• The Union Textiles Minister Shri Santosh Kumar Gangwar inaugurated 45-day long skill up gradation training programme for Scheduled Caste handloom weavers belonging to Sohlela Block in Bargarh district of Odisha.
• The Minister also gave away the certificates to pass outs of the first Handloom Entrepreneur training course. The Minister also handed over the sanction letters to handloom weavers under Pradhan Mantri Weaver MUDRA Scheme.
• The Central Government is implementing several new initiatives under the guidance of Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, which are aimed at raising earnings of handloom weavers to Rs. 500 per day.

• A Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the Rural Development Ministry and ISRO, Department of Space for geo-tagging the assets created under MGNREGA in each gram panchayat.
• Around 30 lakh assets are created annually across the country under the rural job scheme and the Ministry has decided that through convergence with other schemes, the geo-tagging of such assets will be done on a mission mode.
• The space technology is increasingly being used up to the grassroots level for not only visualization of the assets but also for terrain mapping to undertake other developmental works like watershed and drought-proofing measures.

• In anticipation of an ‘above normal’ monsoon prediction by IMD this year, the Maharashtra government has ensured that all 36 districts in the state have their own disaster management plans.
• The plan deals extensively with the emergency and evacuation measures to be taken up in cases of heavy downpour, flash floods, landslides, lightning strikes and other natural calamities.
• The district-level disaster management plan has detailed information about geographical details, population, flood-prone areas, villages and other macro details.

• Chandigarh administrator Kaptan Singh Solanki flagged off a mobile van to provide home-based education to disabled children.
• Named Kalam Express, the van will work six days in a week and will have an educator and a physiotherapist will comprise an LCD screen, a visual projector, books and toys.
• The children who cannot commute to schools to attain education will be covered under home-based education facility and they must be provided all necessary support services like therapies remediation and rehabilitation services. The van will cater to the children with special needs in peripheral, slum, rural and rehabilitation colonies.

• Haryana government has decided to provide hundred per cent rebate in property tax for residential, commercial, institutional and other properties.
• The rebate would be given for a period of one year. A notification to this effect has been issued by the Urban Local Bodies Department.
• The government has already waived electricity dues for the current and impending billing cycles of all those consumers whose houses or commercial properties were damaged or looted.

• The e-Governance initiative by the Arunachal Pradesh government is all set to go paperless.
• The e-Office suite would be made functional in the State Civil Secretariat after which there would be no manual movement of file.
• A comprehensive training module would be put in place to train all users of this application. Digitization of legacy data would be undertaken to ensure continuity.

• Union Ministry of Urban Development has approved the 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 of the country, thus giving Members of Parliament (MP) and Members of Legislative Assembly (MLA) a say in the implementation of the urban development schemes.
• These Committees will oversee, review and monitor implementation of urban development, affordable housing and urban poverty alleviation programmes. Programmes to be monitored under this - Swachh Bharat Mission, Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) and Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana (HRIDAY) etc.

• Odisha government approved a proposal of the Panchayati Raj department to add 500 new gram panchayats before the 2017 three-tier panchayat polls.
• The decision has been taken based on the recommendation received from the district level. 

• Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu flagged off a maiden train on 81 km railway line between Sonipat and Jind and stressed on the need to create infrastructure to promote growth and to meet future challenges.
• The MoU was signed recently between them for constitution of a joint venture entity for development of rail infrastructure in the state.

• Nagaland Governor P.B. Acharya launched women helpline - 181 at District Hospital Dimapur in Nagaland and also inaugurated Sakhi, a one stop Centre, intended to support women affected by violence both in private and public spaces under one roof.
• Problems of distressed women would be addressed through this project and also appealed to all the stake holders for extending cooperation, so that violence against women would decline and people to extend co-operation for strengthening the security of women.

• The Greater Noida authority has decided to develop an Eco park across 2,500 acres on the lines of forest reserves at Paris in France. The park is proposed to be developed inside three forest reserves on 803 acres in Surajpur, 743 acres in Gulistanpur and 1,112 acres in Murshadpur.
• Development of the Eco Park as the biggest oxygen bank in Gautama Buddha Nagar is a high-priority project as Akhilesh Yadav, chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, had announced the project to combat rising pollution.

• The Defence Ministry paved the way for purchase of 145 Ultra Light Howitzers, worth about $750 million, from the US and also approved bulk production of 18 Dhanush artillery guns, the first acquisition of such weapon systems by the Army in three decades since the Bofors scandal.
• Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), chaired by Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar , took up 18 proposals including new schemes worth Rs. 28,000 crore for discussion.
• Another key project that got an Acceptance of Necessity (AON), which will now allow the Navy to issue tenders, was the proposal to build six next generation missile vessels under `Buy Indian` category for Rs. 13,600 crore.

• Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, Shri Radha Mohan Singh has inaugurated the 5 days training programme on ``Ornamental Fish Culture and Management for Livelihood Improvement of Rural Women`` at ICAR Research Complex for Eastern Region, Patna.
• The training centre on ornamental fish culture and production has been established recently at ICAR Research Complex for Eastern Region, Patna for imparting training to rural women for their empowerment through ornamental fish farming.

• Underscoring the importance of up gradation of skills of nurses across the country, Shri J.P. Nadda, Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare stated that the Government is committed to providing accessible, affordable and quality training to them.
• The Nursing Staff occupies important position in healthcare delivery and without them the desired results cannot be achieved. The role of the nursing staff can be compared equally to that of the doctors when we think of achieving the SDGs.
• Shri J.P. Nadda inaugurated of Indian Nursing Council Office Complex. He also launched two new Nurse Practitioner Courses, one in Critical Care and the other in Primary Healthcare and a web-based ‘Live Register’ for Nurses.

• The Union Home Minister Shri Rajnath Singh chaired the 22nd meeting of the Eastern Zonal Council held at Ranchi, Jharkhand.
• The Eastern Zonal Council, consisting of the states of Jharkhand, Bihar, Odisha and West Bengal, discussed the issues like modernization of State Police Forces, measures to curb communal tension and Left Wing Extremism (LWE), curbing of drug trafficking, measures for bringing Green Revolution to Eastern India, issues relating to fisheries, productivity of livestock and poultry to usher Blue Revolution.
• The issues of sharing of water of major rivers, development of Railways, construction of Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) and Multi –Sectoral Development Programme in the Eastern Zone were also discussed in detail. The Zonal Council also reviewed the progress of the implementation of the recommendations made at the previous meeting of the Council held at Patna.

• With an objective to provide clean gaseous fuel for cooking and organic bio-manure as a by-product, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has allocated to the States/ UTs an annual target of setting up one lakh family size biogas plants (1 m3 to 6 m3capacity) for the current year, 2016-17.
• This will result in a likely saving of about 2,190,000 LPG cooking cylinders annually, besides providing biogas plant processed bio-manure to reduce and supplement use of chemical fertilizers.
• The MNRE is implementing a National Biogas and Manure Management Progamme (NBMMP) for setting up family type biogas plants in the country. The objective of the scheme is to provide clean gaseous fuel for cooking and organic bio-manure as a by-product in the form of biogas plant left over slurry, which contains higher values of Nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium (N, P&K).

• Shri Pon Radhakrishnan, Hon’ble Minister of State for Road Transport, Highways & Shipping, Government of India, inaugurated the Skill Development Training programmes under Corporate Social Responsibility Initiatives – 2016 of KPL at Chennai in the presence of Shri M.A. Bhaskarachar, Chairman cum Managing Director, Kamarajar Port Limited.
• The Hon’ble Minister launched the training programmes for 865 applicants including the training on ``Tailoring``. As a token of launching the training programme on Tailoring, tool kits for tailoring were distributed to the trainees.

• State-run Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) has commissioned two units of 14 Megawatts each at Salma Hydro Electric Project in Afghanistan.
• In the execution of the Salma hydro project, BHEL faced numerous challenges in the movement of men and material through difficult terrains.
• In recognition of BHEL`s contribution towards setting up of the project, BHEL CMD Atul Sobti was honored with an appreciation shield by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Union Minister of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation Uma Bharati.

• Over 8,000 boundary pillars along the Indo-Nepal border will be equipped with positioning system using Global Navigation Satellite System, allowing authorities for the first time to effectively manage the more than 1,700-km-long porous boundary.
• The Nepal-India Boundary Global Navigation Satellite System (NIB GNSS) would be used for Nepal-India boundary pillars.
• The decision in this regard was made at the third meeting of Nepal-India Boundary Working Group (BWG) which concluded.

• The Union Agriculture & Farmers` Welfare Minister, Shri Radha Mohan Singh launched Crop Manager for Rice-based Systems (CMRS) – a web based App for better crop and Nutrient management released for Bihar farmers in a program organized at ICAR-RCER in Patna.
• Crop Manager for Rice-based Systems (CMRS) is a web-based App which can be used with computer, mobile and tablet and aims to increase farmer`s net income and sustain the productivity for rice-based cropping systems in Bihar, India.
• CMRS provides irrigated and rained farmers with rice-based cropping systems in Bihar with a crop and nutrient management guideline customized to the needs of an individual farmer.

• A new web portal has been launched for online submission and monitoring of environmental approvals for mining of sand and minor minerals.
• The web portal will lead to the empowerment of the project proponent, as it not only enhances transparency of the entire application process, but also enables the proponents to track their applications online.
• The web portal is a district-level, web-based and role-based workflow application for online submission and monitoring of proposals for Category B’2’projects.
• The web-based application automates the entire tracking of proposals, which includes online submissions of a new proposal, editing/ updating the details of proposals at each stage of the workflow.

• CSIR - Centre Institute of Mining and Fuel Research (CSIR - CIMFR) signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Coal Supplying companies and Power Utilities for quality analysis of coal being supplied to power utilities by coal companies.
• MoU embarks a historic moment for the energy production chapter of the country and crucial task to deliver best possible results in a transparent environment for quality maintenance in coal sector of the country.

• Dr. K.N. Raghavan, Commissioner of Customs, Cochin inaugurated a RFID (Radio Frequency Identification System) newly installed at Ernakulum Wharf of Cochin Port.
• The RFID is an access control system on digital platform for regulating movement of vehicles, cargo and people into the sensitive wharf area. The system dispenses away with manual checking and reduces the waiting time at the wharf gates.
• The introduction of RFID is one of the key steps in the modernization plan of India’s seaports, formulated by the Government of India, for Port Sector security and efficiency enhancement. 

• Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated the newly constructed anti-Maoists forces headquarters in Jharkhand`s capital city Ranchi. The headquarters will pave way for further strengthening of the force.
• Singh also inaugurated the administration block and other buildings at Jharkhand Jaguar campus. Jharkhand Jaguar is an anti-Maoist squad formed eight years ago and has led many successful operations against Maoists so far.

• The income tax department will establish over 60 facilitation centers - Aaykar Seva Kendras (ASKs) - this fiscal from Goalpara in Assam to Neemuch in MP as part of efforts to widen the taxpayer base and reach a maximum number of people who need help in doing business with the taxman.
• The ASKs help a person in conducting their personal and business operation with the department ranging from obtaining a new Permanent Account Number (PAN) to filing Income Tax Returns (ITRs) apart from other income tax related subjects.
• The effort is to reach more and more people so that they can get their PAN made, understand taxation issues and also those under the tax bracket do not have to travel far to get their issues resolved. 

• Cabinet clears pay hike for one crore govt employees, pensioners 2.5 times hike in basic pay and pensions under the 7th Pay Commission recommendations that will cost the exchequer annually Rs. 1.02 lakh crore, which the government will have a multiplier effect on economy.
• Cabinet approves Memorandum of Understanding between Union Public Service Commission and Royal Civil Service Commission, Bhutan. The MoU will strengthen the existing relationship between RCSC and UPSC. It will facilitate sharing of experience and expertise of both the parties in the area of recruitment.
• Cabinet approves MoU between India and Tanzania for bilateral cooperation in water resources management and development.
• Cabinet approves Revised Cost Estimates for establishment of Eight New IITs at Bhubaneswar, Gandhinagar, Hyderabad, Indore, Jodhpur, Mandi, Patna and Ropar. The revised Cost Estimate is Rs. 13,990 crore for establishment of eight new IITs over a period of 11 years from 2008-09 to 2018-19.

• A river island in Assam has been rewarded for electing the head of the state’s first BJP-led government.
• Sonowal had won the assembly election this year from Majuli Island in the river Brahmaputra, a constituency reserved for scheduled tribes.
• The erosion-troubled Majuli, now a sub-division of Jorhat district, will become the 34th district of Assam.

• Regulator FSSAI joined hands with Advertising Standard Council of India (ASCI) in its bid to check misleading advertisements in the food and beverages sector.
• FSSAI will also redirect complaints against misleading food and beverages advertisements to ASCI.
• The agreement also requires ASCI to report to FSSAI non- compliance of ASCIs decisions for further action as required per provisions of the Food Safety Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) Act.

• Maharashtra government decided to offer various concessions to the economically weaker sections (EWS) for projects under its ambitious "housing for all" scheme.
• Land for such affordable housing projects will be allotted to the government housing agencies at nominal rates as per this cabinet decision.
• 50 per cent concession will be given in the surveyor and development cost while stamp duty is being fixed at Rs 1,000 for houses meant for the EWS.

• RITES Ltd., a PSU under the Ministry of Railways, has supplied 60 Broad Gauge passenger coaches (LHB type) to Bangladesh Railway (BR) against a contract agreement of 120 coaches
• Two train sets, comprising of 12 coaches each- 2 AC chair car, 2 first AC sleeper car, 6 non-AC chair car and 2 power car, will presently be deployed to operate 3 pairs of inter-city trains between Dhaka and Rajshahi. These modern stainless steel coaches manufactured by Rail Coach Factory, Kapurthala, are equipped with Fiat bogies capable of running at maximum speed of 160 kmph.

• Minister of Railways Shri Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu inaugurated/ launched following facilities/ services through video conferencing from Rail Bhawan.
• Dedication of Improved passenger amenities at Gurgaon station.
• Laying of Foundation-stone for auto car loading facility at Farukhnagar.
• Railway has renovated Gurgaon Railway Station into a modern station.

• In a major e-Governance initiative, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti launched the new workflow based e-file tracking system in the Civil Secretariat - the seat of the government.
• The new IT-enabled file-tracking system implemented by Jammu and Kashmir e-Governance Agency (JKeGA) is aimed at automating file, correspondence and document tracking within government offices.
• It is a major good governance initiative and would go a long way in addressing the concerns regarding inordinate delay in disposal of matters of public importance.

• Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) entered into a strategic partnership with The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) for two years. The MoU was signed between the two parties in the presence of Union Minister of State (IC) Power, Coal and New & Renewable Energy, Shri Piyush Goyal.
• Agreement as Strategic Partners, to work jointly for the achievement of common goals and objectives related to energy efficiency in India and abroad. 

• Nikesh Arora resigned as the Representative Director, President and Chief Operating Officer (COO) of SoftBank Group (SBG), a Japanese company.
• Simultaneously, he will also step down from the Chairmanship at Yahoo Japan, a company in which SoftBank has a 36.4 percent stake, as well as the Director of Sprint, an acquisition of SBG.
• Arora will assume an Advisory Role effective 1 July 2016.

1. Arora joined SoftBank Group from Google where he was the Chief Business Officer in September 2014.
2. He took the position of Vice Chairman of SBG and CEO of SB Group US, Inc in September 2014.
3. In June 2015, he assumed the position of Representative Director and Director of SBG.
4. During his tenure, SoftBank invested in a set of growth-stage companies in India such as Snapdeal, Ola, Oyo, Grofers and Housing.com.
5. Arora is one of the highest paid corporate executives who took home a pay packet of 135 million US dollars in 2014-15.

• Olympian Anju Bobby George resigned as President of the Kerala Sports Council.
• The iconic long jumper was the first Indian athlete ever to win a medal in a World Athletics Championships in Paris, resigned after being accused for corruption by the state`s sports minister EP Jayarajan.
• Bobby George was appointed president of the state`s sports council in 2015, by the erstwhile Oommen Chandy government.

1. She won the bronze medal clearing 6.49 m at the 2002 Commonwealth Games at Manchester. She was awarded Arjuna Award.
2. She won the Gold medal at the IAAF World Athletics Final in 2005.
3. In 2005 World Athletics Final in Monte Carlo, she was upgraded to gold status from silver following the disqualification of Tatyana Kotova of Russia by the International Association of Athletics Federations.
4. In 1999 she set the national record for triple jump in the Bangalore Federation Cup and Silver medal at the South Asian Federation Games in Nepal.

• Aveek Sarkar resigned as the Editor-in-Chief of Ananda Bazaar Patrika (ABP) and The Telegraph.
• However, he would continue as the chairman of the group. He is succeeded by Arup Sarkar.
• Moreover, Anirban Bhattacharya was appointed as the Editor of the Ananda Bazaar Patrika and R. Rajagopalan was named as the Editor of The Telegraph.
• Aveek Sarkar will play an advisory role as Editor (Emeritus) and Vice Chairman of the company. 

• Exide Life Insurance has announced that they have signed India`s ODI and T20 cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni as its brand ambassador.
• The Cricketer will feature in the company’s marketing campaign Lamba saath, bharose Ki baat (Long term relationships build trust). This is his first endorsement deal in the insurance category.
• The company based in Bengaluru is 100% owned by Exide Industries Limited that has achieved total Premium Income of over Rs. 2,000 crore in the financial year 2015-16.
• Mr. Dhoni represents a unique blend of skill, commitment, and stability which are all personality traits that are relevant to the life insurance category.
• The private Life Insurance has commenced its operations in 2001-02 and is headquartered in Bengaluru.

• Yasmin Sooka, the South African Indian-origin lawyer and long-time human rights activist, was appointed to chair a UN commission.
• The commission will monitor the human rights situation in South Sudan and make recommendations for their improvement.
• She will serve together with Kenneth Scott from the US and Godfrey Musila of Kenya on the Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan.
• The UN resolved to establish the Commission following calls for investigation into alleged atrocities by both government and rebel forces before an independent South Sudan was carved out of the larger Sudan in 2011.

1. It will provide guidance to the government of South Sudan on transitional justice, accountability and reconciliation issues.
2. It will engage with international and regional mechanisms to promote accountability for human rights violations and abuses. 

6) Nestle named Ukf Mark Schneider as CEO.

• Food and Beverage multinational Nestle SA named Ulf Mark Schneider as its next Chief Executive Officer (CEO).
• He is the CEO of Fresenius, a Germany-based healthcare company. He will join Nestle on 1 September 2016 and start as CEO on 1 January 2017.
• He will succeed incumbent CEO Paul Bulcke, who will resign from the position on 31 December 2016.
• Bulcke has been named by Nestle board as its next chairman after incumbent Peter Brabeck-Letmathe retires in 2017.
• Schneider will be the first outsider to run 150-year old Nestlé since 1922, when banker Louis Dapples was appointed to head the company after its only financial loss.
• The appointment of Schneider highlights the increasing importance of health and nutrition for Switzerland-based manufacturer of Maggi noodles and Kit Kat candy bars.
• Schneider appointment will expand the Nestle`s capability to become one of the pre-eminent players in the Nutrition, Health and Wellness sector.

7) U.C. Maheshwari sworn-in as new deputy Lokayukta of Madhya Pradesh.

• U.C. Maheshwari was sworn-in as deputy Lokayukta of Madhya Pradesh, a day after he resigned as a judge of the state High Court.
• State Lokayukta Justice P P Naolekar administered the oath of office to Maheshwari in a ceremony.
• The post of the deputy Lokayukta had been lying vacant for the past two years following retirement of Chandresh Bhushan, a former MP High Court judge.

8) Two women appointed as Shariah High Court judges in Malaysia.

• Two women have been appointed as judges of Malaysia’s Islamic Shariah High Court for the first time in the history of the judiciary of the Muslim-majority country.
• Noor Huda Roslan, and Nenney Shuhaidah Shamsuddin,received their official letters of appointment from Selangor’s Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah during a ceremony at the Istana Bukit Kayangan.

9) P.T. Bopanna Gets Gourmand Award for World’s Best Book on Coffee.

• City-based freelance journalist and author P.T. Bopanna’s book ‘The Romance of Indian Coffee’ have been chosen as the world’s best book on coffee at The Gourmand World Awards function at Yantai in China.
• The book, earlier shortlisted for the finals of the ‘Best in the World’ books under the ‘coffee books’ category was picked from the entries of 64 countries.
• `The Romance of Indian Coffee` was published in 2011, and takes a 360-degree view of Indian coffee.

• India pipped Zimbabwe by three runs to win the three-match T20 series 2-1 at the Harare Sports Club in Harare, Zimbabwe
• Kedar Jadhav (58 off 42 balls) was adjudged as the Man of the Match.

1. Man of the series: Barinder Sran (an Indian bowler).
2. By playing this game, Dhoni equalled Ricky Ponting`s record of captaining in 324 international matches to be at the top of the list alongside the Australian.
3. Dhoni, who was appointed captain in 2007, has led India in 60 Tests, 194 ODIs and 70 T20 Internationals.

• Britain`s Andy Murray has won the Queen`s Club Championship in London for a record-breaking fifth time. He beat Canadian Milos Raonic.
• The 29-year-old had earlier won the Aegon Championships in 2009, 2011, 2013 and 2015.
• The victory was Murray`s 37th ATP career title and his second of 2016 and will help narrow the gap in the world rankings between him and World Number 1 Novak Djokovic.

• The chairman of AIBA and the ad-hoc committee, Kishen Narsi confirmed that veteran pugilist M.C. Mary Kom has been denied the wild card into the Rio Olympics.
• In a last-ditch attempt to fetch Mary Kom a Rio Olympics berth, the Indian Olympic Association and the ad-hoc committee administering boxing in the country had sent a a wild card request for the celebrated boxer, who could not make the cut via qualifiers.
• Mary Kom could not book an Olympic ticket after losing the second round of the World Championships.

• India pipped Zimbabwe by three runs to win the three-match T20 series 2-1 at the Harare Sports Club in Harare, Zimbabwe.
• Riding on Kedar Jadhav`s brilliant 42-ball 58, India managed to post 138/6. In reply, Timycen Maruma`s 13-ball 23 not out almost helped Zimbabwe chase down the target but they fell short by three runs.
• Needing 21 runs in the final over, Indian left-arm seamer Barinder Sran conceded 12 runs in the first two deliveries but came back strong .
• Man of the series award won by Barinder Sran (an Indian bowler).

• Andy Murray took the coveted Queen`s Club title for a record fifth time to surpass a group of tennis greats including his final opponent Milos Raonic`s new coach John McEnroe.
• The American legend is helping Raonic through Queen`s and Wimbledon and was watching on as world number two Murray recovered from a set down to beat his new charge in a gripping encounter.
• In an added twist, Murray has just re-hired Ivan Lendl, a bitter rival of McEnroe in their playing days, to his coaching team.

• Former India athlete and sports activist Ashwini Nachappa termed ace long jumper Anju Bobby George`s resignation from Kerala Sports Council as "unfortunate" stating that it again proved that there is "more politics in sport than in politics``.
• The 1990 Asian Games silver medalist is of the view that drug menace has become rampant across sporting disciplines.

• The 24-year-old winger is the first Blackhawk to win the award since Patrick Kane in 2008.
• Chicago Blackhawks winger Artemi Panarin won the 2015-16 Calder Memorial Trophy, awarded "to the player selected as the most proficient in his first year of competition``, it was announced at the NHL Awards at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.
• Panarin led all rookies in scoring with 77 points, goals (30) and assists (47) in 80 games. The 24-year-old rookie tied Gostisbehere and three others with eight power-play goals.
• The other two finalists were Edmonton Oilers` forward Connor McDavid, the top overall picks in the 2015 NHL Draft, and Philadelphia Flyers` defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere.

• D. Harika added another feather to her cap by winning the women’s title in the Eurasian Blitz chess tournament in Kazakhstan.
• The India No. 2 player picked up a cash prize of $2,500 and 60 Elo points to regain her position in the top 10.
• Harika had won the best woman’s prize at the Zalakaros International Chess Festival in Hungary last week to jump to World No. 9 in the classical rankings list.
• Harika win is particularly impressive as the elite field included World No.1 Hou Yifan.The 25-year-old had tied with Yifan with 12.5 points at the end of the tournament and ended up victorious in the tie-breaker.

• Manoj Kumar and Vikas Krishan became the latest Indian boxers to qualify for Rio 2016 Olympics. Manoj won quarterfinal bout against Tajikistan’s Rakhimov Shakvakatdzhon to win 3-0 in the AIBA World Olympic qualification event in Baku, Azerbaijan.
• Indian boxer Vikas Krishan has settled for a bronze medal in the 75 kg category at the International Boxing Association`s (AIBA) World Qualifying Tournament.At Baku, Azerbaijan.
• Vikas was ruled out of the semi-final clash owing to a cut on his forehead. However, by reaching the semi-final, Vikas assured himself of an Olympic quota berth.
• Three Indian boxers have qualified for the Olympic Games. Apart from Vikas and Manoj, Shiva Thapa (56 kg) has also made the cut, booking his berth in the Asian Qualifiers in March. 

• BCCI has announced its plans to hold a mini-IPL in September 2016, using the window once allotted for the defunct Champions League Twenty20.
• Anurag Thakur, the BCCI president, confirmed the development in Dharamsala, where the board is conducting its first annual cricket conclave, and that exact dates and venues will be determined later.
• The IPL has traditionally been held in India - barring the 2009 edition when it moved to South Africa over security concerns surrounding elections - in the months of April-May.
• The Champions League, which featured the leading T20 teams from major countries, used to held in the latter half of the year, around September-October. It was last held in 2014.

• Dutee Chand became the first Indian female athlete in 36 years to qualify for 100m dash in Olympics as she booked a Rio berth.
• Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik congratulated sprinter Dutee Chand for having qualified for Rio Olympics.
• Describing Dutee’s Olympics qualification a historic achievement that brought glory for Odisha, Patnaik wished victory for her in Rio, according to a statement from the Chief Minister’s Office.
• Odisha Athletic Association Secretary Asirbad Behera congratulated Dutee and announced Rs. 50,000 for her.
• Joyed over her feat, Dutee told an Odia television channel that her success was the result of 14 years of hard work.

• The fourth edition of Pro Kabaddi league will kick start in Mumbai. The matches will be hosted across seven cities including Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Jaipur, Patna and Delhi.
• Puneri Paltan will take on Telugu Titans in first match, followed by a clash between season 2 champions U Mumba and the inaugural season champions Jaipur Pink Panthers.
• Season 2 champions U Mumba and rivals Puneri Paltan expressed confidence over their prospects in this season.

• Champion Indian shooter Jitu Rai has preceded his Rio Olympics 2016 stint with a silver medal at the Men’s 10m Air Pistol Event at the ISSF World Cup in Baku, Azerbaijan.
• He finished in second place behind Brazilian sport shooter Felipe Almeida Wu of Brazil; 24-year-old Wu is a silver medal winner at the Junior Olympics in his category.
• Rai shot 199.5 in the finals for the silver medal finish. Although he finished at 10th in the men’s 50m air pistol, he made up for that finish in the 10m category.
• Rai has been extremely successful at the ISSF World Cup, winning six medals at the tournament over the past three years, with the first of those coming at the 2014 World Cup in Munich, Germany.

• Lionel Messi, the Barcelona star, announced his plans to retirement from international football.
• The announcement from the foot balling great of his generation came just hours after he missed the penalty in the Copa America final.
• His team, Argentina, faced a defeat from Chile in Copa America final at New Jersey in the US.
• Argentina lost 4-2 on penalties to Chile after a 0-0 draw in MetLife Stadium.

• Anju Bobby George and Pullela Gopichand were named as the members of Khelo India.
• Khelo India is a national programme launched by the Union Government for the development of sports in the country.
• George, India`s lone athletics World Championship medal winner and Gopichand, the chief national badminton coach are the two sportsperson who were included in the seven-member committee of Khelo India.
• The committee is to be headed by Sports Secretary Rajiv Yadav.

• Chile won the Copa America football tournament. In the final clash played at MetLife Stadium, Chile defeated Argentina 4-2 through penalties shootout.
• This was second America title for Chile, it won the first title in 2015 after defeating Argentina 4-1 in a penalty shootout following a 0-0 scoreless draw at the end of regulation.
• With this, Chile also became the first team to win the Copa America in back to back years since Argentina in 1946 and 1947.

• 56th National inter-State senior athletics championships begin at the G.M.C. Balayogi Stadium (Gachibowli). It is a qualifying event for the Rio Olympics.
• As many as 744 athletes, including 264 women from 26 states will take part in the five-day event.
• A Sri Lankan relay team will also take part in the event in its bid to attain the Rio qualification standard. This is the fourth time that senior Nationals have returned to Hyderabad.

• Indian women’s 4×100 relay team broke an 18-year-old national record which was set by Saraswati Dey, Rachita Mistry, EB Shyla and PT Usha at Fukuoka in 1998 Olympic final was 12 years ago in Athens.
• The anchor leg was run by Dutee, who was preceded on the track by Srabani, Jyoti and Merlyn Joseph as the team clocked a timing of 44.03 seconds.
• China won the gold and bronze as their `A` team clocked 42.65 and the `B` team was timed at 43.89. Japan took the silver with 43.81. 

• Ace shooter Sanjeev Rajput clinched the silver medal for India in men`s 50-metre rifle 3 position event of the ISSF World Cup in Baku (Ajerbaijan).
• Rajput shot 456.9 to win the silver medal in the last World Cup before the Rio Olympic Games.
• Croatia`s Petar Gorsa won the gold medal with 457.5, while Hyeonjun Kim of Korea bagged the bronze after he shot 445.5.
• Rajput finished seventh in the qualification with a score of 1167 in kneeling, prone and standing position.

• The Argentina women`s team has claimed a record seventh Champions Trophy title with a 2-1 win over reigning World and Olympic champions, The Netherlands, in the final at the Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre.
• Argentina held on to win their third successive Champions Trophy title.
• Argentina captain Carla Rebecchi, who as well as finishing the competition as top scorer with seven goals was also named as the competition`s best player.
• In the bronze medal game, USA battled to a shootout victory over Australia, giving the team a first Champions Trophy medal since wining bronze at the 1995 event in Mar del Plata, Argentina.

• All-rounder Harmanpreet Kaur has become the first Indian women cricketer to be recruited by a foreign Twenty20 franchise as she signed up with Sydney Thunder, the reigning Women`s Big Bash League champions.
• This is the first official signing since the BCCI cleared the women cricketers to participate in overseas leagues earlier this month.
• On the final day of the Indian board`s working committee meeting in Dharamsala, the BCCI president Anurag Thakur confirmed that Harmanpreet has been signed by the Thunder.
• Harmanpreet, India`s vice-captain, had received offer from three teams, including the Sydney Sixers, the runners-up in the inaugural season but she zeroed in on the Thunder.

• India’s men hockey team jumped to fifth position ahead of the likes of Belgium, Argentina and New Zealand when the Indian hockey team lodged a protest during the penalty shootout before finally settling for historic silver after the jury announced that the 1-3 result against Australia.
• India now has 1689 points at the conclusion of the Champions Trophy, 56 points ahead of sixth-placed Belgium (1633) and just eight away from Great Britain (1697) on fourth.
• India was previously ranked fifth in 2004 but since then it has been a downward slide.
• This is the first time in more than a decade that India hockey team made has made it to the top five in world rankings since the International Hockey Federation (FIH) started the system in 2003.
• Team India also created history as it was the first time that they played in the final of the Champions Trophy against Australia (in London).

• Indore is set to host its first-ever Test during the three-match series against New Zealand.
• India will play three Tests against New Zealand from September 22 - October 12.
• Virat Kohli will lead India in the Test series.
• The two teams will play five ODIs from October 16 - 29.

• Virat Kohli and technology-driven fitness platform Stepathlon Lifestyle has announced the launch of Stepathlon Kids – a company dedicated to children’s fitness programmes.
• Through its annual 30 day virtual race, the venture will urge children to take 15,000 steps a day, helping them adopt a healthy lifestyle and increase awareness about health issues.
• Targeting age groups from 8-12 years.
• According to a study by World Health Organisation (WHO), as many as 22 per cent of children in India are either obese or facing health issues.

• India’s leading food products company Amul has signed up as the official sponsor for the Indian contingent to the Rio Olympics 2016.
• The company will launch a series of advertising campaigns for milk and other dairy products to promote this association. Amul has embarked upon an ‘Eat Milk with Every Meal’ campaign.
• The Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF), which sells its product under the brand Amul, will pay Rs. 1 crore to the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) for the sponsorship.

• The 2016 Rio games will be the first Olympics after 112 years to host a Golf event.
• the session of the 121st International Olympic Committee Session chose to re-introduce the sport for the games
• Golf has been reintroduced for 2016 and 2020 Olympics.

• The BCCI is planning to build a state-of-the-art cricket stadium in New Delhi.
• The board has planned to buy land and build a cricket stadium, which will be owned and administered by BCCI, and does not belong to any state association.
• The cricket control body will run the stadium and marquee games like World Cup finals, IPL finals will be hosted at this stadium. 

1) Freida to get International Icon Award at IIFA.

• Slumdog Millionaire star Freida Pinto will make her debut at the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) gala in Madrid.
• The US-based Indian actress will be honoured with International Icon award at the 17th edition of the gala.
• IIFA - often known as Bollywood’s Oscars - is held every year to honour the best of Hindi cinema. A source from the IIFA team confirmed that Freida will be getting the honour.
• The actress has starred in films including `SlumdogMillionnaire`, `Immortals` and `Rise of the Planet of the Apes`.

• IIT-Kanpur professor Sanjay Mittal has bagged the prestigious G D Birla Award for Scientific Research for 2015.
• He has been bestowed with this award for his significant contributions have been in the area of Mechanics.
• Mittal was instrumental in establishing the High Performance Computing (HPC) facility at IIT Kanpur and heads the National Wind Tunnel Facility.

• He is Professor at the Department of Aerospace Engineering in the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur.
• His most significant contribution has been in the area of Bluff Body Flows (flows past blunt bodies associated with large unsteady separation and leading to large fluid forces).
• He received his PhD and worked as a Research Associate under Professor Tayfun E. Tezduyar.
• He is among a very few researchers in India who have worked on and used Finite Element Analysis (FEA) for fluid flows.
• He also has worked in the area of sports aerodynamics. His team was able to bring out the aerodynamic difference between a synthetic shuttle cock and duck-feather.

• The 17th International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) Awards 2016 were presented in Madrid, Spain.
• The awards were presented by the International Indian Film Academy honouring the best Hindi films of 2015.

• Best Film: Bajrangi Bhaijaan
• Best Director: Sanjay Leela Bhansali (Bajirao Mastani)
• Best Actor (Male): Ranveer Singh (Bajirao Mastani)
• Best Actor (Female): Deepika Padukone (Piku)
• Best Actor in Supporting Role (Male): Anil Kapoor (Dil Dhadakne Do)
• Best Actor in Supporting Role (Female): Priyanka Chopra (Bajirao Mastani)
• Best Actor in Negative Role: Darshan Kumar (NH10)
• Best Performance in Comic Role: Deepak Dobriyal (Tanu Weds Manu Returns)
• Best Debut Actor (Male): Vicky Kaushal (Masaan)
• Best Debut Actor (Female): Bhumi Pednekar (Dum Laga Ke Haisha)
• Best Story: Juhi Chaturvedi (Piku)
• Best Playback Singer (Female): Monali Thakur for Moh Moh Ke Dhaage (Dum Laga Ke Haisha)
• Best Playback Singer (Male): Papon for Moh Moh Ke Dhaage
• Special Award: Woman of the Year- Priyanka Chopra
• Best Cinematography: Sudeep Chatterjee (Bajirao Mastani)
• Best Screenplay: Kabir Khan, Parveez Shaikh, V. Vijayendra Prasad (Bajrangi Bhaijaan)
• Best Dialogue: Juhi Chaturvedi (Piku)
• Best Choreography: Remo D`souza for Pinga (Bajirao Mastani)
• Best Special Effects: Prasad Sutara (Bajirao Mastani)

4) Social entrepreneur Zubaida Bai wins UN honour for corporate sustainability initiative.

