best action movie award at the Shanghai International Film Festival (SIFF). The movie is about Desi, Indian wrestling and its raw power. It was directed by Ali Aabbas Zafar. With this, Sultan has become the first ever Bollywood film to win the award in the Jackie Chan Action Movie week section, which focuses on a selection of the best in action, special effects, and performances by action stars from China and the Asia Pacific.
217. The United Nations' (UN) International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking is observed every year on June 26 across the world to strengthen action and cooperation to achieve the goal of an international society free of drug abuse. The day also observes to raise awareness of the major problem that illicit drugs represent to society. The 2017 theme is "Listen First – Listening to children and youth is the first step to help them grow healthy and safe ". This is an initiative to increase support for prevention of drug use that is based on science and is thus an effective investment in the well-being of children and youth, their families and their communities.
218. Indian shuttler Kidambi Srikanth has won the Australian Open Super Series Badminton trophy by defeating former world number one and Rio Olympics Gold medalist Chen Long in the final by 22-20, 21-16 in Sydney on June 25. 2017. With this, Srikanth has become the fifth player in the world to contest three successive Super Series finals by reaching the summit clash in Singapore, Indonesia and Australia.
219. The Indian-origin Sikh human rights advocate, Palbinder Kaur Shergill has been appointed a judge at the Supreme Court of British Columbia in New Westminster. With this, she has become the first turbaned Sikh woman to be appointed as a Supreme Court judge of Canada. Justice Shergill succeeded Justice EA Arnold-Bailey, who retired on May 31. Justice Shergill has actively represented the interests of the Canadian Sikh community in several cases heard by the Supreme Court of Canada, including the one dealing with the right of Sikh students to wear the kirpan (ceremonial dagger) in schools.
220. Yashaswini Singh Deswal from Chandigarh has bagged gold in the Women's 10m Air Pistol competition at the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) Junior World Rifle/Pistol Championship in Suhl, Germany. Beside her, Anish Bhanwala has clinched gold in the Men's 25m Standard Pistol competition in the championship.
221. Mihai Tudose, the former economy minister, has been appointed as the new Prime Minister of Romania and is expected to take office on June 29, 2017. He will succeed Sorin Grindeanu, who was dismissed by a motion of no confidence adopted in Parliament by his own party.
222. Dr. Srinivas Gokulnath from Maharashtra has created history by becoming the first Indian to complete the 4,900-km Race Across America (RAAM) in solo 18-59 age category, which is considered to be the toughest cycle race in the world. He completed the race in 11 days, 18 hours and 45 minutes. Not only Gokunath but another Indian from Maharashtra, Dr Amit Samarth of Nagpur, crossed the finish line at Annapolis on American east coast. Gokunath stood seventh and Samarth was a position below him among the total nine cyclists who finished the race. Christoph Strasser was the winner of the race. RAAM is not a stage based cycle race. It is a continuous cycle race that allows less than two hours of rest per day and is supposed to be finished inside 12 days. The cyclists pedal around 400 km per day.
223. The World Bank has cleared a $250-million loan to aid the Skill India mission. The loan amount would be used for making Indian youth more employable through reskilling. Under the skill development programme, adults in 15-59 years of age, underemployed or unemployed, will get the skill training. It will also include the 1.2 crore youngsters in the age group of 15-29 years who are entering the labour market every year. The programme has a mandate to provide placement and entrepreneurship opportunities to women and increase their exposure to skill training.
224. Narinder Nath Vohra, the Governor of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), has been appointed as the new President of the India International Centre (IIC), which is one of the premier cultural institutions in the country. He succeeded by Soli Sorabjee. The India International Centre (IIC) is a well known non-official organization located in New Delhi.
225. The book titled 'The Emergency – Indian Democracy's Darkest Hour' has been authored by Surya Prakash, the chairman of Prasar Bharati. The book has recently launched by Union Minister for Urban Development M Venkaiah Naidu in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. The purpose of the book is to honor all those who fought for the restoration of democracy in the country in the mid-1970s.
