Update your IQ with the GK Eduwrap Weekly Edition, loaded with GK updates, Current Affairs and all major happenings across the Globe. With GK Eduwrap you can now confidently crack the IBPS, SSC’s Current Affairs Section. Good Luck
National:
1. Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) announced USE and GET PAID scheme, under which people will be paid one rupees for using public toilets. The announced scheme aims to eradicate the practice of open defecation and will help to keep the city clean.
2. Jind and Karnal districts of Haryana and Muzaffarnagar of Uttar Pradesh were included in National Capital Region.
National Capital Region Planning Board (NCRPB) came into being in 1985. The aim of the concept was to develop a metropolitan area around Delhi, so as to divert increasing pressure of population from the region.
3. Cyclonic storm ASHOBAA developed into a cyclonic storm from only a depression that formed over the Arabian Sea. The cyclone is centered at 17.9°N and 67.2°E and is lying about 590 km west-southwest of Mumbai and 470 km southwest of Veraval, Gujarat.
4. The Mangrove Forest Division (MFD) of Bhitarkanika revealed that Bhitarkanika Wildlife Sanctuary of Odisha is witnessing an alarming denudation in large tracts of mangrove vegetation. The denudation has been noted among the Avicennia and Excoecaria species, popularly known as Bani and Guan.
5. Indian Railways has changed the timing for the booking of Tatkal tickets, and said that customers can get a refund of upto 50% on cancellation for the same.
6. Union Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) Prakash Javadekar cleared the Coastal Road Project of Mumbai, Maharashtra.
This project will cover 35.6 km between Nariman Point and Kandivali, along the western seafront. The project will begin in mid-August 2015. The project will help in decongesting Mumbai roads and will also create 91 hectares of green space.
7. Delhi Jal Board vice chairman Kapil Mishra has been named as the new Law Minister of Delhi. Tomar, who quit as Delhi Law Minister, claims to have done his B.Sc. from RML Avadh University, Faizabad. Police have taken him for spot verification and questioning of his degree.
8. India and Bangladesh signed the historical 1974 Land Boundary Agreement (LBA) which would settle the 4096-kilometre-long border dispute between the two countries.
Bangladesh took over 111 enclaves (17160 acres of land) from India’s possession and India received 51 enclaves (7110 acres of land) from Bangladesh. Enclaves are tiny landlocked territories that each country has within the borders of the other nation. The enclaves in Assam, West Bengal, Tripura and Meghalaya come under the bill’s ambit.
9. Indian Institute of Science (IISc) found that the fire on the water of Bellandur Lake was caused due to industrial effluents in the water. The findings were published in a study titled, Pathetic status of wetlands in Bengaluru: epitome of inefficient and uncoordinated governance.
10. Indian Medical Association’s (IMA) first-ever Jan Aushadhi Generic Drug (JAGD) Store was inaugurated at its headquarters in IP Estate, New Delhi. The store will offer over 118 commonly used drugs at a 10% to 20% lesser price than market value.The store was launched by the Union Minister of State for Chemicals and Fertilizers Hansraj Gangaram Ahir.
11. Union Minister of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejunivetion Uma Bharti launched nationwide Jal Kranti Abhiyan (campaign) from Jaipur, Rajasthan.
Objective: To consolidate water conservation and management in the country through a holistic and integrated approach involving all stakeholders, making it a mass movement.
12. Andhra Pradesh (AP) circle of India Post decided to sell River Godavari water as GOD-JAL (Godavari Pushkaram Jal) during Pushkaram festival season between 14th July and 25th July 2015. 500 ml of purified GOD-JAL will be duly bottled and purified as per ISI standards and will be delivered at door step for as low a cost as Rs. 20 per bottle.
The GOD-JAL will be sold at post offices across Telangana and Andhra Pradesh and will be available for citizens who will not be able to take a dip in the river during the Pushkaram festival. The GOD-JAL will be sold through 95 post offices, 2360 sub post offices and 13611 branch post offices of the two states.