• An Indian social entrepreneur Zubaida Bai, has been named among 10 "champions and pioneers" by United Nation chief Ban Ki-moon under the world`s largest corporate sustainability initiative that calls on companies to align with universal principles of human rights, environment and anti-corruption.
• Zubaida Bai is the founder of `AYZH`, a for-profit social venture providing health and livelihood solutions to impoverished women worldwide, was named among the 10 `2016 Global Compact SDG Pioneers`, an initiative launched by UN to search for "entrepreneurs" who can play a pivotal role.

Other nine 2016 Local SDG Pioneers are:

• Kerry Adler: Founder, President and Chief Executive Officer of SkyPower Global, Canada
• Farzana Chowdhury: Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Green Delta Insurance Company Limited, Bangladesh
• Xiaohui Liang: Chief Researcher, Office for Social Responsibility of China National Textile & Apparel Council, China
• Claus Stig Pedersen: Head of Corporate Sustainability of Novozymes, Denmark
• Dina Sherif: Chief Executive Officer, Co-founder of Ahead of the Curve, Egypt
• Sonia Consiglio Favaretto: Press and Sustainability Managing Director of BM&FBOVESPA S.A., Brazil
• Patrick Ngowi: Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Helvetic Group, Tanzania
• Ulisses Sabará: President of Beraca, Brazil
• Ulysses Smith: Attorney at Linklaters LLP, USA

5) Two Indians get Queen’s Young Leaders Award 2016.

• Two Indians, Kartik Sawhney and Neha Swain, have won the 2016 Queen`s Young Leaders award in the United Kingdom which will be presented by the British monarch in Buckingham Palace.
• Sawhney and Swain have won the prestigious award for their exceptional work in transforming the lives of others and making a lasting difference in their communities.
• The Queen’s Young Leader Award recognises and celebrates exceptional people aged 18-29 from across the Commonwealth and is given to youths who are taking the lead in their communities and using their skills to transform lives.

About Kartik Sawhney:

• Kartik Sawhney was born blind.
• He discovered that blind students were unable to pursue science after Grade 10. Therefore, he appealed and enrolled as India`s first Grade 11 blind science student.
• He founded Project STEMAccess, which offers hands-on science workshops in India, as well as virtual training sessions.
• He is acknowledged for his exceptional work highlighting universal access to education for all.

About Neha Swain:

• Neha Swain is a youth facilitator and co-founder of NGO Rubaroo. The NGO provides an inclusive space for young people, irrespective of their socio-economic background, to develop their leadership skills through interactive workshops.
• Her team provides workshops to schools in India free of charge and has so far worked with nearly 2000 young people in Hyderabad.

6) Beyonce wins four awards at BET Awards 2016.

• Singer Beyoncé won four awards, including the `Best Female R&B/Pop Artist` award, at the BET Awards 2016, held in Los Angeles.
• Rihanna and Drake won the Best Collaboration award for `Work`.
• Meanwhile, actor Samuel L Jackson was honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award.
• Established by the Black Entertainment Television network, the awards honour African Americans in various fields.

• The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India Shashi Kant Sharmahas been conferred with the honorary professorship by the Nanjing Audit University (NAU), China.
• China’s Nanjing Audit University is the only university which is recognized by the Institute of Internal Auditors.
• Shashi Kant Sharmahas is a 1976 batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of the Bihar cadre.
• He had succeeded Vinod Rai as the CAG, supreme federal auditor of the country in May 2013 Prior to appointment as CAG he had served as secretary in the Union Ministry of Defence.
• In July 2014 he had assumed office as Member of the United Nations Board of Auditor General (UNBAG) for a term of 6 years.

• Five-time World Champion Viswanathan Anand was conferred the ``Honoris Causa`` Doctor of Science by Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) during its 49th convocation ceremony in Kanpur.
• The Anand was bestowed with the degree by NITI aayog chairman Arvind Panagariya in Kanpur.

• Actor AbhishekBachchan holds the Guinness world record for most public appearances made by a film star in 12 hours for promoting the same film.
• While promoting `Delhi 6` on February 22, 2009, Abhishek travelled to 7 cities including Ghaziabad, Gurgaon, Noida, Faridabad, Delhi, Mumbai and Chandigarh.
• He covered 1,800 km in 12 hours, travelling by car and private jet.

• Jeff Bezos-led online retail giant Amazon has topped MIT`s annual list of the world`s smartest companies of 2016 for combining innovative technology with an effective business model.
• Chinese web services company Baidu and the world’s largest DNA-sequencing company Illumina have been ranked second and third respectively.
• The list also includes Tesla Motors, Alphabet, Facebook, SpaceX and Snapchat.

• Two Indians, Kartik Sawhney and Neha Swain, have won the 2016 Queen`s Young Leaders award in the United Kingdom which has been presented by Queen Elizabeth at the British monarch in Buckingham Palace. The name of these awardees has been announced last year in December.
• Sawhney and Swain have won the prestigious award for their exceptional work in transforming the lives of others and making a lasting difference in their communities.
• The Queen’s Young Leader Award recognises and celebrates exceptional people aged 18-29 from across the Commonwealth and is given to youths who are taking the lead in their communities and using their skills to transform lives.

• Indian-origin Google CEO Sunder Pichai and three other Indian-Americans are among the 42 US nationals honoured with this year’s prestigious ``Great Immigrants: The Pride of America`` award.
• The other three Indian-Americans are Hari Sreenivasan, anchor and senior correspondent, PBS NewsHour, Vikram Malhotra Chairman of the Americas, McKinsey & Company and Bharati Mukherjee National Book Critics Circle Award-winning author.
• The annual award of the Carnegie Corporation would be presented to them at an event in New York.
• For 2016, the Corporation named 42 honorees, which represent some 30 different countries of origin, a wide range of personal immigration stories, and inspiring professional accomplishments. 

• Tech Mahindra has snapped up digital transformation firm UK-based entity BIO Agency for 40 million pounds in an all-cash deal to expand its digital portfolio.
• The consideration is the enterprise value of 40 million pounds plus surplus cash not exceeding 5 million pounds as at the completion date. The payment of 22 million pounds and the surplus cash will be made upfront and the balance as deferred payments based on the company performance.
• Though it is a small acquisition for the fifth largest IT services player in the country, BIO is expected to help Tech Mahindra compete with larger global rivals, Accenture and Cognizant, who have been able to build strong digital portfolios largely driven by acquisitions of not just smaller IT firms but also buying digital agencies.
• BIO specializes in digital transformation and innovation, helping organizations change the way they engage with their customers. The company recorded revenues of 12.5 million pounds for the financial year FY16 and has a strong presence in the UK with 25-30 large clients, including Western Union, Coca Cola, BBC and Microsoft.

• The revenue department has extended the date for reporting details of accounts under Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) by six months to 2016, and excluded two types of entities from the purview of the Act.
• Under the amended rules, the reporting of the high value account as 2015, by foreign financial institutions based in India under FATCA should be completed by December 31, 2016, instead of June 30, 2016.
• In order to remove anomaly in the definition of "passive non-financial entity", the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has excluded `withholding foreign partnership (WP) and withholding foreign trusts (WT)` from the purview of FATCA reporting norms.

• Pakistan, Bangladesh, Indonesia and Tajikistan will get the first set of loans totaling $509 million from China sponsored Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) in which India is a founding member.
• The Beijing based AIIB will disburse $509 million to finance four projects in the four countries.
• India is the second largest shareholder in the bank after China.
• AIIB was officially established in late 2015 with authorized capital of $100 billion. China is the largest shareholder with 26.6% voting shares. India is the second largest shareholder with 7.5% followed by Russia with 5.93% and Germany with 4.5%.
• Projects approved by the bank included a $165 million loan for a Power Distribution System Upgrade and Expansion Project in Bangladesh, $216.5 million loan for a National Slum Upgrading Project in Indonesia, expected to be co-financed with the World Bank.

• Mobile ad tech firm InMobi, one of the earliest Indian unicorns, received a major blow as the US Federal Trade Commission asked the company to pay $950,000 in civil penalties on charges that it deceptively tracked the locations of hundreds of millions of consumers without their knowledge. InMobi acknowledged the violation, calling it a ‘technical error’.
• The FTC alleged that InMobi’s advertising software tracked consumers’ locations whether or not the apps using InMobi’s software asked for consumers’ permission to do so, and even when consumers had denied permission to access their location information.
• Experts believe the fine is too small for InMobi to worry about, but at the same time will set the benchmark for Indian companies, which often ignore privacy policies in their products.
• The FTC alleged that InMobi also violated the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) by collecting this information from apps that were clearly directed at children, in spite of promising that it did not do so.

• Asian Development Bank has approved $500 million (approximately Rs. 3350 crore) loan for constructing a bridge across Ganga.
• Once built, the 9.8 km road bridge in Bihar will be country’s longest river bridge. The bridge would provide vital transport links between the northern and southern parts of the state and with neighbouring country Nepal.
• The project will run for about 4 years and is expected to complete by the end of 2020.
• The bridge is expected to benefit over nine million or ninety lakh people looking for job opportunities on both the sides of bridge. ``The new bridge will make it easier for people to move between jobs and markets, particularly for poorer communities in the north wishing to travel to the state capital, Patna, just south of the river.

• Indiabulls Housing Finance Ltd is planning to raise Rs. 300 crore by issuing Unsecured Non-Convertible Redeemable Debentures (Tier II) in the nature of subordinated debt on private placement basis.
• The housing finance company informed the BSE that it will be issuing 30,000 debentures (of 10 years maturity) in the nature of subordinated debt with a face value of Rs. 1 lakh each aggregating Rs. 300 crores (plus greenshoe option).
• As per the terms of the issue, the debentures will carry a coupon rate of 9.30 per cent per annum.

• JSW Steel has received the environmental clearance for setting up an integrated steel unit and captive power plant in Jharkhand with an investment of Rs. 35,000 crore.
• The project would create up to 30,000 additional indirect jobs.
• The company will set up a 10 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) capacity integrated steel unit and a 900 mw captive power plant as well as a township spread across over 3,800 acres in seven villages near Sonahatu block in Ranchi district.
• The green clearance has been given subject to some conditions based on the recommendations of the government`s Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC).
• JSW has signed a pact with Jharkhand government for the project, which is estimated to cost Rs. 35,000 crore and generate additional 20,000-30,000 indirect jobs.
• During the first phase, the proposed plant would have a capacity of about 5 MTPA of liquid steel.

• In a bid to raise their partnership to a new level, Starbucks Coffee Company and the Tata Group have agreed to take a host of initiatives, including the inclusion of a single-origin coffee from India in its U.S. outlets, bringing the brand to Vistara airlines and taking Himalayan mineral water to Asia Pacific markets.
• For the first time, Starbucks will offer a single-origin coffee from India in the U.S., giving customers from outside the country a unique opportunity to experience a rare, small-lot coffee from Tata Nullore Estates.
• These announcements build upon the incredible success and shared values between Starbucks and Tata in our partnership in India.
  

• The Indian Premier League (IPL) has seen a definite increase in its brand valuation in its ninth season, as it drew attention of viewers as well as advertisers for all the right reasons a relatively controversyfree tournament and good on-field performances that brought the spotlight back to the game.
• According to global valuation and corporate finance advisor Duff & Phelps, the value of brand IPL has jumped to $4.16 billion after the 2016 edition, against $3.5.54 billion in 2015. The 19% jump is despite the fact that the US dollar to Indian rupee currency has depreciated by nearly 10%.
• Among the teams, Mukesh Ambani-owned Mumbai Indians (MI) has raced ahead of Shahrukh Khan-owned Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to claim top spot in terms of valuation. While MI`s valuation has increased 8% to $78 million from $72 million in 2015, KKR`s valuation declined 10% to $77 million.

• The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has made it clear that the 1 per cent tax collection at source (TCS) introduced in this year’s Budget will apply only to the cash component and not the entire sale consideration. This has been conveyed in a clarificatory circular issued by the CBDT.
• To curb the cash economy, Budget 2016 had introduced a provision in income tax law requiring the seller to collect 1 per cent tax at source from the purchaser on the sale in cash of certain goods or provision of services in excess of Rs. 2 lakh.

• The circular in the form of question and answer has been issued to clarify the applicability of the provision where the sale consideration received is partly in cash and partly in cheque.
• TCS will be applicable only on the cash component of the sales amount, and not on the whole of sales consideration.
• For instance, if goods worth Rs. 5 lakh are purchased for Rs. 2 lakh in cheque and Rs. 3 lakh in cash, 1 per cent tax will be levied only on Rs. 3 lakh.

• In a bid to provide clarity to investors, the General Anti-Avoidance Rules (GAAR) will not apply to any income earned or received from transfer of investments before April 1, 2017.
• The move will bring the anti-abuse rules that will be applicable from assessment year 2018-19 in line with the reworked India and Mauritius Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement that will grandfather all investments till April next year.
• To this end, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has also amended Rule 10 of the Income Tax Rules, 1962. However, GAAR will apply to any arrangement, irrespective of its date, if there has been any tax benefit from it prior to April 1, 2017.
• Investors have been worried about the impact of GAAR on investments routed through Mauritius, as the new tax treaty allows India to impose capital gains tax on shares sold in Indian companies post-April 2017.
• The CBDT also plans to bring in a similar provision in the tax avoidance pact with Singapore. 

• The International Monetary Fund cleared payment of USD 501 million for Pakistan taking the total amount given to the country to USD 6.1 billion in the last few years.
• This brings the total disbursements to USD 6.01 billion. In 2013, the IMF had approved the 36-month extended arrangement under the EFF in the amount of about USD 6.64 billion at the time of approval of the arrangement.

• The World Bank`s private sector funding arm International Finance Corporation (IFC) and Wadhawan Global Capital Pvt Ltd are going to raise their investments in Aadhar Housing Finance by putting in Rs. 60 crore between them to help the housing loan provider to lower income families double its business.
• The exercise would be completed in a month or two and would prelude its proposed merger with DHFL Vysya Housing Finance, another entity owned by the Wadhawan family.
• IFC holds 20 per cent in the company set up in 2011 with Wadhawan Global Capital (WGC) having around 62 per cent interest. Dewan Housing Finance Corporation, which is 33 per cent, owned by WGC, holds 14.5 per cent in Aadhar while the balance remains with Wadhawan family members.
• Housing finance companies are barred from owning more than 15 per cent in each other.

• Taxi hailing app Ola has signed an agreement with Haryana government to create over 10,000 entrepreneurs in the state with an investment of Rs. 350 crore over the period of five years.
• Ola will work with the Haryana government to introduce innovative and customized mobility solutions like Ola Auto, Ola Bike, Ola Share and Ola Shuttle across the state.
• Ola`s commitment to building mobility for citizens, by using mobile technology and by enabling entrepreneurship and skilling, will be invaluable for the state`s growth.

• Reflecting increased deal-making activities, Indian power sector saw merger and acquisition transactions worth USD 1.6 billion in the first five months of 2016.
• The domestic power sector saw "significant traction" with M&A activities during January-May 2016 period.
• The deal volume and disclosed deal value in the sector stood at 17 deals and USD 1.6 billion, respectively (in January-May 2016) compared to 15 deals and USD 601 million for the corresponding period last year.
• At current exchange rate, USD 1.6 billion translates to more than Rs. 10,800 crore.
• Five deals, having disclosed value of USD 1.4 billion, were in the thermal power segment during the five months ended May 2016.

• FMCG major ITC will invest Rs. 4,000 crore over the next 2-3 years to set up 8-9 factories across the country for manufacturing of food products.
• ITC`s branded packaged foods division grew by around 11 per cent to clock a turnover of Rs. 7,097.49 crore in 2015-16.
• Food is the second largest business for ITC after cigarettes.
• The company, which recently expanded its new Sunfeast Farmlite biscuits portfolio catering to health conscious consumers, is looking at tapping this fast growing consumer segment.
• Health segment of the biscuit market is about one per cent of industry right now but it is growing the fastest. Key approach is to have a full portfolio across segments.

• India`s largest mobile payment and commerce platform Paytm announced its strategic partnership with Suzuki Motorcycle India Pvt. Ltd. to offer its customers the largest assortment of bike and scooter models across all transactional platforms in India.
• With over 400+ Suzuki dealers on-board, the Paytm marketplace will now enable booking of all Suzuki two-wheeler models on its platform across India.
• As part of the association, Suzuki will also have a brand store on Paytm for higher consumer engagement guaranteeing an enhanced consumer experience. With the alliance, Paytm projects registering sales of more than 10,000 units to be sold on the platform within this calendar year.
• Paytm will also enable vehicle financing to provide higher degree of assistance to consumers while buying a Suzuki product.

• Stat-run coal miners and power developers signed a tripartite memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Central Institute of Mining and Fuel Research (CIMFR) for the quality analysis of coal supplied to coal-based generating companies. As reported by FE earlier, this mechanism could bring down power cost by as much in R1.5 per unit.
• CIMFR, based in Dhanbad, Jharkhand, and a constituent laboratory of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), will test the grade of coal at both the loading and unloading points of a power station. If grade slippage is detected, the generators will be compensated by the coal suppliers for the difference in gross calorific value (GCV) of the dry fuel. The lower cost of coal will then be passed through to the consumers, resulting in less expensive power.

• EPFO aims to cover all the workers in the country under provident fund (PF), pension and life insurance by 2030.
• The vision document prepared by EPFO mentions objectives such as ``universal social security coverage on mandatory basis by way of provident fund, pension and life insurance for all workers of the country``.
• The vision also talks about online services for all EPFO benefits with state-of-the-art technology and best service delivery practices.

• Keeping in mind the future power requirements of the Mumbai region, the Maharashtra government plans to sign a MoU with Tata Power for sourcing 1,000 MW from the upcoming Dherand Thermal Project.
• The tie-up with Tata Power is a step in that direction. Since the present State government came to power, the transmission capacity for Mumbai city has increased by 1300 MW.

• The World Bank announced plans to provide more than $1 billion to support India’s solar initiatives. An agreement to this effect was signed.
• The World Bank-supported projects under preparation include solar rooftop technology, infrastructure for solar parks, bringing innovative solar and hybrid technologies to market and transmission lines for solar-rich states.
• An agreement was signed for a $625 million grid-connected rooftop solar programme. The project will finance the installation of at least 400MW of solar photovoltaic installations that will provide clean, renewable energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by displacing thermal generation.
• The World Bank Group will also collaborate with the 121 member International Solar Alliance, headquartered in India, with the aim of attracting $1 trillion in investments by 2030 to promote solar energy worldwide.

• The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved implementation of three highway projects entailing a cost of almost Rs. 6,000 crore.
• These include Aurangabad-Telwadi (Rs. 2,029 crore), Angul-Sambalpur (Rs. 2,491 crore) and Phagwara-Rupnagar (Rs. 1,444 crore). These projects will be implemented in three different modes – Aurangabad-Telwadi on a BOT (toll) basis, Angul Sambalpur on an EPC basis and Phagwara-Rupnagar on hybrid annuity basis. 

1) NASA Scientists Discover Unexpected Mineral on Mars.

• NASA Scientists have discovered an unexpected mineral in a rock sample at Gale Crater on Mars, a finding that may alter our understanding of how the planet evolved.
• A finding that suggests the red planet hosted explosive volcanoes during its evolution.
• Analysing data from an X-ray diffraction instrument on the rover that identifies minerals, scientists detected significant amounts of a silica mineral called tridymite.
• The discovery of tridymite might induce scientists to rethink the volcanic history of Mars, suggesting that the planet once had explosive volcanoes that led to the presence of the mineral.

• Google`s holding company, Alphabet recently unveiled `SpotMini`, a home robot dog made by its subsidiary Boston Dynamics.
• SpotMini is the quietest and smallest Boston Dynamics robot yet, designed to navigate within the tight confines of a home and able to shimmy under tables and pick up objects with its articulated arm.
• The robot, capable of operating outdoors and on variable terrain, runs for about 90 minutes on a single charge.

• Scientists from University of Bristol have found a new bio-ink for 3D printing with stem cells that allows printing of living tissue known as bio-printing.
• The new bio-ink contains two different polymer components: a natural polymer and a sacrificial synthetic polymer.
• The natural polymer was extracted from seaweed. It provides structural support when the cell nutrients are introduced.
• The synthetic polymer used in the medical industry helps the bio-ink to change its state from liquid to solid when the temperature is raised.

• BrahMos Aerospace for the first time successfully demonstrated integration of the world’s most formidable supersonic cruise missile system BrahMos on the Sukhoi SU-30 MKI fighter aircraft.
• The demonstration flight was carried out at Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) in Nashik.
• The powerful missile will help the Indian Air Force to strike a deadly blow at the enemy`s vital installations from stand-off ranges.
• The Su-30-BrahMos combination will carry out air combat operations within and beyond visibility range. It will also provide the IAF with the capability of attacking targets protected by powerful air defence assets.

5) US Navy developing electromagnetic canon.

• For several years, the US Navy has been working on a new kind of cannon called a `railgun`. Powered not by explosives but by electromagnetic forces, it would represent a massive shift in artillery technology.
• Scientists expect the railgun rounds to travel at speeds up to Mach 7.5, which at 5,700 mph (9,100 kph) is more than seven times the speed of sound, and cover a distance of about 100 miles (160 kilometers.)
• The futuristic weapon has long been a darling of the Navy’s research wing, along with other game-changing technologies such as laser beams that can track a boat in choppy water and blast holes in its hull.
• Yet the railgun, which so far has cost more than $500 million.
• Its special shells designed to hurtle through the skies at jaw-dropping speeds.
• These rounds, called High Velocity Projectiles, can be guided in flight. They can also be fired from a conventional five-inch canno.

• Japanese motor company Yamaha has unveiled a three-wheeled vehicle concept called `05GEN`.
• 05GEN model features a three-wheel mobility vehicle fitted with electric assist technology designed to give the impression of a garment lightly draped around the rider`s body.
• This vehicle offers protection from rain and the sun during short excursions, also allowing interaction with the people around you.

• Technology giant Microsoft launched a prototype trap for detecting mosquito-borne illnesses like dengue and Zika.
• The prototype trap is being developed as part of the Microsoft`s Project Premonition - a novel autonomous system for monitoring, detecting and preventing emerging infectious disease outbreaks and marks the company`s biggest innovation in trap technologies.
• The system is then expected to provide faster and more accurate information about where disease-bearing mosquitoes can be found. A pilot program has been deployed in Houston.
• The Designed only to collect information on the type of mosquito that an entomologist wants to track, the trap also provides insights on the time, temperature, wind and humidity, when the mosquito flew into the trap.

8) CSIR launches India’s first anti diabetic ayurvedic drug BGR -34.

• Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) has launched BGR-34 an anti-diabetic ayurvedic drug designed for type 2 Diabetes mellitus.
• The anti-diabetic ayurvedic drug BGR-34 has been jointly developed by National Botanical Research Institute (NBRI) and Central Institute for Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (CIMAP), the research units of CSIR at Lucknow.
• BGR-34 works by controlling blood sugar and limiting the harmful effects and toxicity of other drugs.

• CarDekho.com, India’s largest auto portal, has launched BatteryDekho.com, India’s only automobile battery research and discovery portal.
• It is aimed at building a comprehensive ecosystem for vehicle ownership and making the battery discovery, research and selection process much more convenient for the Indian consumer.
• The development will allow CarDekho.com users to search and compare specification and pricing of batteries. The site has more than 250 batteries of top brands such as Amaron, Exide, SF Sonic, Tata Green and Base.
• Users can search for batteries that are compatible to 500 car and bike brands and contact their preferred dealers for free.

• Indigenously-built heavyweight anti-submarine torpedo Varunastra has been successfully inducted in the navy, making India one of the eight countries to have the capability to design and build such a system.
• It was developed by Naval Science and Technological Laboratory (NSTL), a premier laboratory of DRDO.
• Varunastra, weighing about 1.25 tonnes, can carry around 250 kg of explosives at a speed of 40 nautical miles an hour.
• This is capable of targeting quiet and stealthy submarines, both in deep and littoral waters in intense counter-measure environment.

• China, a communist nation in East Asia has successfully launched its second Shijian-16 series satellite for space research and experiments.
• The satellite was launched on board of Long March-4B rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in Jiuquan, northwest China’s Gansu Province.
• It was the 231st by a Long March rocket.
• The second Shijian-16 satellite will be used for space environment measurements and technology testing.
• The first Shijian-16 satellite was launched in October 2013.

• Google`s free online mapping service is bringing the world into better focus with an updated version of Earth that takes advantage of photos from a US Landsat 8 satellite.
• Google Earth previously relied on images from a Landsat 7 satellite, which encountered a hardware problem that resulted in large diagonal gaps in pictures.
• Landsat 8 captures images with greater detail, truer colors and at an unprecedented frequency.
• Google Earth creates unobstructed views of the surface of the planet by analyzing millions of images and stitching together the clearest bits.

• India successfully test fired a new Surface-to-Air ballistic missile developed jointly with Israel.
• The medium range missile (MR-SAM), a product of joint venture between India and Israel, was successfully test launched from a mobile launcher in the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur, odisha.
• It is significantly boosting India’s efforts to fill gaps in its air defence capabilities.
• The MR-SAM has been developed jointly by Defence Research and Development Laboratory (DRDL), a laboratory of the DRDO in collaboration with Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI).
• The MR-SAM has strike ranges from 50 to 70 km.
• The missile consists of Multi-Functional Surveillance and Threat Alert Radar (MF-STAR) system for detection, tracking and guidance.

• India’s first integrated Defence Communication Network (DCN) was launched by Union Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar in South Block, Delhi.
• The network enables the Army, the Air Force, the Navy and the Special Forces Command to share situational awareness for a faster decision-making process.
• The DCN offers high quality voice, video and data services covering 111 entities spread across India.
• It has been designed, developed and deployed by the information technology services, distribution and digital solutions firm HCL Infosystems.

• Indian Navy has launched INS Tarasa, the fourth and last ship in the series of the Water Jet Fast Attack Craft (WJFAC).
• It is being built by Kolkata (West Bengal) based Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers Ltd (GRSE).
• The WJFACs are ideally suited and used for setback of fast-moving surface craft.
• INS Tarasa will perform anti-smuggling, fishery protection and search and rescue operations.

• India and Tunisia sign two MoUs on promotion of handicrafts and IT and and digital economy; In the final leg of his two-nation trip, Vice President Hamid Ansari held talks with Prime Minister Habib Essid; both leaders discussed issue of spreading terrorism.
• In an effort to increase mutual cooperation, India and Tunisia have signed two MoUs on promotion of handicrafts and IT and communication and digital economy.
• Vice President Hamid Ansari met Tunisian Prime Minister Habib Essid and held one-on-one talks which were followed by the delegation-level talks between the two sides. Both leaders discussed a range of issues of mutual and regional interests.
• The two sides also discussed the issue of spreading tide of extremism and terrorism. India will also train 350 Tunisian students in next five years.
• The two sides will promote each other`s traditional handicraft and increase mutual cooperation in the IT and related sectors, including digital economy. Vice President appreciated Tunisia`s support for India`s candidature to the UN Security Council.
• Tunisian Prime Minister also highlighted India`s relations with his country in various fields including auto-sector, agriculture and IT. He said that the meeting of the India-Tunisia Joint Committee will be held later this year.
• The Vice President also visited Zaitouna Mosque, Bardo Museum and the House of Representatives. Zaitouna Mosque is the oldest one in Tunis. Tunisia has has suffered major terror attacks. As a mark of solidarity Vice President visited the Bardo museum which was under attack last year in March.
• The Islamic State had claimed responsibility for the incident that left 24 people dead, including 20 foreign tourists.

2) PM Modi, Afghanistan Prez Ghani jointly inaugurate Afghan-India Friendship Dam

• Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani on 4th June jointly inaugurated the Afghan India Friendship Dam, earlier know as Salma Dam in Herat.
• Prime Minister Modi thanked President Ghani for naming the dam as Afghan-India Friendship Dam. Mr Modi said, brave people of Afghanistan are sending a message that the forces of destruction and death, denial and domination shall not prevail.}
• The Prime Minister was also conferred with the highest civilian honor of Afghanistan, Ghazi Amanullah Khan medal.

3) India, Singapore agree to enhance scale of military interaction

• India and Singapore on 3rd June 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.
• The first Defence Ministers` Dialogue (DMD) between Manohar Parrikar and his Singaporean counterpart Ng Eng Hen marked raising of bilateral defence cooperation to the highest level. Both countries had very detailed discussions and have have agreed on expanding the interaction between the armed forces and defence R&D and industry participation under (the) `Make in India` (initiative),"
• "Under (the) `Make in India` initiative, the industry-to- industry cooperation has already begun and it is showing positive response.
• The agreement will also see Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) working with a Singapore research agency on research-oriented projects.
• A joint statement issued after the meeting said both ministers committed to enhance the scale and complexity of existing bilateral exercises between the militaries. The minister emphasised the importance of international cooperation in tackling transnational security threats.
• In particular, both ministers strongly condemned terrorism, and renewed their commitment to cooperation in counter terrorism efforts besides emphasising the importance of safeguarding maritime security in international waterways.
• Freedom of navigation in international waterways like the disputed South China Sea has emerged as a concern for many countries including the US, which has sent warships and military planes to challenge territorial claims by China over the strategic waters. In response, China has deployed fighter jets and ships to track and warn off US ships. Looking at the region, Parrikar also stressed India`s stand on disputes in the South China Sea, saying "solutions should be found peacefully.

• The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi and the President of Sri Lanka, Mr. Maithripala Sirisena, jointly dedicate to the people of Sri Lanka, the newly renovated Duraiappah Stadium in Jaffna.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi joined the event through video-conferencing from New Delhi with President Sirisena present at the stadium in Jaffna.
• The Duraiappah Stadium, named in honour of a former Mayor of Jaffna, the late Alfred Thambirajah Duraiappah, has been renovated by the Government of India at a cost of over Rs. 7 crore.
• The renovated stadium has a seating capacity of 1850. It will provide the necessary infrastructure to promote sports and recreational activities, and assist the overall development of the youth of the Northern Province in Sri Lanka.

• India and South Korea launched a platform to promote and facilitate investments in India.
• The platform `Korea Plus` was launched by Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and her South Korean counterpart Joo Hyunghwan in New Delhi.
• Korea Plus covers the entire investment spectrum including supporting Korean enterprises entering the Indian market for the first time, looking into issues faced by Korean companies doing business in India and policy advocacy to the Indian Government on their behalf.
• Korea Plus will act as a mediator in arranging meetings, assisting in public relations and research/ evaluation and provide information and counselling in regard to Korean companies’ investing in India.

• Dow Chemical Co (DOW.N) became the first foreign company to receive a trading license from Saudi Arabia as the kingdom plans to diversify its economy and free its dependence on oil exports amid a slump in global oil prices.
• Saudi Arabia`s crown prince Mohammed bin Salman held a meetings with U.S. lawmakers as part of a visit aimed at restoring frayed ties with Washington and promoting plan to wean the kingdom away from oil revenue.
• The trading license will give the company 100% ownership in the country`s trading sector, as per the government`s new reform plan.

• Iran has reached an agreement with American aerospace giant Boeing to purchase 100 aircraft to renew its ageing fleet, though the deal must still be approved by the US government.
• Head of civil aviation authority, Ali Abedzadeh Announced that country has 250 planes out of which 230 needs to be replaced.

• Canada`s parliament has passed a contentious bill to allow medically-assisted death for terminally ill people.
• The law was put forward after the Supreme Court struck down a ban on doctors helping the incurably sick to die.
• Assisted suicide is currently legal in just a few countries, including Switzerland, the Netherlands, Albania, Colombia and Japan.

• Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar made an unannounced visit to Beijing on June 16-17 to enlist support for India’s bid for membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group which is being opposed by China.
• China has been strongly opposing India’s membership at the premier club arguing that it was not a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
• India has been reaching out to NSG member countries seeking support for its membership of the bloc whose members are allowed to trade in and export nuclear technology.

• A bronze statue of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose has been unveiled at the Indian cultural centre premises here in the presence of nine Indian National Army (INA) veterans.
• During a visit to Malaysia Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced renaming of the Indian Cultural Centre in Malaysia as Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Indian Cultural Centre.
• The bust was unveiled by the traditional lighting of the lamp which was sculpted by Ram Sutar and sponsored by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations.
• The Indian Cultural Centre, inaugurated in 2010, showcases India’s rich heritage and promotes multi-layered cultural exchanges between peoples of India and Malaysia.

• India and the UAE will set up an Emirati-Indian parliamentary committee and exchange visits of lawmakers to boost parliamentary ties as part of their growing strategic partnership and unify their visions on various issues, including security and challenges facing the region.
• A decision was taken in regard during a meeting between first woman speaker of UAE’s Federal National Council (FNC) Amal Abdullah Al-Qubaisi and the Indian ambassador T.P. Seetharam.
• Both the sides mutually agreed to make a draft Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the establishment of the parliamentary committee, and envisaged standing areas of cooperation in various political, economic, cultural and investment sectors.

9) China`s plan to cut meat consumption by 50%.

• The Chinese government has outlined a plan to reduce its citizens` meat consumption by 50%, in a move that climate campaigner’s hope will provide major heft in the effort to avoid runaway global warming.
• China’s health ministry recommend that the nation’s 1.3 billion population should consume between 40g to 75g of meat per person each day.
• The measures, released once every 10 years, are designed to improve public health but could also provide a significant cut to greenhouse gas emissions.
• Should the new guidelines be followed, carbon dioxide equivalent emissions from China’s livestock industry would be reduced by 1bn tonnes by 2030, from a projected 1.8 billion tonnes in that year.

10) EU `to extend sanctions` against Russia over Ukraine conflict.

• The European Union’s Brussels envoys agreed to extend until the end of January the energy, financial and defence sanctions on Russia over the conflict in Ukraine.
• Ambassadors from the 28 member states agreed unanimously to prolong the sanctions until 31 January 2017.
• The EU wants more time to assess whether Russia is abiding by peace agreements signed at Minsk aimed at bringing peace to war-hit eastern Ukraine.
• The union imposed sweeping sanctions against swaths of the Russian economy in July 2014 in response to Russia’s arming of the rebels in eastern Ukraine and failure to cooperate in the investigation over the shooting down of Malaysian Airlines jet MH17, which killed 298 people.

11) Finance Minister to leave on the five-day official visit to China.

• The Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will leave on a five-day official visit to China from 23 - 27th June.
• Finance Minister to attend the First Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors’ of Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank and 8th India-China Financial Dialogue.
• During his stay in Beijing, the Finance Minister will also hold talks with Chinese investors and Bankers to seek investment in infrastructure and other sectors in India.
• Finance Minister will also hold a meeting with his Chinese counterpart Mr. Lou Jiwei.

12) Nagpur and Jinan are now sister cities.

• Nagpur and Chinese city of Jinan have tied up as sister cities to facilitate mutual exchange and benefit in different sectors.
• A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the municipal executive heads of the two cities.
• Jinan is capital of Eastern China’s Shandong province with a population of about 30 lakh and is known for its beautiful lakes.
• The pact is part of a 2013 agreement between the two countries to develop the concept of sister cities.
• Pact will allow for the exchange of ideas and technology in the field of education, urban development, youth planning, youth affairs and sports.
• Financial assistant can be sought from Jinan for executing of few developmental projects in Nagpur. The agreement has been executed for five years and can be extended by another five year.

