Today, the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy (8th edition) has begun in London with hosts England taking on Bangladesh in the opening encounter at Kennington Oval.
The top eight teams in the ICC ODI Championship rankings as on 30th Sept 2015 qualified for the tournament.
The eight teams playing in the tournament have been divided into two groups A and B.
Group A - England, Bangladesh, Australia, and New Zealand.
Group B - India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and South Africa.
The final of the Champions Trophy will be played on the 18th of June.
Note: The 2017 ICC Champions Trophy is a One Day International (ODI) cricket tournament scheduled to be held in England and Wales between 1 and 18 June 2017.
Japan launches satellite for high-precision positioning system to complement GPS
Today, Japan has launched a satellite from the Tanegashima space centre to help build a high-precision geolocation system that will complement the US-operated Global Positioning System (GPS).
Initially the US military has designed Satellite geolocation systems, now power countless civilian applications, from car navigation to Internet browsing on mobile phones.
The first satellite was put into orbit in 2010 and 3rd & 4th are to be launched by March 2018 to start the service.
Nirupama Rao appointed public policy fellow to US think-tank
Former Indian envoy to the US Nirupama Rao (66-year) has appointed public policy fellow to a Washington-based think-tank.
She will work on a project on the Sino-India ties for the top American think-tank.
Ms Rao will be affiliated with the Wilson Centre's Asia programme.
Beginning in June 2017, she will spend three months in residence at the Wilson Centre which is a key non-partisan policy forum for tackling global issues.
Note: Indian diplomat Nirupama Rao was India's first woman ambassador to China and also served as India's foreign secretary from 2009 to 2011.
Ramachandra Guha resigns as BCCI Administrator
Ramachandra Guha had resigned as BCCI administrator due to personal reasons.
He has submitted his resignation letter to the Chairman of the Committee of Administrators of the BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) Vinod Rai.
Earlier, the supreme court had appointed a four-member committee of administrators headed by former Comptroller and Auditor General Vinod Rai to run the affairs of BCCI.
India & Spain sign seven agreements
India and Spain have signed seven agreements in cyber security, renewable energy, technical cooperation in civil aviation, visa waiver for diplomatic passport holders.
The agreements were signed after Prime Minister Narendra Modi held wide-ranging talks with President of Government of Spain Mariano Rajoy at the Moncloa Palace in Madrid.
Mr Modi is the first Indian Prime Minister to visit Spain since
Spain is India's seventh largest trading partner in the European Union.
1st June: Global Day of Parents
The Global Day of Parents is observed on the 1st of June every year.
The Day was proclaimed by the UN General Assembly in 2012 with resolution A/RES/66/292 and honours parents throughout the world.
The Global Day provides an opportunity to appreciate all parents in all parts of the world for their selfless commitment to children and their lifelong sacrifice towards nurturing this relationship.
1st June: World Milk Day
The World Milk Day has been observed on 1st June each year since 2001.
The World Milk Day is a day established by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) to recognise the importance of milk as a global food.
The day is intended to provide an opportunity to bring attention to activities that are connected with the dairy sector.
GDP grows 6.1% year-on-year during January-March period
According to the Central Statistics Office (CSO), the provisional estimates of national income for the financial year 2016-17, Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew 6.1% year-on-year during the Jan-March period of the country.
The GDP for the full year (2016-17) came in at 7.1% in line with official estimate compared to a revised growth figure of 8% in financial year 2016-17.
During the quarter, the agriculture, forestry, and fishing sectors grew at 5.2%, mining and quarrying (6.4%), manufacturing (5.3%), electricity, gas, water supply and other utility services (6.1%), trade, hotels, transport and communication (6.5%); financial, real estate and professional services (2.2%), and public administration, defence and other services (17%).
However, the construction sector shrank 3.7%.
The agricultural sector posted a huge jump in growth as it expanded by 4.9% during 2016-17 compared to dismal growth of 0.7% in the previous year.
The per capita income during 2016- 17 is estimated to have attained a level of Rs. 1,03,219 crores as compared to the estimates for the year 2015-16 of Rs. 94,130 crores showing a rise of 9.7%.
CBDT extends due date for furnishing SFT to 30th June
The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has extended the due date for furnishing Statement of Financial Transaction (SFT) to 30th June 2017.
A statement of financial transaction is required to be furnished for transactions prescribed under Rule 114E of the Income Tax Rules.
The CBDT extended the due date after receiving representations requesting for extension of for filing of the SFT due to the teething problems and the volume of data to be compiled.
India signs loan agreement of 36 million dollar with World Bank
India has signed a loan agreement of 36 million dollar with the World Bank for Himachal Pradesh Public Financial Management Capacity Building Programme.
The agreement signed by Raj Kumar (Joint Secretary of Department of Economic Affairs) and Junaid Kamal Ahmad (Bank's Country Director).
The project aims to to improve the efficiency of public expenditure management and tax administration in Himachal Pradesh.
