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National:
1. Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharamanleaded an Indian delegation for the St Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) 2015 which was held at St Petersburg between 18th – 20th June.
2. Indian Railways has named Haridwar Mail as Yoga Express with an immediate effect.
3. State owned telecommunications giant Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has launched free pan India roaming scheme.
4. Union Government has launched an Indian Nuclear Insurance Pool (INIP) of 1,500 crore rupees as per the mandatory provision under the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act (CLND), 2010.
5. Bibek Debroy Committee on the restructuring of Indian Railways has submitted its final report to the Union Ministry of Railways.
6. Telangana government has unveiled New Industrial Policy 2015 to boost industrial activity and employment opportunities in the state.
7. Migrant Resource Centre (MRC) was set up in Chennai by the Union Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs (MOIA) and Tamil Nadu state government.
8. Bengaluru to host this year’s ATP Challenger. A $50,000 ATP Challenger men’s tennis tournament is set to be held here in October, the first for the city in 12 years. Matches will be held at the KSLTA stadium courts from October 19 to 25, with India’s top singles players expected to compete. The tournament is likely to see a few world top-100 players in action.
9. A book on Prime Minister Narendra Modi titled Modi –Incredible emergence of a star written in Chinese language by Tarun Vijay was in news on 16 June 2015 as one copy of the book was given to Vice-President M Hamid Ansari.
10. Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in June 2015 set up a Micro Air Vehicle Aerodynamics Research Tunnel (MART) at the CSIR-National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL) campus, Bengaluru.
11. Ministry of Railways has decided to run Suvidha trains with dynamic fares from July 2015. The decision to run Suvidha trains was taken to address the rush during peak travel seasons.
12. Election Commission of India (ECI) has suspended recognition of the PA Sangma-led National People’s Party (NPP) which was a recognized state party in Meghalaya.
The recognition of NPP was suspended under para 16A of the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968 after the party failed to file the election expenditure statement incurred in 2014 Lok Sabha elections.
13. State owned telecommunications giant Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has announced to set up 40,000 Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi) hot spots across the country.
The project will be entailed with an investment of about 6,000 crore rupees and likely to be completed by 2018.
14. Maharashtra Government has given nod to new Information Technology (IT) and Information Technology Enabled Services (ITES) policy.
15. A comprehensive book in Dogri language on the Dogri literature of 20th century entitled ‘Beehmi Sadi Da Dogri Da Gadya Sahitya : Ik Jayzaa ’ was released in Jammu and Kashmir.
The book has been written by a noted Dogri language scholar Dr. Vijay Seth.
It is based on extensive research work and incorporates five chapters chronologically covering the development of essays, literary sketches, travelogue, memoirs, biographic and autobiographical literature in Dogri.
16. As per recently released Global Peace Index (GPI) for year 2015, India was placed at 143th rank out 162 countries. The report was published by Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP).
Key facts from Global Peace Index 2015
Top 10 peaceful countries
Iceland (1st), Denmark (2nd), Austria (3rd), New Zealand (4th), Switzerland (5th), Finland (6th), Canada (7th), Japan (8th), Australia (9th) and Czech Republic (10th).
Top 10 least peaceful countries
North Korea (153rd), Pakistan (154th), Congo (155), Sudan (156), Somalia (157), Central Africa (158th), South Sudan (159th), Afghanistan (160th), Iraq (161st) and Syria (162nd).
India’s Neighbors
Bhutan (18th), Nepal (62nd), Bangladesh (84th), Sri Lanka (114th), Pakistan (154th). In 2014, the violent events had cost $14.3 trillion from the global economy.
It accounted for 13.4% of global GDP. About 50 million people i.e. 0.75% of the current world population are displaced.
In 2014, deaths from terrorism were reported in 69 countries reported.
It was up from 60 in 2013 highlighting the increasing use of terror tactics.
In case of India, violence has cost it $341.7 billion i.e. 4.7% of its GDP in 2014 which is the fourth highest cost in the world.
