1. International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking being observed today
The United Nations’ (UN) International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking is observed every year on 26th June to raise awareness of the major problem that illicit drugs represent to society.
President Ram Nath Kovind presented the fourth National Awards for outstanding services in the field of Prevention of Alcoholism and Substance (Drug) Abuse to the institutions and individuals in New Delhi.
A National Toll-Free Helpline- 1XXX-XX-0031 has also been launched to assist the alcoholics and drug dependent persons, their family members and community.
Building on the success of last year, the theme for 2018 is ‘Listen First - Listening to children and youth is the first step to help them grow healthy and safe’.
Note: It is an initiative to increase support for prevention of drug use that is based on science and is thus an effective investment in the well-being of children and youth, their families and their communities.
Honours & Awards
2. Pallavi Durua crowned as India's first 'Tribal Queen’
Odisha's Pallavi Durua (from Koraput district) was crowned as the first Tribal Queen at the Adi Rani Kalinga Tribal Queen competition held at Utkal Mandap.
Panchami Majhi (of Titlagarh) and Rashmirekha Hansdah (of Mayurbhanj) were declared as the first and second runners-up of the beauty pageant respectively.
The trio will now feature in a short movie on tribal culture.
The prime objective of the event was to promote tribal art and culture.
International Affairs
3. Iran bans imports of over 1,300 products to prepare its economy to deal with US sanctions
Iran has banned imports of over 1300 products following public protests against the plunge of its currency to record low.
Due to rising prices and plummeting value of Iran's currency, thousands of traders in Tehran held a huge protest and gathered in front of parliament.
Under heavy pressure from the U.S. sanctions threat, Rial (currency of Iran) sank as low as 90,000 against the dollar.
4. India and Seychelles agree on the naval base at Assumption Island
India and Seychelles have agreed to work together on a project to develop a naval base at the Assumption Island after talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Danny Faure.
The two sides also signed six pacts including a cybersecurity arrangement and White Shipping agreement between the two navies.
India also announced a USD 100-million credit to Seychelles for augmenting its defence capabilities.
National Affairs
5. Govt proposes to set up 3,000 Van Dhan Kendras across country
The Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs plans has proposed to set up 3,000 Van Dhan Kendras involving 30,000 Self-Help Groups (SHGs) of tribal community across the country to provide skill up-gradation and capacity building training for value addition of forest produce.
These groups will be working under the leadership of Collector and they can market their products not only within the states but also outside the states.
Training and technical support is provided by the Trible Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India(TRIFED).
Under the Van Dhan scheme, 10 self-help groups with each having 30 tribal gatherers were constituted at Bijapur in Chhattisgarh.
Note: On 14th April 2018, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had launched the Van Dhan Scheme during the celebrations of Ambedkar Jayanti at Bijapur in Chattisgarh.
6. ADNOC joins Saudi ARMACO to build Ratnagiri Refinery
The world largest oil refinery cum petrochemical project is set to come up in Maharashtra's Ratnagiri.
UAE's Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) along with Saudi Arabia's ARAMCO will together have a 50% stake in the greenfield Ratnagiri refinery project.
50% stake will be shared between ARMCO & ADNOC and the rest will be with Indian Oil, Hindustan Petroleum and Bharat Petroleum.
This will be single largest overseas investment in the Indian refining sector.
India is the world’s third-biggest oil importer (about 80 per cent of its oil needs) and consumer.
7. Naidu releases the book ‘The Emergency: Indian Democracy’s Darkest Hour’
Vice President M Venkata Naidu releases Hindi, Kannada, Telugu & Gujarati versions of the book ‘The Emergency: Indian Democracy’s Darkest Hour’ in New Delhi.
The book is written by Prasar Bharati Chairperson A Surya Prakash.
Obituaries
8. South African Indian cinema mogul Moosa passes away
South African Indian cinema doyen Moosa Moosa (75-years) passed away due to the heart attack.
In 2007, Moosa received the South African Film and Television Industry Lifetime Achievement Award.
Moosa will be remembered as a courageous and articulate businessman who was determined in his challenge of white monopolies in the 1980’s.
Sports
9. National Senior Athletics meet begins in Guwahati today
Assam Chief Minister ‘Sarbanand Sonowal’ has inaugurated the 58th National Interstate Senior Athletics meet in Guwahati.
Over 800 players (21 men & 21 women categories) are taking part in the 4-day event.
The Indian athletics team for the upcoming Asian Games to be held at Jakarta (from 18th August to 2nd September) will be selected from this meet.
Note: The Athletics Federation of India is the apex body for running and managing athletics in India and affiliated to the IAAF, AAA and Indian Olympic Association.
10. Deepika Kumari clinches the gold medal in women's recurve event
Ace Indian archer ‘Deepika Kumari’ clinched a gold medal in the women's recurve event at stage three of World Cup in Salt Lake City of US.
Deepika defeated Michelle Kroppen of Germany 7-3.
Now, Deepika has automatically qualified for the Archery World Cup Final to be held in Samsun of Turkey later this year.
11. ICC Women's World T20 will be held in West Indies this year
The ICC Women's World T20 will be held in the West Indies from 9th to 24th November 2018.
This is the first standalone ICC women's event in the shortest format of the game.
The 10-team tournament, Australia (three-time champions) and reigning winners England, will be played across three venues in the Caribbean.
The finalists of the World T20 Qualifier in the Netherlands (from 7 to 14 July) will add to the line-up of the November tournament.
Note:The ICC Women's World Twenty20 is the biannual international championship for women's Twenty20 International cricket organised by the sport's governing body, the International Cricket Council (ICC).