1.
Mukul Rohatgi appointed New Attorney-General of India
i. Mr. Rohatgi, who will take over from G.E. Vahanvati as the 14th AG of the country.
ii. The eminent Supreme Court lawyer said that he has been offered the office of the top law officer in the government and he has given his consent to it.
iii. A sought-after corporate lawyer, Rohatgi had represented Anil Ambani in the apex court in the gas dispute case between the Ambani brothers.
iv. He has also been representing the Italian embassy in the apex court in a case relating to two Italian marines involved in killing two fishermen off the Kerala coast in 2012.
v. Besides some of these illustrative high-profile cases handled by him, Rohatgi has been appearing on behalf of big corporates in the 2G scam trial.
2.
Nripendra Misra appointed Principal Secretary to PM
i. Nripendra Misra, former TRAI Chairman, appointed Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister with effect from on Wednesday.
ii. Nripendra Mishra has had a distinguished career as bureaucrat. He has a reputation of top call efficiency and honesty.
iii. Mishra held several top positions in UP and Centre including Principal Secretary to Chief Minister , UNION telecom Secretary and Chairman of Telecom Regulatory Authority, TRAI. Mishra was Principal Secretary to UP Chief Minister Kalyan Singh .
iv. In his stint at the centre , Mishra was Chairperson of TRAI between 2006 and 2009. This was the time when controversial 2 G licenses were given by the then telecom Minister A Raja.
v. A move which became cause of major embarassment to the UPA government of Dr Manmohan Singh.
vi. It was Nripendra Mishra, who as TRAI chief raised several important points that could have made the process of spectrum allocation more transparent. But his recommendations were not adhered to during the allocation.
vii. As Principal Secretary to PM Mishra, is expected to wield tremendous influence in fast tracking projects close the heart of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
3.
Father of Malaysian Hockey Sultan Azlan Shah passes away
i. International hockey suffered a big setback today as the Sultan of Perak, Sultan Azlan Shah passed away in Kuala Lumpur. He was 86.
ii. Sultan Azlan Shah was known as the Father of Malaysian Hockey for his colossal contribution to the sport for over 41 years -- both as a player and an administrator.
iii. His remains will be taken to the palace in Kuala Kangsar tomorrow morning and buried at the royal mausoleum after mid-afternoon prayers.He started Sultan Azlan Shah Cup hockey tournament in 1983.
iv. Under his stewardship, Malaysia hosted two hockey World Cups -- 1975 and 2002 editions. In 1997, Sultan Azlan Shah was elected as the president of the Asian Hockey Federation and he held the post until his demise.
4.
Sachin Tendulkar to be goodwill ambassador for national games
i. The 35 National Games to be held in seven cities in the State early next year will have cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar as its goodwill ambassador.
ii. The idea was mooted by Chief Minister Oommen Chandy during his meeting with Mr. Tendulkar on Tuesday and responding to it, the cricketer was quick to nod his approval.
5.
India among top 10 global markets for Australian biz
i. India has figured among the top 10 markets for the international business community, according to Australia’s International Business Survey.
ii. India has also emerged as the most challenging of the top 10 countries to do business with.
iii. AIBS 2014, a comprehensive study of Australian companies involved in international business, was released recently.
iv. It found that India ranked as the ninth important market currently. The country was also seen as the third important future market, with respondents saying they were planning on doing business in/within the next two years.
v. China and the US continue to be front and centre. More companies (19 per cent) identify China as their top target market than any other country,” the survey said.
6.
India most loved market in Asia: HSBC
i. Foreign institutional investors continued to focus on Indian equities as the markets have seen net inflow of $2.3 billion in May, taking the total to $7.8 billion so far this year, says an HSBC report.
ii. “India still the most loved market in the region; Malaysia the least loved market,” HSBC said in a research note.
iii. According to the global financial services major, FII flows in May were mixed, with investors being more selective.
iv. In the Asia region, investors bought India, preferred Korea over Taiwan and sold Thai equities.
v. Overall, foreign investors have bought $18.8 billion worth of equities till January to May 26 in Asia excluding Japan. Out of this India received $7.8 billion, followed by Taiwan $6.3 billion and Indonesia $3.6 billion respectively.
7.
Rs 150 cr mega food park in Ludhiana to boost food processing
i. Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today gave in-principle approval for setting up a 150-crore rupees mega food park at Ladowal in Ludhiana to promote food processing industry in the state.
ii. The CM has asked Punjab Agro Industries Corporation (PAIC) to finalise the Detailed Project Report (DPR) regarding the proposed food park at the earliest for submitting it to the Union Food Processing Ministry, an official spokesperson said im Chandigarh.
iii. Two-time MP from Bathinda, Harsimrat Kaur Badal, wife of Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal, took charge of the Ministry of Food Processing yesterday.
iv. The Centre's scheme of mega food park, which aims at providing a mechanism to link agricultural production to the market, envisages a one-time capital grant of 50 per cent of the project cost, subject to a maximum of 50 crore rupees in general areas and 75 per cent of the project cost, subject to a ceiling of 50 crore rupees in difficult and hilly areas.
8.
Suresh Raina to lead Indian team in ODI series against Bangladesh
i. Suresh Raina will lead the Indian team during the One Day series (ODI) in Bangladesh from June 15 in the absence of regular captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni. MS Dhoni along with Virat Kohli will miss Bangladesh Tour following minor injuries.
ii. The leading run-scorer in IPL Robin Uththappa also got a place in the One day team. Maharashtra’s Kedar Jadhav was also picked up for the Bangladesh tour. The selectors opted for Bengal’s Wriddhiman Saha as wicketkeeper for ODI as well as Test team.
9.
Chapter on Sachin Tendulkar added in schoolbooks of Maharashtra
i. State Government of Maharashtra decided to add a chapter on the cricket legend, Sachin Tendulkar in the school syllabus. The chapter on the iconic cricketer Sachin was added to inspire the children.
ii. The chapter on Sachin has been included in Marathi and English subject textbooks.
iii. The students of Maharashtra will learn about the iconic cricketer in Class IV as part of their curriculum from academic year 2014-15.
Note: Previously, the chapters on the names of Chandrakant Gulabrao (Chandu Borde) and Sunil Gavaskar were added in the pages of school syllabus.
10.
MP beat Jharkhand to clinch Sub-Jr Girls hockey title
i. Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy (MPHA) defeated Jharkhand 5-2 to win the fourth Hockey India Sub-Junior Girls National Championship (Division A) in Pune on Tuesday.
ii. While MPHA bagged the title, Chandigarh Olympic Association (COA) registered a 3-1 win over Haryana to finish third.
11.
Infosys president B G Srinivas quits
i. This is the tenth high-level exit from Infosys within the last year; Mr. Srinivas was seen as one of the front-runners for the CEO post from within the company.
ii. IT major Infosys Ltd, which is in the midst of a CEO hunt involving both internal and external candidates, announced to the stock exchanges on Wednesday that its company president and board member B.G. Srinivas has resigned.
iii. Mr. Srinivas was seen as one of the front-runners for the top post from within the company. He, along with UB Pravin Rao, was appointed as company president in January this year. Over the past two days, the company was reportedly interviewing candidates from within its ranks for the top post.
iv. While no reasons were given for this unexpected exit, Infosys, which has seen at least 10 top executive level exits in the past year since co-founder N.R. Narayana Murthy returned to the helm, said that the resignation is effective June 10.