June 2016 Daily News Current Affairs

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June 30, 2016
1. Shanghai Cooperation Organization Summit 2016 held is Tashkent (Uzbekistan).
2. QS University Rankings 2016
  1. Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bangalore and IITs of Mumbai (35th), Delhi (36th), Madras (43r) and Kanpur (48th) have figured in list of Asias top 50 universities. IISc is 33rd this year and it was 34th last year. IIT-Kharagpur was placed 51st and two other IITs --Roorkee (78) and Guwahati (94), made it to the top 100. Delhi University has been ranked 66th.
  2. National University of Singapore (NUS) has been ranked best university in Asia, followed by University of Hong Kong.
  3. Indias performance -
    1. India is fifth best among 17 countries featured in ratings, with 23 universities in list of top 350.
    2. India is behind Taiwan (34), South Korea (54), Japan (72) and China (82)
    3. IISc, Bangalore, which emerged as the top Indian institution in the QS rankings, was also rated as the best Indian university in the HRD ministrys first ever National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) released earlier this year.
3. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley visited China.
  1. He attended First Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors’ of Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank in Beijing.
    1. Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank was started in December 2015. Headquarters is in Beijing (China).
    2. It has capital of $100 Billion USD.
    3. India has state of 8.52 % in it. India will pay $334.7m annually till 2019-20 for 8.52% stake in AIIB.
    4. China has highest stake in AIIB - 30.34 %.
    5. Jin Liqun is first and current president of AIIB.
  2. He attended 8th India-China Financial Dialogue.
4. Indian President Pranab Mukherjee visited Ghana, Ivory Coast and Namibia -
  1. Ghana
    1. Pranab Mukherjee become first Indian president to visit Republic of Ghana.
    2. India and Ghana have signed 3 agreements to strengthen co-operation in - visa waivers for holders of diplomatic, official passports, setting up a Joint Commission.
    3. India is the largest foreign investor in Ghana with more than 700 projects. Bilateral trade between India and Ghana increased to 1.2 billion dollars from 538 million dollars in 2010. India mainly imports Gold from Ghana.
  2. Cote d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast)
    1. Pranab Mukherjee become first Indian president to visit Ivory Coast.
    2. President of India honoured with highest national award of Cote d’Ivoire - Grande Croix Commandeur in National Merit Order / National Grand Crois.
  3. Namibia
    1. India and Namibia have signed two Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) - MoU on Capacity building for civil servants of Namibia and Mou on setting up of centre of excellence in Information and Communication Technology (ICT).
June 29, 2016
1. 29 June - National Statistics Day. It is celebrated annually on occasion of Birth anniversary of Indias eminent statistician Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis. 2016 Theme is Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.
2. Medium range Surface-to-Air ballistic missile Barak-8 has been test fired. It has been developed in collaboration with Israel. It is 4 meter long ballistic missile which can hit target within 70 km.
3. Five-time World chess Champion Viswanathan Anand has been conferred with Honoris Causa Doctor of Science by Indian Institute Of Technology Kanpur (IIT-K) during its 49th convocation ceremony.
4. Two women - Noor Huda Roslan and Nenney Shuhaidah Shamsuddin have been appointed as judges of Malaysias Islamic Shariah High Court for first time in history of judiciary of Malaysia.
5. Reserve Bank of India will set up a committee to study use of Blockchain technology for reducing use of paper currency.
  1. Blockchain technology - Blockchain database consists of blocks that hold time-stamped batches of valid transactions. Digital records are put together into blocks and then leaped together cryptographically and chronologically into a chain using algorithms. Encryption process is termed ‘hashing.
  2. Blockchain database helps in reducing use of paper currency as it makes hard for hackers to attack it as hackers need access to every copy of database simultaneously. As the hash cannot be converted back into the original data,the blockchain database keeps data secure.
6. Matthew Gdovin, associate professor in University of Texas (USA) has developed a newly patented method to kill cancer cells.
  1. Research involved injecting a chemical compound, nitrobenzaldehyde into tumour and allowing it to diffuse into tissue. A beam of light was aimed at tissue, which caused the cells to become very acidic inside. It forced the cells to commit suicide. It was estimated that up to 95 % of the targeted cancer cells were dead within 2 hours.
7. United Nations Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) released State of Worlds Children 2016 report -
  1. Unless world focuses more on plight of its underadvantaged children by 2030
    1. 7 Crore children may die before reaching their 5th birthdays, mostly sub-Saharan Africa.
    2. Over 6 crore primary school-aged children will be out of school.
    3. Some 7.5 crore women will have been married as children.
  2. Boys and girls attend primary school in equal numbers in 129 countries.
  3. The number of people living in extreme poverty worldwide is almost half what it was in the 1990s.
  4. About 12.4 crore children today do not go to primary and lower-secondary school.
  5. India in report
    1. Report states that 5 countries will account for more than half of the global burden of under-five deaths - India (17 %), Nigeria (15 %), Pakistan (8 %), the Democratic Republic of the Congo (7 %) and Angola (5 %).
    2. In India, being born into poorest households carries a learning ‘penalty relative to children from richest households. Penalty widens between ages 7 and 11, reaching a 19 % gap in students ability to subtract.
8. World Bank approved 63 million USD project - Tejaswini: Socioeconomic Empowerment of Adolescent Girls and Young Women in Jharkhand.
9. Nepal banned its citizens from working in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and Libya. Owing to security concerns.
10. Pradhan Mantri Surakshit Matritva Abhiyan (PMSMA) launched by Government, to boost health care facilities for pregnant women (especially poor). Under this, pregnant ladies will be given free health check-up and required treatment for free on 9th of every month. The scheme is applicable only to the women in their pregnancy period of 3 to 6 months.
11. Food and Beverage multinational firm Nestle named Ulf Mark Schneider as its new Chief Executive Officer (CEO).
12. Suzuki Motor Corp appointed Toshihiro Suzuki as its next Chief Executive Officer (CEO).
13. India Post opened up ongoing scheme of customized printing of ‘My Stamp for individuals and corporate also. Under this, individual or a corporate entity can get their photo or logo printed inside postage stamp at a price of 12 lakh rupees.
14. World Bank approved 201.50 million USD Laon for Technical Education Quality Improvement Project III (TEQIP III) in India to improve quality of engineering education in select Indian states.
June 28, 2016
1. Athletic World Championship medalist Anju Bobby George and national badminton coach Pullela Gopichand have been made members of Khelo India, national programme for development of sports in India.
2. Nokia appointed Sanjay Malik as new head for India operations.
3. Odisha government launched scheme Kalinga Siksha Sathi Yojana (KSSY) with an aim to provide education loan at 1 % interest to students for pursuing higher studies.
4. Cabinet approved recommendations of 7th Pay Commission. The salaries and arrears, effective from 1 January 2016, will be made applicable now
  1. Commission recommended 23.55 % hike in pay and allowances of government employees.
  2. Minimum pay for government employees is to be set at 18000 rupees per month, while maximum is 225000 rs / month for Apex Scale and 250000 rs / month for Cabinet Secretary.
  3. Increase in pay will be 16 %, increase in allowances will be 63 % and increase in pension will be 24 %.
5. Ministry of Urban Development approved setting up of District Level Advisory and Monitoring Committees to promote people centric planning and execution of new urban development schemes. These committees will comprise of elected representatives (Members of Parliament (MP) and Members of Legislative Assembly (MLA)).
6. Odisha government approved proposal of the Panchayati Raj department to add 500 new gram panchayats before 2017 three-tier panchayat polls.
7. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) released its Vision-2018 document - Payment and Settlement Systems in India: Vision-2018. It aims at building efficiecnt payment systems for a ‘less-cash India and ensuring access to mobile banking services to even basic phone users.
8. Report by consulting firm Capgemini -
  1. Millionaires in Asia are wealthier than Millionaires in other regions of the world, including North America and Europe.
  2. Asian millionaires wealth is 17.4 trillion dollars in 2015, more than 8.4 trillion in 2006.
  3. There are 5.1 million Asian millionaires in 2015, Majority of 2.7 million from Japan and 1 million from China.
9. Exide Life Insurance appointed cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni as its brand ambassador, to be featusred in its marketing campaign - Lamba saath, bharose Ki baat.
10. Indian Grand Master Harika Dronavalli won best women's player award in Eurasian Blitz chess tournament in Kazakhstan.
11. Sri Lanka parliament passed Right to Information (RTI) bill, to restore transparency and good governance in country.
12. Home Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated 22nd meeting of Eastern Zonal Council at Ranchi (Jharkhand). He also inaugurated headquarters of Jharkhand's special anti-Maoist force 'Jharkhand Jaguar' in Ranchi.
13. Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) commissioned 2 units of 14 Megawatts each at Salma Hydro Electric Project in Afghanistan.
  1. Salma dam, or the Afghan-India Friendship dam, was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his recent visit.
14. National Indian Students and Alumni Union (NISAU) awarded Spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar with Honorary Fellowship in UK for his contributions to world peace and culture.
15. N Srinivasan re-elected as president of the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA) for 15th consecutive term.
16. Noted Malayalam theatre artist and poet Kavalam Narayana Panicker passed away.
17. 2016 IIFA awards (17th International Indian Film Academy Awards) held in Madrid (Spain). Winners List -
  1. Best Picture - Bajrangi Bhaijaan
  2. Best Direction - Sanjay Leela Bhansali for Bajirao Mastani
  3. Best Actor (Male) Award - Ranveer Singh for Bajirao Mastani
  4. Best Supporting Actor (Male) - Anil Kapoor for DilDhadhakne Do
  5. Best Actor (Female) - Deepika Padukone for Piku
  6. Best Supporting Actor (Female) - Priyanka Chopra for Bajirao Mastani
  7. Others Awards
    1. Best Music Direction: Ankit Tiwari, Meet Bros, Anjjan and Amaal Mallik forRoy
    2. Best Story - Juhi Chaturvedi for Piku
    3. Best Performance in Negative role Award: Darshan Kumaar for NH 10
    4. Best Performance in a Comic Role Award: Deepak Dobriyal for Tanu Weds Manu Returns
    5. Best Male Playback Singer Award: Papon for 'Moh Moh Ke Dhaage', Dum Laga Ke Haisha
    6. Best Female Playback Singer Award: Monali Thakur for 'Moh Moh Ke Dhaage', Dum Laga Ke Haisha
    7. Best Lyric Writer: Varun Grover for 'Moh Moh Ke Dhaage', Dum Laga Ke Haisha
    8. Special award for Woman of the Year: Priyanka Chopra
18. Washington DC-based International Monetary Fund (IMF) cleared payment of $501 million for Pakistan after completing 11th review of Pakistans economic performance under a three-year program supported by an Extended Fund Facility (EFF) arrangement.
19. Two Indians - Kartik Sawhney and Neha Swain won 2016 Queen's Young Leaders award in United Kingdom.
20. Noted Industrialist Xerxes Sapur Desai (founder of largest watchmaker company Titan) has passed away.
June 27, 2016
1. Book A Life in Diplomacy”, authored by Maharajakrishna Rasgotra has been released.
2. Book “Chandigarh is in India” has been authored by Shanay Jhaveri.
3. Novel “Once Upon a Time in India: The Marvelous Adventures of Captain Corcoran” was written in the 1860s, by a Frenchman Alfred Assollant, about India. It has been translated into English for the first time by Sam Miller.
4. International Conference on Social Statistics in India held in Patna (Bihar). The conference has been organised by Asian Development Research of India.
5. Indias first pilot programme to run two wheelers on Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) has been launched by Government in New Delhi to curb air pollution in cities.
6. Indias first sunken (Underwater) museum will be set up at World Heritage Site of Humayuns Tomb in New Delhi. It will open to public in early 2018 and will display a mix of artifacts locked up in reserve collections of National Archives and museums of Archaeological Survey of India.
7. 2017 Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES) will be hosted by India. GES is initiative of USA President Barack Obama to bring entrepreneurs from across the globe on one platform.
8. Legendary Music Composer R D Burman's Biography R.D.Burmania –Panchamemoirs has been authored by noted journalist Chaitanya Padukone.
9. Government of India (GoI) extended ban on import of milk and its products from China till June 2017.
10. City of Fallujah in Iraq has been officially declared fully liberated from terrorist group Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), after military operation of Iraqi Army.
11. 56th edition of National Inter-State Senior Athletics Championships 2016 started in Hyderabad (Telangana). Its a qualifying event for Rio Olympics.
12. Uttar Pradesh government declared that all natural calamities including unseasonal heavy rain, lightning, Loo and storm etc. will be treated as state disaster.
13. Odisha government has signed a pact with WorldFish, an international non-profit research organization, to boost fish production in the state.
14. Assam Government and Armed Forces launched “Exercise Jalrahat” for flood relief in Assam at Narangi cantonment of Army.
15. Tathagata Roy, Governor of Tripura has been given additional charge of Governor of Arunachal Pradesh.
June 26, 2016
1. 26 June : International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking. 2016 theme is Listen First.
2. 26 June: International Day in Support of Victims of Torture.
3. Noted Sculptor and painter KG Subramanyan passed away.
4. Four Indian-Americans honoured with Great Immigrants: The Pride of America Award 2016.
  1. Sunder Pichai - CEO of Google.
  2. Hari Sreenivasan - Broadcast journalist associated with the PBS NewsHour.
  3. Vikram Malhotra - McKinsey.
  4. Bharati Mukherjee - Professor emerita in department of English at University of California (Berkeley).
5. China launched its second Shijian-16 series satellite for space research and experiments, on board of Long March-4B rocket.
6. Government approved National Mineral Exploration Policy (NMEP), aiming at accelerating exploration activity through enhanced participation of private sector.
  1. Policy emphasizes on making available baseline geoscientific data of world standards in public domain, quality research in a public-private partnership (PPP).
  2. It also seeks to undertake quick aerogeophysical surveys of country and creation of dedicated geoscience database etc.
  3. Ministry of Mines will carry out auctioning of identified exploration blocks for exploration by private sector. It will be done on the revenue sharing basis in case their exploration leads to auctionable resources.
7. Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) launched long-term monitoring studies project to document the effect of climate change on animal biodiversity in states of Uttarakhand, West Bengal, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh.
8. Medium range surface-to-air missile missile (MRSAM) developed jointly by India and Israel was successfully test-fired. MR-SAM has strike ranges from 50 to 70 km.
9. Hockey Champions Trophy 2016 -
  1. Men - Australia won by defeating India. It was australia's 14th title.
  2. Women - Argentina won by defeating Netherlands. It was argentina's 7th Title.
10. Government decided to enhance financial powers of its Ministries, for approval of Non-Plan Schemes or Projects. The new approval limits are
  1. Projects Under Expenditure 300 Crores - Standing Finance Committee of Concerned Ministry or concerned ministry.
  2. Projects with expenditure over 300 Crores - Committee on Non-Plan Expenditure (CNE) (earlier limit was 75 crores).
  3. Minister-in-charge of administrative Ministry now can approve Non-Plan schemes costing less than 500 crore rupees (Earlier limit was 150 crore rupees).
  4. Projects with expenditure of 500 - 1000 crore -> These will be approved by Finance Minister.
  5. Projects with expenditure of over 1000 crores - Cabinet or Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs will final these proposals.
  6. Financial Adviser now can appraise upto 20% increase in firmed up cost estimates.
