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Current Affairs Monthly Capsule I

June 2019 Current Affairs Weekly Capsule I 9thto 15th

September 2018

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June 2019 Current Affairs Weekly Capsule I 9thto 15th

September 2018

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Table of Contents

Awards &Honours ............................................................................................................................................. 3

Days & Events ................................................................................................................................................... 5

International Affairs .......................................................................................................................................... 7

National Affairs ............................................................................................................................................... 72

Personalities in News ...................................................................................................................................... 23

Government Policies & Schemes ..................................................................................................................... 26

Science & Technology ..................................................................................................................................... 28

Committees & Recommendations ................................................................................................................... 31

Business & Economy ....................................................................................................................................... 32

Sports.............................................................................................................................................................. 39

Defence........................................................................................................................................................... 43

Polity ............................................................................................................................................................... 45

Environment ................................................................................................................................................... 46


June 2019 Current Affairs Weekly Capsule I 23rdto 29th

September 2018 September 2018 August 2018

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Awards &Honours

Rachna won RedInk award for Aadhaar expose

• Rachna Khaira of The Tribune has bagged the prestigious RedInk Award for 'Journalist of the Year'.

• She won the award for her expose during 2018 on the functioning of the UIDAI and its Aadhaar data cache.

• Khaira's investigation confirmed that personal data of millions of citizens were at risk of being hacked or traded for a price.

Pullela Gopichand bestowed honorary doctorate

• India's chief national badminton coach Pullela Gopichand was bestowed upon an honorary doctorate by IIT Kanpur.

• He received the honour on the occasion of their 52nd convocation on 28 June 2019.

• The past recipients of the honour are Former President APJ Abdul Kalam and former Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh.

Malayalam film won in Shanghai

• Veyil Marangal (Trees Under the Sun), directed by Bijukumar Damodaran, won the award for ‘Outstanding Artistic Achievement’ at the 22nd Shanghai International Film Festival,

• It became the first Indian film to win a major award at the festival.

• The film was one among the 3,964 entries submitted from 112 countries in the prestigious Golden Goblet Award competition.

Nitesh Kumar wins Innovation Award in UK

• Nitesh Kumar Jangir won the 2019 Commonwealth Secretary-General's Innovation for Sustainable Development Award in London.

• He won the award for breathing support device (Saans) to tackle avoidable deaths of premature babies from respiratory distress syndrome.

• Saans is the world's first neonatal Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) device that can be powered in multiple ways.

Dentsu and Ulka won bronze: Cannes Lions

• 3 Bronze Lions were won by digital agency Dentsu Webchutney while IPG Group owned creative agency FCB Ulka won a single Bronze Lion at the Cannes International Festival of Creativity.

• Dentsu Webchutney won a Bronze Lion for their work on Swiggy's 'Voice of Hunger' challenge.

• FCB Ulka won a Bronze Lion for their work with The Millennium School on the 'Open Door Project'.

Awards for promotion of Yoga

• PM Narendra Modi announced the awards for the promotion and development of Yoga.

• Swami Rajarshi Muni, Ms. Antonietta Rozz, Bihar School of Yoga, and Japan Yoga Niketan are the recipients of the Prime Minister's Award for outstanding contribution for promotion and development of Yoga for the year 2019.

• The winners will be felicitated with a Trophy, Certificate and a Cash Award each.

Indian archers felicitated

• Minister of State (I/C) for Youth Affairs and Sports, Shri Kiren Rijiju felicitated the Indian archery contingent.

• They performed superlatively at the World Archery Championships held in Hertogenbosch, Netherlands.

• India won one silver and two bronze medals at the event, making it the best-ever medal haul in an Archery World Championship.

Cannes Lions 2019: India won 2 bronze medals

• India won 2 bronze medals at the ongoing Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity with advertising agency.

• It won in the print & publishing and health & wellness categories.

• India launched an interactive print tool kit ‘One Mindful Mind’ which helps every parent turn into a counsellor for their child.

29 journalists conferred with Matri Awards

• 29 journalists from print and electronic media were felicitated with Matri Shree Media Awards for their contribution towards journalism.

• Former mayor of North Delhi Municipal Corporation Adesh Gupta was also felicitated for his contribution to social service.

• The Matri Shree Media Awards was constituted during the Emergency.

• The first award was presented to journalist Lala Jagat Narayan.

Chinese President awarded highest honour

• Kyrgyz President Sooronbay Jeenbekov awarded Chinese President Xi Jinping the 'Manas Order of the First Degree'.

• The award is the highest national honour of Kyrgyzstan.

• President Xi is on a state visit to Kyrgyzstan and has attended the 19th Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit.

Tilloo receives ‘Save Water Hero Award’

• Social activist Makarand Tilloo received the ‘Save Water Hero Award’ for his efforts to raise awareness about water conservation in Pune.

• He started a campaign to save water by replacing leaking taps with new ones.

• He was felicitated by the HridayMitra Foundation.

• The HridayMitra Foundation is an organisation which aims to spread awareness about diseases.

Akshaya Patra gets BBC Award




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• The Bengaluru-based NGO Akshaya Patra has been awarded the BBC World Service Global Champion Award.

• The award is presented at the BBC Food and Farming Awards in Bristol, London.

• The award recognises a project or person who is changing the way the world produces, processes, consumes or thinks about food for the better.

Sahitya Puraskar 2019 announced

• Sahitya Akademi has selected 22 writers for the Sahitya Akademi Bal Sahitya Puraskar 2019 and 23 writers for Yuva Puraskar 2019.

• For the Bal Sahitya Puraskar, the Awards relate to books first published during the five years immediately preceding the year of Award.

• Meanwhile, 11 books of poetry, 6 short stories, 5 novels and 1 literary criticism have won the Sahitya Akademi Yuva Puraskar.

JNU awards to be presented to Union Ministers

• Jawaharlal Nehru University conferred its Distinguished Alumni Award to Union Ministers Nirmala Sitharaman and Subrahmanyam Jaishankar.

• They will be the first recipients of the Distinguished Alumni Award.

• Nirmala Sitharaman is the Finance Minister of India.

• Subrahmanyam Jaishankar is the External Affairs minister of India.

Priyanka Chopra to be awarded by UNICEF

• Unicef will honour Priyanka Chopra with the Danny Kaye Humanitarian Award at the Unicef Snowflake Ball in December 2019.

• The event will be held on December 3 in New York.

• Priyanka is a global Unicef Goodwill Ambassador for Child Rights.

• She promotes various causes such as environment, health and education, and women's rights and is particularly vocal about gender equality and feminism.

Amitav Ghosh to be conferred Jnanpith award

• The Jnanpith award for the year 2018 will be given to the noted English writer Amitav Ghosh.

• Former Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi will present the award to him in New Delhi on 12 June 2019.

• The award is given for outstanding contribution in literature.

Mahindra won gold award in South Africa

• India's automobile major Mahindra won the Gold Award for fairing on various indicators.

• The automobile giant, which has more than 60 dealers in South Africa, secured the top position out of the 29 vehicle brands surveyed for the awards.

Maldives to confer award to PM Modi

• PM Narendra Modi was conferred with Maldives highest award ‘Nishan Izzuddin’.

• The main aim of his visit was to further cement ties with the Indian Ocean archipelago.

• PM Modi and President Solih held delegation-level talks as the two countries signed a slew of agreements to strengthen bilateral ties in a number of key areas including defence.

DDS women bag UN award

• Women members of Deccan Development Society (DDS) sanghams have bagged one of the most coveted UN awards — Equator Prize for 2019.

• DDS sanghams have made a significant contribution towards environment combating climate change, food and nutritional security.

• The US$10,000-prize was officially declared on World Environment Day on June 5.

Tayari Jones wins literary award for her novel

• Tayari Jones won the Women's Prize for fiction on 5 June with An American Marriage, her story of a family torn apart by the US judicial system.

• Jones, a professor of English at Emory University in Atlanta, beat five other finalists including Anna Burns, winner of 2018's Booker Prize.

• An American Marriage is Jones' fourth novel, but the first to be published in Britain.

Gajendra gives away Ganga Quest'19 Awards

• Gajendra Singh Shekhawat,Union Minister for Jal Shakti participated in event organized by National Mission for Clean Ganga(NMCG) to celebrate World Environment Day 2019.

• During the event, awards were given to the winners of Ganga Quest 2019,a month-long online quiz organized for awareness and knowledge dissemination about river Ganga.

Pichai to receive Global Leadership Award

• Google's India-born CEO Sundar Pichai and Nasdaq president Adena Friedman have been chosen for the prestigious Global Leadership Awards 2019.

• The award will be conferred during the next week's 'India Ideas Summit'.

• The Global Leadership Awards recognise top corporate executives from the US and India whose companies play a major role in catalysing growth in the US-India commercial corridor.

Annie Zaidi wins Nine Dots Prize

• Indian playwright and journalist Annie Zaidi was announced the winner of the 2019 Nine Dots Prize for her essay 'Bread, Cement, Cactus'.




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• The Nine Dots Prize is a book prize for creative thinking that tackles contemporary societal issues.

• Zaidi’s book based on her Nine Dots Prize-winning essay will be published by Cambridge University Press in May 2020.

Days & Events

Important Days

• The ‘Day of the Seafarer' is observed around the world every year on 25 June.

• International Day in Support of Victims of Torture is observed every year on 26 June. The aim of the day is to serve as a reminder to people that torture is a crime.

• International Day of the Tropics is observed every year on 29 June.

Statistics Day : 29 June

• Statistics Day is being celebrated on 29 June every year.

• It is observed to popularize the use of Statistics in everyday life and sensitize the public as to how Statistics helps in shaping and framing policies.

• The theme of 2019 Statistics Day is Sustainable Development Goals.

• The day is celebrated on the birth anniversary of Prof. P C Mahalanobis.

International MSME Day: 27 June

• International Macro Small and Medium Enterprises Day 2019 is observed every year on 27 June.

• Indian MSMEs have stood the test of time, technology and labour.

• International MSME Day 2019 is not just recognised as a day to celebrate the growth of MSMEs, but also to identify the challenges and provide solutions for the sector.

BIMSTEC Day celebrated in Dhaka

• Members of the 7 countries regional grouping Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) celebrated the BIMSTEC Day in Dhaka on 25 June 2019.

• Foreign Minister of Bangladesh Dr A K Abdul Momen was the chief guest of the event.

• Acting High Commissioner Bishwadip Dey represented India in the event.

Day against Drug Abuse & Illicit Trafficking

• The International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking is observed every year on 26 June.

• The day is observed to raise awareness about the major problem that illicit drugs represent to society.

• The theme for 2019 is Health for Justice, Justice for Health, which highlights that justice and health are two sides of the same coin when it comes to addressing drug problems.

International Olympic Day: 23 June

• The International Olympic Day is observed every year on 23 June.

• It is celebrated to promote participation in different sports throughout the world without any discrimination of the gender, age and athletic ability.

• On 23 June 1894, delegates from 12 countries gathered at the Sorbonne (Paris), to support 'Pierre de Coubertin's' proposal to revive the Olympic Games.

Important Days

• International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict is observed every year on 19 June.

• Autistic Pride Day is observed every year on 18 June.

• The Autistic Pride Day is generally observed to celebrate the neurodiversity of people in the autism spectrum.

• International Picnic Day is observed every year on 18 June.

World Music Day: 21 June

• World Music Day or International Music Day is observed on June 21 every year.

• In India, Exchange4Media & Loudest.in are hosting annual music conference, Music Inc.

• The theme for 2019 is ‘Music at the intersections'.

• The first ever music day took place in 1982 in Paris as the Fête de la Musique.




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• The move was proposed by Jack Lang (French politician) and Maurice Fleuret.

Int Day of Yoga celebrated in Dhaka

• The 5th International Day of Yoga was celebrated on a grand scale in Dhaka on 21 June 2019.

• Around 7000 people participated in the programme organised at the Banga Bandhu stadium by the Indian High Commission.

• Experts and students of Indira Gandhi Cultural Centre (IGCC) demonstrated Common Yoga Protocol and yoga asanas.

International Yoga Day: 21 June

• 5th International Yoga Day is celebrated on 21 June 2019.

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi led the nation in celebrating yoga day from Ranchi in Jharkhand.

• The theme for the year 2019 is Yoga for Heart Care.

• The idea of the International Day of Yoga was first proposed by PM Modi during his speech at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on September 27, 2014.

World Refugee Day: 20 June

• World Refugee Day is observed on the 20th of June every year.

• It celebrates the stories and contributions of refugees.

• The theme this year is Step with Refugees - Take a Step on World Refugee Day.

• According to the latest annual study released by the office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, 70.8 million children, women and men were forcibly displaced at the end of 2018.

Diamond Jubilee of Naval Air Squadron

• Indian Navy's first Naval Air Squadron 550 celebrated its Diamond Jubilee on 17 Jun 19 at naval base Kochi.

• It has played a key role in training the Navy's Maritime Reconnaissance pilots and observers.

• The squadron has been part of several operations, from the 1971 Indo-Pak war to Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) operations during the December 2004 Tsunami, and more.

Goa Revolution Day: 18 June

• Goa Revolution Day is celebrated on 18 June.

• On this day in 1946, freedom fighter Dr Ram Manohar Lohia had given a clarion call to Goans to fight for the state's liberation from Portuguese rule during a speech at Margao in South Goa.

• The speech provided a fillip to the Goan liberation movement, with the state finally being liberated in 1961 after around 450 years of Portuguese rule.

World Sickle Cell Day: 19 June

• The World Sickle Cell Day is observed every year on 19 June.

• It is observed each year to raise public awareness about the sickle cell disease and its treatment methods.

• Sickle cell disease is an inherited form of anaemia in which red blood cells are not able to carry adequate oxygen throughout the body.

Autistic Pride Day: June 18

• Autistic Pride Day is being observed every year on 18 June.

• Autistic pride recognises the importance of pride for autistics and understands it not as a disease but as a difference.

• Autism is a range of complex neurodevelopment disorders characterized by social impairments, communication difficulties, restrictive and repetitive pattern of behaviour.

June celebrated as the LGBT Pride month

• June month is celebrated as the Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer or questioning (LGBTQ) Pride month all over the world.

• The LGBTQ pride month is celebrated to commemorate the anniversary of Stonewall riots at Stonewall Inn in New York, a gathering space for LGBTQ community during the 60s.

• LGBT History Month originated in the United States. It was first celebrated in 1994.

World Day to Combat Desertification & Drought

• World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought is observed every year on 17 June.

• The day promotes public awareness of international efforts to combat desertification.

• The theme for 2019 is Let's grow the future together.

• It is an occasion to remind everyone that land degradation neutrality is achievable through problem-solving, strong community involvement and co-operation at all levels.

Important Days

• Green Mizoram Day was observed across the state on 11 June 2019.

• International Albinism Awareness Day was observed on 13 June 2019.

• 'Still Standing Strong' is the theme for the 2019 International Albinism Awareness Day.

20th Anniversary of Kargil victory

• The year 2019, marks the 20th anniversary of victory in ‘Operation VIJAY’ popularly known as the ‘Kargil War’.

• This year, the 20th anniversary is being celebrated with the theme ‘Remember, Rejoice and Renew’.

• The celebrations will be spread over 3 days from 25-27 July 2019 and will be organized at Dras and New Delhi.

World Elder Abuse Awareness Day: 15 June




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• World Elder Abuse Awareness Day is observed on 15 June every year.

• It is observed to voice opposition to the abuse and suffering inflicted on elderly people.

• It was officially recognized by the United Nations General Assembly in December 2011.

• According to the UN, around 1 in 6 older people experience some form of abuse. It is predicted to rise as populations age worldwide.

World Blood Donor Day: 14 June

• World Blood Donor Day is celebrated every year on 14 June to raise awareness of the need for safe blood and blood products and to thank blood donors.

• The theme for 2019 is - Blood Donation and Universal Access to Safe Blood Transfusion, as a component of achieving universal health coverage.

• The slogan - Safe Blood for All - has also been adopted.

Int. Day against Child Labour: 12 June

• June 12 is observed as the International Day Against Child Labour every year.

• The day brings together governments, employers and workers organizations, civil society as well as millions of people to highlight the plight of child labourers and measures to help them.

• The theme for 2019 is, 'Children should not work in fields but on dreams'.

Days and Events

• Maharana Pratap Jayanti was observed on 6 June 2019.

• World Brain Tumor Day is observed on June 8 every year with the objective of spreading awareness and educating people about the Brain tumor.

• International Day for the Fight Against Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) Fishing is observed on 5 June.

First ever World Food Safety Day celebrated

• The first-ever World Food Safety Day was celebrated by Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) on 7 June 2019.

• The theme for this day was ‘food safety, everyone’s business.’

• Dr. Harsh Vardhan unveiled a statue of ‘Gandhiji on a Bicycle’ installed at the FSSAI complex.

World Oceans Day: 8 June

• World Oceans Day is celebrated on 8th June every year.

• The day was declared in 2008.

• The theme for the year 2019 is Gender and Oceans.

• It was first proposed in 1992 by Canada's International Centre for Ocean Development (ICOD) and the Ocean Institute of Canada (OIC) at the Earth Summit.

World Environment Day - 5 June

• World Environment Day is celebrated on the 5th of June every year.

• It is the United Nation's principal vehicle for encouraging awareness and action for the protection of our environment.

• It was first held in 1974.

• The theme for 2019 is "Beat Air Pollution".

• 2019 host nation is China.

Telangana celebrates State formation day

• The fifth-anniversary celebrations of the formation of Telangana State on 2 June, were off to a simple start on Sunday.

• Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao addressed people to strengthen the hands of the government in the implementation of three new legislation in the offing with focus on weeding out corruption in the administration.

Days

• World Digestive Health Day is observed every year by the World Gastroenterology Organisation, in collaboration with the WGO Foundation.

• Nepal celebrates Mt. Everest Day on May 29 every year in memory of the first summit of Mt. Everest by Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay.

• The Global Day of Parents is observed on June 1 every year.

• World Hunger Day is observed every year on 28 May.

World Milk Day is observed on 1 June

• World Milk Day is a day established by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations to recognize the importance of milk as a global food.

• It has been observed on June 1 each year since 2001.

• The day is intended to provide an opportunity to bring attention to activities that are connected with the dairy sector.

RBI to observe fin lit week from June 3-7

• The Reserve Bank of India will observe Financial Literacy Week across the country from 3rd to 7th June 2019.

• The theme this year is - 'Farmers and how they benefit by being a part of the formal banking system'.

• In a release, the apex bank said, posters and leaflets will be used to spread awareness and spread the message of financial literacy among the farming community.

International Affairs

Priya Serrao crowned Miss Universe Australia

• Priya Serrao has won the Miss Universe Australia title for 2019.

• She will now represent Australia in the Miss Universe competition later this year.




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• Western Australia’s Bella Kasimba and another Victorian Marijana Radmanovic rounded out 2019’s top three, placing second and third.

New unprinting method to recycle paper

• The new 'Unprinting' method, developed and led by a team of researchers at Rutgers University in the US, can work with the standard, coated paper used in home and office printers.

• According to a study in the Journal of Cleaner Production, this innovation uses pulses of light from a xenon lamp.

• This method makes it possible to unprint and then reprint on the same paper at least five times.

Italy won the 2026 Winter Olympic Bid

• The prosperous northern Italian regions of Lombardy and Veneto, representing Team Milan-Cortina has won the bid to host the 2026 Winter Olympic Games.

• The Italian bid was chosen over the only other candidate, a dual bid between Stockholm and the ski resort of Are, Sweden, in a vote of 47-34 by I.O.C. delegates.

IOC stripped AIBA of Olympic status

• The International Olympic Committee (IOC) stripped Olympic status from the troubled world boxing body AIBA.

• As a result, the IOC will now organize qualifying and final tournaments for the 2020 Tokyo Games.

• AIBA had created very serious reputational, legal and financial risks for the IOC and its American stakeholders.

• AIBA is near bankrupt with debts of about 17 million US Dollars.

