- Authors Neelakantan, Satpathy to be honoured with Kalinga Awards
Popular writer Anand Neelakantan, Odia poet Haraprasad Das and author Paramita Satpathy were announced winners of the Kalinga Literary Awards.
Tje Kalinga International Literary Award, Kalinga Literary Youth Award and Kalinga Karubaki Award will be conferred upon Neelakantan, Das and Satpathy respectively.
Kalinga Literary Festival from June 10 to 12 in Bhubaneswar to deliberate on the theme ‘Literature for Peace and Harmony’.
- Sher Bahadur Deuba elected Nepal’s prime minister for fourth time
Veteran Nepalese politician Sher Bahadur Deuba was elected as Nepal’s prime minister for the fourth time after the main opposition party decided to end the obstruction of parliament. Deuba, 70, was the sole candidate to contest in the prime minister election as the main opposition UML or any other party didn’t register their candidacies.
He secured 388 votes in his favour and 170 votes against him. A total of 558 were cast during the voting. He needed 297 votes in the 593-strong Parliament to prove his majority.
The Nepali Congress leader has become the 40th Prime Minister of Nepal. The post of Prime Minister fell vacant after Maoist leader Prachanda resigned last month under a power sharing deal with the Nepali Congress leader.
- Hoshiar Singh appointed chief of copyrights office
Senior bureaucrat Hoshiar Singh has been appointed as Registrar of Copyrights. The Office of Copyrights, under the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, is mandated to protect the music and film industry besides addressing its concerns, among others. The competent authority has approved the appointment of Singh, a 1994 batch officer of the Indian Telecom Service, as Registrar, Copyrights Office, for a period of five years
- Trump nominates Christopher Wray as new FBI director
Trump has nominated lawyer and former Justice Department official Christopher Wray as the new FBI director. Mr. Wray, a litigation attorney with law firm King & Spalding in Washington and Atlanta, previously served as assistant attorney general in charge of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division from 2003 to 2005.
The U.S. Senate must approve Trump’s choice to replace former FBI Director James Comey, whom the president fired last month amid the agency’s ongoing probe into alleged Russian meddling into the U.S. election.
- Cabinet approves MoU between India and Korea for export credit of USD 9 billion
The Union Cabinet has approved the proposed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Export-Import Bank of India (EXIM Bank) and Export-Import Bank of Korea (KEXIM) for export credit of USD 9 billion for infrastructural development in India and for the supply of goods and services as part of projects in third countries.
The decision is expected to promote the country’s international exports, and deepen political and financial ties between India and Korea. The export credit will be utilized through lending by EXIM Bank for promoting projects for priority sectors, including smart cities, railways, power generation and transmission etc., in India and for the supply of goods and services from India and Korea as part of projects in third countries.
- Cabinet approves agreement between India and Cyprus on Merchant Shipping
The Union Cabinet has given its ex-post facto approval to the Agreement between India and Cyprus on Merchant Shipping, which was signed in April 2017.
The Agreement in Merchant Shipping will pave the way for cooperation in eliminating any hindrances which may hamper the development of sea trade between the two nations.
The MoU will encourage participation in the transport of goods between the countries, and also from third countries. The MoU further seeks to enhance cooperation for employment, improvement of conditions of work and for the welfare of seafarers employed on each other’s vessels.
- Cabinet approves Bilateral MoU between India and Iran
The Union Cabinet has approved the Bilateral Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and Securities and Exchange Organization (SEO), Iran in relation to mutual cooperation on matters pertaining to securities markets.
The MoU is likely to promote further development of economic links and cooperation between the two regulators, and aims at creating conditions for an effective development of securities markets in the two countries.
- Cabinet approves MoU between India and Mali for standardization and conformity assessment
The Union Cabinet has given its ex-post facto approval to the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), India and Direction Nationale De Industries (MLINDI), Republic of Mali on Standardization and Conformity Assessment.
The MoU aims to facilitate closer cooperation and provide a mechanism by which India and Mali can work together towards the common aim of strengthening standardization and conformity assessment activities in order to facilitate sharing of expertise and mutual trade.