  7. If absolute cost escalation is upto 75 crore rupees it has to be approved by Secretary of concerned administrative Department. In case the absolute cost escalation is above 75 crore rupees, the Administrative Minister-in-charge will approve it.
11. World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim visited India.
  1. World Bank signed agreement with International Solar Alliance (ISA) to provide over 1 billion USD to support India’s solar initiatives.
    1. World bank will provide 625 million dollars to India’s grid-connected rooftop solar programme that will finance the installation of at least 400MW of solar photovoltaic installations.
    2. ISA is Gurgaon (India) based first international organization comprising of 121 Countriesw, with United Nations as Strategic Partner. It was jointly launched by India and France in November 2015 during United Nations climate change conference (COP21) in Paris.
12. India's first integrated Defence Communication Network (DCN) launched by Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar. It will enable Indian Army, Air force, Navy and Special Forces Command to share situational awareness for faster decision-making.
13. First squadron of indigenously made Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas inducted into Indian Air Force (IAF), by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). First squadron of LCA Tejas has been named as ‘Flying Daggers., with Its base in Sulur (Tamil Nadu).
14. Indias largest food products marketing organization Amul become official sponsor of Indian contingent to 2016 Rio Olympics. Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF), which sells its product under brand Amul signed agreement with Indian Olympic Association (IOA).
15. Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) signed MoU with Advertising Standard Council of India (ASCI) to check misleading advertisements in the food and beverages sector.
16. Sports Ministry granted recognition to Paralympic Committee of India (PCI) after the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) lifted temporary suspension on it.
17. Reliance Industries and State Bank of India (SBI) signed Subscription and Shareholders' Agreement to set up payments bank. RIL will be promoter with a 70 % equity and SBI will have 30 % equity contribution.
18. 2016 Human Capital Index (HCI) by World Economic Forum (WEF) -
  1. Report was released in Tianjin (China), at WEF Annual Meeting of New Champions. It is also known as `Summer Davos summit.
  2. Top 10 Countries - Finland, Norway, Switzerland, Japan, Sweden, New Zealand, Denmark, Netherlands, Canada and Belgium.
  3. India ranked 105th, as compared to 100th in 2015.
  4. Indias Neighbours - Sri Lanka (50th), China (71st), Bhutan (91st), Bangladesh (104th), Nepal (108th) and Pakistan (118th).
  5. BRICS - Russia (28th), China (71st), Brazil (83rd) and South Africa (8th).
19. Kerala became fourth state to ban e-cigarette (electronic cigarette) as its use can cause cancer and heart ailments. Punjab was first to ban e-cigarettes in November 2014, followed by Maharashtra and Karnataka.
  1. e-cigarettes - These are handy battery-powered devices that emit doses of vaporised nicotine. It produces the feel of tobacco smoking.
20. Indian Navy launched INS Tarasa - fourth and last ship in series of the Water Jet Fast Attack Craft (WJFAC).
21. Logistics Performance Index (LPI) 2016 of World Bank Group report - Connecting to Compete 2016: Trade Logistics in the Global Economy -
  1. India ranked 35th among 160 countries with score 3.42. India has improved its ranking by jumping 19 positions compared to 54th rank in 2014 LPI.
  2. For third time, Germany topped ter list . Top 5 countries - Germany (score: 4.23 points), Luxembourg (4.22), Sweden (4.20), Netherlands (4.19) and Singapore (4.14).
June 25, 2016
1. 25 June - Day of the Seafarer. 2016 Theme is At Sea For All.
2. BrahMos Aerospace for the first time demonstrated integration of supersonic cruise missile system BrahMos on Sukhoi SU-30 MKI fighter aircraft.
3. PM Narendra Modi launched ‘Smart City Mission involving 83 projects from 20 different cities in the country, at a cost of 1770 crore rupees. These projects are related to water supply projects, sewage treatment plants, solid waste management under Swachh Bharat Mission and development of green and open spaces under Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT).
4. Chile won 2016 Copa America Football tournament by defeating Argentina in a penalty shootout. Host country was USA.
5. Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological Park (PNHZP) in Darjeeling (West Bengal) received a male snow leopard named Makalu from Londons Dudley Zoological Gardens. The male snow leopard will be used for breeding conservation programme at PNHZP.
6. Beijing Based Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) approved first set of loans totalling US 509 million dollars to finance projects in four countries viz. Bangladesh, Pakistan, Indonesia and Tajikistan. These loans will have an interest rate of London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) plus 1.15 % and a repayment period of 25 years with 5 years in grace period.
  1. Bangladesh - US 165 million USD loan for a Power Distribution System Upgrade and Expansion Project.
  2. Indonesia - US 216.5 million USD loan for a National Slum Upgrading Project.
  3. Pakistan - US 100 million USD loan for Shorkot-Khanewal Section of National Motorway M-4.
  4. Tajikistan - US 27.5 million USD loan for the Dushanbe-Uzbekistan Border Road Improvement Project.
7. Lionel Messi announced retirement from Argentinean Football team. He made this announcement after Argentina was defeated by Chile in the 2016 Copa America final in penalty shootout, in which he missed the penalty.
8. India became 35th member of Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR). It would be mutually beneficial in furtherance of international non-proliferation objectives.
  1. India was able to successfully enter this multilateral export control regime with the unopposed support of all 34 MTCR Partners. Earlier in 2015, Indias bid for the membership to the group had failed after it was blocked by Italy.
  2. By becoming MTCR member, India will now be able to buy high-end missile technology and also can enhance its defence joint ventures with Russia. Indias inclusion to the MTCR will also strengthen its own export controls.
9. Indian shooter Jitu Rai won silver medal at ISSF (International Shooting Sport Federation) Shooting World Cup held in Baku (Azerbaijan).
10. Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) launched BGR-34, an anti-diabetic ayurvedic drug designed for type 2 Diabetes mellitus, jointly developed by National Botanical Research Institute (NBRI) and Central Institute for Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (CIMAP).
11. Expanded Panama Canal reopened by Panama Government, with much-larger generation of container ships opw able to pass through isthmus of Panama.
  1. Panama Canal expansion project was approved in October 2006 after it was favoured by national referendum by a 76.8% majority. Estimated cost for project was $50 billion.Panama Canal expansion project is also called as the Third Set of Locks Project.
  2. New lane of canal runs for 77km. It doubles the existing capacity of the Panama Canal by adding a new lane of traffic allowing for a larger number of ships.
  3. About Panama Canal -
    1. Panama Canal is an artificial 77 km waterway that connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean. It cuts across Isthmus of Panama and is a key conduit for international maritime trade.
    2. It was opened in 1914 to provide alternative route to lengthy sea voyage around southernmost tip of South America via Drake Passage or Strait of Magellan.
12. Gudni Johannesson won 2016 Presidential elections of Iceland.
13. Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India Shashi Kant Sharmahas been conferred with honorary professorship by Nanjing Audit University (China).
14. Nagaland Government launched women helpline 181 and Sakhi-One Stop Centre, to provide integrated assistance including medical, legal and psychological counselling to women affected by violence. Sakhi-One Stop Centre is a centrally sponsored scheme by Ministry of Women and Child Development (MWCD) to be funded through Nirbhaya Fund.
15. Sweden becomes first country to have electric road. It inaugerated test stretch of an electric road in Sandviken to conduct tests with electric power for hybrid heavy transports. Tests will be conducted upto 2018 on parts of road E16.
16. CSIR-Central Institute of Mining and Fuel Research (CSIR-CIMFR) signed MoU with coal supplying companies and power utilities for quality analysis of coal supplied.
17. Assam Government granted district status to Majuli, a 400 square kilometres island in Brahmaputra River. With this, Majuli became Indias first island district. Majuli island is 34th district of Assam (splitted from jorhat district). Majuli island is mostly inhabited by Mishing tribal people.
18. Government appointed NS Vishwanathan as deputy governor of Reserve Bank of India (RBI). Other 3 Deputy RBI Governors are - R Gandhi, S S Mundra, Urjit Patel.
19. United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) elected Ethiopia, Bolivia, Sweden and Kazakhstan as non-permanent members of United Nations Security Council (UNSC), for 2 year term. They will replace Spain, Malaysia, New Zealand, Angola and Venezuela.
20. Indigenously-built anti-submarine torpedo Varunastra has been inducted in Indian Navy, making India one of eight countries to have capability to design and build such anti-submarine torpedo system. It weighs around 1.25 tonnes and carries about 250 kg of explosives at a speed of around 40 nautical miles an hour.
June 24, 2016
1. IIT-Kanpur professor Sanjay Mittal has been awarded 25th GD Birla Award for Scientific Research for 2015, for his contributions in area of Mechanics.
2. Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) appointed Anil Kumble as head coach of Indian Cricket Team.
3. Neil O'Brien, a pioneer of quizzing in India and educationalist passed away.
4. Russian ice hockey winger Artemi Panarin won 2015-16 season Calder Memorial Trophy at US National Hockey League (NHL’s) Rookie of the Year at NHL Awards ceremony.
5. Mahasthangarh, 3rd century BC archaeological site in Bogra (Bangladesh) has been declared as South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (SAARC) cultural capital for 2016-17.
6. Scientists at University of California have developed worlds first 1,000-processor chip, named KiloCore. It has 1000 independent programmable processors and has highest clock-rate processor ever designed at university level.
7. China established its first dark sky reserve for astronomical observation in Tibetan prefecture of Ngari.
  1. Dark-sky reserve is an area that is kept free of artificial light pollution, with purpose of promoting astronomy.
8. Colombian government and FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) rebels signed a historic ceasefire and disarmament agreement. It is considered as one of last steps toward ending a half-century conflict that has killed thousands of people in Colombia.
9. Asian Development Bank (ADB) approved 500 million USD loan to build a bridge across Ganga River in Bihar. Loan funds will be used to build 9.8 km road bridge in Bihar on Ganga River. It will be Indias longest river bridge.
10. People of United Kingdom (UK) in a historic Brexit referendum voted in favour of leaving European Union (EU) by 52 % votes in Favor.
  1. This is second referendum on UK’s relationship with the EU. In 1975, in a referendum on whether the UK should stay or leave the EU, the country voted for staying with 67.2% votes.
  2. UK Prime Minister David Cameron announced resignation, wef from October 2016.
  3. Leaving the EU now has triggered a 2-year ‘withdrawal process’ which will determine future of UK’s relationship with EU. At the end of withdrawal process, UK exits single market and EU countries will start imposing tariffs on British products.
  4. Why UK wants to leave EU
    1. Since formation of EU, several countries joined it and UK thinks that since then EU’s hold over everyday aspects of these countries has increased.
    2. Britain can save billions of pounds every year that it spends as EU fees, without much gain in return.
    3. UK also thinks that EU’s some constraints have imposed many opposing rules on Britain’s business.
  5. What does UK’s exit means
    1. Henceforth, UK will be able to secure independent trade deals with important countries such as India, China and US.
    2. It will have control over wide areas like employment, health, law and safety and immigration policies.
  6. What critics believe
    1. By leaving EU, UK would not be able to obtain better trade terms with other countries. It would face problems with different regulations of EU.
    2. Leaving EU will not help UK to reduce immigration as countries that trade with EU from outside have higher rated of immigration, including from EU countries.
  7. Impact on India
    1. UK’s exit from the EU will affect the flow of FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) in India over the short-medium term and long term periods.
    2. Indian information technology (IT) companies based in the UK with large work forces that offer services to Europe Union member countries will be hit.
    3. Indian Rupee may get hit and may get weakned due to strenthening of USD (United States Dollar).
11. Scientists at University of Bristol (England) have developed a new stem cell-containing bio-ink that allows 3D printing of complex living tissues that may be used for surgical implants.
12. South African Indian-origin lawyer Yasmin Sooka has been appointed to chairman of UN commission (committee) to monitor human rights situation in South Sudan.
13. Indian social entrepreneur Zubaida Bai has been named among ten 2016 Global Compact SDG Pioneers, an initiative launched by United Nations.
14. Indian sprinter Dutee Chand has qualified for 2016 Rio Olympics in womens 100metre event scheduled to be held in August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil).
15. Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) approved purchase of 145 Ultra-Light Howitzers (ULH) guns from USA, at cost of approx 4875 Crores.
June 23, 2016
1. 23 June - International Widows Day
2. 23 June - United Nations Public Service Day.
3. 23 June - International Olympic Day.
4. Minister for Science & Technology and Earth Sciences, Harsh Vardhan visited UK for 5th Indo-UK Science and Innovation Council Meeting (SIC) in London. UK and India agreed to work in two major initiatives in Solar Energy and Nano Material Research.
5. Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) signed MoU with Jadavpur University (Kolkata) to establish Jagadish Chandra Bose Centre for Advanced Technology (JCBCAT).
6. MOU signed between Rural Development Ministry and ISRO for geo-tagging assets created under MGNREGA in each gram panchayat, to check leakages and for effective mapping of terrain for future developmental works.
7. Andhra Pradesh joined Centre's debt revival scheme for state power distribution companies - Ujwal Discom Assurance Yojana (UDAY). It will bring benefits of approx 4400 crores. Under UDAY, 13 states have signed MoU till date. Andhra Pradesh being latest.
8. Sujoy Bose has been appointed as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) Ltd.
9. PM Narendra Modi released book The Birds of Banni Grassland, prepared by Scientists of Gujarat Institute of Desert Ecology (GUIDE). It is a compilation of the research work, relating to more than 250 species of birds found in the Banni area of Kutch (Gujarat).
10. Agriculture & Farmers' Welfare Minister Radha Mohan Singh launched Crop Manager for Rice-based Systems (CMRS), a web based App for better crop and Nutrient management released for farmers in bihar.
11. Government approved MoU with Tanzania for cooperation in water resources management and development.
12. Government approved MoU between Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) and Royal Civil Service Commission (RCSC) Bhutan, to strengthen relationship between both.
13. National Institute of Animal Welfare (NIAW) and Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi (JNU) signed Agreement to conduct academic programmes to focus on development of Animal Welfare Sciences.
14. Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) signed MoU with Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW) to launch Initiative on Solar for Healthcare. It will focus on providing effective health care delivery at the last mile.
15. Indian Naval ship Satpura arrived in Hawaii to participate in 25th edition of Exercise RIMPAC.
  1. Exercise RIMPAC is largest biennial multilateral naval exercise in world, held in Western Pacific Ocean.
  2. Current (25th) edition of the exercise is scheduled off Hawaii from 30 June - 04 August 16 and is likely to be attended by 27 countries.
16. Minister for Human Resource Development, Smriti Zubin Irani launched Prashikshak - teacher education portal. Vision is to strengthen District Institutes of Education and Training (DIETs) and bring quality teachers into Indian school education system.
17. Minister of Railways Suresh Prabhu launched NIVARAN portal as an online system for redressal of service related grievance of railway employees.