13. The High Court of Himachal Pradesh asked the state government to establish separate homes for differently-abled, shelter less, destitute and mentality challenged people. The state government was asked to complete the work within a year.
14. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved two road projects worth Rs. 4721 crore, one in Madhya Pradesh and another in Telangana. The projects will be executed under the flagship road building programme National Highways Development Project (NHDP).
15. India, Japan and Australia held their first ever high-level trilateral dialogue in New Delhi. The talks were attended by Indian foreign secretary S. Jaishankar, Japanese vice foreign minister Akitaka Saiki and Australian secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Varghese.
India accords greater importance to Japan and Australia that is evident from the fact that Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid a visit to both the countries within six months of coming to the office in order to operationalise his Act East Policy.
16. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) issued Draft Framework on Issuance of Rupee linked Bonds Overseas. It is intended to permit Indian corporate and International Financial Institutions (IFIs) to issue rupee-linked bonds overseas.
17. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar launched a campaign called Badh Chala Bihar in Patna to collate ideas from the public to produce Bihar@2025. It is a vision document on state’s development between 2015 and 2025.
18. Union Cabinet meet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the signing of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal (BBIN) Motor Vehicle Agreement. The agreement which is similar to the SAARC Motor Vehicle Agreement (MVA) seeks to regulate the vehicular traffic of passenger, personal and cargo amongst BBIN countries. The agreement will be signed at the Transport Minister’s meeting in Thimpu, Bhutan.
19. The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on 10th June 2015 gave its approval for the proposal to promulgate the Negotiable Instruments (Amendment) Ordinance, 2015.
Key Features of Negotiable Instruments:
(i). Cases of bouncing of cheques can be filed only in a court in whose jurisdiction the bank branch of the payee (person who receives the cheque) lies.
(ii). If a complaint against a person issuing a cheque has been filed in the court with the appropriate jurisdiction, then all subsequent complaints against that person will be filed in the same court, irrespective of the relevant jurisdiction area.
(iii). If more than one case is filed against the same person before different courts, the cases will be transferred to the court with the appropriate jurisdiction.
(iv). It seeks to amend the definition of cheque in the electronic form. While the parent act defines it as a cheque containing the exact mirror image of a paper cheque and generated in a secure system using a digital signature, the amendment bill re-defines it as a cheque drawn in electronic medium using any computer resource and which is signed in a secure system with a digital signature, or electronic system.
20. Amazon, the global e-commerce and cloud services firm opened a Fulfilment Centre near Hyderabad in Telangana.
21. Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore upstaged Panjab University as India’s number one university, while IISc and IIT Bombay, were the two new entrants in the top 100 of the Times Higher Education University Asia Rankings 2015.
International:
1. G7 Summit 2015 was held at Schloss Elmau in Bavaria, Germany from 7th June to 8th June 2015. This was the 41st G7 summit and the theme for the summit was Think Ahead. Act Together.
The Summit focused on the global economy as well as on key issues regarding foreign, security, environment and development policy.
The G7 Summit 2015 deliberated on following issues:
» Protection of the marine environment and resources and marine governance.
» Antibiotic resistance, neglected and poverty-related diseases and Ebola.
» Retail and supply chain standards.
» Empowerment of women by giving vocational training.
2. The Justice and Development Party (AKP) of Turkey led by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan won Turkey’s parliamentary polls.
3. A study titled Global Population Collapse in a superabundant migratory bird and illegal trapping in China said that the population of the migratory songbird Yellow-Breasted Bunting (Emberiza aureola) has plunged by 90% since 1980. The bird is disappearing from Eastern Europe, Japan and parts of Russia.
4. African countries have signed a historic The Tripartite Free Trade Area (TFTA) that facilitates creation of Africa’s largest free-trade zone. This free-trade zone will cover 26 countries in an area from southernmost tip of African continent i.e. Cape Town (South Africa) to Cairo (Egypt) in the north.
