On the occasion of the visit
of the World Bank President to India, the Interim Administrative Cell of the
International Solar Alliance (ISA Cell) and the World Bank declared their
intention to promote solar energy globally. The declaration was signed &
exchanged by Shri Upendra Tripathy, Secretary, Ministry of New and
Renewable Energy and Chairperson, ISA cell and Mr Onno Ruhl, India Country
Minister of Railways Shri
Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu in a programme held today i.e. 30.06.2016 at Rail
Bhawan formally launched NIVARAN portal, an online system for redressal of
service related grievance of serving and former railway employees. Minister of
State for Railways Shri Manoj Sinha was specially present to grace the
occasion. Chairman, Railway Board, Shri A. K. Mital, Member Staff
Market Research Division of
Ministry of Tourism compiles data on domestic and foreign tourist visits to
States/Union Territories (UTs) received from Departments of Tourism of various
State Governments and UT Administrations. Following are the salient features of
the compilation for 2015:
(a)
Domestic Tourist Visits to States/ UTs
In pursuance of India’s Act
East Policy and demonstration of India’s commitment to peace and prosperity of
Indo-Pacific region, Indian Naval ship Satpura arrived at Hawaii on 30 Jun 2016
to participate in the 25th edition of Exercise RIMPAC. Exercise RIMPAC is
the largest multilateral naval exercise in the world and is held biennially in
the Western Pacific Ocean. Indian Navy’s association
PANAJI: Goa government has
appointed Saresh Lotlikar as the new Advocate General of the state. Governor
Mridula Sinha had granted her assent to the appointment. In a notification
issued by Under secretary (Law) Manuel Barreto, Lotlikar was yesterday
appointed as the new Advocate General. The post was lying vacant after the
resignation of Atmaram Nadkarni nearly a month back. The name of
The Supreme Court on Thursday
clarified that only transgenders will be included in the category of 'third
gender' - and not gays, lesbians or bisexuals. In a landmark judgement in 2014,
Supreme Court had asked the government to include the category of 'third
gender' in all its forms and subsequently extend the benefits of OBC quota to
them. The government, however, claimed there was confusion
WhatsApp’s end-to-end
encryption might still be a contentious issue, but on Wednesday the Supreme
Court refused to allow a PIL seeking a ban on the popular app and similar messenger
services. The PIL, filed by Gurugram-based RTI activist Sudhir Yadav, said
these apps have complete encryption, which poses a threat to the country’s
security. A bench of Chief Justice T S Thakur and Justice A M
The World Bank said on
Thursday it would lend India more than $1 billion for its huge solar energy
programme, after Prime Minister Narendra Modi sought climate change funds from
its visiting head. Modi is banking on India's 300 days a year of sunshine to generate
power and help fight climate change rather than committing to emission cuts
like China. The World Bank loan is the global lender's biggest
Sebi on Wednesday said foreign
portfolio investors can issue fresh Participatory Notes (P-Notes) to those
entities which comply with tightened regulations by capital markets watchdog.
Sebi, earlier this month, issued a detailed framework with regard to tightened
KYC and disclosure requirements for Offshore Derivative Instruments (ODIs) --
commonly known as P-Notes, which provide the foreign
The government has come out
with a blue print on postal bank. The postal payment bank will have 650
branches by September 2017. That means a branch in each district. 10% of the
branches will be in north east state. Post offices in each district will be
connected the main branch of postal bank in each district. govt is aggressively
searching for a CEO to head the bank. The bank will be run by a board
The International Cricket
Council (ICC) is most likely to add two more teams to the main draw of the
reinstated World Twenty20 in 2018. Discussions at the associates meeting of the
ongoing ICC annual conference in Edinburgh also indicated that representatives
of the associate nations on the ICC board may get full voting rights as well.
"What I have heard described is that two teams will go through from
BALASORE: India today
successfully test-fired a new surface-to-air missile developed jointly with
Israel, from a defence base off Odisha coast. The medium range missile, which
will fulfill a huge Indian army requirement, was fired from a mobile launcher
in the Integrated Test Range at Chandipur around 8.15 am, said an official of
the Defence Research and Development Organisation or DRDO.