June 22, 2016

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully launched record 20 satellites in a single mission from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, using Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) C-34. It's ISRO;s Highest number of Satellites launched in a single mission -
1. Main satellite in this mission was Indias latest earth observation satellite Cartosat-2. It was PSLVs 35th continuous successful launch of its total 36th flight.
2. Other 19 satellites were from USA (13), Canada (2), Germany (1) and Indonesia (1). 2 satellites were from Chennais Sathyabama University and College of Engineering, Pune (COEP).
3. Cartosat-2 will be used for mapping and Land Information System (LIS) and Geographical Information System (GIS).
4. The total weight of all the satellites launched by PSLV-C34 were 1,288 kg, with the 19 co-passenger satellites weighing 560kg.
5. At the internationla scale, NASA in 2013 launched 29 satellites in a single mission and Russia in 2014 launched 33 satellites in one launch.
6. Other satellites
  1. LAPAN A3 (Indonesia) - Micro-satellite to be used for earths magnetic field monitoring and surveillance purpose.
  2. BIROS (Germany) - To be used for remote sensing of high temperature events.
  3. SKYSAT GEN 2-1 - Micro -satellite developed by Googles subsidiary company Terra Bellas.
  4. Flock-2P Earth imaging satellites (USA)
  5. 12 Dove Earth Imaging Satellites (USA)
  6. M3MSAT (Maritime Monitoring and Messaging Microsatellite) (Canada) - To be used for study and collection of automatic identification system signals from low earth orbit.
  7. GHGSat-D (Canada) - Earth observation satellite. It will be used for measuring the atmospheric concentration of greenhouse gases (GHGs) especially Carbon Dioxide (CO2) and Methane (CH4).
  8. Sathyabamasat (From Chennai's Sathyabama University) - to collect data on greenhouse gases (GHGs).
  9. Swayam (by College of Engineering, Pune) - Aims to provide point to point messaging services to the HAM (amateur radio) community.
IT Firm Tech Mahindra acquired UK-based digital transformation firm BIO Agency Ltd in an all-cash deal of 45 million pounds.

Mercer's Cost of Living Survey 2016 -

The ranking for 2016 includes 209 cities across five continents. New York City is used as the base city for all comparisons and currency movements are measured against the US dollar.
Kinshasa, which is ranked sixth in the survey, appears for the first time in the top 10 cities.
Five Indian cities were also ranked in the list. They are:
Indian Cities - Mumbai (82), New Delhi (130), Chennai (158), Kolkata (194), Bangalore (180)

Top 10 cities in list -

Rank	City	Country
1	Hong Kong	China
2	Luanda	Angola
3	Zurich	Switzerland
4	Singapore	Singapore
5	Tokyo	Japan
6	Kinshasa	Democratic Republic of the Congo
7	Shanghai	China
8	Geneva	Switzerland
9	N'Djamena	Chad
10	Beijing	China

International Cricket Council (ICC) suspended Sri Lankas fast bowler Shaminda Eranga from bowling due to illegal bowling action.
World Bank Group released mid-year India Development Update 2016 Financing Double-Digit Growth
1. It says that economy was lifted to a higher growth path by demand from urban households and public investments, despite the fact that other key growth engines (Rural households, Trade, Agriculture) are stalled.
2. Oil bonanza directly benefited government and exceeded its revenue collection targets.
3. Manufacturing and services sectors expanded 7.4 and 8.9 %, respectively.
4. Inflation abated primarily because of lower food prices. Lower inflation raised real incomes and allowed RBI to cut interest rates, which favored financially-connected urban households.
5. To remain on this growth path, challenge for India is to activate stalled engines - agricultural growth, rural demand and trade.
6. It expects Indias economic growth to be at 7.6 % in 2017, followed by a 7.7 5 in 2017-2018 and 7.8 5 in 2018-2019
7. States are responsible for 57 % of the spending, which is 16 % of GDP.
8. Transfer of grants to states increased by 0.7 % of GDP in FY16 compared to the budget estimate of a net increase of 0.5 %.
9. Rajasthan and Kerala spent over 70 % of additional resources on health, education and infrastructure.
10. Key Reform resuired for Financial Sector - Accelerate ongoing structural transformation of sector toward one that is more market-oriented and competitive. Second, address NPA challenge.

