Current Affairs 2014 June Week 1
Economy
Kolkata: Battery-run rickshaws in two districts
- The Calcutta High Court ordered a ban on plying of battery operated rickshaws , locally called as ‘Totos’
- Justice Joymalya Bagchi ordered the Hooghly and Howrah district administrations to put a stop on their running.
Spain will repay $1.776-bn of bailout fund to EU
- Spain will repay 1.3 billion euros ($1.776 billion) to EU.
- It is the bailout sum given by the European Union (EU) in June 2012.
GI tag for the Shahi Litchi of Bihar
- Bihar’s Shahi Litchi get Geographical Indication (GI) tag.
- With this tag, now Bihar’s Shahi Litchis would become an exclusive brand of the state in national and international market.
- Madhubani paintings from Bihar have already got the same tag.
Urban development ministry hands over Rs.330 crore to finance
- The urban development ministry handed over Rs.330.61 crore to the Finance Ministery.
- It is the surplus amount generated from housing projects in the national capital.
Delhi Metro: Phase III stations will be green buildings
- All the 90 new metro stations related to the Delhi Metro Phase III will be designed and constructed as ‘green buildings’.
- Phase III will be completed by 2016-end .
Bharat Phone: BSNL ‘smart phone’ for common man
- BSNL unveiled a low-cost version of its smart phone, with e-governance applications for common man.
- Branded as “Bharat phone”, it has a three-inch large screen display with provision for dual SIM card.
- It has been priced at Rs.1,099 to make it affordable to common man.
Indian airports amongst world’s best service providers
- In a major achievement, India’s Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) and Mumbai’s Chatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA) have found place in the top five of the best service quality providers in the world.
- This is the third time in a row that IGIA has won the coveted award for airport service quality (ASQ) from ACI.
- Hyderabad’s Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA) has won the second best service quality award in the 5-15 MPPA categories.
China Major Bridge Engineering: Chinese firm
- It has bags the order for the construction of a core structure of Bangladesh’s biggest bridge project.
- The proposed 25-metre-wide and 10-km-long bridge will be built over river Padma, one of the three major rivers in Bangladesh.
- The total cost of this project is 121 billion takas ($1.56 billion).
Road to connect Bengal-Bhutan-Bangladesh and Nepal
- West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee said that a new road connecting Siliguri in West Bengal with neigbouring countries Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal will be constructed.
- The total cost expected for the project is Rs.1,400 crore.
IICA pact on CSR implementation
- The Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs (IICA) and Grant Thornton India have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to develop capacity of Indian companies to implement their corporate social responsibility (CSR) effectively.
Events in News
Dubai will host Miss India Worldwide 2014
- Miss India Worldwide 2014 event will be held in Dubai on June 20 this year.
- The event will see over 40 winning contestants of Indian origin from 40 countries across the globe.
Cultural Heritage: India elected to UN body
- To conserve the cultural heritage, India has been elected to the UN body for four years.
- India will work now for safeguarding of the intangible cultural heritage of nations, groups and individuals.
France : D-Day beaches
- France has shown its interest for the recognition of D-Day beaches in Normandy, as UNESCO World Heritage site.
American Corner: To be launched at Kottayam
- American Corner is the premises in partnership with the Kottayam Public Library to further improve the people-to-people ties between the world’s oldest and largest democracies.
Chakan, Pune : Mercedes-Benz production of S-Class
- German luxury automobile manufacturer Mercedes-Benz India started its local production of its luxury sedan S-Class 350 CDI from its manufacturing facility in Chakan, Pune.
Surrey: Canadian city
- The Canadian city Surrey is set to boast of a “South Asian cultural shopping district” with the authorities seeking to legalise and re-zone the present commercial encroachment of the Newton industrial land into a new commercial zone.
- The district is proposed on the 6.5-hectare site in the area around 128th Street and 80th Avenue in Newton.
- The proposed district would usher in more jobs and encourage small entrepreneurs in the city
People in News
Deepika Padukone: Brand Ambassador of Axis Bank
- Bollywood’s blockbuster actress Deepika Padukone will front the private sector bank’s new campaign Badhne ke kai naam hai.
- Axis Bank has launched a teaser advertising campaign featuring its recently signed brand ambassador Deepika Padukone.
Gopinath Munde: Died
- Rural development minister and senior BJP leader from Maharashtra Gopinath Munde died in a road accident.
- Munde was on his way to airport when his car was hit by another vehicle in the heart of the capital
Arun Jaitley : Asian Development Bank board
- Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has been appointed as India’s representative on the board of governors of the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
- He will replace former Finance Minister P.Chidambaram.
Abhay Deol : On energy conservation initiative
- Actor Abhay Deol joined a panel of experts to talk about energy conservation on the occasion of World Environment Day.
