Current Affairs June 9, 2018 S.No Topic Page Number 1 Important Days 2 2 World News 3 3 National News 4-5 4 State News 6 5 Banking & Economy 7 6 Sports 8 7 Awards and Honours 9 8 Appointments & Resignation 10-11 9 Science & Technology 12 10 Obtiuaries 13 1
Important Days Northampton Caribbean Carnival In 2004 a small group of volunteers took up the challenge of re-introducing carnival to the streets of Northampton bringing a multicultural flavour. The Northampton Carnival has had strong traditions in the town from the 1960s through the Midsummer Meadow times in the 1980s, to its short break in the late 1990s, until its revival in 2005. 2
World News South Africa, Germany, Belgium elected non-permanent UNSC members On 8th June 2018, the UN General Assembly elected South Africa, Indonesia, Dominican Republic, Germany and Belgium as non-permanent members of the Security Council for term of two years starting from 1st January 2019. On 8th June 2018, voting was conducted in the General Assembly comprising 193 members. The voting was to fill the seats that will be vacated by Bolivia, Ethiopia, Kazakhstan and Sweden in 2018. The five non-permanent members were elected following this pattern: Two seats were for the Group of African states and the Group of Asia-Pacific states, one seat for the Group of Latin American and Caribbean states, and two seats for Western European and other states. The Security Council has 15 members. It includes five permanent members namely China, France, Russia, the UK and the US. The 10 non-permanent members are elected for 2 years term. Security Council is the most powerful UN body. It is responsible for finding out threats to respond to aggression. It is also mandated to figure out peaceful ways to settle a conflict between states. It can also authorise the use of force to restore international peace and security. It also recommends to the General Assembly on the appointment of the UN Secretary General and new members to the UN. 3
National News Swachh Bharat Mission: Rural sanitation coverage crosses the 85% mark On June 9, 2018, The mass movement of the largest behavior change programme Swachh Bharat Mission has crossed the 85% mark in achieving its goal. This is more than double the coverage from the launch of the mission Through mobilization of rural communities, 7.4 crore toilets have been built across rural India, and as an outcome, over 3.8 lakh villages and 391 districts have been declared Open Defecation Free (ODF). Independent Verification Agency surveyed across 90,000 households in over 6000 villages has found the usage of toilets in rural India to be 93.4%. Two independent surveys conducted in the past by the Quality Council of India in 2017, and National Sample Survey Organization in 2016, have pegged the usage of these toilets at 91% and 95% respectively. 8 states, 4 UTs sign MoUs with health ministry to implement Ayushman Bharat On June 9, 2018, 8 states and 4 Union Territories have signed the MoU with Ministry of Health to implement Ayushman Bharat- National Health Protection Mission. Among the 8 states are Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir and Uttarakhand. Among the 4 UT Chandigarh is one of them. Delhi, Odisha, Punjab and West Bengal have not given any assent towards the adoption of the programme. Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Tamil Nadu will be signing the MOU. Regional workshops are being planned across India to sign MoU with other states. 4
Government launches smoking cessation campaign The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, India, has launched a national media campaign to encourage smoking cessation, at a World Health Organization event conducted recently. The public service announcement (PSA) is titled What Damage Will This Cigarette/Bidi Do. It explains each cigarette or bidi as the path to many harmful events like heart attacks, cancer, lung disease, etc. The campaign highlights the theme of 2018 World No Tobacco Day ( tobacco and heart disease ). Vital Strategies offered technical support for this campaign. The campaign will be broadcast in 17 languages on all major national government and private TV and radio channels. It will also be supported by social media campaign. According to The Tobacco Atlas, over 9 lakh Indians die due to tobacco-related diseases every year. As per research, taking strong tobacco control measures might avoid 25 % of cases of heart attack and stroke in India. Strong tobacco control will also help to reduce cancer in India. Around 45 % of cancers among men and 17 % in women and over 80 % of oral cancers are directly caused by tobacco usage. India, China sign agreements on Brahmaputra data, rice exports India and China has signed two bilateral agreements during a meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Qingdao on the sidelines of the 18th Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Summit. The agreements include continuing to share Brahmaputra water data during flood season and exporting non-basmati rice to China. 5
