Daily Current Affairs for June 12-14,2018 ( English)
Group II & I Online Test Batch By TNPSCPortal.In
(40 General Studies + 20 General English)
(40 பொது அறிவு + 40 பொதுத்தமிழ்)
(40 பொது அறிவு + 40 பொதுத்தமிழ்)
Important Days:
1. June 12
- World Day against Child Labour is observed every
year across the world with an aim to raise awareness against child labour with
the theme of 2018 is ‘Generation Safe & Healthy’.
2. June 14
- World Blood Donor Day observed every year across the world to
thank voluntary, unpaid blood donors for their life-saving gifts of
blood. The theme of 2018 is ‘Be there for someone else. Give blood.
Share life’.
National:
1. For
delivery of railway services through CSC centres, the Common Service Centres
(CSCs) Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) has signed Memorandum of Understanding
(MoU) with Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC). Under
the agreement, all 2.9 lakh CSCs spread across the country will be able to book
both reserved and unreserved train tickets. All CSCs will be connected with
technology for railway ticket booking. CSC is an initiative of Ministry of
Electronics & IT (MeitY). It is strategic cornerstone of Digital India
programme.
2. 5000
Wi-Fi Choupals were launched) in New Delhi by the Union Ministry of
Electronics & Information Technology (MeITY) in villages in partnership
with common service centres (CSCs). The aim of Wi-Fi
Choupals is to transform rural Internet connectivity through BharatNet. They
focuses on developing rural Wi-Fi infrastructure and to host suitable
applications to provide various ICT services at an affordable cost.
3. Nepal-Bharat
Maitri Irrigation Project - The project was launched in January
2017 to boost growth to Himalayan nation’s agricultural sector through enhanced
facilities. India extended financial aid of Rs. 99 million to Nepal for
the construction of 2,700 shallow tube well (STWs) irrigation systems in
12 districts of southern Terai region to boost agricultural productivity.
With this payment, India has released so far released total of 227.6 million
Nepali rupees to Nepal for implementing this project.
4. International
Conference on Information and Communication Technology (ICT) organized by
Federation of Computer Association Nepal (CAN) will be held in Kathmandu,
capital city of Nepal from June 17-18, 2018. It aims to bring
government and private sector together for developing plan of action using
sustainable ICT applications. It also seeks to unleash prospects of SMART Nepal
by 2030. The Theme of two day conference is “Sustainable Development Goals for
Smart Society”.
5. The
10th Meeting of Global Alliance to Eliminate Lymphatic Filariasis (GAELF) was
held in New Delhi, India. This is second time India hosted meeting
of GAELF. Earlier in 2002, India had hosted second meeting of GAELF. LF is
commonly known as Elephantiasis. It is caused mainly by Wuchereria Bancrofti
and spread by Culex mosquito. It is one of oldest and most debilitating
neglected trophical disease, which is currently endemic in 73 countries of the
world, including India. On this occasion, GAELF awards was presented to 11
countries- Cambodia, Egypt, Maldives, Cook Islands, Niue, Marshall Islands, Sri
Lanka, Thailand, Tonga, Togo and Vanuatu, for successfully interrupting the
transmission. Moreover, India’s Accelerated Plan for Elimination of Lymphatic
Filariasis (LF) 2018 was also released.
6. The
Union Cabinet has given final extension to commission constituted to examine
sub-categorisation within Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in Central list. The
commission earlier had term till June 20, 2018 but with extension it will now
work till July 31, 2018.. It is headed by Justice (Retd.) G. Rohini.
7. A MoU signed between the
Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and Institut National de la Santeet
de la RechercheMedicale (INSERM), France has been apprised of by Union Cabinet. The
MoU aims at cooperation in areas of common interest within medical, health
research and life sciences fields.
