Daily Current affairs - June 28th,29th and 30th, 2018 for all competitive exams
The National Statistics Day is observed
across India on June 29 with an aim to create public awareness about the
importance of statistics in socio-economic planning and policy formulation.
The objective of the celebration of this Day is to
acknowledge the contribution of Prof. PC Mahalanobis (29 June
1893-28 June 1972) and to pay homage to him.
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On the occasion, Vice President of India released
a commemorative coin of Rs 125 and circulation coin of Rs 5
denomination as a mark of respect/homage to Prof. Mahalanobis.
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Udyam Sangam-2018
Ministry of
Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSME) launched Udyam Sangam-2018 on June
27, 2018 to celebrate the 2nd United Nations Micro, Small and Medium-sized
Enterprises Day.
- It is an important effort in developing effective
eco-systems for MSME sector. Sangam will provide representatives of finance, training and
educational institutions, industry, media, state governments and NGOs an
opportunity to engage in extensive discussions to strengthen the
eco-systems in this sector.
Rajnath Singh approves ‘Home Minister's special
operation medal’
Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh has
approved the institution of "Home Minister's Special Operation
Medal" for the police personnel of States and Union Territories,
Central Police Organisations (CPOs), Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) and
Security Organisations involved in Special Operations.
Mr Singh has also instituted three more Medals:
Mr Singh has also instituted three more Medals:
1. The Antarik Suraksha Medal,
2. Asadharan Aashuchan Padak, and
3. Utkrisht and Ati-Utkrisht Seva Medal
The HM’s Special Operation Medal and Asadharan
Aashuchan Padak will be awarded on August 15 and the Antarik Suraksha Medal and
Utkrisht and Ati-Utkrisht Seva Medal will be announced on January 26 every
year.
Sagarmala received Gold award at 52nd Skoch summit
The Ministry
of Shipping’s flagship programme for port-led-prosperity ‘Sagarmala’ received
the ‘Gold Award’ in infrastructure sector in the recently concluded 52nd Skoch
Summit 2018. The Sagarmala Programme also received the ‘Order of Merit’ at the
Summit.
- The Sagarmala project seeks to develop a string of
ports around India’s coast. The objective of this initiative is to promote
“Port-led development” along India’s 7500 km long coastline.
- It aims to develop access to new development regions
with intermodal solutions and promotion of the optimum modal split,
enhanced connectivity with main economic centres and beyond through
expansion of rail, inland water, coastal and road services.
- The Union Ministry of Shipping has been appointed as
the nodal ministry for this initiative.
The Skoch
Awards celebrate human excellence and agents of change in Indian society.
They are the highest independently instituted civilian honours in India.
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Mission Shaurya students met Prime Minister
Prime Minister
Narendra Modi recently met a group of ten tribal students from Maharashtra who
were a part of a team of the ‘Mission Shaurya’ initiative of the Adivasi Vikas
Vibhag of the Maharashtra State Government.
- Under Mission Shaurya expedition, 10 tribal students
from “ashram shalas” (residential schools) in Chandrapur district of
Maharashtra conquered Everest.
- It was a joint initiative of the state Tribal
department and Chandrapur Collectorate to scale Everest.
President launched Solar Charkha Mission
President Ram
Nath Kovind recently launched the Solar Charkha Mission covering artisans in 50
identified clusters.
- The Solar Charkha Mission will generate employment in
rural areas and contribute to the green economy. The mission will entail a
subsidy of Rs 550 crore in the initial two years for 50 clusters and every
cluster will employ 400 to 2000 artisans.
- The scheme also aims at linking five crore women across
the country to the initiative. The mission is expected to create one lakh
jobs during the first two years.
Ministry of Health and Family welfare restricted ban on Oxytocin
The Ministry
of Health and Family Welfare has restricted the manufacture of Oxytocin
formulations for domestic use to public sector only. Coupled with this, it has
also banned the import of Oxytocin and its formulations. The order comes into
effect from July 1.
- Only Karnataka Antibiotics & Pharmaceuticals Ltd.
(KAPL), a public sector company, will manufacture this drug for domestic
use. It will supply the drug to registered hospitals and clinics in public
and private sector directly.
- The drug is misused in the dairy industry where
livestock is injected with Oxytocin to make them release milk at a time
convenient to farmers.
- Oxytocin is also used to increase the size of
vegetables such as pumpkins, watermelons, eggplants, gourds, and
cucumbers.
