Daily Current Affairs 16th June, 2018

Daily Current Affairs 16 June 2018 for Banking/Insurance/SSC and other related exams.

NATIONAL NEWS

Foundation stone of ALIMCO’s production unit laid in Faridabad

To cater to the needs of the differently-abled persons, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar laid the foundation stone of a production unit of the Artificial Limbs Manufacturing Corporation of India (ALIMCO) at Nawada village of Faridabad district.

• The decision to set up the Auxiliary Production Unit and State-of-the-Art Artificial Limbs Fitting Centre of ALIMCO was taken following demands from the differently-abled persons, who faced difficulties in visiting ALIMCO headquarters at Kanpur to avail the facilities of evaluation, measurements and fitment of assistive devices.
• The rehabilitation center apart from fitting of State-of-the-art Artificial Limbs will also manufacture Tricycle, Wheelchair, Motorized Tricycle, Walker, Crutches, and Walking Stick.
• The Centre at Faridabad would substantially reduce the long travel for Divyangjans from J&K, Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan and to some extent MP and Chhattisgarh as well.

Bellandur largest septic tank of Bengaluru

A committee set up by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) to inspect the lakes in Bengaluru has blamed the Karnataka government and various state agencies for “miserably” failing to discharge their duties.

• According to the committee, Bellandur, the biggest lake of Bengaluru, has become the largest septic tank of the city just because of lack of interest and negligence towards duty by the authorities.
• It has also blamed indiscriminate dumping of construction and demolishing waste, municipal solid waste and vast spread of hydrophytes and microphytes in the waters for pollution in the Bellandur Lake.
• The committee made equally disturbing observations for Bellandur’s neighbouring Varthur lake. The committee said Varthur lake was “far worse” than Bellandur lake in almost every aspect, “from sewage to stink” and “from fire to froth”.

Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu lays foundation stone for sewage management system in Itanagar

Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu laid the foundation stone for Septage Management System and Storm Water Drainage System for Itanagar City under AMRUT Scheme at Itanagar in Arunachal Pradesh.

• The project cost estimated at Rs 16.59 crore and Rs 14.53 crore respectively is aimed at improving the urban infrastructure related to drainage system and improving the urban landscape.

19 cancer care centres to be set up in Assam

Assam government has announced that 19 cancer care centres will be set up across the state in partnership with Tata Trusts at an investment of Rs 1,910 crore.

• The Assam Cancer Care Foundation (ACCF) is a non- profitable entity of Assam government and Tata Trusts with equal partnership to implement the project and manage the centres.
• These centers will start functioning from mid-2020. The government will lay the foundation stone of the proposed centres at a function on June 18.

Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis meets World Bank CEO Kristalina Georgieva 

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis met World Bank CEO Kristalina Georgieva in Washington DC to seek assistance for a Multimodal Transport Corridor and the Rural Livelihood Project which aims to provide sustainable livelihood enhancements in 10,000 villages in the state.

• Fadnavis, who is on a three-nation tour, also attended a business discussion organised by US-India Strategic Partnership Forum where he spoke about the state’s growth story and infra-led growth model.
• The Minister was bestowed with the Outstanding Leadership in Development Award by Georgetown India Initiative and Centre for Strategic and International Studies.
• The Outstanding Leadership in Development Award is a global award given annually to a remarkable leader who could be either head of state or a sub national entity.

PM Modi to chair 4th meeting of Governing Council of NITI Aayog

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will chair the fourth meeting of the Governing Council of NITI Aayog at Rashtrapati Bhawan on June 17.

• The council is the premier body tasked with evolving a shared vision of national development priorities, sectors and strategies with the active involvement of States in shaping the development narrative.
• It reviews the work done during the previous year and deliberates upon the future developmental priorities.
• Some of the important subjects to be discusses includes measures taken to double farmers’ income, progress of flagship schemes like Ayushman Bharat, National Nutrition Mission and Mission Indradhanush, development of aspirational districts and celebration of the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.

Swajal launched in 115 Aspirational Districts

Centrally-sponsored drinking water schemes, Swajal, has been launched in 115 aspirational districts of the country.

• the Swajal schemes in 115 aspirational districts of the country will involve an outlay of Rs 700 crores through flexi-funds under the existing National Rural Drinking Water Programme (NRDWP)  budget.
• These schemes will aim 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

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Record-breaking astronaut Peggy Whitson retires from NASA

NASA Astronaut Peggy Whitson, who has spent more time in space than any other American, retired from NASA on June 15.

• The 58-year-old NASA astronaut holds the US record for most cumulative time in space spending a record-breaking 665 days in space.
• She also claimed the title for most spacewalks by a woman – 10 spacewalks totalling 60 hours and 21 minutes — and set the record for most time spent in space by a US astronaut, placing eighth on the all-time space endurance list.

Japan adopts economic plan that allows more foreign workers

Japan’s Cabinet has adopted an economic plan that would allow more foreign workers to join Japanese companies as the rapidly aging country seeks to make up for its declining workforce.

• Under the plan, Japan would relax visa requirements in sectors facing severe labor shortages such as nursing care, agriculture, construction and transport.
• The workers would be allowed to stay in the country for only up to five years as visitors, not as immigrants. They would not be allowed to be accompanied by family members.

BANKING NEWS

Karnataka Bank unveils ‘KBL Deposit Only Card’

Karnataka Bank has unveiled a novel card variant ‘KBL Deposit Only Card’, which enables hassle free cash deposit transaction at Bank’s 24×7 e-Lobby services.

• This card is specially meant for Bank’s Current/Overdraft customers and by using this card they can perform card based cash deposit transactions even with higher deposit limit at Bank’s Bunch Note Acceptor (BNA) / Cash Recycler kiosks.
• The limit for the cash deposit a day is Rs 10 lakh.

Softbank to invest $100 bn in India

SoftBank Group Corp has decided to invest $60 billion-$100 billion in a solar power project in India.

• The company is expected to make the investment through a fund backed by Saudi Arabia’s government.

ECONOMY NEWS

India’s exports grew by 20.18 % in May

India’s exports grew by 20.18 percent to 28.86 billion dollars in May 2018 as compared to the same period during May 2017 when it was valued at 24.01 billion dollars.

• According to the data released by Ministry of Commerce, Petroleum products, engineering goods, handloom products , drugs and pharmaceuticals have showed a high export growth rate.
• The Ministry said, imports during May this year were valued at 43.48 billion dollars which was 14.85 per cent higher than the imports in May last year.

Fitch Lowers Axis Bank’s Outlook To Negative, Cuts ICICI Bank’s Support Ratings

Fitch Ratings has revised the outlook on private sector Axis Bank to ‘negative’ from ‘stable’ and also downgraded ICICI Bank’s Support Rating, stating that both lenders “exhibit gaps in risk controls mechanism”.

• It has affirmed the Long-Term Issuer Default Ratings and Viability Ratings of ICICI Bank and Axis Bank at BBB- and ‘BBB-’, respectively.
• The agency has also downgraded ICICI Bank’s Support Rating to 3, from 2, and revised its Support Rating Floor to ‘BB+’, from ‘BBB-’ while maintaining the outlook as stable.

OBITUARY

Veteran Journalist Adiraju Venkateswara Rao Passes Away

Senior journalist and writer Adiraju Venkateswara Rao passed away in Hyderabad due to health issues. He was 79.

• Rao, a native of Khammam district, worked in different Telugu and English newspapers.

Click here to read Current Affairs in English

Click here to read Current Affairs in Hindi