June 21, 2016
1. 21 June - Second UN International Yoga Day.
  1. 2016 Theme - Connect the Youth.
  2. This years observance highlights important role healthy living plays in realization of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which were adopted by all 193 UN member states in 2015.
  3. Government organised National Event of Mass Yoga Demonstration at the Capitol Complex in Chandigarh.
  4. Andhra Pradesh Postal circle released Information booklet, Stamps on Yoga” and 12 stamps on Suryanamaskarams”.
  5. first-ever ‘National Yoga Olympiad organized by NCERT for all government and government-aided schools students from June 18 to 21, 2016. Theme of Olympiad is ‘Yoga for Health and Harmony.
  6. History - International Yoga Day was pitched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in September 2014. In December 2014, UNGA had unanimously adopted India-led resolution to observe 21st June as ‘International Day of Yoga.
  7. Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das today said Yoga education will be included in the state's school curriculum.
2. 21 June - World Hydrography Day. Hydrography – the key to well-managed seas and waterways.
3. Qatar-based Indian banker Raghavan Seetharaman has been awarded by Green Economy Visionary award at 2016 Union of Arab Banks International Banking Summit held in Rome.
4. Founder and Chairperson of Reliance Foundation, Nita Ambani became first Indian to be nominated as a member of International Olympic Committee (IOC) headquartered at Lausanne, Switzerland. Election will be held at 129th IOC Session in Rio de Janeiro in August 2016. If elected, she will continue as an IOC member until age of 70.
5. Indian Field athlete Tintu Luka won silver medal in 800 meters in Josef Odlozil Memorial Athletics Meet in Prague (Czech Republic).
6. Switzerland voters rejected an unconditional basic income (UBI) proposal in referendum that proposed to provide a fixed Unconditinal Basic Income (UBI) to all Swiss citizens and foreigners who have been residents in Switzerland for at least 5 years. Amount suggested was 2500 US dollars a month to each adult and 640 US dollars for each child. It would have cost additional 25.62 billion USD to the government.
7. Rajiv Gauba Committee on Decongestion of Traffic in Delhi submitted its report to Ministry of Urban Development.
8. India signed MoU with USA to facilitate hassle-free entry of Indians into America at selected airports, with quick security clearances for pre-approved, low-risk travellers from India.
9. Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) commissioned a 195 megawatt (MW) unit at Muzaffarpur thermal power station in Bihar.
10. Uttar Pradesh Government appointed judicial commission under Mirza Imtiyaz Murtaza to probe into recent Mathura violence.
11. Ridley Scott will be honoured with 30th American Cinematheque Award.
12. Pedro Pablo Kuczynski elected as President of Peru.
13. Gunit Chadha resigned as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Asia Pacific region of Deutsche Bank.
14. Maharashtra Government decided to use plastic waste, along with tar, to build roads. It is aimed at improving durability and longevity of asphalt roads and reducing soil pollution caused by plastic.
June 20, 2016
1. 20 June - World Refugee Day.
2. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley released commemorative silver coin to mark 300th martyrdom day of Sikh General Banda Singh Bahadur. He was given title of Bahadur by 10th Sikh Guru Guru Gobind Singh.
3. Mori village in East Godavari (Andhra Pradesh) will be developed as a smart village of global standards by using digital tools, real-time information, and uninterrupted internet connectivity.
4. Annual Ambubachi Mela held at Kamakhya temple (Assam).
5. USA will provide over 3 billion USD support to Afghan forces by 2020 and donated 20 million aid to United Nations' effort to help refugees who fled fighting in Iraqi city of Fallujah.
6. Nagpur (Maharashtra) and Chinese city of Jinan signed pact for becoming sister cities, to exchange ideas and technology in field of education, urban planning, youth affairs, and sports.
7. As per list by Dutch campaign group PAX Worldwide, State Bank of India (SBI) is only bank named in Hall of Shame list of 158 banking institutions that have invested heavily in companies making cluster bombs. Maximum number of 74 banks are from US, followed by China (29) and South Korea (26).
8. South India Bank announced its Remit2India Service, Currently available for remittance from Europe, Australia, UAE, and Singapore.
9. Book A Life in Diplomacy , written by Maharajakrishna Rasgotra has been released.
10. Six Indian World War I (WW-I) heroes become part of Britains new digital archive - Risaldar Badlu Singh (Punjab), Chatta Singh (Uttar Pradesh), Darwan Singh Negi (Uttarakhand), Lance Naik Lala (Himachal Pradesh), Gabar Sing Negi (Uttarakhand), Gobind Singh (Rajasthan).
11. S.K. Roy resigned as chief of Life Insurance Corp (LIC).
12. Anju Bobby George resigned as President of Kerala Sports Council.
13. Leading Payments platform PayPal appointed Anupam Pahuja as Managing Director (MD) and Country Manager for India operations.
14. British tennis star Andy Murray won Queen's Club tournament for record fifth time. He defeated Milos Raonic (Canada).

June 19, 2016

Mercedes F1 driver Nico Rosberg (Germany) won 2016 European Grand Prix.

2016 Formula One season -

Total 21 Grand Prix Races to be organized across the world in 2016. Calendar is -

Grand Prix	Date	Winner
Australia	20 March	Nico Rosberg (Germany)
Baharain	3 April	Nico Rosberg (Germany)
China	17 April	Nico Rosberg (Germany)
Russia	1 May	Nico Rosberg (Germany)
Spain	15 May	Max Verstappen (Netherlands)
Monaco	29 May	Lewis Hamilton (Britain)
Canada	12 June	Lewis Hamilton (Britain)
Europe	19 June	Nico Rosberg (Germany)
Austria	3 July
Britain	10 July
Hungary	24 July
Germany	31 July
Belgium	28 August
Italy	4 September
Singapore	18 September
Malaysia	2 October
Japan	9 October
USA	23 October
Mexico	30 October
Brazil	13 November
Abu Dhabi	27 November

Government approved a Special Package for employment generation and promotion of exports in Textile and Apparel sector -
1. Major benefits to textile and apparel sector in 3 years include increase of 30 billion USD, Investment of 74000 crore rupees and Creation of 1 crore jobs. Salient features of package are -
  1. Employee Provident Fund Scheme Reforms - Government shall bear entire 12 % of employers contribution of EPF Scheme for new employees of garment industry for first 3 years who are earning less than 15000 rupees per month. Ministry of Textiles shall provide additional 3.67 % % of employers contribution amounting to 1170 crore rupees over next 3 years. EPF shall be optional for employees earning under 15000 rupees, so that workers will be left with more money in hands.
  2. Increasing overtime caps - Overtime hours for workers will not be exceeded 8 hours per week in line with International Labour Organisation (ILO) norms.
  3. Introduction of fixed term employment
  4. Additional incentives under ATUFS - Package breaks new ground in moving from input to outcome based incentives by increasing subsidy under Amended-Technology Up gradation Fund Scheme (TUFS) from 15 to 25 % for garment sector as a boost to employment generation.
  5. Enhancing scope of Section 80JJAA of Income Tax Act, 1961 - Looking at the seasonal nature of garment industry, the provision of 240 days under Section 80JJAA of Income Tax Act would be relaxed to 150 days for garment industry.
Government approved for amending Agreement between India and Belgium for avoidance of double taxation and prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income.
Government asked all state governments to link Aadhaar with caste and domicile certificates to be issued to school students. It is first initiative to be undertaken by Government to issue these certificates to the students within 60 days when they are studying in Class V or VIII.
Ken Miyauchi has been appointed as President and Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Japanese conglomerate SoftBank Group.
Government extended deadline for implementing Ujjwal Discom Assurance Yojana (UDAY) by a year to March 31, 2017. With this, states shall take over 75% of ailing DISCOM (Power Distribution companies) debt as on 30th September, 2015 by 31st March, 2017 by issuing Bonds.
Government approved mega auction of all available spectrum (more than 2300 Megahertz) across 7 bands, to make way for largest-ever spectrum auction in country. Airwaves in 7 spectrum bands to be auctioned are 700, 800, 900, 1800, 2100, 2300 and 2500 MHz.
1. This auction for the first time will sell 700 MHz band which is preferred for offering high-speed broadband services. 700 MHz band is approximately 70% cheaper than in the 2100 MHz band (used for 3G services). Thus will increase internet penetration in country.
Government approved to set up a 10000 Crore Fund of Funds for Startups (FFS) under Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) for extending support to Startups, in line with Start up India Action Plan. FFS will be used for the contribution of various Alternative Investment Funds (AIF) registered with Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to extend funding support to Startups.500 crore rupees already has been provided to the corpus of FFS in the fiscal 2015-16 and 600 crore rupees has been earmarked for 2016-17.
Expert Committee under Anand Desai has submitted its report about examining Specific Relief Act 1963. Committee recommended that courts intervention in public works should be minimal, specific performance of contracts be made the rule and damages or compensation be the exception and a separate class of contracts for public utility contracts should be created.
Book All of Us in Our Own Lives, authored by Manjushree Thapa has been released.
Government decided to allow export of missile systems to certain friendly countries. 10 % of missile capacity will be permitted to be exported if producers manage to get export orders subject to parameters set by government.
A bronze statue of Shri Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose been unveiled at the Indian cultural centre premises in Malaysia.
Bipin R Patel appointed as President of Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) for2016-17.
Department of electronics and information technology (DeitY) approved setting up a greenfield electronic park within Infovally complex IT hub in Bhubaneswar (Odisha).
Tata Advanced Systems Limited (TASL) and Boeing laid foundation laying of a new facility in Hyderabad for its joint venture named Tata Boeing Aerospace (TBAL), to co-produce Boeing AH-64 Apache helicopter fuselages and other aerostructures.

