16 June 2018 - Daily Current Affairs

16 June 2018 - Daily Current Affairs

16 June 2018 - Daily Current Affairs

1. President leaves for 3-nation tour to Greece, Suriname & Cuba

  • President Ram Nath Kovind leaves on a three-nation visit to Greece, Suriname, and Cuba.
  • He accompanied by a delegation that includes Minister of State for Steel Vishnu Deo Sai and Members of Parliament.
  • In the first-leg of the tour, Mr. Kovid will be at Athens (16-19th June) and meet Prokopis Pavlopoulos (Greek President) and other senior members of the Government and the opposition.
  • The second-leg of the tour, He will at Suriname (19th June), and hold discussions with President Desire Delano Bouterse followed by official-level talks.
  • In the last leg of his tour, the President will reach Cuba (21st June), scheduled to hold discussions with his Cuban counterpart Miguel Diaz - Canel Bermudez.

2. Papua New Guinea declares a 9-month state of emergency over riots


  • Papua New Guinea has declared a nine-month state of emergency in the Southern Highlands province and suspended its government.
  • Prime Minister Peter O'Neill said armed forces are being been sent to restore order after rioters resorted to looting and burning.
  • Violence has often ravaged the remote interior of the Pacific nation, where tribal and land disputes dominate regional politics.

National Appointments

3. Puducherry gets its first woman DGP


  • Senior Indian Police Service officer S Sundari Nanda (IPS-1988 batch) has been appointed as the first woman Director General of Police (DGP) of Union Territory of Puducherry.
  • The incumbent DGP ‘S K Gautam' has been transferred and posted in the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCTD).
  • The first woman IPS officer of the country ‘Kiran Bedi’ is the Lt Governor of the Union Territory Puducherry.
Note: The Director-General of Police (DGP) is a three-star rank and the highest-ranking police officer in Indian States and Union Territories.

National Affairs

4. India to host European Union film festival


  • The European Union Film Festival (EUFF) will premiere at the Siri Fort Auditorium in New Delhi (from 18th -24th June 2018).
  • The festival will present screenings of a collection of 24 award-winning European films that showcase different genres of European Cinema from drama, romance, comedy, documentary, animation, fairy tale and more.
  • The EUFF is organized annually by the delegation of European Union to India and the Film Festival is currently in its 21st edition.

5. Vice President lays the foundation of 2 projects under Amrut scheme in Itanagar


  • Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu lays the foundation stone for sewage management system and stormwater drainage system of Itanagar under AMRUT Scheme.
  • He addressed research scholars and faculty members of North Eastern Regional Institute of Science and Technology (NERIST) at Nirjuli.
Note:
  • The AMRUT (Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation) Scheme was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in June 2015.
  • The objective of the project is to establish an infrastructure that could ensure adequate robust sewage networks and water supply for urban transformation by implementing urban revival projects.

6. Swajal launched in 115 Aspirational Districts of India


  • A National Consultation on the National Rural Drinking Water Programme (NRDWP) and 'Swajal' was held in the New Delhi to discuss the reforms needed in NRDWP and to outline a roadmap for the Swajal scheme.
  • The consultation was chaired by the Union Minister of Drinking Water and Sanitation, Sushri Uma Bharti.
  • Ministers-in-charge of Drinking Water from 13 States attended the consultation and gave their views on the reforms needed in the ongoing Centrally-sponsored drinking water schemes being implemented in the respective states.
Note:
  • The objective of the Swajal schemes is to provide villages with piped water supply powered by solar energy.
  • The scheme will train hundreds of rural technicians for operation and maintenance of Swajal units.

7. India's exports grew by 20.18 % in May


  • According to data released by Ministry of Commerce, India's exports grew by 20.18% to 28.86 billion dollars in May 2018 as compared to the same period of last year (24.01 billion dollars).
  • Petroleum products, engineering goods, handloom products, drugs, and pharmaceuticals have shown a high export growth rate.
  • The cumulative value of exports for the month of April and May during the current fiscal was over 54 billion dollars (last year-48.65 billion dollars)
  • Non-petroleum, non-gems and jewelry exports during May 2018 were valued at around 20 billion dollars (last year in May-18 billion dollars).
  • Imports during May 2018 were valued at 43.48 billion dollars which were 14.85% higher than the imports in May last year.

8. SBI Research report estimates the additional gain of Rs 37,426 crore in revenue in current fiscal


  • According to the SBI Research report estimates, an additional gain of 37,426 crore rupees in revenue in the current fiscal due to the surge in oil prices and better tax collection due to Goods and Services Tax (GST).
  • The report says that Gujarat, Haryana, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Punjab have gained the maximum from GST while Karnataka, Bengal, UP, MP and Assam have reported a decline in tax collection post-GST.
  • Sixteen out of twenty-four states have seen their revenues rising, with the aggregate gain being 18,698 crore rupees for FY18.

Defense

9. NASA's record-breaking astronaut Peggy Whitson retires


  • NASA's (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) astronaut, Peggy Whitson retired after returning from her last and longest spaceflight.
  • She spent more time off the planet than any other American (665 days) over three space station missions.
  • She is also the world's most experienced female spacewalker, with 10 under her spacesuit belt.
  • Whitson was the first woman to command the International Space Station, holding the position twice, and the oldest woman ever to fly in space.
  • She was also the only woman to have served as chief of NASA's male-dominated astronaut corps.

Obituaries

10. Veteran Journalist Adiraju Venkateswara Rao passes away

  • Senior journalist and writer Adiraju Venkateswara Rao (79-year) passed away.
  • He worked for several Telugu and English dailies and news agencies including Indian Express, Himachal Times and Hindustan Samachar.
  • In 1969, he played an active role in the separate Telangana agitation.

Sports

11. India beat Afghanistan in one-off Test by innings

  • India beat Afghanistan in the one-off Test by an innings and 262 runs on the second day at Bengaluru.
  • Enforcing follow-on, India's bowlers bowled out Afghanistan for 109 and 103 as the visitors were decimated in just two days.
  • India compiled a sizeable 474 in the first session.
  • Umesh Yadav achieved a milestone in his bowling career when he bagged his 100th Test wicket today. With this, he became the 22nd Indian Test bowler and 8th Indian pace bowler to claim hundred wickets.
Brief Scores:
  • India: 474 (all out)
  • AFG: 109 (1st inning) & 103-all out (38.4 Ovs)
  • Player of the Match: Shikhar Dhawan

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