State News Odisha signs MoU with PGBF for establishment of badminton On 8th June 2018, Odisha government signed a MoU with Hyderabad-based Pullela Gopichand Badminton Foundation (PGBF) for setting up of P Gopichand Badminton Academy in Odisha. The MoU was signed between the Sports and Youth Services Department, Government of Odisha and Pullela Gopichand Badminton Foundation. Odisha government will offer complete financial support for the proposed badminton academy. PGBF will provide technical support such as coaching and physiotherapy services for the players. Pullela Gopichand inaugurated a documentary on the Asian Athletics Championships hosted by Odisha government on the occasion. Also Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik released a coffee table book. Karnataka CM H D Kumaraswamy allocated portfolios to ministers On 8th June 2018, Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy allotted portfolios to ministers. H D Kumaraswamy has taken 11 portfolios for himself including Finance, Energy, Infrastructure Development, Information and Public Relations, excise department, Personnel and Administrative Reforms, Information, Planning and Statistics and the ones that were not assigned to anybody. Deputy CM Parameshwara is in charge of the Bangalore development ministry. This controls both the Bangalore Development Authority and the local corporation. He is also given the Home portfolio. He has also been given additional charge of subjects related to Youth Empowerment. Mr. Kumaraswamy s brother HD Revanna has been given the Public Works ministry. Congress RV Deshpande has been given Revenue and Skill Development. Congress DK Shivakumar has been given two portfolios: Irrigation and Medical Education. KJ George has been given Industries and also IT and BT potfolios. Jayamala has been given the ministries of Women and Child Development and Kannada and Culture. Former Home Minister Ramalinga Reddy has not been inducted as a minister. M C Managuli has been allotted Horticulture. 6
Banking & Economy Syndicate, OBC, Bank of India raise rate by up to 0.15% On June 9, 2018, Following RBI s decision to raise the repo rate to 25 basis points. Bank of India has hiked the marginal cost based lending rate (MCLR) by 0.10 per cent each for various tenors; the Oriental Bank of Commerce by 0.10-0.15 per cent and Syndicate BankNSE 0.97 % effected a change of 0.05 per cent for one-year tenor loan. Yes Bank launches deposit scheme with an eye to raise Rs 1,000 crore On June 5, 2018, Yes Bank has launched a first of a kind new deposit scheme to fetch Rs. 1000 crore from the scheme. It is the first of many green retail products to be launched by the bank This scheme is called Green Future: Deposit. It is launched to support the Green Good Deeds campaign that was recently launched by the Government of India. This would provide a peak interest of 7.5% and has a tenure of 18 months 8 days to 18 months 18 days. For senior citizens it would provide 8% interest. It has also launched a pilot project for recycled dry waste generated at facilities and has recycled close to 9.5 tonne of dry waste, resulting in 27.35 MT of carbon footprint reduction every quarter. OVL gets first equity oil from Abu Dhabi s Lower Zakum oil field On June 9, 2018, ONGC Videsh Ltd. received its first equity oil from Abu Dhabi s Lower Zakum oilfield. The shipload of Das blend crude oil was received in New Mangalore port. The Lower Zakum oilfield produces 40000 barrels per day. OVL lead consortium consisting of Bharat PetroResources Ltd and Indian Oil Corp has a 10% stake at Lower Zakum oilfield. First equity cargo of 6,90,000 barrels which was loaded onto the vessel MT Wafrah on June 2, 2018, was sold by OVL for refining to Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd (MRPL). OVL has 41 projects in 20 countries from Brazil to New Zealand. 7
Sports News World records ODI score by New Zealand women New Zealand women s cricket team posted the highest ever total in one-day cricket an incredible 490 for four against Ireland in the first ODI in Dublin with skipper Suzie Bates leading from the front with a blistering 151-run knock. Skipper Suzie Bates top-scored with 151 off 94 balls as her team also went past the men's record of 444 by England. Halep wins maiden Grand Slam title at French Open Top-ranked Romanian Simona Halep beat Sloane Stephens in final sets to claim her first Grand Slam title at the French Open. Halep became the second Romanian woman to win a Grand Slam singles trophy after Virginia Ruzici at Roland Garros in 1978.. This was Halep s fourth major final and has lost all three in the past, including two at Roland Garros. 8
Awards and Honours Kamila Shamsie s Home Fire wins 2018 Women s Prize for Fiction Kamila Shamsie s book Home Fire has bagged the Women s Prize for Fiction, 2018. Kamila Shamsie is a British Pakistani author. The book speaks about how loyalties are torn apart when love and politics collide. This annual British award was founded in 1996. It honours the excellence, originality and accessibility in works by women writers all over the world. Kamila Shamsie is a fellow of the London-based Royal Society of Literature. She was named a Granta Best of Young British Novelist in 2013. She was brought up in Karachi. She now lives in London. Bopanna is IOC s icon of the year Rohan Bopanna s disappointment in losing the French Open men doubles quarter finals stood largely negated by the joy of receiving the Sports Icon of Year award at the conclusion of the Sports Conclave. The doubles specialist and mixed doubles winner at Roland Garros last year, flew down from Paris to be part of an elite gathering of around 60 sportspersons to receive the coveted award from Indian Oil, his employers. 9