June 18, 2016
1. 2016 World Investment Report by UNCTAD (United Nations Conference on Trade and Development) -
  1. India ranks 10th in FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) inflows. Indias FDI inflows have increased to 44 billion dollars in 2015 as compared to 35 billion dollars in 2014.
  2. Top 10 Countries are: United States, Hong Kong, China, Ireland, Netherlands, Switzerland, Singapore, Brazil, Canada and India.
  3. United States with 380 billion dollars FDI inflows has topped the list. China with FDI inflows at 136 billion dollars is ranked third.
2. Maharashtra Government gave minority status to Jews in state as per the provisions of the Maharashtra State Minorities Commission Act, 2004.
3. Report The Rise of Environmental Crime has been released by United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and INTERPOL. As per report, environmental crimes grew up by 26 % larger than previous estimates. Environmental crime is the 4th largest criminal enterprise after drug smuggling, counterfeiting and human trafficking.
4. 9th India Chem 2016 event will be held in Mumbai from September 1-3, 2016. Purpose is to develop Indian Chemical and Petrochemical Industry.
5. Noted Indian footballer Syed Nayeemuddin will be conferred with the 2016 Mohun Bagan Ratna (Mohun Bagan Jewel) Award.
6. Navy Officer Ashutosh Pednekar became first Indian to participate and win International tournaments in sport of Racketlon.
7. Rashmi Narzary has won the 2016 Sahitya Akademi Bal Puraskar award (English) for her collection of short stories His Share of Sky.
8. Lakshmi Saravana Kumar, Tamil writer won 2016 Sahitya Akademi Yuva Puraskar award (Tamil) for his novel “Kaanakan”.
9. Haryana government will set up an AYUSH (Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy) University, the first-of-its-kind in India. It will be formed by upgrading Shri Krishna Government Ayurvedic College in Kurukshetra.
10. Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) launched ‘IRCTC Air mobile app to enable booking of air tickets for travel within India and abroad at lower prices.
11. Kerala Tourism won 4 awards at the 11th ‘FilmAT international film festival dedicated to tourism, art and ecology in Poland.
  1. Responsible Tourism initiative of Kerala Tourism won - Best Promotional Social Campaign, Protection of Nature, and Eco-Food categories.
  2. Tourism boards ad film The Great Backwaters of Kerala” won ‘Best Editing Award.
12. Maharashtra won first edition of Indias Bad Bull Softball League by defeating Punjab.
13. Geneva-based NGO Advisors 2016 Top 500 NGOs List -
  1. Bangladesh-based Non-Government organization (NGO) BRAC ranked No. 1 in the list of World rankings. BRAC has acquired top position because of its holistic approach to fight against poverty. Doctors Without Borders (Switzerland) is at second place.
14. Parliamentary committee under chairmanship of E.M. Sudarsana Natchiappan has been constituted to review Model code of conduct (MCC) for election polls and suggest ways to check malpractices ahead of polls.
15. Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has set up Suresh Mathur committee to study scope of title insurance in Indian market.
16. Former MP and cricketer Chetan Chauhan has been appointed as chairman of National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT).
17. India and UAE will set up a joint parliamentary panel to enhance relations and facilitate their visits to promote cooperation to tackle security issues and challenges facing the region.
18. Scientists at USA's University of California created worlds first microchip that has 1,000 processors, fastest chip designed in a university lab. This energy-efficient microchip is named as KiloCore and has a maximum computation rate of 1.78 trillion instructions per second and contains 621 million transistors.
June 17, 2016
1. 17 June - World Day to Combat Desertification. 2016 theme is Inclusive cooperation for achieving Land Degradation Neutrality.
2. Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) unveiled Basic Trainer Aircraft (BTA) HTT-40. HTT-40 stands for Hindustan Turbo Trainer-40.
3. Ministry of Power launched URJA- Urban Jyoti Abhiyaan Mobile application for Urban Power Distribution Sector. It has been developed by Power Finance Corporation (PFC).
4. PM Narendra Modi inaugurated Duraiappah Stadium in Jaffna (Sri Lanka), which was renovated by India. PM Modi joined in via video conferencing.
5. Indian mixed recurve team of Deepika Kumari and Atanu Das won silver medal at Archery World Cup held in Antalya (Turkey).
6. International Astronomical Union (IAU) named a crater on Mars as Langtang after one of villages most affected by 2015 earthquakes in Nepal.
7. Virginia Raggi has been elected as first female mayor of Italy's capital Rome.
8. Kannada Movie Thithi won 2 awards - Best Film and Best Script Writers at 19th Shanghai International Film Festival, under Asia New Talent Awards Category.
9. Punjab became first state to launch a special fund Mukh Mantri Hepatitis C Relief Fund to provide free treatment for patients affected by Hepatitis C.
10. Government banned use of potassium bromate (KbrO3) as a food additive as it is carcinogenic (Causes Cancer). A study by Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) found that it is widely used in bread and refined flour. Study found that 84% of 38 commonly available brands of pre-packaged breads, including buns and pav tested positive for potassium bromate and potassium iodate.
11. 2016 Top 500 list of supercomputers -
  1. Chinas Sunway TaihuLight supercomputer is worlds most powerful supercomputer system Sunway-TaihuLight can perform calculations with speed of 124.5 petaflops per second (Pflops). It is worlds first system to surpass 100 petaflops. Sunway TaihuLight has been developed by the Chinas National Research Centre of Parallel Computer Engineering and Technology (NRCPC). It can perform 93 quadrillions calculations per second.
    1. One petaflop is equal to one quadrillion sustained floating point operations per second.
  2. Other supercomputers in list -
    1. Second - Intel-based Chinese Tianhe-2 supercomputer (speed of 33.86 Pflops)
    2. Third - Titan of the Department of Energy (speed of 17.59 Pflops)
12. Assam Government launched Maitree Ek Gyan Yatra initiative to link primary schools to high schools to colleges. Purpose is to change the mindset of teachers, as in some places in states teachers of a school considered it below their dignity to teach lower level students.
13. Government eased foreign direct investment (FDI) norms for 9 sectors to for job creation and ease of doing business in country. With these changes, India becomes most open economy in world for FDI.
  1. Food products - 100% FDI under government approval route has been approved.
  2. Defence - FDI beyond current limit of 49% has now been permitted through government approval route, in cases resulting in access to modern technology in country or for other reasons.
  3. Pharmaceutical - 100% FDI under automatic route in greenfield pharma and brownfield pharma has been approved.
  4. Aviation - 100% FDI under automatic route in Greenfield and Brownfield Airport Projects.
  5. Animal Husbandry - 100% FDI allowed in Animal Husbandry (including breeding of dogs), Aquaculture, Pisciculture and Apiculture under Automatic Route.
  6. Single Brand Retail Trading - Entities undertaking single brand retail trading have been relaxed from local sourcing norms up to 3 years. Entities engaged in single brand retail trading of products having ‘state-of-art and ‘cutting edge technology have been relaxed from local sourcing norms up to 5 years.
14. Noted Telangana poet and lyricist Guda Anjaiah passed away.
15. Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) and India Ports Global Private Limited (IPGPL) signed MoU for implementation of additional works on the Kaladan Multimodal Transit Transport Project (KMTTP) in Myanmar.
June 16, 2016
1. Government imposed 20 % customs duty on sugar exports to boost domestic supply and check prices.
2. Joo Hyunghwan, Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy of South Korea Visited India. During His visit, India and South Korea launched a platform ‘Korea Plus’ to promote and facilitate Korean Investments in India.
3. Noted Odia film actress Manimala Devi passed away.
4. Bharti Group Chief Sunil Bharti Mittal has been elected chairman of International Chambers of Commerce (ICC).
5. PM Narendra Modi outlined RAPID as a five-point mantra to tax officials to reform and broaden direct tax net base. RAPID Stands for Revenue, Accountability, Probity, Information, Digitization. It was announced during 2 day Rajasva Gyan Sangam held in New Delhi.
6. Finance Ministry announced that non-resident Indians (NRIs) can now open National Pension Savings (NPS) accounts online i.e. through eNPS (using Aadhaar Card / PAN card). Earlier, NRIs could open NPS accounts only through paper based applications by approaching Bank offices.
7. US President Barack Obama nominated Indian-origin Kamala Shirin Lakhdhir as USA's ambassador to Malaysia.
8. US based private space company SpaceX successfully launched 2 commercial satellites - EUTELSAT 117 West B and ABS-2A, using SpaceXs reusable Falcon 9 rocket.
9. Scientists from USA proposed an ambitious project Human Genome Project-Write (HGP-Write), to create a genetic blueprint or synthetic human genome. The project aims to develop technologies to more efficiently and more cheaply write DNA (synthetic genome).
  1. The objective HGP-Write is to write genetic code (DNA of life) rather than reading the genetic code. The project envisions on same scale as the Human Genome Project-Read (HGP-Read) which had sequenced human genome in 2003. It seeks to reduce cost of engineering DNA segments synthetically in laboratory.
10. Microsoft will design mobile application for Human Resources Development (HRD) Ministrys SWAYAM platform. Under this, ministry will launch 2000 Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) for over 3 crore students in 2016.
11. The Indian Air Force (IAF) inducted 3 women fighter pilots for first time - Bhawana Kanth, Avani Chatuvedi and Mohana Singh.
12. Railway Ministry launched 2 policies related to Parcel Cargo Train Express and Parcel Leasing - Liberalised Comprehensive Parcel Leasing Policy (CPLP) and Liberalised policy on Parcel Cargo Express Trains (PCET).
13. AYUSH Ministry released a Yog Geet (Yoga song) for celebrating 2nd International Yoga Day on 21 June 2016. It has been written by Dheeraj Saraswat, Music by Sumanto Ray and sung by Gandhar T. D. Jadhav and Ms. Gatha Jadhav.
14. State Bank of India (SBI) launched IT Innovation Start-up Fund of 200 Crores to support start-ups in financial technology (fintech) space. It will provide assistance of up to 3 crore rupees to a company registered in India for promoting information technology for banking and related activities.
15. Australia won 2016 Champions Trophy of Hockey by defeating India by 3-1 score. It was played in London (UK).
June 15, 2016
1. Book Goa Undercover has been authored by Madhumita Bhattacharyya.
2. Yuzvendra Chahal is only player to represent India in chess and cricket. His name is listed in World Chess Federations official site. Beside this, he is playing for Indian national cricket team, which is touring Zimbabwe.
3. Andhra Pradesh obtained a telecom licence and will issue phone numbers starting with the 797 series from August 2016. It indirectly got the opportunity to start an internet based telephone service ‘without requiring any further registration’ after it obtained permission from the Telecom Ministry for starting its own IPTV — Internet Protocol based Television network — as part of its Fibre Grid project.
4. Supriya Sahu appointed as Director General of Doordarshan.
5. Suresh Chandra is appointed as Union Law Secretary.
6. Prayut Chan-o-cha, Thailand's Prime Minister Visited India.
  1. Two agreements signed between India and Thailand - MoU between Indias Nagaland University and Thailands Chiang Mai University, Agreement for extension of Cultural Exchange Programme (CEP) between both countries.
7. Baltimores National Aquarium will create an Oceanside dolphin sanctuary. It will be first of its kind sanctuary for marine mammals in North America.
June 14, 2016
1. 14 June - World Blood Donor Day. 2016 Theme Blood connects us all and 2016 Slogan is Share life, give blood.
2. Indian diabetes specialist Shashank S Shah conferred with Vivian Fonseca Scholar Award 2016.
3. Karnataka Bank won CFBP (Council for Fair Business Practices) Jamnalal Bajaj award for fair business practices.
4. Russia launched world's biggest, most powerful icebreaker, named Arktika. It is 568 feet long and powered by 2 nuclear reactors. It can break through ice 13 feet deep. Russia is only nation to possess Nuclear Powered Ice Breakers.
5. Kiran Bedi (Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry) launched a mobile app (HelpAge SOS App) to help senior citizens in distress.
6. St Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) summit held in Russia. Attended by Dharmendra Pradhan (Minister of State (I/C) for Petroleum and Natural Gas) on India's Behalf.
7. 3,049 people registered in Guinness book of world records for performing largest Karma dance ever. Event was held inDistrict Mandla (Madhya Pradesh).
8. Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu flagged off India's first timetabled freight train, Cargo Express, from Delhi to Bengaluru. Aims is to reduce delay and uncertainty over the time schedule for delivery of goods.
9. Ganges-Danube Cultural Festival of India held in Hungary. Festival showcases Indian culture, i.e. dance, music, yoga, film and exhibitions.
10. Kolkata-Ashuganj-Tripura transit facility under revised Inland Water Transit and Trade Protocol between India and Bangladesh became operational. The facility is running through a land and river route crossing Bangladesh territory cuts the Kolkata-Agartala distance via Siliguris ‘chicken neck from 1600 km to 800 km and reduced time of journey from 30 days (via Siliguri corridor) to 10 days.
11. Noted Hollywood actress Anne Hathaway named as Global Goodwill Ambassador for UN Women.
12. As per recent study by International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), hot drinks (beverages) consumed at temperatures above 65 Celsius can cause esophageal cancer. Report states that drinks are not carcinogenic, but actually the high temperatures at which they served causes cancer.
13. Scientist Gordana Vunjak-Novakovic (Columbia University) has grown a living bone in lab to repair large defects in head and face of patient. The new technique uses autologous stem cells derived from a small sample of the recipients fat and precisely replicates the original anatomical structure of the bone.
14. Government approved Ramayana and Krishna Circuits under Swadesh Darshan Scheme -
  1. Ramayana Circuit - 11 tourist destinations across 6 states. Uttar Pradesh: Ayodhya, Shringhverpur Nandigram and Chitrakoot (ii) Bihar: Sitamarhi, Buxar and Darbhanga (iii) Telangana: Bhadrachalam (iv) Chattisgarh: Jagdalpur (v) Karnataka: Hampi (vi) Tamil Nadu
  2. Krishna Circuit - 12 destinations across 5 states. (i) Gujarat: Dwarka (ii) Rajasthan: Nathdwara, Jaipur and Sikar (iii) Uttar Pradesh: Mathura, Vrindavan, Barsana, Gokul, Nandgaon and Govardhan (iv) Odisha
15. United States launched its secret spy satellite NROL-37 by United Launch Alliances (ULA) Delta IV Heavy rocket, worlds most powerful rocket.

June 13, 2016

13 June - United Nations International Albinism Awareness Day.
India's First case of a baby born with a rare genetic disorder called ‘Harlequin Ichthyosis‘ occured in Nagpur (Maharashtra). This disease affects 1 in 3 lakh babies and causes thickening of the skin across body.
Ranu Langthasa appointed as chairperson of NC Hills Autonomous Council.
Former captain of England Cricket team, Donald Carr passed away.
USA Womens Team won FINA Women Water Polo World League Super Final in China by defeating Spain.

Mercedes F1 driver Lewis Hamilton from Britain won 2016 Canada Grand Prix.

2016 Formula One season -

Total 21 Grand Prix Races to be organized across the world in 2016. Calendar is -

Grand Prix	Date	Winner
Australia	20 March	Nico Rosberg (Germany)
Baharain	3 April	Nico Rosberg (Germany)
China	17 April	Nico Rosberg (Germany)
Russia	1 May	Nico Rosberg (Germany)
Spain	15 May	Max Verstappen (Netherlands)
Monaco	29 May	Lewis Hamilton (Britain)
Canada	12 June	Lewis Hamilton (Britain)
Europe	19 June
Austria	3 July
Britain	10 July
Hungary	24 July
Germany	31 July
Belgium	28 August
Italy	4 September
Singapore	18 September
Malaysia	2 October
Japan	9 October
USA	23 October
Mexico	30 October
Brazil	13 November
Abu Dhabi	27 November

India approved assistance of Rs 4.8 Crore to Nepal for construction of a college building in capital Kathmandu (Koteshwor Multiple Campus).
Brijesh Mehra is appointed as head of corporate banking at RBL (Formerly Ratnakar Bank Limited).
DBS Bank appointed Niraj Mittal as Managing Director and Head of Institutional Banking for India.
Stonegate Bank (Based in Florida, USA) issued first credit card that can be used in Cuba. Until now, Americans have generally had to bring cash to Cuba and change it either at state institutions that impose a 10 % penalty or informal exchanges with locals.
DCB Bank launched Bengaluru's first ATM that accepts Aadhaar number and Aadhaar fingerprint (biometric) instead of ATM/Debit Card and PIN to dispense cash.
To make agriculture production system more flexible to climate change, Haryana government approved a Rs 25 crore project that will benefit 75,000 farmers.
Government is developing National Waterway-1 (NW-1) under Jal Marg Vikas Project with assistance from World Bank. NW-1 refers to 1620 km Haldia-Allahabad stretch of River Ganga. The project would be completed over a period of six years at an estimated cost of Rs. 4,200 crore.
Railways signed agreement with Odisha Government for formation of joint venture Company to develop railway infrastructure in state.
Rio Olympics 2016 organising committee revealed official slogan for first Olympic and Paralympic Games in South America - A new world.

