Chronicle June 2018

Saraswati Samman

·         Eminent Gujarati poet Sitanshu Yashschandras poetry collection "Vakhar" has been chosen for the Saraswati Samman for 2017.

·         Instituted in 1991, by the K.K. Birla Foundation, the award recognizes an "outstanding" literary work every year written in any India language and published during the last 10 years.

 

UNESCO Press Freedom Prize

·         Detained Egyptian photo journalist Mahmoud Abu Zeid, also known as "Shawkan" won the 2018 Press Freedom Prize awarded the United Nations cultural agency UNESCO

 

Whitley Awards 2018

The annual Whitley Award for nature conservation, known as the 'Green Oscars', were conferred on six conservationists across the globe for their work with local communities to protect threatened wildlife and habitat around the world. The Awards are given annually by the Whitely Fund for Nature, and provide winners with funding to scale up their projects.

 

Pulitzer Prizes 2018

The Pultizer Prizes are awarded annually by the Columbia University, US for excellence in newspaper journalism, literacy achievements and musical composition.

    

·         Noted cine actor Vinod Khanna was posthumously awarded with 49^th Dadasaheb Phalke Award 2017

·         Dadasaheb Phalke Award is the highest award in Indian cinema presented by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. The award contains a Swarn Kamal, a cash prize of Rupees 10 lakhs and a shawl.

 

Miguel Mario Diaz – Canel Bermudez

·         Cuba has selected first vice president Miguel Mario Diaz-Canel Bermudez as sole succeed Rual Castro as president of Cuba.

·         He is from outside the Castro family in the country's highest government office for the first time in nearly six decades – first by revolutionary leader Fidel Castro and, for the last decade, his brother – Raul Castro.

 

Bhanu Pratap Sharma

·         Bhanu Pratap Sharam has been appointed as the Chairman of the reconstituted Banks Board Bureau (BBB) for two years. He replaced Vinod Rai – the first Chairman. Vedika Bhandarkar, Pradeep Kumar and Pradip P Shah are its members.

·         The BBB set up on the recommendations of a committee headed by banker P J Nayak.

·         It is based in Mumbai at the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)

 

Rajesh Bindal Committee Recommendations

·         The Committee headed by Justice Rajesh Bindal, Judge, High Court of Punjab & Haryana, Chandigarh, submitted its report on legal issues related to inter country removal & retention of children, and recommends on addressing the problems of parents and children involved in such issues. The Committee was also requested to study the draft of the International Child Abduction bill, prepared by the Law Commission.

·         The Ministry of Women and Child Development had appointment the Committee.

 

Inter-Korean Summit

·         Kim Jong-un became the first North Korean leader to set foot in South Korea for a summit among two Koreas by crossing the military line that has divided the peninsula since the end of the Korean War in 1953.

·         North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and South Korean Leader Moon Jae-in inked a landmark peace contract namely, 'Panmunjeom Declaration' for the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

 

CHOGM 2018

·         The 25^th Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting was held at United Kingdom under the theme "Towards a Common Future".

·         It was Chaired by Theresa May, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

·         The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) is a biennial summit meeting of the heads of government from all Commonwealth nations (53 member states).

·         CHOGM 2020 will be held at Rwands.

 

India-Wiesbaden Conference 2018

·         India, Germany and the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) organized the India-Wiesbaden Conference 2018 in New-Delhi under the title 'Securing Global Supply Chains through Government-Industry Partnership towards Effective Implementation of UNSC Resolution 1540'.

 

First India-Nordic Summit

·         The first India-Nordic Summit was held on 17^th April at Stockholm.

·         India is the second nation to have summit with Sweden, Norway, Finland Denmark & Iceland, after USA under Obama.

·         NORDIC COUNTRIES: Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark & Iceland

 

Digambarpur Gram Panchayat

·         West Bengal's Digambarpur Gram Panchayat (GP) in 24 South Parganas district has bagged the Centre's award for the best GP in the country out of 2.5 lakh Gram Panchayats in the country.

 

Kingdom of eswatini

·         Swziland's King Mswati III, Africa's last absolute monarch has changed the name of his country of the 'Kingdom of eSwatini'.

 

Ram Nagar

·         It is a district of Madhya Pradesh, from where PM Modi launched Rashtriya Gram Swaraj Abhiyan from Mandla district of MP of the occasion of National Panchayati Raj Day.

·         The scheme will focus on training, building infrastructure and stepping up initiatives for e-governance under the e-Panchayat Mission Mode Project. 

 

Leisang

·         Leisang in Manipur's Senapati district became the last village to be connected to the national grid. All villages in India have now been electrified. The milestone was achieved 12 days ahead of the 1,000-day deadline set by Mr. Modi on August 15, 2015.

 

New Zealand

·         New Zealand and halted all new offshore oil and gas exploration as part of its efforts to deal with climate change

 

Solitary Confinement is Unconstitutional: HC 

·         The Uttarakhand High Court has declared the practice of solitary confinement as unconstitutional. It held that the practice not only amounts to additional punishment but also amounts to torture and is violative of basic human rights.     

 

Md-IV LCU Inducted

·         The Indian Navy has commissioned the third ship of the Landing Craft Utility (LCU) Mk-IV project. INLCU L53, at Port Blair in Andaman.

·         The vessel was designed and constructed by Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE) as part of a contract for a total of eight planned LCU Mk IV Class vessels for the navy.  

·         INLCU L53 has multi-role activities, including beaching operations, high-availability disaster recovery (HADR), and search and rescue, as well as the supply and replenishment of distant islands. Furthermore, the LUC MK-IV vessels is also capable of transporting combat equipment such as Main Battle Tanks Arjun, T72 and other armoured vehicles.

 

Composition of CCI Changed 

·         The Composition Commission of India (CCI) has been restructured with one chairperson and three members (totaling four) instead of seven members (including the chairperson).

·         About CCI: It is a statutory body of the Government of India created to eliminate practices having adverse effect on competition, protect the interests of consumers and ensure freedom of trade in the markets of India.