8. The continuation of Three
Year Action Plan (2017-2020) of scheme for Agricultural Education Division and
Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) Institutes has approved by the
Union Cabinet. The scheme aims to generate quality human resources from
institutions of higher agricultural education. It encompasses several new
initiatives including, steps to attract talented students, reducing academic
inbreeding and addressing faculty shortage, etc. The scheme comprises of
Strengthening and Development of Higher Agricultural Education in India and
ICAR-National Academy of Agricultural Research Man agement (NAARM) and
ICAR-Central Institute of Women in Agriculture (CIWA) including All India
Coordinated Research Project on Home Science (AICRP-HS).
9. The proposal for
introduction of Dam Safety Bill, 2018 in the Parliament has approved by the
Union Cabinet. The bill address all issues concerning dam safety including
regular inspection of dams, comprehensive dam safety review, emergency action
plan, adequate repair and maintenance funds for dam safety, instrumentation and
safety manuals. It lays onus of dam safety on dam owner and provides for penal
provisions for commission and omission of certain acts, etc.
10. The proposal of Ministry of Development of
North Eastern Region (DoNER) for nomination of Union Home Minister as
ex-officio Chairman of North Eastern Council (NEC) has approved by the Union
Cabinet. It also approved that Minister of State (Independent
Charge), Ministry of DoNER will serve as Vice Chairman of NEC. The
repositioning of NEC will help it to become more effective body for North
Eastern Region (NER). Under new arrangement with Home Minister as Chairman and
Minister of DoNER as Vice Chairman will provide forum for discussing
inter-state matters more comprehensively and also consider common approaches to
be taken in future.
11. The Centre for Railway Information System
(CRIS) has developed a mobile-based application ‘utsonmobile' to enable
cashless ticketing. The mobile app will enable booking and
cancellation of unreserved tickets, issue and renewal of season and platform
tickets and checking and loading of R-wallet balance. It will also help
maintain user profile management and booking history.
12. The 3rd Meeting of National Council of
Senior Citizens (NCSrC), convened by the Ministry of Social Justice and
Empowerment was chaired by Thaawarchand Gehlot, Union
Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment. The NCSrC advises Central and
State Governments on the entire gamut of issues related to welfare of senior
citizens and enhancement of their quality of life.
13. The 11th World Hindi Conference will be held
in Mauritius from August 18 to August 20, 2018 with
an aim to increase the popularity of Hindi globally. The conference will cover
both classical and modern elements of Hindi and will see participation of
delegates and scholars of Hindi from all over the world.
14. The Union government has set up a committee
headed by former chief statistician of India TCA Anant to bring in transparency
in the jobs data calculation and presentation. The labour bureau
conducts two major surveys on employment scenario—Annual
Employment-Unemployment Survey and Quarterly Employment Survey.
15. During an event to celebrate the WED-2018 on
June 5 in New Delhi, Environment Minister Harsh Vardhan pledged to eliminate
single-use plastics from India by 2022. UN Environment chief Erik
Solheim has said that by announcing that it will phase out single-use plastics
by 2022, India has demonstrated global leadership. India was the
global host of the day this year.
16. Gujarat has emerged as the leading state in
generating e-way bills during April, May and the first week of June. The
state has generated over 10.72 million inter- and intra-state e-way bills,
followed by Maharashtra (8.13 million), Karnataka (8.05 million), Uttar Pradesh
(7.64 million) and Haryana (7.63 million), respectively.
17. The Haryana government has decided to increase
the duty of home guard volunteers from 90 days to 150 days per year. The
government has also decided that the remuneration to the home guard volunteers
would be made through e-payment in their bank accounts.
18. Haryana Minister Ram Bilas Sharma has said the
Madhogarh Fort in Mahendragarh would be developed on the pattern of the Mughal
Gardens in Pinjore . Sharma added that with the completion of the
Madhogarh-Mahendragarh-Narnaul-Rewari Heritage Circuit, the pace of development
would be accelerated in southern Haryana. The construction work on the
35-km-wide and two-km-long road leading to the fort at a height of about 400
metres, has already begun.