Appointment & Resignation:
1. ICICI Bank appointed Mahendra Kumar Sharma as the non-executive chairman for a period of five years. Sharma, a former vice chairman of Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) succeeded KV Kamath.
2. Vijai Sharma was appointed as the Chief Information Commissioner in the Central Information Commission (CIC), New Delhi.
3. KV Chowdary was appointed as the Central Vigilance Commissioner (CVC).
4. RC Tayal was appointed as the Director General (DG) of National Security Guard (NSG).
5. John Cryan was named as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Deutsche Bank.
6. Anshu Jain and Juergen Fitschen resigned as Co-Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Deutsche Bank.
7. R. Seshasayee was appointed as the Non-Executive Chairman of Infosys Limited. He succeeded KV Kamath, who resigned to head the proposed BRICS New Development Bank in China.
8. Dr. Srivari Chandrasekhar was appointed as the Director of Hyderabad-based CSIR-Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT). The appointment was made by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is President of the CSIR (Council of Scientific and Industrial Research).
9. India-born Padmasree Warrior resigned as Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of Cisco. She resigned after a major restructuring at the top management level under incoming Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Chuck Robbins.
10. Delhi Jal Board vice-chairman Kapil Mishra was named as the new Law Minister of Delhi.
11. Global hospitality chain Accor Hotels has appointed Gaurav Bhushan as Chief Development Officer.
12. Manish Sabharwal replaces Rohan Narayana Murthy in top education advisory board.
13. Flipkart appoints Ravi Garikipati as ‘Entrepreneur in Residence’.
14. Dick Costolo is stepping down as CEO of Twitter, under pressure from investors frustrated by the Internet company’s slow growth and seemingly constant shake-ups in its upper ranks. Costolo will be replaced by co-founder Jack Dorsey on an interim basis.
Awards & Recognition:
1. The Manchester United became the World’s most valuable brand in the World football with USD 1.2 billion. Also, it became the first club to pass the 1 billion US dollar mark.
2. Gaurav Pandey, a student of Ryan International School, Noida won the first ever KenKen International Championship. KenKen is a grid-based numerical puzzle that uses basic math operations while challenging the logic and problem-solving skills of participants. It is recognised by NCTM (National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, USA), an independent authority, as a powerful tool to build reasoning skills in kids.
3. Eleven Indo-Canadians were honoured with ICCC Annual Awards 2015 for strengthening bilateral ties and their business achievements besides contributions to the economy. Each award carried a trophy and citation. The list of awardees includes Avinash Mehra, Nisha Agnihotri, Prashant Pathak, Neeru Gupta, Manjul Bhargava, Hargurdeep Singh, Avish Sood, Rajiv Manucha, Asim Ghosh, Jag Parmar and Venkatesh Mannar.
4. IIFA Awards 2015 held at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
List of 2015 IIFA Awards:
» Best Film – Queen
» Best Director –Rajkumar Hirani (PK)
» Best Actor-Shahid Kapoor (Haider)
» Best Actress-Kangana Ranaut (Queen)
» Best Supporting Actor- Riteish Deshmukh (Ek Villain)
» Best Supporting Actress- Tabu (Haider)
» Star Debut of the Year (Male)-Tiger Shroff (Heropanti)
» Star Debut of the Year (Female)-Kriti sanon (Heropanti)
» Best Comedian-Varun Dhawan (Main Tera Hero)
» Best Villain Award-Kay Kay Menon (Haider)
» Best Story-Queen (Vikas Bahl)
» Debutant Director-Sajid Nadiadwala (Kick)
» Best Music Director-Shankar, Ehsaan & Loy (2 States)
» Best Lyrics-Manoj Muntashir for Galliyan (Ek Villain)
» Best Male Playback Award-Ankit Tiwari for Galliyan (Ek Villain)
» Best Female Playback Award-Kanika Kapoor for Baby Doll (Raginin MMS2)
» Best Sound Design-Shajith Koyeri (Haider)
» Best Background Score-Vishal Bharadwaj (Haider)
» Award for Outstanding Achievment in International cinema-Subhash Ghai
» Entertainer of the year – Deepika Padukone
5. Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal was conferred with the prestigious 14th Sant Namdev National Award at a function in Pune, Maharashtra. He was awarded for promoting peace, communal harmony and universal brotherhood.
