June, 2015 Current Affairs

1] List of Important International Days in June 2015

·         1 June – Global Day of Parents

·         1 June – “Vesak”, the Day of the Full Moon

·         4 June - International Day of Innocent Children Victims of Aggression

·         5 June - World Environment Day

·         6 June - Russian Language Day at the UN

·         8 June - World Oceans Day

·         12 June - World Day Against Child Labour

·         13 June - International Albinism Awareness Day

·         14 June - World Blood Donor Day

·         15 June - World Elder Abuse Awareness Day

·         17 June - World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought

·         20 June - World Refugee Day

·         21 June - International Day of Yoga

·         23 June - United Nations Public Service Day

·         23 June - International Widows’ Day

·         25 June - Day of the Seafarer

·         26 June - International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking

·         26 June - United Nations International Day in Support of Victims of Torture

·         26 June - International Albinism Awareness Day

2] Union Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad announced that BSNL free national roaming will be available by June 15.

3] Reserve Bank Governor Raghuram Rajan cut the key interest rate by 0.25 percent, third time this year, meeting market and government expectations of boosting growth by lowering borrowing cost.

4] Former greats Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman were inducted into the BCCI’s newly-constituted cricket advisory panel to guide the Board in all matters related to the game.

5] Former captain Ravi Shastri was retained as Director of the Indian cricket team for the tour of Bangladesh starting 10th June as the BCCI continued its search for a new permanent coach to succeed Duncan Fletcher.

6] Former Assam Chief Secretary Jyoti Prashad Rajkhowa was sworn in as the 19th Governor of Arunachal Pradesh in a ceremony at the Darbar Hall of the Raj Bhawan in Itanagar.

7] Sepp Blatter resigned as FIFA president on Tuesday, four days after being re-elected to a fifth term.

8] The US Secretary of Defence Ashton Carter who is on a 3 day India visit is holding talks with Defence Minister Manohar Parikar today. He also met Prime Minister Modi, National Security Advisor and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj.

9] India joined the Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement on Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information on 3rd June, 2015, in Paris, France, alongwith Australia, Canada, Costa Rica, Indonesia and New Zealand. On our behalf, the Declaration to comply with the provisions of the MCAA was signed by H.E. Mr. Mohan Kumar, Ambassador of the Republic of India to France, in a signing ceremony held in Paris.

10] India and United States signed a new strategically important 10-year defence framework pact, envisaging joint development and manufacture of equipment and technology. It includes jet engines, aircraft carrier design and construction.

11] President Pranab Mukherjee was conferred with the Professor Honoris Causa by the Rector of the University at Sergey Ablameyko.

12] President Pranab Mukherjee unveiled a bust of Mahatma Gandhi at Belarus State University.

13] South Korea's health ministry confirmed that two people had died from Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), the country's first fatalities from the virus.

14] Netherland's Prime Minister Mark Rutte met Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Hyderabad House.Bilateral talks between the two leaders concluded which was followed by lunch.

15] The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, planted a Kadamb sapling (Neolamarckia Cadamba), at the Race Course Road lawns, to mark the occasion of World Environment Day (5 June). 16] The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi today presented Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina a hand-woven tapestry from Venkatagiri, Andhra Pradesh, woven in jamdani style – a well-known tradition in Bangladesh.

17] India and Bangladesh on Saturday signed ratification pact to operationalise the historic Land Boundary Agreement. The agreement which was signed in 1974 between then Indian PM Indira Gandhi and her Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, had been long pending.

18] Bangladesh confers Award of Liberation War Honour on Atal Bihari Vajpayee - President Abdul Hamid handed over the Bangladesh Liberation War Honour to PM Modi at a glittering ceremony at the President's house, which was attended by Premier Sheikh Hasina and top officials.

19] Luis Suarez and Neymar scored second-half goals to give Barcelona a 3-1 Champions League final victory over Juventus as the Spaniards became the first team to twice win the European treble.

20] Stan Wawrinka wins French Open men title 2015.

21] Serena Williams wins French Open women title 2015.

22] The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee received the first copy of ‘Yogikasparsh’, a Yoga Manual in Braille written by Smt. Nivedita Joshi at a function in Rashtrapati Bhavan.