International:
1. President
Ram Nath Kovind will be on three nation official visit to Greece, Suriname and
Cuba from 16 to 22 June 2018. President will meet
Greek President Prokopis Pavlopoulos during his first visit. He is scheduled to
visit places of historical and archaeological importance and address the Indian
diaspora. President Kovind will hold discussions with Suriname’s
President Desire Delano Bouterse followed by official level talks. Suriname is
a founding member of the International Solar Alliance. India will offer Line of
Credit (LoC) of $54.5 million to Suriname for solar related projects. President
will hold wide range of discussions with Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel
Bermudez. It is expected that no. of MoU’s will be signed between both
countries during the visit.
2. The
sale of six AH-64E Apache attack helicopters along with support equipments to
India has approved by the United States State Department. The
total estimated cost of the deal is $930 million. The Apache choppers are one
of the most advanced multi-role combat helicopters which have advanced weapons
systems and night-fighting features, manufactured by Boeing.
3. In a
historic first, delegation level talks between US President Donald Trump and
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un began in Singapore on June 12, 2018.The
world’s two of the most powerful leaders held a brief one-on-one meeting at the
Capella Hotel in Sentosa Island before beginning with their delegation level
talks. Speaking after the one-on-one meet, US president Trump said that both
the nations have a terrific relationship ahead and this historic summit would
be successful. Kim said “it has not been easy to get here” and that “the old
prejudices and practices worked as obstacles, but we have overcome them and we
are here today.”
4. The
United Kingdom has assured India of full co-operation towards bringing to book
anybody whether it is Vijay Mallya or Nirav Modi who is wanted in India by
Indian courts or agencies. This was stated by
Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju after his meeting with UK Minister of
state for counter terrorism Baroness Williams in New Delhi on June 11,
2018.
5. China will expand
environmental inspections to more cities and regions in a new round of checks
from June 2018 to April 2019, as a part of its three-year anti-pollution plan. Apart
from smog-heavy Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei and nearby areas, the inspections will
also target the Yangtze River Delta region, including Shanghai and Jiangsu,
Zhejiang and Anhui provinces and some 11 cities in the northwestern provinces
of Shanxi and Shaanxi.
Science & Technology:
1. The
second edition India-US colloquium on Earth Observations and Sciences for
Society and Economy organized by the Ministry of Earth Sciences,
CSIR (Council of Scientific and Industrial Research)-NIO and US National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration( NOAA) was inaugurated at
CSIR-National Institute of Oceanography (CSIR-NIO), Dona Paula, Goa. It will
help both countries to improve ocean and atmosphere observations that
contribute to economic well-being of both nations through better weather,
climate, and ocean prediction, as well as fisheries management.
2. Scientists
from Physical Research Laboratory (PRL), Ahmedabad have discovered for first
time distant planet revolving around Sun-like star. Both
the planet and the star have been named EPIC. The planet has been named as EPIC
211945201b (or K2-236b) and host star has been named EPIC 211945201 (or
K2-236). The EPIC planet is six times bigger than Earth and revolves around
host about 600 light years away.
Defence:
1. The
first military exercise of the BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for
Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) Countries will host by India
in September 2018 in Pune, Maharashtra. The theme of the
exercise includes counter-terrorism in semi-urban terrain and cordon and
search. The main aim of this military exercise is to promote strategic
alignment among the member-states and to share best practices in the area of
counter-terrorism. BIMSTEC countries had held disaster management exercise in 2017
in New Delhi, but this will be first military exercise of the grouping. The
member countries are India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka from South
Asia and Myanmar, Thailand from South East Asia.
2. Surya
Kiran-XIII exercise - the 13th edition of India-Nepal joint
military exercise was held at Pithoragarh, Uttarakhand from 30 May to 12 June
2018. It saw participation of nearly 300 soldiers from both Indian and
Nepal Army. It was aimed at further enhancing and strengthening level of
defence cooperation between the two neighbouring nations. The aim of 14 days
joint military exercise was to conduct battalion level joint training with
emphasis on counter terrorism operations in mountainous terrain under United
Nations (UN) mandate. It also included various aspects of disaster management
and joint effort towards relief work 12th edition of this exercise was held at
Nepal Army Battle School (NABS) in Saljhandi, Nepal in September 2017.