June 12, 2016
1. 12 June - World Day Against Child Labour. 2016 Theme is End child labour in supply chains – Its everyones business.
2. Australian Open Badminton 2016 -
  1. Men's Singles - Hans-Kristian Vittinghus (Denmark) won by defeating Jeon Hyeok-Jin (South Korea)
  2. Women's Singles - Saina Nehwal (India) won by defeating Sun Yu (China)
3. Jet Airways chairman Naresh Goyal has been re-elected to IATA(International Air Transport Association)'s Board of Governors for 5th successive tenure.
4. Maharashtra government will celebrate 21st day of every month as Yoga day across all schools, colleges and universities in state.
5. Telengana Government will set up a Pharma City on 12,500 acres of land in Rangareddy and Mahbubnagar districts.
6. Urban Development Ministry sanctioned 37.5 crore rupees for development of Machilipatnam town (Andhra Pradesh) under Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) scheme.
7. Vibrant Gujarat summit will be held during January 10 to 13, 2017 with Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) as its national partner.
8. State Bank of India (SBI) and Spain's CaixaBank signed pact to provide loans to Indo-Spanish joint ventures and local enterprises.
9. Sansad Ratna Awards given to 5 MPs - BJP's PP Chaudhary, Heena Vijaykumar Gavit, Shrirang Appa Barne, Raajeev Shankarrao Satav, Shivaji Adhalrao Patil and P Rajeev.
10. Government made a selection committee headed by P K Sinha to shortlist candidates for Reserve Bank of India governor post.
11. M Beena is appointed as Managing Director of Kerala Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation.
12. Bihar Government inaugurated 'Child Labour Tracking System (CLTS)' in order to keep track of rescued child labour for their proper rehabilitation and financial help of Rs 25,000 for every rescued child labour.
13. Software Firm Microsoft announced to acquire professional social platform LinkedIn for $26.2 Billion USD.
14. Israel elected to chair a UN committee for first time in 71-year history of United Nations. Israeli Ambassador Danny Danon won the chair of the legal affairs committee of General Assembly by picking 109 Votes from 193 members.
15. Shiyal Bet Island in Gujarats Amreli district got electricity supply for the first time since independence after Pashchim Gujarat Vij Company Limited (PGVCL) started supply to island through a 6-km undersea cable.
June 11, 2016
1. CR Sasikumar is appointed as Managing Director of State Bank of Travancore (SBT).
2. Indian Boxing Council (IBC ), a licensing body for professional boxers in India has been granted affiliation by Commonwealth Boxing Council.
3. Haryana Government laid foundation stone of Jai Jawan Awas Yojna (JJAY) at Bahadurgarh. It is an initiative to provide affordable housing to serving and retired JCOs and Other Ranks.
4. HDFC Ergo General Insurance acquired L&T General Insurance for Rs 551 crores.
5. Bihar CM Nitish Kumar launched Right to Public Grievance Redressal Act for quick redressal of peoples' complaints / grievances from Government officials within 60-days.
6. Facebook appointed Umang Bedi as managing director for India Operations.
7. Bharti Airtel appointed Ashok Ganapathy as Director (Airtel Business).
8. Adobe appointed Kulmeet Bawa as Managing Director (MD) for South Asia.
9. Deshauna Barber, a serving Army Reserve officer has crowned as Miss USA 2016. She became first Military Person to be crownwd Miss USA. Miss Hawaii Chelsea Hardin came first runner-up and Miss Georgia Emanii Davis is second runner-up.
10. Fortune 500 Top Companies List 2016 (62nd Annual Rankings). Top 10 Companies are - Walmart ($482 Billion Revenue), Exxon Mobil ($246 Billion), Apple ($233 Billion), Berkshire Hathaway ($210 Billion), McKesson ($181 Billion), United Health Group ($157 Billion), CVS Health ($153 Billion), General Motors ($152 Billion), Ford Motor ($149 Billion).
11. USA returned over 200 stolen cultural artifacts to India, some dating back 2,000 years. The estimated cost of these artifacts is around US$ 100 million.
12. 4 Indian women - Arundhati Bhattacharya (SBI Chief), Chanda Kochhar (ICICI Bank Chief), PepsiCo Chief Indra Nooyi and Biocon Founder Kiran Mazumdar are in new list of Forbes worlds 100 most powerful women. List is topped by German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
13. Shahid Rasool has been appointed as new director of Commonwealth Educational Media Centre for Asia (CEMCA).
14. Noted Russian Chess Player Victor Korchnoi passed away.
15. International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved 1.5 billion USD loan to Sri Lanka to support its economy.
June 10, 2016
1. Peter Thomson (Fiji) has been elected as President of 71st session of United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).
2. Noted Hindi novelist Mudrarakshas passed away.
3. Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) launched a scheme for setting up of 1000 Mega Watt (MW) Wind Power Project connected to transmission network of Central Transmission Utility (CTU), to facilitate supply of wind power to the non-windy states at a price discovered through transparent bidding process.
4. Australian Great Barrier Reef rodent (known as Bramble Cay melomys) has become the first mammal species driven to extinction by human-induced climate change.
5. Government approved Civil Aviation Policy 2016 -
  1. This is for the first time since Independence that an integrated Civil Aviation Policy has been brought out by the Union Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA).
  2. Civil Aviation Policy 2016 aims at -
    1. Make India 3rd largest civil aviation market by 2022 from current 9th position.
    2. Increase domestic ticketing to 30 crore by 2022 from 8 crore in 2015.
    3. Increase airports having scheduled commercial flights from 77 in 2016 to 127 by 2019.
    4. Increase cargo volumes to 10 million tonnes i.e. by 4 times by 2027.
  3. Under Regional Connectivity Scheme - enabling Indians to fly at Rs. 2,500 per hour at unserved airports.
  4. For starting international operations, requirement of 5 years of domestic flying removed.
  5. Ensure availability of quality certified 3.3 lakh skilled personnel by 2025.
  6. Development of green-field airports and heliports.
  7. Areas covered in the Policy - Regional connectivity, 5/20 Requirement for International Operations, Safety, Air Transport Operations, , Route Dispersal Guidelines, Bilateral traffic rights, Code-share agreements, Fiscal Support, Immigration and Customs, Airports developed by State Governments (Private / PPP mode), Aeronautical ‘Make in India.+
6. Indian tennis player Leander Paes become only tennis player in world and first Indian to make 7th appearance at the Olympics. He will participate in Rio Olympics in August 2016.
7. Bethool Ajmal from Kerala named as winner of The Little Miss Princess of Asia 2016 at a beauty pageant held in Georgia.
8. G Kalyanakrishnan is appointed as Chief Executive of Nuclear Fuel Complex (NFC).
9. India announced to sell its Home-made Supersonic Cruise Missile to Vietnam.
10. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley Visited Japan.
11. Prime Minister Narendra Modi completed his 5 Nations Visit to Afghanistan, Switzerland, Qatar, USA, Mexico. Highlights are -
  1. Afghainistan
    1. PM Narendra Modi conferred with Amir Amanullah Khan Award, Afghanistan’s highest civilian honour.
    2. PM Narendra Modi and Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani jointly inaugurated Afghan-India Friendship Dam in Herat province in Western Afghanistan. This Dam was earlier known as Salma Dam. It is built on Hari River amd meant to generate 42 MW of power and irrigate 75000 hectares of land.
  2. Qatar
    1. India and Qatar signed 7 agreements which include agreement to share intelligence to combat ‘hawala’ transactions and terror financing between the two countries. Other Agreements are -
      1. National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF), Ministry of Finance, Government of India and Qatar Investment Authority (QIA)
      2. Cooperation and Mutual Assistance in Customs Matters
      3. Financial Intelligence Unit – India (FIU-IND) and the Qatar Financial Information Unit (QFIU) concerning cooperation in the exchange of intelligence related to money laundering,
      4. Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, the Government of Republic of India and the National Qualifications Authority/Supreme Education Council, Government of the State of Qatar
      5. Tourism
      6. Health
      7. Youth and Sports
  3. Switzerland
    1. Switzerland supported India's membership in the 48-member Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG). Switzerland agreed to provide mutual support to India for becoming non-permanent members of the United Nations Security Council.
  4. USA
    1. PM Modi delivered an address to the joint meeting of the USA Congress.
    2. USA welcomED India entry into Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR).
    3. USA recognised India as an important strategic partner in defense which will give India access to better quality and dual-use technology.
    4. There was also forward movement on the proposal to set up six nuclear reactors in India. Nuclear Power Corporation of India and Westinghouse Electric Co., a U.S. unit of Toshiba Corp., will begin engineering and site-design work for reactors.
    5. Further Agreements between India and USA Include exchange of Terrorist Screening Information, co-operation on Wildlife Conservation and Combating Wildlife Trafficking, Technical Arrangement between the Indian Navy and the United States Navy concerning Unclassified Maritime Information Sharing and Cooperation in Gas Hydrates.
    6. India and US WILL set up 2 financial assistance programmes worth $60 million for supporting Indias clean energy initiatives including solar power and other renewables (includes creation of a $20 million US-India Clean Energy Finance (USICEF) initiative).
    7. India signed Pact with USA for co-operation in development of INS Vishal (India's second Aircraft Carrier). It is scheduled to be commissioned in 2025.
  5. Mexico
    1. Mexico also supported India's membership of Nuclear Suppliers Group or NSG, a 48-member club of nations that control trade in advanced nuclear technologies.
June 9, 2016
1. Airports Authority of India (AAI) is conferred with National Award for its Roof Top Solar Power initiatives. AAI has installed 4.8 megawatt peak power (MWp) rooftop solar plants at 13 airports, generating 51 lakh units of solar energy.
2. According to Forbes 2016 list of worlds 100 highest-paid athletes, Portugese Soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo is at top with earnings of $88 million, followed by Lionel Messi, LeBron James, Roger Federer, Kevin Durant and Novak Djokovic.
3. Book Indias Wars: A Military History (1947-1971) has been authored by Air Vice Marshal Arjun Subramaniam.
4. Indias First Mr. Universe Manohar Aich passed away. He won Mr. Universe title in 1952 and was nicknamed ‘Pocket Hercules due to his shiort height.
5. Scientists of University of Sheffield identified process of removal of DNA molecules from iconic double-helical structure. New research has unlocked a crucial part of mystery as to how human DNA can replicate and repair itself.
6. Government approved MOU with Taiwan for co-operation in Agriculture and Allied Sector, Air Services.
7. Government approved MoU between ISRO and Canadian Space Agency (CSA) on cooperation in field of outer space.
8. Government approved Indian membership of International Continental Scientific Drilling Program (ICDP) by signing MOU with Helmholtz Centre Potsdam GFZ German Research Centre for geosciences.
9. Government approved enhancement of retirement age Non-Teaching and Public Health Specialists of Central Health Service from 62 years to 65 years and and Doctors of General Duty Medical Officers (GDMOs) sub-cadre of Central Health Service (CHS) to 65 years.
10. Government approved Agreement with Saudi Arabia on Labour Co-operation for General Category Workers’ Recruitment.
11. Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved disinvestment of 10% equity of Housing and Urban Development Corporation Ltd. (HUDCO), from Government's shareholding of 100%. Equity capital of HUDCO is Rs.2001.90 crore and Net worth is approximately Rs. 7,800 Crore.
12. India and Switzerland signed an early agreement for implementation of AEOI (Automatic Exchange of Information) between two countries, to curb flow of Black money.
13. To boost community participation in government schools, HRD ministry launched Vidyanjali scheme inviting volunteers to hold public speaking, story telling, play acting sessions and participate in other co-scholastic activities.
14. Government approved signing 15 years contract with International Seabed Authority for undertaking exploration and other developmental activities related to Poly-Metallic Sulphides (PMS). The exploration and other developmental activities has been allotted in the area of 10,000 sq km in parts of Central and South – West Indian Ridges (SWIR), in Indian Ocean.
15. Canadian novelist Margaret Atwood chosen for 2016 Pen Pinter Prize.
June 8, 2016
1. 8 June - World Oceans Day. Theme for 2016 is Healthy oceans, healthy planet.
2. A cheerful white tiger cub “Soohorang” has been named as official mascot for South Korea’s 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics.
3. government constituted Financial Sector Search and Recruitment Committee headed by P K Sinha to decide on members and heads of financial regulatory agencies.