New headquarters of IOC in Switzerland

• The International Olympic Committee (IOC) opened its new headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland, exactly 125 years after the Olympic Games were revived.

• The Olympic House has been built on the site of the former headquarters, and 95% of the old materials were reused and recycled.

• The signature feature is a central staircase linking together the five Olympic rings.

Ethiopian's Army Chief, Reg President killed

• Ethiopia's army chief and the president of a key region have been shot dead in a wave of violence.

• There is political instability in the country as Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed tries to push through reforms.

• The attack was led by Amhara's security chief Asaminew Tsige.

• The chief of the staff of the national security forces Seare Mekonnen was killed by his bodyguard.

Sri Lanka launches first satellite ‘Ravana-1’

• Sri Lanka's first satellite 'Ravana-1', designed and developed by two local engineers, was successfully

launched into orbit from the International Space Station (ISS) along with two other BIRDS 3 satellites from Japan and Nepal.

• Raavana-1 is the cube satellite.

• Raavana-1 is expected to fulfil five missions including the capturing of pictures of Sri Lanka and surrounding regions.

1st iron mine discovered in Bangladesh

• The Geological Survey of Bangladesh (GSB) has discovered the country’s first magnetite or iron ore mine in Dinajpur.

• The iron in the mine was 65% which indicates the high quality of the ore.

• The Geological Survey of Bangladesh first took up drilling of the area in 2013 and the second drilling was started in April 2019.

1st Bangladesh Int Theatre Festival held

• The first international theatre festival of Bangladesh is being held at Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy in Dhaka.

• It was inaugurated by the Bangladesh State Minister for Cultural Affairs KM Khalid on 20 June 2019.

• Theatre troupes from India, Bangladesh, Russia, China, France, Vietnam and Nepal are participating in the festival.

Russia temporarily banned its airlines

• Russia has temporarily banned its airlines from flying to Georgia from July 2019.

• The move came following violent clashes in Georgia after a Russian lawmaker addressed parliament in Tbilisi.

• President Vladimir Putin signed a decree banning Russian airlines from undertaking flights from the territory of the Russian Federation to the territory of Georgia from July 8, 2019.

FATF warned Pakistan

• The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) said that Pakistan failed to complete its action plan on terror financing.

• The FATF strongly urged Pakistan to swiftly complete its action plan by October 2019 or face consequences.

• Saudi Arabia has become the first Arab country to be granted full membership of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).

Walmart to pay over 282 mn

• Walmart agreed to pay over $282 to various US bodies to settle charges of violating anti-corruption regulations while conducting its business in India, China, Brazil and Mexico.

• These violations were conducted by Walmart's third-party intermediaries who made payments to foreign government officials without reasonable assurances.

Int Day of Yoga celebrated in Dhaka

• The 5th International Day of Yoga was celebrated on a grand scale in Dhaka on 21 June 2019.




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• Around 7000 people participated in the programme organised at the Banga Bandhu stadium by the Indian High Commission.

• Experts and students of Indira Gandhi Cultural Centre (IGCC) demonstrated Common Yoga Protocol and yoga asanas.

Voluntary Euthanasia became legal in Victoria

• Victoria has become the first state in Australia to enact Euthanasia laws.

• It would now allow terminally ill patients suffering from intolerable pain to legally ask their doctor for lethal drugs to end their lives.

• The state's historic laws were effective from 19 June 2019.

• Queensland and Western Australia are now considering enacting the legislation.

Bangladesh: fastest growing economy

• Bangladesh has emerged as the fastest growing economy among the 45 countries of the Asia-Pacific region according to Asian Development Bank (ADB).

• In the financial year, 2018-19 Bangladesh attained a growth rate of 7.9 % which is its fastest rate since 1974.

• Higher public sector investment, stronger consumption demand, were among the key factors of the high growth performance of Bangladesh.

Libra: Facebook's cryptocurrency

• Facebook is leaping into the world of cryptocurrency with its own digital money, designed to let people save, send or spend money as easily as firing off text messages.

• ‘Libra’, described as a new global currency was unveiled in a new initiative in payments for the world’s biggest social network.

• Libra Association debuted with 28 members including Mastercard, Visa, and Women's World Banking.

Paris Air Show opened

• Aviation executives descended on the Paris Air Show with pledges to improve transparency over plane safety.

• President Emmanuel Macron inaugurated the event at Le Bourget airport.

• Few blockbuster products or orders are expected at the world's biggest aerospace show, which brings together nearly 2,500 firms from 49 countries, and 290 official delegations

Chinese President awarded highest honour

• Kyrgyz President Sooronbay Jeenbekov awarded Chinese President Xi Jinping the 'Manas Order of the First Degree'.

• The award is the highest national honour of Kyrgyzstan.

• President Xi is on a state visit to Kyrgyzstan and has attended the 19th Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit.

Uber, Paypal to back FB's cryptocurrency

• Facebook Inc has enlisted companies including Visa Inc, Mastercard Inc, PayPal Holdings Inc, and Uber Technologies Inc to back its new cryptocurrency.

• Each company will invest around $10 million in a consortium that will govern the cryptocurrency.

• The cryptocurrency, under Facebook's "Project Libra", is aimed at allowing Facebook's global users to transfer money across borders.

Bahrain to ban plastic from July

• Bahrain will start phasing out the use of plastic products from July 2019.

• A Ministerial order will regulate and phase out the use of plastic bags.

• The first phase will focus on single-use plastic bags as well as banning the import of non-biodegradable plastic bags.

• Later phases will witness a permanent ban on the use of plastic bags at certain malls and supermarkets.

Boris Johnson topped first ballot




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• In UK, Boris Johnson has secured the highest number of votes in the first ballot to select the Conservative party leader and next Prime Minister.

• He received 114 votes in the first round of a secret ballot, followed Jeremy Hunt in second place with 43 and Environment secretary Michael Gove third with 37 votes.

• The winner of the contest is expected to be announced in the week of 22 July 2019.

Facebook to launch updated Portal devices

• Facebook is set to launch an updated version of its video chat device 'Portal' later in 2019.

• Facebook would also reveal some new form factors, including Ripley, that Portal would be shipped with.

• The device is also powered by Amazon's voice assistant Alexa and comes with front cameras.

• It was first launched in November 2018.

US diplomat to visit Sudan

• A top US diplomat will visit Sudan to encourage talks between Sudan’s military rulers and protesters.

• The US, assistant secretary of state for African affairs, Tibor Nagy, during his visit plans to meet members of both sides.

• Sudanese Professionals Association (SPA) called the strike after more than 100 protesters were killed by a paramilitary group on 3 June 2019.

Canada to ban plastics from 2021

• Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that single-use plastics will be banned in the country from 2021.

• He declared it a global challenge to phase out the plastic bags, straws and cutlery clogging the world's oceans.

• Single-use items represent some 70 percent of the plastic waste littering the marine environment.

China to make trade deal with the US

• China will enter into a trade deal with the United States, as told by US President Donald Trump.

• Increased tariffs on Chinese products is having an impact on its economy.

• China will subsidise their product because there is a need to keep people working, so China is going to pay a lot.

• The US has put 25% tariffs on 250 billion dollars of Chinese goods.

Pakistan's economic growth to hit 3.3%

• Pakistan's economic growth in the financial year ending in June is expected to hit 3.3%, well below the target of 6.3%.

• According to the Economic Survey, the dip in economic growth is expected as the government failed to meet targets in nearly all sectors.

• The manufacturing sector slid by 0.3% and the large scale manufacturing showed a negative growth of 2%.

Kazakhstan elected new leader

• Kazakhstan elected the successor of former president Nursultan Nazarbayev with 70% of the vote.

• The victory of Kassym Jomart-Tokayev was never in doubt after he received the blessing of powerful Nazarbayev.

• His nearest opposition rival Amirzhan Kosanov had around 15% votes.

Prayuth Chan-ocha elected Thai PM

• Thailand's new parliament has elected military government chief Prayuth Chan-ocha as the country's Prime Minister.

• Prayuth's appointment becomes official when it is endorsed by King Maha Vajiralongkorn.

• Prayuth Chan-ocha is a retired army general and had led a military coup in Thailand five years ago.

NASA to open space station for tourists

• NASA will open up the International Space Station to business ventures including space tourism with stays priced at $35,000 a night.

• It seeks to financially disengage from the orbiting research lab.

• There will be up to two short private astronaut missions per year.

Russia launched Arctic train service

• In Russia, the first tourist train traveling through Russia's Arctic region and on to Norway, set off from St. Petersburg station on 6 June 2019.

• It had 91 passengers aboard for the inaugural trial journey.

• The tourists came from seven countries including the US, Germany, Norway, and Russia.

• The train is named Zarengold.

Google Stadia to be launched in November

• Google is leading the way in the nascent business of streaming games announcing pricing and a raft of new titles for its Stadia.

• Stadia, which the Alphabet Inc. unit unveiled in March, will launch in November 2019.

• It will have titles from major game developers including Ubisoft Entertainment SA and Bungie Inc.

• Access to Stadia’s library of games will cost $9.99 a month.

10% decline in approval rate of H-1B Visa

• There was a 10% decline in the approval of H-1B visas by the U.S. in 2018, which is popular among highly skilled Indian IT professionals.

• The experts attributed to the aggressive policies of the Trump administration to clamp down on the use of the work visa programme.

• The H-1B visa programme is the main vehicle through which US employers can sponsor skilled foreign workers for admission.




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India-China Trade to Cross $100 Bn

• India's Ambassador in Beijing has inaugurated an Indian oleoresin extraction firm's 3rd manufacturing facility in the country to expand its business in the Chinese food market.

• Economic and commercial engagement between India and China constitutes a major component of the bilateral relations with bilateral trade, which crossed $95 billion last year, is set to cross USD 100 billion this year.

Pramila Jayapal to preside over US House

• Indian-American Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal held the Speaker’s gavel becoming the first South Asian American woman to preside over the US House of Representatives.

• The 116th Congress broke records with women and lawmakers crossing racial and religious barriers, including an all time high for Asian American lawmakers.

House passes bill to protect 'Dreamers'

• The House voted to protect so-called Dreamers and establish a path to citizenship for more than 2 million immigrants without legal status.

• The bill would grant permanent residency in three categories-Immigrants who came to the country illegally as children,Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) programs.

China clamps down on US companies

• Changan Ford Automobile Co. will be fined 162.8 mn yuan ($23.6 million) for restricting retailers’ sale prices in the southwestern city of Chongqing since 2013.

• The fine amount is equivalent to 4% of Changan Ford’s annual sales in Chongqing.

• The announcement comes after the Trump administration declared a ban on business with telecommunications giant Huawei Technologies Co.

India will make America’s private moon lander

• The first US lunar lander in the 21st century will be designed in India.

• NASA says it will spend more than $250 million hiring private companies to transport scientific missions to the moon.

• Three companies—Astrobotic, Intuitive Machines, and Orbit Beyond—have been awarded contracts for missions into 2021.

UN Security Council meets on Sudan crisis

• The UN Security Council met to discuss the crisis in Sudan.

• This came after Khartoum’s military rulers announced plans to hold elections following a crackdown that killed nearly 40 people.

• Germany and Britain requested the urgent talks amid international alarm over the violence in Khartoum where security forces broke up weeks of protests against military rule.

US house passes USD 19bn disaster relief bill

• After months of negotiations and a week-long recess, the US House of Representatives cleared a USD 19.1 billion disaster relief bill aimed at providing funds to areas hit by earthquake,hurricanes, flooding and wildfire.

• The bill,which passed in the House would provide approximately USD 900 mn for US unincorporated territory Puerto Rico, which is still recovering from 2017's Hurricane Maria.

India in UN marks World Bicycle Day

• India joined the United Nations initiative to acknowledge "uniqueness, longevity, and versatility" of the bicycle on the occasion of World Bicycle day.

• UN Headquarters in New York marked the day with a special outdoor event, which General Assembly President Maria Fernanda Espinosa observed comes "at a crucial time" as there are only 11 years left to avoid the worst impacts of climate change.

Indian tycoon Ali gets first Gold Card in UAE

• The Federal Authority for Identity and Citizenship of the United Arab Emirates announced that it had issued its first gold residence card to Indian business leader Yusuff Ali MA, the chairman of LuLu Group International.

• Yusuff Ali was awarded the query gold card here by Brigadier Saeed Salem Al Shamsi, the executive director of the General Directorate of Residency and Foreign Affairs.

Vietnam tops list from US-China trade war

• The Southeast Asian nation,which shares a border with China, gained orders from trade diversion on tariffed goods equal to 7.9% of GD in the year through the first quarter of 2019.

• Taiwan is a distant second among the winners, with gains equivalent to 2.1% of GDP.

• American and Chinese orders for more than half of the 1,981 tariffed products in the U.S.-China trade.

Govt slams OIC's communiqué on J&K rights

• India slams OIC for references to J-K in its Makkah summit declaration.

• Indian govt. said it was unacceptable over the OIC reference to J&K in a communiqué adopted at its summit meeting.

• Govt. also rejects OIC's decision to appoint a special envoy for J&K.

US Representative discuss Afghan peace in Pak

• Zalmay Khalilzad,the US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation, arrived in Pak to facilitate peace process that ends the 19 years of war in Afghanistan.




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• Khalilzad has long been trying to reach a peace deal with the Taliban to end the war in Afghanistan that has entered its 19th year.

• He will travel to Afghan,Belgium,Germany,Pak,Qatar,UAE from May 31 to June 16, 2019.

Puerto Williams is world's southernmost city

• Puerto Williams, a hamlet in Chile, has been upgraded to the category of 'city' by Chilean authorities, making it the world’s southernmost city.

• Puerto Williams has nudged out Ushuaia in Argentina for the title.

• The capital of Chile is Santiago and its currency is Chilean Peso.

James Marape elected new PNG Prime Minister

• James Marape, a former finance minister, has been elected by parliament as the Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea (PNG).

• His appointment comes after the outgoing leader Peter O'Neill resigned on 29 May 2019.

• Papua New Guinea, a South Pacific nation of 7.3 million people, has rich reserves of copper, gold, and oil.

China gave $6.56 billion to Pakistan

• China gave $628.4 million for the construction of two ongoing nuclear power plants known as K2 and K3 in the past 10 months.

• China also gave $1.4 billion in financing largely for projects that form part of the CPEC

• Project loans have largely been disbursed for the Sukkur-Multan motorway, Havelian-Thakot project of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor(CPEC) and the Lahore Orange Line project.

National Affairs

List of best police stations in India released

• An internal survey was conducted by the Ministry of Home Affairs to find the best police stations in India.

• As per the survey, the three best police stations in the country are in Rajasthan, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and West Bengal.

• The Kalu police station in Rajasthan’s Bikaner district is ranked number one.

• The second in the rank is Campbell Bay in Nicobar district.

2.22 cr villagers given Digital Education

• Electronics and Information Technology Minister Mr Ravi Shankar Prasad has said that around 2.22 crore villagers are given Digital Education under Pradhan Mantri Gramin Digital Saksharta Abhiyan (PMGDISHA).

• He also said that over 2.30 crore beneficiaries have been enrolled under PMGDISHA.

• After the training, 1.34 crore have been duly certified by authorized 3rd party certifying agencies.

President's rule in J&K extended

• The Lok Sabha approved the resolution seeking an extension of President rule in Jammu&Kashmir for a further period of 6 months with effect from 3rd July 2019.

• The House also passed the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation (Amendment) Bill, 2019.

• It proposes to give reservation in educational institutions and government jobs to people living within 10 kilometres of the International Border in Jammu.

5-year vision plan finalised by HRD ministry

• The Department of Higher Education of HRD Ministry has finalized and released a five-year vision plan named Education Quality Upgradation and Inclusion Programme (EQUIP).

• The report has been prepared after a detailed exercise done by the experts from various areas, including promoting excellence.

• They have suggested more than 50 initiatives that would transform the higher education sector.

BYPL to launch energy saving app




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• Power distribution company BSES Yamuna Power Limited (BYPL) will be launching a ‘behavioural energy saving app’ to reduce electricity consumption.

• The app Susthome, developed by BYPL and TERI will track energy consumption patterns.

• In first phase of the pilot project, the power discom has selected cooperative housing societies such as Mayur Vihar to use the app.

2-day North East Conclave 2019 began

• In Meghalaya, a 2-day North East Conclave 2019 on ‘Transforming North East India through Science and Technology’ began on 28 June 2019 at Shillong.

• It has been organised by the Institute of Bio-resources and Sustainable Development (IBSD).

• The North Eastern States of the country are a treasure house of rich biodiversity and their endowments can contribute to the nation’s progress.

Govt on a mission to clean Ganga by 2022

• Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat has said that the government is working in a mission mode to clean Ganga.

• The flow of raw sewage into the river Ganga will be completely stopped by 2022.

• The government is also planning to provide piped water to a large population.

• India has 18% of the world population and an equal percentage of livestock, but the share of water is less than 4%.

NDMA conducted mock exercise on earthquake

• National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) conducted a multi-state mock exercise on earthquake in Delhi and NCR on 28 June 2019.

• The exercise was aimed to practise the preparedness and response mechanism of the state governments to mitigate the impact of a high-intensity earthquake.

• Preparedness activities were reviewed through interaction with the Chief Secretary and senior officials.

Committee Report and Survey

• The M. Ramachandran committee tasked by the government to look into the fares being collected by all-India tourist omnibuses on inter-State routes has recommended continuation of the fares.

• According to survey conducted by rural media platform Gaon Connection, loan schemes don't reach almost 60% people in rural India.

Polity

• The deadline to submit suggestions on draft of New Education Policy is extended for a month i.e till 31st July. The draft of Education policy has been put on a public domain from May 31.

• Union government introduced a bill in the Lok Sabha to implement for the first time a quota for economically weaker section in the recruitment of professors in government-run higher educational institutions.

Miscellaneous News

• The Central government is formulating a detailed strategy to tackle the problem of drugs in Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir.

• On the 180th death anniversary of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the legendary ruler of Punjab, a statue was unveiled at the Lahore Fort on 27 June 2019.

• Modi attended the Indian community event in Kobe, Japan on 27 June 2019.

National mission on nat language translation

• The Ministry of Electronics and IT will place before the Union Cabinet a ₹450 crore proposal for Natural Language Translation.

• The proposal is part of the 100-day action plan charted out by MeitY, following Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s instructions.

• It aims to make science and technology accessible to all by facilitating access to teaching and researching material bilingually.

Maratha quota valid but to be cut to 12-13%

• The Bombay High Court upheld the constitutional validity of reservation for the Maratha community in government jobs and education.

• A division bench of Justices Ranjit More and Bharati Dangre, however, said the quota percentage should be reduced from the present 16% to 12-13%.

• The reduced quota is as recommended by the State Backward Classes Commission.

FSSAI planned labels for packaged food

• Packaged food companies will be required to label high fat, sugar and salt content levels on the front side of the package with red-colour-coding.

• Draft regulations have been proposed by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India, FSSAI.

• According to it, the packaged food companies will have to declare nutritional information such as calories, saturated fat on the front of the pack.

Prithvi-II test fired succesfully

• India successfully test-fired indigenously developed nuclear-capable missile Prithvi-II as part of a user trial by the Army from a test range off the Odisha coast.

• The trial was carried out from a mobile launcher from Launch Complex-III of the Integrated Test Range, ITR Chandipur.




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• The missile is capable of carrying 500 to 1000 kg of warheads and is powered by liquid propulsion twin engines.

Entrepreneurship lessons at Delhi govt schools

• Delhi government is introducing a new curriculum with compulsory entrepreneurship lessons for classes 9-12 in 1,024 government-run schools from July 1.

• The non-graded subject, for which about 3,000 teachers are undergoing a week-long training, will comprise a daily 40-minute class.

• Students will get ₹1,000 as 'seed money' to enable them to develop an entrepreneurial mindset.

Bill to fine people for blocking ambulances

• The Union Cabinet led by PM Narendra Modi has approved Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill.