13) Moscow to explore high-speed Hyperloop commuter transport system.

• Moscow has signed an agreement with Los Angeles-based company Hyperloop One to explore building a futuristic, high-speed transportation system known as a Hyperloop in the Russian capital.
• A Hyperloop involves using magnets to levitate pods inside an airless tube, creating conditions in which the floating pods can shuttle people and cargo at speeds of up to 750 mph (1,200 kph).
• A memorandum of understanding was signed at the St Petersburg international economic forum by Hyperloop One, the city of Moscow and Russian firm The Summa Group, which invests in infrastructure projects.

14) India, Switzerland enhance cooperation in skill development.

• India and Switzerland signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to establish formal cooperation in the fields of skills development, vocational, professional education and training.
• The MoU was signed between Switzerland’s State Secretary Mauro Dell’ Ambrogio and Union Minister for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Rajiv Pratap Rudy in Winterthur.
• MoU is consistent with the strategy of the Switzerland’s State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI) on international cooperation in vocational and professional education and training. 

15) Colombia government, FARC rebels sign ceasefire.

• Colombia’s government and the FARC guerrilla group reached agreement on a definitive ceasefire in Latin America’s longest civil war.
• The national government and FARC delegations inform the public that they have successfully reached an agreement for a definitive bilateral ceasefire and end to hostilities.
• The Colombian conflict started as a rural uprising in the 1960s. It has left 260,000 people dead, 45,000 missing and nearly seven million displaced.

• China launched its first ``dark sky reserve`` for astronomical observation in the Tibetan prefecture of Ngari, bordering Nepal and India.
• The reserve covers an area of 2,500 sq.km and aims to limit light pollution by stepping up protection of dark-sky resources for education and tourism development.
• Dark sky reserve was jointly launched by the China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation and the regional government of Tibet.
• The reserve will also try to seek accreditation from the International Dark-Sky Association, a nonprofit organization based in the United State that is devoted to preserving and protecting the night time environment and dark skies globally.
• About dark sky reserve
• It is an area that is kept free of artificial light pollution. The purpose of a dark sky preserve is generally to promote astronomy. It usually surrounding a park or observatory.

• Sweden inaugurated a test stretch of an electric road, making it one of the first countries in the world to conduct tests with electric power for heavy transports on public roads.
• The line can provide up to 750 volts dc of electricity to a trucks.
• A 22 kilometer stretch of the E16 road-which connects Oslo, Norway, to Gävle, Sweden-is fitted with power lines overhead, developed by Siemens, providing electricity to hybrid trucks.
• The system works like a tram system. A current collector on the trucks will transfer energy from the power lines to the trucks’ hybrid electric motors
• Electric roads have the potential to achieve zero carbon dioxide emissions.

• Sri Lanka parliament voted in favour of a Right to Information (RTI) bill, the RTI bill was unanimously passed in parliament.
• The RTI bill seeks to give citizens access to public information which is in the possession, custody or control of a public authority.
• The Right to Information (RTI) bill aimed at restoring transparency and good governance in the country.
• The government also affirmed the bill will allow the public to get information on public officials and will be an important feature for the government to be responsible at a higher level.

• The British people have voted to leave the European Union after a historic Brexit referendum.
• In the Brexit referendum, the ‘Leave’ side won decisively by securing 51.9% of the total votes overturning ‘Remain’ side which secured 48.1% votes.
• Britain voted to end its 43-year old association with the European Union in a landmark referendum.
• Nigel Farage, leader of the eurosceptic UK Independence Party called for June 23 "to go down in history as independence day``.
• British Prime Minister David Cameron announced his resignation after Britain voted to leave the European Union in a referendum.
  

• Nepal has banned its nationals from working in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and Syria after 13 Nepali security guards were killed by a Taliban suicide bomber in the Afghan capital.
• The decision comes after a parliamentary panel ordered Prime Minister K.P. Oli`s government to crack down on traffickers who send thousands of migrants each year to conflict-torn countries where they can often face danger or exploitation.
• Nepali nationals killed in Afghanistan were employed as security guards in the Canadian embassy in Kabul. They were killed when militants exploded a bomb in a minibus.
• Decided to suspend issuing labour permits to Nepalese nationals in four conflict-hit countries, namely Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and Libya.

• The U.S will announce the repeal of a policy banning transgender people from serving openly in the military.
• This comes five years after the US military ended its ban on gay and lesbian personnel serving openly.
• Declaration to repeal the transgender ban comes after Eric Fanning joined the US Army as new secretary last week. It has been backed by campaigners for transgender rights.
• Figures released by the National Center for Transgender Equality show that close to 15,000 transgender people currently serve in the US military.
• Currently, the U.S. military disqualify transgender troops for medical reasons.

• The world`s longest and tallest tunnel slide, ArcelorMittal Orbit, which has 12 loops was opened to the public in London, UK.
• The 584-feet long and 250-feet tall slide has been designed by British-Indian artist Anish Kapoor and created by Belgian artist Carsten Holler.

• The United States and Bangladesh have agreed to deepen cooperation in counter-terrorism through capacity enhancement.
• Decided during the fifth partnership dialogue between the two countries at the U.S. Department of State in Washington.
• On the first day of the two-day dialogue, the three working groups on `Security Cooperation`, ‘Development and Governance Cooperation’, and ‘Trade and Investment Cooperation’ held in-depth discussions on bilateral, regional and global issues of mutual interest.

• Commerce & Industry Minister Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman has given her approval to begin academic session for National Institute of Design (NID), Kurukshetra from 2016-17. NID, Vijayawada also began its academic session. The Commerce Minister had approved setting up of 4 new NIDs in Hyderabad, Goa, Varanasi and Jaipur.
• The aim is to establish India as a hub for world class designing & NIDs shall play a crucial role by providing the skills to empower our human capital towards world class designing.

• Union Minister for Human Resource Development, Smt. Smriti Zubin Irani dedicated ‘Vidyanjali’- a school volunteer programme to the nation at New Delhi.
• Vidyanjali is a step forward in creating an ecosystem, wherein education will be attached with imbibing knowledge and improving learning output. There is an ingrained sense of participation and willingness within the people of this country to contribute towards nation building.
• This programme will install fresh enthusiasm in school children to take up reading and will re-energize the teaching-learning process at schools. And also emphasized upon the significance of providing timely remedial support to improve the learning outcomes of school children, thereby reducing the number of school drop outs.

• Union Minister of State (IC) for Power, Coal and New and Renewable Energy Shri Piyush Goyal launched ‘URJA’- Urban Jyoti Abhiyaan Mobile app in South Goa. The app is providing information of IT enabled towns on important parameters which concern the consumers like outage information, timely release of connections, addressing complaints, power reliability etc.
• The Union Minister also launched the Pradhan Mantri UJALA (Unnat Jyoti by Affordable LED for all) Yojana in Goa with a target of replacing approximately 15 lakh LED bulbs, impacting nearly 5 lakh households. Under the scheme, consumers are entitled to 3 LED bulbs of 9W each at a subsidized rate of Rs.25/, as against a market price of Rs. 300-350.
• The Union Minister also launched ``Vidyut Pravah`` App at the event.
• The scope of “DEEP” (Discovery of Efficient Electricity Price) e-Bidding and e-Reverse Auction Portal has been further expanded by covering banking mechanism and the medium term procurement of Power. The Government will soon start 100 percent smart metering to curb the menace of power theft. Currently there is a loss around 24 to 26 percent due to theft of Power.

• Railways minister Suresh Prabhu launched integrated social media platform - Facebook & Twitter - for faster and real-time redressed of passengers` grievances.
• All Facebook users to interact with us on this platform and contribute to improve the services of Railways. Railways has been successfully handling more than 7000 tweets daily of various nature such as complaints, suggestions or assistance.
• A system has been put in place to analyze the Facebook Post and the same will be forwarded internally to the concerned divisional railways manager (DRM) by the staff working round the clock in the social media cell at Railway Board.
• Prompt action taken by the DRM on the grievance will be posted on the same page. This will be monitored at the Railway Board level in order to ensure that the grievances are redressed by the respective DRMs satisfactorily.
• The Management Information System (MIS) reports generated through this platform will be used for the system improvement of the Railways in due course.

• West Bengal Panchayat Minister Subrata Mukherjee inaugurated a grievance redressed mechanism app, ‘Panchayat Pratikar’. An initiative under the World Bank project for the institutional strengthening of Gram Panchayats (ISGP) in Bengal, the project will allow users to submit complaints in three ways - a toll free number, the website and the app.
• It is the first of its kind in the country. It will be effective for people under gram panchayats, blocks and zilla parishads. The people had to travel across districts just to put in a complaint, and even after that, they sometimes became untraceable. To decrease these incidents, and for better transparency, we have introduced this app.
• All complaints would be recorded, a reply would be given on the mobile and a redressal would be provided within 72 working hours.

• The State government imposed a ban on sale (including online) and use of e-cigarettes in the State, based on the recommendations of the State high powered committee on tobacco control.
• The sale of nicotine, apart from tobacco products under Control of Tobacco Products Act (COTPA), is permitted only for tobacco cessation in accordance with the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940.

• A ban has been imposed on the sale of correction fluid and thinner in bottles in Haryana with the government saying strict action will be taken against those found violating the orders.
• Correction fluid and thinner are used as nail polish removers by women, which has toxic chemicals. These are also used in offices, but were reportedly being misused by children as intoxicating substance or drug, giving them stimulating effect like drugs on its inhalation. In order to protect them, law was amended.
• In future, sale of correction fluid and thinner would be permitted in the form of pens or similar devices which allow limited amount of chemicals to come out. Mandatory warning should also be printed on them.

• Maharashtra government has decided to use plastic waste along with tar in a bid to improve the durability and longevity of asphalt roads and reduce soil pollution.
• The Centre in its recommendations has stated that using plastic waste along with tar to build roads improves the quality. It also helps reduce soil pollution caused by plastic. Thus, the state government has decided to include plastic waste along with tar while building roads.
• The CSIR-Central Road Research Institute has assured the government that roads built by using plastic waste along with tar will be of better quality and cheaper.

• India is in the process of implementing a project to provide a unique ID card to persons with disabilities aimed at creating a national data base that will enable the government to have real time information on their level of education, income and employment status.
• Data and statistics on persons with disabilities are key to their inclusion in the implementation of the Agenda 2030. The Indian government is in the process of implementing the ‘Unique ID for Persons with Disabilities’ project with a view to create a national data base for persons with disabilities, and issue them an unique ID card.

• The Union Cabinet approved a bill seeking to amend the debt recovery laws with an overall objective of improving the ease of doing business.
• Cabinet approves ex facto The Enforcement of Security Interest and Recovery of Debts Laws and Miscellaneous Provisions Bill, 2016.
• The bill aims to improve ease of doing business, facilitate investment leading to higher economic growth and development.
• The government has come up with this legislation at a time when there is mounting concerns over loan recovery in view of stressed assets to the tune of over Rs 8 lakh crore in the banking system.
• Around 70,000 cases are pending in debt recovery tribunals (DRT) and the proposed amendments would facilitate expeditious disposal of recovery applications.

• The ``HelpAge SOS App`` was launched by Lieutenant Governor Kiran Bedi at Raj Nivas.
• The app provides for an SOS-Save our seniors button to immediately reach to the counselor desk of Help Age for rendering emergency help and assistance, apart from health related information. It has 24x7 functionality and aims at helping elders in distress at any given time.
• The app has been launched in English and Hindi and other languages will follow. The app is GPS enabled and picks up the location of the caller and will dial into the particular State Office.

• The celebration of International Day of Yoga – 2016 a Yog Geet (Song) was released by the Minister of State (IC) for AYUSH Sh. Shripad Naik at New Delhi. This song is of 3 minutes and 15 seconds in Hindi language.
• As part of celebration of 2nd International Day of Yoga a National level competition for selection of a Yog Geet was organized by the Ministry of AYUSH. About one thousand entries were received for Yog Geet.

• The State Principal Secretary, Sanitation, Ms. Jayanti Ravi, apprised the Central team about various initiatives being taken by the State in this regard. The State has achieved a sanitation coverage of 73.75%, and 4800 villages in Gujarat have declared themselves as ODF.

• NRIs have a pivotal role to play in the Indian economy. India has the second-largest Diaspora in the world, with around 29 million people living in over 200 countries and out of these 25% live in the Gulf countries.
• Most of the Indians going to the Gulf and some other countries go for employment and return to India after having worked abroad for a certain period.
• NPS can provide a long term solution to their old age income security. NPS has been available to NRIs for some time through Bank offices and now, to further ease the process of joining, eNPS is being extended to Non-Resident Indian subscribers.
• NRIs can now open NPS Accounts online if they have Aadhaar Card or PAN card.
• Both Repatriable and Non-Repatriable schemes will greatly appeal to NRIs who intend to return to India after their employment abroad, in view of their attractive returns, low cost, flexibility and their being regulated by the PFRDA, a Regulator established by the Central Government.

• KARNATAKA and Goa have signed an agreement to join the UDAY scheme meant for the revival of discoms that may result in a total gain of about Rs. 4,570 crore to both the states over next 3 years.
• Power Ministry would soon approach the Cabinet to seek approval for enabling private sector electricity distribution companies (discoms) to get operational benefits of the Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana (UDAY).
• Under this scheme for reviving financially stressed electricity distribution utilities, state governments takeover 75 per cent of the debt with the electricity distribution utilities. The remaining debt is issued as discom bonds, backed by state governments.

• The University Grants Commission (UGC) has approved new regulations for Deemed Universities as per which there will be no bar on the number of off-campus centers such institutions may set up, though quality has to be assured.
• The new guidelines for Deemed Universities which was announced by HRD minister Smriti Irani. It has also been decided that Universities will not be able to charge more than Rs. 10,000 at the time of counseling.
• There is no cap on the number of off-campus centers an institution may set up but quality has to be of the highest order.
• The new regulations also allow setting up of off-campus centers abroad but for that additional permission of the MHA and MEA would be needed.

• A central marine police force to protect sea, coast, ports and vital institutions along country`s 7,517 km long coastline may come up in near future.
• India has a 7,517 km coastline, which is dotted with 12 major ports and 187 minor or intermediate ports.
• Indian Navy is responsible for overall maritime security including coastal and offshore security. Indian coasts are guarded by a 3-tier system of State Marine Police, Indian Coast Guard and Indian Navy.
• Indian Coast Guard looks after the security of country`s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) that stretches up to 200 nautical miles from the coast.

• The Minister of Civil Aviation Shri P. Ashok Gajapathi Raju released the National Civil Aviation Policy 2016 in New Delhi. This is the first time since independence that an integrated Civil Aviation Policy has been brought out by the Ministry.
• The policy aims to take flying to the masses by making it affordable and convenient, establish an integrated eco-system which will lead to significant growth of the civil aviation sector to promote tourism, employment and balanced regional growth, enhance regional connectivity through fiscal support and infrastructure development and enhance ease of doing business through deregulation, simplified procedures and e-governance.

• Trying to reach out to the religious pilgrims in Uttar Pradesh, the central government cleared tourism projects worth over Rs. 300 crore "in-principle" in Uttar Pradesh under the Ramayan and Krishna Circuits.
• The decision was taken at the first meeting of National Committee on Ramayan Circuit and National Committee on Krishna Circuit held under Swadesh Darshan Scheme of the Union Tourism Ministry.

• The Government of Bihar, as part of a focused strategy to step up Sanitation efforts in the State under the Swachh Bharat Mission, held a workshop on Sanitation for all District Collectors of the State.
• Ms. M. Geetha, Mission Director, Chhattisgarh shared experiences from her State at the workshop as Chattisgarh is a State known for pioneering the community approach to sanitation in the country.
• The workshop also included deliberations on various issues, such as institutional arrangements, processes, human and social capital requirement, streamlining fund flow, integration with health and other interventions, mechanisms for ODF verification etc. Discussions were also held on Namami Gange implementation and urban sanitation issues.

• The Union Textiles Minister Shri Santosh Kumar Gangwar dedicated five Solarised Community Centre and 100 shelter homes for the benefit of the nomads (wool-growers) involved in Pashmina sheep rearing, in very hard conditions; in Ladakh region.
• The Minister travelled six hours by road in Karzok and Samad in the Changthang area to interact with the nomads. During the interaction, the Minister announced that all other kinds of help in respect of marketing of raw pashmina and linking pashmina products with tourism would be facilitated by Government of India.
• The Minister also informed that during the last two years, animal productivity (average pashmina yield) has gone up by 9.30%. 

• In a major relief to over 6 lakh beneficiaries of old age, disability and widow pensions, the Delhi government has decided to disburse these every month.
• The Delhi government disburses Rs. 1500 to each beneficiary under all the three categories. However, it makes a distinction between old people with those between 60 and 70 years of age entitled to a monthly pension of Rs. 1000 and those above 70 getting Rs. 1500.

• Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal has launched a special fund called ‘Mukh Mantri Punjab Hepatitis C Relief Fund’ to provide free treatment for patients affected by Hepatitis C.
• Punjab has become the first state in the country to provide free treatment to confirmed cases of Hepatitis C.

• The Kaladan Multimodal Transit Transport Project (KMTTP) in Myanmar was conceptualized and is being administered by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) with a view to facilitate connectivity between the mainland and the North Eastern States of the country through maritime shipping, inland waterways and roads of Myanmar.
• Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed between IWAI and IPGPL for implementation of the following three additional works, which are independent of the on-going works and are estimated to cost Rs. 476 crore.
• Container handling facilities at Sittwe & Paletwa
• Operation & Maintenance of the completed works
• Wrecks removed in Sittwe Port basin area
• IWAI shall remain as the overall PDC to MEA for implementation of PORT & IWT component of Kaladan project.

• The Ministry of Shipping organized a National workshop on ‘Promotion of Modal Shift of Cargo to Coastal Shipping and Inland Waterways’ at New Delhi. The workshop was attended by representatives of various stakeholders viz Indian National Ship-owners Association (INSA), ICC Shipping Association (ICCSA), Shipping companies, shippers, logistics companies, freight forwarders and government officials.
• The participants deliberated on the ways and means to promote coastal shipping and water transportation and make it competitive to roads and railways transportation.
• The stakeholders were unanimous that even though use of waterways, as a mode of transportation, is fuel-efficient, environment – friendly, and capable of easing traffic congestion on road and railways additional there are impediments existing in the form of inadequate infrastructure and higher costs due to multiple handling of cargo at the first and the last mile which prevents modal shift of cargo transportation from road and railways towards waterway transportation.

• Udyog Aadhar Memorandum is the only form of registration for MSMEs in India and there is no fee for the registration. This has been clarified in view of some complaints received by the ministry, regarding fee charged by certain agencies for facilitating the registration.
• Udyog Aadhar Memorandum can be done only on the portal http://www.udyogaadharmemorandum.gov.in created by the Ministry. There is no fee charged for this purpose. The filling process is simple and the entrepreneurs can register without seeking any third party assistance.

• Himachal Pradesh government launched a Rs. 640 crore project for skill development under which multipurpose training and marketing centers would be developed in rural areas as per the needs of local youths.
• Training would be provided by government institutes and departments, private sector and industries/industrial associations under the project which is launched with external assistance from Asian Development Bank.
• These centers would be monitored by District Skill Development Centre and to facilitate ITI students, equivalency would be granted in respect of trade and apprenticeship certificates being awarded by National Council of Vocational Training for the purpose of seeking admission in colleges.

• Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley laid the foundation stone for a new campus of the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) in Amritsar.
• This would be the institute’s own campus, the 15th Indian Institute of Management in the country, which has been so far operating from a temporary facility.
• Education and Agriculture have to go hand in hand for the country’s development as has been the case in countries like Japan and South Korea.

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi released commemorative postage stamps on `Surya Namaskar` in New Delhi. Yoga asana `Surya Namaskar` has been excluded from this year`s International Yoga Day celebrations the government has released a postage stamp.

• The government has made public its draft National Forest Policy, to replace the one crafted in 1988. Incorporating consequences of climate change but entirely ignoring one of the three forest related laws, the Forest Rights Act.
• The policy brings new focus to plantations, growing trees outside forest lands and wood industry. The policy continues with the national goal of a minimum of one-third of the geographical area under forest or tree cover. But it does away with the goal for hill and mountainous regions to maintain two-thirds of the geographical area under forest cover.

• The government banned the use of potassium bromate as a food additive following a Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) study that found its presence in bread caused cancer.
• A CSE study had found that 84 per cent of 38 commonly available brands of pre-packaged breads, including pav and buns, tested positive for potassium bromate and potassium iodate.

• Delhi government launches online application portal for Higher Education and Skill Development Guarantee scheme. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal inaugurated the online application portal to facilitate loans to students who wish to pursue higher studies in Delhi after graduating from Class XII.
• Conceived and developed by the Directorate of Higher Education, the scheme will serve as an encouragement to students who are otherwise unable to pursue education due to lack of financial means.

• Madhya Pradesh signed a MoU worth 1 billion dollars with Sany group of China.
• The Chinese company evinced interest in investment in 500 MW wind energy sector and building industrial infrastructure.

• With an aim to facilitate a hassle free procurement of certain certificates needed for school admissions, Delhi government launched a pilot project to eliminate the need of visiting the district magistrate’s office.
• The scheme will help students and their parents from unnecessary hassles in securing certificate. It was decided to train one teacher/IT person from each school in various aspects of e-district project which are already functioning successfully in Delhi. 

• The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, has decided to withdraw the Drugs and Cosmetics (Amendment) Bill, 2013, which had been introduced in the Rajya Sabha. The Bill had been examined by the Standing Committee of Parliament which had made a number of recommendations for changing the provisions of the Bill.

• Special package for employment generation and promotion of exports in Textile and Apparel sector.
• MoU between India and Germany on technology resourcing in manufacturing, including sub-sectors of Capital Goods.
• Protocol amending the Agreement for avoidance of double taxation and prevention of fiscal evasion with Belgium.
• Four laning of Hubli-Hospet Section of NH-63 in Karnataka.
• Tax and Production Incentives for Job Creation in Garment Manufacturing Sector.

• The Rule 114H of the Income-tax Rules, 1962 (the Rules) has been amended vide Notification No.48/2016 [S.O.2151 (E)].
• In order to provide sufficient time to the reporting Financial Institutions for completing the due diligence procedure in respect of other reportable account referred to in Rule 114H (3) (d) (ii).

• The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, has approved the establishment of "Fund of Funds for Startups" (FFS) at Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) for contribution to various Alternative Investment Funds (AIF), registered with Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) which would extend funding support to Startups. This is in line with the Start up India Action Plan unveiled by Government in 2016.
• The corpus of FFS is Rs. 10000 crore which shall be built up over the 14th and 15th Finance Commission cycles subject to progress of the scheme and availability of funds.

• Indian Universities and Colleges, having the highest grade of accreditation/ threshold accreditation, will now be able to apply online to the University Grants Commission (UGC) for starting twinning and collaborative arrangement with quality Foreign Educational Institutions (FEIs) in undergraduate and postgraduate programmes leading to the award of a degree.
• The collaborating FEI can be indicated on the degree, the logo and primacy being of the Indian institution. Credits from collaborating FEI when jointly signed by the IEI shall form part of the transcript. FEI may also sign the transcript/ credit issued by the IEI.

• Minister of Railways Shri Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu in a programme held at Rail Bhawan flagged off and dedicated following new trains services to the nation.
• Inauguration of Tr. No. 13205/13206 Danapur - Saharsa `Janhit Express` (Daily).
• Extension of Tr. No. 15283/15284 Jaynagar - Saharsa Janki Express Up to Katihar (Daily).
• Extension of Tr. No. 18697/18698 Patna - Murliganj Koshi Express up to Purnea Court (Daily).
• Extension of 53581/53582 Jasidih-Chandan Passenger train Upto Banka. (First Passenger Train between newly constructed Chandan-Banka lines).

• All state governments have been asked to link Aadhaar with caste and domicile certificates to be issued to school students, as part of a first-of-its-kind initiative by the Centre.
• Certificates are issued within 60 days time to the students when they are studying in Class V or VIII.

• Information and Broadcasting Minister Arun Jaitley released commemorative silver coin to mark the 300th Martyrdom Day of Banda Singh Bahadur.
• Bahadur is considered to be first sovereign ruler of Punjab. Need to educate people about the rich history and tradition of Punjab including its leaders like Banda Singh Bahadur.

• Jews in Maharashtra are now a minority community. The State Cabinet approved the decision to grant minority status to the Jews, a demand pending for many years. The decision is based on the Maharashtra State Minorities Commission Act, 2004.
• The minority status will also help to identify the problems of the community, and the government can come up with schemes to resolve them.

• Paving the way for the largest-ever spectrum auction in the country, the Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved the sale of all available spectrum a move that could potentially fetch the exchequer about Rs. 5.5 lakh crore going by the reserve price.
• The auction in which about 2000 MHz of airwaves will be put up for sale is likely to be conducted. The government had earned revenues of Rs. 1.1 lakh crore from the auctions held last year.

• To enable the police force and the administration to effectively combat the challenges posed by naxalites, the Maharashtra government decided to set up a special training institute at Nagpur. The state government will operate and oversee its functioning and an IPS officer will be specially deployed.
• The Counter-Insurgency and Anti- Terrorism School will be set up at Suraburdi in Nagpur; will impart unconventional training to police force that has many challenges in the region.

• The ``Make in India`` Conference on Enabling Spacecraft Systems Realization through Industries (ESSRI - 2016) was organized at ISRO Satellite Centre, Bangalore.
• The Conference was organized to elicit industry support for spacecraft realization on an end-to-end basis to meet the rapidly increasing national demand for space based services and the realization of Prime Minister’s objective of ``Make in India``.
• The requirements of ISRO with respect to hardware, technologies, quality and delivery schedule and what was essential for them to be qualified vendors of ISRO.

• Heralding a new era of DRDO-Academia Partnership, Defence Research & Development Organization (DRDO) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Jadavpur University (JU), Kolkata to establish the Jagadish Chandra Bose Centre for Advanced Technology (JCBCAT).
• The Centre will strengthen DRDO’s relationship with Jadavpur University and with other academic research institutions in the region. DRDO scientists and engineers will get the opportunity to work with the faculty and scholars of the university towards addressing scientific problems and finding innovative solutions.

• Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas (I/C) Shri Dharmendra Pradhan and Minister of State (I/C) for Environment, Forests & Climate Change Shri Prakash Javadekar launched first of its kind Pilot Programme in the country to run two wheelers on Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) in New Delhi.
• The scooters are being retrofitted with CNG kit manufactured by M/s Ituk Manufacturing India Pvt. Ltd. The type approval of the CNG kit has been taken from Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) as well as Transport Department, Govt. of NCT of Delhi.
• The performance of 50 CNG retrofitted two wheelers would be closely monitored in terms of efficiency, emissions, etc. during the pilot phase by all the stakeholders and the learning from this project would be used to develop the roadmap for introduction of CNG in two wheeler segment across the nation. 

1) Vijay Mallya declared as Proclaimed Offender by Money Laundering Court.

• Businessman Vijay Mallya was declared as a Proclaimed Offender by a special court for the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in Mumbai in a loan diversion case. The court issued proclamation under Section 82 of Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) against Vijay Mallya.
• The move came after the Enforcement Directorate (ED), an investigation agency under the Union Finance Ministry filed a petition over a case where Mallya is suspected to have diverted a 430 crore rupees loan given by IDBI Bank Ltd to his Kingfisher Airlines Ltd.
• The ED requested the court to issue an order under Section 82 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) and term Mallya a proclaimed offender, citing multiple arrest warrants pending against Mallya including a non-bailable warrant (NBW) under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.
• Mallya left the country on 2 March 2016 for London on a diplomatic passport. The ED now plans to send the court order to the UK authorities to start on the process of deportation. The directorate has identified around 4000 crore rupees worth of assets owned by Mallya.

2) Gunit Chadha resigns as CEO of Deutsche Bank Asia Pacific Region.

• Gunit Chadha resigned as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Asia Pacific region of Deutsche Bank AG.
• Chadha joined Deutsche Bank in 2003 as the CEO for the global lender’s India business.
• In 2012, he was elevated to co-CEO for its Asia Pacific business and later in October 2015 was appointed as CEO for the Asia Pacific.
• Under Chadha’s leadership, Deutsche Bank had started its investment banking, retail banking and institutional broking business in India.
• Prior to Deutsche Bank, he was CEO of IDBI Bank Ltd.

• The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women appointed Anne Hathaway as global Goodwill Ambassador.
• The Academy Award-winning actor will advocate for the adoption and implementation of policies worldwide to bring change at both government and corporate levels.
• Hathaway has previously served as an advocate for Nike Foundation. She travelled to Kenya and Ethiopia to raise awareness on child marriage.

• Indian-origin diplomat Kamala Shirin Lakhdhir was nominated as the next American Ambassador to Malaysia by US President Barack Obama.
• He will replace Joseph Y Yun, a career member of the Senior Foreign Service.

1. Kamala Shirin Lakhdhir served as the Executive Assistant to the Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs from 2011 to 2015.
2. She served as the US Consul General in Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom from 2009 to 2011.
3. She previously worked in the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs as the Director of the Office of Maritime Southeast Asia from 2007 to 2009.
4. From 2001 to 2005, Lakhdhir was a Political Officer at the US Embassy in Beijing, China.
5. From 1998 to 2000, Lakhdhir was Deputy Coordinator of the Taiwan Coordination Staff in the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs.
6. She received a BA from Harvard College and an MS from the National War College. 

5)Soram Sunil sworn-in as first mayor of Imphal.

• Congress councillor Soram Sunil was sworn in as the first mayor of Imphal, the capital city of Manipur.
• Sunil was elected unanimously to the Imphal Municipal Corporation despite objection by the opposition BJP, who boycotted the election.
• With protests over the implementation of the Inner Line Permit in Manipur, the election was conducted amidst heavy security deployment.

6) India gets first women fighter pilots; Commissioned 3 pilots in Batch-1.

• The Indian Air Force (IAF) commissioned first three women fighter pilots. The batch of pilots was inducted at the Combined Graduation Parade at Air Force Academy, Dundigal near Hyderabad.
• With this, India joined the select few nations in the world that have women fighter pilots in their Air Forces.

The first three women fighter pilots of India are:

1. Flying Officer Avani Chaturvedi
2. Flying Officer Bhawana Kanth
3. Flying Officer Mohana Singh
4. They will get to fly fighter jets like the Sukhoi and Tejas only in 2017 after their Stage III training at Bidar in Karnataka in 2017.
5. In October 2015, the Union Ministry of Defence approved the induction of women into the combat stream of Indian Air Force (IAF) on an experimental basis for five years.

7) Flipkart rehires Tiger Global`s Krishnamurthy.

• Tiger Global`s Managing Director Kalyan Krishnamurthy has joined Flipkart in his earlier role as the Head of Categories.
• Krishnamurthy will directly report to Flipkart`s CEO Binny Bansal.
• During his nearly two-year stint at Flipkart starting in early 2013, Krishnamurthy served as the Head of Categories and the interim Chief Financial Officer.

• Singapore Telecommunications Ltd (Singtel) and Bharti Airtel have joined hands to deliver high-speed secure data network coverage to Asia-Pacific, West Asia, Africa, Europe and the US.
• They have combined resources into one network to provide high speed data connectivity to 325 cities across the world through 370 Points of Presence (PoP). This will form one of the largest Internet Protocol Virtual Private Networks (IP VPN) globally.
• Together, Singtel’s 200 PoPs in 160 cities around the world and Airtel’s 170 plus PoPs in 165 cities across India, Africa and West Asia, will form a new network that offers a connectivity backbone to enterprises that spans several continents.
• With its wide coverage of cities in India, this network paves the way for our international customers to enter into one of the world’s most vibrant economies.
• Businesses only need to deal with a single contract and customer helpdesk on the back of one network to manage their communications across multiple countries.

• Indiabulls Housing Finance plans to raise almost double the amount it borrowed incrementally in FY16.
• The company is looking to raise Rs. 25,000 crore in FY17 as it aims to grow its loan book by about 25 per cent or atleast Rs. 15,000-16,000 crore.
• The company’s loan book stood at Rs. 68,700 crore, growing 31.5 per cent in FY16 over FY15. Its borrowings increased by Rs. 13,600 crore or 29 per cent in the same period to stand at Rs. 61,090 crore.

• The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has given its approval for disinvestment of 10% paid up equity of Housing and Urban Development Corporation Ltd. (HUDCO) out of Government of India’s shareholding of 100% through Initial Public Offering (IPO) in the domestic market as per the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) Rules and Regulation.
• The paid up equity capital of HUDCO is Rs. 2001.90 crore and Government of India owns 100% 0f the equity at present. Net worth of the Company is approximately Rs. 7,800 crore.
• HUDCO was incorporated in 1970 as a wholly owned Government of India Enterprise under the administrative control of Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation with the objective of providing long term finance for construction of houses for residential purposes. It also finances and undertakes housing and urban development projects in the country.

• Tech-based car hailing company Uber has entered into an agreement with Tata group to help its drivers own Indica and Indigo cars with less hassle. While Tata Capital Financial Services and Tata Motors Finance will offer loans at "competitive`’ interest rates, ‘affordable’ insurance would be offered by Tata AIG as a package.
• Started off in Hyderabad, the scheme will be rolled out in other cities where Uber runs its services.
• Over the next one year, the initiative endeavours to fuel micro-entrepreneurship across India by enabling over 20,000 drivers to start their own business on the Uber platform.

• State-owned Coal India subsidiary South Eastern Coalfields Ltd will buy back shares worth Rs. 1,200.19 crore.
• The move will help the government in realizing its disinvestment target of Rs. 56,500 crore for the fiscal.
• The SECL buyback will represent 23.53 per cent of the total number of equity shares in the paid-up share capital of the subsidiary for an aggregate amount not exceeding Rs. 1,200.19 crore (maximum buyback size) being up to 25 per cent of the paid-up equity share capital and free reserves as on fiscal ended.
• The buyback will be at a price of Rs. 14,180.57 per equity share payable in cash.
• Buybacks help a company reduce equity by using idle cash and hence provide better returns to shareholders.
• Coal India had recently informed bourses that two of its subsidiaries Mahanadi Coalfields and Northern Coalfields will buy back shares worth around Rs 1,978 crore from their shareholders.
• CIL accounts for over 80 per cent of domestic coal production.

• Solar panel manufacturer Vikram Solar plans to invest up to Rs. 1,000 crore over three-four years to expand its panel manufacturing capacity to 2,000 MW per annum, and to set up solar cell manufacturing of 500 MW per annum.
• It currently has 500 MW of panel manufacturing capacity located in West Bengal.
• All manufacturing is currently out of West Bengal. Adding another 400 MW of capacity this year. Beyond the capacity addition this year, the new facilities will come up outside West Bengal. The solar cell manufacturing facility with 500 MW will come up in West Bengal.

• Alstom T&D India, part of the GE Group, has won two contracts worth Rs. 202 crore from PowerGrid Corporation of India for the execution of projects in Madhya Pradesh.
• The projects will facilitate evacuation of power and add to the availability of electricity in Central India.
• Under the first contract, worth Rs. 119.7 crore, Alstom T&D will set up a 400/220 kV AIS substation in Rewa, Madhya Pradesh.
• The contract also includes the supply of three 500 MVA power transformers and one shunt reactor at 500 kV level. The substation will evacuate power from the 750 MW solar park coming up in Rewa.
• In the second contract, worth Rs. 82.8 crore, Alstom T&D India will install, test and commission a part of the Gadarwara Part (A) Transmission system project in Madhya Pradesh.
• The project will evacuate power from NTPC’s 1,600MW, Gadarwara Supercritical Thermal Power Station. 