Bud Spencer, Italian actor and
filmmaker, passed away on 27 June 2016 in Italy following brief illness. He was
86. Spencer was known among his fans as the big friendly giant of the screen
because of his height and weight. Born in Naples as Carlo Pedersoli, he adopted
the stage name Bud Spencer- the first name inspired by a Budweiser beer and the
last to honour his favourite star Spencer Tracy.
Matthew Gdovin, an associate
professor in the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) Department of
Biology, developed a newly patented method to kill cancer cells. Gdovin’s
research was published on 27 June 2016 in The Journal of Clinical Oncology.The
discovery may help people with inoperable or hard-to-reach tumours.
Gudni Johannesson, an
Icelandic historian and lecturer at the University of Iceland has won the 2016
Presidential election in Iceland.He will succeed Olafur Ragnar Grimsson, who
served 20 years as head of state. The history professor who ran as an
independent in the election was able to secure 39.1% of the vote. He defeated
Halla Tomasdottir, a businesswoman without party affiliation, who was able to
The National Statistics Day is
being observed every year on 29 June to create public awareness among people
about the importance of statistics in daily life and in the process of planning
and development. 2016 is the tenth edition of National Statistics Day.
Significance of the Day: It is celebrated annually on the occasion of Birth
anniversary of India’s eminent statistician Late Prof Prasanta Chandra
China has successfully
launched its second Shijian-16 series satellite for space research and
experiments. The first Shijian-16 satellite was launched in October 2013. The
satellite was launched on board of Long March-4B rocket from the Jiuquan
Satellite Launch Centre in Jiuquan, northwest China’s Gansu Province. It was
the 231st by a Long March rocket. Key Facts The second Shijian-16
Renowned sculptor and painter
KG Subramanyan passed away in Vadodara, Gujarat following a brief illness. He
was 92. He was multifaceted artist credited with being one of the pioneers of
Indian modern art and was also a freedom fighter. About K G Subramanyan Born in
1924 in Kerala. He was a socialist and Gandhian throughout his life. In his
career as an artist spanning over six decades he had been a
Four Indian-Americans have
been honoured with prestigious Great Immigrants: The Pride of America Award
2016. They are among 42 distinguished US personalities representing more than
30 countries of origin around the world honoured with this year’s award.
All of these personalities represent a wide range of personal immigration
stories, and inspiring professional accomplishments. Four Indian-
Indian Test Team vice-captain
Ajinkya Rahane has signed up with Mumbai based agency Cornerstone Sport &
Entertainment (CSE). The agency which also manages Test captain Virat Kohli
will be exclusively managing Rahane and will handle his Brand Endorsements,
Commercial Engagements, Social & Digital Media and Appearances. "I am
really excited and looking forward to working with the
Reserve Bank of India (RBI)
Governor Raghuram Rajan sided with three of the five members of a technical
advisory committee who recommended the central bank leave interest rates on
hold at its June 7 policy review, according to minutes released on Tuesday.The
three members said the RBI should wait for inflation to ease further, monitor
the progress of
Axis Bank, the country’s third
largest private sector lender, in a bid to ride on the digital wave, has
decided to open an innovation lab where it will tie up with financial
technology start-ups.This innovation hub in Bangalore will focus on curating
start-ups and work with them to develop value propositions. The bank will look
at absorbing their technology. Rajiv Anand, Executive Director (Retail
The Andhra Pradesh government
has signed an MoU with a three-nation consortium of China Huanqin Contracting
and Engineering Corporation, LEPL Ventures Private Limited and Isomeric
Holdings to set up a gas-based fertilizer project at Krishnapatanam with an
investment of Rs 10,183 crore. The MoU was signed during Chief Minister N
Chandrababu Naidu’s ongoing visit to China, wherein he was
India has been ranked low at
105th position globally on a worldwide Human Capital Index, which measures
countries’ ability to nurture, develop and deploy talent for economic growth
and was topped by Finland. India ranks much below China’s 71st position while
Bangladesh, Bhutan and Sri Lanka are also placed higher on the index released
by Geneva-based World Economic Forum (WEF) at its Annual
According to a UNICEF Report,
around 1.2 million children died of preventable causes in India in 2015. Most
of the deaths were caused by diseases which are easily preventable and
treatable. The report counts India among the five countries accounting for half
the 5.9 million under-five deaths reported across the world last year. The
other four countries are Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia,
BJP leader and Assam Chief
Minister Sarbananda Sonowal has declared Majuli, an island in the Brahmaputra a
district. The BJP-led government also announced appointment of 10,000
TET-qualified school teachers by March 2017. The decision to upgrade Majuli –
till now a sub-division within Jorhat district – was taken in the first cabinet
meeting of the new BJP-led government that had assumed office
CDN network Akamai has
published its quarterly “State of the Internet” report for the first quarter of
2016. The report examines global internet speeds, which are going to be more
relevant than ever for live-sports aficionados in the summer of the Rio Olympic
Games. Global average connection speed increased 12 percent from the fourth
quarter of 2015, to 6.3 Mbps, a 23 percent increase year over
To increase the level of clean
energy, the Centre has asked the states/UTs to set up one lakh biogas plants.