• It proposes ₹10,000 fine for anyone seen blocking the way of emergency services such as ambulances on roads.

• The same amount of penalty would be levied in case of drunk driving.

• The Bill is yet to be passed in the Parliament.

International Convention inaugurated

• The Ministry of Micro Small and Medium Enterprises is organizing an international convention in New Delhi.

• The theme would be 'Indian MSMEs, Global Aspirations'.

• It is being organized to observe the International MSME Day on 27 June.

• Further, as part of continued celebrations, the second edition of the International SME Convention 2019 will be held from 28th - 29th June 2019.

Meeting of Paris Pact Initiative held

• The Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance is hosting a Meeting of Expert Working Group on Paris Pact Initiative in Afghanistan.

• The Meeting is being held on 27-28 June 2019 and is being organised with the support of United Nations Office on Drugs & Crimes (UNODC).

• Paris Pact is a group of 58 countries and 23 International Organisations affected with drug trafficking of Afghan Opiates.

Google Maps launched Stay Safer feature

• Google Maps introduced India-first 'Stay Safer' feature for its users.

• The feature will alert and notify users traveling in taxis, auto-rickshaws when their vehicle goes off-route and also share the live status of their trips with friends/family.

• Indian users will be able to use the new feature on their Android phones with the latest version of Google Maps.

Cauvery board asked Karnataka to release water

• The Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) directed Karnataka to release 9.19tmcft (thousand million cubic feet) and 31.24tmcft of water in June-July, to Tamil Nadu.

• Tamil Nadu is suffering one of its worst dry spells and acute shortages of drinking water.

• However, the water will be released when there is sufficient rain and the inflows into the reservoirs in Karnataka have increased.

WAPCOS celebrated Golden Jubilee

• WAPCOS, which was incorporated as Public Sector Enterprise in 1969 by the Government of India celebrated its Golden Jubilee at Siri Fort, New Delhi on 26 June 2019.

• The theme for the event was 'Transcending Boundaries- Touching Lives'.

• Minister of State for Jal Shakti, Shri Rattan Lal Kataria was the Guest of Honour at the event.

Government to provide broadband connectivity

• Government plans to provide broadband connectivity under BharatNet Project to all Gram panchayats in the country.

• 1,28,870 gram panchayats have been connected with optical fibre till date.

• Under BharatNet project, the last mile connectivity is to be provided at all the 2.5 lakh gram panchayats in the country.

• WiFi spots have been installed in 44,140 Gram panchayats as of now.

No-confidence motion against Speaker on 1 July

• DMK president M.K. Stalin proposed the motion of no-confidence against Mr Dhanapal.

• Mr. Dhanpal issued show-cause notices to three AIADMK legislators asking why they should not be disqualified for associating themselves with AMMK leader T.T.V. Dhinakaran.

• No- confidence motion in India can be introduced only in the Lok Sabha.

New rules to make roads safer

• The Union cabinet approved proposed changes to the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill.

• It aims to address crucial issues such as road safety, with stiff penalties for violation of rules, strengthening the public transportation system and curbing corruption.

• According to the amendment, the penalty for drunk driving has been raised five times to ₹10,000.

Maharashtra to get floating solar plants

• Maharashtra is all set to get floating solar power generation plants on four dams.




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• The backwater of Wardha, Bebala, Khadakpurna and Pentakli dams has been selected for setting up the floating solar panels as per the Swiss Challenge method.

• The estimated investment per megawatt is 4.45 crore rupees, with a total installed capacity of 500 MW.

Maharashtra govt to set up vigilance mechanism

• The Maharashtra government will soon set up its vigilance mechanism to ensure fast redressal of grievances regarding drought mitigation.

• The government will keep strict vigilance through tehsil and district level committees to ensure officials are available for farmers.

• The state government will recommend changes in the parameters for the compensation payment.

Univers. Smart Card Driving Lic to be launched

• Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has decided to modify the format of driving licenses to smart card type driving licences.

• It has prescribed a common standard format and design of the Driving Licence for the whole nation.

• Its application SARATHI, has a common countrywide database of all driving license holders.

• It has the feature to identify duplicate records online in real time.

Central ATFM Complex inaugurated

• Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister of State (I/c) for Civil Aviation inaugurated the Air Traffic Flow Management - Central Command Centre in New Delhi.

• The C-ATFM system is primarily meant to address the balancing of capacity against the demand to achieve optimum utilization of the major resources.

• It integrates flight data from various subsystems like ATC Automation System and flight updates.

Government developed National Strategic Plan

• The government has developed a National Strategic Plan with the goal for ending Tuberculosis (TB) by 2025.

• India accounts for 27.4 lakh estimated new TB cases annually, which is the highest in terms of absolute numbers.

• India ranks 35th in the world in terms of TB cases per lakh population.

• Over 5 lakh 62 thousand patients were cured of TB in 2018.

Government set up 713 Krishi Vigyan Kendras

• The Government has set up 713 Krishi Vigyan Kendras and 684 Agricultural Technology Management Agencies at the district level in the country for dissemination of technologies among the farming community.

• This is aimed at meeting the target of doubling the farmers' income by 2022.

• An Inter-Ministerial Committee has been constituted to examine issues relating to doubling of farmers' income.

Air Traffic Flow Management command inagurated

• The Central Command Centre for Air Traffic Flow Management (ATFM) was inaugurated in Delhi on 22 June 2019.

• The central ATFM system integrates flight data from various subsystems like ATC Automation System, flight updates and flight update messages.

• The system also displays weather information along with static information about airports, airspaces and air routes.

Kolhapuri Chappals gets GI tag

• Maharashtra's handcrafted leather Kolhapuri chappal has been given the Geographical Indication (GI) tag.

• The GI tag has been granted for Kolhapuris chappals to four districts of Maharashtra — Kolhapur, Solapur, Sangli and Satara.

• The artisans producing Kolhapuris in these districts will now be able to make and market their product in domestic and international markets.

Water clinic for elephants opens in Mathura

• India has opened its first specialised hydrotherapy treatment for elephants suffering from arthritis, joint pain and foot ailments in Mathura.

• The new hydrotherapy jumbo pool has 21 high-pressure jet sprays that create water pressure that massage the elephants’ feet and body.

• The facility is run in collaboration with the Uttar Pradesh Forest Department and the NGO Wildlife SOS.

NABCB secures international equivalence

• The National Accreditation Board for Certification Bodies (NABCB) secured international equivalence for its accreditation programme for personnel certification bodies in the annual meetings of the Asia Pacific Accreditation Cooperation in Singapore.

• NABCB, a constituent Board of the Quality Council of India, an autonomous body attached to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

Forex retail platform to roll out

• The currency trading platform for retail trading is ready for roll-out by the Clearing Corporation of India (CCIL) on August 5, 2019.

• It will enable transparent and fair pricing for retail users, such as individuals and micro, small and medium enterprises.

• The customer orders would be bunched up to make marketable lots of $5 million and above, which can be directly traded by CCIL platform.

35,000 km highways to be built by 2022




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• The government will build 35,000 km of highways, besides expressways, by 2022.

• Under the 'Bharatmala Project', construction or upgradation of about 35,000 kilometres of national highways is to be undertaken by 2022.

• In addition, under the 'Sagarmala Project', a network of good-quality roads is being constructed in coastal areas and areas adjoining ports.

Navy issued EOI for building 6 submarines

• The Centre has taken a major step towards building advanced submarines for the Indian Navy.

• The defence ministry issued an Expression of Interest to shortlist Indian strategic partners for the construction of six conventional submarines under Project 75 India (P-75I) worth about Rs 45,000 crore.

• This is a step towards opening a second production line for diesel-electric submarines in India.

Capacity Building Program organised

• The India International Institute of Democracy and Election Management (IIIDEM) (ECI) organized 5-day training programme on Use of Technology in Elections for Election Officials of Union Election Commission of Myanmar.

• The ongoing Capacity Building Programs on Electoral technology is the 7th program in the series of the 09 programs scheduled across 2018-2019.

Group constituted to solve e-commerce issues

• A group has been constituted under the secretary of the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade for ensuring inter-ministerial coordination on resolving issues related to e-commerce.

• A draft national e-commerce policy has been drafted and placed in public domain.

• The policy addresses broad areas of the e-commerce ecosystem such as infrastructure development and market places.

GST council simplified registration rules

• The GST Council has simplified rules for registration and Aadhaar will now be used by businesses for registration under GST.

• In the earlier system, people had to give various documents and now, several advantages will occur to the business by using Aadhaar.

• GST Council approved imposing a penalty of up to 10% on entities not passing on benefits of GST rate cuts to consumers.

FM chaired 35th GST Council meeting

• The 35th GST Council Meeting was held on 21 June 2019 under the chairmanship of Union Finance & Corporate Affairs Minister Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman.

• Altogether, 12 Agenda items were discussed during the Council meeting.

• Some of these items were of regular nature like confirmation of the Minutes of the 34th GST Council Meeting, deemed ratification by the Council of notifications.

Telangana started project to end water woes

• Telangana CM K Chandrasekhar Rao inaugurated world’s largest engineering marvel, Kaleshwaram lift irrigation project, at Medigadda Barrage in Kaleshwaram of Bhoopalpally district.

• The total estimated cost to finish this project is Rs 80,000 crores.

• The project will give assurance for employment, crop production, food security, poverty eradication and improvement of health.

Insolvency petition against Jet Airways filed

• National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) decided to admit an insolvency petition against Jet Airways Ltd filed by its creditors.

• The insolvency process will allow lenders led by SBI to sell the company as a whole or sell its assets and bring to end uncertainty over the airline's future.




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• NCLT instructed Interim Resolution Professional (IRP) to finish the process for the airline in 3 months.

President announced farmer income support

• President Ram Nath Kovind announced that the government was working towards a ₹25-trillion farm productivity spend and ₹900-billion annual spend on farmers’ income support.

• Fixing problems in the rural economy and giving relief to farmers was the top priority of the Narendra Modi government during its second term.

• ₹25 trillion will be invested to improve agriculture productivity.

Umemployed grad. in Rajasthan to get Rs.3500

• Unemployed youth having graduation or equivalent degree will be given unemployment allowance up to Rs 3,500 by the Rajasthan government.

• They will get the benefit of the Chief Minister Yuva Sambal Yojana from February 2019.

• To be eligible for the scheme, applicants should be natives of Rajasthan.

• The amount will be given for two years or until they get employed.

HP made GPS device must for trekkers

• The Himachal Pradesh government made it mandatory for trekkers to carry a GPS device to tackle any exigency.

• A decision in this regard was taken at a review meeting chaired by Additional Chief Secretary Shrikant Baldi on preparedness for the monsoon.

• Kullu and Dalhousie have been identified for installation of early warning systems.

Cancer Institute at GMC Jammu approved

• Ministry of Health and Family Welfare formally approved Rs.120 crore Cancer Institute at Government Medical College, Jammu.

• With the setting up of the facility at GMC Jammu, the patients now need not move outside the State for specialized treatment facilities.

• Earlier, one State Cancer Institute was approved for Shere Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences in Srinagar.

2-day workshop on piracy issues held

• A 2-day international workshop on issues related to piracy began in New Delhi on 19 June 2019.

• The participants are being trained on issues related to piracy and armed robbery such as international laws, prosecution process, forensics and emerging threats.

• It was organised by the Indian Coast Guard in cooperation.

PM to set up committee for an issue

• PM Narendra Modi chaired a meeting of Presidents of all political parties having representation in Parliament on the issue of One Nation One Election.

• He will form a committee to look into the various aspects of this issue in the country.

• The idea of One Nation, One Election envisages a system where elections to all states and the Lok Sabha will have to be held simultaneously.

4th National Yoga Olympiad organized

• A 3-day National Yoga Olympiad of school children, organised by the National Council of Educational Research and Training is being held at Chacha Nehru Bhawan in New Delhi.

• This is the fourth edition of National Yoga Olympiad. It was first started in the year 2016.

• The Olympiad creates awareness about a scientific and holistic way of living.

2 Jet Airways directors resigned

• Jet Airways informed about the resignation of two independent directors Ashok Chawla and Sharad Sharma.

• Information that Jet's shares will be removed from daily trading of futures and options from 28 June, further accelerated the fall in its shares.

• The airline has a total liability of about ₹25,000 crore, which includes dues of operational creditors.

Amendments to curb the use of black money

• Supreme Court-appointed Special Investigation Team (SIT) vice chairman Justice Arijit Pasayat suggested appropriate amendments in existing tax laws to curb the use of money power to win elections.

• Nearly Rs. 3,800 crore was seized from across the country during the time of elections in April-May 2019.

• SIT that was formed in 2014 has already prepared its seventh interim report.

Air India bid adieu to A320 Classic

• Air India’s Delhi-Mumbai flight, AI 865 was the last flight by Airbus 320 Classic aircraft, which will make way for the advanced and fuel-efficient Airbus 320 Neo.

• It flew 61,600 hours and carried out 38,000 landings.

• VT-ESL was the last of Air India’s A320 Classic fleet having been delivered to Air India 25 years back in 1994.

1st floating solar plant to be completed soon

• Vedanta's first pilot floating solar plant will be completed in the next 2-3 months.

• The plant will be located at Ghosunda Dam, near Chittorgarh, Rajasthan.

• The floating plant will contribute to saving water evaporation loss, thus resulting in the conservation of water.




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• The solar plant is expected to have an energy yield of 1,993 MWh a year and will be able to power 1,400 houses a year.

Govt launched pilot project in 5 states

• India has launched a pilot project to restore degraded forest landscapes in five states over the next 42 months.

• In the first phase, the pilot will be conducted in Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Nagaland and Karnataka.

• The project launched in partnership with the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

• It aims to enhance the capacity of forest landscape restoration (FLR).

Only BS-6 vehicles to be available from 2020

• Only BS-6 vehicles will be available from 2020 onwards, Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar said.

• Vehicles contribute 20-22% of pollution in the country.

• In Delhi, BS-6 fuel was started.

• Vehicles that will be available from next year will support BS-6 fuel only.

• Today, 60,000 trucks, which do not have any work in Delhi, now don't enter Delhi.

World Food India to be held from Nov 1

• World Food India will be held in New Delhi from 1st of November 2019.

• The event which will continue till 4th November will position India as Food Processing Destination of the World.

• Indian Food Processing Industry has grown tremendously recording 11% growth rate, which is twice the pace of Global Industry.

1st semi-open jail for women in Tihar

• The first semi-open prison for women will be inaugurated on June 20, 2019 in Tihar, Delhi.

• The premises are a 4 minute drive from Jail where 375 women inmates are lodged.

• On the first floor is a work station, where the five women make seviyan.

• Semi-open and open prisons for men have been functioning at Tihar Jail for a while now.

NITI Aayog's fifth governing council meeting

• PM Narendra Modi spelt out his government's vision 2024 at the NITI Aayog's fifth governing council meeting at Rashtrapati Bhavan.

• On the health front, PM Modi said tuberculosis should be wiped out by 2025.

• He announced a high-level task force to bring structural reforms in agriculture in the country. It will be formed in the near future and report will be submitted in the next 2-3 months.

IGNOU launched 6-month course in Yoga

• The Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) has launched a certificate programme in yoga (CPY) ahead of the upcoming International Yoga Day.

• The course will begin from July 2019 session.

• It will be imparted in the English language, and anyone who has passed Class XII from any recognized board, irrespective of their stream, will be eligible to get enrolled in the programme.

Skill University to be set up in Darrang

• Assam government will set up a Skill University at the cost of 850 crore rupees at Darrang district.

• This will be perhaps the first skill university of the country with a capacity of 10 thousand seats.

• The International Yoga Day will be observed at 459 centers of the Skill Development Mission.

High level force for agri reforms to be set

• The Centre is to set up a high-level task force for agri reforms.

• The decision was made in the fifth meeting of the NITI Aayog governing council.

• The task force is for undertaking structural reforms in agriculture, including strengthening logistics, produce marketing, food processing as well as changes to the Essential Commodities Act.

• The task force will constitute of few chief ministers.

New policy to protect Indian languages

• Rashtriya Siksha Ayog has been proposed to be set up under the Chairmanship of Prime Minister.

• The member of draft New Education Policy Prof. M K Sridhar said that the new policy protects the Indian languages which are on the verge of extinction.

• The new policy will put education on the pedestal of evaluation and performance and lay emphasis on teachers’ education.

Death toll rose to 83 due to Encephalitis

• In Bihar, the death toll due to Encephalitis in Muzaffarpur and adjoining districts reached 83.

• Union Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan asked Bihar government to establish ICU at primary health centres in Encephalitis affected areas.

• He emphasized to step up several measures to contain the disease at the initial stage when symptoms of Encephalitis detected in children.

New system for research journals launched

• The University Grants Commission (UGC) has launched a Consortium of Academic and Research Ethics (CARE).

• It will identify, continuously monitor and maintain UGC-CARE Reference List of Quality Journals across disciplines.

• This new list of approved journals will be available at newly launched website https://ugccare.unipune.ac.in.




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Govt to sign MoU for 300 gaushalas

• MP Government is set to sign a MoU with a company that has promised to build 300 Smart Gaushalas over the next 5 years.

• The company will not charge a penny from the government, but will make money by exporting items made from gaumutra, gobar and the stiff hairs on a cow’s tail’.

• The company has sought 50 acres of land for and will spend Rs 11 crore on each of them.

CBDT issued new norms

• The Central Board of Direct Taxes issued new norms for compounding of offences on 14 June 2019.

• The new guidelines have exclusion provisions, under which, offences under the Black Money and Imposition of Act, 2015, cannot be compounded in normal cases.

• This includes money laundering cases.

• Compounding means that the authorities agree to not prosecute offenders in return for a consideration.

2 women leading Chandrayaan 2 team

• For the first time, ISRO has 2 women project directors- Ritu Karidhal and Muthayya Vanitha for its inter-planetary mission Chandrayaan 2.

• Chandrayaan 2, all set for launch on July 15, is the most challenging mission for ISRO due to soft landing the organisation is attempting with its lander.

• The project cost is close to Rs 1,000 crore with the involvement of close to 600 industries.

Assam Transport Minister launched app

• Assam Transport Minister Chandra Mohan Patowary launched the State Transport Corporation's Chalo app for Guwahati on 14 June 2019.

• The app will help commuters to know about the live arrival time of their bus so they can plan their travel accordingly.

• Mr. Patowary also unveiled a one-of-a-kind transport map for the State Transport bus network in Guwahati that has been developed by Chalo.

DG to join hands with Cisco and Accenture

• Directorate General of Training (DGT) joined hands Cisco and Accenture, to skill youth for the digital economy, through its Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs).

• Nearly 15,00,000 students across all the ITIs in India can access the digital learning module via the Bharat Skills portal.

• Cisco will also provide access to Networking Academy courses directly to ITI students across the country.

20th Anniversary of Kargil victory

• The year 2019, marks the 20th anniversary of victory in ‘Operation VIJAY’ popularly known as the ‘Kargil War’.

• This year, the 20th anniversary is being celebrated with the theme ‘Remember, Rejoice and Renew’.

• The celebrations will be spread over 3 days from 25-27 July 2019 and will be organized at Dras and New Delhi.

ISRO to open its labs for school students

• ISRO has, for the first time, opened its laboratories for Indian school students to undergo two-week training from 2019.

• The first batch of 108 students recently completed their exposure in its laboratories in Bengaluru, Sriharikota, Thiruvananthapuram, and other places.

• The training module has been devised as part of its new Young Scientists Programme, or Yuva Vigyanik Karyakram, YUVIKA.

HCL to roll out TechBee

• HCL Technologies is all set to roll out Tech Bee, a company initiative.

• Under this, it will train and hire students who have completed Plus Two, across several states.

• As many as 700 students have now become employees of the company while some of them are pursuing higher studies as part of the initiative.




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India to build space station in 7 years

• India will build its own space station in low earth orbit to conduct microgravity experiments in space in 5 -7 years.

