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June 11, 2016

7th June 2016 - Important Current Affairs updates

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International Affairs
  • The Chinese government as part of its 'uncivilised behaviour law' has released a set of rules relating to public conduct for Chinese tourists
    • The rules include interference with public transport, gambling, vandalism and pornography among others. 
    • A violation of these rules could lead to a ban from travelling for a maximum period of five years.
  • Switzerland's President Johann Schneider-Ammann today announced the country's support for India's membership to the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG)
    • The USA and many other NSG members have already backed India's membership due to its nuclear non-proliferation track record. 
    • Note : NSG functions on unanimity, and the support of all 48 members is required for India's membership.
  • The United States Navy has today enforced a drinking ban on its sailors in Japan after a US sailor was arrested on the southern island of Okinawa for suspected drunken driving. 
    • This was after the sailor was allegedly involved in a car crash that injured two people. 
    • Note : There are 18,600 US sailors stationed in Japan.

National Affairs
  • Guwahati became the first Indian city to have an official city animal after the Gangetic River Dolphin was declared the city's mascot today. 
    • The dolphins are categorized as a Protected species, with less than 2,000 remaining in the Guwahati region. 
  • Puducherry’s Lieutenant Governor Kiran Bedi has banned the use of sirens in the cars of VIPs in the union territory. 
    • However, the ban is not applicable to emergency service vehicles like ambulances and fire trucks. 
    • Bedi, a retired IPS officer, has also issued directives that the cars of VIPs will no longer have special privileges like the stopping of traffic.
  • According to the Ministry of Power, 8,095 villages have been electrified from April 2015 to June 2016 under the Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana
    • PM Narendra Modi had earlier set a May 2018 deadline for the electrification of all villages. 
    • Note : A village is considered electrified if 10% of its households and all public places have access to electricity.
  • Indian Railways has decided to install bio-toilets in all coaches to ensure the entire rail network is a zero discharge zone by 2019, ahead of the earlier decided 2021, Railway Board Chairman AK Mittal announced today. 
    • According to the plan, 1.40 lakh bio-toilets will be installed during the next three years, while 37,000 have already been installed.
  • Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das today announced that medical insurance of ₹2 lakh will be launched for Below Poverty Line (BPL) families for the treatment of serious ailments. 
    • They will also be given an insurance cover of ₹50,000 for common diseases. 
    • Further, families earning ₹72,000 per annum will be provided with free dialysis facilities.
  • The Western Railway today started observing a safety awareness week to educate people regarding safety at railway level crossings. 
    • The awareness campaign will be conducted among school and college students and panchayats, and safety drives will be held at level crossings. 
    • Further, all six divisions of Western Railway will observe the International Level Crossing Awareness Day on June 10.

Business & Economy
  • The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) kept the Repo rate unchanged at a five-year low of 6.5% in its bi-monthly monetary policy review meeting today. 
    • The central bank has cut the repo rate by 150 basis points since January 2015, including a 0.25% reduction in April. 
    • The RBI further maintained the reverse repo rate at 6%, and the cash reserve ratio at 4%.
  • Retail giant Walmart has topped the Fortune 500 list for the fourth consecutive year. 
    • Walmart is followed by oil and gas company Exxon Mobil and Apple, the top tech company on the list. 
    • While Amazon has been ranked 18th, Facebook has jumped 85 spots to be ranked 157th. 
    • The annual list features 500 US companies based on their total revenue.
  • In an attempt to decrease the economic dependence​ on oil revenue, Saudi Arabia, as a part of the National Transformation Plan (NTP), aims to triple the government's non-oil revenues and clamp down on public-sector salaries over the next five years. 
    • Among the 500 proposed projects under the NTP, it also aims to install 3.5 gigawatts of renewable power capacity.
  • India's steel imports in May fell 41% year-on-year to 5.46 lakh tonnes, their lowest level in 14 months, according to government data. 
    • This comes after the government had earlier imposed restrictions on imports of cheaper steel from overseas. 
    • Meanwhile, steel production in the country during April-May rose 2.4% to 160 lakh tonnes. 
    • Note : India is the third-largest producer of steel.
  • The government has offered Saudi Arabia a stake in the oil refinery and petrochemicals project proposed along Maharashtra coast at an estimated cost of ₹1.5 lakh crore.
    • Oil Minister : Dharmendra Pradhan

Science & Technology
  • The Highest Temperature to be ever recorded in the World stands at 56.7°C, as per the World Meteorological Organisation. 
    • It was measured on July 10, 1913 at Greenland Ranch, Death Valley in California, USA. 
    • Note : India recorded its highest ever temperature of 51°C on May 19 this year in Rajasthan's Phalodi city.
  • According to a study by IIT-Gandhinagar and IIM-Ahmedabad, the temperature in Madhya Pradesh is expected to increase by 1-1.2°C by 2045
    • This will increase the "frequency of severe, extreme, and exceptional droughts", the study found. 
    • The temperature will rise much faster than the Paris Climate Agreement target to restrict it to 2°C till the end of the century, researchers said.

Awards & Honors
  • Deshauna Barber, a 26-year-old Army Reserve lieutenant from the District of Columbia, has become the first military personnel to be crowned Miss USA by winning the pageant this year. 

New Appointments
  • Facebook today appointed Umang Bedi as Managing Director for India, effective from July this year. 
    • He will take over from Kirthiga Reddy, who is relocating to the US to take on a new role at Facebook's headquarters. 
    • Prior to joining Facebook, the Harvard Business School alumnus was the Managing Director, South Asia, at Adobe for five years.


Sports
  • Indian tennis player Rohan Bopanna has earned a berth to the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in August on the back of his performance at the recently concluded French Open. 
    • Bopanna's ATP men's doubles rank climbed to 10th after exiting the tournament at the quarter-finals​ stage. 
    • This will be Bopanna's second appearance in the Olympics.
  • Boxer Vijender Singh is set to fight the WBO Asia title bout against Australian Kerry Hope on July 16 in Delhi, which will be his first as pro in India
    • The bout had originally been scheduled for June 11, but was postponed due to logistical reasons. 
    • Note : Singh has not lost a single match since he turned pro last October.
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