The plants should be of one to six cubic meter capacity this fiscal, which will
save 21.90 lakh LPG cylinders every year. With an objective to provide clean
gaseous fuel for cooking and organic bio-manure as a by-product. Besides
providing bio-manure to reduce the use of chemical fertilisers. There
The Cabinet has approved the
signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between India and Tanzania for
bilateral cooperation in water resources management and development. The areas
of enhanced cooperation include techniques in water harvesting, surface and
groundwater management and development and aquifer recharge. Collaboration and
sharing of expertise on the areas mutually
NEW DELHI: The revised cost
estimates to set up eight new IITs was today more than doubled to help the
institutions bring about quantitative and quality growth in areas of research
and publication. The Union Cabinet approved the revised cost estimates for
setting up eight New IITs at Bhubaneswar, Gandhinagar, Hyderabad, Indore,
Jodhpur, Mandi, Patna and Ropar. The revised estimate is Rs 13,990
Indigenously developed
heavyweight torpedo Varunastra, which was showcased for the first time on the
Republic Day Parade at Rajpath this year, was inducted in the Indian Navy. The
anti-submarine torpedo has been developed by Naval Science and Technological
Laboratory of the DRDO for the Indian Navy. Weighing around 1.25 tonnes, the
torpedo carries about 250 kg of explosives at a speed
India has jumped 19 places in
the latest World Bank ranking in the global logistics performance, reflecting
the improvement in movement of goods inside the country thus facilitating
better trade. The World Bank in its latest once-in-two-year Logistics
Performance Index (LPI) said India is now ranked 35th as against the 54th spot
it occupied in the previous 2014 report. In the 2014 report, India had a
Isak Chisi Swu, who for
decades spearheaded a bloody insurgency in Nagaland before shaking hands with
New Delhi, died after months of battling a kidney ailment. He was admitted to
the hospital on July 5 last year for a series of surgeries including for
urinary tract infection that confined him to bed for months. His illness
prevented Isak Swu from attending the signing of a historic Naga Peace Accord
on
Scientists have discovered a
large helium gas field in Tanzania. With world supplies running out, the find
is a “game-changer“, say geologists at Durham and Oxford universities. Helium
is used in hospitals in MRI scanners as well as in spacecraft, telescopes and
radiation monitors. Until now, the precious gas has been discovered only in
small quantities during oil and gas drilling. Using a new exploration
The Great Barrier Reef has
been named the best vacation destination in the world in a newly released
ranking published by US News & World Report. The UNESCO World Heritage
Site, which stretches for more than 2,000 km along the coastline of Queensland
and is visible from space, was ranked the world’s best place to visit in 2016.
Rounding out the top three spots are Paris and Bora Bora in French
Urine is big business for
Paragon Space Development Corporation. NASA just awarded the Tucson-based
company a $5.1 million contract to develop a water recovery system to help
astronauts filter their sweat and urine into potable water. To be sure, the
International Space Station (ISS) already has a Water Recovery System composed
of two refrigerator-sized systems that distill and filter sweat and
Indian-origin Google CEO
Sunder Pichai and three other Indian-Americans are among the 42 US nationals
honoured with this year’s prestigious ‘Great Immigrants: The Pride of America’
award. The other three Indian-Americans are Hari Sreenivasan, anchor and senior
correspondent, PBS NewsHour, Vikram Malhotra chairman of the Americas, McKinsey
& Company and Bharati Mukherjee National
Rodrigo Duterte has been sworn
in as president of the Philippines, after a landslide election victory in May.