• The proposed Indian space station would be much smaller than the existing International Space Station (ISS).

• The prospects of setting up such a space station at an altitude of 400 kilometres from Earth would hinge on successfully carrying the 'Gaganyaan' human space mission.

ZPCC meeting began in Kohima

• The North-East Zonal Programme Co-ordination Committee, ZPCC Meeting of All India Radio Stations began on 13 June 2019 in Kohima.

• The meeting is being hosted by AIR Kohima under the aegis of Additional Director General (Programme), North East Region (NER).

• Heads of Programme and Programme Executives of the region were all a part of the 2-day meet.

Mizoram CM presented state budget

• In Mizoram, CM Zoramthanga presented the state budget for 2019-2020 amounting to 10,692.30 cr. in the state Legislative Assembly, on 13 June,19.

• A provision of 750 crore rupees for implementation of the Socio-Economic Development Policy (SEDP) has been proposed.

• The SEDP is the flagship program of the Mizo National Front (MNF) government.

• The budget proposals have not imposed any new taxes.

NIRDPR launched training programme

• The National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj (NIRDPR) launched a training programme.

• It is of Sustainable Livelihoods and Adaptation to Climate Change (SLACC) to help Rural Poor Farm Holds adapt to Climate Change and sustain their livelihoods.

• Total 638 drought and flood-prone villages of MP and Bihar are being covered on pilot basis under this first of its kind initiative.

Narendra Singh Tomar chaired meeting

• Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister Narendra Singh Tomar chaired a meeting with Agriculture Ministers of all States and Union Territories via video conference on 13 June 2019.

• The implementation of three key schemes were discussed in the meeting.

• These are Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojna (PM-Kisan), Pension Scheme for Small and Marginal Farmers and Kisan Credit Card Campaign.

E-FT to be set up in Assam

• The Centre approved setting up of e-Foreigner Tribunal (e-FT) in Assam.

• The proposed integrated e-FT IT system will be implemented across the state for effective monitoring and resolution of cases registered with Foreigner Tribunal.

• The main objective of the project is to maintain a statewide bio-metric and biographic data, to capture the illegal migrants’ data.

Cyclone 'Vayu' changed its course

• Cyclone 'Vayu' spared Gujarat after changing its course towards northwest but the threat of furious wind, dust storm and rainfall still continues.

• The India Meteorological Department issued an orange alert over Cyclone Vayu.

• A yellow alert signifies moderate danger, followed by an orange alert that means high danger level and a red alert means maximum level of danger.

ESI contribution rate reduced by govt.

• The Government of India has reduced the rate of contribution under the ESI Act from 6.5% to 4%.

• Reduced rates will be effective from 01/07/2019.

• This would benefit 3.6 crore employees and 12.85 lakh employers.

• The reduced rate of contribution will bring about a substantial relief to workers and it will facilitate further enrollment of workers under the ESI scheme.

Astitva exhibition inauguarated

• Shri Prahlad Singh Patel, Minister of State (I/C) of Culture & Tourism, Government of India inaugurated the exhibition titled 'Astitva: The Essence of Prabhakar Barwe'.

• It was inaugurated at National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi on 13 June 2019.

• It is the first of its kind to be held in New Delhi that will present his artistic oeuvre in four distinct phases.

Hypersonic missile successfully test fired

• India conducted a successful first test flight of the Hypersonic Technology Demonstrator Vehicle (HSTDV) from a base off the Odisha coast.

• The only other countries that possess this technology are the US, Russia, and China.

• The HSTDV is an unmanned scramjet demonstration vehicle that can cruise up to a speed of mach 6 and rise up to an altitude of 32. km in 20 seconds.

Jail for children abandoning elderly parents

• The Bihar government has approved the proposal to punish sons and daughters, who abandon their elderly parents, with a jail term.

• Such cases will be registered under the non-bailable section after receiving complaints from elderly parents.

Google Maps' new feature tested in India




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• Google is experimenting with a new off-route safety feature for Maps, exclusively in India for now.

• It will alert users if their cars or taxis deviate from their route by more than 500 meters.

• The off-route alerts can be found within the Stay Safer menu, which is accessible after the user has selected their destination but before they enter navigation mode.

29 children dead due to encephalitis

• Over 29 children have died in various north Bihar districts due to symptoms akin to that of acute encephalitis syndrome (AES).

• A 7-member team of experts from the central government is arriving here soon to find out exact reasons for the epidemic.

• About 19 deaths in this season were reported from the SKMCH in Muzaffapur alone.

RBI constituted a committee

• The RBI has constituted a 6-member committee to review the entire gamut of ATM charges and fees.

• Chief Executive of Indian Banks’ Association VG Kannan will chair the committee.

• The committee will review existing patterns of costs, charges and interchange fees for ATM transactions.

• It is to submit its report within two months from the date of its first meeting.

UP govt hiked old age pension

• Uttar Pradesh Government has hiked old-age pension in the age group 60 to 79 years by Rs.100 monthly.

• Now the old-age pensioners would receive 500 rupees per month from the existing 400 rupees.

• The 100-rupee hike would be enforced from January 2019.

• The newly hiked pension will benefit around 44.21 lakh people in the state.

VAYU: Cyclone warning for Gujarat coast

• The Very Severe Cyclonic Storm ‘VAYU’ over East-central Arabian Sea moved nearly northwards with a speed of about 13 kmph on 12th June 2019.

• It is very likely to move northwards and cross Gujarat coast between Porbandar and Mahuva as a Very Severe Cyclonic Storm with wind speed 145-155 kmph gusting to 170 kmph on13th June 2019.

Clean drinking water to be provided by 2024

• The Centre has set a target of providing clean drinking water to all by 2024.

• In states like UP, Bihar, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Odisha, the coverage of clean drinking water is less than 5%.

• Only in Sikkim 99% of households get tapped water.

• Emphasis will also be laid on water conservation, citing the widening gap between water supply and demand.

India's first dinosaur museum in Gujarat

• Gujarat has joined the Jurassic bandwagon with India’s first ever Dinosaur-Museum-cum-Park in Raiyoli in Mahisagar district.

• Gujarat CM Vijay Rupani inaugurated the museum that is set to give visitors a Jurassic Park feel.

• Located in Raiyoli area of Balasinor, the museum will have fossil records and remains of various dinosaur species.

Finance Minister held pre budget meet

• Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman held her first pre-budget consultation meeting with representatives of farm bodies, Industry and Trade in New Delhi.

• In the meeting, she sought the views of different agriculture organisations and farm economists on ways to boost the farm sector growth and double farmers' income.

• Mrs Sitharaman will present the budget on 5th of July 2019.

NDMA conducted training programme

• The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) is conducting a basic training programme at the Deendayal Port Trust in Kandla, Gujarat.

• The 5-day training programme is aimed at increasing awareness and enhancing the preparedness of Seaport Emergency Handlers (SEHs).

• Earlier this year, three batches of SEHs were trained at Mangalore, Kochi and Navi Mumbai.

States can now constitute Foreigners Tribunals

• The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has amended the Foreigners (Tribunals) Order, 1964.

• MHA has empowered district magistrates in all States and Union Territories to set up tribunals to decide whether a person staying illegally in India is a foreigner or not.

• Earlier, the powers to constitute tribunals were vested only with the Centre.

India's 1st BS-VI certificate released

• International Centre for Automotive Technology (ICAT) released India’s first Type Approval Certificate (TAC) for Bharat Stage - VI (BS – VI) norms for the 2-wheeler segment in New Delhi.

• The certificate was released and handed over by Director ICAT, Dinesh Tyagi to top officials of the OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturers).

Govt to procure 2 supercomputers

• The government will procure 2 more supercomputers whose combined computing powers would be 8 times the existing capacity.

• Plans are afoot to buy these supercomputers, with a combined total computing speed of 80 petaflops, at a cost of approximately ₹1,500 crore.




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• The new supercomputers will be set up at the two existing institutes of the MoES.

JDU not part of NDA outside Bihar

• Janata Dal-United, JD(U) has decided that it will not be part of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) outside Bihar.

• This decision was taken in the party's national executive meeting in Patna which was chaired by JD(U) President Nitish Kumar.

• The party will contest assembly polls separately in four states-Jharkhand, Haryana, Delhi, and Jammu & Kashmir.

Mumbai metro completed five years of operation

• The Mumbai metro completed five years of operation in June 2019.

• During the last five years of operation, Metro has achieved running the service without a single case of an accident or any fatality.

• The metro completed 6.17 lakh trips transporting 54 Crore commuters.

• The present metro line connects Versova western part of the metropolis to Ghatkopar in the central line.

Home Ministry issues advisory to WB

• The Centre has strongly advised the West Bengal government to ensure that all necessary measures are taken to maintain law and order, peace and public tranquility in the state.

• Expressing deep concern over the violence even after the conclusion of General Elections, the Centre has asked the state to take strict action against officials.

Meeting on water crisis issues to be held

• The Centre will hold a meeting with Water Resources Ministers of different states on the issue of water conservation and drinking water on 11 June 2019.

• Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat will chair the meeting in New Delhi.

• He will discuss the issue of water crisis and seek states co-operation to overcome it.

Delhi Metro receives power from waste

• The Delhi Metro has become the first ever project in the country to receive power generated from a waste-to-energy plant.

• Delhi Metro has started receiving 2 MW power from a 12 MW capacity waste-to-energy plant set up in Ghazipur.

• The waste-to-energy plant set up by East Delhi Waste Processing Company Limited (EDWPCL).

Prahlad Singh Patel inaugurates Exhibition

• The Minister of State (I/c) of Culture & Tourism, Prahalad Singh Patel, inaugurated the exhibition titled 'Unknown Masterpieces of Himachal Folk Art', in New Delhi on 7 June 2019.

• The Exhibition is being jointly organised by the National Museum, New Delhi and Home of Folk Art (Museum of Tribal, Folk and Neglected Art).

• The exhibition was curated by Mr B.N. Aryan, Director, Home of Folk Art.

Govt to award media houses

• The government has decided to honour media houses for their contribution towards creating awareness about yoga.

• 33 awards will be given 11 each for newspaper organisations, TV and radio channels.

• A six-member jury will consider the entries in all 23 languages.

• Media campaigns on yoga from June 10 to June 25 will be considered for International Yoga Day, celebrated annually on June 21.

Paytm ahead of major banks in digi transact.

• Paytm Payments Bank has received a target of 501.16 crore digital transactions for the financial year 2019-20.

• It is higher than the targets set for major banks including HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, and Punjab National Bank.

• Paytm Payments Bank is only behind the State Bank of India, which has the highest target for digital transactions.




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Shiv Sena to distribute foodgrains to farmers

• The Shiv Sena will distribute foodgrains to farmers staying in fodder camps in nine drought-affected districts of Maharashtra.

• Shivsena chief Uddhav Thackeray will kick-off the initiative in memory of late party supremo Bal Thackeray, in Salegaon village in Jalna district.

• There are 34 fodder camps in Jalna and 28 in Aurangabad.

New species of beetles found in Tawang

• A new species of dung beetle was discovered in Arunachal Pradesh’s Tawang district.

• The new discovery named ‘Enoplotrupes tawangensis’ is a 27-mm-long insect, relatively bigger than most dung beetles.

• The shining dark blue insect was first examined by two scientists from the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) -- Kailash Chandra and Devanshu Gupta.

CM Yogi unveiled a 7 foot tall statue

• UP CM Yogi Adityanath unveiled a 7-foot tall statue of Lord Rama at the Shodh Sansthan museum in Ayodhya on 7 June, 2019.

• Adityanath will also inaugurate the event to celebrate Mahant Nritya Gopal Das.

• The statue is made out of a single rosewood block statue which was from Karnataka.

Andhra CM to get 5 deputies

• Jagan Mohan Reddy, who took power in Andhra Pradesh, will have a record five Deputy Chief Ministers.

• He would have five deputies and a full 25-member cabinet, which would represent the aspirations of all communities.

• The deputy Chief Ministers will represent SCs, STs, Backward Classes, minorities and the Kapu communities.

Delhi government plans free rides for women

• Delhi government has announced its plan to subsidize travel in public transport for women commuters in the Capital.

• The announcement was made by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

• The government intends to allow women to travel for free on metro trains and State-run buses by the month of August-September.

• The new scheme, which is to be implemented, is to encourage the use of public transport.

MP passes resolution to increase OBC quota

• Madhya Pradesh Cabinet passed a resolution to increase the percentage of reservation quota for Other Backward Classes from existing 14 percent to 27 percent.

• The move will lead to the reservation in the state breaching the Supreme Court-mandated 50 percent cap to reach 63 percent.

• Madhya Pradesh is the only state in the country to have a 27 percent quota for OBCs.

Indore's airport gets 'international' status

• Indore's Devi Ahilya Bai Holkar airport was declared as an international airport on 29 May 2019.

• The airport, named after Maharani Ahilya Bai Holkar of Indore, is considered as the busiest airport in Central India.

• An international airport has customs and border control facilities enabling passengers to travel between countries.

India's only orangutan dies in Odisha

• Binny, India’s only orangutan, has died at Nandankanan Zoological Park in Odisha.

• Binny was brought from the Rajiv Gandhi Zoological Park in Pune to the zoo in 2003.

• Binny was undergoing treatment for an infected wound on her throat for the last two years.

Rajasthan government banned E-cigarettes

• Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot announced the ban on the sale of e-cigarettes in Rajasthan.

• Gehlot issued the order on the occasion of World No Tobacco Day on May 31.

• The government had banned the online or offline sale, storage, production, distribution, and advertisement of e-cigarettes in the state.

Science Film Festival to be held in Agartala

• 10th National Science Film Festival of India will be in Agartala, Tripura in January-February 2020.

• This is for the second time the event will be held in a North-Eastern city. It will be jointly hosted by Vigyan Prasar of the Central Government, State Government, and Tripura Central University.

• Chief Minister of Tripura is Biplab Kumar Deb.

Personalities in News

Priya Serrao crowned Miss Universe Australia

• Priya Serrao has won the Miss Universe Australia title for 2019.

• She will now represent Australia in the Miss Universe competition later this year.

• Western Australia’s Bella Kasimba and another Victorian Marijana Radmanovic rounded out 2019’s top three, placing second and third.

First black female Bishop appointed

• The Church of England’s first black female bishop has been appointed by Downing Street.

• Rose Hudson-Wilkin, the chaplain to the Speaker of the House of Commons, was announced as the new bishop of Dover.

• Hudson-Wilkin will succeed the Rt Rev Trevor Willmott, who retired from the role in May 2019.




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• She will be consecrated in November 2019.

Nirmala Sitharaman among 100 influ women list

• Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is among the 100 most influential women driving the UK-India relationship forward.

• The '100 Most Influential in UK-India Relations: Celebrating Women' list was launched by UK Home Secretary Sajid Javid to mark India Day in the Houses of Parliament in London.

• Penny Mordaunt, Britain's Secretary of State for Defence, is the other politician in the list.

E. Sreedharan resigned as Advisor

• The Principal Advisor to Lucknow Metro Rail Corporation (LMRC) Padma Vibhushan E. Sreedharan submitted his resignation citing health issues.

• Sreedharan, popularly known as the Metro Man, has years of experience in handling mega Metro projects in the country.

• In February 2014, LMRC appointed Sreedharan as its Principal Advisor for shaping the project in the state capital.

RBI's Deputy Governor resigned

• Viral Acharya who had made a fervent pitch for autonomy for the RBI, has quit 6 months before the scheduled end of his term.

• Acharya, who joined the central bank on January 23, 2017, was RBI's youngest deputy governor post economic liberalisation.

• Acharya has been uncomfortable ever since the exit of Urjit Patel as Governor of RBI.

Virat fined 25% of his match fee

• Virat Kohli has been fined 25% of his match fee for aggressive appealing during World Cup match against Afghanistan.

• He was found to have breached ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel.

• One demerit point has also been added to the disciplinary record of the Indian skipper.

• It is his second offence since the introduction of the revised code in September 2016.

Modi voted 'world's most powerful leader 2019'

• PM Narendra Modi was voted the 'World's Most Powerful Person 2019' in the reader's poll conducted by UK-based British Herald magazine.

• PM Modi received 30.9% of total votes to beat US President Donald Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

• PM Modi will feature on the cover page of the July 15 edition of the magazine.

Fernando Torres announced retirement

• Former Liverpool and Chelsea striker Fernando Torres announced his retirement from football.

• He scored 81 goals across four seasons with Liverpool and won the Champions League, Europa League and FA Cup with Chelsea.

• A World Cup winner with Spain in 2010, Torres announced his retirement through social media.

Abhinav Bindra appointed to sort AAI Mess

• Abhinav Bindra was appointed as an independent person by the World Archery to sort out the ongoing mess in the national federation (AAI).

• The world body de-listed the Archery Association of India for violating the constitution by unanimously electing two parallel bodies in Chandigarh and New Delhi.

• He will be part of the selection panel, also consisting of IOA secretary general Rajeev Mehta.

2 Jet Airways directors resigned

• Jet Airways informed about the resignation of two independent directors Ashok Chawla and Sharad Sharma.

• Information that Jet's shares will be removed from daily trading of futures and options from 28 June, further accelerated the fall in its shares.

• The airline has a total liability of about ₹25,000 crore, which includes dues of operational creditors.

Ms. Das to head Indian Cultural Centre

• Shrimati C. Das, an academician and a translator from Hubballi, has been appointed Director of Gurudev Tagore Indian Cultural Centre in Mexico. The appointment of Ms. Das is for three years with the diplomatic rank of First Secretary.

• Former WB Congress chief Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury will be the Congress party’s leader in the Lok Sabha. K. Suresh from Kerala will be designated as Chief Whip.

Zuzana: 1st female Slovakia President

• Zuzana Caputova was sworn in as Slovakia's first female President.

• The swearing-in ceremony took place at Constitutional Court chair Ivan Fiacan parliamentary session held in Bratislava, Xinhua.

• She is the fifth president in the modern Slovak.

• She was elected in the month of March. She defeated Smer-SD candidate Maros Sefcovic.

Suman Rao crowned Miss India 2019

• Suman Rao from Rajasthan won Femina Miss India World 2019 Title.

• The ceremony was held at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Indoor Stadium, New Delhi.

• Shivani Jadhav, Chhattisgarh won Femina Miss Grand India 2019 title.




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• Shreya Shanker, Bihar won Miss India United Continents 2019 title.

Zonel Sougaijam enters Facebook ‘Hall of Fame’

• Zonel Sougaijam from Manipur has made it to Facebook’s 'Hall of Fame 2019' for detecting a WhatsApp bug that violated the privacy of a user.

• He found that during a voice call through WhatsApp, the bug used to allow the caller to upgrade it to a video call without the authorisation of the receiver.

• He is currently at the 16th positions in a list of 96 people in Facebook’s list for this year.

2 women leading Chandrayaan 2 team

• For the first time, ISRO has 2 women project directors- Ritu Karidhal and Muthayya Vanitha for its inter-planetary mission Chandrayaan 2.

• Chandrayaan 2, all set for launch on July 15, is the most challenging mission for ISRO due to soft landing the organisation is attempting with its lander.

• The project cost is close to Rs 1,000 crore with the involvement of close to 600 industries.

Persons in News

• Cancer-hit Malaysian Badminton star Lee Chong Wei announced his retirement on 13 June 2019.

• Senior TRS leader and Rajya Sabha Member Dr. Keshav Rao has been elected as Parliamentary Party leader.

• Virat Kohli is the only Indian on the Forbes World's Highest-Paid Athletes.

Tokayev took oath as President of Kajakhastan

• In Kazakhstan, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev took oath as the new President of the country.

• He was acting President following the surprise resignation of Nursultan Nazarbayev in March 2019.

• The career diplomat became the country’s second elected president after succeeding Nursultan Nazarbayev.

2nd resignation in Yes Bank

• Yes Bank's independent director Mukesh Sabharwal has stepped down from the lender's board of directors to devote his time to academic pursuits.

• Sabharwal has worked with the private lender for over seven years.

