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National – Across the India:

1. India has joined the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) as a full member.

India announced its entry as 35th member would be mutually beneficial to enhance global non-proliferation norms.

MTCR membership will now enable India to buy high-end missile technology and also enhance its joint ventures with Russia.

2. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has launched the ‘Smart City Mission’.

 

The Smart City Mission’ projects included 14 projects of Pune (Maharashtra) and 69 projects from 20 different shortlisted cities in the country to be implemented at a cost of 1,770 crore rupees.

3. Newly renovated and expanded Panama Canal was reopened by the Panamanian President, Juan Carlos Varela.

Panama Canal expansion project is also called as the Third Set of Locks Project.

The new lane of the canal runs for 77km.

4. Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh has inaugurated the 22nd meeting of the Eastern Zonal Council at Ranchi, Jharkhand.

 Agenda of the meeting was to review the progress of implementation of the recommendations made by last year Eastern Zonal Council of 2015 that was held at Patna.

5. Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu has flagged off a maiden train on 81-km railway line between Sonipat and Jind.

He explained the need to create infrastructure to promote growth and to meet future challenges.

6.  Majuli (Assam) got district status by the Assam Government.

It is a 400 square kilometres island in the Brahmaputra River.

 With this it becomes India’s first island district.

 

7. Prime Minister Narendra Modi released a book titled “The Birds of Banni Grassland” in New Delhi.

 It was presented to PM Modi by the scientists of Gujarat Institute of Desert Ecology (GUIDE).

 The book is based on environment and consists of a compilation of the research work, relating to more than 250 species of birds found in the Banni area of Kutch, Gujarat.

 

8. The Union Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry has launched ‘Prashikshak’- an online teacher education portal for District Institutes of Education and Training (DIETs).

It was launched by the Union HRD minister Smriti Irani in New Delhi.

It seeks to strengthen DIETs and bring quality teachers into the school education system.

 

9. The Union Railway Ministry has launched Nivaran portal.

It’s an online system for redressal of service related grievance of serving and former Railway employees.

10. Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh has inaugurated the newly constructed headquarters of Jharkhand’s special anti-Maoist force ‘Jharkhand Jaguar’ in Jharkhand’s capital city Ranchi.

11. Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has launched a new scheme Kalinga Siksha Sathi Yojana.

The aim is to provide education loan at 1 % interest to students for pursuing higher studies.

12. India was ranked at 105th position out of 130 countries globally on the 2016 Human Capital Index (HCI).

It was released in the World Economic Forum (WEF) report by Geneva-WEF in the Chinese city of Tianjin at its Annual Meeting of New Champions which is also known as `Summer Davos’ summit.

Top 10 Countries in 2016 HCI: Finland (1st position), Norway (2nd), Switzerland (3rd), Japan (4th), Sweden (5th), New Zealand (6th), Denmark (7th), Netherlands (8th), Canada (9th) and Belgium (10th)

International – Across the Globe:

1. Nepal banned its citizens from working in strife-torn Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and Libya.

The decision was made at a cabinet meet after 13 Nepali security guards were killed in a Taliban suicide bombing in Kabul.

2. China launched its first dark sky reserve in Ngari Prefecture, Tibet.

It was launched to limit light pollution and preserve sites for making astronomical observations.

 

3. The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) has elected Ethiopia, Bolivia, Sweden and Kazakhstan as the non-permanent members of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).

 These newly-elected countries will have two-year term starting from 1 January 2016 till 31 December 2018.

 They will replace Spain, Malaysia, New Zealand, Angola and Venezuela.

4. Gudni Johannesson has won the Iceland’s presidential election.

 He was able to secure 39.1% of the vote.

 He will succeed Olafur Ragnar Grimsson.

 

5. Sweden inaugurated a test stretch of an electric road.

 The test was conducted on parts of road E16.

 It was based on the government’s goal of energy efficiency and a fossil fuel-free vehicle fleet by 2030.

6. Rodrigo Duterte was sworn in as the 16th President of Philippines.

He will have tenure of six years.

He was administered oath to the office by the Supreme Court justice at the Malacanang presidential palace.

7. Two women have been appointed as judges of Malaysia’s Islamic Shariah High Court for the first time in the history of the judiciary of the Muslim-majority country.

They are:

Noor Huda Roslan (40)

Nenney Shuhaidah Shamsuddin (41)

 

9. Exercise RIMPAC 2016, the Pacific military exercise, began on 30 June 2016 at Hawaii.

It will cover the Hawaiian Island and southern California.