226. Ankush Dahiya (60kg) from India has won a gold medal at the Ulaanbaatar Cup boxing tournament by defeating Man Choe Chol of Korea in his category in Mongolia. Beside this, L Devendro Singh (52kg) from India won a silver medal in the boxing tournament in Mongolia.
227. The 3rd edition of Whatashort Independent International Film Festival (WIIFF) will be held at the Instituto Cervantes in New Delhi from July 8-9, 2017 to promote short films from across the globe. More than 400 films participated from over 34 countries and more than 45 films will be screened this year. The significance of the festival lies in the very core idea of uplifting the indie and short film makers and their creations. It not only provides a unique platform to the shorter version of the motion picture but paves the way to the pinnacle it should achieve.
228. Roger Federer, a Swiss professional tennis player, has won the 2017 Gerry Weber Open tennis tournament by defeating Alexander Zverev in final by 6-1 6-3 at the Gerry Weber Stadion in Halle, Germany. With this win, Federer clinch his 92nd career title.
229. Recently, the World Taekwondo Federation (WTF) has changed its name to World Taekwondo (WT) because of the "negative connotations" that came with its acronym WTF. The change was made before the start of the 2017 World Taekwondo Championships. The 23rd edition of the World Taekwondo Championships has started in Muju, South Korea from June 24 to June 30, 2017. The headquarters of the World Taekwondo Federation (WTF) is located in Seoul, South Korea.
230. P V Sindhu, an ace shuttler and Rio Olympics silver medallist, will be conferred with the best Sportsperson of the Year Award by the Sports Journalists Federation of India (SJFI). The Best Team of the Year award was bagged by the Indian Junior Hockey Team, which won the Junior World Cup title by defeating Belgium 2-1 in the final in Lucknow on December 2016. Both the awards would be presented at the 40th convention of the SJFI to be held in Indore in September 2017.
231. Former India hockey captain Dhanraj Pillay will be conferred with the East Bengal football club's highest honour "Bharat Gaurav" on their foundation day. The ceremony will be held on August 1, 2017. Pillay has played a huge role in reviving the Indian team and performed brilliantly during his 15-year career, representing the country in four Olympics, World Cups, Champions Trophy and Asian Games. He played total 339 matches for India, scoring 170 goals. He led India to Asian Games glory in 1998 and also won the Asia Cup in 2003. Pillay also received the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award for his remarkable performance in 1999-2000 and was later awarded the Padma Shri and civilian award in 2000.
232. India has been ranked 93rd out of 128 countries in the 2017 Social Progress Index (SPI). The list is topped by Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Switzerland. The SPI is an aggregate index of social and environmental indicators that capture three dimensions of social progress: Basic Human Needs, Foundations of Wellbeing, and Opportunity. The 2017 SPI includes data from 128 countries on 50 indicators. The index is published by the nonprofit Social Progress Imperative, and is based on the writings of Amartya Sen, Douglass North, and Joseph Stiglitz.
233. The International Trade Centre (ITC) has celebrated the first-ever International MSME Day on June 27, 2017 with theme 'Small business – big impact'. The purpose of the day is to raise public awareness about the importance of MSMEs to economic growth and international development. The Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Day highlights the strong contribution of MSMEs worldwide to livelihoods, communities and economies and the need to support MSMEs towards their success. The ITC is the joint agency of the UN and the WTO supporting SMEs in developing countries and transition economies for sustainable and inclusive trade.
234. The Uttar Pradesh Government has signed an agreement with Asian Development Bank (ADB) for a loan of Rs 1950 crore for strengthening of roads in different district. As per the agreement, 70% finances amounting to Rs 1,950 crore will be provided by the ADB as loan, while the state government will bear 30% cost of the project which comes to Rs 832 crore. The project, which will start from 2017 and end in 2024, will cover over 430 km roads in 12 districts.
235. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has constituted a special 7-member committee to study contentious issues in implementing Lodha panel reforms which are being opposed by the state units. The committee's mandate is to identify the few critical points in respect of the said judgement for the General Body of the BCCI to consider before its submission to the Hon'ble Supreme Court. The other members of the committee include former India captain Sourav Ganguly, T.C. Mathew (Kerala Cricket), Naba Bhattacharjee (North East representative), Jay Shah (Gujarat Cricket Association), BCCI Treasurer Anirudh Chaudhary and BCCI acting secretary Amitabh Choudhary. The four contentious Lodha panel recommendations that are delaying the implementation process are one-state, one vote, age cap of 70 for office-bearers, cooling-off period for office-bearers and size of the national selection panel.
236. Kaushik Basu, an Indian economist, has taken over as new President of the International Economic Association (IEA) on June 23, 2017 and will serve the post for 3-years. The IEA is a leading organization founded in 1950 for professional economists that seeks to shape global economic policy and research. He has also served as senior vice-president and chief economist at the World Bank from 2012 to 2016 and as the chief economic adviser to the government of India from 2009 to 2012. Currently, Basu is the C. Marks Professor of International Studies at Cornell University.
237. O N Dhar (89), the veteran figure and former bureaucrat, has passed away in New Delhi. During the Quit Kashmir movement, he was detained for 13 months following the arrest of Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah in 1946-47. Dhar had worked with Sheikh Abdullah, Bakshi Ghulam Mohammed and Mir Sadiq when they were prime ministers of Jammu and Kashmir till 1965. Till 1967, the elected head of government in Jammu and Kashmir was called prime minister before the nomenclature was changed to chief minister. Dhar had also held key secretarial-level posts in the state subsequently.
238. Sharjah, the city of United Arab Emirates (UAE), has been designated as the UNESCO World Book Capital 2019 by Irina Bokova, the Director-General of UNESCO, at the Headquarters of the International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA) at La Haye. The honour is in recognition of the Emirate's pioneering role in supporting and expanding the local and regional publishing industries, promoting reading to become an intrinsic cultural practice, as well as embracing inter-cultural, knowledge-based dialogue. Sharjah was the first emirate in UAE to establish a formal school and a library. It was also the first emirate to house many cultural institutions like the Emirates Publishers Association and the Emirates' writers Union. Sharjah is the 19th city to become World Book Capital. It is preceded by Conakry in 2017 and Athens in 2018.
239. The Maharashtra government has constituted an 11-member committee to scrutinize and recommend names from Maharashtra for the Padma Awards 2018 to the Government of India (GoI). The committee will be headed by Ram Shinde, the Minister for Water Conservation. The Padma awards seek to recognise work of distinction and exceptional achievements in different fields and disciplines such as art, literature and education, sports, medicine, social work, science and engineering, public affairs, civil service, trade and industry.
240. The Dudhwa National Park is located in the Terai of Uttar Pradesh and covers an area of 490.3 km2, with a buffer zone of 190 km2 (73 sq mi). It is home to swamp deer, sambar deer, barking deer, spotted deer, hog deer, tiger, Indian rhinoceros, sloth bear, ratel, jackal, civets, jungle cat, fishing cat, etc. The park is home to one of the finest forests in India, some of these trees are more than 150 years old and over 70 ft tall.
241. Rajesh V Shah has been appointed as the new chairman of the board of governors of National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) and will be in charge till March 31, 2019. He succeeded former cricketer Chetan Chauhan, who resigned from the post after being made the Sports Minister of Uttar Pradesh.
242. The Election Commission of India (ECI) has collaborated with Facebook to launch first Nationwide "Voter Registration Reminder" on July 1, 2017 to encourage Indian citizens to register themselves on the electoral rolls. As part of this campaign, Facebook will run a voter registration reminder in multiple Indian languages to all the Facebook users in India from July 1 to 4, 2017. For this, Facebook will activate a unique 'Register Now' button reminding all the eligible Indian users to enroll themselves as voters. When the users click the button, they will be redirected to National Voters' Services Portal, where they can register themselves as voters. The reminder will be sent out in 13 Indian languages – English, Hindi, Gujarati, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Punjabi, Bengali, Urdu, Assamese, Marathi and Oriya.