• The resignation comes a day after non-executive director Ajai Kumar quit the lender's board due to personal reasons.

Ashleigh Barty became world no. 2

• Ashleigh Barty has risen to the no. 2 position from number eight in the latest Women's Tennis Association (WTA) rankings after winning the French Open title.

• She is now 136 points away from the number one ranked women's tennis player Naomi Osaka (6486).

• Barty is the first Australian woman to win the French Open since Margaret Court in 1973.

Shikhar ruled out from the World Cup

• In-form senior India opener Shikhar Dhawan was ruled out of at least two World Cup matches after his left thumb was found to have a hairline fracture.

• Dhawan will miss the game against New Zealand and the marquee clash against Pakistan.

• Dhawan was the hero of India's win over Australia with a knock of 117 off 109 balls.

Yuvraj Singh announced retirement

• Yuvraj Singh announced his retirement from all forms of cricket on June 10, 2019.

• Yuvraj featured in 40 Tests, 304 ODIs and 58 T20Is, while also playing a pivotal role in India's two big triumphs - the 2007 World T20 and the 2011 World Cup.

Ajit Kumar quit Yes Bank Board

• Yes Bank informed that Ajai Kumar, non-executive director of the bank, has resigned citing personal reasons.

• The former chairman and MD of Corporation Bank was appointed to Yes Bank board on January 29, 2016.

• Mr. Kumar was appointed as the bank’s interim CEO for a month after Rana Kapoor’s term ended on January 31, 2019.

3 Indian-origin women among richest in the US

• 3 Indian-origin women have been named by Forbes among America’s 80 richest self-made women.

• The list has been topped by Diane Hendricks, who chairs ABC Supply, one of the largest wholesale distributors of roofing.

• Jayshree Ullal, Syntel Neerja Sethi, and Neha Narkhede are in the Forbes list of 'America’s Richest Self-Made Women 2019'.

Rihanna: World's richest female musician

• Forbes magazine has named Rihanna as the world’s richest female musician.

• Rihanna's Fenty Beauty brand business endeavors have officially made her the richest female musician in the world.

• Her worth is estimated at $600m (£472m) which includes revenues made from her fashion and beauty lines in addition to those from her music career.

First woman fighter pilot to fly Hawk jet

• Flight Lt Mohana Singh has become the first woman fighter pilot to fly by day on a Hawk advanced jet aircraft.

• Her training involved flying both air-to-air combat and air-to-ground missions.

• She and two other women officers, Bhawana Kanth and Avani Chaturvedi, joined the fighter stream in June 2016.




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• Flight Lt Bhawana Kanth became the first daytime woman fighter pilot to fly a MiG-21 Bison.

Government Policies & Schemes

Haryana govt launches Krishi Kiosk

• Haryana Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Minister, Om Prakash Dhankar launched 'Krishi Kiosk' at Panchkula for facilitating the farmers.

• Through this Kiosk, the farmers will not only be able to get information about the schemes of the Department, but the formalities related to claims to Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana can also be completed.

• He also flagged off the ‘Suchana Rath’ facility.

WB launches free crop insurance scheme

• West Bengal government has announced a crop insurance scheme in collaboration with the Agriculture Insurance Company of India (AIC), for the 2019 kharif season.

• The scheme called Bangla Shashya Bima is applicable for farmers in 15 districts.

• The crop insurance scheme would be free of cost for the farmers.

• The crops that will come under insurance are Aman paddy, aus paddy, jute and maize.

Govt cut interest rate on small saving schemes

• The government has reduced interest rate on small savings schemes, including the National Savings Certificate and Public Provident Fund, by 0.1% for the July-September quarter.

• PPF and NSC will fetch an annual interest rate of 7.9% from the existing rate of 8%, while Kisan Vikas Patra will yield 7.6%.

• The Sukanya Samriddhi Account will fetch a lower return of 8.4% from 8.5%.

83.62 lakh houses sanctioned under PMAY(U)

• The cumulative number of houses sanctioned under PMAY(U) now stands at about 83,62,975 after more than 2.5 lakh houses were sanctioned in 10 states.

• These figures were discussed in the 44th meeting of the Central Sanctioning cum Monitoring Committee (CSMC) under PMAY(U), held 28 June 2019.

• Secretary, Ministry of Housing& Urban Affairs, Durga Shanker Mishra was the Chairman of the meeting.

Go Tribal Campaign launched

• Minister of State for Tribal Affairs, Renuka Singh launched the Go Tribal Campaign by Tribes India on 28 June 2019.

• TRIFED has organized this event to institutionalize collaborations and partnerships with different organizations to promote tribal products.

• TRIFED is an organization under the Ministry of Tribal Affairs and is engaged in the marketing development of tribal products.

Entrepreneurship lessons at Delhi govt schools

• Delhi government is introducing a new curriculum with compulsory entrepreneurship lessons for classes 9-12 in 1,024 government-run schools from July 1.

• The non-graded subject, for which about 3,000 teachers are undergoing a week-long training, will comprise a daily 40-minute class.

• Students will get ₹1,000 as 'seed money' to enable them to develop an entrepreneurial mindset.

Chennai to get third desalination plant

• Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K. Palaniswami laid the foundation stone for the 150 MLD-desalination plant in Chennai.

• The project involves an outlay of ₹1,259.38 crore.

• Currently, there are two desalination plants each with a capacity of 100 MLD catering to the 10 lakh residents of North Chennai and 9 lakh residents of South Chennai.

• The new plant is expected to go on stream in 2021.

Bill to fine people for blocking ambulances




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• The Union Cabinet led by PM Narendra Modi has approved Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill.

• It proposes ₹10,000 fine for anyone seen blocking the way of emergency services such as ambulances on roads.

• The same amount of penalty would be levied in case of drunk driving.

• The Bill is yet to be passed in the Parliament.

30.6 lakh people enrolled under PM-SYM scheme

• Over 30.6 lakh persons have been enrolled so far under the Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Maan-dhan (PM-SYM) scheme.

• Under the scheme, Government provides assured monthly pension of 3,000 Rupees, for workers in the unorganised sector after 60 years of age.

• The highest number of beneficiaries was reported from Haryana at over 6 lakh, followed by Maharashtra at 5. 53 Lakh and UP at 5.10 lakh.

Scheme for smokeless kitchens in Maharashtra

• A pilot project aimed at providing a smoke-free environment in the kitchen for women will be launched by the Maharashtra government.

• The project, named 'Chullah-free and smoke-free Maharashtra', will target the women who have not benefited under the Ujjwala scheme.

• The pilot project will be implemented in Naxal- affected areas as well as the districts where the farmer suicide rate is high.

NITI Aayog to convert 2-wheelers to electric

• Government think-tank NITI Aayog has proposed that two-wheelers with an engine capacity less than 150 cc to be converted to electric by 2025.

• Moreover, it also aims to make three-wheelers to be fully electric by 2023.

• Niti Aayog has reportedly asked conventional two-wheeler and three-wheeler makers to suggest concrete steps towards transition to electric mobility within two weeks.

Government to widen Khelo India Programme

• The new government has decided to widen the spectrum of the 'Khelo India Programme' to cover the entire country.

• Under this programme, 2,500 talented players have been selected and are being trained.

• This facility will now be provided to 2,500 new players every year.

Government to revamp Mudra Scheme

• The finance ministry plans to revamp Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojna (PMMY), to ensure better access to credit for small firms, boost entrepreneurship and promote financial inclusion.

• Under the scheme, collateral-free loan of up to ₹10 lakh falls under three categories—Shishu, Kishore and Tarun.

• Shishu accounts for loans of up to ₹50,000, while ₹50,001 to ₹5 lakh are disbursed under Kishore.

Maharashtra govt to launch new programme

• Maharashtra government will soon launch the Chief Minister's Employment Generation Programme for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).

• It will create 10 lakh jobs in the next 5 years.

• The flagship programme of the Industries Department will have 30% reservation for women entrepreneurs.

• The scheme envisages setting up one lakh units in five years, 40 per cent of them in rural areas.

New policy to protect Indian languages

• Rashtriya Siksha Ayog has been proposed to be set up under the Chairmanship of Prime Minister.

• The member of draft New Education Policy Prof. M K Sridhar said that the new policy protects the Indian languages which are on the verge of extinction.

• The new policy will put education on the pedestal of evaluation and performance and lay emphasis on teachers’ education.

Bihar launches pension scheme for poor

• On 14 June 2019, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar launched the Mukhyamantri Vriddha Pension Yojna for poor people above 60 years of age in the state.

• Poor people above 60 years of age will get Rs. 400 per month and those above 80 years will get Rs. 500 per month.

• The scheme, which is effective from April 1, 2019, will not cover retired government employees.

Farmers to contribute Rs.100 per month

• Farmers will have to contribute 100 rupees per month under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Pension Yojana.

• The scheme seeks to provide a minimum fixed monthly pension of 3,000 rupees on the attainment of 60 years.

• The central government will also contribute an equal amount to the pension fund to be managed by the LIC, which will be responsible for the pension payout.

E-gov initiatives for ST schemes launched

• Shri Arjun Munda, Union Minister for Tribal Affairs launched the “e-governance initiatives for ST Welfare schemes” on 12 June 2019.

• These e-governance initiatives will serve their purpose of the betterment of tribal communities across the nation.

• Ministry of Tribal Affairs has developed online portals namely DBT Tribal and NGO Grants Online Application & Tracking System for the same.

Swachh Survekshan League launched




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• Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Puri launched Swachh Survekshan League 2020 on 6 June 2019.

• It will be conducted in three quarters of 2019 and the final quarter in 2020.

• The results of the League will form part of Swachh Survekshan 2020, the 5th edition of the annual cleanliness survey of urban India to be conducted in January-February 2020.

PM Modi reconstitutes Niti Aayog

• PM Modi reconstituted the federal policy think-tank National Institution of Transforming India (NITI) Aayog by introducing key Cabinet ministers as ex-officio members.

• Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah, Nirmala S and Narendra Singh are now ex-officio members of the think tank that is headed by Modi.

• Rajiv Kumar will continue to be the vice-chairperson.

Govt. to bolster employment,economic growth

• PM ordered the formation of two new Cabinet committees that will focus on employment and economic growth.

• The committees are constituted under PM's chairmanship.

• The Cabinet Committee on Employment and Skill Development constitutes of 10 members including Amit Shah,FM Nirmala,Piyush Goyal,Narendra Singh,Ramesh Pokhriyal,Dharmendra Pradhan,MahendraPandey,Santosh Gangwar and Hardeep Singh.

Air India subsidiary commence from Jharsuguda

• Air India's subsidiary,Alliance Air started two new flights from Odhisha's Veer Surendra Sai (VSS) Airport in Jharsuguda.

• The two new flights will connect Jharsuguda with Bhubaneswar and Chattisgarh's capital Raipur.

• The two flight were launched under the Centre's aUde Desh Ka Aam Nagrik' (UDAN) scheme.

Campaign 'SelfiewithSapling' launched

• Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar launched a people’s campaign #SelfiewithSapling urging all to join and plant a sapling and post the selfie with the sapling on social media.

• This year the theme of Environment Day is Air Pollution.

• Air pollution is the biggest environmental health risk of the current time.

Cabinet approves Rs 3,000 pension for 60y old

• The Cabinet chaired by PM decided to give monthly pension of Rs 3,000 to small traders,businessmen and shopkeepers after they attain the age of 60 years.

• All small shopkeeper with Goods and Services Tax (GST) turnover below Rs 1.5 crore and aged between 18 and 40 years can enroll themselves for the scheme.

• The decision is likely to benefit 5 crore small traders in the coming three years.

New initiative to control Foot & Mouth Disease

• This initiative pertains to controlling Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) and Brucellosis to support the livestock rearing farmers.

• FMD is very common amongst the livestock.

• If a cow/buffalo gets infected with FMD, the milk loss is upto 100% which could last for four to six months. Further, in case of Brucellosis the milk output reduces by 30%, during the entire life cycle of animal.

PM-KISAN Yojana extended to all farmers

• PM-KISAN Scheme extension to include all eligible farmer families irrespective of the size of land holdings.

• The key element of PM-KISAN is income support of Rs.6000/- to the small and marginal landholder farmer families with cultivable land holding upto 2 hectare across the country which has been now expanded.

• The amount will be released in three 4-monthly instalments of Rs.2000/- each year

New Draft Policy for education and RTE

• A committee led by Chairman Dr Kasturirangan submitted the Draft National Educational Policy 2019 to improve the education structure and expansion of Right to Education (RTE)

• The government had initiated the process of formulating a New Education Policy to meet the changing dynamics of the requirements of the population with regard to quality education, innovation and research.

Jal Shakti Ministry formed by Modi Government

• A new ‘Jal Shakti’ Ministry in which the Ministries of Water Resources and Drinking Water and Sanitation will be merged.

• Shekhawat took charge of the Ministry on Friday, a day after he was sworn in as a Cabinet Minister.

• The Ministry will encompass issues ranging from international and inter-State water, the flagship initiative to clean the Ganga and the provision of clean drinking water.

Science & Technology

NASA witnessed biggest methane gas emission

• NASA has confirmed that the Curiosity rover recently detected the largest amount of methane ever measured during the mission.

• The levels were enough to pause the rover's activities as scientists sought more answers.

• Curiosity's methane reading came to 21 parts per billion units by volume, which is thrice the amount it sniffed out during a surge in 2013.

Astronauts returned to earth from ISS




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• The first crew to the International Space Station after Russia's launch accident returned to earth safely on 25 June 2019.

• Anne McClain, Oleg Kononenko of Roscosmos and David Saint-Jacques touched down near the Kazakh city of Dzhezkazgan.

• The trio's launch on 3rd December 2018 was the first after a Soyuz rocket carrying Russia's Aleksey Ovchinin and US astronaut Nick Hague failed.

Tech-Mahindra introduced AI Humanoid

• Tech Mahindra Ltd introduced K2, the first Human Resource (HR) Humanoid, for its Noida Special Economic Zone Campus in Uttar Pradesh.

• K2 would take over the routine HR transactions to provide constant assistance to the HR team in creating an enhanced employee experience.

• It can respond to queries with text display along with speech and can address general HR-related employee queries.

June 21 is longest day of the year

• June 21, marks the beginning of summer season solstice, which is the longest day of the year.

• The summer solstice also called estival solstice or mid-summer.

• The Summer Solstice is when the tilt of the earth's axis is most inclined towards or away from the sun and when the sun reaches its highest position in the sky, it's the day with the longest period of daylight.

Cancer cell detection ‘dots’ developed

• A team of scientists in Assam has developed a chemical process that turns ‘dirty’ coal into a 'carbon quantum dots' (CQDs) to help detect cancer cells.

• CQDs are carbon-based nanomaterials whose size is less than 10 nanometre.

• Carbon-based nanomaterials are used as diagnostic tools for bio-imaging, especially in detecting cancer cells, for chemical sensing and in optoelectronics.

Startups get India's 1st drone certifications

• Directorate General of Civil Aviation has, in a first, certified one drone model each of two Bengaluru startups, Skylark Drones and Throttle Aerospace Systems.

• The drones are compliant with the NPNT (no permission, no take-off) protocol under the new drone policy.

• Under this protocol, a software layer allows drones to fly only after they get automated permission from authorities.

Japan researchers developed cooling vest

• Japanese researchers have developed a new type of cooling vest for sports athletes that may help them compete safely in sweltering summer conditions.

• The cooling vest is filled with ice packs and features a collar that can also cool the neck.

• The aim is to cool the athletes' upper-body skin which can decrease heart rate and temperature of their neck and skin.

Lander Vikram reached Sriharikota

• The lander and rover meant for India’s 2nd lunar mission Chandrayaan-2 reached the ISRO’s launch pad at Sriharikota.

• The rover called Pragyan is installed within the lander known as Vikram.

• Chandrayaan-2 will be launched GSLV-Mark-3 on July 15th with the aim of making the lander to soft-land on the South Pole of the moon by September 6, 2019.

• India would be the 4th country to do so.

Fresh crater spied on Mars

• A small space rock crashed into the Mars' surface recently, producing a fresh crater that researchers estimate is 49 feet to 53 feet (15 to 16 meters) wide.

• The dramatic feature is clearly visible in a newly released image from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO).




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• A color image from HiRISE, shows a large black-and-blue bruise on the landscape amid a flat area of red Martian dirt.

Highest operating weather stations installed

• The National Geographic Society has successfully installed the world's highest operating weather stations on Mount Everest.

• The station will provide researchers, climbers, and the public with near real-time information about mountain conditions.

• The Balcony weather station is the first weather station installed at an elevation above 8,000 metres.

NASAs OSIRIS REx spacecraft creates new record

• NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft entered its second orbital phase around asteroid Bennu, called Orbital B.

• It broke its own world record for the closest orbit of a planetary body.

• The OSIRIS-REx spacecraft was sent to study the asteroid Bennu and return a sample from its surface to Earth.

• The spacecraft is on a seven-year journey.

Team Indus to build moon lander for NASA

• Team Indus is part of a consortium that has bagged a contract from NASA to design and build a lander for its next lunar mission in 2020.

• NASA has awarded the consortium a $97 million contract to fly four payloads to Mare Imbrium, a lava plain in one of the Moon’s craters, by September 2020.

Microsoft introduced next-gen Xbox console

• Microsoft introduced its next-generation Xbox console at its pre-E3 press conference in Los Angeles.

• Codenamed Project Scarlett, the console will be 4x more powerful than the Xbox One X, Microsoft claimed.

• The device promises faster load times, real-time ray-tracing capabilities, Xbox One backwards capability and will support 8K gaming.

NASA to test green fuel for spacecraft

• NASA is planning on testing a new fuel for spacecraft.

• Dubbed the Green Propellant Infusion Mission (GPIM) it uses a non-toxic, rose coloured solution that can be a breakthrough in space exploration.

• The GIPM is a spacecraft which will use the aforementioned fuel to power the mission.

Remdesivir may help protect against Nipah

• An experimental antiviral drug, remdesivir, designed to treat Ebola virus disease can effectively help fight off Nipah virus.

• Remdesivir completely protected four African green monkeys from a lethal dose of Nipah virus.

• Remdesivir, is being developed by Gilead Sciences, Inc. in collaboration with scientists from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

596 new plant and animal species found in '18

• Scientists and taxonomists have documented 596 new species of flora and fauna from India in the year 2018.

• The details of the discoveries were made public by the Botanical Survey of India (BSI) and the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI).

• Of the 596 species, 372 come under fauna (311 invertebrates and 61 vertebrates).

• The newly identified 224 plant species include seed plants, lichens, etc.

2 children milk teeth found in Siberia

• Researchers found two children's milk teeth buried deep in a remote archaeological site in northeastern Siberia.

• This discovery has revealed a previously unknown group of people who lived there during the last Ice Age.

• The group of people have been named as the Ancient North Siberians and described their existence as a significant part of human history.

Taxi aggregators to go electric by 2026

• India plans to order taxi aggregators convert 40% of their fleet of cars to electric by April 2026.

• Uber and Ola would need to start converting their fleet as early as next year to achieve 2.5% electrification by 2021, 5% by 2022,10% by 2023 before hiking it to 40%

• Motorcycles for commercial purposes like food delivery or for use by e-commerce companies will need to be electric from Apr 2023

FB will launch its Crypto Currency this month

• Facebook reportedly be unveiling this currency this month.

• The social media giant is calling its currency ‘GlobalCoin’ and its testing should probably begin by the end of the year.

• FB plans to launch a digital payments system using cryptocurrency in a 12 countries by the first quarter of 2020.

• There is also the possibility of having an ATM like machine for dispensing of this cryptocurrency.

NASA’s first SpaceX astronauts ready for space

• The first U.S. astronauts chosen to fly aboard a SpaceX capsule built for NASA.

• Space shuttle veterans Bob Behnken, 48, and Doug Hurley, 52 are slated for blastoff later this year from Cape Canaveral,Florida.In the debut manned flight of the Crew Dragon capsule to the International Space Station.