• Government imposed 20 per cent customs duty on sugar exports to boost domestic supply and check prices which are ruling high at Rs. 40/kg.
• The move comes at a time when prices have surged sharply in various commodities including tomato, wheat and pulses.
• To keep the domestic prices of sugar under check, the government has decided to impose export duty of 20 per cent on the export of raw sugar, white or refined sugar.
• A decision has been notified by the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC).
• The duty has been imposed to restrict exports following sharp rise in global prices. The duty is, however, lower than 25 per cent proposed by the Food Ministry.
• India, the world`s second largest sugar producer after Brazil, has exported 1.6 million tonnes of sugar so far in the 2015-16 marketing year (October-September). Further exports are unlikely to take place with this decision.

• International Finance Corp. (IFC), the private sector lending arm of the World Bank was looking to invest up to $75 million, or about Rs. 500 crore, in Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Ltd, which is raising $200 million to reduce debt and fund expansion plans.
• The Mumbai-based drugmaker is raising the capital by selling quasi-equity instruments. The company plans to use the money to expand manufacturing capacity, mostly in India, build research and development (R&D) capacity for new products and reduce debt.
• Of the total, Glenmark plans to invest a significant amount in capital expenditure over the next three years across its facilities in India.
• Having IFC as an anchor investor in this round of fund-raise will also help attract other investors-which is important during a time of volatile markets... The company also values IFC’s ability to fund future rounds as the company implements its growth plans and strategy.
• As of 31 March, Glenmark’s debt stood at around Rs. 4,000 crore, with a debt-equity ratio of 0.6. For year ended, Glenmark posted a net profit of Rs. 702 crore on Rs. 7,649.6 crore of revenue.

• Smartphone maker Blackberry announced its partnership with IT services firm HCL Infosystems for the distribution of the former`s enterprise software products and services in India through HCL`s network of distribution partners.
• In addition to sales support, HCL will also reportedly provide value-added services such as technical support and consulting to Blackberry`s customers.

• DHFL Pramerica Life Insurance (DPLI) has forayed into the digital space with the launch of pure online health insurance product - Dengue Shield.
• DHFL Dengue Shield is an affordable Dengue Insurance Policy with premium as low as Rs. 1 a day. It is a fixed benefits policy and no detailed bills needed at the time of claim.
• An individual has the option to choose a sum insured of between Rs. 25,000 and Rs. 50,000. Options of both single and annual premium payments exist where a customer can enjoy a discount of up to 21 per cent on single premium payment. The group version of Dengue Shield will be available soon.

• Max Financial Services and Max Life have entered into an agreement for a merger with HDFC Life. Their respective boards have approved entering into a confidentiality, exclusivity and standstill agreement to evaluate a potential combination through a merger.
• The agreement provides for a mutually agreed exclusivity period for due diligence and discussions between the parties in relation to a proposed transaction. However, it has not been mentioned as to how much stake the foreign partner of Max Life will hold post the merger. No timeline has been given for the merger.
• The combined entity would be the largest private sector insurer, both in terms of assets under management and new business premiums. Assets under management of the combined entity would touch Rs 1.10 lakh crore and new premiums would almost touch Rs. 9400 crore.
• HDFC Life is a joint venture between HDFC and Standard Life Plc, a provider of financial services in the UK. While HDFC holds 61.65 per cent in it, the foreign partner holds 35 per cent. Max Life Insurance is a joint venture between Max Financial Services Ltd. and Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Co. Ltd. The foreign partner holds 25 per cent in the insurer.
• Max Financial Services is already listed on the stock exchanges and is the holding company of Max Life Insurance.

• Gurgaon-based travel portal, Yatra.com acquired Bangalore-based auto rickshaw aggregator, mGaadi for an undisclosed amount.
• Founded in 2012, mGaadi is an app-based commuting service from India Drivers Network, a Bangalore-based social enterprise.
• As a part of the deal, mGaadi`s employee transportation platform, Cartr along with other technologies will be integrated into Yatra’s products.

• India recorded it’s highest-ever tea production of 1,233 million kg in 2015-16 fiscal. Further, the exports during the fiscal crossed the 230 million kg mark for the first time in 35 years after reaching 232.9 million kg (valued at Rs. 4,493 crore).
• The surge in exports is attributed to the increased demand from Russia, Iran, Germany, Pakistan, Bangladesh, UAE and Poland.

• To create the `Skilled in Odisha` brand name, the state government decided to invest Rs. 1,000 crore for setting up of eight advanced skill development centres, besides upgrading existing institutes in order to train eight lakh youths in three years.
• Three years from now, every graduate of an ITI of the state will be at the forefront of technology.
• With an outlay of Rs. 1,000 crore and loan assistance from the Asian Development Bank (ADB), eight advanced skill development training institutes will come up in different parts of the state.
• Stating that the state must make `Skilled in Odisha` a reality.
• In the last two years 3.3 lakh youths in the state have been trained, equipping them with employability and self employment skills.

• The Eurozone has approved €7.5 billion (about $8.46 billion) in bailout funds for Greece, in what will be the first payment since 2015.
• This will allow the country to meet €3.5 billion in debt repayments to the European Central Bank in July.
• Notably, Greece owes its creditors over €300 billion, approximately 180% of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

• Sajjan Jindal’s JSW Steel has decided to appeal against a penalty of $55 million (Rs. 368 crore) levied against its US subsidiary in an anti-trust case filed by MM Steel in 2012.
• MM Steel had filed the case in a US district court against its competing distributors and steel manufacturers, including JSW Steel, claiming that its rivals had conspired to deprive it of supplies and that manufacturers had joined the plot, leading to the closure of its business in 2013.
• The district court directed JSW Steel’s subsidiary to pay a $156 million (Rs. 1,040 crore) fine. JSW filed a petition for re-hearing with the Fifth Circuit Court. JSW US Inc’s petition for review was rejected and it was asked to pay the penalty.
• JSW Steel’s US unit comprises three pipe and plate mills that it had acquired from Sajjan Jindal’s elder brother Prithviraj Jindal for Rs. 3,690 crore in 2007

• Odisha government is expecting around Rs. 1,000 crore investment in the proposed Greenfield Electronics Park, spread over an area of 203 acres, in the state capital.
• The park is ready to house around 100 units of electronics manufacturing cluster with state-of-the-art, infrastructure and common facilities.
• The Odisha Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (IDCO) is developing the park and master planning has been done by Jurong Consultants, Singapore.
• Core infrastructure like road, provision of power and water for the park is almost ready and finalized. "It is expected to attract an investment of Rs. 1,000 crore.
• The state government has given 203 acres land in Iarapur and Durgapur of Khurda district and providing around Rs. 110 crore.
• The state has a Special Incentive Package Scheme which provides incentives to electronics manufacturing companies over and above the m-SIPS scheme of the Centre.

• Niue, an island country in the Pacific has coins displaying popular fiction characters on its currency, the Niue dollar.
• The coins have a Disney series, featuring characters like Mickey Mouse, Goofy, and Snow White, apart from other series like Star Wars, Pokemon, the Godfather and Doctor Who.
• The country also earns royalty whenever a coin is purchased by collectors.

• The two day "Rajswa Gyansangam- Annual Conference of Tax Administrators-2016” concluded. "Rajswa Gyansangam” was held in national capital, 2016 and marked a new height in the generation of innovative ideas and opened new frontiers for the tax administrators.
• The Prime Minister Shri Modi stressed that facilitation should be the core of the tax ecosystem and the fear of the law rather than the law enforcer should be the maxim on which tax administrators should work. While acknowledging the significant role of revenue collection in the growth and development of the country, he exalted the revenue officers to achieve high standards in taxpayer friendly services towards compliant tax payers.
• The Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi emphasized that ``RAPID`` (Revenue, Accountability, Probity, Information, Digitization) should become the cornerstone of tax architecture.
• A joint session of CBDT and CBEC was addressed by renowned novelist Chetan Bhagat on ``Taxing with Love``. 

21) India most open economy in world for FDI.

• India the most open economy in the world for FDI and would give boost to employment as part of efforts to transform the country.
• Amendments in FDI policy would promote ease of doing business as there will now be 100 per cent FDI under government approval route for trading, including e-commerce for food products manufactured or produced in India.
• Government radically liberalizes FDI regime with the objective of providing major impetus to employment & job creation.
• Key reform decisions were taken at a high level meeting chaired by the PM, which makes India the most open economy in the world for FDI.
• The government announced the second wave of FDI reforms allowing 100 per cent inflows in civil aviation and food processing sectors while easing norms in defence and pharmaceuticals.

22) Government to set up ETF to meet disinvestment target.

• The government will set up a new exchange traded fund (ETF) to sell its shares in public sector undertakings (PSUs) and other private companies, as part of its 56,500 crore disinvestment target for the 2016-17 fiscal.
• ETFs are investment vehicles which hold assets like stocks or bonds and are traded on a stock exchange.

23) Prudential to raise stake in DHFL Pramerica Life to 49%.

• US-based insurance major Prudential Financial Inc (PFI) has signed definitive agreements to increase its shareholding in private life insurer DHFL Pramerica Life Insurance (DPLI) to 49 per cent from existing 26 per cent.
• The transaction is not closed yet. Agreements have been signed and submitted to IRDA for movement of Prudential’s stake from 26 per cent to 49 per cent. IRDA approval is awaited and expected in the next two weeks.
• Shareholders of DPLI have already had one round of discussions with officials from the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA).
• Under the recently liberalized regime, foreign direct investment in life insurance can come under the automatic route without having to approach the foreign investment promotion board (FIPB).
• Even in this transaction, there will not be any need to approach the FIPB, Pabby noted.
• Prior to the latest agreements, Prudential International Insurance Holdings, a wholly-owned subsidiary of PFI, had a 26 per cent stake in DPLI while Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Ltd (DHFL) and its two promoter entities together held 74 per cent.

24) Union Government approves 100% FDI in Aviation, Defence and e-commerce sectors.

• The government announced sweeping changes in India`s foreign direct investment policy, opening up the airline business to 100 per cent ownership, relaxing rules for single brand retail and defence and putting most sectors on the automatic approval route, continuing with the reforms programme that was kicked off after state polls ended.
• India is now the most open economy in the world for foreign direct investment.
• Now most of the sectors would be under automatic approval route, except a small negative list.
• Apple could be a high-profile beneficiary of the changes.
• Local sourcing conditions have been relaxed for single-brand retailers, helping companies such as Apple to set up its own stores in India. With its previous application having been denied.
• Barring the sectors on this list, FDI up to 49 per cent will be allowed automatically, marking an important shift in the way the policy is administered.
• The decision to further liberalize the FDI regime with the objective of "providing major impetus to employment and job creation in India".

25) Gayatri Projects bags Rs. 700 crore order for Navi Mumbai airport.

• Gayatri Projects Ltd has made inroads into the construction of airports by bagging a Rs. 700 crore contract from the City and Industrial Development Corporation of Maharashtra (Cidco).
• This is part of the larger Navi Mumbai International Airport project contract. The project entails development of land for the Mumbai International Airport (package-II).
• The Hyderabad-based construction and infrastructure company is seeking to gain a foothold into the relatively nascent and fast growing EPC opportunity in airport related construction works.
• The construction and development of airports is expected to be become a major source of business for infrastructure companies, given that the Indian aviation sector is likely to see investments of over $120 billion for the development of airport infrastructure and aviation navigation services over the next decade.
• With India set to be the third largest civil aviation market by 2020, it will involve the development of many Greenfield airports as well as improvement of existing airports.

26) Zydus acquires two new drug applications from Teva.

• Cadila Pharmaceuticals Ltd (Zydus Cadila), has acquired two Abbreviated New Drug Applications (ANDAs) from Teva, which would strengthen its US portfolio.
• These ANDAs were being divested by Teva. It was a pre-condition to the Zydus’ acquisition of Allergan’s generic business. The acquisition was contingent on closing of the Teva-Allergan Generics transaction and approval by the US Federal Trade Commission. The financial details of the transaction remained undisclosed.
• These ANDAs have been acquired by its wholly-owned subsidiary, Zydus Worldwide DMCC, and the transaction will be financed through the group’s internal accruals.
• The acquired portfolio comprises an ANDA that is already commercialized, and one pipeline ANDA that is a transdermal patch. The estimated market size of the two ANDAs put together is nearly $200 million.

27) MasterCard plans to invest $800 million in India over the next 4 years.

• Global payments Services Company MasterCard plans to invest $700-800 million in India between now and 2020.
• These investments will flow into processing, mobile technology and solutions and data analytics.
• Some investments will also go towards royalty for technology as a whole and not related to MasterCard.
• The planned investments of about $800 million are double the $400 million that MasterCard had invested in India since 2014.

28) Cabinet approves Rs. 6,000 crore package for textiles.

• Government approved a Rs. 6,000 crore special package for textiles & apparel sector to create one crore new jobs in 3 years, attracting investments of $11 billion and generating $30 billion in exports.
• The measures approved include additional incentives for duty drawback scheme for garments, flexibility in labour laws to increase productivity as well as tax and production incentives for job creation in garment manufacturing.
• Apparel manufacturing had shifted to countries like China which had cost advantages. However, China`s cost advantage has been neutralized to some extent because of increase in labour wages.
• The package will help in realizing the true potential of employment generation in the textile and apparel sector.
• The Rs. 6,000 package will result in additional investments worth $11 billion, creation of one crore additional jobs and increase in exports worth $30.4 billion which will help boost textile and garmenting sector.

29) GVFL invests Rs. 40 crore in cold-chain operator.

• GVFL Limited announced an investment of Rs. 40 crore in Mumbai-based integrated cold-chain operator Schedulers Logistics India Pvt Ltd under GVFL’s Golden Gujarat Growth Fund.
• The transaction marks the second round of growth financing for GVFL’s first exposure in the logistics sector.
• Schedulers Logistics operates a fleet of reefer vehicles and temperature-controlled warehouses across the country.
• Started in 2013 with a fleet of 33 reefer vehicles, Schedulers operates 200 reefer trucks and manages 13,000 tonnes of temperature-controlled warehousing space.

1) Russia launches most powerful nuclear icebreaker Arktika.

• Russia`s new Project 22220 nuclear-powered icebreaker dubbed Arktika was launched from the Baltic Shipyard in Russia`s second largest city of St. Petersburg.
• It is the first Russian nuclear icebreaker to be fully built in modern-day Russia.
• Arktika is powered by two next generation RITM-200 nuclear-reactors. These reactors will be supplied with nuclear be produced by the TVEL fuel company.
• It has dual-draft design which makes it possible to use it in Arctic waters and in estuaries of polar rivers.
• It can break through 13 feet (3 metres) thick ice. It has displacement capacity of 33540 metric tons.

• In a first, scientists have grown a living bone in the lab to repair large defects in the head and face of patient, taking a step forward in improving treatments for people with craniofacial defects.
• This medical breakthrough was achieved by a new technique developed by Gordana Vunjak-Novakovic, professor at Columbia University.
• The new technique uses autologous stem cells derived from a small sample of the recipient’s fat and precisely replicates the original anatomical structure of the bone.
• Using it, scientists were able to show that in a clinical-size porcine model of jaw repair, the bone grown in vitro and then implanted can regenerate a large defect and also mechanical function.
• Researchers are now including a cartilage layer in the bio-engineered living bone tissue to study bone regeneration in complex defects of the head and face.

• Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has developed an app that makes booking of flight tickets simpler, speedier and with the lowest fare too.
• Flyers have to download the IRCTC Android-based mobile app - IRCTC Air - from Google Playstore, and they have to just SWIPE and SHUFFLE, SELECT and BOOK.
• It is also, a passenger`s existing IRCTC`s login credentials are applicable on this app too, and there is no need to create a separate user name and password.
• The new app has been developed in-house, which enables booking of air tickets for travel within India and abroad at lowest prices. A maximum of nine passengers can be booked on one PNR through net banking, for only Rs. 10 per PNR.
• The IRCTC app provides the lowest fare available and it does not charge convenience/ processing fee. Air travel websites charge around Rs. 150-250 per passenger per sector. Cancellation charges of IRCTC are also very low.

• US-based researchers in the Cockrell School of Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin have developed a set of open-source web programming language extensions, called GreenWeb, that allows people to save battery power while browsing on mobile devices.
• The team integrated GreenWeb into Google Chrome and reported energy savings of 30% to 66% over Android`s default mode.
• The GreenWeb framework also assists developers in turning their web pages energy-friendly.
• GreenWeb more efficiently guides the web browser engine to save processor energy without sacrificing user experience.
• The language extensions, implemented as CSS style rules, allow developers to express hints to the browser, which in turn conserves power when excessive computational horsepower is not necessary.

5) Small asteroid discovered orbiting Earth for nearly century.

• NASA scientists have discovered an asteroid, named 2016 HO3, orbiting the sun that also appears to circle around Earth.
• The small asteroid has a slightly tilted orbit, bouncing up and down through Earth’s orbital plane once a year.
• Over decades, as it scuttles along its path around the solar system, it twists back and forth.
• Astronomers on Haleakala, Hawaii, estimate that it is larger than 120 ft (40m) but smaller than 300 ft (100m).
• The asteroid has been declared a ``quasi-satellite``, too distant to qualify as an actual satellite but cinched by gravity into a relatively close orbit around the sun.

• A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket successfully placed two all-electric commercial telecommunications satellites into geostationary transfer orbit viz. EUTELSAT 117 West B and ABS-2A.
• SpaceX’s reusable Falcon 9 rocket which had lifted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, US. This mission was SpaceX’s second dual-satellite launch.
• These two commercial satellites are operated by Eutelsat and ABS companies respectively.
• They are geostationary transfer orbit (GTO) satellites that seek to provide global communications services to their users.
• The reusable rocket was lost before it could land on a drone ship platform in the Atlantic Ocean.

• The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) unveiled the iconic X-57 Hybrid Electric Research Plane nicknamed as Maxwell.
• The plan is to develop technologies that improve fuel use and emissions and reduce noise, while also potentially paving the way to faster and more efficient small aircraft.
• The plane is fixed with 14 electric motors turning propellers and all of them are integrated into a uniquely-designed wing.
• The Maxwell, which is named after 19th century Scottish physicist Jams Clerk Maxwell, will be built by the Scalable Convergent Electric Propulsion Technology Operations Research (Sceptor) project.
• Maxwell will be powered only by batteries, eliminating carbon emissions and demonstrating how demand would shrink for lead-based aviation fuel still in use by general aviation.

• The technology giant Microsoft is going to design mobile application for Union Human Resources Development (HRD) Ministry’s SWAYAM platform.
• Together they will the launch 2000 Massive Open Online Courses for over three crore students in 2016.
• Microsoft signed a deal of 38 crore rupees with AICTE (All India Council of Technical Education) to build and run the app for three years, which afterwards will be taken over by AICTE.
• Microsoft will be deploying the team of professionals to set up the state of the art mobile application.
• SWAYAM: It stands for Study Webs of Active-Learning for Young Aspiring Minds.

• Three astronauts landed back on Earth after completing a six-month mission on the International Space Station (ISS).
• Tim Peake, the first British astronaut on the ISS, Russia`s Yury Malenchenko and American Tim Kopra parachuted down to the Kazakh steppe in Kazakhstan with Soyuz capsule after spending 186 days in orbit.
• Peake, Malenchenko and Kopra had blasted off into space from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
• Peake’s mission, called Principia after Isaac Newton’s seminal work, included a number of scientific experiments, such as testing the use of nitric oxide gas as a tool to monitor lung inflammation.

• Public-sector aerospace and defence major Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) has inaugurated indigenous Basic Trainer Aircraft (BTA) HTT-40 in the presence of Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar.
• Commercial production of the trainer aircraft can generate nearly Rs. 3,000-4,000 crore.
• While the IAF will procure 70 HTT-40, it may also go up to 200, based on demand.
• It only took one year for the company to fly the first prototype after launching the detailed design of the aircraft by earmarking internal resources only in August 2013 and completing the detailed design phase by May 2015.
• HTT-40 has been designed to meet the current requirement of the IAF with the provision for role expansion to attach weapons to the trainer aircraft.

• Snapchat is launching a digital magazine, which will feature essays, narratives on living with technology. The magazine called `Real Life`.
• It makes perfect sense, considering that users view more videos per day inside Snapchat than on other social networks like Facebook and Twitter.
• The social network currently boasts 150 million active users per day, more than twitter, but much less than facebook.
• Snapchat employee and social theorist Nathan Jurgenson, who will be serving as Real Life’s Editor-in-chief.

• Scientists expect to test the first experimental Zika vaccine on humans.
• The vaccine, named GLS-5700, is being developed by Inovio Pharmaceuticals and GeneOne Life Science.
• GLS-5700 will be tested first on 40 healthy subjects, to assess the vaccine’s safety, to measure its ability to evoke an immune response (known as immunogenicity), and to determine the most effective dosage.
• The vaccine triggered a ``robust`` antibody response in animal testing.
• The virus has rapidly spread throughout Central and South America and has now been linked to another rare, potentially life-threatening disease Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS).

13) China’s Sunway TaihuLight declared world’s fastest supercomputer.

• The 2016 edition of Top500 list of supercomputers has revealed that China’s Sunway TaihuLight supercomputer is the world’s most powerful supercomputer system.
• Sunway-TaihuLight can perform calculations with processing speed of 124.5 petaflops per second (Pflops). It is world’s first system to surpass 100 petaflops.
• It was developed by the National Research Center of Parallel Computer Engineering & Technology (NRCPC) and installed at the National Supercomputing Center in Wuxi.
• It displaced the Tianhe-2, an Intel-based Chinese supercomputer that has claimed the top spot on the previous six TOP500 lists.
• Sunway TaihuLight includes 10649600 computing cores comprising 40960 nodes, is twice as fast and three times as efficient as Tianhe-2.
• It is intended for use in research and engineering including climate, weather, life sciences, advanced manufacturing and data analytics.

• Using NASA’s Kepler Space Telescope and its extended K2 mission, astronomers have discovered newborn fully-formed exoplanet planets that orbit stars beyond our Sun ever detected around a young star.
• The newfound planet named K2-33b is a bit larger than Neptune and whips tightly around its star every five days.
• K2-33b is just 5 to 10 million years old compared to Earth which is about 4.5 billion years old.
• It is little larger than Neptune and is about 10 times closer than Mercury is to the sun.
• The newborn planet K2-33b will help astronomers to better understand how planets form. It will also help in better understanding the processes that led to the formation of Earth.

• The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully launched a record 20 satellites in a single mission from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota.
• They include two student satellites from Indian universities and 17 of four foreign countries.
• These satellites including India’s latest earth observation satellite Cartosat-2 were launched using Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) C-34.
• With this successful launch, ISRO surpassed its previous record of placing 10 satellites into orbit in a single mission in 2008.
• The record for the most number of satellites launched in a single mission belongs to Russia, which sent up 37 satellites in 2014.
• Launching several satellites in a single mission reduces cost and India has been positioning itself as a key player in the lucrative international commercial space market as an effective but low cost operator.

• Sphero launched its new robot `SPARK+`, priced at $130, that teaches basic principles of coding to the kids.
• Sphero Spark+, which has a tougher, scratch-resistant skin. It also has a more advanced version of Bluetooth, meant to make it easier to pair the bots with multiple devices in a classroom setting.
• The new Spark unit is basically identical to its predecessor in size, price, battery life, and capability. It works with the Lightning Lab app, which is meant to teach coding through play.
• The Lightning Lab lets users program sequences of action with drag-and-drop commands. Kids who want to learn more can peek under the hood at the actual code.
• Creations made with the robot can also be shared with a community through the app.

• The US scientists unveiled a microchip, named KiloCore, containing 1000 independent programmable processors.
• It is capable of processing up to 1.78 trillion instructions every second.
• The chip has been designed by a team at the University of California, Davis, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering.
• The 1000 core processor is unequivocally lightning fast and it is able to achieve this speed because its cores can independently run programs.
• This way, every application is broken down into tiny bits and these bits are run parallel on different processors. This enables higher output while consuming lower levels of energy.

• A federal advisory committee of US National Institutes of Health has approved a proposal for using the CRISPR CAS-9 genome editing tool in clinical trials on humans.
• The proposal is to test the treatment of cancer by picking out T-cells, which are a special type of immune cells found in the body, from patients with cancer and to modify the T-cells and use them to target the cancer cells.
• The proposed study is led by Edward Stadtmauer, a physician at University of Pennsylvania.
• As per the proposal, the university will manufacture the edited cells and recruit patients for the trial.

1) Saina clinches second Australian Open title.

• Shuttler Saina Nehwal received a huge boost ahead of the Rio Olympics as she clinched her second Australian Open Super Series title after defeating China’s Sun Yu in a thrilling three-game final in Sydney.
• London Olympics bronze medallist Saina, who had beaten two world champions Thailand’s Ratchanok Intanon (2013) and China’s Yihan Wang (2011) in the quarterfinals and semifinals, thus clinched her maiden title of the season.
  
• It is Saina’s second Australian Open victory, having clinched the title in 2014 as well.
  

About Saina Nehwal:

• Saina Nehwal is the first Indian to win a medal in Badminton at the Olympics.
• She is also the first Indian after Prakash Padukone and the first Indian woman to become world number 1 badminton player.
  
• She is the first Indian to win the World Junior Badminton Championships and was also the first Indian to win a Super Series tournament, by clinching the Indonesia Open 2009.
  

2) Usain Bolt registers 2016`s 2nd best 100m timing.

• Usain Bolt gave an emphatic demonstration of his readiness for an Olympic three-peat by running 9.88 (1.0m/s) to win the 100m at the JN Racers Grand Prix in Kingston.
• Bolt clocked the second fastest time of the year behind Frenchman Jimmy Vicaut’s 9.86.
  
• Bolt is pursuing a hat-trick of 100m, 200m and 4x100m triumphs for the third time, the feat is in jeopardy after Carter, his sprint relay team-mate in Beijing and London.
  

3) Lewis Hamilton wins 2016 Canada Grand Prix of Formula One.

• Three-time world champion Lewis Hamilton clinched pole at the 2016 Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal, ahead of Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg.
• Canada Grand Prix was the seventh race of the 2016 season and was held at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal.
  
• It was the 53rd pole of Hamilton`s career and his fifth at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve and gives him a good chance of reducing Rosberg`s 24-point lead in the title race.
  
• Four-time champion Sebastian Vettel was third for Ferrari ahead of Australian Daniel Ricciardo and his Red Bull team-mate Dutch teenager Max Verstappen with Kimi Raikkonen taking sixth place on the grid in the second Ferrari.
  

4) USA women win third straight FINA world league super final gold medal.

• The USA Women’s Senior National Team won gold at the FINA Women Water Polo World League Super Final. The team defeated Spain in the championship match in Shanghai, China.
• The U.S. women have made it to the gold-medal match all but two times, in 2005 when they did not medal at all, and in 2013, when they won bronze.
  
• This victory marks the United States’ third straight FINA World League Super Final title and 10th overall.
  
• Australia defeated China in the bronze medal match.
  

About FINA World league

1. The FINA Water Polo World League is an international water polo league organized by FINA, which plays annually.
2. League play features continental tournaments for men and women, from which the top teams emerge to play in the Super Final where the league champion team is crowned.
   
3. Men`s league play began in 2002 and the women’s league was added in 2004, based on growing interest in women`s play.
   

5) Indian men break 18-year-old national record in 4×400m relay.

• The Indian men`s 4×400m relay team has created a new national record, clocking 3:02.17 at the International Sprint and Relay Teams Cup at Erzurum, Turkey.
• It was previously record of 3:02.62 set at the 1998 Asian Games in Bangkok.
  
• The Indian women`s 4×400m relay team clocked 3:30.16 and jumped to world No 13th in the rankings. In the 2016 South Asian Games, the women`s relay team finished the race with a timing of 3:35.44 to win the gold.
  
• The 4×400 metres relay or long relay is an athletics track event in which teams consist of four runners who each complete 400 metres or one lap.
  

6) India set to play maiden U-17 Futsal World Cup.

• India are set to make their maiden appearance in next month’s Under-17 Futsal World Cup, after being invited by the sport’s governing body, the Association Mundial de Futsal (AMF), as a wild card to take part in the event.
• The competition, among futsal’s biggest global events, is to be held from July 11-20 in Paraguay, with India one among a total of 12 competing countries.
• India have been drawn in Zone ‘A’ which pits them against hosts Paraguay, Catalonia and Kazakhstan. Colombia, Belgium, Brazil and Australia make up Zone ‘B’, whereas Argentina, Uruguay, Morocco and Curazo complete the line-up in Zone ‘C’.
• The final decision is to be taken during the FAI-AGM which will be held on the sidelines of the National Championship in Haryana.

7) India beats Zimbabwe; clinches series win.

• The One Day International (ODI) tour of India’s to Zimbabwe has done and dusted with the visitor’s dominant in the all the departments over the hosts in all three games that held at Harare Sports Club is a cricket ground in Harare, Zimbabwe.
• The Skipper M.S. Dhoni became the first Indian captain to lead the team in three ODI series whitewashes.
• The skipper and stumper became the first Indian wicket keeper-batsman to complete 350 dismissals in 50-overs cricket.He has taken 261 catches and effected 89 stumpings.
• He also became the 2nd most successful ODI skipper with 107 wins. He is joint second with Allan Border, and behind Ricky Ponting (165).

8) M.S. Dhoni becomes 1st Indian keeper to complete 350 ODI dismissals.

• Limited overs skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni became the first Indian wicketkeeper and fourth in the world to complete 350 dismissals in One-Day International (ODI) cricket.
• There were two milestones that he achieved from the series. With 107 wins as captain, he equalled Allan Border for the second highest number of wins in ODI history behind Ricky Pointing (165).
• The Ranchi stumper achieved the feat during the ongoing third and final ODI against Zimbabwe, when he caught Elton Chigumbura off medium pacer Jasprit Bumrah in the 33rd over.
• Playing in his 278th match, Dhoni has taken 261 catches and affected 89 stampings.
• Sri Lankan Kumar Sangakkara leads the list with 482 dismissals followed by Australian Adam Gilchrist and South African Mark Boucher with 472 and 424 dismissals respectively.

9) Rio 2016 unveils official slogan for Olympic and Paralympic Games.

• The Rio 2016 organising committee revealed the official slogan for the first Olympic and Paralympic Games in South America - "A new world" - while also unveiling the medals, 52 days from the start of the quadrennial extravaganza.
• Along with the Olympic torch, the medals and the mascots, the slogan plays a major part in creating the unique identity of each Olympic Games.
• For Rio 2016, the core values of the slogan and the manifesto are unity, respect for diversity and the will for change, reports Xinhua.
• Earlier in the day, the curtain was lifted on the designs of the medals for the Olympic and Paralympic Games, nearly 2,500 gold, silver and bronze medals produced according to strict sustainability criteria.

10) India enter Champions Trophy final for 1st time.

• India’s only podium finish until now was a bronze medal, won way back in 1982 in Amsterdam.
• Indian men’s hockey team had their date with history as they clinched a maiden appearance in the final of the prestigious 36th Hero Champions Trophy Hockey tournament against formidable Australia after hosts Great Britain held Belgium to 3-3 draw in a final round robin match.
• This will be India’s first appearance in the summit clash in 36 years since the inception of the blue-riband six-nation tournament.
• India would thank Great Britain, who rallied from a two goal deficit to hold Belgium 3-3 in a cliffhanger at the Lee Valley Hockey Centre late last evening. This was after India lost 2-4 to title favourites Australia in their last round robin encounter.
• The draw between Great Britain and Belgium meant both of them finished behind India in the round-robin league, paving the way for India to play World champions Australia in the tonight’s title encounter.
• Australia topped the league standings with 13 points from five games, while India ended on seven points. Great Britain ended on six points and Belgium were left on four points.

11) Brazil declares financial emergency, requests funding for Rio Olympics.

• The governor of the Brazilian state of Rio de Janeiro declared a state of financial emergency, requesting federal funds to help fulfill obligations for public services during the Olympics, which start Aug. 5.
• The state`s revenue has slumped in the last two years as global oil prices have collapsed. Rio state`s debt has been downgraded several times.
• Fitch Ratings knocked Rio`s debt rating to B- from B+, saying the state was suffering "a fast-deteriorating liquidity position``.
• Since late last year, the state has been forced to delay pension and salary payments and shutter some schools and hospitals, where crucial supplies, including medicines and syringes, are lacking. Brazil is also facing an outbreak of the Zika virus.

12) World Champions Australia beat India in shootout to clinch 14th Champions Trophy title.

• India was pipped by reigning world champions Australia 1-3 via penalty shoot-out to settle for their maiden silver medal in the Hockey Champions Trophy.
• After the 60 minutes of regulation play remained goalless in the final, Australian goalkeeper Tyler Lovell denied S.K. Uthappa, S.V. Sunil and Surender Kumar in the penalty shoot-out to drive Australia to their 14th Champions Trophy title - most by any side.
• Mandeep Singh created the first potent chance in the ninth minute as his speedy run on the right caught the Australians off-guard.

13) 106 year old woman becomes oldest Olympic torch bearer.

• Three years after becoming the world`s oldest skydiver, Aida Gemanque became the oldest Olympic torch bearer.
• She carried the flame in the Amazonian city of Macapa, aged 106.
• Gemanque broke the record formerly held by Alexander Kaptarenko, who was 101 when he took part in the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics relay, Xinhua news agency reported.
• The 95-day torch relay will pass through 325 Brazilian cities and involve some 12,000 runners before ending at Rio`s Maracana Stadium for the lighting of the Olympic cauldron on August 5.

14) BCCI tightens noose on fund distribution to states.

• In its attempt to prevent a repeat of the Goa Cricket Association (GCA) alleged fraud, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to switch to electronic methods to distribute funds to all state associations.
• Goa Police had recently arrested three top-ranking GCA officials, including its president Chetan Desai, secretary Vinod Phadke and treasurer Akbar Mulla.
• for allegedly encashing a Rs 3.13 crore cheque from the BCCI in 2006-07.
• In the wake of such incidents, the BCCI has now decided to tighten the screws while distributing funds to the state associations.
• In future all payments from BCCI to state associations will be made to a designated account. That account will have to be confirmed by the current secretary and treasurer of the association.

15) World`s oldest professional footballer sets new goal record.

• Former Japan striker Kazuyoshi Miura, the world’s oldest professional footballer, has beaten his own record as the oldest goal scorer in J-League history.
• The 49-year-old, who is in his 31st season as a professional, netted a header as his side Yokohama FC succumbed to a 2-1 defeat at home to FC Gifu in the Japanese second division.
• Miura, who goes into record as being the oldest footballer and oldest goal scorer in Japan’s professional league, is arguably Japan’s first superstar in football.
• Miura then became the first Japanese footballer to play in Italy, joining Genoa C.F.C in the 1994–95 Series A season.

16) Shaminda Eranga suspended for illegal bowling action.

• International Cricket Council (ICC) has suspended Sri Lanka’s fast bowler Shaminda Eranga from bowling.
• He was suspended after an assessment of his bowling action. The assessment revealed that all deliveries exceeded the 15 degrees level of tolerance permitted under the regulations.
• Sri Lanka’s Eranga was reported to ICC for a suspect action after the second Test against England at Chester-le-Street on 31 May.
• Eranga can’t bowl in any international match or in any domestic match in a foreign country save for Sri Lankan domestic cricket subject to approval by their board.

17) Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg won 2016 Formula 1 Grand Prix of Europe.

• Mercedes German driver Nico Rosberg won the European Grand Prix at the Baku City Circuit, tightening his hold on the top spot in the Formula One driver`s standings.
• To win the title, the Mercedes driver overcame Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel of Germany in the final race.
• For Rosberg, it was the first European title and the 5th title in 2016 season as he stood as the champion in Austria, Bahrain, China and Russia also.
• Overall, it was the 19th title since the beginning of his career in 2006.

