Daily Gk 21st June 2017

Current affairs for IBPS RRB,RBI,DENA BANK,SSC CGL,UPSC,AFCAT

National

The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi inaugurated building of Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Technical University

·         The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi  inaugurated building of Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Technical University, dedicated 400KV Lucknow-Kanpur D/C transmission line and distributed sanction letters to the beneficiaries of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana in Lucknow.

Prime Minister’s Award for Outstanding Contribution to Promotion and Development of Yoga announced

·         The Ramamani Iyengar Memorial Yoga Institute has been selected as the first recipient of the Prime Minister's Award for outstanding contribution to promotion and development of Yoga. The instiution of the award was announced by the Prime Minister on the occasion of the Second International Day of Yoga at Chandigarh on 21st June, 2016.

·         The Ramamani Iyengar Memorial Yoga Institute has worked to spread Yoga, internationally, over a period of 4 decades. The Institute has published books on Yoga and these have been translated into multiple languages. There are thousands of Iyengar Yoga teachers popularising and propagating yoga across the world.

Shri K.V. Chowdary presents country statement at the Eighth Session of the Implementation Review Group of UNCAC at Vienna, Austria

·         The Central Vigilance Commissioner Shri K.V. Chowdary presented country statement at the Eighth Session of the Implementation Review Group of the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) at Vienna, Austria. The Eighth Session is being held from June 19th-23rd, 2017.

·         While presenting the country statement, Shri K.V. Chowdary said that India has recognized the need for effectively fighting corruption and has a robust and time tested institutional and legislative framework including, the Prevention of Corruption Act an independent Central Vigilance Commission, Central Information Commission, Comptroller and Auditor General, the Judges (Inquiry) Act and  a spate of legislations including The Lokpal & Lokayukta Act, 2013,  Whistle Blowers Protection Act 2011, Prevention of Money Laundering Act, Benami  Transactions (Prohibition) Act which cover a number of areas of criminalization, bribery have been enacted.

·       Shri K.V. Chowdary said that India is fully committed to tackle corruption and adopts a ‘zero tolerance’ approach as well as minimum Government and maximum Governance.

Dalveer Bhandari gets renomination to ICJ

·         India has renominated its serving candidate at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the principal legal organ of the United Nations.

·         Justice Dalveer Bhandari, 69, who received the re-nomination, will serve for a term of nine years as the Indian judge at the ICJ, which is the platform of the ongoing Kulbhushan Jadhav case.

·         Justice Bhandari, who previously served in the Supreme Court of India, was elected in April 2012 to his current seat. India filed for his renomination with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres. The election to the ICJ will be held at the next UN session, following which the next term will ensue.

·         During his term at the ICJ, Justice Bhandari has been engaged in cases ranging from maritime disputes, genocide, nuclear disarmament, terrorism and violation of sovereign rights.

·         The Court consists of 15 judges who are elected to nine-year terms by the United Nations General Assembly and the Security Council. As a judge of the ICJ, Justice Bhandari will enjoy privileges and immunities equal to the head of a diplomatic mission. Each member of the Court receives an annual salary and supplementary allowance. After leaving the court, members receive annual pensions.

·         Founded in 1945, the ICJ settles disputes between sovereign states and gives advisory opinions on legal questions that have been referred to it by other authorised UN organs.

Ram Nath Kovind resigns as Bihar Governor

·         Bihar Governor Ram Nath Kovind has resigned from the gubernatorial post. The resignation follows his nomination as the National Democratic Alliance's presidential candidate.

·         President Pranab Mukherjee has accepted the resignation, a communiqué issued by the Rashtrapati Bhavan said on June 20.

·         West Bengal Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi will discharge the functions of the Governor of Bihar, in addition to his own duties, it said.

International

More than 3,000 people killed in Congo's Kasai region: Catholic Church

·         The civil war waged between armed militants and the Congolese security forces have claimed at least 3,383 lives in the Kasai region since last October, the country's Catholic church said in a report based on local church sources.

·         The United Nations had previously said hundreds died in the violence. The church report also said that the Democratic Republic of Congo's national army was responsible for destroying 10 villages.

Car bomb in Somalia capital kills at least 15: police

·         At least 15 people are dead after a suicide car bomber posing as a milk delivery van detonated at a district headquarters in Somalia’s capital, police said.

·         The al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabab extremist group quickly claimed responsibility for the attack via its Shahada News Agency, according to the SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors jihadist groups.