• California-based SpaceX,the privately owned venture owned by billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk.

China launches rocket from ship at sea




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• China successfully launched a rocket from a ship at sea for the first time.

• The Long March 11 rocket blasted off from a platform on a large semi-submersible barge in the Yellow Sea.

• The small rocket designed to be deployed quickly and from mobile launch sites such as a ship,carried seven satellites including one that measures sea-surface winds to forecast typhoons.

Wipro to acquire US-based ITI for ₹312 crore

• IT major Wipro will acquire US-based International Techne Group Incorporated (ITI) for $45 million (around ₹312 cr).

• ITI provides Computer Aided Design and Product Lifecycle Management interoperability software services.Founded in 1983 and headquartered in Ohio,USA.

• ITI has offices in the UK,Italy,Israel and Germany.It has 130 employees as of March 2019.Its revenue stood at $23.2 mn in FY'18

Trai plans to frame network testing rules

• The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) plans to frame pre-launch network testing rules for wired broadband operators on the lines of those in place for mobile services.

• The Trai recommendations came on the back of criticism from telecom operators that the regulator had failed to address network testing rules for wireless services after the entry of Reliance Jio in September 2016.

Earth recycles ocean floor to diamonds: Study

• Australia's Macquarie University researchers revealed salt traces trapped in many diamonds show they are formed from ancient seabeds that got recycled after being buried deep beneath Earth's crust.

• Researchers carried out experiments at extreme pressures and temperatures found 200 km underground.

• At 120-180 km depth, results showed salt balance similar to that found in natural diamonds.

M&M will be ready with BS-VI vehicles by FY20

• Mahindra & Mahindra(M&M) will be ready with BS-VI compliant petrol and diesel vehicles in 3-4 months or by end Q2FY20

• The company said it has invested more than ₹1,000 cr in developing new petrol and diesel engine platforms to comply with the BS-VI emission norms,which see implementation from 1 April 2020.

• In Europe the emissions transitioned from Euro stage-IV to stage-VI in over 10 yrs.

Govt will initiate 5G trials in 100 days

• The department of telecommunications(DoT) will auction airwaves in fifth generation or 5G and other bands in the current calendar year, newly appointed Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said after taking charge.

• 5G is seen as the next frontier in machine-to-machine communication,enabling secure connectivity between devices other than smartphones such as sensors,vehicles,robots and drones.

IATA calls on govt. to reduce carbon emissions

• The International Air Transport Association(IATA) has called on governments to implement the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA) as agreed through the UN International Civil Aviation Organisation(ICAO)

• CORSIA is the first global carbon pricing instrument for the industry sector.It will cap net carbon emissions from international aviation at 2020 levels.

Apple focus on health apps

• CEO Tim Cook and other leaders will make a keynote presentation at the Worldwide Developers Conference in San Jose, California, to unveil updates of Apple’s operating systems and a new approach to apps.

• Apple is launching a trio of new apps for the Mac – Music, TV, and Podcasts – to replace iTunes

Planet discovered in Neptunian Desert

• Astronomers have discovered an exoplanet with its own atmosphere in the Neptunian Desert.

• NGTS-4b, nick-named ‘The Forbidden Planet’ is smaller than Neptune but three times the size of Earth.

• The exoplanet has a mass of 20 Earth masses, a radius 20% smaller than Neptune, and temperature of 1000 degrees Celsius.

• It orbits around the star in only 1.3 days.

NASA plan to send equipment to Moon from 2020

• NASA has chosen Astrobotic, Intuitive Machines and Orbit Beyond to send equipment to the Moon.

• Donald Trump has accelerated the timetable for putting humans back on the Moon with 2024 the new target date.

• Each company has developed lunar landers of different sizes and shapes: one is tall, and the other two are more compact.

Committees & Recommendations

Centre forms 3 member panel

• The government of India approved the formation of a three-member dispute resolution committee.

• It will look into the disputes between private solar and wind power developers and public sector companies.

• The members of the committee under this mechanism will be former Heavy Industry Secretary M F Farooqui, former Coal Secretary Anil Swarup and former Sports Secretary A K Dubey.

Surjit Bhalla Committee on Trade and Policy




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• High Level Advisory Group (HLAG) headed by Dr. Surjit S. Bhalla has been constituted by the Department of Commerce.

• The HLAG will look into ways for boosting India’s share and importance in global merchandise and services trade.

• The Committee has recommended 'Elephant Bonds' as a specialised security product providing funds towards Long Term Infrastructure.

Govt forms working group for revision of WPI

• On 27 June 2019, the government has set up an 18-member working group for the revision of the current series of Wholesale Price Index (WPI).

• The working group is under the Chairmanship of Ramesh Chand, Member, NITI Aayog.

• The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade will be the nodal office for the group.

Committee Report and Survey

• The M. Ramachandran committee tasked by the government to look into the fares being collected by all-India tourist omnibuses on inter-State routes has recommended continuation of the fares.

• According to survey conducted by rural media platform Gaon Connection, loan schemes don't reach almost 60% people in rural India.

Panel to review margins on derivatives

• The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has decided to set up a working group to review the current framework of margins in the futures and options segment.

• The working group will be headed by NSE Clearing Ltd.

• It will submit its recommendations to the Secondary Market Advisory Committee.

• The existing margin requirement in the derivatives segment is increasing the cost of trading.

RBI constituted a committee

• The RBI has constituted a 6-member committee to review the entire gamut of ATM charges and fees.

• Chief Executive of Indian Banks’ Association VG Kannan will chair the committee.

• The committee will review existing patterns of costs, charges and interchange fees for ATM transactions.

• It is to submit its report within two months from the date of its first meeting.

Defence Minister Rajanth in 4 more committees

• Rajnath Singh's name in only two Cabinet committees - economic affairs and security.

• The government effected a change,bringing him in four more panels;those on political affairs,parliamentary affairs,Investment and growth,empowerment and skill development.

• Official sources said Singh will now head the Cabinet committee on parliamentary affairs of which Modi is not a member but shah is in.

Centre reconstitutes eight Cabinet commitees

• PM Modi-led Central government has reconstituted eight key cabinet committees including appointments committee,the cabinet committee on economic affairs and security among others.

• Modi is part of 6 committees,Amit Shah is part of all cabinet committees.Nirmala is part of all the committees except the Appointments Committee.

RBI sets up task force on secondary market

• The RBI constituted a task force to suggest policy and regulatory interventions required for the development of the secondary market in corporate loans, including loan transaction platform for stressed assets.

• The task force will be headed by Canara Bank Chairman T N Manoharan.

• Secondary loan market in India is largely restricted to asset reconstruction companies.

RBI sets up committee for housing finance

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has set up a committee to look into the current state of mortgage securitisation in the country.

• It will identify the issues faced by the securitisation market and give suggestions to develop it going ahead.

• Bain & Co's senior advisor Harsh Vardhan has been appointed as the chairperson of the committee.

Business & Economy

Shampoo-sachet health plan launched

• Payments service provider MobiKwik has launched ‘Shampoo-Sachet’ health plan.

• For this, it has partnered with health insurer Max Bupa.

• The idea behind the shampoo-sachet plan in the insurance sector is to make it extremely affordable and instantly available to the people.

• As part of its deal with Max Bupa, MobiKwik has launched a HospiCash plan that has an annual premium of Rs 135.

RBI sets base rate of 9.18% for NBFC-MFI

• The Reserve Bank of India has set an average base rate of 9.18% for Non-Banking Financial Companies and Micro Finance Institutions (NBFC-MFI) to be charged from their customers for the quarter beginning 1 July 2019.

• The Reserve Bank of India sets the average base rate for NBFC-MFIs on the basis of the average of the base rate of the five largest commercial banks.

RBI relaxed leverage ratio for banks

• The RBI relaxed the leverage ratio (LR) for banks to help them boost their lending activities.




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• The leverage ratio stands reduced to 4% for Domestic Systemically Important Banks (DSIBs) and 3.5% for other banks effective from the quarter commencing October 1, 2019.

• The leverage ratio, as defined under Basel-III norms, is Tier-I capital as a percentage of the bank's exposures.

Business and Economy

• India's automobile retail industry has sought recognition as micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in the Union Budget 2019-20 which will be presented on 5 July 2019.

• India’s current account deficit (CAD) widened to $57.2 billion, or 2.1% of GDP, in FY19 from 1.8% a year ago.

RBI's 13th Annual Conference

• RBI's 13th Annual Conference was held on 28 June 2019.

• The theme of the conference is 'Statistics for the Future - Select Issues'.

• RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das has cautioned against cherry-picking of data by experts, saying correlations can conveniently be used to establish "spurious causality" to achieve desired results.

SEBI tightens norms for MF investments

• Securities and Exchange Board of India tightened norms on investments by Mutual Funds (MFs).

• It came as a reaction to a series of credit-related events that put investor money at risk.

• SEBI said MFs will now be mandated to invest in only listed non-convertible debentures.

• Ajay Tyagi is the chairman of SEBI.

Payment firms can process abroad: RBI

• The RBI has said foreign payment firms can process transactions outside of the country but the related data should be brought back for local storage within 24 hours.

• Such data must be "deleted from the systems abroad", it added.

• The previous RBI directive in April 2018 didn't specify whether data can be processed abroad or should only be done locally.

Gross NPA's of banks may fall to 8% by March

• According to a report by credit rating agency, gross NPAs in the banking system are set to fall by 350 bps to 8 per cent by March 2020 from 11.5 per cent in March 2018.

• Since 2016, loans worth Rs 17 lakh crore have been identified as NPAs (nonperforming assets) with 80 per cent of these loans held by public sector banks.

RBI panel suggested Rs.5000 cr fund for MSMEs

• An RBI committee has suggested a ₹5,000 crore stressed asset fund for domestic micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).

• The committee to study the problems faced by MSMEs was chaired by U.K. Sinha, former chairman of the Securities and Exchange Board of India.

• India’s 63.38 million MSMEs contribute significantly to the country’s economic growth.

RBI union moots collegium

• RBI's employees association has called for a collegium of experts to select a new governor and deputy governors so as to ensure the autonomy of RBI.

• As per Section 8 of the Reserve Bank of India Act of 1934, the governor and deputy governors are appointed by the government.

• Acharya, the youngest ever deputy governor, resigned from his position a few weeks back.

L&T bagged Rs. 7000 crore project

• Larsen & Toubro (L&T) bagged a turnkey contract for building a power generation project worth over Rs 7,000 crore after a dry spell of three years.

• The company will do engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) for the 1,320 MW ultra-supercritical power plant in Buxar district in Bihar, for SJVN Thermal Private.

• This order is the biggest it has received for a power generation project.

Flipkart shares sold to Walmart

• Binny Bansal, the co-founder of Flipkart, sold around 54 lakh of his equity shares valued at $76 million to Walmart's Luxembourg entity FIT Holdings SARL.

• Doug Mcmillon is the CEO of Walmart, which is headquartered in Arkansas, United States.

• Flipkart is headquartered in Bengaluru, India.

Logistics sector to add new jobs

• The logistics sector is likely to add 149,000 new jobs between April and September of this fiscal.

• This was given in the TeamLease Services' biannual 'Employment Outlook' report.

• The report estimates that the logistics sector will witness a growth of 3%.

• The logistics sector employs around 8.24 million people as of second half of 2018-19.

SEBI to allow IPOs by tech companies

• SEBI plans to allow technology companies having superior voting right shares to launch their IPOs.

• It is planning to issue a new set of norms for differential voting rights.

• The new norms are particularly aimed at helping new technology companies with asset light business model.

Nalanda Capital exits Mindtree




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• Nalanda Capital sold its entire 10.61% stake in Mindtree Ltd to Larsen and Toubro Ltd (L&T) for ₹1,707.46 crore.

• The stake purchases from Nalanda, mutual funds and some index funds have brought L&T’s shareholding close to 48% in Mindtree.

RBI launched CMS for filing complaints

• The RBI has launched an application on its website for lodging complaints against banks and NBFCs.

• It will improve customer experience in timely redressal of grievances.

• RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das launched the Complaint Management System (CMS) i.e. a software application on 24 June 2019.

• The application also improves transparency by keeping the complainants informed.

India accounts for 6.3% of fish production

• As per the Fisheries Department, India is the second largest fish producing country in the world as it accounts for 6.3% of the global fish production.

• It also said the fisheries sector in the country is growing at the rate of 7%, sustaining 14.5 million fishermen.

• Fisheries sector is a sunrise sector in India.

US: India's largest merchandise trade partner

• The US overtook China to once again become India's top goods trading partner in 2018-19.

• India’s trade surplus with the US declined to $16.8 billion from $21.2 billion in 2018-19.

• The decline in India’s trade surplus with the US comes amid a year-long trade war.

• Also, India’s dependence on Chinese imports declined to $70 billion from $76 billion a year ago.

GST council simplified registration rules

• The GST Council has simplified rules for registration and Aadhaar will now be used by businesses for registration under GST.

• In the earlier system, people had to give various documents and now, several advantages will occur to the business by using Aadhaar.

• GST Council approved imposing a penalty of up to 10% on entities not passing on benefits of GST rate cuts to consumers.

NHB tightened norms on HFC's leverage

• The National Housing Bank (NHB) has tightened its rules on leverage and capital adequacy ratio for housing finance companies (HFCs).

• It now mandates HFCs to bring down their total borrowings to not more than 12 times their net-owned funds as on 31 March 2022.

• The capital adequacy ratio for HFCs has been increased to 13% by March 2020, 14% by March 2021 and 15% by March 2022.

Canara Bank updated rules for cash deposits

• From July 1, 2019, Canara Bank customers can deposit cash of up to Rs 50,000 for free only thrice a month.

• From the fourth transaction or for cash deposits of over Rs 50,000, there will be a service charge of Rs 1 per thousand, with a minimum of Rs 50 and a maximum of Rs 5,000 plus GST.

• For current account/overdraft/open cash credit account holders a minimum Rs. 100 will be charged.

Business and Economy

• Punjab National Bank (PNB) recovered ₹20,000 crore of bad loans during the financial year ended March 2019, almost double the recovery amount in the preceding year.

• Yes Bank shares fell as much as 4.3% to ₹98.75 on BSE, after credit agency Moody's put the company under review for a downgrade.

RBI fined South Indian Bank

• The RBI has imposed a fine of Rs. 10 lakh on South Indian Bank for violating norms regarding bank guarantees.




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• The penalty follows references from a government department and a private party alleging non-payment of invoked bank guarantees by the lender.

• Examination in this regard revealed a violation of RBI directions on 'Guarantees and Co-acceptances'.

World to get half its power from solar energy

• Nearly half the world’s electricity will come from renewable energy by 2050 as costs of wind, solar and battery storage continue to plummet.

• That titanic shift over the next three decades will come as electricity demand increases 62% and investors pump $13.3 trillion into new projects.

• Coal will be the biggest loser in the power sector, with its share of global generation at 12% in 2050.

RBI to infuse Rs. 12,500 liquidity

• The RBI will infuse ₹12,500 crore of liquidity into the system through purchase of government bonds.

• The Central bank would purchase five government bonds under open market operations (OMOs) on June 20, 2019.

• On June 11, the RBI had infused ₹15,000 crore into the system through OMO purchase of six government bonds.

RBI fell short of meeting Basel 3 norms

• RBI has fallen short of meeting the tougher requirements set under the Basel 3 norms as per a report by Basel Committee on Bank Supervision (BCBS).

• The committee reports that RBI is yet to publish the securitization framework and rules on total loss-absorbing capacity (TLAC) requirements.

• Globally, the norms held in the banking book had come into effect on 1 January 2018.

RBI fined HDFC bank Rs. 1 crore

• RBI fined HDFC Bank Rs 1 crore for not reporting frauds and non-compliance with other directions.

• The fine pertains to submission of forged bill of entries (BoEs) by certain importers to HDFC Bank for remittance of foreign currency.

• The penalty was imposed in exercise of powers vested in RBI under the provisions of Section 47A(1)(c) and Section 46(4)(i) of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949.

Black tiger shrimps back in Kerala

• Ending a decade’s slide in the production of black tiger shrimps, Kerala is experiencing a comeback of it.

• The MPEDA’s efforts to revive the production of black tiger shrimps on a mass sale of its seeds have been receiving encouraging feedback.

• The inaugural sale was done by MPEDA chairman K.S. Srinivas by handing over 1 lakh seeds to former Kerala Director-General of Police Hormis Tharakan.

Miscellaneous

• Amazon India is the most attractive employer brand in the country followed by Microsoft India and Sony India, says a survey. Others in the top 10 include Mercedes-Benz at 4th position, IBM (5th), and Larsen & Toubro (6th).

• Yes Bank Ltd. plans to raise $1.2 billion over 18 months to bolster its capital buffer through a mix of public and private share sales.

Fitch cut India's growth forecast to 6.6%

• Fitch lowered India's growth forecast to 6.6% for the current fiscal from 6.8% projected earlier.

• In its latest Global Economic Outlook, Fitch retained its GDP growth forecast for the next fiscal (2020-21) at 7.1% and 7.0% for 2021-22.

• In the last fiscal, the Indian economy grew at a 5-year low pace of 6.8%.

• India's GDP growth declined for the fourth consecutive quarter in January-March.

New income tax rules from June 17

• The new income tax guidelines kicked in from June 17, 2019, and apply to all cases for compounding received on or after this date.

• Offences forming category 'A' include failure to pay tax deducted at source under Chapter XVII-B or tax payable under Section 115-0.

• The category 'B' offences include willful attempt to evade tax and failure to produce accounts and documents.

'My Protection Quotient' tool launched

• Max Life Insurance Co. Ltd. has launched 'My Protection Quotient' tool (MyPQ).

• MyPQ tool will gauge the level of an individual's financial protection and promote awareness and importance of term plans in protecting the financial future of families.

• The tool will post a set of diverse questions to seek inputs on their level of preparedness for all possible financial responsibilities.

Edelweiss & Bank of Baroda to co-lend to SMEs

• ECL Finance and Bank of Baroda signed an agreement to form a strategic partnership to explore co-lending opportunities.

• Both entities will jointly offer loans and expertise for the growing needs of micro, small and medium enterprises besides self-employed as well as priority sector groups.

• ECL Finance is the flagship non-banking financial company of Edelweiss Group.

FundzBazar launches 'Selfiewala KYC'

• Online mutual fund investment platform FundzBazar announces the release of its new feature called 'Selfiewala KYC' for first-time mutual fund investors.




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• The feature is hassle-free and investors can complete their KYC process from the comfort of their home or office using mobile or laptop in just a few minutes.

• This feature will speed up the KYC process and save time.

WPI inflation at 2-year low of 2.45%

• Wholesale price-based inflation slipped to 2.45% in May helped by falling prices of food articles, fuel, and power items.

• The Wholesale Price Index (WPI)-based inflation was at 3.07% in April. It was 4.78% in May 2018.

• Inflation in food articles basket was 6.99%, down from 7.37% in April.

• However, onion prices spiked during the month with inflation at 15.89%, against (-) 3.43% in April.

RBI tightened noose around banks

• The RBI asked banks to ensure their ATMs are grouted to a wall, pillar, or floor by September-end, except those installed in high secured premises.

• The RBI has told banks that they will have to pay penalty for keeping ATMs dry.

• Banks can not keep ATMs out of cash for more than 3 hours, doing which will attract penalty and the penalty will be imposed region-wise.

India to impose retaliatory tariffs

• India has decided to impose retaliatory tariffs on 29 goods imported from the U.S. from June 16, 2019 onwards.

• The tariffs will place a burden of $220-290 million on the U.S.

• A Tariff is a tax or duty to be paid on a particular class of imports or exports.

Mizoram CM presented state budget

• In Mizoram, CM Zoramthanga presented the state budget for 2019-2020 amounting to 10,692.30 cr. in the state Legislative Assembly, on 13 June,19.

• A provision of 750 crore rupees for implementation of the Socio-Economic Development Policy (SEDP) has been proposed.

