Daily Current affairs - June 3rd, 2017 for all competitive exams
The President
of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee recently laid the foundation stone of a
Driver’s Training Institute and a Secondary School under the SMARTGRAM
Initiative at village Dhaula, Gurugram (Haryana).
- It is an initiative of Rashtrapati Bhavan. Under the project the selected villages will see new ventures in agriculture, skill development, energy, education, heath, employment generation, and entrepreneurship.
Odisha to have first automatic coastal warning for
disasters in India
Odisha is the first State in
India to have developed an automatic public address system that
can be activated along its entire coast.
- The
State government is all set to commission the ambitious Early Warning
Dissemination System (EWDS) that would enable loud sirens go off
simultaneously from towers at 122 locations by July 2017.
Varanasi to get India’s 1st freight village
Varanasi will get the country's
first 'freight village' spread over around 100 acres.
- The
plan to set up this project close to the upcoming multi-mode terminal
along the Ganga has attracted major players including Dubai Port World and
IL&FS.
New software can predict lifespan
Scientists have developed an artificial
intelligence system that can predict how long a person will live by scanning
through the images of their organs.
- The
system, developed by researchers from University of Adelaide in Australia,
analysed the medical imaging of 48 patients’ chests and was able to
predict which of them would die within five years, with 69% accuracy.
- This
is comparable to ‘manual’ predictions by clinicians, said the study
published in the journal Scientific
Reports.
India
has 31% of world’s poor kids: report
About 31% of
the world’s “multidimensionally poor” children live in India, according to a
new report by the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI). OPHI
is an economic research centre at the Oxford University and the study is based
on a survey conducted among 103 countries.
- A
“multidimensionally poor” child is one who lacks at least one-third of ten
indicators, grouped into three dimensions of poverty: health, education
and standard of living.
- In
terms of countries, fully 31% of the 689 million poor children live in
India, followed by Nigeria (8%), Ethiopia (7%) and Pakistan (6%).
Prithvi-II
missile successfully test-fired
Prithvi-II
missile was recently successfully test-fired in Odisha by the Army.
- Prithvi-II
is indigenously developed and is nuclear-capable surface-to-surface
- The
missile is capable of carrying warheads weighing 500 kg to 1,000 kg.
- With
a strike range of 350 km, Prithvi-II is powered by twin-engines which use
liquid propulsion.
Dalai Lama to visit Ladakh on June 28
Spiritual leader Dalai Lama will visit Jammu and
Kashmir’s Ladakh region on June 28.
- He
is also scheduled to visit Nubra, and Zanskar. Ladakh has a sizeable
Buddhist population.
Indian-origin gay Minister to be Irish PM
Leo Varadkar, an Indian-origin doctor and
Ireland’s first openly gay Minister, on Friday won the leadership race for the
ruling party to become the country’s youngest-ever and first homosexual Prime
Minister-in-waiting.
- Mr.
Varadkar, 38, will officially take over as Taoiseach, as the Irish prime
ministerial title is known in Ireland.
Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic sworn in as new
President of Serbia
Aleksandar Vucic has been sworn in
as Serbia's new president, promising to work for peace and stability in
the war-weary Balkans while strengthening the country's armed forces.
- Vucic
formally stepped down from his prime minister's post and took over his new
role after his landslide win in April's election.
US
exit from Paris climate deal
The United States will be
withdrawing from the Paris climate agreement, President Donald Trump announced
recently. He said this move was aimed at protecting American and its
citizens.
- The
US is the second-largest emitter of greenhouse gases in the world, right
behind China.
- The
withdrawal process takes four years. But when it’s complete, the United
States will join a lonely club. Just two other countries
— Syria and Nicaragua — have rejected the nonbinding agreement.
SBI, World Bank finance Rs.400-cr solar projects
State Bank of India and the World
Bank announced that they had financed 100 MW of rooftop solar
projects worth Rs400 crore in India.
- SBI
has availed of a loan of $625 million from the World Bank for
on-lending to viable Grid-Connected Rooftop Solar PV (GRPV) projects
undertaken by developers, aggregators and end-users, for installation of
rooftop solar systems.
State
Bank may opt for QIP
The State Bank
of India is planning to complete a planned share sale by year-end, probably
through a qualified institutional placement (QIP).
- A
QIP is a capital raising tool wherein a listed company can issue equity
shares, fully and partly convertible debentures, or any security (other
than warrants) that is convertible to equity shares.
- The
QIP will be priced not less than the average of the weekly high and low of
the closing prices of the equity shares during the two weeks preceding the
“relevant” date. The “relevant” date will be the opening date of the
issue, as decided by the company’s board.
BoI conducts ‘Star Mahotsav’
Bank of India conducted a mass-contact
programme, ‘Star Mahotsav’, across its branch network.
- The
thrust was in contacting every customer at their doorstep for recovery of bad
loans, disbursement of retail loan, including housing and vehicle loan,
disbursement under MSME and agriculture, and promotion of its products
including debit/credit cards, PoS machines, internet banking, etc.
Ravi Narain quits as NSE vice-chairman
Ravi Narain, former managing director and chief
executive officer of the National Stock Exchange resigned as the vice-chairman
of the bourse.
- He
has submitted his resignation to NSE chairman Ashok Chawla.
- This
is the NSE’s second high-profile resignation. Chitra Ramkrishna, MD and
CEO, had resigned in December.
Indian-American Amul Thapar appointed as Judge in
US Court of Appeals
Amul Thapar, an Indian-American legal
luminary, has been appointed a judge on the US Court of Appeals for
the Sixth Circuit by President Donald Trump.
- Before his appointment to the Court of Appeals, Judge
Thapar served on the District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky.
Shashi
Shekar Vempati appointed as CEO of Prasar Bharati
Shri Shashi
Shekar Vempati has been appointed as the Chief
Executive Officer (CEO) of Prasar Bharati for a period of five years from the
date of assumption of office.
- The
appointment was made on the recommendation of the three member
committee headed by the Hon’ble Vice President, and consisting of
Chairman, Press Council of India and the President’s nominee i.e.
Secretary, Information and Broadcasting.
- Prasar
Bharati is a statutory autonomous body established under the Prasar
Bharati Act and came into existence on 23.11.1997.
Neeraj Chopra clinches javelin gold
World junior record-holder Neeraj Chopra clinched
the men’s javelin gold with a throw of 85.63 metres on the second day of the
21st Federation Cup athletics championship at the Netaji Subhash National
Institute of Sports Complex.
- He
set the tone for the evening with the first throw of 85.63 and followed
that with 82.11, 81.71, 82.74 and 83.91, with one no mark on the third
throw.
West Indies cricket team’s official name changed to
WINDIES
The cricket board for West Indies, on
its 91st anniversary, has re-branded themselves as Cricket West
Indies from the former West Indies Cricket Board.
- The board also announced in a media release on their official website that the cricket team from now on will be officially known as ‘WINDIES.’