Oxytocin has
also been dubbed the hug hormone, cuddle chemical, moral molecule, and the
bliss hormone due to its effects on behaviour, including its role in love and
in female reproductive biological functions in reproduction.
Oxytocin is
a hormone that is made in the brain, in the hypothalamus. It is transported
to, and secreted by, the pituitary gland, which is located at the base of the
brain. It acts both as a hormone and as a brain neurotransmitter.
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Suresh Prabhu launches mobile app 'ReUnite'
Union Minister of Commerce & Industry and
Civil Aviation, Suresh Prabhu launched a mobile application called
'ReUnite' which helps to track and trace missing and abandoned children in
India.
- The app is multiuser where parents and citizens can
upload pictures of children, and provide detailed description like name,
birthmark, address, report to the police station, search and identify
missing kids.
Union cabinet approved Rs.2000crore for Export Credit Guarantee
Corporation
Cabinet has
approved the capital infusion of Rs.2000 crore for strengthening of Export
Credit Guarantee Corporation (ECGC).
- The infusion would enhance insurance coverage to MSME
exports and strengthen India’s exports to emerging and challenging markets
like Africa, CIS and Latin American countries.
- With enhanced capital, ECGC’s underwriting capacity and
risk to capital ratio will improve considerably.
- With a stronger underwriting capacity, ECGC will be in
a better position to support Indian exporters to tap new and unexplored
markets.
- ECGC is a premier export credit agency of the
Government of India to provide Export Credit Insurance Services to facilitate
exports from the country.
- The ECGC offers credit insurance schemes to exporters
to protect them against losses due to non-payment of export dues by
overseas buyers due to political and / or commercial risks.
Higher Education Commission of India prepared by MoHRD
A Higher
Education Commission of India (Repeal of University Grants Commission Act) Bill
2018 which seeks to repeal UGC Act and provides for setting up of Higher
Education Commission of India has been prepared by the Ministry of HRD.
- The focus of the Commission will be on improving
academic standards and quality of higher education, specifying norms for
learning outcomes, lay down standards of teaching/research etc.
- It will provide a roadmap for mentoring of institutions
found failing in maintaining the required academic standards.
- The Commission will encourage higher education
institutions to formulate a Code of Good Practices covering promotion of
research, teaching and learning.
- The proposed commission will have 12 members appointed
by the central government, apart from the chairperson and
vice-chairperson.
Previously,
UGC was formed in 1946 to oversee the work of the three Central Universities
of Aligarh, Banaras and, Delhi. In 1947, a Committee was entrusted with the
responsibility of dealing with all the then existing Universities.
After
independence, the University Education Commission was set up in 1948 under
the Chairmanship of S. Radhakrishnan and it recommended that
the UGC be reconstituted on the general model of the University Grants
Commission of the United Kingdom.
The UGC was
however, formally established in November 1956, by an Act of Parliament as a
statutory body of the Government of India.
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Union cabinet approved for establishment of Strategic Petroleum Reserve
(SPR) Programme
The Union
Cabinet has approved establishment of additional 6.5 Million Metric Tonne (MMT)
Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) facilities at two locations, i.e. Chandikhol
in Odisha and Padur in Karnataka, including construction of dedicated SPMs
(Single Point Mooring) for the two SPRs.
- The SPR facilities at Chandikhol and Padur will be
underground rockcaverns and will have capacities of 4 MMT and 2.5 MMT
respectively.
- To ensure energy security, the Government of India had
decided to set up 5 million metric tons (MMT) of strategic crude oil
storages at three locations namely, Visakhapatnam, Mangalore and
Padur (near Udupi). These strategic storages would be in
addition to the existing storages of crude oil and petroleum products with
the oil companies and would serve as a cushion during any external supply
disruptions.
Union cabinet approved for Ethanol Blended Petrol (EBP) Programme
Cabinet
approves Mechanism for procurement of ethanol by Public Sector Oil Marketing
Companies (OMCs) to carry out the Ethanol Blended Petrol (EBP) Programme-
Revision of ethanol price for supply to Public Sector OMCs.
- Remunerative price to ethanol suppliers will help in
reduction of cane farmer’s arrears, in the process contributing to
minimizing difficulty of sugarcane farmers.
- Ethanol availability for EBP Programme is expected to
increase significantly due to higher price for C heavy molasses based
ethanol and enabling procurement of ethanol from B heavy molasses and
sugarcane juice for first time.
