Daily Current Affairs 27th June, 2018

Daily Current Affairs 27 June 2018 for Banking/Insurance/SSC and other related exams.

NATIONAL NEWS

Important Cabinet Approvals: June 27, 2018

• Cabinet approves MoU between India and Singapore on Cooperation in the field of Planning 

The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has given its ex post-facto approval to the MoU between India and Singapore on cooperation in the field of urban planning and development which was signed on 31^st May 2018.

Objective: Facilitate government agencies in the Centre and States to readily tap into the expertise of Singapore agencies in the areas of urban development and management and other areas, and thus help in urban rejuvenation, mission.

• Cabinet apprised of the Agreement between India and Denmark on Cooperation in the field of Science, Technology and Innovation 

The agreement reached on May 22, 2018 will open a new chapter in bilateral relations as both sides will now leverage complementary strengths to encourage, develop and facilitate co­operation in fields of common interest within Science, Technology and Innovation by way of including researchers from scientific organizations, academia, R&D laboratories and companies from India and Denmark.

• Cabinet apprised of the MoU between India and Denmark for cooperation in the fields of Animal Husbandry and Dairying 

The MoU signed on April 16, 2018 aims to develop bilateral cooperation in the field of Animal Husbandry and Dairying for the purpose of broadening the existing knowledge base on dairy development and institutional strengthening.

• Cabinet approves MoU between India and Germany on Cooperation in the field of Civil Aviation 

The  Joint Declaration of Intent between India and Germany on Cooperation in the field of Civil Aviation will lead to promotion of safe, effective and efficient development of air transport between the two sides. The joint declaration will promote and facilitate mutual cooperation in the areas including Aviation Safety and Air Traffic Management, heliports and Helicopter Emergency Medical Services (HEMS), Regulations and Policy, Corporate and Business Aviation Development, Environment and Training and Skills Development

• Cabinet apprised of Implementing Arrangement between India and France on Cooperation on Maritime Awareness Mission 

The Implementing Arrangement (IA) for Pre-formulation Studies of a Maritime Domain Awareness Mission was signed between India and France on March 10, 2018.

Objective: Provide relevant data and services to both nations to monitor maritime traffic and identify the non-compliant ships at the maximum possible revisit frequency. The monitoring system would provide an end to end solution for detection, identification, monitoring of vessels in the regions of interest for India and France.

• Cabinet apprised of the MoU between India and Indonesia on Technical Cooperation in the field of Railways sector 

The MoU was signed on May 29, 2018 to provide a framework of cooperation for focused approach for exchange of knowledge, technology, institutional  cooperation including capacity building in modernization of railway operation, management and regulations.

• Cabinet approves MoU between India and Bahrain on cooperation in the field of Healthcare 

The MoU envisages exchange of information including publications and research outcomes, visits by governmental officials, academic staff, scholars, teachers, experts and students; Organising workshops and training courses; encouraging health and medical research activities at both the private-sector and the academic level.

President of India Inaugurates the Udyam Sangam-2018

The President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind, inaugurated the Udyam Sangam-2018 on June 27, 2018 to celebrate the 2nd United Nations Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Day.

• Udyam Sangam-2018 is an important effort in developing effective eco-systems for MSME sector and will empower women and weaker sections by providing training to 80 lakh women.
• During the occasion, organised by the Ministry of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSME), he also launched the Solar Charkha and MSME Sampark Portal.
• The Solar Charkha Mission will cover 50 clusters and every cluster will employ 400 to 2000 artisans. The MSME Ministry will disburse subsidy of Rs 550 crores to the artisans under the Mission.
• The Sampark portal will act as a bridge between the talent pool and those enterprises seeking trained human resources.

Oxytocin formulations ban to come into effect from 1st July 2018 

The Government of India has imposed a ban on the manufacture of Oxytocin drug for domestic use with effect from July 1, 2018. It has also banned the import of Oxytocin and its formulations.

• No private manufacturer will be allowed to manufacture the drug for domestic use from the said date.
• Besides, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has allowed only Karnataka Antibiotics & Pharmaceuticals Ltd (KAPL), a public sector company, to manufacture this drug for domestic use from that date.
• The Oxytocin drug will be supplied by the manufacturer, i.e. KAPL, to the registered hospitals and clinics in public and private sector directly. Oxytocin in any form or name will not be allowed to be sold through retail Chemist.

Centre releases Rs 340 crore for flood relief in Assam

The Central Government has released Rs 340 crore assistance for flood relief work in Assam.