17. Manipur State Forest Department has decided to translocate a section of critically endangered species of Brow Antlered (Sangai) deer with an aim to save it from extinction.
18. Union Cabinet approved increasing India’s solar power capacity target under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM) to 1 Lakh Mega Watt (MW) by 2022.
19. The Madras High Court (HC) has directed the Tamil Nadu Government to make wearing of helmets for two-wheelers compulsory from 1 July 2015 onwards.
20. India’s largest IT services company Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) launched a Next-Gen Technology Solutions Center of Excellence (CoE) at its campus in Hyderabad.
21. The One Rank, One Pension (OROP) scheme for ex-servicemen was recently in news as the scheme is likely to be rolled out ahead of the Bihar Assembly polls 2015.
22. Union Ministry of Finance on 17th June 2015 formed two committees for facilitating implementation of Goods and Services Tax (GST) from 1st April 2016.
23. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on 17th June 2015 gave its approval for the Minimum Support Prices (MSPs) for Kharif Crops of 2015-16 season.
24. Book titled Bikhare Khyalat written by Prof Abdul Haq was presented to Vice-President M Hamid Ansari. The book is an Urdu translation of Mohammed Iqbal’s writing in English tilted Stray Reflections.
25. India has been ranked third in Anti-Doping Rule Violations Report for year 2013 released by World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).
26. Punjab state is celebrating the 350th year of foundation of holy city Sri Anandpur Sahib.
27. HDFC Bank, India’s second-largest private sector lender has launched a 10-second paperless instant loan Scheme for its existing customers.
28. The Minister of State for Tourism, Culture and Civil Aviation Mahesh Sharma launched the new edition of Atithi Devo Bhava television (TV) commercials starring Aamir Khan as brand ambassador.
29. The Union Government has released the Draft Outline of Sovereign Gold Bond Scheme. The government invited comments till 2 July 2015 on it.
30. ISRO has announced to provide navigational support to Indian Railways through GPS Aided Geo Augmented Navigation (GAGAN) system.
31. Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh launched a weather alert service named NOWCAST to provide alerts on extreme weather conditions like hailstorm every three hours to over one crore registered farmers on their mobile phones.
32. Besides, a web-portal on crop insurance was also unveiled to create awareness and encourage more farmers to insure their crops taking advantage of existing schemes.
33. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address elected heads of 500 civic bodies from across the country.
PM will inaugurate the three big ticket projects – Smart Cities Mission, Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT).
International:
1. An Egyptian court has sentenced ousted Islamist President Mohammed Morsi to life in prison and confirmed death sentences against 16 others over charges of conspiring with foreign groups, including the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
2. United Kingdom (UK) celebrated 800 years of signing of Magna Carta on 15th June 2015.
About Magna Carta
Magna Carta is a Latin word which in English means Great Charter. It is most important document of England signed on 15 June 1215 at Runnymede alongside the River Thames in the English county of Surrey.
It had originated as a peace and truce treaty between King John and a group of rebellious barons within his kingdom.
The document had written promises between King John and his subjects mentioning that the king will govern England and deal with its people according to the customs of feudal law.
Magna Carta had laid the first steps towards parliamentary democracy and the principle supremacy of law i.e. no one is above the law. It also laid the principle of balance of power between the governed and government.
Its influence can be seen in other documents across the world including the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights and on US Constitution and Bill of Rights.
In case of India, its influence also can be seen on Part III of constitution which contains fundamental rights, described as the magna carta of India which has been derived inspiration from Bill of Rights.
3. As per recently released report by British Petroleum (BP) Energy Company, United States (US) became the world’s largest oil producer in 2014 surpassing Saudi Arabia.
4. Bangladesh Supreme Court’s appellate bench upheld the death sentence of war criminal and Jamaat-e-Islami leader Ali Ahsan Muhammad Mujahid.
Decision in this regard was taken by 4-member bench headed by Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha.