Ethanol
Blended Petrol (EBP) Programme:
It was
launched by the Government in 2003 on pilot basis which has been subsequently
extended to the Notified 21 States and 4 Union Territories to promote the use
of alternative and environmental friendly fuels.
It aims at
blending ethanol with petrol, thereby bringing it under the category of
biofuels and saving millions of dollars by cutting fuel imports.
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Government approves 2 more strategic oil
storages in Odisha and Karnataka
The government has decided to set up two
more underground crude oil storages in Odisha and Karnataka to increase
emergency stockpile cover by 12 days to 22 days.
- The Cabinet has approved setting up of 4 million
tonne (MT) storage at Chandikhole in Odisha and 2.5 MT storage at
Padur in Karnataka.
- The announcement was made by the Finance Minister
Piyush Goyal in New Delhi. The storages will
be additional to the existing rock caverns to shore 5.33 MT of
crude Visakhapatnam (1.33 MT), Mangalore (1.5 MT) and Padur (2.5 MT).
Gujarat CM announces Agriculture JWG with
Israel
On the second day of his visit to
Israel, Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani met Israel's Agriculture
and Rural Development Minister Uri Ariel and announced a joint working
group (JWG) between Gujarat and Israel in the fields of agriculture,
horticulture and allied sectors.
- The objective of the meeting was strengthening the
Indo-Israeli agricultural cooperation and extension of
the Indo-Israel Agriculture Plan (IIAP) and also to explore the
opportunities of using the hi-tech protective cultivation and precision
farming methods of Israel.
Indian, Indonesian navies participate in
passage exercise: PASSEX 2018
The navies of India and
Indonesia participated in Passage Exercise (PASSEX).
- Indian Naval ships INS Shakti and INS
Kamorta under the command of Rear Admiral Dinesh K Tripathi, Flag
Officer Commanding Eastern Fleet, undertook Passage Exercise
with Indonesian Naval Ship KRI Madidihang (855) on leaving
the Port of Makassar, Indonesia.
India pledges $5 million for UN Palestinian aid
agency
India has pledged USD 5 million in
assistance to the UN agency working for the welfare of Palestinian
refugees to help bolster its "severe funding
crisis" following US' cut in its annual aid to United Nations
Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA).
- A total of 20 countries, including India, announced
contributions to the 2018 budget of the UNRWA for Palestine Refugees in
the Near East during a meeting.
NITI Aayog’s Women Entrepreneurs Platform signed on five SoIs
NITI
Aayog’s Women Entrepreneurs Platform (WEP) has signed five separate
Statement of Intent (SoIs) with Financial Institutions & Social
Organizations.
- These SOIs will provide financial assistance to women
entrepreneurs and address the finance related challenges faced by them
through WEP.
- The initiative is aimed at building an ecosystem for
women across India to realize their entrepreneurial aspirations, scale-up
innovative initiatives and chalk-out sustainable, long-term strategies for
their businesses. This will be done through an enabling network of
industry collaborations, partnerships, mentors and peer-to-peer connect.
Economically empowered women are major catalysts for
development. There is greater recognition of the positive relationship
between increased economic activity by women and improved social outcomes.
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US withdraws its military from South Korean
capital after 70 yrs
US withdrew its troops from Seoul
after nearly 70 years and moved them to Camp Humphreys in the city of
Pyeongtaek.
- Camp Humphreys, the largest US overseas military base,
was built over a period of 10 years which cost nearly $11 billion. Over
28,000 US troops are stationed in South Korea.
Pakistan placed on FATF’s ‘Grey list’
Pakistan has been placed on the grey list by the
Financial Action Task Force (FATF) for failing to curb anti-terror
financing despite its diplomatic efforts to avert the decision.
- The decision was taken at the global financial
watchdog Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) plenary session in Paris where
Finance Minister Shamshad Akhtar represented Pakistan.
FATF is an inter-governmental body established in 1989 to
combat money laundering, terrorist financing and other related threats to the
integrity of the international financial system.
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NASA to launch world's lightest satellite
designed by Chennai students
The four first-year engineering students from
Hindustan Institute of Technology and Science near Chennai, Tamil Nadu have
developed the world’s lightest satellite which will be launched from
a NASA facility in the US by August 2018.