• Out of the sanctioned amount, Rs. 101 crore has been released by the Ministry of State for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), while the remaining Rs 239 crore rupees was given by the Home Ministry under the State Disaster Relief Fund.

NMCG approves projects for setting up of community toilets, procurement of dustbins for Kumbh Mela-2019

To ensure that pollutants are not dumped into river Ganga, the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) has approved 2 projects for the Kumbh Mela-2019 in Allahabad.

• The projects includes setting up of community toilets and procurement of dustbins.
• The estimated cost for community toilets will be Rs 113 crore rupees while procurement of dustbins will cost Rs 3.6 crore.
• The first project includes setting up of 27,500 community toilets and pre-fabricated toilets and 20,000 community urinals.
• Another project includes deployment of 16,000 dustbins for solid waste management along with installation of lining bags in dustbins.

Andhra, Singapore sign MoU to upgrade construction methods

The government of Andhra Pradesh has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Singapore to speed up the construction work of its new capital, Amaravati.

• The MoU aims to empower AP Real Estate Regulatory Authority and Building (APRERA) to promote and create a safe, high quality, environment-friendly built environment in Andhra Pradesh with the help of expertise relating to the set-up, operation, experience and best practices in construction from Singapore.

India Ranked 4th for Web Attacks Globally: Report

According to a report titled “Summer 2018 State of the Internet/ Security: Web Attack report” compiled by Cloud delivery network provider Akamai Technologies, India is ranked fourth in the list of top 10 target countries for Web Application Attacks.

• Registering over 2.8 crore attacks, India has also ranked eighth globally in the list of Web Application Attack source countries.
• Geographic analysis of attack traffic origination revealed that Russia, China and Indonesia were major sources of credential abuse for the travel industry, directing about half of their credential abuse activity at hotels, cruise lines, airlines, and travel sites.
• The bot-driven abuse and distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks has continued to rise from November 2017 till April 2018.

Punjab Launches Paani Bachao, Paise Kamao’ Campaign

Punjab Government has launched a campaign encouraging farmers to voluntarily adopt a new scheme named ‘Paani Bachao, Paise Kamao’, to check depletion of underground water.

• The scheme will be rolled out at two clusters/feeders -Bambiwal and Nawajipur – of the district on a pilot basis.
• 178 farmers from Bambiwal feeder and 231 from Nawajipur would be motivated for adopting the scheme.
• Under this scheme, farmers will get monetary benefit for less use of tubewell.

4th National Review & Consultation on Swachh Iconic Places began in Hyderabad

The 4th National Review and Consultation on Swachh Iconic Places was held in Hyderabad to review the progress relating to maintenance and cleanliness of Iconic Places.

• The two-day consultation and review programme focused on addressing cleanliness challenges identified at the iconic places.
• The Swachh Iconic Places programme was launched two years ago with ten places in the first phase while the second phase was taken up about 6 months ago.

Goa Government To Launch App-Based Taxi Service “Goamiles”

The Goa Tourism Development Corporation (GTDC) is all set to launch its own mobile application-based taxi service named ‘Goamiles’ from July 2018 to some key tourist destinations in the state.

• The move will enable the state to curb taxi drivers from fleecing passengers besides promoting easy facilitation of taxi services in the state.
• Currently, the tourist taxi operators run their businesses individually in Goa.
• This app based taxi service will boost the digital economy, enable ease of travel for tourists and give taxi drivers better income.

Mumbai costlier than Washington and Melbourne: Cost of Living Survey 

Mumbai continues to be the most expensive city in India to live in for expatriates according the 2018 cost of living survey by global consulting firm Mercer.

• Mumbai’s jump in ranking is attributable to continued surge in prices of food, alcohol, and leisure activities and domestic supplies.

• The financial capital of  India is ranked at the 55th spot in terms of cost of living globally which is higher than cities like Melbourne (58), Frankfurt (68), Buenos Aires (76), Stockholm (89) and Atlanta (95).
• Other Indian cities featuring in the survey include Delhi (103), Chennai (144), Bengaluru (170), with Kolkata (182) being the least expensive Indian city.
• Hong Kong is ranked as the world’s costliest city to live in for expatriates, followed by Tokyo, Zurich, Singapore, and Seoul.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

UAE’s Emirates to build world’s largest vertical farm in Dubai

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) based carrier Emirates Airline has launched a joint project with US Crop One Holdings to build the world’s largest vertical farming facility near Dubai’s Al Maktoum International Airport.

• The flight catering division of Emirates, Emirates Flight Catering (EKFC) and leading global vertical farm operator Crop One will co-invest $40 million in the project.

