1) India gifts 2,000 bicycles to Nepal girl students to stem dropout rate.
- The Indian government has gifted 2,000 bicycles to poor Dalit girls studying in government schools in Banke, Siraha, Dhanusha and Sarlahi districts of Nepal to stem the dropout rate.
- The gifting of bicycles to the poor Dalit girl students was aimed at enhancing the literacy rate among girls in Nepal and also to encourage girls from such families to enrol in schools.
- The government of India extended a financial assistance of Rs 8 crore under its Small Development Project scheme.
- The India-Nepal Economic Programme has an outlay of over 76 billion Nepali rupees, with more than 529 large and small developmental projects completed or under implementation across Nepal.
About Nepal:
Capital: Kathmandu
Prime minister: Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli
President: Bidhya Devi Bhandari
Currency: Nepalese rupee
2) Canada to enforce plain cigarette packaging in attempt to curb smoking.
- Canada, following the lead of Britain and Australia, will make plain packaging of cigarettes compulsory in a bid to cut the rate of smoking.
- Canada already obliges firms to slap large graphic warning labels on cigarette packets.
- The measures would require a uniform, standardized color and font on packages and restrict the use of logos and trademarks.
- A final decision on what packaging rules to apply will be announced after a three-month period of public consultations.
- Australia became the first country to adopt plain packaging legislation.
About Canada:
Capital: Ottawa
Currency: Canadian dollar
Prime minister: Justin Trudeau
3) Poland constitution: EU warns over threat to rule of law.
- The European Union has issued a formal warning to Poland for threatening the rule of law - one of the founding principles of the EU.
- The warning from the European Commission could lead to Poland being stripped of its EU voting rights.
- This marks the first time the EU executive has criticized a member under its rule of law procedure.
4) Exchange of terrorist screening information Arrangement between India and USA signed.
- An Arrangement between the authorized governmental agencies of the Government of India and the Government of the United States of America (USA) for exchange of terrorist screening information was signed.
- Arrangement was signed by the Union Home Secretary, Shri Rajiv Mehrishi and Mr. Richard Verma, Ambassador of the United States of America to India.
- As per this Arrangement, both sides shall provide each other access to terrorism screening information through the designated contact points, subject to domestic laws and regulations.
- The Arrangement would enhance the counter terrorism cooperation between India and USA.
5) Turkey, Kenya set target to increase trade volume to $1 billion.
- Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Kenyan counterpart Uhuru Kenyatta held a joint press conference in Nairobi, the second stop on Turkey`s two-nation East African tour.
- Turkey and Kenya aim to raise the volume of trade from the outstanding $144 million to $1 billion a year.
- Recep Tayyip Erdogan is accompanied by a committee of 135 business people who came to Kenya ready to hold meetings on a sectoral basis with counterparts in the Business Forum.
6) PM’s visit to Afghanistan, Qatar, Switzerland, USA and Mexico.
- The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi will be visiting Afghanistan, State of Qatar, Switzerland, United States of America and Mexico from June 4-8.
- PM will join President Ashraf Ghani to inaugurate Afghanistan-India Friendship Dam in Herat.
- PM will be visiting the State of Qatar at the invitation of Sheikh Tamim the Emir of Qatar.
- On a bilateral visit to Switzerland and will hold talks with President Schneider-Ammann to deepen our bilateral and multilateral cooperation.
- PM will address a Joint Meeting of the US Congress.
7) Northern Ireland to lift ban on gay men donating blood.
- Northern Ireland’s ban on gay men donating blood is to be lifted.
- The one-year deferral system operated in the rest of the UK will now become law in Northern Ireland. This means gay and bisexual men will be permitted to give blood one year after their last sexual contact with another man.
- The lifting of the ban in Northern Ireland brings the region in line with England, Scotland and Wales.
8) India, Singapore agree to enhance scale of military interaction.
- India and Singapore held the first dialogue between their defence ministers as they agreed to enhance the scale and complexity of existing bilateral military interaction, at a time when freedom of navigation in international waterways has emerged as a major concern.
- Decision in this regard, was taken at inaugural Singapore-India Defence Ministers’ Dialogue (DMD). The Dialogue was co-chaired by Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar and his Singapore counterpart Dr. Ng Eng Hen.
- A joint statement issued after the meeting by both ministers committed to enhance the scale and complexity of existing bilateral exercises between the militaries.
- Both countries agreed cooperation between Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Singapore research agency on research-oriented projects.
About Singapore:
Capital: Bangkok
Prime minister: Lee Hsien Loong
Currency: Singapore dollar
9) PM inaugurates Afghan-India Friendship Dam wapcos executes landmark infrastructure project.
- Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi jointly inaugurated the Afghan-India Friendship Dam (Salma Dam) with President of Afghanistan Dr. Ashraf Ghani at Chist-e-Sharif in Herat province in Western Afghanistan.
- Salma Dam is a landmark infrastructure project undertaken by Government of India on river Hari Rud.