18) Cavaliers Defeat Warriors to Win First N.B.A. Title.
For the first time, the Cleveland Cavaliers are NBA champions. The Cavs defeated the Golden State Warriors to win the title.

•  
•  
• It`s the city`s first major sports championship since the Browns won the NFL championship in 1964.
• Led by hometown star LeBron James, who won MVP honors for the third time in his career, the Cavaliers became the first team in NBA history to overcome a 3-1 game deficit and win the championship.

19) Silver Medal Won by India at Archery World Cup in Antalya.

• The Indian mixed recurve team of Deepika Kumari and Atanu Das has won the silver medal at the Archery World Cup held in Antalya, Turkey.
• In the final match played at Konyaalti Beach Park, the Indian team lost to South Korea
• Deepika Kumari is an Indian athlete who competes in the event of Archery, is currently ranked World No. 5 and is a former world number one.
• Atanu Das is an Indian archer. He is supported by the Olympic Gold Quest. He represents India in the Recurve Men’s Individual and Team events.

1) Former Indian football team coach Syed Nayeemuddin to be conferred with Mohun Bagan Ratna.

• Mohun Bagan announced that it will honour country’s only Dronacharya football coach Syed Nayeemuddin with the Mohun Bagan Ratna.
• Nayeemuddin was chosen for the prestigious award for his overall contribution to the club and the country both as a player and as a coach.

About Syed Nayeemuddin

1. Syed Nayeemuddin is an Indian football coach and former player.
2. As a player, he captained the Indian national team that won a bronze medal at the 1970 Asian Games.
3. He was appointed coach of India in 1997.
4. He won the South Asian Football Federation Cup by beating the Maldives 5–1 and reached the semi-finals of the Nehru Cup for the first time.
5. He is the only sports-person to win both the Arjuna and Dronacharya Awards for football.

2) Margaret Atwood awarded 2016 PEN Pinter Prize.

• Canadian poet, novelist and environmental activist Margaret Atwood was awarded the 2016 PEN Pinter Prize.
• Atwood will receive her award at a public event at the British Library on 13 October 2016.
• Atwood was chosen by Judges Vicky Featherstone, Zia Haider Rahman, Peter Stothard, Antonia Fraser and President of English PEN and Chair of Judges, Maureen Freely.

About Margaret Atwood

1. Margaret Atwood is a Canadian poet, novelist, literary critic, essayist, and environmental activist.
2. She is also the inventor and developer of the LongPen and associated technologies that facilitate the remote robotic writing of documents.
3. She is a winner of the Arthur C. Clarke Award and Prince of Asturias Award for Literature.
4. A few of her best novels are The Handmaid`s Tale, the Robber Bride, and The Year of the Flood among others.

3) Karnataka Bank gets award.

• Karnataka Bank Ltd has bagged CFBP (Council for Fair Business Practices) Jamnalal Bajaj award for fair business practices. The bank has been awarded under the ‘service enterprises – large’ category.
• Mahabaleshwara MS, Chief General Manager of the bank, received the award from Ajay Piramal, Chairman of Piramal Group, in Mumbai.
• Karnataka Bank is a major banking institution based in the coastal city of Mangaluru in Karnataka, India. The Reserve Bank of India has designated Karnataka Bank as an A1+-class scheduled commercial bank.
• The bank now has a national presence with a network of 731 branches and above 1230 ATM`s across 21 states and two Union territories. The bank has the Best Bank Award for "Managing IT Risk" under small bank category for the year 2010-11.

4) Baahubali wins 5 awards at Filmfare South Awards.

• `Baahubali` won five awards including the Best Film at the 63rd Britannia Filmfare (South) Awards in the Telugu films category.
• While Mahesh Babu won the Best Actor award for the Telugu film `Srimanthudu`,
• Notably, these awards have been honouring professionals in the Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam and Kannada film industries since 1970.

5) Kerala Tourism bags four awards at `FilmAT` International film festival in Poland.

• Kerala Tourism has won four awards at ‘FilmAT’ which is one of the biggest international film festivals dedicated to tourism, art and ecology in Poland.
• ‘Responsible Tourism’ initiative started by Kerala Tourism has won three awards under categories of the Best Promotional Social Campaign, Protection of Nature, and Eco-Food categories respectively.
• The tourism board’s ad film `The Great Backwaters of Kerala` has won the `Best Editing Award`.
• The FilmAT festival is associated with the International Committee of Tourism Film Festivals.
   

6) Kannada film `Thithi` wins best film award in 19th Shanghai International Film Festival.

• `Thithi`, a Kannada film won the best film award and best script writers award at the Asia New Talent Awards in the 19th Shanghai International Film Festival.
• The director, Raam Reddy made his debut through this film. It is the only Indian film that has been selected for screening in the festival of Shanghai.
• The Jury was from China, Japan, and Korea and they unanimously loved the film.

7) Six Indian WW1 warriors’ gets place in Digital Archive of United Kingdom.

• Six Indian World War I (WW-I) heroes became part of Britain’s new digital archive. The archive was launched as part of UK government’s centenary celebrations of WW-I and aims to tell the inspiring stories of war heroes.
• The new Digital Archive was launched by Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) to chronicle individual biographies of the war heroes. The new digital archive can be accessed through the UK government’s official gov.uk portal.

The Indians to be archived digitally for their important role during the War are:

1. Risaldar Badlu Singh from Punjab.
2. Sepoy Chatta Singh from Uttar Pradesh
3. Naik Darwan Singh Negi from Uttar Pradesh (modern day Uttarakhand)
4. Lance Naik Lala from Himachal Pradesh
5. Rifleman Gabar Sing Negi from modern day Uttarakhand
6. Lance-Daffadar Gobind Singh from Rajasthan
7. These six Indian soldiers were part of some 175 men from 11 overseas countries who were awarded Britain’s award for valour, the Victoria Cross (VC), during the war. They were all awarded for their prominent bravery on the battlefield.

8) PatanjaliYogpeeth sets `sirsasana` world record.

• The PatanjaliYogpeeth Trust created a new Guinness World Record of 408 people simultaneously doing the ‘sirsasana’ (headstand).
• The event, presided over by yoga guru Baba Ramdev, was held on the occasion of the second International Yoga Day in Faridabad.
• It was reportedly attended by over one lakh citizens including BJP National President Amit Shah.

9) 2,000 women set world record in pregnatal yoga.

• Nearly 2,000 pregnant women set a new world record by performing yoga in Rajkot, Gujarat, on the occasion of International Yoga Day.
• This breaks the previous record in prenatal yoga that had 940 pregnant women in China participate in the activity.
• Further, 8,000 children in Gujarat set a world record by making a human chain.

1) AP inks pact with Chinese firm for incubation centre

• The Andhra Pradesh Information Technology and Communication Department and ZTE Soft, a fully-owned subsidiary of ZTE Corporation, a leading telecom services provider, have inked a pact for setting up an incubation centre and an innovation hub for smart cities in Kakinada.
• The Innovation hub will be a 85:15 venture between the AP government and Qianhai Authority and ZTE Soft. Initially, AP will invest Rs. 13.60 crore and ZTE Rs. 2.4 core. The centre will be known as AP-Shenzhen Joint Incubation Centre and Smart City Innovation Hub.
• The ZTE Soft Technology Ltd and the Qianhai Authority of China proposed a three-year programme with Andhra Pradesh Innovation Society to establish a facility and create the support infrastructure needed for a world-class startup eco-system. The incubation centre will serve as a model for economic development. According to Palle Raghunath Reddy, State Minister for IT and Communications, the hub would generate 670 direct jobs and 2,500 indirect ones over the next three years.
• As a part of the agreement, AP will open an extension office in the Quinhai Innovation Centre to serve as a facilitator for other investments.

2) India inks pact with US to enhance cooperation in energy security and other areas

• India has inked a pact with the United States to enhance cooperation in energy security, clean energy and climate change. Power ministry on 2nd June said that the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed in New Delhi with an aim to promote sustainable growth. Power Secretary P K Pujari and US Ambassador to India Richard R Verma signed the MoU.
• The pact will boost energy ties between the two countries through increased bilateral engagement .It also intended to increase incentives for innovation including research and development, and mutually-agreed technology transfer, as well as the deployment of clean energy technologies in both countries.
• The priority initiatives under the MoU would be US-India Energy smart Cities Partnership, greening the grid and promoting Energy Access through Clean Energy (PEACE) expansion among others.

3) Singapore Arbitration Centre to open India office

• Current Affairs The Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC) will establish a representative office at the Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City) to resolve international commercial disputes.
• An international arbitration centre or IAC is a centre where disputes arising out of commercial agreements from sectors like insurance, shipping, construction, private equity and other trades are handled. Arbitration is different from court litigation and is typically less time-consuming as it is done in private between the lawyers representing the aggrieved parties.
• SIAC has signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with Gujarat International Finance Tec-City Company Limited (GIFTCL) and GIFT SEZ Limited (GIFT SEZ), according to statement issued by GIFT City.
• As per the terms of the agreement, GIFTCL, GIFT SEZ and SIAC will collaborate to promote the use of arbitration, mediation and other dispute resolution mechanisms, including the innovative `Arb-Med-Arb` service offered by the SIAC and the Singapore International Mediation Centre (SIMC)
• Further, SIAC will establish a representative office at GIFT City to promote its international arbitration services to Indian users. Indian parties are among the top five foreign users of SIAC in the last five years. It was the top foreign user of SIAC in 2013 and 2015.

• India and Singapore on 3rd June held the first dialogue between their defence ministers as they agreed to enhance the scale of existing bilateral military interaction.
• After holding dialogue with his Singaporean counterpart Ng Eng Hen in Singapore, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar told that the two countries have agreed on expanding the interaction between the armed forces .
• The agreement will also see Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) working with a Singapore research agency on research-oriented projects. Mr. Parrikar further said the two sides also agreed to collaborate between industries under `Make in India` initiative.
• A joint statement issued after the meeting said both ministers strongly condemned terrorism, and renewed their commitment to cooperation in counter terrorism efforts, emphasised the importance of safeguarding maritime security in international waterways. 

1) India, EFTA agree to address issues to resume FTA talks.

• India and the EFTA, a bloc of four European countries including Switzerland agreed to resolve the outstanding issues for resumption of long-stalled negotiations for a proposed free trade agreement.
• A meeting between the chief negotiators of India and European Free Trade Association (EFTA) was held to take stock of the ongoing negotiations for Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement (TEPA).
• The last round of negotiations was held in November 2013 and thereafter the negotiations have remained suspended.
• The four EFTA members are - Switzerland, Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein.

• The United Nations General Assembly elected Israel to chair its Legal Committee, also known as the Sixth Committee.
• First time Israel, a country that has been routinely denounced by the U.N. for its settlement expansion activities in the West Bank, has been chosen to head one of its six permanent committees.
• The Sixth Committee overseas U.N. activities related to International laws.

• India and Ghana signed three bilateral agreements to strengthen co-operation in varied fields.
• Ghana is the first country visited by the President during the six-day African tour.
• The three agreements signed with Ghana included one for visa waivers for holders of diplomatic and official passports and one for setting up a Joint Commission.
• The commission will periodically review various aspects of the multi-dimensional relationship between the two countries. A mutually convenient date for its first meeting will be decided later.
• The third agreement was for collaboration in diplomatic training between the Indian Foreign Service Institute and a Ghanaian institute of the same standing.
• India is the largest foreign investor in Ghana with more than 700 projects. More than 222 of these projects are in the manufacturing sector.

• US Senate rejecting a key amendment recognising the country as “global strategic and defence partner”.
• The Senate has failed to recognise India as a ``global strategic and defence partner`` of the U.S. after a key amendment necessary to modify its export control regulations could not be passed
• Top Republican senator John McCain had moved an amendment to the National Defence Authorisation Act (NDAA-17).
• The amendment would have helped India to acquire advanced military technology, participate in combined military planning.
• The US had recognised India as a ``major defence partner`` in a joint statement issued during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit

• France President François Hollande finalised ratification of the Paris climate accord reached in December 2015, making France the first industrialised country to do so.
• In a ceremony at the Elysee Palace, the French president signed a law to join the historic UN climate pact.
• At the December COP21 gathering in Paris, 195 governments reached the historic agreement setting a target of limiting global warming to “well below” 2C compared with pre-industrial levels.

• Thailand Prime Minister General Prayuth Chan-ocha’s is on three day maiden visit to India, upon which both the sides are set to firm up cooperation to combat terrorism, and boost maritime security, defence ties and trade.
• The announcement was made after Prime Minister Narendra Modi held extensive talks with his visiting Thai counterpart.
• Both the nations will also look for joint projects in solar energy, space applications and space technology sectors.
• The two countries will expressing cooperation in the increase in maritime security, double trade in five years, push the India-Myanmar-Thai road project, cooperate in civil aviation, fight cyber crime and promote people-to-people cooperation.

• The US Senate has passed its draft of the National Defence Authorisation Bill, including a provision to set up a new fund to reimburse Pakistan for its efforts in the war against terrorism.
• The Senate version authorises $800 million under a provision called the `Pakistan Security Enhancement Authorisation’.

• China banned exports to North Korea of technology and materials that might be used in weapons production in a new response to the North`s development of nuclear weapons and missiles.
• The list of banned ``dual use`` items with possible civilian and military use includes metal alloys, cutting and laser-welding equipment and materials that could be used in production of chemical weapons.

• France has developed a camera-based meteor detection network, called the Fireball Recovery and InterPlanetary Observation Network (FRIPON).
• The network is able to track meteors using a nation-wide camera system which currently employs 68 cameras.
• The data from the network will help detect meteor trajectory, their source of origin and their likely impact locations.

• India and Bangladesh launched transshipment operations at the Ashuganj port to boost trade and facilitate seamless movement of goods in the landlocked region, with a cargo vessel unloading the maiden consignment to be transported to Tripura through Bangladeshi territory.
• Bangladesh’s Shipping Minister Shahjahan Khan inaugurated the operation at Ashuganj port in central Bangladesh.
• This is part of an India-Bangladesh deal signed earlier to use each other`s territory for transiting goods to a third country.
• A ship from Kolkata carrying 1000 tonnes of steel and iron sheets reached Ashuganj river port in Bangladesh.
• The facility will enable India to transport goods to the North-eastern states and further to Myanmar through Bangladesh, reportedly reducing costs by nearly 50%.

• China opened its first Disneyland in Shanghai to the public with a grand ceremony.
• The theme park is expected to attract 15-50 million visitors every year.
• Disney CEO Bob Iger present at the event announced that the Disneyland was a product of $5.5 billion investment and a two-decade courtship of the Communist Party’s top leaders.

• ``Ganges-Danube Cultural Festival of India`` in Hungary will be inaugurated by Dr. Mahesh Sharma, Minister of State for Culture & Tourism (I/C) and Civil Aviation on 17 June at Vigado Theatre in Budapest, Hungary.
• Dr. Mahesh Sharma will also inaugurate International day of Yoga followed by Yoga workshop on 18th June.
• The Festival will showcase Indian culturen dance, music, yoga, film and exhibitions. Indian martial art experts and puppet artists are also performing. 

• Airport Authority of India (AAI), National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) and National Skill Development Fund (NSDF) signed for setting up skill development centers in the country for scaling up skill development initiatives in the aviation sector.
• Aim to skilled more than 1.04 crore youth last year in 2015-16 which is an incremental growth by 36.8% from the previous year. With contributions like these we are certain that we will be able to bring speed and scale along with standards to skill initiatives in the nation.
• The program will be managed by NSDC and its training partners who have till now cumulatively skilled more than 80.33 lakh youth in the country. The fund contributed by AAI will also be utilized to support and sponsor candidates for skill development programs, including Substantially Affected Persons under AAI projects.

• The Union Minister of State for AYUSH (Independent Charge), Shri Shripad Yesso Naik inaugurated the National Health Editors’ Conference on Yoga for Holistic Health-Recent researches, at National Media Centre.
• This programme would also serve as a ``Curtain Raiser`` for the forthcoming events of International Day of Yoga – 2016.

• A new Indian Reserve Battalion in Rajasthan will be named Maharana Pratap, the great warrior of Mewar region, by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh.
• The Indian Reserve Battalion will be named after Maharana Pratap, a Rajput ruler who had fought against the Mughals and never bowed before them.
• The Union minister also announced setting up of a global centre for counter terrorism at Sardar Patel University of Police, Security and Criminal Justice at Jodhpur and the process of police modernization will be expedited.

• The Indian ecommerce space may soon have anew giant, if the government of India has its way. A portal called GeM, short for Government e-Marketplace, has been conceptualized by the government`s central purchase arm to allow sarkari babus to make routine office purchases from cups and saucers to laptops and printers online.
• Officials estimate that expenditure on commonly used office items ranges between 10% and 20% of the government`s non-plan expenditure, a figure which stands at Rs. 14.28 lakh crore for fiscal year 2016-17. That translates to potential purchases of Rs. 1.4 - 2.8 lakh crore. To put that in context, Flipkart was aiming to sell goods worth up to $12 billion (Rs. 80,000 crore) by June 2016.

• The US returned over 200 cultural artefacts estimated at $100 million to India at a ceremony attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
• Items returned included religious statues, bronzes and terra cotta pieces, some dating back 2,000 years, looted from some of India`s most treasured religious sites.
• Among the pieces returned is a statue of Saint Manikkavichavakar, a Hindu mystic and poet from the Chola period (circa 850 AD to 1250 AD) stolen from the Sivan Temple in Chennai, which is valued at $1.5 million.

• With a view to helping mothers travelling in trains to take care of their toddlers, Indian Railways has come up with the novel idea of setting up separate baby food corners in all the major railway stations.
• The Railway Minister in the Railway Budget promised steps to make the baby food including milk available in railway stations. Now, the facility has been set up in major railway stations as a pilot project.
• In Salem Railway Division, four such Janani Sewa stalls were set up at Salem, Coimbatore, Erode and Karur railway stations, on a pilot basis.
• These Janani Sewa stalls have been situated within the vegetarian refreshment rooms (VRRs) and will provide baby foods such as Cerelac, Lactogen, apart from milk, feeding bottles and hot water.

• The Supreme Court refused to entertain a plea for a CBI inquiry into the Mathura incident, the Samajwadi Party government ordered a judicial probe into the violent encounter between the State police and squatters that resulted in the death of two dozen persons, including two police officers.
• The government had earlier constituted a State-level probe under Aligarh Divisional Commissioner Chandrakant, while Opposition parties had insisted on a CBI probe or an SC-monitored investigation.
• Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav appointed a one-man judicial commission under retired Allahabad High Court judge Justice Mirza Imtiaz Murtuza. The Commission has been asked to submit its report in two months.

• The Maharashtra government has decided to celebrate the 21st day of every month as Yoga day across all schools, colleges and universities in the state.
• It has also been decided that 21st of every month will be celebrated as Yoga day across all schools, colleges and universities of Maharashtra.
• It was also decided that every district would set up a `Yoga Day committee` to plan a `Yoga Mahostav` (Yoga Festival) every year in between January 12-21. A separate state-level committee will monitor and coordinate with these committees.
• Schools, colleges, technical and medical colleges in the state will help promote yoga during the festival.

• Ministry of Information & Broadcasting has framed a New Print Media Advertisement Policy for Directorate of Advertising & Visual Publicity (DAVP) with the objective to promote transparency and accountability in issuing of advertisements in print media.
• The policy focuses on streamlining release of Government advertisements and to also promote equity and fairness among various categories of newspapers/periodicals. The key highlights of the policy are as follows:

• For the first time the policy introduces a New Marking System for newspapers to incentivize Newspapers who have better professional standing and get their circulation verified by ABC/ RNI. This will also ensure transparency and accountability in the release of advertisements by DAVP.
• The policy framework includes circulation verification Procedure for empanelment of Newspapers/Journals with DAVP.
• The procedure involves 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.
• The policy states that RNI circulation certificate shall be valid for a period of two years from the date of issue and in case of ABC, the current certificate shall be used for circulation certificate. It is stated in the policy that DG DAVP reserves the right to have figures of circulation checked through RNI or its representative.

• Uttar Pradesh`s Muzzafarnagar district has a village called `Snapdeal.com Nagar`, which was originally named Shiv Nagar.
• In 2011, Indian e-commerce company Snapdeal installed 15 hand pumps in the village so that the villagers need not walk long distances to fetch water.
• To express their gratitude, the villagers voted to name their village after Snapdeal.

• Union Urban Development Minister Venkaiah Naidu launched a `Swachh Map` mobile application of the Rajkot Municipal Corporation (RMC) that will enable residents to register complaints of sanitation by sending photos using it.
• The application is designed and developed by US-based multinational company `Intel` without taking any money. Residents can send a photo of a dirty place or area to register their complaints to civic officials through the app and the complaints would be addressed within 24 hours.
• The RMC was the first civic body in Gujarat to launch such an app.
• When the Centre had recently announced names of clean cities, the city in the Saurashtra region was ranked 7th. 

• Railway minister Suresh Prabhu flagged off the Champaran Satyagraha Express (14009-1410) at a function in Motihari. The new weekly train, running between Bapudham Motihari and Anand Vihar (Delhi) stations, has a load combination of 15 coaches, including one third AC, six sleeper and six general coaches and two brake vans.
• The new train has been introduced to mark 100 years of the historic movement.
• To provide better facilities to the passengers, we are working on the punctuality of trains by adopting new technologies.

• Announcing the Centre`s plans to inject Rs. 25 lakh crore to strengthen inland waterways, ports and rail-road links, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari approved these projects will create four crore jobs.
• Stating that both road and rail connectivity to ports was the key to speedy economic growth, an amount of Rs. 8 lakh crore would be invested for development of the port sector to make transportation of goods and raw materials for industries cost effective.
• The government has chalked out an ambitious plan to galvanise the inland waterways involving rivers like Ganga, Brahmaputra and Mahanadi, adding Rs. 4,000 crore was being spent for developing waterway facilities in Ganga.

• Madhya Pradesh is expecting Rs. 1,300 crore investment, from private and public sector, this financial year for up gradation of tourism infrastructure.
• Upgrading infrastructure is a continuous process and we are looking at doubling our rooms’ inventory in next five years, in the three-star and above category. And also planning to build over 300 wayside amenities every 50 km.
• For up gradation of infrastructure in the tourism sector we are looking at Rs. 1,300 crore investment, from government as well as private sector this financial year.
• Besides the religious tourism, the State Government is focusing on wildlife tourism as Madhya Pradesh has six sanctuaries. It is seeking to promote rural tourism around these sanctuaries, heritage wedding destinations, and meetings, incentives, conferencing, exhibitions (MICE) segments.

• Sikkim claimed to become the first state in India to have an open government data portal. Lok Sabha MP, P.D. Rai launched the open government data portal `Sikkim.data.gov.in` and Open Government Data Platform (Sikkim).
• On the open government data portal, the data produced or commissioned by the government or government controlled entities can be freely used, reused and redistributed by anyone.

• West Bengal government has decided to provide rice at Rs. 2 per kg to sex workers and poor HIV patients in the state.
• Poor leprosy patients, deaf and dumb children in various homes will also be included in the scheme and in the first phase, about one lakh beneficiaries from across the state will be identified for the purpose.

• Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal constituted a high-level committee under the chairmanship of PWD Minister Satyendar Jain to look into matters related to water bodies in the national capital.
• The committee will look into matters related to water bodies in Delhi and issues related to taking necessary steps like site inspections, proper identification of water bodies for updated inventory, suggesting suitable recommendations to restore them, rain water harvesting for the benefit of water bodies along with their development and beautification plan on targeted basis for all the water bodies-owning agencies.

• ``The Scouts/ Guides Organization`` having its headquarters at Vasundhara, Ghaziabad is misusing the name of Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports, Govt of India in their letter head stating that it is affiliated with the Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports.
• Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports has informed to all general public and concerned authorities that ministry neither given any recognition or affiliation to The Scouts/ Guides Organization nor is giving grant-in-aid to this organization to conduct scouting and guiding activities in any State/UT of the country.
• The organization is also not an autonomous body under the Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports as claimed by them in their letterhead/ banners/ posters.

• With a view to examine the consequential issues arising out of amendments to India - Mauritius Double Taxation Avoidance Convention and related issues, a Working Group headed by Joint Secretary (FT&TR-II), CBDT and comprising of departmental officers and representatives of SEBI, custodians, brokerage firms and fund managers has been constituted.
• The Working Group will submit its report to the CBDT within 3 months, after examining the relevant issues.

• Railways minister Suresh Prabhu launched three passenger service initiatives a Janani Sewa for mothers, optional catering in Rajdhani and Shatabdi trains on a pilot basis and a children’s menu on trains.
• Under Janani Sewa, hot milk, hot water and baby food-to begin with-will be available at 25 railway stations including New Delhi, Mumbai, Howrah, Chennai, Surat and Lucknow. Originally, the service was meant to have been introduced on trains.
• The Indian Railways also launched an optional catering services project. To begin with the project will be taken up on a pilot basis for 45 days and will be available only on the Secunderabad-Pune Shatabdi Express and Mumbai Central-Hazrat Nizammudin Rajdhani Express.
• To make train travel a happier experience for children, the railways has launched items like french fries, noodles, burgers and meal combos through IRCTC. These items can be ordered by the passengers through the e-catering website of IRCTC, a specified phone number, SMS, mobile app or a four digit all-India toll free number-1323.

• The Jammu and Kashmir government imposed a ban on all sorts of "private airborne activity" within a radius of one kilometre from any defence/ security forces installation in Jammu for a period of 60 days.
• The ban has been imposed after the Indian Air Force (IAF) issued an alert that terrorists may use sub-conventional methods like paragliders, parachutes, air balloons etc. to target IAF, defence and police installations in near future.

• Education Department of Bihar has launched an initiative called `Operation Clean Up` as part of the grand secular alliance government’s agenda to provide ``quality education`` in the state.
• Operation clean up’ in order to maintain the standard of education in the state.
• All the 228 B.Ed colleges will be probed. DMs and SPs have been asked to carry out a physical verification of these colleges. 

• The Centre sanctioned Rs. 164 crore for Rajasthan and Rs. 156 crore for Telangana, following a meeting on Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA) with the two States.
• Shri Javadekar expressed the hope that the Compensatory Afforestation Bill will be passed in the Monsoon session, making available more money for afforestation and related activities.

• Ministry of Railways signed a Joint Venture Agreement with Govt. of Odisha. This is a very important step for formation of Joint Venture Company for development of Railway Infrastructure in the State.
• The company shall identify projects to be developed and find avenues for financing of the same. Ministry of Railways and Govt. of Odisha shall be essentially funding part of such identified projects. Project specific SPVs shall be formed after financial closure of the project.

• The Gujarat government has decided to launch the mobile app ‘Digital Gujarat’. This app is to put most of the services on the fingertips of citizens, so that they don’t have to visit government offices.
• Initially, it would offer 30 services for which the citizens hitherto had to visit government offices or access the online portal digitalgujarat.gov.in.
• Using this app, people can apply for various services, such as ration card. Initially, the services available through the app would include procurement of ration card, senior citizen certificate, caste certificate, domicile certificate, income certificate, widow certificate, SC/ST certificate, non creamy-layer certificate and religious minority certificate.

• The Union Cabinet under the Chairmanship of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has been apprised of the Memorandum of Understanding between Department of Space/ Indian Space Research Organization (DOS/ ISRO) and Canadian Space Agency (CSA) on cooperation in the field of outer space.
• The MoU would lead to establishment of joint team, drawing members from ISRO and CSA, which will further work out the plan of action including examination and defining cooperative projects and the time-frame. This will also provide opportunities for diverse research in the field of peaceful uses of space technologies.

• The Union Cabinet under the Chairmanship of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has given its ex-post facto approval to the Memorandum of Understanding between Taipei Economic and Cultural Centre in India and India Taipei Association in Taipei, Taiwan for cooperation in the field of Agriculture and Allied Sector.
• The MoU provides for cooperation in the fields of Agriculture, Horticulture, Animal Husbandry, Fisheries, Aquaculture and Food Processing, Genetic Resources as well as Environmental Sustainability.
• Both sides will encourage the private sector in both countries to enter into cooperation in these areas. The cooperation between the two sides involves exchange of visits, information, technology and training and also expansion of agricultural trade while reducing trade barriers.

• The Union Cabinet under the Chairmanship of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has approved the signing of Air Services Agreement between India-Taipei Association in Taipei (India’s representative office in Taiwan) and Taipei Economic and Cultural Center in India (Taiwan’s representative office in India).
• The Air Services are governed by a MoU exchanged between Air India Charters Limited (AIRL) and Taipei Airlines Associations (TAA).
• The Air Services Agreement signifies an important landmark in the civil aviation relations between India and Taiwan, and has the potential to spur greater trade, investment, tourism and cultural exchanges between the two parties.

• The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has given its approval for Indian membership of the International Continental Scientific Drilling Program (ICDP) consortium by signing a MoU with the Helmholtz Centre Potsdam GFZ German Research Centre for geosciences. This is a government-funded, Public Law Foundation of the State of Brandenburg, Germany.
• By signing the MoU on the membership for a period of five years with ICDP, India would enable engaging internationally renowned experts with profound expertise in different aspects of scientific drilling in order to accomplish deep drilling and associated investigations in Koyna region.
• As a member of ICDP, scientists/ engineers from India would have right to submit proposals, to participate in all ICDP co-funded workshops and drilling projects and have access to all data results from ICDP projects. This will shed new light on the genesis of seismicity and better understanding of earthquake processes.

• The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has given its approval for signing of 15 years contract by the Ministry of Earth Sciences with the International Seabed Authority (ISA) for undertaking exploration and other developmental activities related to Polymetallic Sulphides in the allotted area of 10,000 sq km. It will be done in parts of Central and South - West Indian Ridges (SWIR), located in the Indian Ocean.
• It will enhance India`s presence in the Indian Ocean where other players like China, Korea and Germany are active. The program will be implemented by the Ministry of Earth Sciences with the participation from various national institutes and research laboratories/ organizations.

• The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has given its approval for enhancement of the age of superannuation of
• Non-Teaching and Public Health Specialists of Central Health Service from 62 years to 65 years.
• Doctors of General Duty Medical Officers (GDMOs) sub-cadre of Central Health Service (CHS) to 65 years.
• The target group would be officers of Non-Teaching, Public Health and GDMO sub-cadres of CHS. The decision would help in better patient care, proper academic activities in Medical colleges as also in effective implementation of National Health Programmes for delivery of health care services.

• The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has given its approval for disinvestment of 10% paid up equity of Housing and Urban Development Corporation Ltd. (HUDCO) out of Government of India’s shareholding of 100% through Initial Public Offering (IPO) in the domestic market as per the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) Rules and Regulation.
• The paid up equity capital of HUDCO is Rs. 2001.90 crore and Government of India owns 100% 0f the equity at present. Net worth of the Company is approximately Rs. 7,800 crore.

• The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, has approved the development of 4/6 laning of Kharar-Ludhiana Section of NH-95 (New NH-05) in Punjab.
• The cost is estimated to be Rs.2069.70 crore including cost of land acquisition, resettlement and rehabilitation and other pre-construction activities. The total length of the road to be developed is approximately 76 kms.
• This work will be done under the National Highways Development Project (NHDP) Phase-V in Hybrid Annuity Mode.
• The improvement of infrastructure in Punjab and in reducing the time and cost of travel for traffic, particularly heavy traffic, plying between Kharar and Ludhiana section.
• The development of this stretch will also help in uplifting the socio-economic condition of this region in the State. It would also increase employment potential for local labourers for project activities.

• To ensure timely and adequate availability of fertilizers to farmers at affordable prices, Department of Fertilizers has approved the freight rates for the direct road movement of fertilizers upto 500 km from plant/ port to block level, as recommended by the Tariff Commission.
• A decision has been taken to reimburse the freight cost in respect of secondary movement of fertilizers from rake point to district/ block headquarter on monthly basis at the lower of the normative Per Tonne Per Kilometer (PTPK) rate or actual expenditure incurred by the company.

• The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, recently met the Chief Ministers of 11 drought-affected states and highlighted the importance of water conservation and optimum water utilization and measures should be taken in the short term, medium term and long term to conserve our limited water resources.
• This idea forward and intensify efforts, the Minister for Drinking Water and Sanitation organized a ‘National Workshop on Pre-Monsoon Water Conservation Measures’ in the capital. The workshop was organized with the intent to engage officials from various State Governments, NGOs, domain experts and industry personnel and share best practices on Water Conservation and Rainwater Harvesting.

• Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has launched Scheme for setting up of 1000 MW Wind Power Project connected to transmission network of Central Transmission Utility (CTU) with an objective to facilitate supply of wind power to the non-windy states at a price discovered through transparent bidding process. Ministry has designated Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) as nodal agency for implementation of the scheme.
• The Scheme will encourage competitiveness through scaling up of project sizes and introduction of efficient and transparent e-bidding and e-auctioning processes. It will also facilitate fulfillment of Non-Solar Renewable Purchase Obligation (RPO) requirement of non-windy states.
• MNRE has also issued Draft guidelines for implementation of scheme for setting up of 1000 MW CTU connected wind power projects issued by MNRE for stakeholders’ consultation.

• Minister of Railways Shri Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu in a programme held at Rail Bhawan, launched and dedicated following services to the nation as a part of fulfillment of Budget Announcements 2016-17.
• Flagging off of inaugural run of first time-tabled container train service from Domestic Container Terminal, Okhla (Delhi) and Whitefield (Bengaluru), by remote from Rail Bhawan.
• Launch of liberalized comprehensive parcel leasing policy
• Launch of liberalized policy for parcel cargo express trains.
• Integrated (Facebook & Twitter) Social Media Platforms for grievance redressal.
• Announcement of implementation of policy allowing differently abled persons to avail concession while travelling without escort.

• NITI Aayog held detailed interaction with Principal Secretaries/ Secretaries of School Education Departments from all States and UTs through video conferencing to disseminate information and ensure successful implementation of Atal Tinkering Laboratories.
• Atal Tinkering Laboratories is one of the three major initiatives under the Atal Innovation Mission (AIM). As part of the Mission, NITI Aayog will fund the establishment of 500 Atal Tinkering Laboratories in schools across India. AIM will also support the setting up of 100 Atal Incubation Centers and provide scale-up support to 10 established incubation centers.
• Atal Tinkering Lab will ensure that young minds give shape to their ideas through hands on do-it-yourself mode and learn innovation skills. This is the first time India is investing substantially in cultivating the spirit of innovation right from children in schools.

• State-run power equipment maker BHEL has commissioned another 195 MW unit at Muzaffarpur thermal power station in Bihar.
• This is the second 195 MW units to be commissioned by BHEL at the 2x195 MW Muzaffarpur Thermal Power Station Stage-II of Kanti Bijlee Utpadan Nigam Limited (KBUNL), a joint venture of NTPC and BSPGCL.
• BHEL is the leading supplier of coal-based main plant equipment to NTPC and its joint ventures, with an over 80% share in their installed capacity.
• BHEL`s scope of work in the Muzaffarpur project envisaged design, engineering, manufacture, supply, erection and commissioning of steam turbines, generators and boilers, along with associated auxiliaries and electrical. 

1) Jayant Kapre quits as President of United Biscuits.

• United Biscuits president Jayant Kapre has quit after leading the maker of McVities biscuits to an Rs. 150 crore-plus company in six years.
• Kapre is joining American flavours maker International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF), a business-to-business supplier of flavours to makers of soft drinks, biscuits, confectionery and alcoholic beverages. He is taking over as managing director of the firm.
• United Biscuits is yet to name a successor to Kapre who was the first employee of the British biscuit maker in the country, joining as president for India and South East Asia in 2009.
• An alumnus of IIM-Ahmedabad, Kapre, started his career at Hindustan Unilever in 1996, and later worked with Gillette, Accenture, Wrigley and PepsiCo before joining United Biscuits.