23] Exercise AJEYA WARRIOR, a Joint Exercise between the armies of India and UK, will be conducted from 13 June to 28 June 2015 at Westdown Camp, Salisbury Plains Training Area, UK. 24] Rahul Dravid appointed India A, Under-19 cricket coach: BCCI 25] World Bank says despite drop in investment commitments in 2014, India figures among top economies in private and infrastructural sectors. 26] Kochi Metro ties up with Axis Bank to make significant revenues from ticket sales.

27] MS Dhoni only cricketer in Forbes list of highest-paid athletes - Dhoni, ranked 23rd in the list, is widely hailed as India's best captain and is among the most recognised cricketers in the world. He earned a whopping $31 million, including amounts from salary/prize money at $4 million and a further $27 million from endorsements during the 2014-15calendaryear.

28] Stanford scientist Manu Prakash makes water based computer.

29] The Industrial output for the country zooms to 4.1 percent in April against 2.1 percent in March, starkly higher than economists' expectations.

30] The Union Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley would hold the Quarterly Review Meeting of the CEOs of the Public Sector Banks (PSBs) and Financial Institutions (FIs) for the year ending 31st March, 2015 tomorrow in the national capital.

31] The Reserve Bank of India will shortly issue ₹ 10 denomination Banknotes in the Mahatma Gandhi Series-2005, incorporating “₹” symbol on the obverse and the reverse, with inset letter ‘U’ in both the numbering panels, bearing the signature of Dr. Raghuram G. Rajan, Governor, Reserve Bank of India and the year of printing ‘2015’ printed on the reverse of the Banknote.

32] World Bank says despite drop in investment commitments in 2014, India figures among top economies in private and infrastructural sectors. Despite a drop in investment commitments of USD 6.2 billion last year, India has figured in top five emerging economies for highest investment commitments in private sector, infrastructure sectors i.e. energy, transport and water, according to a World Bank report.

33] The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, today described “knowledge” (“ilm”) as the focal point of all religions. Addressing an eminent gathering of scholars, historians and diplomatic representatives at the release function of the book, “Education of Muslims: The Prime Minister said the book can help us in our efforts towards “understanding each other” – understanding different points of view. He complimented the book’s editor, Shri J.S. Rajput. The Prime Minister also complimented Shri Sirajuddin Qureshi, who has written the foreword for the book.

34] Ameising Luikham, IAS took over as Secretary, Department of Public Enterprises in the M/o Heavy Industries & Public Enterprises.

35] India, Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh signed a landmark Motor Vehicles Agreement (MVA) for the Regulation of Passenger, Personnel and Cargo Vehicular Traffic among the four South Asian neighbours in Thimpu, Bhutan today. The MVA agreement between sub-grouping of four SAARC nations, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal (BBIN) will pave the way for a seamless movement of people and goods across their borders for the benefit and integration of the region and its economic development. The BBIN MVA Agreement was signed by the Union Minister of Road Transport & Highways and Shipping Mr. Nitin Gadkari on behalf of India.

36] The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) issued the final guidelines for the 6-year and 13-year cash settled Interest Rate Futures (IRF) on government securities with residual maturity of 4-8 years and 11-15 years respectively under the Interest Rate Futures (Reserve Bank) (Amendment) Directions, 2015. For this purpose, RBI amended the Interest Rate Futures (Reserve Bank) Directions, 2013 dated 5 December 2013.

37] Contracting for the sixth month in a row, India's exports dipped by 20.19 percent in May to USD 22.34 billion mainly due to global slowdown and dip in crude oil prices that impacted overseas shipments of petroleum products.

38] The Vice President of India Shri M. Hamid Ansari received a book entitled ‘Modi – Incredible emergence of a star” in Chinese language written by Tarun Vijay.

39] The Vedanta Group today announced a merger between its flagship Indian mining firm Vedanta Limited (formerly Sesa Sterlite) and its oil subsidiary Cairn India.

40] The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, today gave its approval for launch of “Housing for All by 2022” aimed for urban areas with following components/options to States/Union Territories and cities.

41] Ministry of AYUSH released a book titled ‘Yoga and Islam’. The Book has been complied by Dr. Imran Chaudhary and Shri Abhijeet Singh which has been published by Muslim Rashtriya Manch. The book clearly indicates that Yoga has nothing to do with religion and is universally accepted.