The controversial former mayor of Davao City, 71, overthrew the political
establishment, promising a "bloody war" on crime and action on
corruption. At his inaugural speech he promised to make sweeping changes to the
country's political system. "I see the erosion of the people's trust in
their
A visually challenged young
man with a passion for education and a youth facilitator from Hyderabad are
among 60 people from across the globe who were presented medals for their
exemplary work by Queen Elizabeth at the Buckingham Palace. The two Indians are
Kartik Sawhney (21) and Neha Swain (28). Launched in 2014 by the Duke of
Cambridge and Prince Harry, each year from 2014 to 2018, 60
Comptroller
and Auditor General of India (CAG) Shashi Kant Sharma has been conferred
honorary professorship by the Nanjing Audit University in China. It is the only
university which is recognised by the Institute of Internal Auditors. In his
acceptance address, CAG put an emphasis on capacity building for auditors of
international fraternity in view of ever-changing governance structures. He
stressed on
Beyonce Knowles was the
biggest winner at the 2016 BET Awards as the singer took home a total of four
awards, including Best female R&B/pop artist. The 34-year-old star also won
video of the year, Coca-Cola viewers’ choice award and centric award, all for her
music video “Formation”. Drake and Bryson Tiller trailed behind with three and
two awards, respectively. Besides the best male hip-hop
Dainik Jagran, India’s largest
read daily has been honored for its exemplary campaigns at the WOW Awards Asia.
Dainik Jagran bagged 5 awards across various categories. WOW Awards Asia is the
most holistic recognition platform in the world encompassing almost every
aspect of the event business. 2016 marks the partnership with KPMG in India as
the Process Advisors and Evaluators for
Max Bupa has been conferred with
top honor for technology maturity at the Sixth edition of The Indian Insurance
Awards organized by Fintelekt. Max Bupa has received the ‘Technology Maturity’
award for its focused utilization of technology to deliver the best in class
service experience to its customers. The award was presented at a special
ceremony attended by the industry leaders in Mumbai. On receiving
SEOUL: North Korea's
parliament awarded Kim Jong Un a new post on Wednesday, adding to a long list
of titles for the young leader. The North's state television said Kim was made
chairman of the state affairs committee, a body that appears to be newly formed
and whose function was not immediately clear. He also has the titles of the
Dear Respected Comrade Kim Jong Un, Chairman of the Workers'
Zoological Survey of India
(ZSI) on 29 June 2016 started five long-term monitoring plots in the Himalayas
to document the impact of climate change on animal world. The project is funded
by the Union Ministry for environment, forest and climate change. Under the
project, ZSI will monitor indicators in species like fish, butterflies, bees
and other insects to find how their distribution has been
A report released by the
American Medical Association (AMA) Council on Science and Public Health on 14
June 2016 claims that excessive blue light emitted by light emitting diodes
(LED) can adversely impact human health. AMA report looked at the LED street
lighting on US roadways. It also adopted guidance for communities on selecting
among LED lighting options to minimize potential harmful
Sweden on 22 June 2016
inaugurated a test stretch of an electric road. With this, the country has
become one of the first countries in the world to conduct tests with electric
power for heavy transports on public roads. The test was conducted on parts of
road E16. It involved a current collector on the roof of the truck cab feeding
the current down to a hybrid electric motor in the truck.
