10th June 2016 - Important Current Affairs updates

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International Affairs

• India is going to open a new consulate in Seattle to cater to the Indian-American population living in the northwestern part of the US. 
• • The US will also open a new consulate at a mutually agreed location in India. 
  • Note : The two countries will be Travel and Tourism partners for 2017.
• India has signed up to a scheme launched by Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Spain to clamp down on tax evasion and corruption. 
• • The nations are planning to allow free access of information amongst each other. 
  • This comes after Switzerland last week promised to work with India to tackle the issue of black money.
• China is at the forefront of the opposition to India becoming a part of the Nuclear Suppliers Group. 
• • Note : New Zealand, South Africa, Turkey, Ireland, and Austria are other countries that also reportedly oppose India's membership. 
• The World Health Organization today declared Liberia Ebola-free, meaning there have been no reported cases of the virus for 42 days, for the fourth time. 
• • Liberia will now enter a three-month period of heightened surveillance. 
  • Note : According to reports, Liberia accounted for 4,800 of the 11,300 Ebola-related deaths in West Africa.

National Affairs

• To promote and disseminate​ Yoga practice, Maharashtra government has decided to celebrate the 21st of every month as 'Yoga Day' across all schools, colleges, and universities across the state. 
• • Further, all districts will have to set up a Yoga Day committee to plan an annual 'Yoga Mahotsav' (Yoga Festival) between January 12-21, Maharashtra Higher Education Minister Vinod Tawde said.
• Indian Railways today launched 'Janani Sewa', a service under which baby food, hot milk and hot water will be provided at stations. 
• • The facility has initially been introduced at 25 railway stations including New Delhi, Mumbai Central, Howrah, Chennai, Nagpur, Pune, and Surat. 
  • Besides this, Railways has also launched a food menu for children in the 5-12 age group.
• Twenty nine of the 30 newly elected members of the 14th Puducherry Assembly were sworn in as MLAs today. 
• • The oath was administered by VP Sivakolundhu of Congress, who was inducted as the assembly's pro-tem Speaker a day earlier. 
• The Central Railway (CR) has decided to issue safety warnings to train commuters about unmanned railway crossings through text messages. 
• • The messages will be sent in English, Hindi, and Marathi. 
  • Note : CR has nearly 325 unmanned railway crossings in all of its five divisions.
• The proposed Airport at Mopa in Goa will have a separate Naval enclave for which five acres of land will be earmarked, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar announced today. 
• • The proposed structure will be built by the Defence Ministry with separate entry and exit to the facility. 
  • The first phase of the airport is expected to be commissioned in 2019.
• The Information and Broadcasting Ministry has framed a new Print Media Advertisement policy with the objective of promoting "transparency and accountability" in issuing government advertisements in the print media. 
• • In a first, the policy introduces a new marking system to classify newspapers on professional standing based on factors such as circulation and subscription to wire services.

Recent Committees in News

• The Delhi government has set up a high-level committee to look into restoring the city’s 1,000-odd water bodies including ponds, marshes, lakes and step wells. 
• • The committee will conduct site inspections, ensure an updated inventory of water bodies and suggest suitable recommendations to restore them, among other things. 
  • The committee was constituted on the orders of the National Green Tribunal.
  • Head of the Committee : Satyendar Jain (PWD minister)
  • Members : Kapil Mishra (Water minister),  Imran Hussain (Environment and forests minister) and Keshav Chandra (Delhi Jal Board CEO).

Business & Economy

• Axis Bank has launched India’s first internationally-listed certified green bond to finance climate change solutions around the world at London Stock Exchange (LSE).
• • The proceeds of the bond will be invested by Axis Bank in green energy, transportation and infrastructure projects.
  • It will play important role in reinforcing India’s commitment to produce 175,000 MW of renewable power by 2022.
  • Note : These bonds of Axis Bank were certified by the Climate Bonds Standards Board.
• YouTube today launched a feature called 'Smart Offline' in India to let users take advantage of cheaper data rates charged by mobile operators at night. 
• • This feature lets users schedule their offline video downloads for night using a new 'Save overnight' option when discounted data plans are active. 
  • Scheduled videos can be watched offline in the morning without buffering.

