International Affairs
Today (15th June) is ASEAN
Dengue Day.
Theme :
Community Empowerment: A Sustainable
Success to Fight Dengue
Today
is World Elder Abuse Awareness Day.
This
day was launched on June 15, 2006 by the International Network for the
Prevention of Elder Abuse and the World Health Organization at the United
Nations.
The
purpose of this day is to provide an opportunity for communities around the
world to promote a better understanding of abuse and neglect of older persons
by raising awareness of the cultural, social, economic and demographic
processes affecting elder abuse and neglect.
French
President François Hollande today finalised ratification of the Paris climate agreement,
saying, "Signing is good, ratifying is better."
The
move makes France the first
industrialised and G7 nation to do so.
Note :
The Paris climate agreement will come into force once it is ratified by at
least 55 countries responsible for 55% of the global greenhouse gas emissions.
The
US Senate today rejected an amendment to recognise India
as a "global
strategic and defense partner".
The
amendment, if passed, would have helped India to acquire advanced military
technology, participate in combined military planning, and be treated like US'
"closest defense partners" for military sales.
National Affairs
The Union Ministry
of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has launched a Scheme for setting up of 1000 Mega Watt (MW)
Wind Power Project connected to transmission network of Central Transmission Utility (CTU).
The
objective of the scheme is to facilitate supply of wind power to the non-windy
states at a price discovered through transparent bidding process.
The Cabinet today approved raising the retirement age of Central Health Services staff from
62 to 65 years.
Note :
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had earlier announced that the retirement age of
government doctors was raised to 65 years.
Maharashtra
government
has decided to use plastic waste along
with tar in the building of roads.
The
Centre had recommended the use of plastic waste as it improves the quality of
roads and reduces soil pollution caused by the plastics.
Note :
CSIR (Central Road Research Institute) also assured the government that such
roads would be cheaper and more durable.
According to a report on global nutrition, the percentage of Indian children (38.7%)
suffering from stunted growth due to malnutrition is higher than that of the world average
(23.8%).
The
report further revealed that India has doubled the rate of stunting reduction
in the past decade, which is significant as India is home to one-third of the
world's stunted children.
Aiming
to cultivate a spirit of innovation in youth, the NITI Aayog has decided to set up 500 Atal Tinkering Labs (ATL) in schools across the
country.
The
labs will provide students a work-space to shape their ideas by using hands-on
models and learn innovation skills.
The
vision of the ATLs is to 'Cultivate 1 Million children as Neoteric Innovators'.
Science & Technology
According to NASA data, May 2016 was the hottest
May ever on record.
Note :
January, February, March and April 2016 were also recorded as the hottest
respective months in over 130 years.
Business & Economy
The Cabinet today approved the merger of State Bank of India with Five
of its associate banks and the Bharatiya Mahila Bank, as part of the
government's plan for consolidating public sector banks.
The
associate banks of SBI are,
State
Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur,
State
Bank of Travancore,
State
Bank of Patiala,
State
Bank of Mysore
State
Bank of Hyderabad
The Union Cabinet today cleared the new Civil Aviation Policy, under which air
flyers will now have to pay a maximum amount of ₹2,500 for an hour-long flight.
Further,
the passengers will be charged ₹100/kg for exceeding the 15 kg limit on luggage as against
the previous charge of ₹300/kg.
It
also proposed a maximum ticket cancellation charge of ₹200.
Indian
Railways today signed a pact with Odisha government to establish a joint venture for the development of the state's rail infrastructure.
Note :
The state government will own 51% of the company.
Awards & Honors
President
Pranab Mukherjee has been presented National
Order of the Republic of Ivory Coast, the highest civilian award of the
West African country.
The
award was bestowed upon Pranab Mukherjee during his two days visit to Ivory
Coast on the second leg of his three-nation African tour.
Note :
With this, Mr Mukherjee’s became the
first Indian President to visit Ivory Coast.
Five
Indian institutes have been named amongst the top-50 in the latest QS
University Rankings Asia 2016 list.
Indian Institute of
Science (IISc), Bangalore was the highest ranked Indian university at
33, followed by IIT-Bombay (35), IIT-Delhi (36), IIT-Madras (43), and
IIT-Kanpur (48).
The
rankings were topped by the National University of Singapore, followed by the University of
Hong Kong.
Deaths
Famous hairstylist Margaret
Vinci Heldt (98), who became a hairstyling celebrity after she created
the famous beehive hairdo in
1960, has died today.
Renowned Hindi novelist and critique Mudrarakshas (82) passed away.
He
was distinguished Hindi writer, activist, thinker and cultural personality.
New Appointments
Fijian diplomat Peter
Thomson has been elected as
President of 71st session of
United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).
With
this, Peter Thomson becomes the first
representative from the Pacific island states to get elected for the largely
honorific post in the UN’s 71-year history.
Thomson
will begin his tenure in September 2016 at the commencement of the 71st session
of UNGA and will replace incumbent President Mogens Lykketoft.
Xerox named
former iGATE chief executive officer (CEO) Ashok Vemuri as the CEO of
its planned Business Process
Outsourcing (BPO) company.
Sports
The organisers of the Rio Olympics unveiled the Medals
that would be handed out to the winners.
The
design consists of laurel leaves that surround the Rio 2016 logo.
According to the organisers, the design celebrates "the
relationship between the strengths of Olympic heroes and the forces of
nature."
The
committee also revealed the official slogan for the first Olympic games in
South America -- "A new world".
The
core values of the slogan and the manifesto are unity, respect for diversity and the will for change.
The
Games commence from the 5th August and go on until the 21st of August 2016.
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