2nd June 2016 - Important Current Affairs updates

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International Affairs

• Today (2nd June) is International Sex Workers Day.
• • This day honours sex workers and recognises their often exploited working conditions.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi is going to visit Afghanistan this Saturday.
• • Important Points to Note :
  • There he will inaugurate Afghan-India Friendship Dam earlier known as Salma Dam.
  • This dam project is culmination of years of hard work by Indian and Afghan engineers and other professionals in very difficult conditions.
  • It also highlights India's continued commitment to Afghanistan's reconstruction and development.
• India has gifted 2,000 bicycles to poor dalit girls in Nepal to encourage them to enrol in schools and enhance the literacy rate among them.
• India and Morocco have launched the India-Morocco Chamber of Commerce and Industry (IMCCI) in Moroccan capital city Rabat. 
• • The IMCCI was jointly launched by visiting Indian Vice President Hamid Ansari and Moroccan Prime Minister Abdelilah Benkirane. 
  • Important Note : Hamid Ansari’s visit is the first by an Indian Vice President in 50 years to Morrocco. 

MOUs & Agreements

• India has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the United States to enhance cooperation in energy security, clean energy and climate change. 
  
• • The MoU will boost energy ties between the two countries through increased bilateral engagement.
• The Union Government and World Bank have signed a US 9.2 million dollar grant agreement for the Efficient and Sustainable City Bus Service Project. 
• • Note : This grant agreement was signed under World Bank's Global Environment Facility (GEF) Programme.
• With an aim to implement Technical Cooperation Programme for the promotion of Standards and Recommended Practices of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), the government today approved the signing of Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Directorate General of Civil Aviation of India (DGCA) and the French Civil Aviation Authority – Direction General de l’Aviation Civil (DGAC) of France.

National Affairs

• The state of Telangana is celebrating the 2nd anniversary of its foundation. 
• • Telangana is 29th state of India, which came into being on June 2 last year, after Andhra Pradesh was split into two states — Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
  • Important Points to Note :
  • Capital : Hyderabad
  • Current Districts : 10 + (15 new districts will be created soon)
  • Official Languages : Telugu, Urdu
  • Chief Minister : K Chandrasekhar Rao
• Marking the second year since the creation of Telangana, the state government today announced the creation of 15 new districts across the state. 
• • The districts will be created by redrawing the boundaries of the ten existing districts, and will come into existence on Dussehra.
  • Note : The Telangana govt has also hoisted the second tallest tricolour flag, at 291-feet, in Hyderabad.
• In a first, India will give tourist and e-tourist visa to foreigners willing to undertake a short-term course in Yoga. 
• • The government has decided to include a short term yoga programme in the list of permissible activities under the tourist and e-tourist visa. 
  • Note : Presently, tourist visa is granted only for visiting India for recreation and sight-seeing among other things.
• The government has made it mandatory for matrimonial websites to authenticate users with their identity proofs to check the misuse of such platforms. 
• • The websites should also store IP addresses of the users for one year from the date of activation.
  • IT Minister : Ravi Shankar Prasad

Science & Technology

• India has joined the Hague Code of Conduct (HCoC) against Ballistic Missile Proliferation by notifying the HCoC Central Contact in Vienna through diplomatic channels.  
• • The HCoC is a voluntary, legally non-binding international confidence building and transparency measure that seeks to prevent the proliferation of ballistic missiles that are capable of delivering weapons of mass destruction. 
• The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has launched an Android app 'DND Services', which lets users avoid unsolicited commercial communication including telemarketing calls and texts. 
• • The app will also let users file complaints with their respective telecom operators. 
  • Further, users can also set their preferences for selective commercial communication.
• Facebook today launched 1,500 new emojis for its Messenger service, including diverse emojis for different skin tones and women in professional roles. 
• • The social network platform also announced that its emojis will now look the same for all Messenger users on Android, iOS and other platforms. 
  • An emoji picker has been introduced to help the users select the perfect emoji.
• Alibaba has launched an Android app called 'Privacy Knight', which lets users lock the apps in their smartphones through a selfie of themselves. 
• • The selfie can unlock the protected apps within one second. 
  • It also captures selfies of intruders who try to unlock the protected apps and comes with a privacy vault to hide private photos and videos.

Books & Authors

• A collection of around 81 unpublished short poems by Rabindranath Tagore is being published for the first time in the form of a book titled 'Knockings at My Heart'. 
• • These were composed on fans' requests for Tagore to write short poems while signing autographs for them. 
  • The autograph-poems were found in the archives of Rabindra Bhavana at Santiniketan.
• "The Unseen Indira Gandhi", A new book on the only female Prime Minister of India, Indira Gandhi was recently released.
• • This book was authored by Dr KP Mathur.
  • Note : Mathur was personal physician of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi for nearly 20 years till her assassination in 1984.

Business & Economy

• ICICI Bank today cut its Marginal Cost of funds-based Lending Rate (MCLR) by 0.05%, taking it at par with the rates offered by HDFC Bank and SBI. 
• • Under the new rate structure, the bank will provide loans to new borrowers at 8.95%, while the one-year MCLR, to which the lender's housing loans are linked, has been reduced to 9.15%.

Awards & Honors

• Dr. R Seetharaman, Group CEO of Doha Bank, has been honoured with the 2016 Green Economy Visionary Award. 
• • He has been awarded with this award for his contribution in environment-friendly activities and thereby promoting green economy for nearly two decades. 
• Two Indian-origin women have been featured on Forbes' annual list of ‘America's Richest Self-Made Women’. 
• • IT consultancy Syntel Co-founder Neerja Sethi is ranked 16th with a networth of $1.1 billion, while computer networking firm Arista Networks CEO Jayshree Ullal is ranked 30th with a $470 million networth. 
  • Note : The list has been topped by ABC Supply owner Diane Hendricks ($4.9 billion).

Sports

• Indian tennis player Sania Mirza and her mixed doubles partner Ivan Dodig entered the semi-finals of the 2016 French Open. 
• • Note : The Indo-Swiss pair of Leander Paes and Martina Hingis also reached the tournament's semifinals.
• Portuguese forward Cristiano Ronaldo has been named the most famous athlete in the world in the list of 100 most famous athletes released by ESPN. 
• • Ronaldo is followed by NBA star LeBron James, Barcelona forward Lionel Messi and Neymar, and Swiss Tennis player Roger Federer. 
  • Note : Indian cricketer Virat Kohli is placed eighth in the list.
• Novak Djokovic today became the first player in tennis history to earn over $100 million in prize money. 
• • He began with $99,673,404 at the start of 2016 French Open, earned a further $327,471 in prize money as a result of reaching the last eight. 
  • Note : Roger Federer is close behind Djokovic with $98,011,727 in career earnings.

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