Economy/Banking:
1. Credit
Enhancement Fund (CEF) of Rs.500 crore is going to launch by the Union
Government in July 2018.The initial corpus of the fund will be Rs 500
crore and will be sponsored by IIFCL (India Infrastructure Finance Company). It
will operate as a non-banking finance company (NBFC). CEF will provide credit
enhancement for infrastructure projects which will help in upgrading credit
ratings of bonds issued by infrastructure companies and facilitate investment
from investors like pension and insurance funds.
2. A Group
to look into existing Institutional Trading Platform (ITP) framework and
suggest measures to facilitate listing of startups has constituted by the
market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). It will
revisit current ITP framework and identify areas, if any, which require further
changes. It will also address issues relevant to ITP which group may like to
assess. The group will submit report to SEBI within period of one month i.e. by
July 2018.
3. An
expert committee to recommend suitable framework to allow direct listing of
Indian companies overseas bourses while also allowing overseas companies to
list directly on Indian bourses has constituted by the market regulator
Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). It
will also examine various legal, regulatory and operational constraints in
facilitating companies incorporated in India to directly list their equity
share capital abroad and vice versa. The committee will also make
recommendations for a suitable framework in which to facilitate such direct listing.
4. As per
the data released by the Central Statistics Office, the manufacturing sector,
which accounts for over 77 percent weight of the index, recorded a growth of
5.2 percent in April 2018. Similarly, the mining
output grew by 5.1 percent, compared to 3 percent in 2017. he Industrial
production expanded by 4.9 percent in April 2018 on improved performance by
manufacturing and mining sectors.
5. The
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on June 11, 2018 released the draft guidelines to
modify the loan system for delivery of bank credit, making the rules stricter
to regulate larger borrowers enjoying working capital facility from the banking
system. The draft specifies a minimum level of loan component in
fund based working capital finance and a mandatory Credit Conversion Factor
(CCF) for the undrawn portion of cash credit availed of by large borrowers.
Banks provide working capital finance by way of cash credit, working capital
demand loan, purchase/discount of bills, bank guarantee, letter of credit,
factoring, etc.
Scheme:
1. Seva
Bhoj Yojna - a new scheme to provide financial assistance on purchase
of specific food items by Charitable Religious Institutions (CRIs) for free
distribution among people was launched by the Union Ministry of Culture. The
scheme aims reimburse Central Government share of CGST and Integrated Goods and
Service Tax (IGST) of Charitable Religious Institutions (CRIs) who provide
food, prasad, langar (Community Kitchen), Bhandara free of cost without any
discrimination to public and devotees. This will help to lessen the financial
burden of such Charitable Religious Institutions.
2. Under
Phase III of Swachh Iconic Places (SIP) of Swachh Bharat Mission - 10 more
iconic sites has been selected by the Union Ministry of Drinking Water &
Sanitation. 10 new iconic sites are: Raghavendra Swamy Temple
(Andhra Pradesh), Hazarduari Palace (West Bengal), Brahma Sarovar Temple
(Haryana), Vidur Kuti (Uttar Pradesh), Mana village (Uttarakhand), Pangong Lake
(J&K), Nagvasuki Temple (UP), Ima Keithal market (Manipur), Sabarimala
Temple (Kerala) and Kanvashram (Uttarakhand). The third phase of SIP was
launched at Mana village which is situated close to Badrinath temple in
Uttarakhand. Phase I iconic places are: Ajmer Sharif Dargah,
CST Mumbai, Kamakhya Temple, Golden Temple, Maikarnika Ghat, Meenakshi Temple,
Shri Mata Vaishno Devi, Jagannath Temple, Taj Mahal and Tirupati Temple. Phase
II of Swachh Iconic Places: Gangotri, Yamunotri, Charminar,
Mahakaleshwar Temple, Convent and Church of St. Francis of Assissi, Kalady,
Gommateswara, BaidyanathDham, Gaya Tirth and Somnath temple.