- The students built the 4cm ‘cube’ satellite
‘Jaihind-1S’ with a 3D printed outer casing from polylactic acid
(PLA) nylon material, making it lighter than a medium sized
egg, at just 33.39 grams.
ISRO is planning to mine Moon
Indian Space
Research Organisation (ISRO)’s second moon mission — the Rs 800 crore
‘Chandrayaan-2’ —will hunt for deposits of Helium-3 — a waste-free nuclear
energy that could answer many of Earth’s energy problems.
- The isotope of Helium, which is abundant on the moon,
could theoretically meet global energy demands for three to five
centuries.
- This kind of energy is also expected to be worth
trillions of dollars (one expert estimated Helium-3’s value at about five
billion US dollars a ton).
- There is approximately 1 million metric tons of
Helium-3 embedded in the moon, although only about a quarter of that can
realistically can brought to Earth. Since the isotope is not radioactive,
it could be used in fusion reactors for nuclear energy without dangerous
nuclear by-products.
Exim bank extends $10 mn loan facility to
Seychelles
Export-Import Bank of India (Exim
Bank) announced that it has extended $10 million worth of line of credit
(LOC) to Seychelles. This is for healthcare and procurement of goods and
projects.
- It is the first tranche of the $50 million sanctioned
by the Exim Bank to the country. With this agreement for $10 million, Exim
Bank has extended two LOCs to Seychelles, taking the total value to $28
million.
HCL tech acquires German IT firm H&D
HCL Technologies has acquired German IT and
engineering services provider H&D International Group. Through this
deal, HCL Tech will attain significant in-country front office and delivery
capabilities, which will further enhance its domain expertise in the global
automotive sector.
- The H&D Group, one of the largest IT service
providers in the German automotive industry, has extensive expertise in
SAP, computer-aided technologies (CAx), engineering services and
customer-specific product development.
Mumbai based Swadhaar FinServe acquired by RBL
bank
RBL Bank has raised its stake in Swadhaar
Finserve Pvt. Ltd to 100% from 60.48%. The bank has bought the stake it
did not own from US-based non-profit Accion.
- Swadhaar FinServe started operations as a non-banking
finance company in 2008.
- It subsequently converted into an NBFC-MFI. It became a
business correspondent for RBL Bank in 2014 and transferred its
microcredit portfolio to the bank. In November 2017, RBL Bank increased
its stake in Swadhaar to 60.48%.
Jio becomes India’s second largest telco by
revenue
According to TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority
of India), Mukesh Ambani-ledReliance Jio surpass Vodafone India as the
country’s second largest operator in terms of “access service gross
revenue” at INR62.2 billion ($903 million).
- Market leader Bharti Airtel still in No:1 with revenue
of INR70.8 billion. Reliance Jio entered the Indian market in September
2016 and quickly attracted subscribers with attractive pricing and
discounts that effectively provided free voice and data access.
Bengaluru world’s 2nd best location to launch
tech startups
Bengaluru has claimed the second spot in the list
of best locations for launching tech startups, according to research firm
SmallBusinessPrices.co.uk.
- The first place was secured by Boulder city in the US
while the third best location was Johannesburg in South Africa.
- The research measured the average internet speed, the
average business valuation, and cost of living, among other metrics.
North Korea named as ‘Worst Human Trafficking
Country’
US State Department categorized North
Korea as one of the “worst human trafficking nations” for the 16th straight
year, citing the use of forced labour.
- According to the annual ‘2018 Trafficking in
Persons Report’, North Korea has been included in the Tier 3
category, which is the lowest ranking, along with China, Russia and Iran.
- The '2018 Trafficking in Persons Report' placed India
in Tier 2 category for making significant effort to comply with the
US standards. However, India does not fully meet the minimum standards for
the elimination of trafficking.
Cost of living survey for expats: Mumbai
costlier than Washington and Melbourne
According to the Cost of Living Survey published
by global personnel consultants Mercer, Mumbai continues to be the most
expensive city in India to live in for expatriates, ahead of global
peers Washington and Melbourne.
- Hong Kong is ranked as the world's costliest
city to live in for expatriates, followed by Tokyo, Zurich,
Singapore, and Seoul.
India ranked Fourth as Cyber attacks on the
rise globally: Report
India ranked fourth in the list of top 10 target
countries for Web Application Attacks as bot-driven abuse and distributed
denial of service (DDoS) attacks continued to rise from November 2017 till
April this year, Cloud delivery network provider Akamai Technologies said.