5. Japan has passed a law in which the voting age will be 18 years from its current 20 years.
6. Asia Pacific region has overtaken Europe as the world’s second richest region for the first time in terms of global wealth management. It was revealed in recently released report by Boston Consulting Group (BCG), a global management consulting firm.
7. Hong Kong lawmakers rejected Beijing-backed election reform package. The proposal was voted down by 28 votes to eight in the Legislative Council (known as legco) of 70 members.
8. China and Australia signed the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement (ChAFTA) at Canberra in Australia.
The agreement was signed by China’s Commerce Minister Gao Hucheng and Australia’s Trade Minister Andrew Robb.
9. The world’s first electric passenger aircraft named BX1E was manufactured in China. The aircraft was designed by Shenyang Aerospace University and Liaoning General Aviation Academy located in the northeastern Liaoning Province of China.
Sports:
1. Indian off-spin cricketer Harbhajan Singh became the ninth all-time highest Test wicket-takers by claiming 416 wickets in 102 matches.
In this process, he surpassed Pakistani legend Wasim Akram who stood at the ninth position with 414 wickets in 104 matches. He achieved the landmark quicker than Akram. He achieved the feat after dismissing Imrul Kayes for 72 to reach 415 Test victims, one more than Akram.
2. India’s tennis player Rohan Bopanna along with his Romanian partner Florin Mergea has won the ATP’s Stuttgart Open final doubles trophy in Germany.
3. Spaniard Rafael Nadal won the singles final of the ATP’s Stuttgart Open.
4. Sunil Chhetri has become the first Indian footballer to score 50 international goals. He achieved this feat in his 87th match during 2018 World Cup qualifying match between India and Guam.
5. Veteran leader of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) Sharad Pawar was re-elected as the President of the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA).
6. India’s junior boys and cadet girls won the team championship titles at the South Asian Junior and Cadet Table Tennis Championships at the Talkatora Stadium in New Delhi.
7. India Cricket team captain of One Day International (ODI) Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Bangladesh fast bowler Mustafizur Rahman were fined for breaching the International Cricket Council (ICC) Code of Conduct.
Mergers & Acquisition:
1. Online marketplace Snapdeal.com acquired Letsgomo Labs, a mobility solutions company for an undisclosed sum. With this acquisition, Snapdeal will strengthen its position in mobile commerce as online consumers in India are increasingly choosing to shop over their phones.
2. Metal and mining giant Vedanta Ltd and its subsidiary oil explorer Cairn India have announced to merge.
3. PC maker Dell and IT services and distribution company HCL Infosystems on Tuesday announced a strategic distribution partnership.
Under the new partnership, HCL Infosystems will leverage its pan-India network of partners to distribute Dell’s entire hardware and software products, both the companies’ said in a press release.
4. Aequs Pvt Ltd, a Karnataka-based aerospace component manufacturer acquired Paris-based aerospace component maker T&K Machine Inc for an undisclosed amount.
5. Tokyo based online recipe network Cookpad has acquired Cucumbertown, a Bengaluru-based social network for cooks and chefs for an undisclosed amount.
6. SunEdison Inc, world’s largest renewable energy development company acquired Singapore-headquartered Continuum Wind Energy Limited for an undisclosed sum.
7. Japan’s Soft Bank Corp announced that it has set up a joint venture with Chinese online shopping giant Alibaba and electronics supplier Foxconn Technology to sell its human-like robot Pepper around the world.
Science & Technology:
1. Union Minister for Communications Ravi Shankar Prasad launched half-an-hour free Wi-Fi Internet facility in the Taj Mahal complex. BSNL has made special arrangements to introduce the facility with support from Quadgen, a Bengaluru-based company.
2. Indian mobile handset maker Karbonn announced that it is planning to set up its first mobile handset manufacturing facility in Hyderabad.
3. Union Government has launched Augmented Reality technology based mobile application named ‘Sakaar’ to highlight the achievements of the Department of Space.