BUSINESS NEWS

HCL acquires Germany-based IT service provider

Software company HCL Technologies has acquired Germany-based IT and engineering services provider H&D International Group for an undisclosed sum.

• H&D International Group is one of the largest IT service providers in the German automotive industry and operates in over 20 locations globally.
• The acquisition will help HCL gain significant front office and delivery capabilities in Germany and further enhance the compan”s domain expertise in the global automotive sector.

DEFENCE

World’s largest multilateral naval exercise RIMPAC to begin off Hawaii

The world’s largest multilateral naval exercise Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) is all set to begin off Hawaii in the Western Pacific Ocean on June 27.

• The two-month long biennial exercise is likely to be attended by navies of 26 countries including India.
• Indian Naval Ship Sahyadri has already reached the Pearl Harbour in Hawaii to participate in the 26th edition of RIMPAC exercise.
• INS Sahyadri, commanded by Captain Shantanu Jha, is a state-of-the-art indigenously built guided missile stealth frigate which is a part of the Eastern Fleet under the Eastern Naval Command.

APPOINTMENT

S Ramesh appointed chairman of CBIC

Senior bureaucrat S Ramesh has been appointed as the Chairman of the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC), the apex policy-making body for indirect taxes.

• S Ramesh has been appointed as Chairman of the CBIC with the status of special secretary to the central government.

• He will succeed Vanaja N Sarna, who superannuates on June 30.
• Ramesh, a 1981 batch officer of the Indian Revenue Service (Customs and Central Excise), is at present the member in the board, mandated with the responsibility of implementing the Goods and Services Tax (GST).

SPACE & TECHNOLOGY

ISRO’s Indian Moon Mission To Fetch Trillion-Dollar Nuclear Fuel from Moon

Nearly 10 years after India launched Chandrayan-1 aircraft which completed over 3,400 orbits around the moon, the country is once again all set to attempt a similar mission dubbed as Chandrayaan-2, in October 2018.

• The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will send a rover to the Moon in October to research the prospects of mining helium-3 and water.
• The upcoming mission, on the south side of Moon which has never been accessible till now, will include an orbiter, lander and a six-wheel rectangular rover.
• The rover will send images of the surface to the lander, which will transmit them back to ISRO for analysis.
• If these samples are examined to be appropriate, the organisation will proceed with the plan of mining and bringing it on the earth.
• ISRO will be spending around $125 million on its new moon mission.
• The isotope of Helium is already present on earth as well but the quantity is not as much as to accomplish the energy requirements.
• The nuclear fuel, if acquired, could value around trillion dollars which is big enough to fulfill the worldwide energy needs for two to five centuries.

AWARD

World Food Prize 2018 awarded to Lawrence Haddad and Dr. David Nabarro

Lawrence Haddad, a food policy researcher and a British economist along with Dr David Nabaroo who have worked with United Nations on health and hunger issues and WHO have been named the 2018 World Food Prize Laureates during a ceremony at the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

• Both these individuals were recognized for their work in improving the nutrition of mothers and children from pregnancy to a child’s second birthday, which is considered as the most important time in a child’s growth.
• The World Food Prize is the most prominent global award that was created by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Norman Borlaug in 1986 that recognizes important individuals and scientists that make breakthroughs in alleviating hunger and promoting global food security and this year, the prize money was $250,000 that will be divided equally between the two recipients.

SPORTS NEWS

National Senior Athletics meet begins in Guwahati

The 58th National Interstate Senior Athletics kicked off at Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium in Guwahati on June 27.

• Over 800 players from 29 states will be participating in the event to be held in a total of 42 categories.
• The Indian athletics team for the upcoming Asian Games to be held at Jakarta will be selected from this meet.
• The event was inaugurated by Assam Chief Minister Sarbanand Sonowal in presence of former athlete P T Usha and several office-bearers of the Athletic Federation of India.

OBITUARY

South African Indian cinema mogul Moosa passes away

Prominent South African Indian cinema personality Moosa Aboobaker Moosa passed away. He was 75.

• In 2007, Moosa received the South African Film and Television Industry Lifetime Achievement Award.
• Moosa’s father, AB Moosa Senior was a pioneer in the importing of Bollywood films to South Africa.

IMPORTANT DAYS

June 26: International Day in Support of Victims of Torture

The United Nations International Day in Support of Victims of Torture is held annually on 26 June to speak out against the crime of torture and to honor and support victims and survivors throughout the world.

• On June 26, 1987, the Convention against Torture came into force. The first International Day in Support of Victims of Torture was held on June 26, 1998.

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