Daily Current affairs - June 10th, 2017 for all competitive exams

President Pranab Mukherjee launches 'Selfie with Daughter' mobile app 

President Pranab Mukherjee today launched the 'Selfie with Daughter' mobile application, aimed at raising awareness about female foeticide and sex selection.

• The campaign was started by Sunil Jaglan in June 2015 in village Bibipur in Haryana's Jind district.
• The aim of the campaign is to motivate society to feel proud to be parents of a girl child, which, in turn, will result in improving child sex ratio.

Govt sets up 18 sectoral groups for smooth GST rollout

The government has set up 18 sectoral groups, comprising senior members from the Centre and the States, to ensure the smooth rollout of the Goods and Services Tax.

• The 18 groups pertain to sectors such as banking and insurance, textiles, exports, information technology, transport, and oil and gas.

Kerala adopts liberal policy on bars

Kerala’s new liquor policy has empowered the authorities to grant bar licences to any hotel with three, four or five-star rating, even upcoming ones.

• The new policy could help immediately reopen at least 132 bar hotels on July 2. 
• However, the Supreme Court’s ban on retailing of liquor within a 500 metre radius of National and State Highways has hampered hundreds of hotels allowed to retail liquor.

India, Pakistan Become Full Members Of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation 

India and Pakistan became full members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), the first-ever expansion of the China-dominated security grouping after 2001.

• With the inclusion of India and Pakistan, SCO now represents over 40% of world population and nearly 20% of the global GDP.
• 2017 SCO summit was based on the theme “Future Energy”.

Microsoft signs agreement to acquire Israeli security firm Hexadite

Ransomware attacks have prompted Microsoft to sign an agreement to acquire Hexadite.

• This deal cost $100 million. Hexadite is an Israeli startup that uses Artificial Intelligence to identify and protect against cyber attacks.

Forex Reserves Hit New High at $381 billion

Foreign exchange reserves rose $2.4 billion during the week ending June 2 to reach a new high of $381 billion, as foreign portfolio investors continued to pour funds into Indian stocks and bonds.

• In the previous week, the reserves had declined by $547 million to $378.763 billion.

RBI Governor to appear before House panel on July 6 

RBI Governor Urjit Patel will appear before a Parliamentary panel on July 6 during which he is expected to be questioned about total deposits made in banks post government’s demonetisation move.

• This is the fourth time Patel has been summoned by the Parliamentary Standing Committee (PSC) on Finance, headed by Congress MP and former Union Minister Veerappa Moily.

SEBI clears Vikram Limaye as NSE chief

Capital market regulator SEBI has given conditional approval for the appointment of Vikram Limaye as the MD and CEO of the NSE. 

• SEBI had delayed clearing his appointment as he was also part of the four-member Supreme Court-appointed panel managing the affairs of the Board of Control for Cricket in India. His term with the BCCI ends in August 2017.

SBI lowers housing loan rates

The country’s largest lender decided to reduce the rates for loans above Rs. 75 lakh by 10 basis points (bps) to 8.6%, with effect from June 15. For women borrowers, the rate will be 8.55%.

• Reserve Bank of India (RBI) reduced the standard asset provisioning and risk weight on home loans on Wednesday, the State Bank of India (SBI) responded with an interest rate cut on its home loans.

Canara Bank ties up with New India Assurance Company

Canara Bank has inked pact with the state-owned general insurer The New India Assurance Company Ltd. to sell policies through its branches.

• The pact allows Canara Bank to offer non-life insurance products to its customers across metros and tier II and III cities through the bank’s extensive network of over 6,000 branches.
• Under the agreement, New India Assurance will make offer a bouquet of products such as motor, home, health, travel, fire, marine, and engineering insurance policies through branches of Canara Bank.

Indian American Raja Chari among 12 new astronauts chosen by NASA

NASA has chosen 12 new astronauts, including an Indian American named Raja Chari, from a record number of over 18,000 applicants, who will be trained for missions into Earth orbit and to deep space.

• Lt. Col. Raja Chari is the first Indian American after Kalpana Chawla to be chosen by NASA for one of its missions at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. This is the largest group NASA has selected in almost two decades.

IOC approves new events for 2020 Tokyo Game

The International Olympic Committee has approved new events for the 2020 Tokyo Games, including a number of mixed gender competitions.

• The IOC’s Executive Board made the decision at a meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland.
• The additions include a mixed team event for judo. Table Tennis will also get a mixed doubles competition.

Eminent rights activist Mehrunnisa Dalwai passes away

Mehrunnisa Dalwai, a noted social activist and author, and the wife of one of modern Maharashtra’s most remarkable and formidable social reformers, Hamid Dalwai, passed away. She was 87.

• Her autobiography, "Mi Bharun Pawle" is considered an inspirational piece for progressive movement