Daily Current affairs - June 8th, 2017 for all competitive exams
World Oceans Day is a global day of ocean
celebration and collaboration for a better future.
- It
is observed globally on 08th June.
- The
overall theme for World Oceans Day 2017 is 'Our
Oceans, Our Future'.
Union cabinet approves Agreement between India and Somalia on transfer
of sentenced persons
The Union
Cabinet has given its approval for signing and subsequent ratification of the
Agreement on Transfer of sentenced persons between Indi and Somalia.
- Signing
the Agreement with Somalia shall facilitate the Indian prisoners
imprisoned in Somalia or vice-versa to be near to their families, for
serving remaining part of their sentence and shall facilitate their social
rehabilitation.
- The
Government of India has signed bilateral Agreements on Transfer of
Sentenced Persons with United Kingdom, Mauritius, Bulgaria, France, Egypt,
Sri Lanka, Cambodia, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Bangladesh, Brazil,
Israel, Bosnia & Herzegovina, UAE, Italy, Turkey, Maldives, Thailand,
Russian Federation, Kuwait, Vietnam, Australia, Hong Kong, Qatar,
Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Bahrain and Estonia.
Health Secretary inaugurates ‘Vatsalya – Maatri
Amrit Kosh’, a National Human Milk Bank and Lactation Counselling Centre
Shri C K Mishra, Secretary (Health and
Family Welfare) inaugurated the ‘Vatsalya – Maatri Amrit Kosh’, a National
Human Milk Bank and Lactation Counselling Centre at the Lady Hardinge Medical
College (LHMC) in New Delhi.
- The
Vatsalya – Maatri Amrit Kosh will be the largest milk bank and
lactation counseling center available in the North India.
- It
is established in collaboration with the Norwegian government, Oslo
University and Norway-India Partnership Initiative (NIPI).
- It is a national human milk bank and lactation counseling center that will collect, pasteurize, test and safely store milk that has been donated by lactating mothers and makes it available for infants in need.
Cabinet approves IREDA IPO
The Cabinet on Wednesday
approved an IPO by the Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency.
- It
approved the issue of 13.9 crore equity shares of Rs. 10 each.
- IREDA
is registered as a non-banking financial company.
- It
has worked closely with the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy to help
implement policies.
Centre clears kambala Bill
The Union
Ministry of Law and Justice has cleared the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
(Karnataka Amendment) Bill 2017, legalising kambala — the traditional slush
track buffalo race — and will send it to the President for his assent.
- The
approval by the President will help in the smooth conduct of ‘kambala’
(the traditional slush track buffalo race) in Dakshina Kannada and Udupi
districts of Karnataka.
- The
Bill seeks to exempt kambala and bullock-cart racing from the ambit of the
Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (PCA) Act, 1960.
Rajnath Singh inaugurated conference on
disaster management
Home Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated a two-day
national level conference on "Capacity Building of
SDRF-2017" in New Delhi.
- The
conference was organized by the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF),
holded discussions to develop a synergy and to highlight the way
ahead to strengthen the response capabilities of State Disaster Response
Forces (SDRF).
Rajasthan government
adopts green building rating system
To promote construction of
environment-friendly buildings, the Rajasthan government has adopted the green
building rating system developed by the Indian Green Building Council (IGBC),
which is part of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).
- A
three-day training workshop on the new rating system started on Tuesday
that laid emphasis on checking exploitation of natural resources in the
construction of buildings.
Kerala government implements ‘green protocol’
for weddings
Wedding ceremonies in Kerala are all set to
become ‘green’, with the state government coming out with a
green protocol to make auspicious occasions more nature-friendly.
- With
the implementation of the protocol, plastic and other non-biodegradable
articles including disposable glasses and plates and thermocol decorations
will be kept at bay from marriage functions.
Astana to Host SCO Summit
Astana, the
Kazakh capital is hosting the two-day summit of the Shanghai Cooperation
Organization (SCO).
- The
2017 summit would gather the leaders of China, India, Kazakhstan,
Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan and would be the
first one with Islamabad and New Delhi as full-fledged members of the international
organization.
- The
next summit of the organization would take place in 2018 in China.
WHO revises antibiotics protocol
In an effort
to curb antibiotic resistance, the World Health Organization (WHO) has divided
the drugs into three categories — access, watch and reserve — specifying which
are to be used for common ailments and which are to be kept for complicated
diseases.
- This
is the biggest revision of the antibiotics section in the 40-year history
of the essential medicines list (EML).
- The
new WHO list should help health system planners and prescribers ensure
that people who need antibiotics have access to them, and ensure they get
the right one, so that the problem of resistance doesn’t get worse.
Oldest Homo sapiens fossils discovered:
The oldest
fossil remains of Homo sapiens, dating back to 300,000 years, have been found
at a site in Jebel Irhoud, Morocco. This is 100,000 years older than previously
discovered fossils of Homo sapiens that have been securely dated.
- This
marks the first discovery of such fossils in north Africa, and widens the
“cradle of mankind” to encompass all of Africa.
RBI’s decision to hold
interest rates reveals rift with Centre
The decision by the Reserve
Bank of India (RBI) to keep the policy repo rate unchanged, shrugging off a
sharp deceleration in retail inflation, brought to the fore clear signs that
the Centre and RBI are not seeing eye-to-eye on interest rates.
- The
MPC highlighted the risk of ‘premature action’ at this stage and said it would
be wise to remain watchful of incoming data, thus avoiding disruptive
policy reversals at a later stage. The RBI also pared its projection for
GVA growth for FY18 by 10 basis points to 7.3%.
Present Rates
Repo rate: 6.25%
Reverse Repo rate:
6.00%
Marginal Standing Facility: 6.50%
Bank Rate: 6.50%
CRR: 4.00%
SLR: 20.50%
RBI nod must for firms to
issue masala bonds
The Reserve Bank of India on
Wednesday said its forex department would henceforth examine proposals of
companies before they could issue masala bonds to raise funds from overseas
markets.
- The
changes come as part of RBI’s norms on external commercial borrowings,
trade credit, borrowing and lending in foreign currency. Masala bonds are
catching up fast as a source of raising funds.
SEBI gets nod for MoU with Iran, EU
counterparts
The Union Cabinet recently gave its nod
for Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to enter into two
separate memoranda of understanding (MoU) with securities market regulators of
the European Union and Iran.
- These
MoUs are expected to strengthen cooperation between India and the
respective countries on matters pertaining to securities market.
Sam Pitroda resigns as technical advisor to
Odisha government
Prominent telecom engineer and policy maker Sam
Pitroda resigned as the technical advisor to the Odisha government.
- Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik accepted Pitroda's resignation, who earlier in the day had put in his papers.
K G Karmakar, Gauri Shankar appointed directors
of IPPB
K G Karmakar and Gauri Shankar were
appointed as Independent Directors of India Post Payments Bank (IPPB). The
Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved their appointment to the
post on the board of directors of the bank for a period of three years.
- The
IPPB has been incorporated as a public sector bank under the Department of
Posts with 100 percent equity of the government of India.
Rohan Bopanna wins French Open mixed doubles
title to clinch maiden Grand Slam
Indian tennis ace Rohan Bopanna and
Canadian partner Gabriela Dabrowski produced a fighting performance
to beat their German-Colombian opponents Anna-Lena Groenefeld and Robert Farah
in the final to clinch their maiden French Open mixed doubles title in
Paris, France
- Bopanna has become only the fourth Indian to win a Grand Slam crown, after Leander Paes, Mahesh Bhupathi and Sania Mirza.