243. The 22nd edition of the Asian Athletics Championships (AAC-2017) will be held at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar, Odisha from July 6 to 9, 2017. Around 800 athletes from 45 countries are set to attend the event. The official mascot of AAC-2017 is Olly that represents Olive Ridley sea turtle, one of the endangered species of Odisha. The winners of the Asian meet will get a direct berth for the World championship in London from August 4-13, 2017. As host, India is eligible to field three athletes in each discipline, instead of the usual two.
244. China has officially started building the world's first forest city in the north of Liuzhou, Guangxi Province to fight against pollution and climate change, which is set to be completed in 2020. It is designed by Stefano Boeri Architetti, a team that develops green projects all around the world. The Liuzhou Forest City is expected to absorb nearly 10,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide yearly and produce 900 tonnes of oxygen. The energy self-sufficient city will house 30,000 people, 40,000 trees and nearly 1 million plants. As a result, the forest city will help to decrease the average air temperature, improve local air quality, create noise barriers, generate habitats, and improve local biodiversity in the region.
245. The 12th edition of G20 summit will be held on July 7–8, 2017 in Hamburg, Germany. The G20 is an international forum for the governments and central bank governors from 20 major economies with the aim of studying, reviewing and promoting high-level discussion of policy issues pertaining to the promotion of international financial stability.
246. Krishna R Urs, a veteran Indian- origin career diplomat, has been appointed as the new US Ambassador to Peru by the Donald Trump administration. Currently, Urs is Charge d' Affaires of the US Embassy in Madrid, Spain. He has specialization in economic issues and is considered an expert on the Andean region of South America.
247. Dr. Manoj Soni, the former Vice Chancellor of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Open University, has recently taken the Oath of Office and Secrecy as Member of Union Public Service Commission (UPSC). He will hold office for a term of six years or until he turns 65. The Oath was administered by the UPSC Chairman Prof. David R. Syiemlieh. Dr. Soni is the youngest Vice Chancellor since independence and has been a recipient of numerous awards. He has also been awarded the rare honour of "Honorary Mayor-President of the City of Baton Rouge" by World Education Congress Global Award for Distance Learning Leadership and Mayor-President of Baton Rouge, USA. The UPSC can have a limit of 10 members including its chairman and conducts national-level recruitment exams like IAS, IFS and IPS.
248. The Bollywood actress Priyanka Chopra has been appointed as the brand ambassador by National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) for the government's flagship Skill India campaign. Priyanka will use her celebrity status to motivate youngsters to hone their abilities through a media campaign. The Skill India campaign was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in July 2015. The aim of the Government of India (GoI) is to train 40 crore people by 2022 through its skilling initiatives. Earlier, Indian cricket captain Virat Kohli, batting legend Sachin Tendulkar, Bollywood actors Sidharth Malhotra and Shabana Azmi and singer Mohit Chauhan had also become goodwill envoys for Skill India.
249. Vidya Balan, the famous Bollywood film actress, has become the ambassador of the 2017 Indian Film Festival of Melbourne (IFFM), which is supported by the Victorian Government. The 2017 theme of the fest is "Diversity" with a special focus on films by female directors and is scheduled to be held from August 10-22, 2017. It will showcase over 60 films, Indie and short included, in 20 different languages.
250. Odisha will become the India's first state to set up blood bank for cattle. The first of its kind blood bank would be established on the premises of Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology (OUAT) at an estimated cost of Rs. 3.25 crore. The project will have a 60:40 sharing between the Centre and the state government. The cattle farmers will provide blood voluntarily. The blood bank will also go and collect blood from centres. Blood transfusion facility for cattle blood will also be done at the proposed blood bank. This will prevent death of cattle during deliveries and other ailments.
251. India's first-ever mega trade event for the textiles sector has inaugurated by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Mahatma Mandir in Gandhinagar, Gujarat on June 30, 2017. The event 'Textiles India 2017' has been organised by the Union Ministry of Textiles with an aim to showcase the country as a global sourcing hub and investment destination. The three-day conference is expected to see participation from 2,500 international buyers, over a 1,000 international and domestic exhibitors and several top fashion designers.
252. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will lead the Indian Delegation at the 12th edition of G20 Summit, which is scheduled to be held at Hamburg in Germany on July 7-8, 2017. The theme of the summit this year is "Shaping an interconnected world". The summit will be organized around three pillars- Stability, Sustainability and Responsibility. The topics such as free trade, environment, terrorism, sustainable development, development in Africa, digitalization, migrations, instability are expected to dominate the discussions during the summit.
253. Rajiv Kumar, the 1981-batch IAS officer of the Uttar Pradesh cadre, has been appointed as the new Chief Secretary of Uttar Pradesh. He succeeded Rahul Prasad Bhatnagar, who has been made chairman of Greater Noida and investment commissioner. Prior to his latest assignment, Rajiv Kumar was Secretary in Shipping ministry, Government of India (GoI).
254. The Uttarakhand state has been conferred with the award of excellence at the 2nd edition of Global Skill Development Summit (GSDM) – 2017 in Paris, France on June 23, 2017 for innovations and extensive use of IT for skill developments the state's youth. The Embassy of India, Paris and Europe India Foundation for Excellence (EIFE) has organized the GSDM 2017 along with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) with central theme "Making India a Global Hub of Skilled Manpower – The Next Step". The purpose of this event was to create awareness about the skill development scenario in India, looking at specific sectors and assessing the requirements.
255. Dr Jitendra Singh, the Minister of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions Personnel, has launched a new training programme Online Modified Modules on Induction Training (COMMIT) for State Government officials. The main objective of this training programme is 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. 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).
256. The Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) has signed an agreement with Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd (KHI) of Japan to manufacture stainless steel coaches and bogies for metro rail. The agreement covers establishing state-of-the-art design, engineering and manufacturing facilities at BHEL using Japanese technology. It will also entitle BHEL for all technology advances and upgrades. The KHI is also the manufacturer and supplier of Shinkansen High Speed Bullet Trains, proposed to be introduced in India on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed Rail Corridor.
257. The National Statistics Day (NSD) is celebrated every year in India on June 29 to create public awareness about importance of statistics in socio-economic planning and policy formulation. The day also marks the birth anniversary of late Prof. Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis, the Father of Indian Statistics, in recognition of his valuable contribution in the fields of statistics and economic planning. The 2017 theme is "Administrative Statistics".
258. Raghubar Das, the Chief Minister of Jharkhand, has recently inaugurated the India's largest fresh water aquarium "Ranchi Machchli Ghar" at Bhagwan Birsa Munda Biodiversity Park in Ranchi to encourage tourism in the state. The aquarium is spread over in 36,000 sq feet area and it has 58 fish tank, where 120 species of 1500 fishes have been displayed. Besides Indian breeds, rare and popular species have been brought in from Bangkok, Malaysia and Singapore.
259. India has donated $1 lakh (Rs 64.49 lakh) to the UN Trust Fund for International Cooperation in Tax Matters (the UN Tax Fund) that helps developing countries actively participate in the discussion of tax issues. With this, India has become the first country to make a voluntary contribution to UN Tax fund, which are currently unfunded. The UN Tax Committee is a subsidiary body of the UN Economic and Social Council (ESOSOC) that provide guidance on current issues such as double taxation treaties, transfer pricing (profit shifting) taxation of the extractive industries and taxation of services.. The purpose of the UN Tax Trust Fund is to support the work of the Committee of Experts on International Cooperation in Tax Matters (the UN Tax Committee).
260. Achal Kumar Jyoti, a retired 1975-batch IAS Officer of Gujarat Cadre, has been appointed as the new Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) for one year, when he will turn 65. He will succeed Nasim Zaidi, who will retire on July 6, 2017. Currently, A K Jyoti is the Election Commissioner of India along with O P Rawat. An EC or a CEC has tenure of six years in office or till he or she attains the age of 65 years, whichever is earlier.
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