The theme of RIMPAC 2016 is Capable, Adaptive, Partners.

26 nations including India, 45 ships, five submarines, more than 200 aircraft, and 25000 personnel will participate in the biennial Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise that is scheduled from 30 June to 4 August 2016.

Sports:

1. Lionel Messi, Ace footballer announced retirement from International Football after Argentina’s loss in Copa America final.

 Messi has been acclaimed with FIFA player of the year for 5 times, and has also won four Champions League titles and eight Spanish La Liga crowns with Barcelona.

 

2. Defending champion Chile won the 2016 Copa America Football tournament by defeating Argentina in a penalty shootout.

Following Awards has been given:

Golden Ball: Alexis Sanchez (Chile)

Golden Boot: Eduardo Vargas (Chile)

Golden Glove award: Claudio Bravo (Chile)

Fair Play Award: Argentina

 
3. Artemi Panarin, Russian hockey winger, playing for the Chicago Blackhawks, won the 2015-2016 Calder Memorial Trophy.

4. Ace Indian shooter Jitu Rai won silver medal at the ISSF (International Shooting Sport Federation) Shooting World Cup.

It was held in Baku, Azerbaijan.

In the final match, he shot 199.5 score to bag the silver medal in men’s 10m air pistol.

 

5. Anju Bobby George and Pullela Gopichand have been named as the members of Khelo India.

Khelo India is a national programme launched by the Union Government for the development of sports in the country.

6. The Argentina women’s team has claimed a record seventh International Hockey Federation (FIH) Champions Trophy title with a 2-1 win over reigning World and Olympic champions, the Netherlands, in the final at the Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre.

Various titles given as follows:

Best player: Carla Rebecchi (Argentina)

Best junior player: Maria Granatto (Argentina)

Best goalkeeper: Joyce Sombroek (Netherlands)

7. Sanjeev Rajput, Ace Indian shooter has won the silver medal in men’s 50-metre rifle 3 position event of the ISSF World Cup held in Baku, Ajerbaijan.

 He shot 456.9 points to win the silver medal.

8. Amul, India’s largest food products marketing organization has become the official sponsor of Indian contingent to the 2016 Rio Olympics.

Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF), which sells its product under the brand Amul has inked an agreement with Indian Olympic Association (IOA).

Amul will use its famous tagline, Amul Doodh Pita hai India to cheer the Indian contingent.

 

9. The Union Sports Ministry has granted recognition to Paralympic Committee of India (PCI).

It was granted after the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) announced temporary lifting of suspension on it.

This recognition gives a huge confidence boost to the several para-athletes who have qualified for 2016 Rio Paralympics.

 

10. Gurpreet Singh Sandhu has become the first from the country to play in the Europa league competition.

Sameer Mon, the veteran sprinter of India, won gold in 100 meter dash in 10.60 seconds at the 56th National Inter-state Senior Athletics Championships in Hyderabad.

Awards & Recognition:

1. The 17th International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) Awards 2016 were presented on 25 June 2016 in Madrid, Spain.

The awards were presented by the International Indian Film Academy honouring the best Hindi films of 2015, as follows:

Best Film: Bajrangi Bhaijaan

Best Director: Sanjay Leela Bhansali (Bajirao Mastani)

Best Actor: Ranveer Singh (Bajirao Mastani)

Best Actress: Deepika Padukone (Piku)

 

2. National Indian Students and Alumni Union (NISAU) have awarded Spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar with an Honorary Fellowship in the UK.

He was awarded for his contributions to world peace and culture.

3. Zubaida Bai, Indian social entrepreneur, in the fourth week of June 2016 was named among the top 10 Local SDG Pioneers for 2016.

 The 2016 Local SDG Pioneers is a part of the United Nations Global Compact’s Making Global Goals Local Business campaign.

4. Four Indian-Americans have been honoured with prestigious Great Immigrants: The Pride of America Award 2016.

Four Indian-Americans are:

Sunder Pichai: CEO of internet search engine giant Google.

Hari Sreenivasan: Broadcast journalist associated with the PBS NewsHour.

Vikram Malhotra: Associated with McKinsey.

Bharati Mukherjee: Award-winning author.

 

5. World Champion Viswanathan Anand was conferred the “Honoris Causa” Doctor of Science by Indian Institute Of Technology (IIT) during its 49th convocation ceremony.