Appointments & Resignation Ravindra Prasad Jaiswal concurrently accredited as the next Ambassador of India to the State of Eritrea On 8th June 2018, Ravindra Prasad Jaiswal was appointed as the next Ambassador of India to the State of Eritrea. Ravindra Prasad Jaiswal is an Indian Foreign Service Officer (IFS) of 1999 batch. He is at present the Ambassador of India to the Republic of Sudan. He has been concurrently appointed as the next Ambassador of India to the State of Eritrea. He will take up the new assignment soon. Bandhan Bank appoints former RBI deputy governor H R Khan as chairman On June 9, 2018, Bandhan Bank appointed former RBI deputy governer Harun Rashid Khan as non- executive part time chairman. Mr.Khan s appointment will be for a period of 3 years with effect from June 5, 2018 or till the expiry of his term as an independent director whi chever is earlier. Khan will be the independent director of the bank at a remuneration of Rs 24 lakh per annum subject to RBI and other approvals. Khan retired as the deputy governor of RBI in July 2016 after nearly 38 years of service. The Bank also appointed Pravir Kumar Vohra as an Additional Director (Category being Independent, Non Executive) of the Bank for a period of three years with effect from June 5, 2018. Tariq Premji joins board of Wipro Enterprises the non-it business arm of Wipro On June 9, 2018, the younger son of Wipro s chairman Ajim Premji, Mr. Tariq Premji has been appointed to the board of Wipro Enterprises, the non-it business arm. The appointment to Wipro Enterprises board is effective from June 1, 2018. Wipro Enterprises, which runs a strong consumer care and lighting business with operations in India, Southeast Asia and West Asia, owns brands such as Santoor, Chandrika and Yardley. 10
Its infrastructure engineering business builds hydraulics equipment for construction and earthmoving companies like aerospace sub-systems for plane makers like Airbus and Boeing. It is a $1.23 billion privately held firm. The firm made a profit of Rs 950 crore on revenue of Rs 8,248 crore in fiscal 2017. New Zealand cricket coach Hesson quits On June 7, 2018, New Zealand cricket coach Mr. Mike Hesson resigned from his post. He has been the coach for the national team of New Zealand for 6 years. His resignation would come into effect from July 31st 2018, a year before the Cricket World Cup commences. 11
Science & Technology Fuego volcano erupts The Fuego volcano, in Guatemala, has recently erupted violently and buried several villages on its southern flank It is an active stratovolcano. The death toll has risen to 99 in the Fuego volcano eruption. NASA extends the Juno Spacecraft Mission for Three More Years NASA has given the Juno spacecraft the time (and money) it needs to be able to accomplish its missions by extending its science operations for 41 more months until July 2021. The probe, which left our planet in 2011 and reached Jupiter in 2016, was supposed to wrap things up in February 2018. Now, NASA has agreed to fund the project until fiscal year 2022. That means Juno will be orbiting the gas giant until July 2021 and will spend the months after that analyzing data. Juno originally had a short lifespan, since it was supposed to orbit Jupiter every 14 days. Unfortunately, something went wrong with the valves in its fuel system (and those are necessary for main engine burns), so it got stuck doing 53-day orbits instead of 14-day ones like its ground team planned. Longer orbits mean it needs more time to collect the amount of data NASA wanted to get this extension will give the agency the chance to learn everything it can about the biggest planet in our solar system. 12
Obituaries Veteran Goa Congress leader Shantaram Naik passes away On 9th June 2018, former Congress MP Shantaram Naik died following a heart attack in Margao, Goa. Shantaram Naik was 73 years old. He was North Goa Lok Sabha MP once and was a Rajya Sabha MP two times. He was also the head of the Goa Congress until recently. Senior Cong leader L P Shahi dies at 98 On June 9, 2018, Senior congress Leader Mr. L P Shahi dies at 98 in All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi. He was a freedom fighter and a former CWC member. He was first elected to the Bihar Legislative Assembly in 1980 and became an MP from Muzaffarpur in Bihar in 1984. Legendary Brazilian tennis player Maria Bueno dies in Sao Paulo On 8th June 2018, Maria Bueno, a popular Brazilian tennis player, passed away after combating mouth cancer, in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Maria Bueno was 78 years old. She was considered the Brazilian queen of tennis. She had won three Wimbledon and four US championship singles titles. She was called by the nickname the Sao Paulo Swallow. 13