• The SEDP is the flagship program of the Mizo National Front (MNF) government.

• The budget proposals have not imposed any new taxes.

TCS has higher market value than IBM

• India's largest software services company Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has surpassed IBM in terms of market capitalisation.

• The market cap of TCS stood at ₹8.37 lakh crore ($120.5 billion) compared to IBM's $119.5 billion.

• TCS reported revenue of $20.9 billion in the previous fiscal while IBM ended 2018 with $79.6 billion in revenue.

New GST return system to be introduced

• The GST Council has decided to introduce a new GST return system to facilitate taxpayers.

• A plan has been worked out to ease the transition to the new return system.

• There are 3 main components to the new return - one main return (FORM GST RET-1) and two annexures (FORM GST ANX-1 and FORM GST ANX-2).

• A prototype of the offline tool has already been shared on the common portal.

NPAs plunge to 9.3% in FY19

• The system-wide non-performing assets stock has declined massively to 9.3% in March 2019.

• This is much faster than the RBI's estimate and steeply down from 11.5% in 2018.

• In its half-yearly financial stability report, RBI had estimated that the gross nonperforming assets ratio might improve to 10.3% by March 2019 from 10.8% in September 2018.

Finance Minister held pre budget meet

• Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman held her first pre-budget consultation meeting with representatives of farm bodies, Industry and Trade in New Delhi.

• In the meeting, she sought the views of different agriculture organisations and farm economists on ways to boost the farm sector growth and double farmers' income.

• Mrs Sitharaman will present the budget on 5th of July 2019.

Cheque books for no-frills accounts

• The RBI has allowed banks to offer cheque book facility and other services to the no-frills account holders.

• But they could not ask such account holders to maintain any minimum balance for such services.

• As per the norms of no-frills account, account holders are not required to maintain minimum balance and can get certain minimum facilities for free.

L&T launches ‘Digital Sakhi’ in Tamil Nadu

• L&T Financial Services’ (LTFS) ‘Digital Sakhi’, an educational programme aimed at digital financial inclusion of rural women, was launched in 20 villages of Villupuram district in Tamil Nadu.

• LTFS in association with Sri Aurobindo Society will train and develop a team of 100 rural women (Digital Sakhis) as digital enablers.

Index to measure fiscal performance launched

• Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has launched a Fiscal Performance Index (FPI) to assess state and central budgets.

• The Index incorporates qualitative assessments of revenue expenditure, capital expenditure, revenues, fiscal prudence and the level of public debt arrive at a more




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holistic picture of fiscal performance than the fiscal deficit to GDP ratio.

YES Bank conducts e-auction for forest produce

• YES Bank has conducted the first e-auction of forest produce in Dhanora Mahasangh in Maharashtra.

• The online auction enables the online purchase of goods aimed at facilitating effective and transparent price discovery.

• YES Bank said that this was done in April under the A.R.T approach along with their fintech partner, Sparsh Technologies.

Fincare SFB included in 2nd schedule

• Fincare Small Finance Bank and Kookmin Bank have been included in the second schedule of the Reserve Bank of India Act.

• The Banks can now issue certificates of deposits and get access to interbank borrowings at competitive interest rates.

• They can also get deposits from new sources such as governments, public sector undertakings, corporates, etc.

Paytm ahead of major banks in digi transact.

• Paytm Payments Bank has received a target of 501.16 crore digital transactions for the financial year 2019-20.

• It is higher than the targets set for major banks including HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, and Punjab National Bank.

• Paytm Payments Bank is only behind the State Bank of India, which has the highest target for digital transactions.

SBI cut interest rate on CC/OD

• State Bank of India announced introduction of repo rate linked home loans from 1 July.

• It will pass on the 25 bps repo rate cut, announced by the Reserve Bank of India, to some cash credit borrowers.

• The effective repo-linked lending rate (RLLR) for CC/ OD customers is 8% now, while for savings deposits above ₹1 lakh the new rate would be 3%.

RBI relaxed stressed asset norms

• The RBI issued a new prudential framework for resolution of stressed assets, effectively replacing its controversial 12 February 2018 circular.

• Three major changes mark the new circular.

• The central bank has made it voluntary for lenders to take defaulters to the bankruptcy court.

• The framework now applies to a larger universe of lenders.

• Penal provisions have been introduced for lenders.

Kotak Mahindra penalised by RBI

• The RBI imposed a penalty of Rs. 2 crores on Kotak Mahindra Bank for not complying with the central bank's directions to furnish details of its promoter shareholding.

• The bank was directed by RBI to furnish information about details of the shareholding held by its promoters.

• It also asked the bank to submit details of the proposed course of action or strategy of the bank.

India's 1st mutual fund side pocket launched

• Tata Mutual Fund has announced plans to introduce segregated portfolios (side pockets) in three schemes.

• This instance is India’s first formal use of the side pocketing provisions introduced by SEBI in December 2018.

• This is the first time an AMC is actually proposing to carry out the procedure.

HDFC Bank appointed new Auditor

• After the RBI restricted audit firm S.R. Batliboi & Co. Llp from auditing commercial banks for a year, HDFC Bank cancelled the appointment of the auditor.

• HDFC Bank has now appointed MSKA & Associates as its new statutory auditor.

• Accordingly, the Bank cannot appoint S.R.B as the Statutory Auditor of the Bank as was earlier proposed.

RBI removes NEFT, RTGS payment charges

• RBI has removed charges for payments via NEFT and RTGS.This means that payments via NEFT and RTGS would become either free or charges would be low.

• RBI levies minimum charges on banks for transactions routed through its Real Time Gross Settlement System (RTGS) meant for large-value instantaneous fund transfers and the National Electronic Funds Transfer System for other fund transfers.

RBI cuts repo rate by 25 bps to 5.75%

• RBI Monetary Police Committee unanimously cut repo rate,the rate at which it lends to banks by 25 basis points from 6% to 5.75%.

• The bank also changed the monetary policy stance from neutral to accommodative.

• This is the third straight interest-rate cut under RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das, who also heads the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC).

DHFL's stake sold to Warburg Pincus

• RBI has approved the sale of DHFL's stake in Avanse Financial to Warburg Pincus Group.

• DHFL board had approved the divestment of the company's entire 30% shareholding in Avanse Financial Services Limited to Olive Vine Investment, an affiliate of the Warburg Pincus Group.

• Avanse Financial Services is an education-focused NBFC. It is an associate enterprise of of housing finance firm DHFL.

Govt may announce infusion of ₹4,000cr in PSU




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• The government is likely to announce infusion of about ₹4,000 crore in three public sector general insurance companies to shore up their capital-National Insurance Company,Oriental Insurance Company and United India Insurance Company.

• The capital infusion will help them improve their financial health to an extent that the proposed merger of the general insurance firms.

Bank Fraud touched Rs 71,500 Crore in 2018-19

• The Reserve Bank of India has revealed that over 6,800 cases of bank fraud involving an unprecedented ₹71,500 crore were reported in 2018-19.

• This is 74% higher than the amount involved in 5,916 such cases reported in 2017-18.

• The bank frauds were categorised and analysed for 13 sectors, including gem and jewellery.

Airtel Africa to raise $750 million via IPO

• Bharti Airtel on 4th june said its subsidiary Airtel Africa expects to raise at least $750 million (around ₹5,189 crore) through a public offering and subsequent listing on the London Stock Exchange.

• Airtel Africa would proceed with an initial public offering for admission and listing of its shares on the main market of the London Stock Exchange (premium segment)

India will be 5th largest economy in 2019

• India is forecast to become the world's fifth largest economy in 2019, reaching a total GDP size exceeding $3 trillion, and overtaking its former colonial ruler, the United Kingdom.

• By 2025, Indian GDP is also forecast to surpass Japan, which will make India the second-largest economy in the Asia-Pacific region.

ONGC overtakes IOC as most profitable PSU

• ONGC, India's top oil and gas producer, has toppled Indian Oil Corp (IOC) to regain crown of being the country's most profitable public sector company.

• According to earnings statements of the listed companies, Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) reported a 34 per cent jump in its 2018-19 fiscal net profit to Rs 26,716 crore.

RBI to cut Repo rate by 25BPS on weak growth

• The RBI’s monetary policy committee (MPC) will cut the key policy rate by 25 basis points (bps) as inflation cooled and economic growth slowed to a five-year low,

• Basis point (BPS) refers to a common unit of measure for interest rates and other percentages in finance.One BPS is equal to 1/100th of 1%, or 0.01%, or 0.0001, and is used to denote the percentage change in a financial instrument.

IOB launches ‘Bank on Wheels’ facility

• Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) launched ‘Bank on Wheels’ facility in 14 of its lead districts in Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

• The mobile van facility will enable the public, especially senior citizens, conveniently get door-step banking facility available at identified locations of the lead districts.

• A dedicated banking correspondent will accompany the vehicle with a micro-ATM inside the van.

RBI allows banks to use Aadhaar for KYC

• The Reserve Bank of India has said that banks can now use Aadhaar for KYC verification if the customer gives consent.

• RBI also updated Aadhaar to its list of documents eligible for identification of individuals.

• In 2018, the Supreme Court prohibited the use of Aadhaar for KYC due to privacy concerns.

RBI proposes new liquidity norms for NBFCs

• RBI has issued draft guidelines on liquidity management for the NBFCS and proposed a liquidity coverage ratio for large NBFCs.

• It covers all deposit taking NBFCs and non-deposit taking NBFCs with an asset size of ₹5,000 crore and above.

• Company fixed deposits (FDs), unlike bank FDs, don’t come with insurance.

India Per-capita income showing a rise of 10%

• In 2017-18, the monthly per-capita income had stood at ₹9,580.

• The country's per-capita income is estimated to have risen by 10% to ₹10,534 a month during the financial year ended March 2019.

• The gross national income (GNI) at current prices is estimated at ₹188.17 lakh crore during 2018-19, as compared to ₹169.10 lakh crore during 2017-18, rising by 11.3%.

GDP growth slumps to 5.8% in March quarter

• India’s GDP grew at 5.8% in the January-March 2019 quarter, dragging down the full year growth to a five-year low of 6.8%.

• The unemployment rate in the country rose to a 45-year high of 6.1% in 2017-18

• The data showed that 7.8% of the employable urban youth and 5.3% of employable rural youth was without jobs. Additionally 6.2% male and 5.7% of females across the country were jobless.

Nirmala S to present maiden Budget on July 5

• Nirmala Sitharaman, the country’s first full-time woman Finance Minister, will present the Union Budget on July 5.

• First session of 17th Lok Sabha is slated to begin on 17 June and continues till July 26.

• President Ram Nath Kovind will address a joint session of both the Houses on 20 June prior to budget presentation in the first week of July.




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Sports

Girish Koushik is India’s 63rd Grandmaster

• Girish A. Koushik from Mysuru became India’s 63rd Grandmaster at the 37th Balaton International Chess Festival in Hungary.

• Girish had completed his second GM norm in Mallorca late in May, and the third in Budapest the following week.

• He became Karnataka’s third GM after MS Thej Kumar and GA Stany.

BCCI unveiled India's away jersey

• India's away kit for ICC Cricket World Cup was unveiled by BCCI on 28 June 2019.

• Virat Kohli's men will be sporting the jersey for their big-ticket World Cup match against England in Birmingham.

• As both England and India don blue colour jerseys, they will wear their away kits as per ICC regulations.

• The colour of the new jersey is blue and orange.

India beat England in ODI rankings

• India dethroned England to rise to the top of ODI rankings, just three days ahead of their blockbuster World Cup clash.

• As per the latest rankings released by the ICC, India led the chart with 123 points, followed by England (122) and New Zealand (114).

• India is also the top-ranked Test side and lie fifth in T20 Internationals.

• Virat Kohli regained top spot in ICC ODI rankings.

SAI withdrew controversial orders

• The Sports Authority of India (SAI) withdrew its controversial circular to ban parents and personal coaches of shooters from the Dr Karni Singh Shooting Range in New Delhi during practice.

• Recently, an order issued at the shooting range restricted the movement of parents and coaches inside the range.

• As per international guidelines, they will, however, be not allowed on Field of Play.

Central Railway, Union Bank emerge champions

• In Hockey, the Central Railway beat Western Railway 3-2 in an absorbing women's final of the St Peters Youth Centre Open Hockey Tournament in Mumbai on 27 June 2019.

• In the men's final, Union Bank of India prevailed over Coorg eleven by a comfortable 2-0 margin to emerge champions.

• Olympian Preeti Yadav was adjudged the Best player of the Tournament.

Virat became fastest cricketer to score 20,000

• Virat Kohli became the fastest cricketer to score 20,000 international runs.

• The India captain reached the milestone when he reached the score of 37 against West Indies at Old Trafford.

• Rahul Dravid is the third fastest Indian on the list of players to have score 20,000 international runs.

• He bettered the time taken by legends such as Sachin Tendulkar and Brain Lara.

Murray clinched doubles titles

• Andy Murray won the Queen's Club championships doubles title with Feliciano Lopez.

• He and Spaniard Lopez claimed a 7-6(6) 5-7 10-5 over Briton Joe Salisbury and American Rajeev Ram.

• Murray is a five times singles champion at the grasscourt event and three-time Grand Slam champion.

Breakdance moved closer to Olympic debut

• Breakdancing, known as breaking in Olympic circles, moved a step closer to the 2024 Olympics.

• The street dance competitions will have 16 athletes in each of the men’s and women’s medal events in Paris.

• IOC members formally endorsed requests from Paris officials in February 2019 to provisionally add breakdancing to the program.

Junior women's boxing team adjudged best




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• In Boxing, India's junior women pugilists clinched seven medals, including five gold.

• The team was adjudged the best of the tournament in the Black Forest Cup in Villingen, Schwenningen, Germany.

• Haryana's Neha (54kg) and Karnataka's Anju Devi (50kg) claimed the honours of best boxer and promising player of the tournament.

• Countries including Ukraine and Germany took part in the tournament.

Indian women's rugby team claimed victory

• The Indian women's rugby team claimed a historic 1st-ever international Rugby 15s victory with a 21-19 win over Singapore.

• They finished 3rd in the Asia Women's - Division 1 Rugby XVs Championship in Manila.

• China won the tournament with a 68-0 victory over hosts Philippines in a one-sided final.

• It was one of the qualifying rounds for the 2021 Women's Rugby World Cup in New Zealand.

Brazil, Venezuela entered Copa America q.final

• In Copa America, Brazil and Venezuela have become the first two teams to enter the quarter-finals.

• Both teams won their third and final Group-A matches to advance to the last-eight stage.

• In the other game at Minas Gerais, Venezuela got the better of Bolivia, three-one to end second in the group.

New headquarters of IOC in Switzerland

• The International Olympic Committee (IOC) opened its new headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland, exactly 125 years after the Olympic Games were revived.

• The Olympic House has been built on the site of the former headquarters, and 95% of the old materials were reused and recycled.

• The signature feature is a central staircase linking together the five Olympic rings.

Indian women's hockey team clinched FIH series

• Indian women's hockey team beat Asian Games champions and hosts Japan 3-1 in the summit clash of the FIH Series Finals in Hiroshima 23 June 2019.

• Indian men had won the FIH Series Finals in Bhubaneswar recently.

• The Indian team qualified for the FIH Olympic Qualifiers 2019 after securing a place in the finals of the competition with a win over Chile in the semi-final.

Virat fined 25% of his match fee

• Virat Kohli has been fined 25% of his match fee for aggressive appealing during World Cup match against Afghanistan.

• He was found to have breached ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel.

• One demerit point has also been added to the disciplinary record of the Indian skipper.

• It is his second offence since the introduction of the revised code in September 2016.

Maharashtra SSAC to have dope tests

• Maharashtra State Senior Athletics Championship will have dope tests for the first time ever in a state championship in Mumbai.

• The two-day Athletics Championship will begin on 25 June 2019.

• The National Anti-Doping Agency-NADA will conduct dope tests.

• There is zero-tolerance to doping and the association has pushed the government to have a dope control in every single state meet.

Women's cricket nominated: Commonwealth 2022

• Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) nominated the inclusion of women's cricket in the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.

• The inclusion of women's cricket in the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games would be a landmark moment in the development of the sport.

• This is a part of the global ambition for cricket to inspire and empower women and girls around the world.

Pranati Nayak won bronze in gymnastics

• In Gymnastics, India's Pranati Nayak clinched a bronze medal in vault event at the Senior Asian Artistic Championships in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.

• She came up with a score of 13.384 to claim the bronze medal.

• She had scored 13.400 and 13.367 in the first and second vault.

• China's Yu Linmin and Japan's Ayaka Sakaguchi won the gold and silver medal at the event.

Pankaj clinched Asian Snooker Championship

• Pankaj Advani clinched the 35th men's Asian Snooker Championship in Doha to complete a career grand slam in cue sports.

• He defeated Thanawat Tirapongpaiboon 6-3 in the final to become the only one to win the Asian and World championships in all formats.

• He will now take part in IBSF World Cup next week in Doha.

Abhinav Bindra appointed to sort AAI Mess

• Abhinav Bindra was appointed as an independent person by the World Archery to sort out the ongoing mess in the national federation (AAI).

• The world body de-listed the Archery Association of India for violating the constitution by unanimously electing two parallel bodies in Chandigarh and New Delhi.




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• He will be part of the selection panel, also consisting of IOA secretary general Rajeev Mehta.

India named 23-member squad for AJBC

• India named a 23-member squad to represent the country at the Asian Junior Badminton Championship.

• The tournament will be held in Suzhou, China from 20 July 2019.

• The boys' singles challenge will be spearheaded by Manipur's Maisnam Meiraba Luwang.

• The girls' team will be spearheaded by Malvika Bansod of the Airport Authority of India.

Morgan hit record 17 sixes

• England captain Eoin Morgan created a new world record for maximum sixes in ODI innings.

• He hit 17 sixes en route to his breathtaking 148 off just 71 balls against Afghanistan in their World Cup tie at Old Trafford.

• The previous record (16 sixes) was held jointly by Chris Gayle, Rohit Sharma and AB de Villiers.

Srikanth only Indian in Race to Guangzhou

• K. Srikanth is ranked 6th in the HSBC Race to Guangzhou Rankings, which will determine the qualifiers to the HSBC BWF World Tour Finals.

• Sindhu and Saina are ranked 13th and 12th in the women’s singles list headed by Thailand’s Ratchanok Inthanon.

• Srikanth is the only Indian in the HSBC Race to Guangzhou Rankings which is being headed by Jonatan Christie.

Gary Woodland won US Open

• Gary Woodland won the 119th US Open, capturing his first major title, in golf.

• He defeated two-time defending champion Brook Koepka at Pebble Beach, California.

• The two-time defending champion Koepka finished second with a score of 10-under.

Joshna Chinappa won squash title

• Joshna Chinappa won a record 17th national squash title after outplaying Tamil Nadu's Sunayna Kuruvilla in the final.

• She won the match 11-5, 11-4, 7-11, 11-5 and thus broke a 27-year-old record set by Bhuvneshwari Kumari, who had won 16 titles.

• In the men's category, top seed Mahesh Mangaonkar lived up to his billing to emerge as the winner.

Naomi, Novak continue as World no. 1

• Japan's Naomi Osaka and Novak Djokovic of Serbia continue as World No.1 in the latest WTA and ATP rankings.

• Naomi Osaka is just 252 points ahead of world No.2 Ashleigh Barty of Australia in unchanged top 20 WTA rankings.

• Novak Djokovic leads the men's ATP tennis rankings ahead of French Open champion Rafael Nadal and former world number one Roger Federer.

Rohit Sharma smashed ton, broke record

• India's vice-captain Rohit Sharma struck his 24th ODI hundred in the ongoing World Cup.

• He brought up his 3rd century in World Cup.

• He got to his 100 in 85 balls, hitting nine fours and three sixes.

• He, along with K.L. Rahul broke a 23-year-old record set by Sachin Tendulkar and Navjot Singh Sidhu for the highest opening partnership in a World Cup match against Pakistan.

