3rd June 2015 - Important Current Affairs updates

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International Affairs

• On the second leg of President Pranab Mukherjee's 2 day Belarus visit, India and Belarus sign six agreements to enhance bilateral co - operation.
• • Those agreements are,
  • • Roadmap for India-Belarus cooperation : Aimed to strengthen bilateral relations and co-operation in trade,economy, culture,political, defence, people- people contacts etc.
    • Protocol to amendment : To amend the agreement between the 2 nations for the  Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with respect to Taxes on Income and Property(capital) of September 1997.
    • MoU on cooperation in the field of Standarisation and Information Support : Signed between Bureau of Indian Standards BIS and State Committee For Standardisation of Republic of Belarus.
    • MoU For Manufacturing and Marketing of Light industry Goods : Signed between Union Ministry of Textiles of India and  Belarusian State.
    • MoU for cooperation on Broadcasting : Signed between Prasar Bharati PB and National State Television and Radio company of the Republic of Belarus( Belteleradiocompany)
    • MoU on Bilateral Cooperation :Signed between Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and Ministry of Finance of Belarus
  • Important Details about Belarus
  • • Capital - Minsk
    • National Language - Belarusian
    • President - Alexander Lukashenko
    • Prime Minister - Andrei Kobyakov
    • Currency - Belarusian ruble
• US Defence Secretary Ashton Carter is on a two-day visit to India.
• • This is his first visit to India as US Defence Secretary.
  • During this visit he will visit the Eastern Naval Command besides holding talks with top leadership in Delhi on joint development of defence technology.
  • India and US will Signed new 10-year defence framework.
  • • This was decided during the visit of American President Barack Obama in Delhi in January.
  • The Main agreement Signed Are :
  • • Joint development and manufacture of defence equipment and technology including jet engines, aircraft carrier design and construction.
    • Two project agreements for hi-tech mobile power source And next generation protective suits for chemical and biological warfare.
  • Note : This Framework also recognises the transformative nature of the Defence Technology and Trade Initiative (DTTI).

National Affairs

• Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje inaugurated Jaipur Metro, touted as one of the fastest built metro systems in the country.
• • In the first phase, the metro will run on 9.6 kilometre stretch covering nine stations from Mansarovar to Chandpole.
• Centre is working on a new law with a provision of life imprisonment to deal with cases in which consumers of essential commodities & food items are duped.
• • Union Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution : Ram Vilas Paswan
• External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj lays foundation stone of South Asian University in New Delhi
• • Note : South Asian University is an international university established by the eight member nations of the South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation (SAARC).
  • Those Nations are,
  • 1. Afghanistan
    2. Bangladesh
    3. Bhutan
    4. India
    5. Maldives
    6. Nepal
    7. Pakistan
    8. Sri Lanka
• Maggie Noodles Controversy
• • Delhi Health Minister Satyendra Jain has announced an immediate "15-day ban" on sale of Maggi noodles and has asked Nestle, which manufactures the snack, to recall current stocks from the capital in that time and make available new stock, which will be allowed on shelves only after proper checks.
  • The Indian Army also issued advisory to its personnel by asking them not to eat Maggi noodles.
• To propel economic growth, the government has set an ambitious target of awarding highway projects worth Rs 3.5 lakh crore in next six months besides creation of 25 lakh jobs in the shipping, road, transport and highways sector.

Awards & Honors

• Former security contractor and and Electronic Surveillance Whistleblower Edward Snowden was awarded with Norwegian prize for freedom of expression (Bjornson Prize) for his work protecting privacy and for shining a critical light on US surveillance of its citizens and others.
• • Snowden, a former analyst at the US National Security Agency, has lived in exile in Russia since 2013 after revealing mass spying programmes by the United States and its allies.
  • About Bjornson Prize :
  • • Bjornson Prize was named after a Norwegian Nobel literature laureate.  
  • This award carries a prize money worth 100,000 kroners ($12,700, 11,500 euros).

Deaths

• Former Japanese Parliament Speaker and Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura passed away.
• • Machimura was chairman of the India-Japan Parliamentary Friendship League and worked extensively towards strong India-Japan ties.
• Irwin Rose, a biochemist who shared the 2004 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for discovering a way that cells destroy unwanted proteins the basis for developing new therapies for diseases such as cervical cancer and cystic fibrosis has Passed Away.

Business & Economy

• Bangladesh has granted permission to India’s Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) to do business in the country.
• • It was announced by M Shefaq Ahmed, Chairman of Bangladesh Insurance Development and Regulatory Authority (IDRA).
  • LIC will start its operations in Bangladesh as a joint venture (JV) entity to be called LIC Bangladesh Ltd with a paid up capital of one billion Taka.
  • In this JV entity LIC will hold half of the amount while the rest would be owed by its Bangladeshi partners.
  • The capital will be raised from the Bangladesh’s capital market and local entrepreneurs
  • Note : Earlier in 2013, Bangladesh IRDA had rejected LIC’s proposal to operate in the country citing small capital base.

Sports

• The 21st Asian Athletics Championship began in China.
• • Chinese city of Wuhan is hosting the events.
  • Athletes from 45 Asian countries competing in 42 events.
  • President of AAA (Asian Athletics Association) : Dahlan Al-Hama. 

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