- It is said that Abhay Deol is making an ‘eco-friendly’ house in Goa.
Chandrababu Naidu: Took oath as the first chief minister of the residuary state of Andhra Pradesh
- Governor E S L Narasimhan administered the oath of office to Naidu on the 70-acre grounds of Acharya Nagarjuna University.
- 17 other Cabinet ministers sworn in with Chandrababu Naidu.
Dhondutai Kulkarni: Music Exponent Dead
- Dhondutai Kulkarni, the famous exponents of the ‘Jaipur-Atrauli Gharana’ music died.
- He was one of the last living exponents of the famed ‘Jaipur-Atrauli Gharana’ music.
- He was Sangeet Natak Akademi Award laureate.
Gadkari takes charge as rural development minister
Minister of Raod and Transport and Highways and shipping Nitin Gadkari formally took charge of the rural development ministry.
Former minister for the Rural Development was vacant due to sudden death of Gopi Nath Munde in a road accident in Delhi.
Sumitra Mahajan elected Lok Sabha speaker
- Eight-time M.P and BJP leader Sumitra Mahajan unanimously elected Speaker of the 16th Lok Sabha.
- Become the second woman presiding officer of the lower house after her predecessor Meira Kumar.
- 71-year-old Mahajan is the longest-serving woman MP so far.
Dhondup Wangchen: Tibetan filmmaker
- The Tibetan filmmaker released after six years in Chinese prison.
- He was in jail for making a film expressing feelings of Tibetans ahead of the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Anil Chopra : Western Naval Command chief
- Anil Chopra will be the new commander-in-chief of the Western Naval Command.
- Presently he is the Vice Admiral, the second senior most officer of the Indian Navy.
Miscellaneous
Modi-Obama summit in September
- The much awaited Modi-Obama is expected in the September of this year in Washington.
- Crucial as after denied Modi visa and blacklisted him, the US is practically preparing to roll out the red carpet for Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
MP: 16th Lok Sabha members
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other Member of Parliament took oath as a member of the newly-elected 16th Lok Sabha.
- Senior Congress Leader Kamalnath worked as the pro-tem speaker.
Youngest Everest climber
- 13-year-old Malavath Purna became the youngest female climber to scale the Mount Everest.
- Sadhanapalli Anand Kumar (16), a Class IX student from the Khammam district of Andhra Pradesh, was also with her in the mission and completed the feat.
- Anand and Purna are both students of Andhra Pradesh Social Welfare Educational Society.
HLL’s condom: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s grant
- The ambitious project by HLL Lifecare Limited (HLL) won the Grand Challenges Explorations, an initiative funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
- HLL is India’s leading contraceptive makers and it has started a move to produce a new generation condom which was get noticed with the grant.
Sports
Nadal wins 9th French Open, 14th major title
- World No.1 tennis player Rafael Nadal won French Open by beating Serbian Novak Djokovic.
- It was his record ninth men’s singles title at the French Open
Chikmagalur Rally
- The husband-wife combination of Sathis Gopalakrishna and navigator Savera DÂ’Souza won both Overall and Expert class titles in the Grand Krishna Rally of Chikmagalur.
- It was the third edition of the FMSCI-Indian National TSD Rally Championship.
Sachin Tendulkar : Goodwill ambassador of National Games
- Noted Cricket Player Sachin Tendulkar was selected as the goodwill ambassador of 35th National Games.
- 35th National Games is scheduled to be held in Kerala from January-February 2015.
Ganguly : Mudgal IPL probe committee
- The Justice Mudgal IPL Probe Committee named former India captain Sourav Ganguly as the former cricketer to assist the committee in its investigation into the betting and spot-fixing scandal in last year’s Indian Premier League.
Book / Authors
Book: Anticipating India – The Best of National Interest
- Written by Shekhar Gupta, the editor-in-chief of The Indian Express.
Book: Green wars
- Written by Bahar Dutt
Book: Indian Mammals: A Field Guide
- Author: Vivek Menon
Awards
Anugya Sharma: Will Represent India at Miss India Worldwide
- Surat girl will represent India at Miss India Worldwide to be held at Abu Dhabi June 20.
- As many as 40 winner contestants of Indian origin from 40 countries will take part in the pageant.
- She was crowned Miss India Worldwide 2014 . The first runner-up was Krishna Verma from Mumbai and second runner-up was Audrey D’Silva from Goa.
Helen Mirren gets Icon award
- Actress Helen Mirren won the Icon award the annual Glamour Women of the Year Awards.
Anand G Mahindra won Harvard Medal
- The Mahindra Group Chairman Anand G Mahindra received the prestigious Harvard Medal.
- He is the first Indian to receive the prestigious Harvard Medal.
- He did his graduation from Harvard in 1977.