4. Sudarsan Pattnaik, noted Indian sand artist won gold medal in Peoples Choice Prize at 2016 world championship festival of sand sculpting Russe in Bulgaria for his sand sculpture Drugs kill Sports.
5. Tata Power Renewable Energy Limited will acquire renewable energy company Welspun Renewables for 9,249 crores, considered largest transaction in renewables space in India. This will help Tata Power to grow its clean energy portfolio to 2.3 gigawatts (GW).
6. Rakesh Ranjan Prasad appointed as Chief Justice of Manipur High Court.
7. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) issued guidelines on Scheme for Sustainable Structuring of Stressed Assets (S4A), with an aim to strengthen lenders ability to deal with stressed assets and to put real assets back on track. Highlights of the Scheme. RBI formulated the Scheme for Sustainable Structuring of Stressed Assets (S4A) as an optional framework for resolution of large stressed accounts.
8. First All India Women Journalists Workshop organized by Ministry of Women and Child Development (WCD) in New Delhi.
9. 2019 AFC Asian Cup to be hosted by United Arab Emirates (UAE). It is a quadrennial (once in 4 years) men’s football championship organised by Asian Football Confederation.
10. Government launched campaign ‘Swachh Yug’ to make all villages along banks of Ganga Open Defecation Free (ODF).
11. 5th edition of joint naval exercise 2016 Sahyog-Hyeobleod between Indian Coast Guard (ICG) and South Korea held in Bay of Bengal (Chennai).
12. N Ramachandran, president of Indian Olympic Association (IOA) has been honoured with Olympic Order by International Olympic Committee (IOC) for his outstanding services to the Olympic movement.
13. As per recent reports, Pollutants PM2.5 and ground level Ozone are responsible for maximum number of premature mortalities in India.
14. T Haque is appointed head of newly created land policy cell in NITI Aayog.
15. 10-day long military exercise Anakonda 2016 started in Poland as largest training exercise of Polish Armed Forces in 2016. Purpose is to check abilities of NATO to defend territory of theeastern flank of North Atlantic Alliance. It involves 31,000 soldiers from 19 NATO countries and five partner countries.
16. India joined a group of nearly 40 nations that have signed a Europe-led clampdown on tax evasion and corruption.
17. NR Visakh from Tamil Nadu became first Indian to win Mumbai Mayor’s International Open Chess Tournament 2016 (9th edition).
18. Book The Gene: An Intimate History has been written by Siddhartha Mukherjee.He is Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Emperor of All Maladies.
19. University Grants Commission (UGC) has constituted a 5-member committee under V S Chauhan for pay revision of academic staff of Universities and Colleges.
20. Karnataka government announcemd to abolish tax on agricultural income in State Budget for 2016-17.
June 7, 2016
1. Per Lodin (Sweden) appointed as chief military observer and head of UN Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP).
2. Axis Bank launched India's first internationally-listed certified green bond to finance climate change solutions around the world at London Stock Exchange (LSE). Proceeds of the bond will be invested by Axis Bank in green energy, transportation and infrastructure projects, to play a role in reinforcing India’s commitment to produce 175,000 MW of renewable power by 2022.
3. Legendary Canadian ice hockey player Gordie Howe passed away.
4. Google and Tata Trusts jointly launched Internet Saathi program in Purulia (West Bengal), as part of Googles Helping Women Get Online campaign.
5. Railways Ministry flagged off Champaran Satyagrah Express train in Motihari (Bihar), to mark 100 years of the historic Champaran Satyagraha (movement) launched by M K Gandhi in 1917.
6. Global Peace Index (GPI) 2016 by global think Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP) for 163 countries -
  1. India ranked 141 on List (Up from 143 in 2015).
  2. Top 5 peaceful countries - Iceland (1st), Denmark (2nd), Austria (3rd), New Zealand (4th), Portugal (5th).
  3. Least 5 peaceful countries - Syria (163rd), South Sudan (162nd), Iraq (161st), Afghanistan (160th), Somalia (159th), Yemen (158th) .
  4. Indias neighbours -Bhutan (13th), Nepal (78th), Bangladesh (83rd), Sri Lanka (97th), China (120th) and Pakistan (153rd).
7. V. Vaithilingam is elected as Speaker of Puducherry legislative Assembly.
8. Sikkim became first state to have an open government data portal at sikkim.data.gov.in.
9. Satya Pal Jain appointed as a part-time member of 21st Law Commission of India.
10. Railways launched 3 passenger service initiatives - Janani Sewa for mothers (hot milk, hot water and baby food will be available at railway stations), optional catering in Rajdhani and Shatabdi trains and children's menu on trains.
11. Noted journalist Inder Malhotra passed away.
12. Noted theatre personality Achyut Lahkar passed away . He was konwn as father of the Bhryamyman (Mobile Theatre of Assam).
13. Scientists from Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory in Iceland's Columbia University discovered a way to trap greenhouse gas (GHG) carbon dioxide (CO2) deep underground by changing it into a rock, as part of CarbFix project.
  1. In CarbFix project, scientists pumped CO2 and water, 540 metre underground into volcanic rock at Hellisheidi geothermal power plant. In this method, CO2 is dissolved with water (carbonation) is pumped into volcanic rocks called basalts. Later, CO2 solidifies into a storable solid mineral (calcite).
  2. In the research it was found that 95% of the gas was captured and converted in two years.
14. Indian American author Akhil Sharma won 2016 International Dublin Literary Award for his semi-autobiographical novel Family Life.
15. China successfully launched 23rd BeiDou Navigation Satellite to support its global navigation and positioning network. It is 23rd satellite in BeiDou Navigation Satellite System, which is being developed as an alternative to GPS (Global Positioning System) of USA.
16. Norway became first country in world to prohibit deforestation and make government's public procurement policy deforestation-free.
17. International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) announced proposed names for 4 new elements that were added in periodic table in January 2016.
  1. All these 4 elements are super heavy and are synthetic in nature (created in laboratory). They completed seventh row of periodic table of elements.
  2. These new elements are
    1. Nihonium (Nh) - Created by a group of Japanese researchers. Nihon means Japan in Japanese.
    2. Moscovium (Mc) - Named after Russian Capital Moscow.
    3. Tennessine (Ts) - Named after American state of Tennessee. Indian scientist Susanta Lahiri played important role in discovering it
    4. Oganesson (Og) - Named after Russian researcher Yuri Oganessian. It is second element to be named after a living scientist.
June 6, 2016
1. Assams Guwahati became first city to have its own city animal after Kamrup metropolitan district administration declared Gangetic River dolphin (Locally known as Sihu) as its official mascot. Less than 2,000 Gangetic river dolphins remain in Brahmaputra River along Guwahati.
2. Asian Development Bank (ADB) signed loan agreement with India for providing new loan of 200 million USD to upgrade 176 km of roads in Jharkhand.
3. Lucknow city of Uttar Pradesh will host 2016 Junior Mens hockey World Cup.
4. Election Commission (EC) asked Government to amend electoral law Representation of People Act (RPA), 1951 to empower it to postpone or cancel elections if evidence emerges of use of money to influence voters in affected areas, by inserting new clause 58 B in RPA 1951. It will allow declaring invalid of election if money is used to lure voters.
5. Goivernment decided to form a new reserve battalion to be named after great warrior Maharana Pratap. It will be called Maharana India Reserve Battalion.
6. Amber Gurung, Known as Father of modern Nepali music and composer of Nepals national anthem passed away.
7. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its second bi-monthly monetary policy review 2016-17 has kept key policy rates unchanged. Current Rates are -
  1. Policy Rates
    1. Repo - 6.50 %
    2. Reverse repo - 6.0 %
    3. Marginal standing facility (MSF) rate - 7.00 %
  2. Reserve Ratios
    1. Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) - 4.0 %
    2. Statutory Liquidity Ratio (SLR) - 21.25 %
  3. Other forecast
    1. Growth forecast - Unchanged at 7.6% for current fiscal
    2. Inflation target - Unchanged at 5% for January 2017
8. As Per World Health Organization (WHO), Thailand became first Asian country to eliminate mother-to-child HIV transmission.
9. International Tennis Federation banned tennis player Maria Sharapova (Russia) for 2 years over doping charges.
10. World Bank report on global economic -
  1. Global growth forecast is cut to 2.4% in 2016 and at 2.8% in 2017, due to slower recovery in advanced economies.
  2. India will remain one of fastest growing major economies, ahead of China, for next 3 years. Indias growth projections have been marginally lowered by 0.2% to 7.6% for 2016-17 and 7.7% in 2017-18.
11. BP Statistical Review of World Energy -
  1. India surpassed Japan to become worlds third-largest oil consumer. Top 4 are - USA (19.39 million bpd), China (11.96 million bpd), India (4.1 Million bpd), Japan (3.9 Million bpd).
  2. Oil remained the world’s leading fuel, accounting for 32.9% of global energy consumption. sCoal is second-largest fuel by market share (29.2%). Natural gas’ market share of primary energy consumption stood at 23.8%.
  3. In 2015, global demand for primary energy grew only 1% which is slower than 10-year average.
12. Microsoft's Report on Malware Infection Index (MII) in the Asia-Pacific region -
  1. Pakistan topped in list of 19 countries, having maximum Infections. India is placed at 8th position.
  2. Top 5 Malware Infected Nations are - Pakistan (1st), Indonesia (2nd), Bangladesh (3rd), Nepal (4th), Vietnam (5th).
13. Indian-origin professor Lord Kumar Bhattacharyya awarded prestigious Regius Professorship in Manufacturing by Queen Elizabeth II. He is founder of Warwick Manufacturing Group (WMG) and has been granted Regius Professorship for his contribution in manufacturing.
14. Russia has honoured UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon with Order of Friendship Award.
15. Asian Development Bank (ADB) approved 100 million USD loan to strengthen irrigation system and improve water management in Vennar sub-basin of Cauvery Delta in Tamil Nadu.
June 5, 2016
1. 5 June - World Environment Day. 2016 Theme is Go Wild for Life (ZERO TOLERANCE FOR THE ILLEGAL WILDLIFE TRADE). Host Country is Angola.
  1. Indian Navy Pledges 1.5 % of its Works Budget Towards Renewable Energy Generation.
  2. Government committed to take up massive tree plantation drive in upto 200 cities across country to create Urban Forests. Environment Ministry launched ‘Urban Forestry Scheme in Pune, where 6000 saplings will be planted to create an ‘urban jungle on 80 acres of land.
  3. Minister of Railways Suresh Prabhu flagged off Tiger Trail Circuit Train between Mumbai and Delhi.
2. India and USA signed MoU to join global terror database maintained by Terrorist Screening Center (TSC) of USA. USA recognised India as a major defence partner which will pave way to bring it closest US allies for defence related trade and technology transfer.
3. 2015 Good Country Index (GCI)
  1. Top 5 Countres - Sweden, Denmark, Netherlands, United Kingdom, Germany.
  2. Libya was ranked as the least good country in the world in 2015 .
  3. India has been placed at 70th position in list of 163 countries n Overall Index. India's Rank in sub-indexes -
    1. International peace and security - 27th
    2. prosperity and equality - 124th
    3. Health and wellbeing - 37th
    4. Science and technology - 62nd
    5. Culture - 119th
    6. Climate - 106th
4. Noted American boxer Muhammad Ali passed away. He was former three times world heavyweight champion (1964, 1974 and 1978). He was also known globally for his civil rights activism.
5. Assam Assembly passed Ease of Doing Business Bill 2016 to facilitate ease of doing business in state, to attract fresh investment in state.
6. Scientists from Harvard University (USA) created a unique bionic leaf (2.0) that solar energy to split water molecules into oxygen and hydrogen and hydrogen-eating bacteria to produce liquid fuels from CO2. It can convert solar energy to biomass with 10% efficiency, much higher than the 1% seen in fastest growing plants.
7. Indian judoka Avtar Singh qualified for 2016 Rio Olympic Games to be held in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil).
8. French Open 2016 -
  1. Men's Singles - Novak Djokovic (Serbia) defeated Britains Andy Murray. It was Djokovics 12th major title and he became the first man since Rod Laver in 1969 to hold all four Grand Slams at once.
  2. Women's Singles - Garbine Muguruza (Spain) won by defeating Serena Williams (USA).
  3. Men's Doubles - Spanish pair of Feliciano López and Marc López won by defeating Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan pair from USA.
  4. Women's Doubles - French pair of Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic defeated Russian pair of Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina.