- Registering over 2.8 crore attacks, India also ranked
eighth globally in the list of Web Application Attack source countries.
- Cyber security defenders face increasing threats from
organisations in the form of bot-based credential abuse targeting the
hospitality industry and advanced DDoS attacks, said the "Summer 2018
State of the Internet/ Security: Web Attack report".
Indian real estate transparency ranked 35th
globally
Jones Lang
LaSalle Inc. (JLL) has released the Global Real Estate Transparency Index 2018.
- The 2018 Global Real Estate Transparency Index covers
100 markets and is based on 186 indicators.
- These variables are divided into six areas –performance measurement, market
fundamentals, and governance of listed vehicles, regulatory & legal
frameworks, transaction process and environmental sustainability.
- The Index scores markets on a scale of 1 to 5 (with
1.00 being the highest possible score). India has moved up just one spot
from 36 in 2016 to 35 in 2018. The UK, Australia, the US, France and
Canada are the top five countries.
- Sri Lanka is at the 66th position and Pakistan at 75th
among south Asian countries. Venezuela is the least transparent market
with 100th rank.
- Among BRICS nations, both China and South Africa
remained on the same rank 33rd and 21st position, respectively, while,
Brazil slipped to 37th position and Russia remained at 38th rank.
Ministry of women and child development
organises POSHAN abhiyaan TECH-THON
With an aim to integrate information technology
for better roll out of its major social sector schemes, Ministry of
Woman and Child Development organized a day-long Seminar on Technology
Partnerships for Steering POSHAN Abhiyaan called 'TECH-THON'.
- ICDS- Common Application Software has been
specially designed to strengthen the Service Delivery System as well as
the mechanism for Real-Time Monitoring for nutritional outcomes.
- POSHAN Abhiyaan was launched by the Prime Minister
in March 2018 in Jhunjhunu, Rajasthan. Smt. Maneka Gandhi is the present
Minister of Ministry of Woman and Child Development.
Fifteenth India Australia joint ministerial
commission held in Canberra
The 15th India-Australia Joint Ministerial
Commission (JMC) was held on 25thJune 2018, in Canberra, Australia.
- The meeting was jointly chaired by Minister of Commerce
& Industry and Civil Aviation, Suresh Prabhu and Australian Minister
for Trade, Tourism and Investment Steven Ciobo.
- The JMC took place after a gap of 4 years in a very
warm and cordial atmosphere. The talks culminated in the signing of an MoU
between Austrade and Invest-India in order to facilitate bilateral
investment flows.
Sonakshi joins UNESCO to promote safe
cyberspace for kids
Sonakshi Sinha joins UNESCO to promote safe and
secure online environment for children and help empower our future digital
citizens.
- Stressing on the importance of education on the safe
use of online spaces, the actress said it will equip boys and girls to be
prepared to report any type of abuse or exploitation.
Dutee Chand sets new National record in women’s
100m
India sprinter Dutee Chand set a new
national record in the women’s 100-metre race when she clocked 11.29
seconds at the 58th National Inter-State Senior Athletics
Championships being held in Guwahati, Assam.
- The previous record of 11.30 seconds was also held by
Dutee, which she achieved at the Indian Grand Prix in 2017.
- Dutee has qualified for the Asian Games in 100m
and 200m by breaching the qualifying timings at the Inter-State
Championships.
Rani Rampal announced captain of Indian Women’s
Hockey team
Forward Rani Rampal was named as
the captain of India’s 18-member squad for the women’s hockey World
Cup to be played in London in July 2018.
- Hockey India announced the 18-member Indian women’s
team for the prestigious tournament.
- India has been placed in Pool B alongside hosts and
world no. 2 England, world no. 7 USA and world no. 16 Ireland. Goalkeeper
Savita has been named vice-captain.
Indian Shooter Saurabh wins gold medal with
world record score at ISSF Junior World Cup
Sixteen-year-old Indian shooter Saurabh
Chaudhary set a new world record and won a gold in the 10m air pistol event in
the ISSF Junior World Cup in Germany. He got 243.7 points in the final.
- The junior world record before this was 242.5 by
Chinese shooter Wang Zhehao at the first ISSF Junior World Cup of the year
in Sydney. The other Indian in the final, Anmol Jain, fell short of the
podium, finishing fourth with 199.6.