2) Major General Per Lodin appointed to head UN Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan.

• Major General per Lodin from Sweden was appointed as chief military observer and head of the UN Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP).
• His appointment was approved by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. He will succeed Major General Delali Johnson Sakyi of Ghana whose two-year term completes on July 2, 2016.

About Per Lodin

1. Lodin is currently the head of Strategic Material Management at Forsvarets materielverk (FMV), the Swedish Defence Ministry’s procurement and logistics arm.
2. He had earlier served as the head of the task force centre of Kosovo Force (KFOR), the multi-national peacekeeping mission led by NATO in 2006-2007.
3. He began his military career in the Swedish Army in 1978.

• Peruvian economist Pedro Pablo Kuczynski defeated his rival Keiko Fujimori with a thin margin to become Peru’s next President.
• The National Office of Electoral Processes (ONPE) announced that the Peruvian political organization Peruanos Por el Kambio received the most votes representing 50.12% of valid votes.

1. Pedro Pablo Kuczynski Godard, popularly known as PPK, is a Peruvian economist, politician and public administrator.
2. He served as Prime Minister of Peru from 2005 to 2006.
3. He worked in the United States before entering Peruvian politics. He held positions at both the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund before being designated as general manager of Peru`s Central Reserve Bank.
4. He later served as Minister of Energy and Mines in the early 1980s under President Fernando Belaúnde Terry.
5. He serves as Minister of Economy and Finance and Prime Minister under President Alejandro Toledo in the 2000s.
6. He went on to stand in the 2016 election, where he defeated Keiko Fujimori in the second round.

• Union minister Birender Singh was re-elected to the Rajya Sabha from Haryana.
• BJP backed-Independent candidate and media baron Subhash Chandra won the second seat in a contest marred by cross-voting with 14 votes of Congress being rejected.
• Birender Singh was assured of a comfortable win while the main fight was between Chandra and Anand for the second seat.

5) New MD of Kerala Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation.

• Dr. M. Beena, has been appointed as Managing Director of the Kerala Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (KINFRA), a statutory body of the Kerala Government.
• KINFRA aims at bringing together all the suitable resources available in the state and developing infrastructure to woo the industrial growth of the state.
• KINFRA is dedicated to catalysing industrial growth in Kerala by providing the best industry-specific-infrastructure.
• Dr. Beena is currently the Managing Director of KSIDC (Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation) and KSIE (Kerala State Industrial Enterprises).

6) Delhi Transport Minister Gopal Rai resigns.

• Delhi Transport Minister Gopal Rai resigned citing poor health.
• Rai recently underwent major surgery to remove a bullet that had been lodged in his neck for 17 years.
• His resignation was accepted by Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal who gave his portfolio to cabinet colleague Satyendar Jain.
• Jain already holds key portfolios of Public Works Department (PWD), Health, Power and Home.
• With this resignation, the departments left with Rai are the Labour, Irrigation and Flood Control department, the General Administration Department and the Development and Employment department.

About Gopal Rai

1. Gopal Rai is a Post-graduate in Sociology from Lucknow University.
2. He began his career with the All India Students Association, the student wing of the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation, in Lucknow University in 1992.
3. He is a member of the National Executive of the Aam Aadmi party.
4. He was elected as MLA from Babarpur constituency in Delhi Legislative election 2015 and got the Ministry of Transport and Labour.

1) Amazon announces $3 billion investment in India.

• Amazon.com Inc, the world’s largest online retailer, will invest an additional $3 billion in India after the company exhausted its earlier investment pledge of $2 billion, piling pressure on local rivals Flipkart and Snapdeal to keep raising fresh funds.
• Amazon’s additional investment highlights the ultra-aggressive rate at which it is spending on discounts, advertising, logistics and other things to achieve its ambition of becoming the largest e-commerce company in India.
• Apart from its marketplace business, Amazon will also invest in building out its web services unit in India.

2) India, US announce $60 million clean energy financial support.

• India and the US announced the setting up of two financial assistance programmes worth $60 million for supporting India’s much-needed clean energy initiatives including in solar power and other renewables.
• This includes the creation of a $20 million US-India Clean Energy Finance (USICEF) initiative, equally supported by the US and India.
• This is expected to mobilize up to $400 million to provide clean and renewable electricity to up to 1 million households by 2020.
• The India and the US committed themselves to establish the US-India Clean Energy Hub as the coordinating mechanism to focus the US government’s efforts, in partnership with leading Indian financial institutions, to increase renewable energy investment in India.
• The two leaders also agreed on a $40 million US-India Catalytic Solar Finance Programme, which would be equally supported by the US and India.

3) ADB approves $100 million loan for irrigation system in TN.

• Multilateral lending agency Asian Development Bank has approved a USD 100 million (around Rs. 660 crore) loan to strengthen a key irrigation system and improve water management in the Vennar sub-basin of Cauvery Delta in Tamil Nadu.
• This project will support both physical improvements and stronger water management, giving a significant boost to the lives of coastal communities who often go without sufficient irrigation water.
• The project will strengthen the embankments of six major irrigation water channels in Vennar system to make them more resilient to floods and upgrade water regulators, sluices and pump stations.
• To boost management, more community members will be tapped to take part in planning and delivery of water services, training will given to state water resource department officers.
• The Cauvery delta, on the east coast of Tamil Nadu, is known as the ‘rice bowl’ of the state, with over 70 per cent of the delta population engaged in farming and fishing, but access to water is unreliable and flooding common during the monsoon season.

4) Greenko raises $230 million from GIC, Abu Dhabi fund.

• Greenko Energy Holdings has signed agreements for a primary equity rising of $230 million from an affiliate of GIC of Singapore and an entity that is ultimately wholly owned by the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority.
• After the GIC investment of $80 million in 2016, the ADIA entity will invest the remaining $150 million. Even after this transaction, GIC continues to be the majority shareholder of Greenko.
• The funds will contribute to the continued growth of Greenko’s platform through the development of new renewable-energy projects, including low-risk expansions of existing wind farms. The Hyderabad-based renewable energy company has continued to attract long-term infrastructure capital for its projects.

5) GMR Infra bags Rs. 2,281 crore worth eastern rail freight corridor projects.

• GMR Infrastructure Ltd has been awarded two more packages worth Rs. 2,280.70 crore on the Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor.
• The consortium has been issued a letter of award for construction of 221 km long corridor railway project on engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) mode.
• Since the project is being executed under the EPC mode, the GMR Group is not required to provide significant investment for the same. Earlier, GMR-led consortium emerged as the successful bidder, under the international competitive bidding, for the project.
• The project funded by the World Bank is divided into two packages. The first package comprises of 175 km single line connecting Sahnewal and Pikhani that passes through Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Punjab. The second package is for a 46 km double line corridor in Uttar Pradesh connecting Dadri and Khurja.
• The project entails design and construction work for single and double line on design-build lump-sum basis.

6) World Bank cuts global growth forecast to 2.4%.

• The World Bank has lowered its forecast for the global growth in 2016 to 2.4 per cent.
• The Washington-based institution expected the world economy to grow 2.4 per cent in 2016, 0.5 percentage point lower than the bank’s forecast in January.
• Growth continues to falter in advanced economies, while there is considerable divergence of performance across emerging market and developing economies, and their overall growth remains below potential.
• Developing economies are forecast to expand by 3.5 per cent in 2016, 0.6 percentage point lower than its January’s projection; advanced economies are expected to grow 1.7 per cent this year, 0.5 lower than its January’s forecast.

7) Gemporia TV eyes Rs. 100 crore in PE funding.

• Jaipur-based Jewel Alliance Network Pvt Ltd, which runs jewellery shopping channel Gemporia TV, plans to rise about Rs. 100 crore from private equity firms in exchange for a minority stake in the channel. The company will use the funds to increase its presence and other marketing initiatives.
• The TV channel for live jewellery retail, which started operations in India, plans to initiate talks with a clutch of PE firms. Jewel Alliance Network is a 50:50 joint venture between UK’s Gemporia and India’s Pink City Jewellers.

• For Tamilnad Mercantile Bank (TMB), growth will be driven by micro/small enterprises, retail and trader segments and mid-corporates in a limited way.
• In 2015-16, the bank recorded a net profit growth of 6 per cent to Rs. 402.16 crore from Rs. 379.40 crore in the previous fiscal (FY15).
• Total business rose 17.70 per cent to Rs. 52,946.59 crore (Rs. 44,985.91 crore in FY15). The bank has set a business target of Rs. 60,000 crore for the current fiscal.
• The new board, which assumed charge in March this year, has declared 500 bonus shares for every shareholder. This would involve a transfer of about Rs. 120-130 crore from reserves to equity. Such bonus shares have already been issued to around 4,000 of the 18,000-odd shareholders.

• State Bank of India and Spain’s Caixa Bank have inked pact to provide loans to Indo-Spanish joint ventures and local enterprises.
• State Bank of India (SBI) and Caixa Bank have signed a memorandum of agreement to enhance business synergies.
• As per the agreement, they will expand banks’ guarantee transaction businesses by jointly providing credit to Indian-Spanish joint ventures and Indian local enterprises.
• The banks will also cooperate through introduction of business opportunities and partnering on possible infrastructure funds.
• The banks will collaborate in areas of mutual interest such as syndicated loan business, guarantee transactions, trade finance and export credit agency finance, infrastructure finance and networking services, among others.
• Through this agreement, both SBI and CaixaBank will gain direct access to their respective markets of operation.

• TVS Automobile Solutions, part of the $6 billion TVS Group, will invest in three start-ups that make the auto aftermarket business simpler.
• The plan also marks the Chennai-based leading aftermarket player’s big leap into digital technology space.
• The company, which took a bold step in the TVS Group by going for private equity infusion about eight years ago, has invested about Rs. 75 crore to pick up majority stake in three start-ups - Jazzmyride.com, a Rs. 20 crore e-commerce player in auto parts and accessories business; Autosense, a big data and analytics-based marketing services firm; and RedSun, which is focused on developing solutions such as connected cars.

• State-run Food Corporation of India (FCI) has entered into an agreement with Adani group for construction of two silos to store wheat, at an estimated cost of about Rs. 80 crore.
• The two silos would have a combined storage capacity of 75,000 tonnes.
• As part of the agreement, Adani Agri Logistics will construct silos at Kotkapura in Punjab and Katihar in Bihar in the next two years.
• The silos will be designed, built, financed and operated by the private partner while it will be owned by the FCI.
• FCI, the government`s nodal agency for procurement and distribution of food grain, would provide guarantee of rentals for 30 years.
• The silo at Kotkapura would be of 25,000 tonne capacity and will require an investment of about Rs. 35 crore, while the other silo at Katihar would have a capacity of 50,000 tonnes to be built at a cost of about Rs. 45 crore.
• A silo is a steel structure, comprising large size cylindrical shape bins normally each with a capacity of about 12,500 tonnes, where grains can be stored without jute bags for longer duration.

• The textiles industry now contributes 15 per cent to India’s exports, marking the sector’s growth.
• More than Rs. 6,500 crore has been spent by the Ministry of Textiles on various schemes for promotion and development of the textiles sector. Approximately five lakh additional jobs have been created in the past two years in the sector. The Ministry also aims to increase the earning of handloom weavers to Rs. 500 per day.
• Apparel and handicrafts recorded 22 per cent growth, while textile exports grew by eight per cent during last two years compared with the previous two years.
• To safeguard interests of domestic cotton growers, a well-planned, largest ever Minimum Support Price operation was carried out by the Cotton Corporation of India in the 2014 - 2015 season in all 11 cotton producing States. This operation was successful, with procurement crossing 86 lakh bales up to March 30, 2015.

• Global rating agency Moody’s Investors Service sees public sector banks’ asset quality remaining under pressure over the next 12 months.
• This would be the case as banks continue to recognize non-performing loans from some of the larger leveraged corporate groups, particularly in the steel and power sectors.
• As a result, elevated provisioning expenses will continue to constrain profitability and limit internal capital generation.

1. Moody’s Investors Service is of the view that the weak earnings outlook for India’s public sector banks highlights their high level of external capital needs. Their capitalization profiles will further deteriorate unless the government provides additional capital support.
2. These conclusions were contained in a recently released report on ‘Indian public sector banks: Weak financial performance highlights the banks’ high external capital needs’.
3. The Reserve Bank of India mandated asset quality review has resulted in high non-performing loan ratios and increased loan loss provisioning expenses.
4. Eight of the 11 public sector banks rated by Moody’s posted a net loss for the full year, and the other three reported a significant decline in their profitability.

• Tata Power Company renewables arm has signed an agreement with Welspun Energy Pvt Ltd to acquire its green energy portfolio for an estimated at Rs. 10,000 crore ($1.4 billion).
• Tata Power Renewable Energy has signed share purchase agreement to buy Welspun Renewable Energy`s 1.1 GW renewable portfolio in what would be the largest solar M&A in the country and also among the largest such renewable buyout in the whole of Asia.
• Welspun Renewables is a 100 per cent subsidiary of Welspun Energy which in turn is co-owned by the listed Welspun Enterprises.
• The company has about 1,140 mw of renewable power projects which includes about 990 mw solar power projects largest solar projects in the country and about 150 mw of wind power projects spread across ten states in India. Out of the 1,140 mw renewable portfolio, nearly 1,000 mw of capacity is operational and balance capacity is under advanced stages of implementation.

• Karnataka Vikas Grameena Bank (KVGB), a Regional Rural Bank sponsored by Syndicate Bank, plans to disburse Rs. 1,000 crore to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) sector by December.
• The bank is already working on development initiatives for the benefit of MSMEs to fund 1,000 crore.
• The bank will not refuse credit to viable and transparent enterprises and will also take steps to provide necessary training through RUDSETIs and SIRDs. Recently the bank chairman inaugurated a Stone Crusher Unit financed by it (KVGB) at Chikodi in Belagavi district.
• KVGB is exploring funding MSMEs in manufacturing including the infrastructure and services sector which are key generator of job opportunities.

• Microsoft has struck a landmark deal to acquire LinkedIn for $26.2 billion, its largest acquisition ever.
• The all-cash offer, which values LinkedIn’s fully diluted equity at $28.2 billion, is also the biggest tech deal so far this year.
• Microsoft, which was the biggest software company in the world during the early days of the personal computing era, has struggled to find growth in the smartphone era. Younger rivals such as Google and Apple have outstripped it in terms of revenue growth and enterprise value.
• The purchase of LinkedIn will allow Microsoft to link the professional network with its intelligent digital assistant, Cortana, and its customer relationship management software.
• LinkedIn, which has a growing network of more than 100m monthly active users, had seen its share price fall 40 per cent this year before the deal was announced.

• The government has approved two foreign direct investment (FDI) proposals and has recommended one for approval from the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs.
• The Centre cleared Aurobindo Pharma Ltd’s proposal worth Rs. 2.19 crore relating to grant of employee stock options to non-resident employees of the company.
• It also approved Sterling Commerce Solutions India Private Ltd’s proposal to act as an investing company for Curan Software International Private Ltd, Emptoris Technologies India Private Ltd, Kenexa Technologies Private Ltd and Rational Software Corporation (India) Private Ltd, which are currently owned by overseas companies of IBM and are currently dormant.
• The company can also from time to time act as an investing company for companies undertaking software development, technologies services or those which have become dormant pursuant to transfer of their business to IBM India.
• Three proposals by Mylan Laboratories Ltd, Vodafone India Ltd, Reckitt Benckiser (India) Ltd were deferred and seven proposals were rejected. 

1) World’s 1st passenger drone cleared for testing.

• The world`s first passenger drone `Ehang 184`, capable of autonomously carrying a person in the air for 23 minutes flying at up to 100 km/h, has received clearance for testing in Nevada, US.
• Chinese firm Ehang, which unveiled the electric Ehang 184 passenger drone at CES in Las Vegas, has partnered with the Nevada Institute for Autonomous Systems (NIAS) and the Governor’s Office of Economic Development (Goed) to put the drone through testing and regulatory approval.
• Nevada has been positioning itself as a test bed for advanced transport solutions, being one of the first states in the US to permit the testing of autonomous vehicles on public roads.
• The vehicle itself features four rotors, is about 5 feet tall and weighs about 440 pounds.

• A visit for NCC cadets of various Maharashtra NCC units (Mumbai, Ratnagiri, Pune, Nagpur) was organized by No. 1 Maharashtra Naval unit NCC (No. 1 MAH NU NCC).
• Total of 148 NCC cadets comprising 100 senior division boys and 48 senior wing girls along with 09 training staff embarked INS Trikand.
• The sea sortie for the NCC cadets had been incorporated for the first time in their training schedule.
• The group comprised of cadets of second and third year, who were currently undergoing the Combined Annual Training Camp - 16 (CATC). The training camp for the cadets is pre-requisite to appear for `B` and `C` certificate qualification respectively.

• The French government has launched a smartphone app that would alert users to possible terror attacks and provide them with information on how to stay safe.
• The app, called SAIP (Système d’alerte et d’information des populations), was developed as part of a pilot project following the November 2015 terrorist attacks in Paris.
• The French Interior Ministry announced the app ahead of the UEFA Euro 2016 soccer tournament, which kicks off outside Paris.
• The application, which is free to download in both French and English, will send users a warning in case of a suspected attack.
• It will use geolocation to deliver information tailored to each user’s location, with alerts appearing less than 15 minutes after an incident is confirmed.

• Google India and the Tata Trust launched their Internet literacy program `Internet Saathi` for rural women in West Bengal.
• The initiative has been launched as part of Google’s ‘Helping Women Get Online’ campaign, in order to create awareness about the benefits of Internet among women in rural India.
• The initiative will initially be rolled out with an objective to reach 1 lakh women in over 400 villages in Purulia district.
• It will focus on training women and larger communities to learn and explore various uses and benefits of the Internet.
• Tata Trusts will play a crucial role in training women master trainers called ``saathis`` identified from Self Help Groups (SHGs) and Women’s federations.
• Google will provide the tablet and mobile devices along with training material. It will also train the master trainers.

5) India, Japan and US begin Malabar Exercise near South China Sea.

• India’s ‘Act East Policy’ and growing relations among India, US and Japan, IN ships Satpura, Sahyadri, Shakti and Kirch are participating in the 20th edition of MALABAR-16 Exercise near to the South China Sea.
• The scope of MALABAR-16 includes professional interactions in harbour and a diverse range of activities at sea, including complex surface, sub-surface and air operations.
• The 8-day joint exercises will see in action over 100 aircraft and 22 naval ships including a nuclear submarine.
• It aims to achieve deeper military ties and greater interoperability amid rising tensions in the region.
• Malabar has been held alternatively in India and in the Western pacific. It was previously held in Chennai and included the participation of Japan.
• In addition, one nuclear-powered submarine, carrier wing aircraft, and long-range maritime patrol aircraft will also participate in the exercise. Additionally, the Special Forces (SF) of the three navies will also interact during the exercise.

• The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) has announced the names proposed for the new elements, whose discovery helped complete the seventh row of the Periodic Table.
• They are Nihonium (Nh), Moscovium (Mc), Tennessine (Ts), and Oganesson (Og).
• All of the elements are man-made, created in labs by nuclear researchers. Those researchers are from Japan, Russia and the United States.
• The chemistry union usually likes names that are easy to translate across major languages. The names must have endings like ``-ium``, ``-ine`` or ``-on``, depending on the grouping of elements they belong to.

• Carbon dioxide has been pumped underground and turned rapidly into stone, demonstrating a radical new way to tackle climate change.
• The pioneering experiment in Iceland mixed CO emissions with water and pumped it hundreds of metres underground into volcanic basalt rock where it rapidly turned into a solid.
• The new way was discovered as by Scientists from Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory and other institutions as part of a pilot program called CarbFix project.
• Carbon dioxide is a key factor in global warming, and experts have long called for innovative ``carbon capture and storage`` solutions.
• This technique the speedy carbonation has potential to combat climate change and may provide a safer, faster way to sequester CO2 and limit global warming.

• A test pilot successfully flew a solar-powered prototype aircraft for a company that envisions manufacturing a fleet of drones to provide aerial internet service for an estimated 4 billion people worldwide.
• The test flight by Luminati Aerospace LLC took place at a former Northrop Grumman defense plant on eastern Long Island that once made military aircraft.
• The white aircraft features wing-mounted solar cells and has a wingspan of about 43 feet.
• It will build unmanned drones that can fly at 60,000 feet or more.

9) US successfully launches world`s largest rocket.

• The world`s largest rocket is set to launch a secret spy satellite to space from Florida
• The exact details of its intelligence agency cargo is something that the US government is keeping a closely guarded secret.
• The United Launch Alliance (ULA), a joint space delivery service by aerospace giants Lockheed Martin and The Boeing Company, carried out the launch of a Delta IV Heavy rocket.
• It saw the triple engine craft roar from its launch pad at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, traveling at the speed of sound before soaring beyond the atmosphere.
• The National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) is perhaps one of the lesser-known US intelligence agencies, the function of which were only made known to the public back in 1992.
• The office is largely responsible for producing spy satellites and improving hardware sent out to space.
• It is believed that the latest Delta IV rocket launch is again part of that bid to have ``eyes and ears`` in difficult to reach places, although the exact purpose or location of the satellite is unknown.

• China has launched its 23rd satellite it the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS).
• The satellite was launched from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China’s Sichuan Province on board of Long March-3C carrier rocket.
• The 23rd satellite in the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System, which is being developed as an alternative to GPS (Global Positioning System) of US. It was the 229th launch of the Long March carrier rocket.
• It will help to improve the stability of the BeiDou Navigation system to offer global coverage.
• The satellite, after entering its designed work orbit and finishing in-orbit testing, will join 22 others already in orbit and improve the stability of the system, preparing for BDS to offer global coverage.

• Hubble telescope of NASA captured the drizzle of stars scattered across this image forming a galaxy known as UGC 4879.
• The galaxy is smaller and messier than its cosmic cousins and lacks the majestic swirl of a spiral or the coherence of an elliptical.
• The galaxy UGC 4879 is very isolated and consists of a scattered drizzle of stars.
• This galaxy is isolated and at a distance of 2.3 million light years from its closest neighbor, Leo A which is in between the Andromeda Galaxy and the Milky Way at the same distance.
• The scientific studies of this solitary galaxy UGC 4879 will provide ample scientific study material for astronomers looking to understand the complex mysteries of star birth throughout the universe.

• Apple launched a new version of its Mac operating system called `macOS Sierra`.
• MacOS will also gain enhanced Continuity and iCloud drive support - Apple’s system that allows apps on iOS to link directly to the Mac versions using iCloud so that users can start something on one device and continue it on another.
• The biggest change will be a proximity-based system called Auto Unlock that allows users to unlock their Mac computers using an Apple Watch, without having to enter in their password.
• Apple also introduced Apple Pay for the web that allows users to authenticate payments on their Mac via their iPhone or Apple Watch.
• An update to iCloud Drive will also share files stored on the desktop across Macs and iOS devices, while a new feature called Optimised Storage will remove unnecessary files from computers after they’ve been backed up which should free up space on existing Macs.

• In a first, an instrument onboard an orbiting spacecraft has measured the methane emissions from a specific leaking facility on Earth’s surface.
• The observation has been done by the Hyperion spectrometer on NASA’s Earth Observing-1 (EO-1).
• The leak occurred over Aliso Canyon near Porter Ranch in California.
• The methane leak was detected successfully by the Hyperion instrument on three separate overpasses during the winter of 2015-16.
• The orbital observations from Hyperion were consistent with airborne measurements made by NASA’s Airborne/Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS) imager flying onboard a NASA ER-2 aircraft.
• This is the first time the methane emissions from a single facility have been observed from space.

• Scientists have discovered a Jupiter-like planet, Kepler-1647b (part of the Kepler-1647 system), orbiting a system of two stars, making it the largest such cosmic body ever found.
• Dubbed Kepler-1647b, the Jupiter-like planet lies in the constellation Cygnus. It is 3,700 light-years away.
• The planet was discovered by astronomers from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Centre and San Diego State University (SDSU).
• Kepler1647b’s mass and radius nearly identical to that of Jupiter. This makes it the largest transiting circumbinary planet ever found.
• It is about 4.4 billion years old i.e. roughly the same age as the Earth.

• PM Narendra Modi and US President Barack were signed several agreements to boost bilateral ties in Washington DC.
• The agreements were signed in Terrorist Screening InformationClean Energy and Climate Change, cooperation on Energy Security among others.

1. Arrangement for the exchange of Terrorist Screening Information
2. MoU on Energy Security, Clean Energy and Climate Change
3. MoU on Wildlife Conservation and Combating Wildlife Trafficking
4. MoU for the Global Entry Programme
5. Technical Arrangement concerning Unclassified Maritime Information Sharing
6. MoU for Cooperation in Gas Hydrates

• India and Seychelles have very close relations and both counties are working together to ensure safety and security in the Indian Ocean.
• Seychelles has allocated a plot on the Assumption Island for the base, which will help enhance maritime security along India’s west and south coast.
• This initiative has come following China’s announcement that it would build its first African naval base in Djibouti. it’s a base of Seychelles to be built with support from India.
• India is already helping Seychelles patrol the Indian Ocean. India is an important source of tourism for the island nation.

• The WHO has declared that Liberia has reached the end of active Ebola virus transmission.
• This is fourth such declaration from one of the West African countries at the epicenter of the world’s worst outbreak of the disease.
• The declaration means it has been 42 days since the last confirmed patient tested negative for a second time for the disease.
• WHO data show West Africa’s Ebola epidemic killed more than 11,300 people and infected some 28,600 as it swept through Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia from 2013 in the world’s worst outbreak of the disease.

• Expressing concern over the security situation in Afghanistan, US President Barack Obama has approved broader role for his troops stationed in the war-torn country to help Afghan forces effectively carry out anti-terrorism operations.
• Currently, the American military is allowed to take action against insurgents when their assistance is required to prevent setbacks to the Afghan military, which puts them in a defensive position.
• The US forces to be more proactive in supporting conventional Afghan forces as they take the fight to the Taliban.
• The Afghan government and Afghan security forces would eliminate entirely the threat from the Taliban or any other extremists in that country.

• The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) members and partners launched Anaconda-16 Exercise, the biggest ever joint military exercise in Poland.
• The exercise was launched at the crucial time when central and eastern European nations are seeking strong security guarantees amid concerns about Russia.
• For more than 10 days, 30,000 troops backed by large numbers of vehicles, aircraft and ships will be deployed in one of the biggest exercises on NATO’s eastern flank since the end of the Cold War.
• The Anakonda-16 exercise, which includes manoeuvres such as a night-time helicopter assault and the dropping of US paratroopers to build a temporary bridge over the Vistula river.
• The goal of Anakonda-16 is to ``train, exercise and integrate the Polish national command and force structures into an allied, joint multi-national environment``.

• China and Nepal have been connected with an optical fibre network via Tibet as infrastructure between the two countries is being firmed up to extend high-speed Internet services to Nepal.
• The network has ended Nepal`s sole dependence on India for connecting it with global telecom service.
• China has extended its optical fibre network to Nepal via Geelong(Keyrong)-Rasuwgadhi border point
• Nepal Telecom (NT) its optical fibre network has been connected with that of China Telecom Corporation Limited.
• As a result of this Nepal now can be directly linked with Hong Kong Data Centre, which is one of the two biggest global date centres in Asia.
• The use of the Chinese route to connect with Hong Kong Data Centre will help enhancing quality of internet services in Nepal because of shorter distance.

• President Pranab Mukherjee embarked on a six-day visit to three African nations - Ghana, Ivory Coast and Namibia to boost trade ties with these countries known for having "solid political system, where democracy has taken roots".
• The President is accompanied by Minister of State in the PMO Jitendra Singh and MPs S.S. Ahluwalia and Mansukh L. Mandaviya.
• Pranab Mukherjee is visiting two countries for the first time -Ivory Coast and Ghana, besides Namibia where an (Indian) President will visit after 21 years.

• Norway has become the first country to ban deforestation. The Norwegian Parliament pledged that the government’s public procurement policy will be deforestation-free.
• The step was taken by Norwegian Government based on official recommendations of Norwegian Parliament’s Standing Committee on Energy and Environment as part of the Action Plan on Nature Diversity.
• Norway’s action plan also includes a request from parliament that the government exercise due care for the protection of biodiversity in its investments through Norway’s Government Pension Fund Global.
• Norwegian lawmakers also committed to find a way to source essential products such as soy, palm oil, beef and timber that have little or no impact on ecosystems.
• Norway will no longer procure use or procure products that encourage deforestation.
•  

• India to provide financial grand of Rs. 48.84 million to Nepal for the construction of a college. Indian Ambassador to Nepal Ranjit Rae laid foundation stone of the building for Koteshwor Multiple Campus in Kathmandu district.
• The campus building is constructed with financial aid from India and the project is being implemented through District Development Committee of Kathmandu.
• Established in 1990, Koteshwor Multiple Campus is a non-profit, non-governmental, service-oriented community college situated at Koteshwor on the outskirt of Kathmandu.
• India has provided a financial aid of nearly Rs. 501 million to Nepal in the financial year 2015-16 to help the quake-struck country renovate, restore and upgrade its various religious, cultural and educational institutions. 

1) Argentina retain top spot in FIFA rankings.

• India has dropped a place in the latest FIFA rankings with the Blue Tigers ranked 163 in the FIFA rankings.
• Argentina (1st) and Belgium (2nd) continue to hold on to the top two spots in the latest FIFA rankings, with Colombia rounding up the top three.
• World champions Germany are fourth in the table with European Championship holders Spain now sixth.
• Traditional European powerhouses like Italy, France and the Netherlands rose significantly in the table after a couple of months with poor results.
• Northern Ireland created history by rising to 25th in the rankings, their best-ever position, ahead of the ‘Green and White Army’s’ debut in the Euros in the summer.

2) Five new sports in running for 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

• Five new sports baseball, skateboarding, surfing, sports climbing and karate are set to feature at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
• Under new rules, Olympic host cities can hand-pick sports they want in the Games to join the existing 28 core sports.
• A total of 474 athletes are expected to compete in the five sports in Tokyo.
• As part of reforms initiated in 2014, Olympic hosts can bring in sports popular in their countries to boost ratings, attract greater sponsorship and a younger generation of fans.

3) Indian Boxing Council gets affiliation from Commonwealth Boxing Council.

• The Indian Boxing Council (IBC), a licensing body for professional boxers in the country which has Vijender Singh among others on its roster, has been granted affiliation by the Commonwealth Boxing Council (CBC).
• The CBC will now formally register Raja as a Director in its Annual General Meeting scheduled.
• Indian Boxing Council is a National Boxing Governing body that sanctions professional boxing matches and awards national and subordinate championship titles.
• It is the first time in India where there is an opportunity for the Boxers to be professional.
• It also aims to promote and serve the sport of boxing, to implement fair, scientific and objective computerised systems and also to establish uniform safety measures and uniform procedures for the protection of professional boxers as well as the conduct of championship match.

4) Indian athlete Avtar Singh qualifies for Rio 2016 Olympics in judo.

• South Asian Games (SAG) gold medallist judoka Avtar Singh has qualified for the Rio Olympics in the under 90kg weight category.
• His current world Ranking is 79 with 182 points.
• Avtar Singh hails from Gurdaspur, Punjab. He had won a gold in South Asian Games held in Shillong in February 2o16.
• He also had won bronze medal in Asian Junior Judo Championships in 2011. He also had won two gold medals in Senior National Judo Championships in 2013-14 and 2014-15.

5) Garbine Muguruza beats Serena Williams to win French Open 2016.

• Garbine Muguruza of Spain has won the French Open Women’s Singles tennis title at the Roland Garros stadium in Paris, France.
• For the 22-year-old Muguruza, this was her first Grand Slam title.
• With this win, she also became the first Spanish woman to win a Grand Slam title since Sanchez-Vicario in Paris in 1998.
• It was Muguruza’s second major final. She was defeated by Serena Williams at Wimbledon finals in 2015 in which Serena won the 21st Grand Slam singles title.

6) Novak Djokovic beats Andy Murray to win first French Open title.

• Novak Djokovic defeated Andy Murray to win his maiden French Open title 2016.
• He has finally completed his career Grand Slam and adds another title to the 11 already collected Grand Slam trophies.
• Djokovic is only the third man after Don Budge and Rod Laver to hold the four majors at the same time, and the eighth man to triumph at Wimbledon and the French, U.S. and Australian Opens.
• Novak Djokovic is a Serbian professional tennis player who is currently ranked world No. 1 in men`s singles tennis by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP).
• Novak Djokovic has won 12 Grand Slam singles titles, a total which is ranked fourth in history (tied with Roy Emerson), and has held the No. 1 spot in the ATP rankings for a total of 200 weeks.

French open title 2016 winners of all categories:

1. Women’s singles Garbine Muguruza (Spain) won the Women’s singles title of 2016 French Open. In the final she defeated Serena Williams (United States).
2. Men’s doubles Spanish pair of Feliciano Lopez and Marc Lopez won the Men’s doubles title of 2016 French Open. In the final, they defeated Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan pair from US.
3. Women’s doubles French pair of Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic won the Women’s doubles title of 2016 French Open. In the final, they defeated Russian pair of Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina.
4. Mixed doubles Leander Paes (India) and Martina Hingis (Switzerland) pair won the mixed doubles title of 2016 French Open. In the final, they defeated Sania Mirza (India) and Ivan Dodig (Croatia) pair.

7) Serena overtakes Sharapova as world`s top paid sportswoman.

• Serena Williams has overtaken Maria Sharapova as the world`s highest-paid sportswoman.
• She earned USD 28.9 million over the past 12 months. While, Sharapova earned USD 21.9 million over the past 12 months.
• The 34 year old, Williams`s career prize money of USD 77.6 million amounts to more than twice as much as any other sportswoman`s.
• American mixed martial arts star Ronda Rousey was third on the list with $14 million.

8) India to host Junior Men`s hockey World Cup.

• The International Hockey Federation (FIH ) announced that the city of Lucknow will host the junior men`s hockey World Cup from December 8 to 18.
• The event will feature 16 teams - defending champions Germany, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Egypt, England, Germany, India, Japan, Korea, Netherlands, South Africa, New Zealand, Pakistan and Spain.
• The women`s Hockey Junior World Cup will take place before the men`s competition, starting from 24th November and will end on 4th of December in Santiago, Chile.

9) Maria Sharapova banned for two years by International Tennis Federation for positive meldonium test.

• Former world No. 1 Maria Sharapova has been banned for two years by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) after failing a drug test.
• The ban was imposed on her Independent Tribunal of ITF appointed under Tennis Anti-Doping Programme found that she had committed an Anti-Doping Rule Violation.
• The Australian Open 2016 she was tested positive for banned drug meldonium (medical drug), a substance that has been added in the forbidden list by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).
• Since then she was provisionally banned. So far in her career, Maria Sharapova has won total 35 singles titles and five Grand Slam titles, two at the French Open and one each title at the Australian Open, Wimbledon, and US Open.

10) Eden Gardens to host India`s first day-night Test against New Zealand.

• A senior Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) official confirmed that the Eden Gardens (Kolkata) will play host to the first ever day-night Test in the country when India take on New Zealand.
• The Tour Programme and Fixtures Committee of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the fixture stating that New Zealand will play three Test matches and five ODIs.
• The venues for the Test matches are Indore, Kanpur and Kolkata.

11) IM Visakh becomes first Indian to win Mayor`s chess.