6. Major political parties of Nepal reached an agreement on the proposed framework of national Constitution providing for federal structure, form of governance, electoral and judicial systems.
Nepal will be divided into eight federal states whose names and boundaries will be decided by separate bodies. A new federal commission will be tasked with drawing up internal borders and submit a proposal for approval in the Parliament.
Mergers & Acquisition:
1. PVR Ltd., India’s largest multiplex chain agreed to acquire DLF’s DT Cinemas for Rs. 500 crore.
Science & Technology:
1. Indian-origin scientist Manu Prakash along with his team developed World’s first water-based computer. They have built a synchronous computer that operates using the unique physics of moving water droplets. The work combines Prakash’s expertise in manipulating droplet fluid dynamics with a fundamental element of computer science – an operating clock.
Sports:
1. Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) co-owner Shah Rukh Khan acquired Carribean Premier League (CPL) T20 team Trinidad & Tobago (T&T). Hollywood stars Mark Wahlberg and Gerard Butler already own CPL franchises. Wahlberg owns reigning champions Barbados Tridents, led by Kieron Pollard, while Butler owns Jamaica Tallawahs, captained by Chris Gayle.
2. The book Sourav Ganguly: Cricket, Captaincy and Controversy was written by Saptarshi Sarkar and was published by HarperCollins India.
3. Mercedes racing driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain won the 2015 Formula 1 Canada Grand Prix title by winning the final race held in Montreal, Canada.
4. Japanese rising star shuttler Kento Momota and Thailand’s Ratchanok Intanon won the men’s and women’s singles respectively of the Indonesia Open Badminton tournament.
5. Rahul Dravid was named as coach of India ‘A’ and Under-19 cricket teams.
6. Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland won his first French Open title of Tennis. In the final clash played at Roland Garros in Paris, Wawrinka defeated Novak Djokovic of Serbia 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4.
7. Cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni is among Forbes magazine’s 100 highest-paid athletes in the world, the only Indian sportsman on the list that has been topped again by American boxer Floyd Mayweather and includes golfer Tiger Woods, tennis star Roger Federer and Portuguese soccer player Cristiano Ronaldo.
Dhoni has been ranked 23rd on the Forbes list of The World’s Highest-Paid Athletes 2015, dropping a notch from his ranking of 22 last year. Dhoni’s total earnings stood at $ 31 million, including amount from salary/winnings at $4 million and endorsements worth $27 million.
8. Indian Basketball Players Association (IBPA) started functioning with the official launch of it at Indian Medical Association, New Delhi.
Following is the organizational strucuture of IBPA:
President: Sajjan Singh Cheema (Arjuna Awardee)
General Secretary: Jayasankar Menon (Former Asian All Star Basketball player)
Treasurer: Ashok Sharma (National player and FIBA Commissioner)
Chairman: Abbas Moontaisar
Vice-Chairmen: Manmohan Singh and Suman Sharma
Important Dates:
1. World Ocean Day 2015 was celebrated across the world on 8th June 2015 with the theme Healthy oceans, Healthy planet.
Death:
1. Hiroshi Koizumi passed away on 31st May 2015 following pneumonia. He was 88. Making debut in 1951 on silver screen, Koizumi appeared in a string of monster films including Mothra vs Godzilla, Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster and Dogara, the Space Monster.
2. Wrestler Prem Nath, a gold medallist at the 1974 Christchurch Commonwealth Games, passed away on 1st June 2015. He was 64. He is survived by his wife, two sons and a daughter.
3. Former Indian cricketer Hemant Kanitkar died after a prolonged illness on 9th June 2015 at his residence in Pune, Maharashtra. He was 72.