Thursday 30 June 2016

Exam-Oriented-Current-Affairs-Dated-30-06-2016-www.KICAonline.com-english


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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