42] New series of ‘Atithi Devo Bhava’ TV commercials starring Aamir Khan as brand ambassador.

43] China on 19 June 2015 launched the world’s first electric passenger aircraft named BX1E.

44] Sharad Pawar re-elected as President of Mumbai Cricket Association

45] PM Modi release of the book: “Red Tape to Red Carpet… and then some”. The book has been written by Mrs. Gina Rinehart.

46] Indian Railway Team wins World Railway Championship, 2015 in Tennis and Volleyball.

47] Former Superior General of Missionaries of Charity Sister Nirmala died in Kolkata at early hours on Tuesday after brief illness. She was 81 . Sister Nirmala took over the highest post in Missionaries of Charity after the death of Mother Teresa. She worked as Superior General till the year 2009.

48] Justice Subhro Kamal Mukherjee Appointed as Chief Justice of Karnataka High Court.

49] Passport Seva Divas on June 24.

50] Spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar will be honoured with Columbia’s highest civilian award on June 24

51] 2nd Commemoration Day of Rescuers Day” June 25, 2015.

52] Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi today launched three mega urban schemes viz., Smart Cities Mission, Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) and Housing for All in urban area setting in motion the process of urban transformation to enable better living and drive economic growth. Stressing on the need for people centric urban planning and development, he said that for the first time in the county such an effort has been launched.

53] Beyond Doubt: A Dossier on Gandhi's Assassination written by Teesta Setalvad.

54] China won 2015 Nongfu Spring World Cup of Snooker.

55] Sanjay Subrahmanyam selected for Sangitha Kalanidhi award for the year 2015.

56] India placed at 61st position in terms of foreigners’ money in Swiss banks.

57] IEP released Global Peace Index 2015 - India is ranked 143rd out of 162 countries and maintained the same position compared to the GPI 2014.

58] IBEF report: Maharashtra topped the list of States and UTs in IPR filing in 2013-14.

59] Russia won European Team Athletics Championships 2015.

60] SoftBank Corp, Bharti Enterprises Limited and Foxconn formed a JV named SBG Cleantech Ltd.

61] Maharashtra declared Blue Mormon as State butterfly.

62] Titanic composer James Horner died.

63] SEBI relaxed the IPO norms for technological start-ups to raise funds from capital market.

64] Steffi Graf appointed as Kerala’s Ayurveda brand ambassador.

65] UK-based philanthropist Benni Joseph Mavelil selected for VK Krishna Menon Award 2015.

66] Zaheer Abbas, former Captain of Pakistan’s Cricket team, named as President of ICC.

67] Union Cabinet approved to set up a National Memorial at birth place of Lok Nayak JP Narayan in Bihar.

68] Sachin Tendulkar named as greatest Test player of 21st century.

69] Sri Sri Ravi Shankar conferred with Columbia’s highest civilian award.

70] Anshula Kant appointed as CFO and Deputy Managing Director of SBI.

71] RBI allowed AD Category-I Banks to borrow from International Financial Institutions.

72] President conferred Punyabhushan Award on Prataprao Pawar.

73] Indian Railways ranked at the eighth place in the list of world's biggest employers with 1.4 million staff.

74] Famous Writer Vishwanath Tripathi chosen for 28th Moorti Devi Award.

75] Satnam Singh Bhamara became first Indian basketball player to join NBA.

76] The Theme of Social Development Chosen for the National Statistics Day.

77] Census data on disabled population released - The data released shows 207.8 lakh households having disabled persons in the country constituting 8.3 percent of the total households. Out of the total households having disabled persons, about 99 percent households are normal households, 0.4 percent are institutional and 0.2 percent are houseless households. Total households having disabled persons show an increase of 20.5 lakhs, from 187.3 lakhs in 2001 to 207.8 lakhs in 2011 (6.2 lakhs in rural and 14.3 lakhs in urban). Normal households increased by 2,02,4495, institutional households by 8,370 and houseless households by 13,560 during the decade 2001-11. Disabled persons in normal households increased by 48,19,382, institutional households by 65,895 and houseless households by 22,948 during the said decade.

78] National Level Sikh museum to be constructed in Lakhnaur Sahib Village of Punjab. 79] ITU defined 5G network speed as 20 Gbps.

80] Elephant Census Report 2015 of Odisha released - Odisha increased to 1954 from 1930 recorded in 2012 Census.