3. NITI
Aayog’s Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) has selected 3,000 additional schools for
establishment of Atal Tinkering Labs (ATLs). These
additional schools will expand reach of ATL program and increase number of
children exposed to tinkering and innovation. The selected schools will receive
grant of Rs. 20 lakh spread over next 5 years to establish labs for nurturing
innovation and entrepreneurial spirit among secondary school children across
India.. ATLs will function as innovation hubs for these student innovators to
explore solutions to unique local problems which they come across in their
everyday lives.
4. The
Composite Water Management Index as useful tool to assess and improve
performance in efficient management of water resources launched by the NITI
(National Institution for Transforming India) Aayog. The
index aims to inspire States/UTs towards efficient and optimal utilization of
water and recycling thereof with sense of urgency. The composite water
management index comprises of nine parameters and 28 indicators. Gujarat topped
the list followed by Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra.
Jharkhand, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar were worst performers among general
States. In terms of incremental change, it was Rajasthan which held the first
position. Tripura has topped the list followed by Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim and
Assam in North-eastern and Himalayan states:
5. The Solar Charkha Mission
of the Ministry of Micro Small & Medium Enterprises (MSME) will be launched
by President Ram Nath Kovind on June 27, 2018 in New Delhi. It
will cover 50 clusters and every cluster will employ 400 to 2000 artisans. It
will disburse subsidy of Rs 550 crore to the artisans.
6. The Khadi and Village
Industries Commission (KVIC) has created a world record of distributing maximum
number of bee-boxes in one day under ‘Honey Mission’.Speaking on the occasion, KVIC
Chairman,Vinai Kumar Saxena, said that the ‘Honey Mission’ is aimed to fulfill
the call of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, for a sweet Kranti.
7. The Union Ministry of
Housing & Urban Affairs has approved a 33-per cent increase in the carpet
area of houses eligible for interest subsidy under the Credit Linked Subsidy
Scheme (CLSS) for the Middle-Income Group (MIG) under Pradhan Mantri Awas
Yojana (Urban) (PMAY-U) to boost affordable housing. With the
revision, the carpet area of a house for Middle Income Group-I (MIG-I) has been
increased from 120 sqm to 160 sqm and for MIG II, the area has been increased
from 150 sqm to 200 sqm.
Awards:
1. Dr
Bindeshwar Pathak (75) the renowned social activist and founder of Sulabh
International was honoured with the Japan’s prestigious Nikkei Asia Prize for
his contribution to Asia’s development at 23rd Nikkei Asia Prize ceremony held
in Tokyo, Japan under ‘Culture and Community’ category for his significant work
in tackling poor hygiene and discrimination. Sulabh International is an
NGO that works to promote human rights, environmental sanitation among other
social services. He was among three who were conferred with this award. Other
two awardees are Chinese environmentalist Ma Jun who was awarded business innovation
prize for using power of internet to promote cleaner industry and
Vietnamese doctor Nguyen Thanh Liem who won science and technology prize in
recognition of his work advancing health care for children.
Sports:
1. The United States, Mexico
and Canada won the right to host the 2026 World Cup after beating Morocco in a
vote by FIFA member nations in Moscow. Football's World Cup
event will return to the North American continent for the first time since 1994
when the United States hosted the tournament.
2. Indian boxers bagged one
Gold and two Silver medals at the Umakhanov Memorial Tournament in the Russian
city of Kaspiysk on June 12, 2018. Saweety Boora won
the coveted yellow medal in the Women's 75 kg category after beating local
favourite Anna Anfinogenova in the Final. In the Men's section, Brijesh
Yadav in the 81 kg division and Virender Kumar in 91 kgs lost their Final bouts
to settle for Silver medals. Earlier, India had claimed four Bronze medals
in the Tournament.
Announcement !
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