22nd June 2016 - Important Current Affairs updates

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International Affairs

• Indian city Nagpur and the Chinese city of Jinan have became 'Sister Cities' after signing a pact which allows for the exchange of ideas and technology in the field of education, urban planning, youth affairs, and sports. 
• Note : The agreement, which will be executed for five years, also allows Nagpur to seek financial assistance from Jinan to execute development projects.

National Affairs

• The government today extended the timeline for states to join the Ujwal Discom Assurance Yojana (UDAY) by a year to March 2017. 
• The move would help states which could not enrol in or operationalise the scheme due to several reasons including elections and regulatory approvals. 
• Note : The UDAY scheme aims at the revival of debt-laden power distribution companies (discom).
• The Centre has ordered all the states to link Aadhaar card of school students to their caste and domicile certificate. 
• The states have further been directed to issue such certificates to children studying in Class-5 and Class-8 within 60 days. 
• The government has reportedly taken the decision following complaints stating that SC-ST students were facing delays in getting their scholarship.
• From now onwards, NGOs receiving over ₹1 crore as government grants and foreign donations above ₹10 lakh will be brought under the Lokpal. 
• Office bearers of such NGOs will be treated as "public servants" and can be charged under anti-corruption laws. 
• The new rules will also apply to Limited Liability Partnership (LLP) firms or any group financed by the government.
• The Maharashtra cabinet today approved a proposal to grant minority status to Jews in the state. 
• The decision will allow members of the community avail state government scholarships and establish their own educational institutes. 
• Note : According to the 2001 Census, there were 4,650 Jews living in India, with 2,466 of them in Maharashtra.
• Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today released a commemorative silver coin to mark the 300th martyrdom day of Sikh General Banda Singh Bahadur (1670-1716). 
• He was a sikh leader, who fought the Mughals and established the first sovereign Sikh state. 

New Appointments

• SoftBank Group today named Ken Miyauchi as its new President and Chief Operating Officer (COO).
• He is going to replace Nikesh Arora, who resigned yesterday. 
• Note : Masayoshi Son will remain as the Chairman and CEO of the SoftBank Group.

Science & Technology

• The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) today launched a record 20 satellites in a single mission from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota. 
• The satellites included Cartosat-2 series satellite for earth observation and 19 co-passenger satellites from US, Canada, Germany, Indonesia and two Indian academic institutions. 
• The launch was made using ISRO's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle.
• Check complete details about this launch from here.
• ISRO is going to test indigenously developed Scramjet Engine Technology based on air-breathing propulsion in July 2016. 
• The test will be conducted on test platform named Advanced Technology Vehicle (ATV) from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota.
• China has overtaken the US for the first time to become the world leader in supercomputing, with a total of 167 supercomputers in the top 500 fastest supercomputers list. 
• The US stands at a close second with 165 supercomputers.

Business & Economy

• The Union Cabinet today approved a ₹6,000 crore special package for Textiles and Apparel sector to create one crore new jobs in three years, attract investments of $11 billion and generate $30 billion in exports. 
• The measures include flexibility in labour laws to increase productivity, alongside tax and production incentives for job creation in garment manufacturing.
• Hyperloop One today signed a deal with Russia's investment firm Summa Group to build a 70-kilometre high-speed transportation system in Moscow at a cost of $450 million to $607 million. 
• This makes Moscow Hyperloop's fourth engineering site after Finland, the UK and the US. 
• The Union Cabinet today approved the spectrum auction plan which is estimated to fetch at least ₹5.36 lakh crore.
• Note : This is the biggest spectrum auction ever for the Indian telecom industry.
• The government will be putting up the premium and efficient 700 Mhz band up for auction for the first time ever.
• Accounting for 16.5% of global imports and exports, the European Union is the world's largest trading block. 
• The EU is the largest trading partner for over 80 countries, while USA is the top trader for about 20 countries. 
• Britain, the second biggest economy in the union, will hold a referendum on June 23 to decide whether to stay in EU.
• As per the recently released 2016 World Investment Report, India ranked 10th in FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) inflows. 
• As per the report, India’s FDI inflows have increased to 44 billion dollars in 2015 as compared to 35 billion dollars in 2014.
• Top 10 Countries in the report are : 
• United States, 
• Hong Kong, 
• China, 
• Ireland, 
• Netherlands, 
• Switzerland, 
• Singapore, 
• Brazil, 
• Canada 
• India

Deaths

• Noted Telangana poet and lyricist Guda Anjaiah (61) passed away. 
• He played a key role in Telangana statehood movement by penning several songs which later found their way into films. 
• Pakistani qawwali singer Amjad Sabri of the Sabri brothers group was shot dead in Karachi's Liaquatabad area today. 
• He is the son of the late Ghulam Farid Sabri.
• Note : The Sabri brothers group is credited with being the first exponents of qawwali to the west.

Sports

• India won the three-match T20I series against Zimbabwe 2-1 after winning the third T20I in Harare by 3 runs today. 
• Indian Olympian Anju Bobby George, who alleged that Kerala Sports Minister EP Jayarajan had insulted her by accusing her of corruption, resigned as the President of the Kerala Sports Council today. 
• Argentina forward Lionel Messi became the country's all-time top goalscorer today when he scored in the Copa America semi-final against the United States to take his international tally to 55 goals. 
• The goal in his 112th international game lifts him above Gabriel Batistuta, who scored 54 goals in 78 games for the two-time world champions.

Read more Daily Current Affairs updates from here

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