Economy
Rail fares and Freight rates hiked
- Narendra Modi government raised the railway passenger fares by 14.2 percent in all classes and freight rates by 6.5 percent effective from June 25
- The decision to raise passenger fares by 14.2% and freight charges by 6.5% effective June 25 will help Indian Railways raise an additional Rs 8,000 crore in the financial year.
- 4.2% and 1.6% is the fuel adjustment component respectively in passenger and freight charges that goes up or comes down in line with fuel prices.
World Bank forecast: Indian economy to grow at 5.5 percent
- World Bank has forecasts that the Indian economy is expected to grow at 5.5 percent in the current financial year and 6.3 percent in 2015-16.
RIL to begin 4G service in 2015
- Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) has announced that Reliance Jio would start offering 4G broadband service in 2015, and it would be one of the largest job-creating and wealth-creating business initiatives in India.
- About Rs.70,000 crore had already been invested in this business, and 10,000 people were working across the country.
- RIL plans to invest Rs. 1.80 lakh crore ($30 billion) in three years in petrochemicals, refining, retail and broadband businesses with an aim to be among the Fortune 50 companies by the time it completes 40 years of corporate journey in 2017.
Indian tourism industry boosts with foreign tourists
- The foreign tourist arrivals (FTAs) in India registered a growth of 9.7 percent in an year, and the Visa on Arrival (VoA) grew by 19.1 percent compared to last year.
- There has been a growth of 9.7 percent in May 2014 over May 2013 as compared to a growth of 2.5 percent registered in May 2013 over May 2012.
Navi Mumbai airport: Expected to operational by December 2018
- The first phase of the proposed new international airport in Navi Mumbai is expected to become operational by December 2018.
- The first phase will include one runway of the new airport, arrival and departure terminals and custom, immigration sections.
- The airport is expected to cost about Rs.14,500 crore.
People in News
Lisa Haydon: Model, new Myntra brand ambassador
- Model and actress Lisa Haydon has been roped in to endorse Myntra.com.
- Lisa had earlier been part of Myntra’s ‘Hottest December Ever’ campaign, which comprised of a peppy, youthful and vivacious TV commercial featuring her.
Pavan Verma and Ghulam Rasool Balyavi : Elected for Rajya Sabha
- Janata Dal-United candidates Pavan Verma and Ghulam Rasool Balyavi were elected Rajya Sabha from Bihar in a by-election
- Balyavi got 123 votes and Verma 122.
Kodela Sivaprasada Rao : Andhra Pradesh assembly speaker
- Senior TDP leader Kodela Sivaprasada Rao unanimously elected speaker of the Andhra Pradesh legislative assembly.
Events in News
India to launch five foreign satellites
- Indian Space Research Organisation will launch five foreign satellites. The indigenous PSLV-C23 rocket will carry a 714 kg French Earth Observation Satellite ‘SPOT-7’ as the main payload.
- It will also carry 14 kg AISAT of Germany, NLS7.1 (CAN-X4) and two NLS7.2 (CAN-X5) satellites of Canada, each weighing 15 kgs, and the 7 kg VELOX-1 of Singapore.
- These five satellites will be launched from Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SHAR) in Sriharikota.
‘Kalachakra’ (Wheel of Time) ceremony
- More than 25,000 Buddhists from across the globe including spiritual leader Dalai Lama would converge on Leh for the occasion.
- They said the ‘Kalachakra’ is held for world peace and for the smooth flourishing of Tibetan Buddhism.
Slice of India at Bali Art Festival
- Bali (Indonesia) got a slice of Indian culture, music and dance, as an Indian contingent participated in Bali Art Festival for the first time in 36 years.
- This is an effort to deepen the “centuries-old” cultural relationship between the two countries, especially with Bali, that has a strong Indian connection.
Kolkata: Fest to revive Western music
- A youth-centric festival will resuscitate the Western music culture in Kolkata and will include live performances, competitions and talk shows.
Bal Utsav : Tagore’s stories on stage
- A five-day children’s theatre festival in the national capital
- The gathering where popular children’s stories of Rabindranath Tagore like “Kabuliwala” among others be staged.
Maharashtra to hold tourism event in Times Square
- Rangolis and Diwali celebrations will mark the Maharashtra government’s mega-tourism promotional event to be held in New York’s iconic Times Square in September.
- With over 350,000 pedestrians visiting Times Square daily, more than 100,000 Indians, including Maharashtra organisations from across the US, Canada and Mexico, will take part in the promotional.
- The promotional event by the Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation.
Boat capsizes in Malaysia: 97 people capsizes
- A boat carrying 97 foreigners overturned about two nautical miles off the western coast of Malaysia which kills 97 people and thirty-one people were rescued but others remained missing.
Miscellaneous
Puducherry ranks first
- Puducherry ranks first in the country in providing basic facilities in schools
- In the list, Uttar Pradesh took the last position in providing infrastructure, including toilet and drinking water facilities in elementary schools.
Homi Bhabha’s bungalow: Sold for Rs.372 crore
- Famous Scientist Homi Bhabha’s sold for Rs.372 crore in an auction.
- Bhabha is known as the father of India’s atomic energy programme.
BRICS University Ranking
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi presented a copy of the first ranking of the top 100 universities of BRICS member nations Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
- China claims six of the top 10 places, ahead of Brazil (2), Russia (1) and South Africa (1). India is the only nation without a university in the top 10.
Akash Missile: Ready for induction
- India successfully test fired indigenously developed surface-to-air missile Akash from a defence base in Odisha.
- With this test fire, now the medium-range is now ready for induction in the Indian Army.
Taj City bans polythene
- The Agra administration has banned polythene in a bid to clean up the Yamuna river.
- Divisional Commissioner Pradeep Bhatnagar instructed municipal authorities to immediately ban the use of polythene below 40 microns.
Philippines lifts ban on workers’ deployment to Thailand
- The Philippines government lifted the deployment ban of Filipino workers to Thailand.
Bengal to get its 20th district
- In a bid to expediting government services, West Bengal’s Jalpaiguri district is being bifurcated to create a new district of Alipurduar.
Books / Authors
Book Title: The Inspiring Journey of a Hero: Learning from the Life of O.P. Munjal / Author: Priya Kumar
- Book is all about the success story of O.P.Munjal and struggle.
- Munjal is the owner of Ludhiana based Hero Cycles.
Book Title: The Football Fanatic’s Essential Guide / Author: Novy Kapadia
Book Title: The Last Wave / Author: Pankaj Sekhsaria
Awards
Morocco: Remarkable Progress
- The UN Food and Agriculture Organization has awarded Morocco as the ‘remarkable progress’ in fighting against hunger and malnutrition.
Ratan Tata gets honorary doctorate
- Tata group chairman Ratan Tata gets honorary doctorate from Canada University for his quest for innovation and role in promoting corporate social responsibility.
- Canada’s world-famous York University has conferred him the honorary doctor of laws degree to him.
Ritu Muralidharan: Cambridge’s Manmohan Singh scholarship
- Mumbai girl Ritu Muralidharan gets this year’s University of Cambridge’s “Manmohan Singh Undergraduate Scholarship”
Sports
16th Asian Junior Athletics Championship
- India’s medal tally of 12 medals included 2 Gold, 5 Silver and 5 Bronze.
- 16th Asian Junior Athletics Championship held in Taipei City, China from 12 June to 15 June 2014.
India won series from Bangladesh
- Indian cricket team on 19 June 2014 won the three One Day International (ODI) series against Bangladesh 2-0.
- Man of the Series: Stuart Binny of India