Gudni Johannesson on 26 June
2016 won Iceland’s presidential election. The history professor who ran as an
independent in the election was able to secure 39.1% of the vote. He will
succeed Olafur Ragnar Grimsson, who served 20 years as head of state. The
elections were held in the backdrop of the Panama Papers leak in April, which
implicated several top officials of the country. Johannesson, a
The World Bank Board on 21
June 2016 approved the 63 million US dollar project, Tejaswini: Socioeconomic
Empowerment of Adolescent Girls and Young Women in Jharkhand. Tejaswini is the
first World Bank project in India that is solely focused on the welfare of
adolescent girls and young women. The project will support adolescent
girls and young women between the ages of 14 and 24 to
United Nations General
Assembly (UNGA) on 28 June 2016 elected Ethiopia, Bolivia, Sweden and
Kazakhstan as non-permanent members of the United Nations Security Council
(UNSC). The two-year terms at UNSC of the new members will begin from 1 January
2016 and run through 31 December 2018. The 193-member UN body conducted the
elections for five non-permanent seats. A third round
The World Bank’s Board of
Executive Directors on 24 June 2016 approved 201.50 million US dollars for
Technical Education Quality Improvement Project III (TEQIP III) in India to
improve the quality of engineering education in select Indian states. The
objective of the project is to enhance quality and equity in participating
engineering education institutes and improve the efficiency of the engineering
The Union Cabinet on 29 June
2016 approved the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Union
Public Service Commission (UPSC) and Royal Civil Service Commission (RCSC),
Bhutan. The MoU will strengthen the existing relationship between RCSC and
UPSC. It will facilitate sharing of experience and expertise of both the
parties in the area of recruitment. The draft MoU
India's Ace shooter Sanjeev
Rajput on 28 June 2016 clinched the silver medal for India in men's 50-metre
rifle 3 position event of the ISSF World Cup in Baku, Ajerbaijan. To claim the
silver medal, Rajput shot 456.9 points. This was his third World Cup medal and
first in five years (he won gold at 2011 Changwon World Cup). This was also
India's second medal of the competition and of the same
The Union Cabinet on 29 June
2016 considered the Model Shops and Establishment (Regulation of Employment and
Conditions of Service) Bill, 2016. The Bill will now be sent to States/Union
Territories (UTs) to enable them to modify their individual Acts, if they so
desire. The States/UTs were given choice to adopt the Bill as it is or after
modifying its provisions as per their requirements.
The Union Cabinet on 29 June
2016 approved the National Mineral Exploration Policy (NMEP). With this, the
government can now auction 100 prospective mineral blocks that have been
identified by the Geological Survey of India (GSI) for exploration. Through NMEP,
the government aims to attract private sector in exploration of minerals,
besides involving State-run GSI, MECL and other notified
Council of Scientific and
Industrial Research (CSIR) and Central Institute of Mining and Fuel Research
(CSIR-CIMFR) on 28 June 2016 inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with
Coal Supplying companies and Power Utilities for quality analysis of coal being
supplied to power utilities by coal companies. The CSIR-CIMFR would make use of
its knowledge base support in maintaining the quality
Suzuki Motor Corp on 29 June
2016 announced the appointment of Toshihiro Suzuki as its next Chief Executive
Officer (CEO). The appointment came after Osamu Suzuki announced that he will
decline the CEO position to take responsibility for the automaker's use of
incorrect testing methods when calculating vehicle mileage.
Food and Beverage multinational
Nestle SA on 27 June 2016 named Ulf Mark Schneider as its next Chief Executive
Officer (CEO). He is the CEO of Fresenius, a Germany-based healthcare company.
He will join Nestle on 1 September 2016 and start as CEO on 1 January 2017. He
will succeed incumbent CEO Paul Bulcke, who will resign from the position on 31
December 2016. Bulcke has been named by
A week after the TSR
Subramanian committee's draft report on the New Education Policy (NEP) was
leaked, the human resource development ministry is in two minds whether to
adopt or reject its recommendations. A section in the ministry is inclined to
completely scrap the report and set up a fresh committee. However, as an
alternative, the ministry might summarise the report and circulate it to
The Cabinet Committee on
Economic Affairs, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, has
approved the development of four laning of Aurangabad-Telwadi Section of NH-211
in Maharashtra. The cost is estimated to be Rs.2028.91 crore including cost of
land acquisition, resettlement and rehabilitation and other pre-construction
activities. The total length of the road to be developed is
The Cabinet on Wednesday
approved the Seventh Pay Commission Report's recommendations for central
government employees, in a meeting held here. The news has brought cheers on
lakhs of employees and pensioners of Central government. The Cabinet has given
nod to hike of 23.6 percent increase in overall pay - basic pay plus allowances
- as recommended by panel for the government
Will review fiscal situation
if oil prices increase, says Finance Secretary. Finance Secretary Ashok Lavasa,
who is heading the committee to review the Seventh Pay Commission’s
recommendations on allowances, said the panel will finalise its report in four
months. He also expressed confidence that the Centre’s fiscal deficit target
will not be impacted by the implementation of higher salaries and pensions.
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