• International Master Visakh N.R. of Tamil Nadu broke a nine-year jinx to lead an Indian sweep in the 9th Mumbai Mayor International Open Chess Tournament 2016.
• The 17-year-old International Master drew his final round match with fellow-Indian Diptayan Ghosh.
• The arbiters declared Visakh (ELO 2400) as the champion on a better tie-break as he reached a draw with Ghosh in 16 moves.
• Visakh thus emerged as the first Indian to capture the title in its nine-year history and won 3 lakh rupees.

12) Abhinav Bindra Chosen As India’s Flagbearer At Rio 2016 Olympics.

• Olympic champion shooter Abhinav Bindra was chosen as the flagbearer of the indian contingent at the rio games’ opening ceremony.
• Bindra is India’s only individual Olympic gold medallist, having clinched Gold in 10m Air Rifle at Beijing Olympics in 2008.
• Bindra will be making his fifth Olympic appearance in Olympic Games.
• Notably, India will be sending its largest ever contingent to the Olympics games as many as 96 athletes.

1) President Pranab Mukherjee to get the highest award of Ivory Coast.
President Pranab Mukherjee will be presented National Order of the Republic of Ivory Coast, during his two days visit to the nation. He is going to visit the country starting from 14th of June.

•  
•  
• This is the highest award of the West African Country. It is the first time when any highest level dignitary from India is going to visit the Ivory Coast.
• President Pranab Mukherjee has been invited by Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara. There he will have the discussion with Ouattara followed by delegation level talks.
• Mr. Mukherjee`s visit to the nation is a part of his 6 days visit to Ghana, Cote d`Ivoire and Namibia. During his trip, Mukherjee will be accompanied by a Minister of State, four Members of the Parliament, senior officials and a business delegation.
• The President will have meetings with the respective Heads of three nations and a number of bilateral agreements are also likely to be signed during the visit which includes agreements on a joint Commission and renewal of Cultural Exchange Programme between India and Ghana.
• He will also unveil a statue of Mahatma Gandhi gifted by the Indian Council of Cultural Relations in Ghana.

2) Russia honours UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon with Order of Friendship Award.

• Russia has honoured UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon with Order of Friendship Award.
• He was bestowed with this award for his special merits in strengthening peace, friendship, cooperation and mutual understanding between peoples.
• In this regard, Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree awarding the Order of Friendship to Ban Ki-moon.

3) Ridley Scott to receive American Cinematheque Award.

• English Director Ridley Scott will be honoured with the 30th American Cinematheque Award at the Beverly Hilton.
• Scott was the unanimous choice of the Cinematheque Board of Directors selection committee.
• Ridley Scott is one of the greatest directors in the history of the motion picture.

4) Author Akhil Sharma Wins International Dublin Literary Award.

• An Indian American author Mr. Akhil Sharma has won the prestigious 2016 International DUBLIN Literary Award for his novel `family life`.
• The Award is organised and sponsored by Dublin City Council and at €100,000 is the world’s largest prize for a single novel published in English. The winner has announced at a ceremony in Dublin’s Mansion House.
• The Delhi-born Mr. Sharma has moved to the United States with his family when he was eight years old. The winning novel was chosen from a total of 160 titles, nominated by libraries in 118 cities in 43 countries.
• Akhil Sharma is the third American author to win the prize in its 21-year history. He is also the author of An Obedient Father, winner of the PEN/Hemingway Award and a New York Times Notable Book of the Year.

5) Two Indian-Americans Shortlisted For White House Fellows Programme.

• Two Indian-Americans have been named finalists for the prestigious White House Fellows programme that offers first-hand experience of working at the highest levels of the US federal government.
• Tina Shah, a physician from the University of Chicago and Anjali Tripathi, an astrophysics Ph.D candidate at Harvard University, has been shortlisted for the White House Fellows Programme, the White House.
• Shah and Tripathi were among the 30 finalists selected for the programme, founded in 1964 by President Lyndon B Johnson.

6) Tata Power Solar bagged the MNRE award.

• Tata Power Solar has bagged the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) award for rooftop solar power projects.
• The company has won the award in the Channel Partner/ EPC contractor category at the National Excellence Awards 2016 instituted by MNRE for the first time.
• As per MNRE, the awards are presented to encourage efficiency and give positive feedback to various government bodies as well as private sector. The Tata Power Solar has commissioned 112.5 MW of rooftop projects till 2016.
• However, the rooftop power plants are expected to constitute 40% of the Government’s 100 GW target solar capacity to be achieved by 2022.

7) AAI conferred national award for best performing central PSU for Green Energy initiatives.

• The Airport Authority of India has been awarded the National Award for Best Performing Central PSU for Roof Top Solar Power initiatives at a function in Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi. The award has been awarded by Mr. Piyush Goyal, the Minister of State for Power, Coal and Renewable Energy.
• The AAI has received the award because of its efforts towards the Solar Roof Top Projects which was initiated in 2010 with a visionary approach towards "Invest in the Sun" Solar Revolution and commitment to sustainability reduce carbon emission.
• AAI has been successful in Green India initiative complying with the commitment made for Solar Roof Top by installing 4.8 MWp rooftop solar plants at 13 airports and further work for 4.9 MWp at 14 airports is likely to be completed by December 2016.
• The solar energy generation so far is 51 Lakhs units from the completed solar power plants at various airports.

8) Indian short film `Leeches` wins at Seoul film gala.

• Indian short film "Leeches", starring Sayani Gupta, won the Audience Choice Award at the Seoul International Women`s Film Festival (SIWFF).
• "Leeches" is a film about two Hyderabadi sisters who live in the interiors of the city where a lot of orthodox practices are still prevalent.
• The story is about an older sister who hatches a dangerous and improbable plan to save her younger sister from becoming a one-day bride and their fight against the prevalent culture and its practices.

9)Priyanka Chopra nominated for Choice TV Breakout Star in 2016 Teen Choice Awards.

• India`s bollywood actress Priyanka Chopra was nominated for 2016 Teen Choice Awards.
• She got her final nomination in the category of Choice TV Breakout Star.
• She was nominated for her role as FBI trainee Alex Parrish in American TV series, Quantico.
• Earlier, she also won the Favourite Actress title in a New TV series award at the People’s Choice Awards 2016 for her debut role on an American TV show.

10) Indian Diabetes specialist Shashank S Shah wins Vivian Fonseca Scholar Award 2016.

• Pune-based diabetes specialist Shashank S. Shah was conferred with the Vivian Fonseca Scholar Award 2016.
• He was awarded at the ADA’s 76th Scientific Sessions from 10 June to 14 June 2016 in New Orleans.
• The award was given by American Diabetes Association (ADA) for his pioneering research on diabetes in South Asia.
• He was selected for his research titled Gastric Bypass vs. Medical/ Lifestyle Care for Type 2 Diabetes in South Asia with BMI 25-40 kg/m2.
• It is one of the pioneering bariatric surgeons in India and laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy in Asia.
• The first Vivian Fonseca Scholar Award was awarded to Dr. Vijay Viswanathan who was Diabetologist and Director of MV Hospital for Diabetes, Chennai in June 2014.

11) Indian-American Author Akhil Sharma wins 2016 International Dublin Literary Award.

• Indian American author Akhil Sharma won the prestigious 2016 International Dublin Literary Award for his semi-autobiographical novel ``Family Life``.
• His novel was shortlisted out of an initial 160 nominations by a panel of judges of award that included novelists Ian Sansom, Juan Pablo Villalobos and Carlo Gebler.
• Family Life is Sharma’s second novel and took him 13 years to write. The novel traces the journey of a family that emigrates from New Delhi to New York, where one brother is left severely brain-damaged after a tragedy strikes.

12) Ivory Coast honours President Pranab Mukherjee with its highest civilian Award.

• President Pranab Mukherjee was accorded with Grand Cross National Order of the Republic of Cote D`Ivoirie in a ceremony at the President`s Palace in Abidjan. It is the highest civilian award of Ivory Coast.
• He received many honorary degrees but, it is the first such honour accorded to him by a country.
• The President was honoured during his two days visit to the Country from 14 June to 15 June 2016.
• It was the first visit of any Indian President to Ivory Coast. In fact, it is the first ever high level visit from India to Ivory Coast.

13) Anvitha Vijay: 9-yr-old Indian-origin youngest at Apple`s WWDC.

• Anvitha Vijay, a nine-year-old Indian-origin girl is the youngest attendee at the Apple`s annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC).
• She has built several apps including Smartkins Animals and Smartkins Rainbow Colours, which helps kids, recognise over 100 animals and learn about different colours respectively.
• Vijay is among the 350 developers selected for Apple`s scholarship.

1) Mexico backs India`s bid for NSG membership

• Mexico support to India’s membership to the Nuclear Supplier Group and working towards elevating relationship from Privilege Partners to Strategic Partnership were two important outcomes of the bilateral talks held by Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto in Mexico city on 9th June.
• At a joint media interaction with Mr Modi, Mr Nieto said that Mexico supports positively and constructively India`s membership of the Nuclaer Supplier Group. On his part, the Prime Minister thanked Mexico for its support and called the country an important partner for India`s energy security.
• Mexican President welcomed investments from India in steel, pharmaceuticals and automobiles sector. Clean energy, agriculture best practices and Science and Technology were other areas pointed out by Mr Modi for greater cooperation between the two countries.
• The Prime Minister`s five nation trip concluded with a short working visit to Mexico on 9th June, affirming greater and stronger ties between both the countries.

• As part of its efforts to make villages located along Ganga open defecation-free, Government has launched a campaign ‘Swachh Yug’, a collaborative effort of three Union Ministries, to bring about behavioural change among people staying in villages along the holy river.
• There are 5,169 villages located along Ganga falling under 1,651 gram panchayats (GPs) in 52 districts of five states - UP, Uttarakhand, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal from where the holy river flows through. The Union Ministries of Drinking Water and Sanitation, Water Resources and Youth Affairs are working on the campaign in a collaborative manner.
• As part of the campaign, the Ministry of Youth Affairs, under the coordination of the Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan, will enlist support of youth agencies such as the Bharat Scouts and Guides, Nehru Yuva Kendras and National Service Scheme.
• These organisations will be called upon to provide a large number of local youth volunteers to support a behaviour change campaign in the 52 districts under the Swachh Bharat Mission.
• To take this initiative forward, a nodal officer has been identified for each district to work on making area under their jurisdiction open defecation free (ODF) in a “mission mode” as well as to focus on cleanliness at village through proper solid and liquid waste management.
• As part of the same, the first virtual classroom will be launched tomorrow in 12 districts of Bihar, where five-day training will be provided to 50 youth volunteers in each location, connected to the trainer virtually.
• The districts and states have been assured of full support from Central government in these efforts. The state teams have, in turn, expressed their enthusiasm for and commitment towards the initiative, the statement said.

• Information and Broadcasting ministry today framed a New Print Media Advertisement Policy for Directorate of Advertising and Visual Publicity (DAVP) with the objective to promote transparency and accountability in issuing of advertisements in print media.
• The policy focuses on streamlining release of Government advertisements and to also promote equity and fairness among various categories of newspapers and periodicals.
• The Ministry in a release said, for the first time the policy introduces a New Marking System for newspapers to incentivize Newspapers who have better professional standing and get their circulation verified by ABC and RNI. This will also ensure transparency and accountability in the release of advertisements by DAVP.
• For payment and adjustment of Bills, the policy framework mandates that DAVP will release payment of advertisement bills in the name of newspaper or company account directly through ECS or NEFT.
• The policy has classified newspaper and journals into three categories namely small, that is upto 25,000 copies, medium between 25,001 and 75,000 copies and big, 75,000 copies or more, per publishing day.
• DAVP is the nodal agency of the Government of India for advertising on behalf of various Ministries and Departments which are funded by the government.

4) India, UK join hands to study monsoon variability

• India and the UK have joined hands to start an observational campaign from June 8 till end-July to better understand small-scale processes that drive monsoon variability and predictability.
• The Rs. 50-crore project, the cost of which is being shared by the Ministry of Earth Sciences and the UK Met department, will involve the deployment of UK’s BAe-146-301 atmospheric research aircraft with sophisticated scientific instruments and India’s Sagar Nidhi and Sindhu Sadhna research ships during May-July
• This joint effort is part of the implementation agreement signed between the Ministry and Natural Environment Research Council, UK, entailing three research projects.

• Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi released the National Disaster Management Plan (NDMP). This is the first ever national plan prepared in the country.
• It aims to make India disaster resilient and significantly reduce the loss of lives and assets. The plan is based on the four priority themes of the ``Sendai Framework``.

• Prevention, mitigation, response and recovery. It provides for horizontal and vertical integration among all the agencies and departments of the Government.
• It also identifies major activities such as early warning, information dissemination, medical care, fuel, transportation, search and rescue, evacuation, etc. to serve as a checklist for agencies responding to a disaster.
• To prepare communities to cope with disasters, it emphasizes on a greater need for Information, Education and Communication activities.

• The four-month disclosure window giving an opportunity to domestic black money holders to come clean by paying tax and penalty of 45 per cent on such assets will open tomorrow.
• People who have made money through corrupt means will not be allowed to take advantage of the disclosure window.
• Under the Income Declaration Scheme, persons making disclosure of unaccounted assets will be given time up to November 30 to pay taxes, penalty and surcharge totaling 45 per cent at the fair market value.
• The declaration made under the scheme will not be used against the declarents under the Income-Tax Act or Wealth Tax (now abolished). There will also be immunity from Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Act.
• People with undisclosed assets should use the limited period income declaration window, begins.

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved the retirement age of 65 years for doctors of central services, in an aim to strengthen the healthcare sector in the country.
• The move will enable the government to retain experienced doctors for a longer period, and to provide better services in its public health facilities, particularly to the poor, who are entirely dependent on public facilities.
• This will strengthen the efforts of the Ministry in conceptualizing and rolling out various people-oriented schemes which will need the services of doctors in implementing them.
• The decision would benefit 312 doctors, including 57 medical officials, 159 senior medical officials and other senior health officials such as health department directors and Director General Health Services.

• The Union Cabinet under the Chairmanship of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi approved for setting up the India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) as a Public Limited Company under the Department of Posts, with 100% Government of India (GOI) equity.
• The total expenditure involved in this project is Rs. 800 Crore. All citizens, especially 40% of the country`s population that is outside the ambit of formal banking in the country will benefit from this project.
• The IPPB will obtain banking license from RBI by March 2017 and by September 2017, its services will be available across the country through 650 payments bank branches, linked post offices and alternative channels riding on modern technology including mobiles, ATMs, PoS/ m-PoS devices etc and simple digital payments.
• The proposal will further the cause of financial inclusion by providing basic banking, payments and remittance services and facilitate financial services like insurance, mutual funds, pensions and access to credit in tie-up with third party financial providers with special focus on rural areas and the unbanked and under-banked segments.
• It will generate new employment opportunities for skilled banking professionals and will generate opportunities for propagating financial literacy across the country.

• The Union Cabinet under the Chairmanship of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has given its ex-post facto approval to the proposal for Chennai Metro Rail Phase-I Project from Washermanpet to Wimconagar. It covers a length of 9.051 km. at a total cost of Rs. 3770 crore.
• The project will be executed by the existing SPV of Government of India and the Government of Tamil Nadu having 50:50 equity of each i.e. Chennai Metro Rail Ltd. The project is scheduled to be completed by 2018.
• This extension will provide improved access to public transport for dense population comprising predominantly industrial workers to move towards the central business district of the city for work.
• The estimated ridership will be 1.6 lakh passengers per day in first year of operation. 

• The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, has given its approval for a new broad gauge line between Mau Station of North Eastern Railway and Tarighat Terminal station of East Central Railway. The total length of this new broad gauge line will be 51 kilometers.
• The estimated cost of the project is Rs. 1765.92 crore and expected completion cost is Rs. 2109.07 crore with 5 percent escalation per annum. The project is likely to be completed in the next six years during 12th and 13th Plan period.
• This project will provide alternative, shorter convenient and better transport infrastructure to the area separated by river Ganga so as to remove the transport difficulties in the area and to boost the socio economic development.

• The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, has given its approval for additional monthly allocation of 41,800 tonnes of food grains for the Below Poverty Line (BPL) families at BPL rates and 20,507 tonnes of food grains for Above Poverty Line (APL) families at 2/3rd of Minimum Support Price (MSP) rates to three non-National Food Security Act (NFSA) States, namely, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Nagaland, from April to June, 2016 or till implementation of NFSA by the respective State, whichever is earlier.

1. To continue the Reservation Quota policy for M/s. ITI Ltd. by reserving.
2. ITI would accept orders under reservation quota only after the price is known and if the same is commercially viable.
3. ITI shall exercise its option under Reservation Quota within 15 days of bid opening.
4. The aforesaid policy measures shall remain in force for a period of two years with effect from the date of approval of CCEA and shall again be reviewed considering the financial health of ITI after the expiry of this period.

• The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, has given its approval for the increase in the Minimum Support Prices (MSPs) for all Kharif Crops of 2016-17 Seasons. Further, to incentivize cultivation of pulses and oilseeds, in the country Government has announced a bonus on these crops, payable over and above the approved MSP.
• The decision to increase MSPs is based on the recommendations of Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP) which takes into account the cost of production, overall demand-supply, domestic and international prices, inter-crop price parity, terms of trade between agricultural and non-agricultural sectors, the likely effect of the Price Policy on the rest of economy, besides ensuring rational utilization of production resources like land and water, while recommending MSPs.

• CM Arvind Kejriwal launched a mobile app through which city traders can register with the VAT department of the Delhi government, a move that is aimed at boosting tax collection.
• The `DVAT M SEWA` app, traders won`t be required to submit application for registration at the department`s office and just fill the form online. There is also no need for VAT inspector`s visit at their premises. There are 41,000 pending requests awaiting registration with the VAT department.

• The Secretary, Ministry of Textiles, Smt. Rashmi Verma inaugurated the Purbashree Emporium.
• In order to give a boost to the development and promotion of North-East handicrafts and handlooms products, North Eastern Handicrafts and Handlooms Development Corporation Ltd (NEHHDC) has set up its ‘Purbashree Emporium’ in the Handloom Haat, New Delhi showcasing a wide variety of ethnic and exquisite handlooms products which are eco-friendly and bio-degradable.
• The NEHHDC markets the handicrafts and handlooms of the North Eastern Region through its chain of emporia located at Shillong, Guwahati, and New Delhi and also through its Regional Sales Promotion Offices located in Bengaluru and Chennai. Besides, NEHHDC conducts 50-80 exhibitions and marketing events per year across the country and abroad for showcasing the exquisite handicrafts and handlooms items of the North Eastern Region.

• TRAI launched a mobile application for telecom subscribers to register their complaints against pesky calls and SMSs in an easy way.
• Stringent rule in place for checking promotional calls and SMS but companies are finding ways to bypass them. There has been issue in its enforcement. The new mobile app will help people in easily filing complaints and help us in monitoring such activities.
• The mobile app will show SMS in a list form and mobile numbers from the source. Customers need to click on the check box to select such SMSs or calls and then click on report option to file complaint.
• The name and address of that telephone subscriber shall then be shared with all other service providers and no service will be provided by any telecom resource in that name and address for a period of two years.
• The regulations have provisions to impose fines of up to Rs. 2.5 lakh on registered telemarketers if they are found flouting norms.

14) India to grant tourist, e-visa for Yoga courses.

• In a first, India will give tourist visa and e-tourist visa to foreigners willing to undergo short term course on Yoga in its bid to popularize the ancient spiritual and ascetic practice globally.
• Besides, the government has decided to include attending a short term yoga programme and short duration medical treatment under Indian systems of medicine in the list of permissible activities under e-tourist visa.
• All Indian Mission abroad and Foreigners Regional Registration Officers (FRROs)/ Foreigners Registration Officers (FROs) in the country have been requested to take action as per the latest decision.
• Under the e-tourist visa scheme, an applicant receives an email authorizing him or her to travel to India after it is approved and he or she can travel with a print-out of this authorization.
• Till now, the scheme has been extended to 150 countries at 16 Indian airports designated for providing e-tourist visa service.

• India and USA are natural allies and could transform the world with trade and trust and inaugural session of the Indo-American Chamber of Commerce’s (IACC) National Conclave-2016 in Hyderabad.
• Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi and the US President Mr. Barack Obama have added a new and successful chapter in Indo-US bilateral relations.
• India is now the fastest growing economy in the world. At present, all indicators are in the right direction and the country is the most attractive destination for investments. The government is laying emphasis to achieve double digit growth, by following proactive, holistic and integrated approach.
• Indian pharmacy companies are capable of producing affordable generic medicines and the USA needs to permit import of generic medicines to bring down the healthcare costs.

• Union Minister of Railways, Shri Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu and Chief Minister of Haryana Shri Manohar Lal Khattar a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for ``Formation of Joint Venture Company for Development of Railway Infrastructure in the State`` was signed.
• In view of the growing demands for railway lines in various states and huge requirement of funds to execute them, Hon’ble Minister for Railways announced in his budget speech regarding setting up of Joint Ventures with states for focused project development, resource mobilization, land acquisition, project implementation and monitoring of critical rail projects.
• 17 State Governments consented for formation of Joint Venture Companies in collaboration with the Ministry of Railways for development of rail infrastructure in their respective States. Draft MoUs were sent to these State Governments and discussions were also held with them to clarify various provisions of the MoU.
• The ministry of Railways will sign a concession agreement of 30 years with the project SPV for safe and sound operation, revenue sharing and providing technical & marketing logistics to the SPV. The revenue sharing shall be based on already established formula being used for inter zonal apportionment of revenue.

• Odisha is first in the country to give transgender people social welfare benefits - such as a pension, housing and food grains.
• This move seeks to give the transgender community in the state same benefits as those living below the poverty line (BPL) in order to improve their overall social and economic status.
• They would also be entitled 5 kg of food grains every month under National Food Security Act.

• Foundation stone of Jai Jawan Awas Yojna (JJAY), an initiative to provide affordable housing to serving and retired JCOs and Other Ranks, was laid by Shri Manohar Lal Khattar, the Honorable Chief Minister of Haryana, at Bahadurgarh, Haryana.
• The project is being executed by Army Welfare Housing Organization and aims to provide low cost housing. This housing project has been named in the memory of Late Major Rajiv Joon, recipient of Ashok Chakra and Shaurya Chakra.
• Chief Minister had granted dispensation in construction which permitted construction of about 500 dwelling units instead of 400 planned earlier.

• Union Minister Smriti Irani announced that a national-level competition to promote research and innovation among students will start August and students will contribute their ideas directly to the central government.
• Irani, who was in New Delhi, was addressing dignitaries, professors and students through a web-conferencing facility during the nationwide digital launch of 10 infrastructure projects under the Ministry of Human Resource and Development’s Rastriya Uchchatar Scheme (RUSA), which includes SPPU’s project of Digital Classroom and E-content learning modules.
• Students can contribute to government plans of Make in India and Smart Cities, the research proposals of students will be welcomed through the new scheme. And students to suggest a name, logo and slogan of the competition. 

21) Suresh Prabhu launches Tiger Express train on the World Environment Day.

• Minister of Railways Shri Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu flagged off the inaugural run of the Tiger Trail Circuit Train from Delhi Safdarjung Station.
• The launch of this Tiger Express on World Environment Day is to highlight the significance of environment in our lives. The Railway Minister took personal interest in conceptualizing this train. This tourist train will be operated by Indian Railway PSU namely Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC).
• The ‘Tiger Express’ is one of the most innovative tourism products ever launched by Indian Railways.
• The Indian Tiger has always allured tourists from both India and abroad. The semi-luxury train will take the guests onboard to the world famous Bandhavgarh and Kanha National Parks in Madhya Pradesh.

• CM Nitish Kumar launched Bihar Right to Public Grievance Redressal Act, 2015 on the occasion of JP`s `Sampoorna Kranti Diwas`.
• The new legislation will not only empower people to seek time-bound redressal of their grievances by government officials, but also strengthen people`s trust in democracy.
• The State Public Grievances Receipts Centre for Patna at Suchna Bhavan and public grievances redressal offices and grievance receipts centers in all the 38 districts and 101 sub divisional headquarters across the state, through remote. And also released a compilation of rules and circulars related to the new legislation.
• Now, no one can ignore you. They (government officers/staff) will have to listen to you and redress your grievances within a specific time. If the grievance cannot be redressed, the complainant will get a letter citing reasons for so. The complainant can file an appeal if she/he is not satisfied with the answer.

• The Indian Army, under its welfare and development initiative, Operation Sadbhavna has tied up with Tata Motors for training of Kashmir youth as Automobile Service Technicians.
• The first thirteen-week certified training course has been scheduled at the TATA Motors facility at Ropar, Punjab. 29 younsters from Kashmir have been selected for this course.
• The motive of this collaboration with the army was to create quality standards in skill development industry and assist in increasing employment opportunities for the youth of Kashmir.
• Operation Sadbhavana was launched by the Indian Army almost two decades ago. The objective was to ameliorate the suffering of the people devastated by the shadow of the gun and also assist the civil administration in rebuilding of the socio-economic infrastructure that terrorism had destroyed.

• Himachal Pradesh became the first state in the country to have a State Data Centre (SDC), designed using green data centre concept, to offer 101 people-oriented Service online through an integrated data base.
• Launching the Rs 58-crore SDC, Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh integrated the websites of various departments and all services could be accessible through the integrated data base, saving time and money spent on creation of infrastructure.
• It is a major green initiative as all services would be provided online and paperless governance will become a reality.
• The Chief Minister directed all government departments to make use of SDC for hosting e-Governance applications instead of creating their own infrastructure.

• Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) Dr. Jitendra Singh laid the Foundation Stone of a Hostel exclusively for Northeast girl students in Bangalore.
• The hostel, which is the first of its kind in Bangalore University, will have a capacity to accommodate 269 students and will be constructed at a cost of around Rs. 14 crore.
• Dr. Jitendra Singh disclosed that the next hostel project will shortly be started in the campus of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi; Since JNU has a larger number of students from the eight North Eastern States compared to several other States of India, it was found appropriate to raise the facility there.

• The Gujarat government announced its first ever `IT and Electronics Start-up Policy`, having special focus on encouraging new ventures by providing them various incentives and subsidies.
• Gujarat Chief Minister Anandiben Patel announced the policy, which will be applicable only to IT and electronics related start-ups.
• Under the policy, the state government would develop 50 incubators to mentor and guide 2,000 start-ups in the next five years.
• Our aim is to attract an investment of Rs. 7,000 crore through this policy for start-ups. The Gujarat government will allot around 10 lakh sq feet of land for development of 50 incubators, which will provide guidance to budding innovators in setting up their start-up units.

• The government has decided to establish 3 bulk drugs and 3 medical devices parks across the country. These parks will require an investment of about Rs. 60,000 crore.
• As per various estimates, once these parks become operational, they can bring down the cost of production of devices and bulk drugs by at least 30 per cent and in long-run, this will help the general public also.
• These parks will be established on the public private partnership (PPP) mode and the centre is in talks with various states for setting up of these parks.
• These bulk drug and medical devices parks will have common facilities like testing, power and effluent treatment plants.

• The HRD Ministry is set to launch 32 Direct-to-Home channels which would enable students to watch live telecast of lectures from six IITs, along with other top institutions.
• The Department of Space has agreed to allot two transponders on a GSAT series satellite for this ambitious project, while MoUs have been signed with many institutions which will provide lessons and content that will be beamed on these channels.
• The government is focusing on using space technology to expand the reach of high quality education. Through the 32 DTH channels the aim is to ensure that live classrooms can be transmitted from ten ‘Teaching Ends’ out of which six will be IITs located in Chennai, Mumbai, Delhi, Kharagpur, Kanpur and Guwahati.

• The HRD ministry has roped in experts from leading global Universities like Cambridge, MIT and Pennsylvania to help design and ``internationalize`` syllabi of higher education institutions in the country.
• 10 projects in different states under Rashtriya Ucchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA), experts from institutions like University of Edinburgh, MIT, Cambridge, University of Pennsylvania, UC Berkeley, University of Washington and University of Georgia Tech etc have been roped in to upgrade the curriculum in social sciences, sciences, mathematics and engineering.
• The government of India has been in touch with some international faculty and academicians and institutions who shall through RUSA, a national higher education mission, help states internationalize their curriculum in order to benefit their students.

• The campaign, being a collaborative effort between the Swachh Bharat Mission, local youth leaders and the Namami Gange project - is being called `Swachh`, which translates into `the age of Swachh`.
• These organizations will be called upon to provide a large number of local youth volunteers to support a behavior change campaign in the 52 districts under the Swachh Bharat Mission.
• To take this initiative forward, a nodal officer has been identified for each district to work on making their district Open Defecation Free (ODF) in mission mode, as well as to focus on ‘Swachhta’ at the village through proper Solid and Liquid Waste Management and maintaining general cleanliness.

• Shri Piyush Goyal, Minister of State (IC) for Power, Coal and New & Renewable Energy launched ``Surya Mitra`` mobile App at National Workshop on Rooftop Solar Power. The GPS based mobile app is developed by National Institute of Solar Energy (NISE) which is an autonomous institution of Ministry of New & Renewable Energy (MNRE).
• This innovative mobile approach shall enhance the employment of trained youth in solar PV technology and also improve the businesses of solar entrepreneurs because of quality servicing, maintenance and repairing professionals are now available to customers at the click of a button on their mobiles.
• Under NABARD scheme of off grid Solar PV system few lakhs of off-grid systems have been installed and systems do require regular maintenance. MNRE has an ambitious target of installing 100,000 solar PV pumps in several states.

• The Minister of Road Transport & Highways and Shipping Shri Nitin Gadkari launched the TCI –IIM Calcutta joint study report on the operational efficiency of freight transportation by road in India in New Delhi. The report is based on a study commissioned by the Transport Corporation of India (TCI).
• Ministry has taken many steps to facilitate safe, seamless and efficient transportation of people and goods by road. On the safety front engineering solutions are mandatorily being incorporated into road designs to make them safer, accident black spots are being rectified, safety standards are being set for automobiles, issue of driving licenses is being computerized and training centers are being set up for drivers.
• To cut down delays due to stoppage, Electronic Toll Collection is being brought in soon. 380 Toll Plazas have been equipped for this.

• The workshop was inaugurated by the Minister of Women and Child Development, Smt Maneka Sanjay Gandhi.
• In the country people aware of the power and reach of the media and its ability act as agent of change. There is a need to empower the journalists with correct and timely information since journalists are a big social multiplier and can become agents of social change. The journalists to act as two-way communication channels i.e. bring the voice from the grassroots to the government and vice versa.
• Issue of safety of women in a holistic manner, i.e. from saving the girls from gender biased sex selection to constructing shelter homes for widows. Similarly, the Ministry has been looking at care and protection of children in a comprehensive manner. In both cases a large number of interventions have been taken by the Ministry.
• An exhibition was also organized outside the venue showcasing the live monitoring system of Childline- Child Helpline 1098, and district level initiatives of Beti Bachao Beti Padhao.

• The Delhi government announced implementation of its solar policy with the aim of making the national capital a solar city with installation of 1 GW solar power capacity by 2020.
• This target is proposed to double it to 2 GW during further next five years (by 2025). Outlines a combination of regulations, mandates, incentives, and tax breaks for the growth of rooftop solar power in the capital.
• The policy promotes net-metering for all solar plants above 1 kW based on the net-metering regulations already issued by the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission.
• It also mandates the deployment of solar plants on all government-owned rooftops in the next five years. It requires Discoms to meet at least 75 per cent of their solar renewable purchase obligation (RPO) within Delhi.
• Rooftop solar systems offer sustainable energy, environmental benefits, low gestation period and minimum transmission and distribution losses.

• Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje launched a mobile application, `RajVayu`, for general public to check the air quality in three cities in the state - Jaipur, Jodhpur and Udaipur. Rajasthan State Pollution Control Board (RSPCB) claims to be the first board in the country to devise an app for delivering real time updates on air quality.
• This app will help residents of the three cities plan their day according to the air quality of different areas in the city. Individuals suffering from breathing problems can check the air quality of the zone/ area they are visiting on the app. It will help them in avoiding those areas which have alarming levels of dust and smoke dangerous for their health.
• To ensure participation of common man, particularly youth, in pollution control and environment conservation, such apps should be made more interactive and interesting by installing gaming features.

• Jharkhand government will roll out medical insurances for critical diseases. Starting medical insurances up to Rs. 2.5 lakh for gambhir bimaari (critical diseases). Besides critical diseases, medical insurances for non-critical illnesses of up to Rs. 50,000 will also be started.
• Primarily aimed at people living below poverty line and for those with annual household incomes less than Rs. 72,000, the insurances will bring people from all economic backgrounds under its fold.
•  

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.

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.

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.

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.

1) India, World Bank sign agreement for efficient bus service.

• India signed a $9.2 million grant agreement with the World Bank for the ‘Efficient and Sustainable City Bus Service Project’ aimed at improving the efficiency of the transport and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
• An agreement for Global Environmental Facility (GEF) grant of $9.20 million with the World Bank for ‘Efficient and Sustainable City Bus Service Project’ was signed.
• The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) will be the implementing agency of the GEF for the project.
• The total cost of the programme is $113 million, out of which $9.2 million will come as a grant from the World Bank and $103.07 million will be funded by the Centre, state and city governments for the funding of buses and ancillary infrastructure.

• Reliance Industries has exited its African fuel retail business by selling its entire 76 per cent stake to Total SA of France for an undisclosed sum.
• Total, which is already a leading retailer of petroleum products in Africa, will acquire Gulf Africa Petroleum Corporation`s (GAPCO) assets in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.
• RIL`s overseas arm Reliance Exploration & Production DMCC owned 76 per cent stake in GAPCO while Fortune Oil Corp, Mauritius held the remaining. Total is acquiring stake of both the firms.
• Reliance Exploration & Production DMCC, an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of RIL and Total, have executed agreements for the sale of the entire 76 per cent interest held by REPDMCC in the Mauritius-incorporated Gulf Africa Petroleum Corporation (GAPCO).
• The proposed transaction is subject to regulatory approvals and other closing conditions that are customary for similar transactions.
• The acquisition will be complementary to Total`s existing operations in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania and will strengthen its logistics in the region.

• Realty major DLF has entered into an amended agreement to sell its 32 screens of DT cinemas to multiplex operator PVR at a revised consideration of Rs. 433 crore.
• DLF operates the multiplex arm DT cinemas and exhibition business under its subsidiary DLF Utilities.
• Competition Commission had approved PVR`s proposed acquisition of DT Cinemas from DLF while directing the companies to exclude certain assets from the deal to address anti-competitive concerns.
• PVR had announced the acquisition of DT Cinemas for Rs. 500 crore after aborting from a similar deal in February 2010.
• DLF Utilities Limited (DUL), a subsidiary, has executed an amendment agreement with PVR in connection with sale of the cinema exhibition business (operated under the brand name of `DT Cinemas`) on a slump sale basis for a revised consideration of Rs. 433 crore.

• Mahindra & Mahindra has entered into a brand licence agreement with Pininfarina for use of trademarks after closing the deal to acquire 76.06 per cent stake in the Turin-based company.
• Last year Mahindra group had announced to acquire Pininfarina for an overall outgo of over 50 million Euros (nearly Rs. 370 crore) after months of negotiations.
• The acquisition was carried out through a Special purpose vehicle (SPV). Tech Mahindra and Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) will own 60 per cent and 40 per cent respectively in the automotive and industrial design firm.
• That the transaction has closed, the SPV has acquired 76.06 per cent stake in Pininfarina and as part of the overall transaction, the company has also entered into a brand license agreement with Pininfarina for use of trademarks owned by the Pininfarina group including licensing of brand Pininfarina for automotive products of the company.