He was bestowed with the degree by NITI aayog chairman Arvind Panagariya.

He was also the first recipient of the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award in 1991–92.

In 2007, he was awarded the Padma Vibhushan, making him the first sports person to receive the award.

6. President Pranab Mukherjee on Friday presented the Dr. BC Roy national awards for 2008, 2009 and 2010 at Rashtrapati Bhavan.

These awards were presented on the occasion of National Doctors’ Day observed on July 1 to pay honour and tribute to India’s most famous physician Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy.

The awardees are as follows:

2010: Nikhil C. Munshi, O.P. Kalra, Tejinder Singh, Subash Gupta, Amrinder Jit Kanwar, Rajendra Prasad and Glory Alexander’

2009: H. Sancheti, Renu Saxena, Atul Kumar, A.K. Kriplani, Kanan A. Yelikar, H.S. Bhanushali, G.V. Rao, Moti Lal Singh, C.N. Purandare and C.V. Hari Narayan.

2008: Rajeshwar Dayal, Mammen Chandy, Neelam Mohan, Rohit V. Bhatt, Mohan Kameswaran, Harsha Jauhari, Gopal H. Badlani and Yash Gulati.

 

Mergers & Acquisitions:

1. E-commerce major Flipkart and Royal Enfield have entered into collaboration.

Flipkart will sell complete range of accessories of Royal Enfield.

Appointments & Resignations:

1. Sujoy Bose has been appointed as the first Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF).

NIIF is India’s quasi sovereign wealth fund (SWF) formed to attract investment from both domestic and international sources for infrastructure development in the counry.

2. N. Srinivasan, former BCCI President and former International Cricket Council Chairman has re-elected as the president of the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA) for the 15th consecutive term.

Also, Mr. KS Viswanathan has been elected as a secretary of the TNCA for the 15th consecutive term.

 

3. Former India batsman Lalchand Rajput was appointed as the head coach of the Afghanistan national cricket team.

He will be joining the team for the Scotland, Ireland and Netherland tour.

4. N. S. Vishwanathan has been appointed as deputy governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

 He will succeed Harun R Khan and will have term of three years.

5. D. K. Hota has been appointed as Chairman & Managing Director (CMD) of Bharat Earth Movers Ltd. (BEML) with effect from July 1.

Prior to assuming his office, he was the Director (HR) on the board of the company.

Economics & Banking GK:

 
1. The China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) has approved first set of loans.

Total amount of loan is US 509 million dollars.

It is to finance projects in four countries; Bangladesh, Pakistan, Indonesia and Tajikistan.

2. India Post opened up the ongoing scheme of customized printing of ‘My Stamp’ for individuals and corporate also.

Under the scheme an individual or a corporate entity can get their photo or logo printed inside the postage stamp at a price of 12 lakh rupees.

As per reports, this time there will be 5000 sheets comprising 60000 postage stamps.

These stamps can be used for general postal mail.

 

3. The Union Government has decided to enhance financial powers of its Ministries, Departments for appraisal and approval of Non-Plan Schemes or Projects.

Union Finance Ministry has issued a notification in order to expedite appraisal and approval process in the Union Government Ministries and Departments.

4. HDFC Bank launched SME Bank, touted as India’s full-fledged banking service for small and medium enterprises (SME).

The new entity would allow clients access full bouquet of services instantly on 24×7 basis over personal computers or mobile phones.

Bills – New & Amendments:

1. The Union Cabinet has considered the Model Shops and Establishment (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Bill, 2016.

The Bill will be sent to States/UTs so that they will be able to modify their individual Acts, if they so desire.

The States/UTs can either adopt the Bill as it is or modify its provisions as per their requirements.

Memorandum of Understanding (MoU):

1. The Union Rural Development Ministry and ISRO, Department of Space have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).

MoU was signed for geo-tagging the assets created under MGNREGA in each gram panchayat.

2. The CSIR-Central Institute of Mining and Fuel Research (CSIR-CIMFR) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with coal supplying companies and power utilities.

 MoU was signed for quality analysis of coal supplied.

3. India has signed a memorandum of obligation in Tashkent to join the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO).

4. The Union Cabinet has approved MoU between Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) and Royal Civil Service Commission (RCSC), Bhutan.

It will strengthen the existing relationship between UPSC and RCSC.

It will also facilitate sharing of expertise and experience of both the parties in the area of recruitment.