ECONOMY

GDP growth to rise to 7.5% in FY19: Fitch

·         India’s GDP growth will steadily rise from 7.4% to 7.5% in 2018-19 and to 7.6% in 2019-20, according to Fitch Ratings, which said growth would be boosted by the goods and services tax, increased public spending on infrastructure, and a supportive monetary policy over the last two years.

·         The ratings agency added that the recovery in global growth was strengthening, with world GDP growth expected to pick up to 3.1% in 2018 from 2.5% in 2016. Fitch noted this would be the highest rate seen since 2010. “We do, however, expect investment to gradually pick up from current lows, on the back of the transmission of supportive monetary policy of the past two years and stepped-up structural reforms,” Fitch Ratings said in a report.

Cabinet Secretary reviews and expresses satisfaction over GST readiness

·         The Cabinet Secretary conducted a detailed review of the preparedness for the roll out of the Goods and Services Tax regime from July 1, according to an official statement.

·         “In a meeting attended by Secretaries of 30 ministries connected with GST, and video conferencing with about 167 PSUs under their administrative control, the Cabinet Secretary asked all involved to take full responsibility of their stakeholders, and for the successful implementation of the GST,” the statement said.

·         “The focus of the review was on the progress made by PSUs in getting GST-ready and preparation in their IT system as well,” the statement added. “Other aspects included the arrangements made by the departments for opening the GST Facilitation Cell and a Call Centre to guide their respective client groups and vendors.”

SAARC start-ups’ meet to work out mutually beneficial ideas

·         India will host a summit for start-ups from SAARC nations later this year to tap the complementarities that ventures across South Asia may bring to the table, Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Nirmala Sitharaman said.

·         The eight-member South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation (SAARC) could also be a forum that helps build linkages for similar thinking minds and start-ups, Ms.Sitharaman said.

·         Apart from India, the SAARC includes Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Maldives, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

Government of India and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) Sign $275 Million Loan for Upgrading Urban Services in 64 Small Towns in Madhya Pradesh

·         The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Government of India signed a $275 million loan on 19th June, 2017 for improving urban services in 64 small towns in the State of Madhya Pradesh.

·         The project will develop sustainable, inclusive, and climate-resilient water supply in 64 small and medium-sized towns, and integrated storm water and sewerage infrastructure in two heritage towns of Khajuraho and Rajnagar. The project supports the State Government’s priority to develop urban infrastructure. Previous ADB urban investments in the state have improved access to safe drinking water for more than 5 million residents in 4 major cities.

·         Along with ADB’s loan, the Government of Madhya Pradesh will provide counterpart support of $124 million. The project will run for almost five years with an expected completion date of June 2022.

India ratifies United Nations TIR Convention

·         India became the 71st country to ratify the United Nations TIR (Transports Internationaux Routiers) Convention, a move that will help boost trade through smoother movement of goods across territories.

·         The ratification is a part of India’s multi-modal transport strategy that aims to integrate the economy with global and regional production networks through better connectivity.

·         The TIR Convention will also facilitate India’s current national and multilateral connectivity-related initiatives to improve cross border road transport, facilitating overland trade integration with both eastern and western neighbours. It will also help India in implementing the World Trade Organization’s Trade Facilitation Agreement, which entered into force this year.

Science & Technology

First indigenously built floating dock launched

·         The Indian Navy’s first indigenously built Floating Dock (FDN-2), developed by Larsen & Toubro Ltd. (L&T), was launched at L&T’s shipyard in Kattupalli.

·         The Floating Dock is 185 metres long and 40 metres wide and will enable docking of all kinds of vessels, including Naval ships and submarines (excepting aircraft carriers and tankers) of up to 8,000 tonnes displacement, with draughts of up to seven metres, during both day and night.

·         The Navy already has one Floating Dock; this would be its second such facility, Vice Admiral DM Deshpande, Controller of Warship Production and Acquisition, Indian Navy, told reporters after his wife, Anjali Deshpande, launched the dock. FDN-2 will be based in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and will enhance the Navy’s technical repair infrastructure.

·         This is L&T’s first Naval order. “It will be delivered in two to three months at Port Blair,” said B. Kannan, head of shipbuilding, L&T. “It was 100% designed in-house. It’s a big utility vessel with special functions. We will do trials at sea both at Kattupalli and Port Blair,” he said.