• US cloud computing giant Salesforce was buying rival Demandware for $2.8 billion in a move that expands its offerings to the retail sector.
• Salesforce, known for computing platforms that help manage marketing and other business services, will integrate with Demandware, which works with retail groups such as Design Within Reach, Lands` End, L`Oreal and Marks & Spencer.
• Demandware is an amazing company the global cloud leader in the multibillion dollar digital commerce market.
• With Demandware, Salesforce will be well positioned to deliver the future of commerce as part of our Customer Success Platform and create yet another billion dollar cloud.
• San Francisco-based Salesforce would acquire Massachusetts-based Demandware.

• Johnson & Johnson would acquire Vogue International for $3.3 billion, adding brands such as OGX shampoos and FX hair styling products to its consumer portfolio that includes Neutrogena and Clean & Clear.
• Vogue`s hair care products have gained popularity, helped by colorful packaging that makes them stand out in drugstore aisles.
• The privately held company has focused on increasing its presence in drug stores and is spending more on buying shelf space then on the consumer advertising.
• Buyout firm Carlyle Group LP acquired a 49 per cent stake in the company in 2014.
• Vogue`s products are sold in the United States and in 38 other countries.

• The Union Cabinet gave its approval to the proposal for Chennai Metro Rail Phase-I Project from Washermanpet to Wimconagar, which covers a length of 9.051 km, at a total cost of Rs. 3,770 crore.
• The project will be executed by Chennai Metro Rail Ltd, the existing special purpose vehicle of the Centre and Tamil Nadu having 50:50 equity each. The project is scheduled to be completed by March 2018.
• This extension will provide improved access to public transport for dense population comprising predominantly industrial workers to move toward the central business district of the city for work.
• In the total project cost, Centre’s share will be Rs. 713 crore and Tamil Nadu’s share will be Rs. 916 crore. The balance of Rs. 2,141 crore will be met from loans from multilateral/ bilateral/ domestics funding agency. The estimated ridership will be 1.6 lakh passengers a day in the first year of operation.

• Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) will invest $16 million (about Rs. 108 crore) in San Diego-headquartered NetraDyne Inc, a tech start-up that is yet to commence commercial operations.
• NetraDyne is into technology-driven product development of deep learning solutions and vision-based analytics for the fleet management, automotive, security and surveillance industries. The company is in advanced stages of product development.
• The investments are through its subsidiary Reliance Industrial Investments and Holdings Ltd (RIIHL), by way of Compulsorily Convertible Preferred Shares. On conversion of the investment, RIIHL will get 1.5 crore shares at $1.0613 per share, translating into 40 per cent of the fully diluted share capital.

9) Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approves Mau-Tarighat Railway line project.

• The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on gave its approval for a new 51 km broad gauge line from Mau to Tarighat, aiming to provide an alternative and convenient route between New Delhi and Howrah.
• The CCEA chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi cleared the rail project to be underatken at an estimated cost of Rs. 1,765.92 crore. With 5% escalation per year, the project may finally cost Rs. 2,109.07 crore.
• The new line would cross Ganga at the downstream of existing Road Bridge for NH 97 and is located almost parallel to it and joins the existing broad-gauge line from Tarighat to Dildar Nagar.

• The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Government of India signed in the national capital an agreement for $200 million new loan to upgrade 176 Kilometers of State roads in State of Jharkhand.
• The financing for the Jharkhand State roads II Project will upgrade existing sections of four State roads to two lane standard and will also support improvements in the design, safety and maintenance of the network.
• Several safety and environmentally friendly features included in the project design, include over 60 bus stop shelters, 50 km of raised sidewalks in urban areas, 4 km of dedicated bicycle lanes; and solar-powered street lights.
• The project will also generate employment opportunities for residents of the adjoining areas, including for women, who will get a share of a least 20% of jobs for afforestation work alongside the upgraded roads.
• The total cost of the project, due to be completed by 2019, is $306.25 million. In addition to ADB’s loan, the State Government of Jharkhand will provide counterpart assistance equivalent to $106.25 million.

• The Securities and Exchange Board of India began the process of selling properties owned by the Sahara Group, in accordance with a Supreme Court ruling. Ten properties owned by the company have been identified to be sold for a combined reserve price of Rs. 1,193 crore.
• SBI has engaged HDFC Realty and SBI Capital Markets to auction the properties. While HDFC Realty will sell five land parcels, SBI Caps will undertake the sale. The combined area of the land parcels is estimated to be over 1,100 acres.
• The apex court had earlier asked SEBI to devise a suitable mechanism for sale of the lands so that the bail amount of Rs. 10,000 crore can be generated.

• Hyderabad-based Zapluk, which provides on-demand beauty and wellness service, has bought Chennai-based Pamperazi, which offers on-demand home beauty services, in an equity and cash deal.
• Zap force Technologies Pvt Ltd, which owns the merged business, is in discussions to raise funds. It will use the money to start its services in the National Capital Region, Bengaluru, Mumbai and Kolkata.

• Mahindra Electric, a part of the Mahindra Group launched eVerito the electric version of its Verito sedan priced between Rs. 9.50 lakh and Rs. 10 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi).
• The eVerito will be available in key cities, such as New Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Pune, Kolkata, Chandigarh, Hyderabad, Jaipur and Nagpur.
• Powered by the latest electric drive-train technology from Mahindra Electric, the direct drive single speed transmission eVerito can be charged at home in one hour and 45 minutes through fast charging technology.
• The car can run up to 110 km in a full charge and has a maximum speed of 86 km/hr. The eVerito has features such as Revive.

• HDFC Ergo, a joint venture between home loan major HDFC and German insurer Ergo International, has agreed to buy L&T General Insurance for Rs. 551 crore in the first buyout in the country`s general insurance industry.
• This transaction marks the beginning of this consolidation phase.
• The combined size and expertise will result in improved cost efficiencies in the merged entity and benefit policy holders and other stakeholders.
• The deal is valued at 1.1 times the gross premium, which is 3.9 times the book value of L&T General Insurance Company.
• HDFC Ergo will now apply to sector regulator Irda and fair trade authority Competition Commission of India (CCI) for getting regulatory approvals to acquire 100% share of L&T General Insurance.
• The acquisition will help HDFC Ergo become the third-largest private general insurer, behind ICICI Lombard and Bajaj Allianz General Insurance, overtaking Iffco Tokio.
• The industry is dominated by state-owned insurers New India Assurance, United India, National India and Oriental Insurance Company.

• Tata Trusts has entered into a partnership with the Madhya Pradesh government to work together in areas of healthcare, nutrition, mental health and cancer care in the state.
• Through this collaboration, the state government will be able to achieve convergence of their programmes and improve efficiencies as well. Tata Trusts will play a role in setting up of these initiatives along with strategic and technical advisory support.
• As part of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed with the state, Tata Trusts will also work together with the government in overseeing successful execution of the identified programme.

• Six brands of Hindustan Unilever (HUL) have notched up annual sales in excess of Rs. 2,000 crore. These include Surf Excel, Brooke Bond, Wheel, Lifebuoy, Rin and Fair and Lovely.
• The cumulative sales of these brands constitute about half the consumer giant’s total India revenue of Rs. 32,000 crore.
• The fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) sector has over 11 brands that have crossed the Rs. 1,000 crore mark in annual sales in FY16. There are over 3,000 listed companies on Indian stock exchanges that have a turnover less than Rs. 2,000 crore.

• It is not just appraisal season across corporate offices, but in the Ministry of Urban Development as well.
• The Ministry is looking to reward top performers in urban reforms with a special bonus.
• It will choose 10 best performers from 497 towns under the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) based on their performance in 2015-16. It has set aside a kitty of Rs. 400 crore to disburse as bonus among these top 10 achievers.
• The parameters for choosing the winners include e-governance, urban planning and city development plans, review of building byelaws, credit rating of urban local bodies, energy and water audit, devolution of funds and functions, augmenting double entry accounting, among others.

• Sterlite Power Transmission (SPTL), a company that was demerged from Sterlite Technologies, has initiated a process to raise Rs. 2,500-3,000 crore through Infrastructure Investment Trusts (InvITs).
• The company has mandated Morgan Stanley and Edelweiss Financial Services as merchant bankers for the process.
• The company would use the proceeds to pare debt and for funding existing projects in the power transmission business.
• The process has begun, but it’s in the early stages. At present, the company is looking at rising about Rs. 2,500-3,000 crore, but that number is yet to be finalized.
  

19) IMF approves $1.5 Billlion Loan for Sri Lanka.

• The International Monetary Fund has approved a $1.5 billion loan to Sri Lanka, with $168 million being disbursed as the first tranche with immediate effect to support the country`s economy, which is showing "signs of strain".
• The Executive Board of the IMF approved a 36-month extended arrangement under its Extended Fund Facility (EFF) with Sri Lanka for an amount equivalent to 1.1 billion special drawing rights (about $1.5 billion).
• The IMF arrangement aims to meet balance of payments needs arising from a deteriorating external environment and pressures that may persist until macroeconomic policies can be adjusted.
• The approval enables an immediate disbursement of about $168.1 million while the remainder will be available in six installments subject to quarterly reviews.
• The IMF is also expected to catalyse an additional $650 million in other multilateral and bilateral loans, bringing total support to about $2.2 billion (over and above existing financing arrangements).

• The telemedicine market in India is expected to rise to $32 million (around ?210 crore) by 2020 from the current $15 million.
• The growth of the sector depends on "development of national e-health policies, trained human resource and regular funding".
• Telemedicine refers to the use of IT services in providing healthcare facilities.

• Sequoia Capital-backed fashion marketplace Voonik has acquired three startups to build its premium fashion product Vilara. The company has now acquired five startups in the past six months.
• Voonik, which is focused on curated fashion, is attempting to strengthen its leadership in the unbranded fashion segment largely via acqui-hires or team acquisitions of startups in niche fashion offerings.
• The three companies are online marketplace for designers and boutiques Zohraa, which has a 12-person team, the eight-person team at online silk store Picksilk.com and the nine person team at Styl, which connects stylists and salons with consumers.
• Voonik, which raised $5 million last year, from Sequoia Capital and SeedFund, claims to have achieved a $100 million run rate and is aiming to grow four-fold in GMV by the end of this fiscal.

• Sumitomo Chemical Company or SCC will purchase 45% stake from both Shroff family, the promoters of Excel Crop Care Limited or ECCL and public shareholders of the company including Ratnabali group pegging the equity value of the agro chemical maker at Rs. 1386 crore.
• SCC will also make a public offer to buy additional 30% stake of the company at Rs 1259 a share and take over the majority control of the 13 year old company which The transaction is subject to certain conditions to close, including regulatory approvals. ET was the first to report about the impending deal.
• The sale will help the Shroff family to focus on speciality chemicals, pharma intermediates, pharma actives, performance chemicals and environment and biotech products.

• Government of India and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) signed a $120 million loan agreement to improve irrigation and water management infrastructure in Odisha.
• The loan is the second tranche of a $157.5 million financing facility under the Orissa Integrated Irrigated Agriculture and Water Management Investment Program.
• The financing will be used for modernizing seven irrigation subprojects resulting in improved irrigation in over 100,000 hectares, and strengthening of Water User Associations (WUAs) and the institutional capacity of Odisha’s Department of Water Resources.
• The selected areas for the investment program are the Baitarani, Brahmani, Budhabalanga, and Subernarekha river basins and part of the Mahanadi delta.

• Larsen and Toubro (L&T) has signed a contract along with its joint venture (JV) partner in Qatar to build a 40,000-seater stadium for $360 million.
• This is part of the sports infrastructure being readied by the Emirate in preparation for the 2022 FIFA World Cup. The contract was announced by Qatar`s Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy.
• L&T`s JV partner is Al Balagh Trading and Contracting.
• The contract for the project is for a combined value of $360 million for both JV partners and is slated to be completed by 2019. The scope for the stadium includes main works and construction of the site, following completion of the enabling works.
• Inspired by local patterns, the Al Rayyan stadium and its precinct design will resemble the sand dunes that surround the traditional desert tents.

• Avanse, an education finance company, is looking to disburse loans worth Rs. 800 crore this fiscal.
• This will be a significant increase over the Rs. 343 crore loans disbursed in 2015-16.
• Almost 2.5 lakh Indian students go abroad every year for higher education, Saxena pointed out.
• Indian students annually spend an estimated Rs. 1 lakh crore for their higher education in India and abroad. This segment is growing at 15 per cent. The total education loan disbursement from the organized segment is only about Rs. 10,000 crore, indicating the potential for growth of private players like Avanse.

• Singapore-headquartered DBS Bank’s India operations reported a turnaround in performance, posting a net profit of Rs. 8.55 crore in the financial year ended 2016 against a loss of Rs. 274.63 crore in the year-ago period.
• Deferred tax credit of Rs. 32.70 crore helped prop up the bank’s profitability.
• In FY2016, DBS Bank India’s net interest income (interest earned less interest expended) declined 6 per cent to Rs. 753 crore (Rs. 804 crore in FY2015). However, other income, comprising commission, exchange and brokerage and profit on sale of investments, rose 23 per cent to Rs. 280 crore (Rs. 227 crore).
• Provision towards bad loans jumped to Rs. 240 crore (Rs. 55 crore). The provision coverage ratio improved to 62.28 per cent from 59.35.
• Net non-performing assets edged up a tad to 4.34 per cent as on 2016 compared to 4.15 per cent on 2015.
•  

1) Pope Francis Awards Medals to Richard Gere, George Clooney, Salma Hayek.

• Pope Francis awarded medals to American Hollywood actors Richard Gere and George Clooney and actress Salma Hayek at an event held at the Vatican.
• This award is to promote the work of a foundation inspired by the pontiff, Scholas Occurrentes foundation.
• These actors had agreed to be ambassadors for one of the foundation’s arts projects for the foundation named schools that meet in Spanish, links technology with the arts, aiming at social integration and a cultural of peace.

• Dr. R. Seetharaman, Group CEO of Doha Bank, has been honoured with the 2016 Green Economy Visionary Award.
• He has been awarded with this award for his contribution in environment-friendly activities and thereby promoting green economy for nearly two decades.
• The award was bestowed upon him by Mohammed Jarrah Al-Sabah, Chairman of Union of Arab Banks at the 2016 Union of Arab Banks (UAB) International Banking Summit held in Rome.

• In 2015, business magazine Forbes had ranked Seetharaman sixth in the Forbes’ Top Indian Leaders in the Arab World 2015 list.
• R. Seetharaman is a recipient of multiple doctorates, first in Global Governance from the European University (2013) and the second in Green Banking and Sustainability from Sri Sri University (2015).
• He was named CEO of Doha Bank in September 2007. Since then, he has overseen the bank’s expansion from its base in Qatar to the UAE, India, Singapore and China and other countries.

3) India Post releases `My Stamp` with Amazon India.

• India Post released a My Stamp with Amazon India, to commemorate three years of its tie-up with the website and celebrate the e-commerce marketplace’s third anniversary in the country.
• Usha Chandrashekar, Chief Post Master General, Bengaluru, handed over the Amazon India My Stamp to Amit Agarwal, Vice-President and Country Manager, Amazon India.
• India Post is one of the prime delivery channels of Amazon India. Using the extensive network of India Post, Amazon services customers in over 19,000 pin-codes through 1,55,000 post.

• Pattnaik emerged as the gold medal winner at the World Sand Art Championship that was held in Bulgaria
• Titled Drugs kill Sports; Pattnaik`s sand art highlights the issue of drugs in the sporting field.
• With a total 10 artists participating in the championship, Pattnaik received the highest number of public votes and was awarded the gold medal for his sand art that was 2 metre high.
• Pattnaik has participated in more than 50 international sand sculpture championships and festivals around the world and won many prizes.
• Sudarsan Pattnaik was awarded the Padma Shri by Government of India in 2014.
• He was the brand ambassador of NALCO, India.
• He established ``The Golden Sand Art Institute`` which is first of its nature in India.

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi was conferred with Afghanistan`s highest civilian honour, the Amir Amanullah Khan Award.
• Afghan President Ashraf Ghani conferred the award on Modi after the two leaders jointly inaugurated the Afghan-India Friendship Dam, earlier known as Salma Dam that was rebuilt with India`s aid.
• It is the Highest Civilian honour bestowed by Afghan government to Afghan national as well as foreigners in appreciation of their services.
• As the first Indian, and amongst only a handful of foreign leaders to receive the award

• The Amir Amanullah Khan medal is highest civilian honor of Afghanistan. The award is named after the Afghan national hero, Amanullah Khan (Ghazi), who championed the cause of Afghanistan’s freedom. He was the ruler of the Emirate of Afghanistan from 1919-1929 who led Afghanistan to independence.
• King Amanullah advanced Afghanistan’s modernist constitution, incorporated equal rights and individual freedom.

6) 96-yr-old man Shigemi Hirata becomes world`s oldest graduate.

• Shigemi Hirata, a 96-year-old Japanese man, has been recognised by the Guinness World Records as the world`s oldest university graduate.
• Hirata received a degree in ceramic arts from the Kyoto University of Art and Design.
• He was enrolled in the university at the age of 85 in 2005 and took 11 years to complete the course.
  

• Tuticorin based V.O. Chidambaranar Port also second-largest port in Tamilnadu has bagged National Award for Excellence in Cost Management for the year 2015 from The Institute of Cost Accountants of India under the category of Public Service Sector- Small.
• The award has been given for exemplary performance towards optimization of manpower, savings in electricity, and implementation of Solar Energy Systems, reduction of overall cost of handling by mechanization and improvising efficiency and logistics support.
• The award was presented in 13th National Awards for Excellence in Cost Management-2015 hosted by Institute of Cost Accountants of India. With this the port is bagging the award for the third time the earlier years being 2008 and 2012. 

• Deshauna Barber, a serving Army Reserve officer of United States (US), crowned as the Miss USA 2016 at the Miss USA competition 2016 held at the T-Mobile Arena off the Las Vegas Strip.
• She represented the US capital as Miss District of Columbia. Miss Hawaii Chelsea Hardin came in as the first runner-up and Miss Georgia Emanii Davis was the second runner-up.
• With this, Barber became the first-ever military member to win Miss USA title. She will now represent the USA at Miss Universe Competition 2016.
• Barber inherited the crown from 2015 winner Miss Oklahoma Olivia Jordan.

• Eminent Indian-origin professor Lord Kumar Bhattacharyya has been awarded the prestigious Regius Professorship in Manufacturing by Queen Elizabeth II for his outstanding contribution in manufacturing.
• Through his career, he has advised the UK government on manufacturing, innovation, and technology. He is an IIT-Kharagpur alumnus.
• Bhattacharyya has founded Warwick Manufacturing Group (WMG), at the University of Warwick in 1980 to invigorate UK manufacturing.
• Warwick Manufacturing Group (WMG) has been granted the Regius Professorship for its academic research which has contributed to driving growth and improving productivity.
• The award falls under the Royal Prerogative, with each appointment being approved by the Queen upon Ministerial advice.
  

1) Rahul Johri assumes charge as first ever CEO of BCCI.

• Rahul Johri assumed charge as first ever chief executive officer (CEO) of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) in Mumbai.
• He was appointed on the recommendation of the Justice Lodha Committee.
• He will be report to the BCCI secretary Ajay Shirke and will be based at headquarters of BCCI in Mumbai.
• He will be responsible for smooth functioning of operations, stakeholder management and building robust strategies for promoting of sport.
• Before joining BCCI, he served as Asia Pacific`s Executive Vice-President for Discovery Networks and General Manager for South Asia.
• He is widely respected in the broadcasting industry for converting Discovery to a 11-channel bouquet.
• He was associated with Discovery Networks for the last 15 years and was leading South Asia operations for the past eight years.

• This was announced by the Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. He announced that the cricket icon has given his consent to use his name to strengthen the campaign against liquor and drug abuse in the state.
• This agreement was reached when Tendulkar along with three other co-owners of the Kerala Blasters Football Club (KBFC) met Vijayan at the state secretariat.
• The other co-owners of KBFC are actor-turned politician Chiranjeevi, actor Akkineni Nagarjuna and Prasad.
• Besides, KBFC also agreed to set up a residential Football Academy to train young talents in the state.

3) Nita Ambani nominated for International Olympic Committee.

• Nita Ambani, Founder and Chairperson of Reliance Foundation have been nominated as a candidate to be a new member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
• She is the first Indian woman to be nominated to the IOC and is being considered in the category of volunteers who represent the IOC and Olympic Movement in their country.
• Sir Dorabji Tata was the first Indian representative in the IOC while Raja Randhir Singh was a member from 2000-2014 and is currently a honorary member of the IOC.
• Nita Ambani spearheads all sports initiatives of Reliance Industries’, notably cricket, football, kabaddi, basketball, tennis and golf either through company, foundation or its joint ventures.

• Goa-born Sayonara Luxton has taken charge as the mayor of the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in southeast England.
• Councillor Luxton, in her 60s, had been serving as the deputy mayor of the area for the past year and was proposed to take over by former mayor Councillor Dee Quick.
• Ms Luxton moved from Goa to Dubai at the age of 21 to join other members of her family and had a successful career with Airbus Industries.
• She is in her third term as Sunningdale Councillor.
  

5) Dia Mirza named ambassador for `Swachh Saathi`.

• Bollywood actress and producer Dia Mirza has been named the ambassador for Swachh Bharat Mission’s youth-based Swachh Saathi (student internship) programme.
• The star actress will take forward the message of the government’s Swachh Saathi programme, which she hails as the most important part to realise the dream of a clean country.
• Under the Swachh Saathi programme, more than 2,000 interns would be enrolled, who would coordinate with around 10,000 schools across the country and ensure that all students in these schools take the pledge for Clean India.
• As the ambassador, the actress would interact with school and college students from across the country through awareness sessions, community cleaning activities and motivational videos.

• Indian Olympic Association president N. Ramachandran has been awarded with the prestigious Olympic Order by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for his outstanding services to the Olympic movement.
• His name has been chosen by the International Olympic Committee President Dr. Thomas Bach and by the IOC Executive Board.
• The Olympic Order is the highest award of the Olympic Movement which is awarded in recognition of efforts worthy of merit in the cause of sport.
• Mr. Ramachandran has been serving as Indian Olympic Association president since February 2014. Prior to this he was serving as President of World Squash Federation (WSF) since 2008.
• He is an Indian squash administrator. Earlier to him, former IOA president, the late BS Adityan was the other Indian to be honored with the same award in 1995. 

• Former Adobe executive Umang Bedi was appointed as managing director of Facebook India.He will take over from Kirthiga Reddy, who will be returning to the US to take on a new role at the company’s Menlo Park headquarters.
• Bedi’s appointment will be effective from July, and he will lead in building and maintaining strategic relationships with top clients and regional agencies in India.
• Umang Bedi was managing director of the South Asia region at Adobe and has around 20 years of leadership experience covering sales, marketing and partnerships.
• He is an engineering graduate from University of Pune, and alumni of Harvard Business School. It`s a promising opportunity to participate in India`s digital growth, and I can`t think of a better place to be at. 

1)Sri Lanka seam bowler Nuwan Kulasekara retires from Test cricket.

• Sri Lanka seam bowler Nuwan Kulasekara announced his retirement from Tests with immediate effect. He continues his career in limited over cricket.
• The seamer played 21 Test matches for Sri Lanka and picked up 48 wickets since his debut in April 2005.
• He played his last Test in June 2014 at Lord`s against England.
• His best bowling performance was against Pakistan picking four wickets for 21 runs.
• He was predominantly new-ball bowler and was not so effective once the ball lost its shine due to lack of pace.
• He played 173 ODIs and was ranked as the No. 1 bowler in March 2009.

2) Novak Djokovic becomes the first player to win a $100 million prize money.

• Serbian Top seed Novak Djokovic became the first professional tennis player to earn $100 million in prize money after he made his 10th French Open quarter-finals beating 14th seed Spains Roberto Bautista Agut to move into his 28th consecutive Grand Slam quarter-final and 36th in all.
• While Tennis great Roger Federer earned $98,011,727 since he turned pro in 1998, is the next closest player to breaking that barrier.
• American Women’s tennis great Serena Williams is the leader, having earned total prize money of $75,929,696 in 21 years in women’s section.

3) BCCI allows women to compete in foreign leagues.

• The BCCI has allowed Indian women cricketers play in overseas leagues, subject to their contracts being approved by the body.
• The decision, taken during a meeting of the BCCI’s women’s cricket committee, paves the way for India’s players to take part in tournaments such as the Women’s Big Bash League in Australia and the Women’s Super League in England.

• Portuguese forward Cristiano Ronaldo has been named the most famous athlete in the world in the list of 100 most famous athletes released by ESPN.
• Ronaldo is followed by NBA star LeBron James, Barcelona forward Lionel Messi and Neymar, and Swiss Tennis player Roger Federer. Indian cricketer Virat Kohli is placed eighth in the list. 

1) China To Launch First Hack Proof Quantum Communication Satellite.

• Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) has announced that China will be launching the World’s first Quantum Communications Satellite into space in the month of July. The launch will take place at Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in China.
• The project involved building the Quantum Satellite as well as four base stations that will enable communication between Earth and the satellite.
• Ground stations will be set-up thousands of kilometers away from each other, and two of them will be connected to the satellite via quantum optical links that will facilitate the flow of information.
• The CAS has also built one Quantum-teleportation experiment station. The project has taken a total of five years to build.

• China successfully launched a new civilian high-resolution mapping satellite along with two other foreign satellites.
• Satellites Launched from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Centre in Shanxi of China.
• The satellite which was on board the rocket were two new satellites from Uruguay. It was the 228th flight mission by a Long March carrier rocket.
• The 2.7-tonne Ziyuan III 02 satellite soared on the back of a Long March 4B rocket.
• The Ziyuan Satellite will be used in land resource surveys, natural disaster prevention, agricultural development, water resources management and urban planning.

• Scientists have discovered one of the most symmetrical Einstein rings - rare astronomical phenomena created by a galaxy located 10,000 million light years away that is hidden behind a more massive galaxy.
• Einstein rings, predicted by Einstein`s theory of General Relativity, are quite rare but scientifically interesting.
• Discovered by Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias (IAC) and the University of La Laguna (ULL) in Canary Islands is named the "The Canarias Einstein ring".
• An Einstein ring is a distorted image of a very distant galaxy, which is termed "the source". The distortion is produced by the bending of the light rays from the source due to a massive galaxy, termed "the lens", lying between it and the observer.

• Chinese mobile internet giant Alibaba Group launched "Privacy Knight" India`s first free app-lock with face-lock feature that enables users to unlock their protected apps through a one-second selfie.
• Face Lock is set to change the way people protect their privacy.
• "Privacy Knight" works on a one-second-step for face locking, saving users the trouble to remember patterns or pincode.
• The face lock and blink detection setting ensure a 99.47 % accuracy of face recognition.
• With the boost of smart phone utilization, India is now the largest consumer market for security app in the world.

• Facebook launched 1,500 new emojis for its Messenger service, including diverse emojis for different skin tones and women in professional roles.
• The social network platform also announced that its emojis will now look the same for all Messenger users on Android, iOS and other platforms.
• An emoji picker has been introduced to help the users select the perfect emoji.
• With the update, access to over 1,500 new emojis - 100 of which were designed `to better reflect gender and skin tones` with gender-agnostic options and multi-colored emojis.

• Telecom regulator TRAI rolled out `DND (do not call) Services` mobile application for easier management of unsolicited calls and messages by the cell phone users.
• TRAI has developed a mobile App for easy registration of UCC complaints to the service providers. With this App, the consumer can also check the status of his complaint. The app is available in the Google App store and Mobile Seva App store.
• Currently, consumers can log complain about messages and calls from telemarketers through toll free number 1909.
  

7) Hubble finds universe may be expanding faster than expected.

• Astronomers using NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope have discovered that the universe is expanding 5 % to 9% faster than expected.
• Discovery in this regard was made by an international team of researchers of the Space Telescope Science Institute and the Johns Hopkins University.
• They looked for galaxies containing both Cepheid stars and Type Ia supernovae.
• They measured about 2,400 Cepheid stars in 19 galaxies and compared the observed brightness of both types of stars.
• Finally, astronomers compared those distances with the expansion of space as measured by the stretching of light from receding galaxies.

• A team of scientists from Harvard University has co-created a unique "bionic leaf" that uses solar energy to split water molecules and hydrogen-eating bacteria to produce liquid fuels.
• This artificial photosynthesis device has been dubbed bionic leaf 2.0. The new system can convert solar energy to biomass with 10% efficiency. Its efficiency is much higher than the 1% seen in the fastest growing plants.
• Scientists had used a new cobalt-phosphorous alloy catalyst for this experiment in order to increase efficiency.
• This artificial photosynthesis system can be used to generate usable fuels. This artificial leaf use solar power to split water and make hydrogen fuel. 

9) Researchers find 39 unreported sources of major pollution.

• NASA scientists located 39 unreported and major human-made sources of toxic sulfur dioxide (so2) emissions. They used a new satellite-based method to locate the sources of toxic emissions.
• The unreported emission sources were found in the analysis of satellite data from 2005 to 2014.
• These sources are clusters of coal-burning power plants, oil and gas operations and smelters notably found in West Asia, Mexico and parts of Russia.
• SO2 is a known health hazard and cause of acid rain. Currently, SO2 monitoring activities include the use of emission inventories that are derived from ground-based measurements and factors, such as fuel usage.
• The unreported and under-reported sources account for about 12% of all human-made emissions of SO2.
• The research team also located 75 natural sources of sulfur dioxide like non-erupting volcanoes slowly leaking the toxic gas throughout the year.

• The world’s first 3D-printed aircraft THOR was unveiled by European aerospace company, Airbus at the International Aerospace Exhibition held in Schoenefeld, Germany.
• The small Airbus marvel is the world’s first 3D-printed aircraft. Windowless, weighing in at just 21 kilos (46 pounds) and less than four meters (13 feet) long.
• The THOR is short for Test of High-tech Objectives in Reality.
• THOR has just 3 parts. It is lighter, faster and cheaper. It is windowless small pilotless propeller aircraft.
• All it parts (except the electrical elements) are 3D printed from a substance called polyamide.
• 3D printing, also known as additive manufacturing (AM), refers to various processes used to synthesize a three-dimensional object.
• In 3D printing, successive layers of material are formed under computer control to create an object.

• Desert Eagle II, the second in the series of bilateral air exercises between the Indian Air Force (IAF) and the United Arab Emirates Air Force (UAE AF), concluded at the Al Dhafra Air Base in the UAE.
• The ten-day air combat exercise saw IAF Su 30 MKI participating along with Mirage 2000-9 and F-16 block 60 of the UAE AF.
• Mission commanders from both sides participated in the Exercise and availed this opportunity to the maximum to draw valuable operational lessons.
• IAF maintenance support staff succeeded in maintaining high serviceability state of aircraft and equipment.

• A proposed milestone mission in the study of gravitational waves - LISA, the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna project received a boost, as the first, encouraging results from the LISA Pathfinde.
• The experiment has demonstrated that these two masses are almost motionless with respect to each other and show a relative acceleration which is less than one part in ten millionths of a billionth of Earth’s gravity.
• This extraordinary degree of precision is needed by this experiment as the measured strain caused by gravitational waves on their detectors is comparably minute.
• The LISA spacecraft will need to use the technology tested by LISA Pathfinder. LISA itself plans to use a combination of three spacecraft, trailing the earth at a distance of about 50 million kilometres, these will orbit the sun.
• Using special laser beams and telescopes, the trio will measure gravitational waves.
•  

• Current Affairs India and Qatar on 5th June signed 7 important agreements including investments, skills, health and tourism. Agreements were signed in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a round table meeting with the leading businessmen of Qatar.
• He addressed business leaders and praised the role of Emir of Qatar in promoting India Qatar business ties.
• Prime Minister Modi assured the business leadership that he will address the bottlenecks identified by them.
• Qatar is 4th west Asian country Prime Minister Modi visited within a year. India Qatar trade is worth 10 billion dollars, Qatar is India`s biggest LNG supplier. India imports 65% of its LNG from Qatar. 6 lakh 30 thousand Indians are living in the gulf state. India is Qatar`s third largest trading partner, while Qatar is the eleventh most significant trading partner of India.
• Prime Minister Modi met Indian workers in Qatar, gave an inspiring speech to boost the spirits, but the most inspirational moment came after he finished his speech.
• Prime Minister Modi interacted with the workers, walked up to them and personally spoke with them and then actually sat down to break bread with them.
• FIFA 2022 World Cup also came up for discussion. The country will be hosting the 2022 FIFA World Cup. 2022 FIFA World Cup presents an opportunity for Indian investors to increase business and other exports to Qatar. 

2) Obama, India’s PM Modi promise future deal on climate change and energy

• The leaders of India and the United States on 7th June vowed to ratify the Paris climate accord this year, pledged to nail down terms for limiting a potent greenhouse gas used as a refrigerant in air conditioners, and set a one-year deadline for concluding a deal for six commercial nuclear power plants.
• But the two sides provided few specifics about how they would achieve those goals beyond saying that President Obama and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who were meeting at the White House, share the same objectives and have established time frames for resolving differences.
• Even without the agreed deadlines, the recent pledge by Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump to renegotiate the Paris climate accord if he is elected has added a sense of urgency among world leaders to make sure the accord goes into effect before the end of the year.
• When at least 55 countries, who account for at least 55 per cent of global emissions, have all moved to join the agreement, the Paris accord then enters into force after a 30-day wait period.
• India accounts for 4.1 per cent of global emissions.
• India is a key country for the United States, given tensions with Pakistan and its status as a bulwark against China in South Asia. But Obama has put climate and energy issues at the forefront of relations with Modi.
• The focus among negotiators leading up to meeting has been an effort to work out details for restricting hydrofluorocarbons or HFCs, by adding them to the existing Montreal Protocol, the global treaty adopted in 1987 to address ozone depletion.
• The two nations agreed on that they would link increased financial support for India from a multilateral fund with what Obama adviser Brian Deese called “an ambitious approach to phase out HFCs altogether.”

3) India, US pledge to pursue new opportunities to bolster economic growth, peace and security

• India and US on 8th June pledged to pursue new opportunities to bolster economic growth and sustainable development, promote peace and security.
• In a joint statement both countries reiterated their commitment to strengthen inclusive, democratic governance and respect for universal human rights.
• Both the leaders welcomed the start of preparatory work on site in India for six AP 1000 reactors to be built by Westinghouse and noted the intention of India and the U.S. Export-Import Bank to work together toward a competitive financing package for the project.
• Once completed, the project would be among the largest of its kind, fulfilling the promise of the US-India civil nuclear agreement and demonstrating a shared commitment to meet India`s growing energy needs while reducing reliance on fossil fuels.
• Both sides welcomed the announcement by the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd. and westinghouse that engineering and site design work will begin immediately and the two sides will work toward finalizing the contractual arrangements by June 2017.
• The joint statement said, United States and India share common climate and clean energy interests and are close partners in the fight against climate change.
• The United States and India also announced creation of a $20 million US-India Clean energy Finance (USICEF) initiative, equally supported by the United States and India, which is expected to mobilize up to $400 million to provide clean and renewable electricity to up to 1 million households by 2020.
• The Statement said United States and India will work together to combat the threat of terrorists accessing and using chemical, biological, nuclear and radiological materials. Recalling their shared commitment to preventing proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery, the leaders looked forward to India`s imminent entry into the Missile Technology Control Regime.

4) India to open new consulate in Seattle

• India will soon open another consulate in Seattle to cater to the needs of large number of Indian-Americans living in the northwestern part of the United States.
• This was stated in a joint statement issued after talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Barack Obama at the White House on 7th June.
• According to the Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar, both sides committed to open additional consulates in each other`s country. India will be opening a new consulate in Seattle and the US will open a new consulate at a mutually agreed location in India. The two countries also announced a series of measures to encourage people-to-people contacts.