New Appointments

• G Kalyanakrishnan, Distinguished Scientist, has taken over as Chief Executive, Nuclear Fuel Complex (NFC), Hyderabad  today.
• • He is going to replace N Saibaba, who has retired on completion of two years of extended period of service.
• UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon has appointed Swedish Major General and logistics expert Per Lodin, to head the UN Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan.
• • He is going to replace Major General Delali Johnson Sakyi of Ghana, who is completing his two-year assignment this july.
• The Tamil Nadu government today appointed P Rama Mohana Rao as State Chief Secretary.
• • He is going to replace K. Gnanadesikan.

Science & Technology

• Search giant Google India and Tata Trusts jointly launched Internet Saathi program in West Bengal to focus on training women and larger communities in the state to learn and explore various uses and benefits of the Internet.
• The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) has announced the names proposed for the new elements, whose discovery helped complete the seventh row of the Periodic Table in December last year. 
• • The names proposed for the elements with atomic numbers 113, 115, 117 and 118 were Nihonium (Nh), Moscovium (Mc), Tennessine (Ts) and Oganesson (Og) respectively.
• Russia today unveiled "MC-21", a medium-range passenger aircraft, manufactured by a subsidiary of state-controlled United Aircraft Corporation. 
• • The aircraft would be 15% cheaper to operate than other current generation aircraft. 
• Facebook today launched a new feature that allows its users to upload photos with 360º views. 
• Facebook also introduced a new feature that lets users post videos as comments to posts and status updates. 
• • Note : This is the third video-based feature introduced by Facebook this year.

Deaths

• Former minister, speaker and Kerala Congress (Secular) Party leader T S john (76) passed away.
• • He was founder member of Kerala Congress, he represented Kallooppara constituency in the State Assembly four times. 
  • He served as the Speaker for one­ year period during 1976­-77.

Awards & Honors

• Shooter Abhinav Bindra has been chosen to be the flag-bearer​ of the Indian contingent at the Rio Olympics’ opening ceremony on August 5. 
• • Bindra is India’s only individual Olympic gold medallist, having clinched Gold in 10m Air Rifle at Beijing Olympics in 2008. 
  • Note : India will be sending its largest ever contingent to the Olympics this time.
• English Director Ridley Scott will be honoured with the 30th American Cinematheque Award at the Beverly Hilton.

Sports

• Tamil Nadu teenager and International Master NR Visakh created history by becoming the first Indian to clinch the Mumbai Mayor's International Open Chess Tournament and lead a top-three sweep in Mumbai.
• International Paralympic Committee (IPC) temporarily lifted the ban imposed on Paralympic Committee of India, allowing Indian para-athletes to participate in the upcoming Rio Paralympics. 
• • IPC had suspended the Paralympic Committee of India last year after failing to implement the reforms that were outlined by the world governing body. 
  • Note : 20 Indian para-athletes have qualified for the Rio event.
• The BCCI has announced the schedule for all domestic and international matches for the 2016-17 season. 
• • India is set to play host to 13 Tests, 8 ODIs, and 3 T20Is against New Zealand, England, Australia and Bangladesh.
  •  The India-England series will be the first time that India will be home to a 5-Test series since they hosted Pakistan in 1987.
• In the upcoming 2016-17 season, six grounds in the country will be holding test matches for the first time. 
• • Rajkot, Visakhapatnam, Pune, Dharamsala, Ranchi and Indore have been added to the list of existing test venues in India, taking the number up to 16. 
  • New Zealand, Australia, England, and Bangladesh are scheduled to tour India in the upcoming season.
• Batsman Rohit Sharma has been featured as a superhero in the comic series ‘Hyper Tygers’, which was launched today. 
• • The comics infuse technology with cricket, and feature a superhero cricket team called the ‘Hyper Tygers’, which plays futuristic ‘Hyper Cricket’. 
  • The series is set in India in the year 2077, and features an upgraded, tech version of cricket.
• Kolkata’s Eden Gardens will host India’s first day-night test match, when New Zealand tour the country later this year. 
• • Note : Eden Gardens is hosting a domestic pink ball match on June 17.

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