5. The World Bank Group has signed an agreement with the International Solar Alliance (ISA).

It was signed to collaborate on increasing solar energy use around the world with the goal of mobilizing $1 trillion in investments by 2030.

The ISA is a group of 121 countries led by India and is headquartered in India.

6. Telecom-to-energy conglomerate Reliance Industries (RIL) and India’s largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) have signed Subscription and Shareholders’ Agreement to set up payments bank.

As per the agreement, RIL will be the promoter with a 70 per cent equity contribution in the payments bank and SBI as joint venture will have 30 per cent equity contribution.

 

7. The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has inked a MoU with Advertising Standard Council of India (ASCI) to check misleading advertisements in the food and beverages sector.

Science & Technology:

1. The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) has launched BGR-34.

BGR-34 is an anti-diabetic ayurvedic drug designed for type 2 Diabetes mellitus.

It has been jointly developed by National Botanical Research Institute (NBRI) and Central Institute for Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (CIMAP).

It works by controlling blood sugar and limiting the harmful effects and toxicity of other drugs.

 

2. China has successfully launched its second Shijian-16 series satellite for space research and experiments.

The first Shijian-16 satellite was launched in October 2013.

The satellite was launched on board of Long March-4B rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in Jiuquan, northwest China’s Gansu Province.

It was the 231st by a Long March rocket.

3. Indigenously-built heavyweight anti-submarine torpedo Varunastra has been successfully inducted in the Indian Navy.

With this India becomes one of the eight countries in the world to have the capability to design and build such anti-submarine torpedo system.

4. Ballistic missile Barak-8 was successfully tested from Balasore district of Odisha.

The missile was launched from test fired from launch pad no-3 of the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur.

The Barak-8 is India’s new surface to air missile which is developed jointly with the Israel.

 

5. The first squadron of indigenously designed and manufactured Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas was inducted into Indian Air Force (IAF).

State-run Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) handed over the first two Tejas aircrafts to IAF as part squadron at the Aircraft System Testing Establishment in Bengaluru.

6. India’s first integrated Defence Communication Network (DCN) was launched by Union Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar in South Block, Delhi.

It will enable India Army, Air force, Navy and the Special Forces Command to share situational awareness for a faster decision-making process.

7. Scientists for the first time have found clear evidence that the thinning in the ozone layer above Antarctica is starting to heal.

Ozone layer in the atmosphere’s stratospheric layer comprises of Ozone (O3), an allotrope of oxygen.

It plays important role in blocking harmful ultraviolet radiation (UV) from the Sun.

Important Dates:

1. The International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking is observed every year on June 26.

The motive is to raise awareness of the major problem that illicit drugs.

2016 theme was “Listen First”.

2. The National Statistics Day is being observed every year on 29 June.

The motive is to create public awareness among people about the importance of statistics in daily life and in the process of planning and development.

2016 is the tenth edition of National Statistics Day.

2016 Theme is “Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare”.

Death:

1. Kavalam Narayana Panicker, veteran Malayalam theatre artist and poet passed away in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. He was 88.

In 1961, he was nominated as Secretary of Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi.

He has written over 26 Malayalam plays, many adapted from classical Sanskrit drama and Shakespeare.

2. Isak Chisi Swu, the Naga leader and founder of Nationalist Socialist Council of Nagaland (Isak-Muivah) passed away in Delhi. He was 86.

 As a Naga leader he had led one of the worst insurgencies in the North-East India for almost three decades.

3. Xerxes Sapur Desai has passed away following a prolonged illness in Bengaluru. He was 79 years old.

 He was the founder of India’s largest watchmaker company ‘Titan Co. Ltd’.

 He also worked with Tata Press, Tata Chemicals, and Taj Hotels before setting up Titan in 1986.

4. K. G. Subramanyan, a renowned sculptor and painter passed away in Vadodara, Gujarat following a brief illness.He was 92.

He was awarded with Padma Vibhushan (2012), Padma Bhushan (2006) and Padma Shri (1975).

5. Dr. Ramchandra Chintaman Dhere, renowned Marathi literary scholar passed away after prolonged illness in Pune, Maharashtra. He was 86.

He was an Insightful scholar who has unraveled the Cultural linkage between the past and the present through his path-breaking literally research.

 

6. Alvin Toffler, the Famous author of Future Shock, passed away on in Los Angeles, United States. He was 87.

Toffler’s book Future Shock outlines people’s anxiety at the pace of social change in the 1960s.

 
 

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