- Dam is a multipurpose project planned for generating 42 MW of power, irrigating 75000 hectares of land, water supply and other benefits to the people of Afghanistan.
- Rs. 1775 crore project was funded by Government of India and took more than ten years to complete.
About Afghanistan:
Capital: Kabul
President: Ashraf Ghani
Currency: Afghan afghani
10) China warships to join major U.S. hosted naval drills.
- China confirmed it would send warships to join a major U.S. hosted naval drill.
- The Rim of the Pacific exercise (RIMPAC), the world`s largest international maritime exercise, is conducted in June and July, every two years in Hawaii.
- Its participation was limited to areas such as humanitarian relief and search and rescue operations.
About China:
Capital: Beijing
Currency: Yuan Renminbi
President: Xi Jinping
11) India applies for Nuclear Suppliers Group membership after seven years of talks.
- The Indian government has submitted its formal application for membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi`s visit to the US.
- The application was put forward and the decision is expected to be made at a closed-door NSG summit in Vienna between 9-10 June.
- India`s application was sent almost one week before Pakistan`s, who is being backed by NSG member China.
- In November 2010, US President Barack Obama announced its support to India’s participation in the NSG.
12) Switzerland`s voters rejects basic income plan.
- Switzerland is voting on whether to introduce a guaranteed basic income for every citizen, becoming the first country to hold such a vote.
- The proposal calls for adults to be paid an unconditional income of 2,500 Swiss francs a month, whether they work or not. Supporters of the idea say 21st Century work is increasingly automated, with fewer jobs available for workers.
- Swiss voters have overwhelmingly rejected a proposal to introduce a guaranteed basic income for all.
- Final results referendum showed that nearly 77% opposed the plan, with only 23% backing it.
- Switzerland is the first country to hold such a vote.
13) 6.3-magnitude earthquake rocks Maluku Islands in Indonesia.
- A 6.3-magnitude earthquake rocked the Maluku Islands in eastern Indonesia.
- The Indonesian Meteorological, Climatological and Geophysical Agency reported that the quake struck at 01:25 am local time.
- The epicenter was 146 kilometre southwest of South Buru Regency, Maluku Province, 299 kilometre from Maluku Province’s capital Ambon with a depth of 445 kilometre under the sea.
About Indonesia:
Capital: Jakarta
Prime minister: Jusuf Kalla
President: Joko Widodo
Currency: Indonesian rupiah
14) Switzerland back India’s bid for NSG membership.
- India, got the backing of Switzerland in its bid to become a member of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) ahead of the group’s crucial meeting.
- The two countries also resolved to strengthen cooperation in combating tax evasion and black money.
- Swiss President Johann Schneider-Ammann announced his country’s support to India’s membership in the 48-member grouping after holding comprehensive talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
- Both countries Agreed to expand cooperation in tackling the problem of Indians stashing away unaccounted money in Swiss banks, the two leaders also had talks on stepping up ties in areas of trade, investment and vocational training.
- India has been pushing for membership of the bloc for last few years and had formally moved its application recently. The grouping will take up India’s application in its plenary meetings on June 9 in Vienna and June 24 in Seoul.
About Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG):
- NSG is a multinational body concerned with reducing nuclear proliferation by controlling the export and re-transfer of materials that may be used for development of nuclear weapons.
- It was set up in 1974 as a reaction to India’s first successful nuclear tests to stop so called misuse of nuclear material meant for peaceful purposes. Currently, NSG has 48 members.
15) Norway to ban petrol and diesel cars by 2025.
- Norway to ban or reduce the sale of all cars running on petrol and diesel after 2025.
- Norway looks set to become the first country to ban the sale of cars powered by fossil fuels after politicians apparently agreed that all vehicles must run on green energy by 2025.
- The move follows the agreement of a new climate tax on electricity and the announcement that the country will become the first in the world to commit to zero deforestation.
- Norway joins the Netherlands, one of the most bicycle-friendly countries in the world, in proposing the fossil fuel-powered vehicle bans.
About Norway:
Capital: Oslo
Currency: Norwegian krone
Prime minister: Erna Solberg
16) Saudi plans to triple non-oil revenue in 5 years.
- Saudi Arabia plans to more than triple the government’s non-oil revenues and clamp down on public-sector salaries over the next five years.
- The National Transformation Plan (NTP) aims to boost non-oil revenue to 530 billion riyals ($141 billion) by 2020, creating some 450,000 non-government jobs.
- The plan aims to ``enhance the level and quality of services`` provided by government and ``achieve a prosperous future and sustainable development``.
- The NTP, which includes over 500 projects and initiatives as well as performance indicators for ministries and other government agencies, will cost around 270 billion riyals to implement.
- The plan is part of a wider, long-term reform drive known as Vision 2030.
About Saudi Arabia:
Capital: Riyadh
Currency: Saudi riyal
King: Salman bin Abdulaziz