1) Adani, Reliance sign deals for power generation in Bangladesh.
- Bangladesh signed two MOUs with the two major Indian companies, Adani and Reliance to set up 4,600 MW power plants in the country.
- Adani Power will invest $2.5 billion to set up a coal-based power plant with a capacity of 1,600 MW.
- The Reliance Power will invest $3 billion to set up an imported liquefied natural gas.
2) India imposed anti-dumping duty for certain stainless steel products imported from China, Malaysia and South Korea.
- The finance ministry of India imposed anti-dumping duty for some stainless steel products imported from China, Malaysia and South Korea.
- This is done to protect the interests of domestic suppliers who were affected badly by such imports. The duty has been levied for five years. The stainless steel industry is plagued with imports from countries like Malaysia, Korea and Japan under the Free Trade Agreement.
3) India, Netherlands sign MoU for development of Measles- Rubella Vaccines.
- The MoU was signed under ‘Make in India’ initiative of Union government in the presence of the Netherlands Prime Minister Mark Rutte during his visit to India.
- The vaccine will be manufactured by Bharat Immunologicals and Biologicals Corporation Ltd (BIBCOL) at its plant at Chola, Uttar Pradesh.
- Translational Vaccinology (INTRAVACC) a government-based institute of Netherlands will provide technical support for the development of vaccine.
- INTRAVACC institute is part of Netherlands’ Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport. It is internationally renowned for vaccine development and has a long history in technology transfer.
- BIBCOL is a Central Public Sector Unit (CPSU) under the Department of Biotechnology of Union Ministry of Science & Technology.
About Netherlands:
- Capital and largest city: Amsterdam
- Currency: Euro, United States Dollar
- Official languages: Dutch
- Prime Minister: Mark Rutte
4) Indian army hunts militants in Myanmar in rare cross border strike.
- India`s army attacked separatist rebels just over the border with Myanmar a rare cross-border strike its resolve to fight terrorism beyond the country`s borders.
- The mountainous northeast which borders China, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Myanmar, is home to dozens of insurgent groups fighting for autonomy or secession from India.
- The NSCN-K, or the National Socialist Council of Nagaland - Khaplang, aims to create a sovereign state for the Naga people in Myanmar and India.
About:
- For decades, soldiers have been deployed in the region but they are not known to have crossed borders even though the military says rebels have sanctuaries in Myanmar, Bangladesh and Bhutan.
- This cross-border operation is not new for Indian Army as in past it has carried out such operations. In April-May 1995, Operation Golden Bird was launched as an India-Myanmar joint operation along the Mizoram border which killed almost 40 militants.
About Myanmar:
- Capital: Naypyidaw
- Currency: Burmese kyat
- President: Thein Sein
5) 26 African countries create TFTA: Cape Town to Cairo free-trade zone.
- African countries have signed a historic The Tripartite Free Trade Area (TFTA) that facilitates creation of Africa’s largest free-trade zone.
- This free-trade zone will cover 26 countries in an area from southernmost tip of African continent i.e. Cape Town (South Africa) to Cairo (Egypt) in the north.
- The pact was signed in Egypt will intent to ease the movement of goods across 26 member countries which represent more than half the continent’s GDP.
About:
- TFTA pact combines existing three trade blocs among the African nations viz
- (a) Southern African Development Community (SADC).
- (b) East African Community (EAC).
- (c) Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA).
- It will remove trade barriers on most goods, making them cheaper and stimulating $1 trillion worth of economic activity across the region of more than 600 million people.
- Thus bolster intra-regional trade by creating a wider market that will increase investment flow and enhance regional infrastructure development.
- The pact will then be officially unveiled at the upcoming 25th summit of the African Union in South Africa. After adopting it will need parliamentary ratification from all member nations.
6) India, Australia, Japan Hold First Ever Trilateral Dialogue.
- India, Japan and Australia held their first ever high-level trilateral dialogue in New Delhi. The talks were attended by Indian foreign secretary S. Jaishankar, Japanese vice foreign minister Akitaka Saiki and Australian secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Varghese.
- Maritime security was on the agenda, including freedom of navigation in the South China Sea and trilateral maritime cooperation in the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean. The countries also discussed the prospects for greater economic cooperation.
7) India to attend Donors’ Conference in Nepal.
- India will send a high-level ministerial delegation to the Donors’ Conference in Kathmandu Prime Minister Narendra Modi told his Nepalese counterpart, Sushil Koirala, Mr. Modi’s participation in the meet, aimed at raising funds for rebuilding the earthquake-hit mountain kingdom.
- It has already set up a $2 billion fund for reconstruction and rebuilding, with preliminary estimates indicating that the costs could be five times higher.
- It will be held in June 25th at Katmandu.
About: Nepal
- Capital: Katmandu
- Currency: Nepalese Rupee
- Prime Minister: Sushil Koirala
- President: Ram Baran Yadav
8) US opens probe against Indian IT giants TCS, Infosys for H1B visa violations.
- United States (US) government has opened an investigation against two of the biggest Indian Information Technology (IT) outsourcing companies for possible violations of H1-B visa rules. The two IT giants are Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and Infosys.
- The investigation is being carried by US Department of Labour for against both companies for possible violations of rules for visas for foreign technology workers under contracts they held with an electric utility Southern California Edison.
9) Srilanka’s Cabinet approves 20A with 237 parliamentary seats.
- The Cabinet of Ministers approved the 20th amendment to the constitution increasing the number of seats in Parliament to 237 from 225.
- The 237 seats include 145 MPs from First-Past-the Post (FPP) system while the rest consists of the Proportional Representation (PR) system and the National List.
- Parties representing upcountry Tamils or Indian Tamils including constituents of the newly-formed Tamil Progressive Alliance (TPA).
10) China freight train opens new trade route to Europe.
- China launched a freight train service between its northeastern city of Harbin and Europe opening a new trade route.
- The train left Harbin, capital of the Heilongjiang province, carrying 49 containers of domestic goods such as electronic products and auto parts estimated at $3 million (about Rs. 20 crore) from northeast and north China.
About freight train:
- During the 9,820 km journey, the train will pass Russia and Poland before reaching its destination of Hamburg in Germany.
- Several Chinese cities such as Chongqing, Chengdu, Changsha, Hefei, Yiwu and Suzhou have launched similar freight train services to Europe.
- China Seeks Maritime Deal With Bangladesh.
- China has approached Bangladesh to sign a pact on Blue economy and maritime cooperation in the Bay of Bengal.
- The signing of a deal on maritime cooperation that involves capacity building, joint research and study and training.
About China:
- China Capital: Beijing
- Currency: Yuan, Renminbi
- President: Xi Jinping
- Premier: Li kequiang