About Augmented Reality Technology
Augmented Reality (AR) technology is computer-generated 3D models, animations, videos that augments (or supplements) the live direct view of a physical, real-world environment. With the help of device’s camera the real time augmentation and information is overlaying takes place which enhances user’s current perception. Essentially AR requires three basic elements for its functioning. They are AR application, AR Markers and Android OS enabled mobile with back camera.
4. Researchers have created the world’s thinnest light bulb using graphene as filament.
Features of Bulb
The bulb uses grapheme, a perfectly crystalline form of carbon as a filament.
The filament is attached to metal electrodes and suspended the strips above the substrate.
After current is passed through filament it heats up to over 2,500° C and produces exceptionally bright light.
5. Genomics Applications and Information Technology (Ganit) Labs in the third week of June announced that it developed a medical test that could predict the survival chances of tongue cancer patients for as little as 5000 rupees.
The test is based on a detailed analysis of changing gene patterns in cancer patients and helps doctors in managing the disease better, understand the chances of recurrence and also help in the diagnosis of even other forms of oral cancer.
6. Micromax on 18th June 2015 launched the world’s slimmest and lightest 4-Generation (4G) phone named as Micromax Canvas Sliver 5.
As per Micromax, it is the first smartphone to weigh below 100 grams.
7. Advertising Standard Council of India (ASCI) has launched ASCI online, a mobile application in a bid to address misleading advertisements.
Appointments:
1. Delhi Law Minister Kapil Mishra is appointed as the Chairman of the Delhi Jal Board (DJB). He succeeded Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia.
2. Retail broking firm HDFC Securities has appointed Dhiraj Relli as its Managing Director and CEO.
Relli takes over this position from Aseem Dhru, who returns to HDFC Bank as Group Head – Business Banking, Rural, Commodity and Agri-lending businesses.
3. Mogens Lykketoft from Denmark was unanimously elected as President of United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).
4. Archana Ramasundaram was on 17th June 2015 appointed as the Director of National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), New Delhi. Ramasundram is an IPS officer of 1980-batch of Tamil Nadu cadre.
5. Journalist and writer Aakar Patel appointed as Executive Director of Amnesty International (AI) India on 18 June 2015. He will head AI India’s operations and its efforts to end human rights abuses in India and worldwide.
6. Britain’s longest-serving Indian-origin MP, Keith Vaz on 18 June 2015 was re-elected as chairman of Parliaments Home Affairs Select Committee for the third time.
7. Senior IAS officer G Gurucharan was on 17th June 2015 given additional charge as Director General, Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) for three months. He will hold the additional charge till the appointment of a regular incumbent or until further orders.
Economics:
1. Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflows into the services sector grew by over 46 per cent to 3.25 billion dollars in 2014-15 fiscal. It was revealed by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP).
2. Lakshmi Vilas Bank raises deposit rates by 1 percentage point up to 6 percentage.
3. Union Government has announced an additional package of 2,437 crore rupees for reconstruction and rehabilitation of flood-ravaged Jammu and Kashmir (J&K).
4. India and Poland set trade target of 5 billion US dollars by 2018.
5. The West Bengal (WB) State Assembly on 18 June 2015 passed West Bengal Tea Plantation Employees Welfare Fund Bill, 2015. The bill is aimed at ensuring welfare and provision of basic amenities for tea plantation workers in the state.
Death:
1. Former Himachal Pradesh governor and ex-union minister Sheila Kaul passed away in New Delhi. She was 101.
2. India’s greatest contemporary architect Charles Correa passed away in Mumbai following a brief illness. He was 84.
He had played a pivotal role in the creation of architecture for post-Independence India. He was known for his sensitivity to the needs of the urban poor and use of traditional methods and materials for construction.
Important Days:
World Blood Donor Day is being observed across the world on 14th June to raise the public awareness about the need for safe blood donation.
Awards & Recognition:
Eminent scientist and Bharat Ratna awardee C.N.R. Rao was conferred with Japan’s highest civilian award the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Star.