Virat became fastest to score 11,000 ODI runs

• Virat Kohli became the fastest batsman to reach 11,000 runs in one-day internationals after scoring a fine half century against Pakistan.

• He broke the record of Sachin Tendulkar, who had reached the milestone in 276 innings.

• Kohli, who took only 222 innings to achieve the record, has become the third Indian and ninth overall to reach the 11,000 mark in ODIs.

AWC: Indian men's team bagged silver medal

• The Indian men's recurve team bagged a silver medal in the Archery World Championships.

• The competition was held at Den Bosch in The Netherlands.

• Jyothi Surekha Vennam helped India clinch two bronze medals in the compound women's section of Archery World Championships in the Netherlands.

Australia to participate in Copa America 2020

• Australia and Qatar will be the guest teams to participate in Copa America 2020, the South American Football Federation (CONMEBOL) announced on 13 June 2019.

• The 2022 FIFA World Cup host Qatar is making its Copa America debut in 2019.

• The 2020 Copa America tournament will be held jointly in two countries -- Colombia and Argentina.

India static at 101 in FIFA rankings

• The Indian football team remained static at 101st place in the FIFA rankings issued on 14 June 2019.

• India had finished third in the King's Cup in Thailand.

• The Indian team is at 18th spot among the Asian countries led by Iran (20th), Japan (28), Korea (37), who form the top five in Asia.

• Belgium continued to top world rankings, followed by France, Brazil, England, and Portugal.




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Indian team for Gymnastics Champ announced

• Gymnastics Federation of India announced the Indian team for the Senior Asian Artistic Gymnastics Championships to be held in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia from 19-22 June 2019.

• The four men's team comprises Rakesh Kumar Patra, Yogeshwar Singh, Debang Dey, and Arik Dey.

• Pranati Nayak, Shraddha Talekar, Pranati Das, and Papiya Das are in the women's team.

Indian archery team secured Olympic quota

• Indian men's archery team secured the Olympic quota for the 2020 Tokyo Games by storming into the quarterfinals of the World Championships with a 5-3 win over Canada in the Netherlands.

• This is for the first time after the 2012 London Olympics that Indian men could secure a team quota.

Ashleigh Barty became world no. 2

• Ashleigh Barty has risen to the no. 2 position from number eight in the latest Women's Tennis Association (WTA) rankings after winning the French Open title.

• She is now 136 points away from the number one ranked women's tennis player Naomi Osaka (6486).

• Barty is the first Australian woman to win the French Open since Margaret Court in 1973.

Shikhar ruled out from the World Cup

• In-form senior India opener Shikhar Dhawan was ruled out of at least two World Cup matches after his left thumb was found to have a hairline fracture.

• Dhawan will miss the game against New Zealand and the marquee clash against Pakistan.

• Dhawan was the hero of India's win over Australia with a knock of 117 off 109 balls.

US won Women's FIFA World Cup

• In Football, the United States recorded the biggest-ever victory in the Fifa Women's World Cup.

• They crushed Thailand, 13-nil in a Group-F match at Reims in France.

• Alex Morgan scored five times for the three-time winners and defending champions.

• The US has lost just one international game since July 2017 and has now won seven games in a row.

Novak Djokovic tops ATP rankings

• Novak Djokovic topped the ATP rankings released on 11 June 2019.

• Austrian Dominic Thiem is at fourth place behind Roger Federer.

• Ashleigh Barty leaped six places to world number two in the WTA rankings released after his win at the French Open.

Hamilton won 7th Canadian GP

• Lewis Hamilton secured a record-breaking 7th win at the 2019 Canadian Grand Prix after Sebastian Vettel was penalised for dangerous driving.

• A five-second race time penalty was given to Vettel.

• Ferrari will appeal against the decision over the five-second penalty given to Vettel which costed him the race.

Rafael Nadal won French Open

• In Tennis, world number two Rafael Nadal lifted the French Open Men's Singles title for the 12th time.

• He became the first player to win 12 Singles titles at the same Grand Slam and has now won 18 majors overall.

• Nadal is now just 2 titles behind Roger Federer's all-time record of 20 majors and is 3 ahead of world number one Novak Djokovic.

India announced U-19 squad for ODI series

• All-India Junior Selection Committee announced the squad for the upcoming U-19 Tri-nation ODI series to be played against England and Bangladesh.

• The series will begin from July 21 and will be played in England.

• The first match will be played between India and England at Worcester.

2019 Women's World Cup began in France

• The 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup is the 8th edition of the FIFA Women’s World Cup which began in France.

• It is being contested by the women’s national teams between 7 June and 7 July 2019.

• The first time the country will host the tournament, and the third time a European nation will.

Liverpool's Champions league triumph

• Liverpool overcame Tottenham Hotspur in a cagey game to win Europe’s biggest club tournament for a historic sixth time.

• Liverpool has won the Champions League for the sixth time.

India routed Russia in Int Fed. of Hockey

• In the International Federation of Hockey men's series Finals, India routed Russia 10-0 in their opening match.

• The match began in Bhubaneshwar on 6 June 2019.

• Harmanpreet Singh and Akashdeep Singh scored braces as six others got on the score sheet.

• Nilakanta Sharma was declared man of the match.

China will host 2023 Asian Cup, confirms AFC

• China will stage the 2023 Asian Cup football after South Korea, Thailand and Indonesia dropped their bids.

• This was confirmed by the Asian Football Confederation in Paris on 4 June.




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• It will mark the second time for China to host the quadrennial continental tournament.

• In the 2004 edition, China had finished runners-up to Japan.

Women's hockey team clinches Fitzgerald U21

• The Indian junior women's hockey team clinched the Cantor Fitzgerald U21 International 4-Nations title after beating Ireland 1-0 in the final at Dublin, Ireland on 4 June.

• The win meant India ended the tournament with an unblemished record.

• With three goals in four games, Mumtaz Khan finished as the highest goal scorer of the tournament.

Anton re-elected as Badminton Asia President

• Indonesia's Anton Aditya Subowo was re-elected as the President of Badminton Asia (BA).

• There were seven other people who were selected as the vice-presidents. They are Wei (China), Kim Jong Soo (Korea), Darmadji (Indonesia), Chang Kuo-Tso (Chinese Taipei), Ali Almarri(Kuwait), Himanta Biswa(India), Mohammad Taqawi (Bahrain)

• BA also got in a new Secretary-General Moosa Nashid (Maldives)

India won 21st USIC World Railways tennis.

• The Indian team maintained its impressive record of not dropping a set in 20 matches as it beat Czech Republic 4-0 in the super league and retained the title in the 21st USIC World Railways tennis championship

• It was a consistently solid performance by Nitin Kumar Sinha, Mohammed Fahad, P.C. Vignesh and Prithvi Sekhar.

• In the league stage, India had beaten Slovakia and Czech Republic.

Petrucci wins Italian Grand Prix

• Ducati's Danilo Petrucci fought off a stiff challenge from Marc Marquez to win the Italian Grand Prix, his first ever MotoGP victory.

• Petrucci's win comes a day after he recorded the highest speed in MotoGP history.

• Petrucci, an Italian riding for local team Ducati.

• 5-time MotoGP champion Marquez on a Honda briefly took the lead in the last lap but Petrucci recaptured first place and won.

Defence

Defence

• First Indian Army Mountaineering Expedition to Mt Makalu (8485 M) 2019 has been ‘Flagged In’ by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on 28 June 2019. Indian Army has now climbed all eight-thousander peaks in Nepal.

• All India National Cadet Corps (NCC) Girls’ Mountaineering Expedition 2019 to Mt Tenchenkhang was ‘Flagged In’ by

Lt General Rajeev Chopra, Director General NCC here on June 27, 2019.

Indian Naval Ship Tarkash reached Alexandria

• Indian Naval Ship Tarkash reached Alexandria on a 3-day visit to Egypt, as a part of Western Fleet Overseas Deployment programme.

• Tarkash is a state of the art warship of the Indian Navy equipped with a versatile range of weapons and sensors.

• It is a part of the Indian Navy's Western Fleet and is under the operational Command of Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Western Naval Command.

Event to commemorate Kargil operation

• An event to commemorate 20 years of high altitude operations during Kargil conflict was held at Air Force Station Gwalior on 24 June 2019.

• Chairman Chiefs of Staff Committee and Chief of the Air Staff Air Chief Marshal B S Dhanoa graced the event as Chief Guest.

• Serving and retired Kargil war veterans were present.

• A static display and a flypast enthralled the audience.

Operation Bandar: Code name of Balakot strike

• The air strike by the Indian Air Force (IAF) on a terrorist training camp in Balakot, Pakistan, was code-named ‘Operation Bandar’.

• To maintain secrecy till the mission was executed, the Mirages took off directly from their home base in Gwalior.

• Balakot air strike was carried in response to the Pulwama terror attack which claimed the lives of 40 security personnel.

Navy launched operation in Gulf

• Indian Navy has deployed Ships INS Chennai and INS Sunayna in the Gulf of Oman to re-assure Indian Flagged Vessels operating or transiting through the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman.

• Aerial surveillance by Indian Navy aircraft is also being undertaken in the area.

• The Information Fusion Centre - Indian Ocean Region is also keeping a close watch on the movement of ships in the Gulf region.

Diamond Jubilee of Naval Air Squadron

• Indian Navy's first Naval Air Squadron 550 celebrated its Diamond Jubilee on 17 Jun 19 at naval base Kochi.

• It has played a key role in training the Navy's Maritime Reconnaissance pilots and observers.

• The squadron has been part of several operations, from the 1971 Indo-Pak war to Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) operations during the December 2004 Tsunami, and more.

Bharat Dynamics bags contract from Indian Navy




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• Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) has signed a contract worth of Rs 1,187.82 crore for supply of Heavy Weight Torpedoes - Varunastra - to the Indian Navy.

• The weapon will be manufactured at BDL Visakhapatnam Unit under collaboration with the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).

• The Heavy Weight Torpedo is an electrically propelled underwater weapon and is launched from the ship.

Defence Exchange Programme began

• A group of 160 defence officers and their families reached Colombo on 15 June 2019.

• The same number of Sri Lankan officers and their families are on their way to India on a familiarization visit under defence exchange programme.

• The visit is a part of high-level defence co-operation between the two neighbours and to show solidarity with Sri Lanka after Easter Sunday attacks.

Royal Navy delegation visits SNC

• Commodore Stuart Henderson, Safety Director of the British Royal Navy Safety Centre is on a 2-day official visit to Southern Naval Command.

• The delegation interacted on the matters pertaining to safe operations at sea and in shore units, as well as areas for mutual cooperation between the two navies.

• The Safety delegation would also be visiting Water Survival Training Facility at INS Garuda.

India and France to carry out Garuda exercise

• Indian Air Force and French Air Force have planned to carry out Garuda, a 2-week-long air exercise, beginning on July 1 in France.

• The aim is to boost the military-to-military ties between the two countries.

• A fleet of Sukhoi 30 fighter jets of the Indian Air Force will engage in dogfights with France’s Rafale multirole aircraft in simulated scenarios as part of it.

Indian Navy deployed P-8I aircraft

• Indian Navy deployed its P-8I long-range maritime surveillance aircraft for anti-piracy sorties from Salalah in Oman to patrol the Gulf of Aden.

• It is an expansion of its Mission Based Deployments (MBD) in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR).

• The P-8I is long-range anti-submarine warfare, surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft capable of broad-area, maritime and littoral operations.

Indian Army commissioned air quality monitor

• Under 'Go Green' initiative, a "Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring System (CAAQMS)" was commissioned at Fort William Military Station in Kolkata by Indian Army.

• The system monitors air pollution on a real time basis.

• The CAAQMS at the Eastern Command headquarters will measure air pollution including particulate matter throughout the year.

US to sell 34 drones to allies in South China

• The Trump administration has moved ahead with a surveillance drone sale to four US allies in the South China Sea region.

• The drones would afford greater intelligence gathering capabilities potentially curbing Chinese activity in the region.

• The Pentagon would sell 34 ScanEagle drones,made by Boeing Co. to the govt. of Malaysia,Indonesia,Philippines and Vietnam for a total of $47 mn.

Raksha Mantri Visits Siachen Glacier

• Honourable Raksha Mantri (RM) Shri Rajnath Singh made his maiden visit to the world’s highest battlefield.

• The RM accompanied by General Bipin Rawat, Chief of Army Staff arrived at the Thoise airfield and was received by Lt Gen Ranbir Singh, GOC-in-C, Northern Command.




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• Siachen glacier, located in the eastern Karakoram Range in the Himalayas falls under the Line of Control, b/w Pak and India.

Indian Navy steps up anti-piracy patrol

• In an expansion of its Mission Based Deployments (MBD) in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR), the Navy deployed its P-8I long-range maritime surveillance aircraft for anti-piracy sorties from Salalah in Oman to patrol the Gulf of Aden.

• Since 2008, India has been conducting anti-piracy patrols in the commercially crucial Gulf of Aden.

Chief of the Air Staff Visit to Sweden

• Air Chief Marshal B.S Dhanoa,Chairman Chiefs of Staff Committee and Chief of the Air Staff Indian Air Force is on a four day official visit to Sweden from 03 to 06 Jun.

• The bilateral goodwill visit is on invitation by the Chief of the Swedish Air Force.

• The CAS is scheduled to visit various operational and training units as well as interact with senior functionaries of the Swedish Air Force.

First Rafale jet to be part of 17 squadron

• The first Rafale combat aircraft would be inducted into the Indian Air Force's 'Golden Arrows' 17 Squadron.

• 'Golden Arrows' 17 Squadron was commanded by Air Chief Marshal BS Dhanoa during the Kargil war in 1999.

• The 17 Squadron which was earlier located in Bhatinda in Punjab and will now be shifted to Ambala in Haryana.

• The 17 Squadron used to operate the MiG-21s earlier.

Polity

Polity

• The deadline to submit suggestions on draft of New Education Policy is extended for a month i.e till 31st July. The draft of Education policy has been put on a public domain from May 31.

• Union government introduced a bill in the Lok Sabha to implement for the first time a quota for economically weaker section in the recruitment of professors in government-run higher educational institutions.

Lok Sabha passed SEZ Amendment Bill

• Special Economic Zones (Amendment) Bill, 2019 was passed in the Lok Sabha on 26 June 2019.

• It was initially promulgated as an ordinance in March prior to the announcement of General Elections.

• NK Premachandran of Revolutionary Socialist Party moved a statutory resolution to disapprove the Special Economic Zones (Amendment) Ordinance, 2019.

Bills in Parliament

• The Aadhaar and Other Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2019 was taken up for consideration and passing in Lok Sabha on 27 June 2019.

• The Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Teachers' Cadre) Bill, 2019 is listed to be introduced the House.

Aadhar Bill introduced in Lok Sabha

• Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad introduced the Aadhaar and Other Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2019 in the Lok Sabha on 25 June 2019.

• It will replace an ordinance issued in March 2019 and proposes stiff penalties for violation of norms.

• It seeks to amend Aadhaar Act 2016, the Indian Telegraph Act 1885 and the Prevention of Money Laundering Act 2002.

Bill passed for 16% Maratha quota in PG course

• The Maharashtra Legislative Council cleared a bill to provide 16% reservation to the Maratha community students in post-graduate (PG) medical courses.

• This comes a day after the bill was unanimously passed in the Legislative Assembly.

• As both the Houses of the Legislature have cleared the bill, it will now be sent to the Governor for his approval.

Fresh bill to ban triple Talaq

• A fresh bill to ban the practice of instant triple talaq was introduced in the Lok Sabha on 21 June 2019.

• The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2019, which has been listed in the Lok Sabha's agenda, will replace an ordinance issued in February 2019.

• The Bill proposes to make the practice of instant triple talaq (talaq-e-biddat) a penal offence.

PM to set up committee for an issue

• PM Narendra Modi chaired a meeting of Presidents of all political parties having representation in Parliament on the issue of One Nation One Election.

• He will form a committee to look into the various aspects of this issue in the country.

• The idea of One Nation, One Election envisages a system where elections to all states and the Lok Sabha will have to be held simultaneously.

Appointments

• Union Minister for HRD Dr. Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ and Minister of State for HRD, Shri Sanjay Dhotre took oath as Members of Lower house of Parliament in Lok Sabha.

• Senior BJP leader J P Nadda has been appointed as the BJP working President. The decision was taken at the BJP Parliamentary Board meeting held at party headquarters in New Delhi.

Zuzana: 1st female Slovakia President

• Zuzana Caputova was sworn in as Slovakia's first female President.




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• The swearing-in ceremony took place at Constitutional Court chair Ivan Fiacan parliamentary session held in Bratislava, Xinhua.

• She is the fifth president in the modern Slovak.

• She was elected in the month of March. She defeated Smer-SD candidate Maros Sefcovic.

Triple talaq bill cleared

• The Cabinet cleared a fresh bill to ban the practice of instant triple talaq.

• The bill will be introduced in the Budget session of Parliament to replace an ordinance issued in February by the previous BJP-led NDA government.

• With the dissolution of the 16th Lok Sabha in May 2019, the previous bill had lapsed as it was pending in Rajya Sabha.

Aadhar and Other Laws Bill approved

• Union Cabinet approved the Aadhaar and Other Laws (Amendment) Bill 2019 to replace Aadhaar and Other Laws (Amendment) Ordinance 2019.

• This will enable UIDAI to have a more robust mechanism to serve the public interest and restrain the misuse of Aadhar.

• The amendment will also ensure providing 10% reservation to Economically weaker section.

Special Economic Zones Bill approved

• The Union Cabinet approved a Bill, namely, the Special Economic Zones (Amendment) Bill, 2019 that is the Bill to replace the Special Economic Zones (Amendment) Ordinance, 2019 (12 of 2019).

• The Bill will be introduced in ensuing session of the Parliament.

Mekathoti: Dalit woman Home Minister of AP

• YSR Congress party president and Andhra Pradesh CM YS Jagan Mohan Reddy named a Dalit woman as the home minister of the state.

• Mekathoti Sucharita represents Prathipadu (SC) reserved constituency in Guntur district.

• She was sworn in as a cabinet minister, along with 24 others at a ceremony held at Velagapudi in Amaravati.

JDU not part of NDA outside Bihar

• Janata Dal-United, JD(U) has decided that it will not be part of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) outside Bihar.

• This decision was taken in the party's national executive meeting in Patna which was chaired by JD(U) President Nitish Kumar.

• The party will contest assembly polls separately in four states-Jharkhand, Haryana, Delhi, and Jammu & Kashmir.

Haryana HC grant all animals as living person

• The Punjab and Haryana High Court has accorded the status of “legal person or entity” to animals in Haryana, granting them the “corresponding rights, duties and liabilities of a living person”.

• The verdict comes nearly a year after Uttarakhand High Court passed a similar order “to protect and promote greater welfare of animals”.

Environment

New tortoise species found in India

• Wildlife experts have discovered the Impressed Tortoise also known as the Manouria impressa – a new species of tortoise near Yazali of Lower Subansari district in Arunachal Pradesh.

• The species were last found in Gwa in Myanmar.

• The first-ever sighting of the rare Impressed Tortoise or Manouria impressa will help to focus on turtle conservation in Northeast India.

Scientists discover frog in Assam

• A team of scientists from Delhi University and the Wildlife Institute of India have discovered a new species of ‘paddy frog’ in Assam.

• The frog belongs to the microhylid genus Micryletta, a group of narrow-mouthed frogs.

• The new species has been named Aishani.

• The first known species of this genus was originally described from Sumatra in Indonesia.

New species of wasp identified in Goa

• A new species of wasp from the genus Kudakrumia has been identified by scientists in Goa.

• The new species was collected in the forests of Western Ghats.

• The wasp, Kudakrumia rangnekari, was named after Goa-based researcher Parag Rangnekar.

• He is the author of a book 'Butterflies of Goa', which is perhaps a first field guide with photographs of the species found in this region.

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