  5. Mixed Doubles - Leander Paes (India) and Martina Hingis (Switzerland) won b6y defeating Sania Mirza (India) and Ivan Dodig (Croatia).
9. World's first 3D-printed aircraft THOR (Test of High-tech Objectives in Reality) unveiled by Airbus at International Aerospace Exhibition in Germany.
  1. THOR has just 3 parts, makin its lighter, faster and cheaper. It weighs 21 kilo grams and less than 4 metres long. All it parts (except electrical elements) are 3D printed from a substance called polyamide.
10. Himachal Pradesh became first state to have a State Data Centre (SDC), designed using green data centre concept. It will offer 101 people-oriented services online through an integrated data base. It would integrate websites of various departments and all services can be accessed through the integrated data base, saving time and money spent on creation of infrastructure.
11. Delhi government approved its first Solar Policy, aiming at making Capital an environment-friendly solar city. It Recommends installation of 1 GW (1,000 Mega Watts) solar power capacity in Delhi by 2020, which is proposed to be doubled to 2 GW by 2025.
12. Gujarat government announced its first IT and Electronics Start-up Policy,wapplicable only to IT and electronics related start-ups. Under this, State Government will develop 50 new incubators to mentor and guide 2,000 start-ups in the next five years.
13. Rajasthan Government launched mobile application RajVayu for sharing information about air quality index of Jaipur, Udaipur and Jodhpur. Rajasthan becomes first state in country to launch such app for sharing information about air quality index of cities.
14. 2016 Global Retail Development Index (GRDI) released by London-based business consultancy A T Kearney -
  1. India is ranked at second position, jumping 13 positions from last year (2015) among 30 developing countries on ease of doing business.
  2. Sharp pick up in GDP growth and better clarity regarding FDI regulations have helped India achieve a second ranking.
  3. Indias retail sector expanded at annual growth rate of 8.8% between 2013 and 2015, with annual sales crossing US 1 trillion dollars.
15. Bollywood actress Dia Mirza was named as the ambassador for Swachh Saathi (student internship) programme.
June 4, 2016
1. 04 June - United Nations’ (UN) International Day of Innocent Children Victims of Aggression.
2. Under impetus of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and French Space Agency (CNES), space agencies of more than 60 countries agreed to engage their satellites, to coordinate their methods and their data to monitor human-induced greenhouse gas emissions.
3. 15th Asia Security Summit 2016 organized by International Institute of Strategic Studies in Singapore. Attended by Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on India's Behalf.
4. 19th Plenary Session of Contact Group on Piracy off Coast of Somalia (CGPCS) held in Mahe (Seychelles). India chosen to co-chair important Working Group on Improving Maritime Situational Awareness (MSA) in Region.
5. OP Jindal Global University (JGU) launched book The Education President, highlighting President Pranab Mukherjee's contribution to field of higher education.
6. India and Asian Development Bank Signed 120 Million USD Loan Agreement to Modernize Irrigation and Improve Water Management in Odisha.
7. Plenary session of 105th Session of International Labour Conference held in Geneva (Switzerland), attended by Shankar Aggarwal (Secretary (Labour and Employment)).
8. Piyush Goyal (Minister of State (IC) for Power, Coal and New & Renewable Energy) launched Surya Mitra mobile App, developed by National Institute of Solar Energy. This App can handle thousands of calls simultaneously and can efficiently monitor all visits of Suryamitras.
  1. National Institute of Solar Energy (NISE) is organizing Suryamitra skill development programs at various locations across country. Duration of this skill development program is approx 90 days, sponsored by Ministry of New & Renewable Energy, Govt. of India.
9. Paradip Port Trust received Best Performance Award from Shipping Ministry, in efficiency parameters for year 2015-16.
10. Noted journalist K.K. Katyal passed away.
11. Ministry of Commerce & Industry approved establishment of Mega Leather Cluster at Nellore district (Andhra Pradesh).
12. Jadavpur University (Kolkata) won 12th National Youth Parliament Competition for Universities and Colleges conducted by Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs.
13. Book The World in 2050- Striving for a More Just, Prosperous and Harmonious Global Community, written by Harinder S. Kohli has been released.
14. Andhra Pradesh Government's AP Food Processing Society signed agreement with National Research Development Corporation (Ministry of Science & Technology) to strengthen agribusiness & food processing sector by establishing Smart Agribusiness Platform Networks of Andhra Pradesh (SAPNAP). These will focus on creation of enabling ecosystem for accelerated growth of agribusiness by involving all the stakeholders.
15. 20th Ex MALABAR-2016, Joint Naval Exercise of India, USA & Japan started. Harbour phase will be held at Sasebo (Japan) from 10 - 13 June 16 and sea phase in Pacific Ocean from 14 - 17 June 16.
16. Ministry of Heavy Industry & Public Enterprises constituted 3rd Pay Revision Committee for executives of Central Public Sector Undertakings under chairmanship of Justice Satish Chandra (Retd.).
17. Ministry of Information & Broadcasting framed New Print Media Advertisement Policy for Directorate of Advertising & Visual Publicity (DAVP), to promote transparency and accountability in issuing of advertisements in print media -
  1. Policy introduces a New Marking System for newspapers. Advertisements shall be released by DAVP to Newspapers based on marks obtained by each newspaper
    1. Circulation certified by ABC/RNI (25 marks)
    2. EPF subscription for employees (20 marks)
    3. Number of pages (20 marks)
    4. Subscription to wire services of UNI/PTI/Hindustan Samachar (15 marks)
    5. Own printing press (10 marks)
    6. Annual subscription payment to PCI (10 marks)
  2. Certification by RNI/ABC if circulation exceeds 45,000 copies per publishing day, for circulation upto 45,000 copies per publishing day certificate from Cost/Chartered Accountant/ Statutory Auditor Certificate/ ABC is mandated.
  3. Policy also stipulates empanelment procedure for Multi-Editions of a newspaper. It states that, whenever copies of one edition of a newspaper are printed from more than one centre and if contentcis different, they would be treated as different editions. Each edition is required to have a separate RNI registration number.
  4. Policy has classified Newspaper/Journals into three categories namely Small (<25,000 copies per publishing day), Medium (25,001-75,000 copies per publishing day) and Big (>75,000 copies per publishing day).
June 3, 2016
1. Bombay Stock Exchange received RBI approval to start an online bidding platform for Sovereign Gold Bond scheme, to offer an online bidding platform for collecting bids from members and their clients for SGB issue.
2. P Dhanapal re-elected as Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly Speaker.
3. Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC) signed agreement with Gujarat International Finance Tec-City Company Limited (GIFTCL) and GIFT SEZ Limited (GIFT SEZ) to establish a representative office in India.
4. German Parliament passed resolution to recognize massacre of Armenians by Ottoman forces during First World War (1915) as genocide.
5. Kerala Government announced to use Cricket Legend Sachin Tendulkar's name in campaign against liquor and drug abuse in state.
6. Ashok Lavasa appointed as Finance Secretary of India.
7. Book The Unseen Indira Gandhi , authored by KP Mathur has been released.
8. National Buildings Construction Corporation Limited (NBCC) will launch cleaning River Ganga Project in Bihar. In December 2015, the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation hired NBCC to carry out feasibility study of river for entry-level activities in Bihar.
9. 7th Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM7) and the inaugural Mission Innovation (MI) Meet held at San Francisco (USA). India was represented by Minister for Science & Technology and Earth Sciences Harsh Vardhan. India announced to double investment in Clean Energy Research in next five years (72 million USD to 145 million dollars).
June 2, 2016
1. A.K. Mittal appointed as Member Engineering of Railway Board.
2. Dr. Thomas Mathew appointed as Additional Secretary to the President
3. Prabhas Kumar Jha appointed as Secretary in Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs.
4. Government approved setting up India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) as a Public Limited Company under Department of Posts with 100% Government of India equity. Total expenditure is 800 Crores.
5. Asian Development Bank and Government of India signed agreement for $200 million loan to upgrade 176 Kilometers of State roads Jharkhand.
6. Government started Asia's First Gyps Vulture Re-introduction Programme on Pinjore (Haryana).
7. Asia's largest technology trade fair Computex Taipei 2016 held in Taiwan, to promote internet computing ecosystems.
8. Switzerland-based International Institute for Management and Development (IMD)s world competitiveness rankings 2016 -
  1. Hong Kong is at top, followed by Switzerland, USA, Singapore, Sweden, Denmark, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway and Canada.
  2. India has been ranked 41 out of 61 countries in the IMD
  3. The IMD measures how well countries manage all their resources and competencies to facilitate long-term value creation.
9. Noted actor and Comedian Razzak Khan passed away.
10. Sri Lankan Bowler Nuwan Kulasekara retired from Test Cricket.
11. Serbian Tennis Player Novak Djokovic became first tennis player to earn more than $100 million in prize money. He is followed by Switzerland's Roger Federer.
12. Forbes' America's Richest Self-made Women' list 2016 -
  1. Diane Hendricks (owner of ABC Supply) is at top with worth of 4.9 billion USD.
  2. Two Indian-origin women on List - Neerja Sethi (Syntel), Jayshree Ullal (Arista Networks)
13. India gifted 2,000 bicycles to poor dalit girls in government schools of Nepal to encourage them to enrol in schools.
14. K Chari is appointed as Managing Director of State Bank of Mysore (SBM).
15. India joined Hague Code of Conduct against Ballistic Missile Proliferation (HCoC), a global ballistic missile proliferation regime. India has joined to highlight its readiness to further strengthen global non-proliferation objectives.
June 1, 2016
1. 1 June: Global Day of Parents.
2. 1 June - World Milk Day, started by UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in 2001. Noted that India's National Milk Day is celebrated on 26 November, in memory of Verghese Kurien (Father of India's White Revolution).
3. Government extended retirement age of government doctors to 65 years, to strengthen healthcare sector in the country.
4. Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar inaugurated a submarine assembly workshop at Mazgaon Dock Shipbuilders in Mumbai.
5. Government signed MOU with USA to enhance cooperation in field of wildlife conservation and combating wildlife trafficking.
6. India and Morocco launched India-Morocco Chamber of Commerce and Industry (IMCCI) in Rabat (Moroccan capital), on the occasion of Indian Vice President Hamid Ansari visiting Morocco.
7. R Seetharaman (Group CEO of Doha Bank) has been honoured with 2016 Green Economy Visionary Award for his contribution in environment-friendly activities.
8. Government approved MOU with French Civil Aviation Authority (Direction Generale de lAviation Civile (DGAC)) to implement Technical Cooperation Programme (TCP) for implementation of Practices of International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).
9. PM Narendra Modi released National Disaster Management Plan (NDMP) to make India more disaster resilient. It is based on 4 priority themes of Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-30 - Understanding disaster risk, Improving disaster risk governance, Investing in disaster risk reduction and Disaster preparedness.
10. Odisha became first state to give social welfare benefits to transgender people, including BPL Cards, housing, pension and food grains.
11. Navin Agarwal appointed as Director General (DG) of National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA).
12. P Sreeramakrishnan elected as speaker of 14th legislative assembly of Kerala.
13. Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) launched DND (do not disturb) mobile app for telecom subscribers to register their complaints against pesky calls and SMSes.
14. BRICS' New Development Bank (NDB) will issue its first yuan-denominated bonds to finance sustainable development projects, after receiving a rating from international ratings agencies as well as getting authorities approval.
15. Asias largest annual security forum Shangri-La Dialogue held in Singapore to talk about security issues in Asia-Pacific region, organised by London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS). India represented by Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar.
16. India and Tunisia signed MoU for co-operation in Information Technology (IT) and promotion of traditional handicrafts.
17. Government approved MOU with Brunei Darussalam for co-operation in Youth and Sports Affairs.

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