- Cabinet approves Agreement between India and Somalia on transfer of sentenced persons
The Union Cabinet has given its approval for signing and subsequent ratification of the Agreement on Transfer of sentenced persons between Indi and Somalia.
Signing the Agreement with Somalia shall facilitate the Indian prisoners imprisoned in Somalia or vice-versa to be near to their families, for serving remaining part of their sentence and shall facilitate their social rehabilitation.
- Cabinet approves Signing of MoU between Securities and Exchange Board of India and European Securities and Markets Authority
The Union Cabinet has given its approval to the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) for entering into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) in relation to Mutual Co-operation.
The MoU is likely to establish cooperation arrangements as a precondition for ESMA to recognize Central Counter Parties (CCPs) established in India and supervised by the Securities and Exchange Board of India to provide clearing services to clearing members or trading venues established in the European Union and to provide ESMA with adequate tools to monitor the on-going compliance by the Covered CCPs with the Recognition Conditions.
- Cabinet approves IREDA public issue
The Union Cabinet has approved the initial public offer (IPO) of Indian Renewable Development Agency (IREDA) to issue 13.9 crore fresh equity shares of Rs 10 each to the public on a book-building basis. The Cabinet also approved issue of shares to retail investors and IREDA employees at a discount of 5 per cent on the issue price of each equity share on a book-building basis.
- RBI keeps key rate unchanged; cuts SLR, lowers GDP projection
The Reserve Bank has left lending rates unchanged citing risks to inflation due to spurt in farm loan waivers by states but raised lending capacity of banks to support economic growth.
Monetary Policy Committee for the fourth straight time kept the repo rate unchanged, at which it lends to the banks, at 6.25 per cent. The reverse repo, at which RBI borrows, will be 6 per cent.
The decision of the MPC is consistent with a neutral stance of monetary policy in consonance with the objective of achieving the medium-term target for consumer price index (CPI) inflation of 4 per cent within a band of +/- 2 per cent, while supporting growth
- Sasikiran wins Capablanca memorial chess
Indian Grandmaster Krishnan Sasikiran earned 6.5 points from 10 rounds to became the first Indian to win the 52nd Capablanca Memorial Chess tournament at Varadero, Cuba.
Sasikiran played out a quick draw against Isan Reynaldo Ortiz Suarez of Cuba in the 10th and final round to win the title with 6.5 points ahead of top seed Vasily Ivanchuk of Ukraine, who secured 5.5 points.
- Montenegro becomes NATO’s 29th member
Montenegro became the 29th member of North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO). Montenegro’s accession sends a signal to other states that seek membership, that if a country truly reforms, if it promotes democracy, strengthens the rule of law, modernises its armed forces and contributes to our collective defence, it too can join the alliance. Montenegro’s accession completes the alliance’s presence along the entire northern Mediterranean coast, from Gibraltar to Syria.
Montenegro
- Capital: Podgorica
- Currency: Euro
- President: Filip Vujanović
- Prime Minister: Duško Marković
- Spanish writer Juan Goytisolo dies aged 86
Veteran Spanish anti-Franco writer Juan Goytisolo, one of Spain’s most celebrated writers of the postwar period, died.He was 86.
The novelist and essayist, who won the Cervantes Prize – Spain’s version of the Nobel – in 2014, died in Marrakesh, Morocco.
- Ace Parliamentarian Era Sezhiyan dead
Veteran Parliamentarian Era Sezhiyan, highly regarded as a Constitutionalist who recommended the abolition of the Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS), died in Vellore. He was 95. He was the younger brother of late Navalar V.R. Nedunchezhian and both of them were the founding members of the DMK.
- Saudi arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi dies aged 82
Saudi arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi, a tycoon known for his lavish billionaire lifestyle and far-reaching international connections, has died in London at the age of 82. U.S.-educated Khashoggi brokered arms deals around the world, earning handsome commissions and operating in a shady business while partying with global elites.
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