AstroSat rules out afterglow in black hole merger

·         Recently US-based LIGO group announced having detected gravitational waves emanating from the merger of two massive black holes located nearly 3 billion light years away. Simultaneously, Hawaii-based ATLAS group identified a fading glow from the part of the sky where these black holes were roughly estimated to lie.

·          The group surmised that this was an electromagnetic (light based) afterglow emanating from the merger. ISRO’s space observatory, AstroSat, however, has, with extremely sensitive measurements, ruled out the possibility that this has any connection with the black hole merger.

·         In collaboration with the GROWTH (Global Relay of Observatories Watching Transients Happen) network of observatories, AstroSat team has concluded that this event is due to a gamma ray burst.

·         A gamma ray burst is light emanating from a bursting star, for example, an exploding supernova, that may lead to the formation of a black hole. This places the afterglow among a class of phenomena detected routinely by the space observatory. The discovery was made with the help of the Cadmium Zinc Telluride Imager (CZTI), an x-ray telescope aboard AstroSat.

Last two Scorpene submarines from Mazgaon Docks to join Navy without AIP system

·         Contrary to expectations, the last two Scorpene submarines will roll out of the manufacturing line without the Air Independent Propulsion (AIP) system meant to extend the reach of the conventional diesel-electric submarines.

·         The AIP module is not part of the original Scorpene contract but the Navy has been keen on having them fitted on the last two of the six Scorpene submarines being manufactured by Mazgaon Docks Limited (MDL) in Mumbai.

·         The AIP module is being developed by the DRDO and was supposed to be installed before the submarines roll out. However, a delay in development seems to scuttle the plan. The module enables conventional submarines to stay underwater for a longer duration greatly increasing the submarines stealth characteristics.

Indian Delegation at 2017 BIO International Convention

·         The Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO) BIO 2017 is

 being held in the San Diego Convention Centre, San Diego from 

19th June t0 22nd June, 2017.

·         The BIO International Convention is the largest global event for the biotechnology industry and attracts the biggest names in biotech, offers key networking and partnering opportunities, and provides insights and inspiration on the major trends affecting the industry.

·         The Convention also features the BIO Business Forum (One-on-One Partnering), hundreds of sessions covering biotech trends, policy issues and technological innovations, and the world's largest biotechnology exhibition - the BIO Exhibition. The first BIO International Convention was held in 1993 and attracted approximately 1,400 attendees.

·         The BIO International Convention is hosted by the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO). BIO members are involved in the research and development of innovative healthcare, agricultural, industrial and environmental biotechnology products.

Sports

ICC considers scrapping Champions Trophy for an extra World T20

·         The next Champions Trophy, scheduled in India in 2021, could be scrapped to accommodate two World Twenty20 tournaments in a four-year cycle, the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) CEO David Richardson has revealed.

·         India, who hold the hosting rights for the next Champions Trophy in 2021, lost the title to Pakistan by 180 runs in the final at The Oval.

Anil Kumble steps down as coach of Indian cricket team

·         Anil Kumble, a distinguished achiever as a player and as head coach of the Indian team for the last one year delivering outstanding results, has chosen to part ways from the National team with great dignity, but not in circumstances that he would have wished for.

·         From the time the 46-year-old took over the mantle of head coach in July 2016, with the first assignment in the West Indies, until the long home international season that culminated with the Test series against Australia, the cricketing fraternity felt that the Virat Kohli–Kumble combination worked wonders for the betterment of the Indian cricket.

CIC says BCCI should come under the RTI Act

·         In its latest order dated June 16, the Central Information Commission (CIC) has urged the Committee of Administrators (CoA) running the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to bring the organisation under the RTI Act.

·         In a previous order on June 9, the CIC had elaborately explained the need for making BCCI a public authority.

·         The latest order states that the Sports Minister had told the Lok Sabha in 2012 that BCCI was a National Sports Federation for cricket, which received thousands of crores towards tax concessions.

·         Thus it has to come under the RTI in order to remain accountable to the public. The CIC in its order has asked the PMO, the Ministry of Law and Justice, and the Sports Ministry as to why RTI was not being implemented by the organisation.

Netherlands snaps India’s winning run

·         The Netherlands handed out India its first defeat, prevailing 3-1, in their match at the Hockey World League League semifinal.

·         All the goals came in the first two quarters of the match with the Netherlands scoring through Thierry Brinkman (2nd minute), Sander Baart (12th) and Mirco Pruijser (24th), while Akashdeep Singh sounded the board for India with a brilliant field strike.

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