Latest Current Affairs – June 09 2018
1. China awards its first-ever ‘Friendship Medal’ to Putin
Chinese President Xi Jinping awarded his country’s first Friendship Medal to his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin and called him his best friend. Xi said that the medal is China’s highest state honour for foreigners and is presented to those who made outstanding contributions to China’s modernisation drive, promoted cooperation between China and the world, and safeguarded world peace.
2. Five new countries elected to UN Security Council
The UN General Assembly elected South Africa, Indonesia, Dominican Republic, Germany and Belgium as non-permanent members of the Security Council. Their terms will begin on January 1 next year, with the non-permanent members being elected for a two-year term. The Security Council is composed of 15 members, five permanent and 10 non-permanent.
3. Netherlands to build world’s 1st habitable 3D-printed houses
The Dutch city of Eindhoven is set to be the first in the world to have habitable houses made by a 3D printer. The first house will be a single-floor house, to be occupied by mid-2019, while the other four will be multi-storey houses. The project would help reduce carbon footprint as less cement would be needed for their construction.
4. US unveils world’s most powerful supercomputer, beats China
The US has unveiled the world’s most powerful supercomputer called ‘Summit’, beating the previous record-holder China’s Sunway TaihuLight. With a peak performance of 200,000 trillion calculations per second, it is over twice as fast as Sunway TaihuLight, which is capable of 93,000 trillion calculations per second. Summit has 4,608 servers, which reportedly take up the size of two tennis courts.
5. First Indian-made artillery gun ready for induction: Army
India’s first indigenous, long-range artillery gun ‘Dhanush’ has cleared its final test and is ready to be inducted into the Indian Army. Earlier this month, fifty rounds of shells each were fired from six Dhanush guns, which are reportedly called ‘desi Bofors’. The gun also passed the tests in cold, humid, and hot conditions.
6. Scientists in India discover a planet for the first time
Scientists at Ahmedabad’s Physical Research Laboratory have discovered an exoplanet, propelling India into a select group of countries which have found planets outside the solar system. The ‘super-Neptune’ is about 27 times the mass of Earth and six times its radius. It is most likely ‘uninhabitable’ due to the proximity to its star, 600 light-years away from Earth, scientists found.
7. Varanasi airport to be 1st to get facial recognition system
Varanasi’s Lal Bahadur Shastri International Airport will become India’s first airport to have an automated smart facial recognition system at its entry, security and boarding points. The initiative, which is part of the DigiYatra scheme, will ensure quicker entry into airports by facilitating automated check-ins. It will be functional within the next four months, as per Airport Director AK Rai.
8. Shakib quickest to 10,000 runs, 500 wickets in int’l cricket
Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan became the quickest to reach 10,000 runs and pick 500 wickets in international cricket against Afghanistan. The 31-year-old has now joined former all-rounders Jacques Kallis and Shahid Afridi as only the third cricketer to achieve the 10,000 runs and 500 wickets double. Shakib also became the first Bangladeshi cricketer with 500 international wickets.
9. Haryana govt orders sportspersons to pay 33% income to state
The Haryana government has issued a notification directing sportspersons employed with the state to pay 33% of their income earned professionally and through commercial endorsements to the state sports council. They will have to submit their full income if they are considered to be on-duty by the concerned authority. The money will be used for development of sports in Haryana.
10. Bayer closes $63 bn Monsanto deal, becomes largest seed firm
German conglomerate Bayer has completed its $63-billion takeover of US-based Monsanto to create the world’s biggest agro-chemical and seed company. The deal, announced in September 2016, was closed after Bayer got all necessary regulatory approvals from various countries including the US and India. Bayer announced that the Monsanto name will be retired after the takeover.
11. Highway Tunnel dedicated to Nation in North Sikkim
Minister of State for Defence, Dr, Subhash Bhamre dedicated a highway tunnel at Theng near Chungthang in north Sikkim to the nation. The tunnel will benefit the tourism and rapidly propel the growth of the state.
The double-lane tunnel stretching about 600 meters has been constructed by the Border Roads Organisation at cost of over 42 crore rupees.
12. Reserve Bank of India amends Gold Monetisation Scheme
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) made changes in the Gold Monetisation Scheme (GMS) to make it more attractive. The revamping of the scheme is aimed at enabling people to open a hassle-free gold deposit account.
The short-term deposits should be treated as bank’s on-balance sheet liability. These deposits will be made with the designated banks for a short period of 1-3 years (with a facility of rollover). Deposits can also be allowed for broken periods (e.g. 1 year 3 months; 2 years 4 months 5 days; etc).
13. Sports Ministry approves upward revision of Pension to Meritorious Sportspersons
Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Rajyavardhan Rathore approved the upward revision of pension to meritorious sportspersons. Under the revision, the rate of pension has been doubled of the existing rate of pension on winning medals in international sports events.
Following the upward revision of pension, the medallist at the Olympic/Para-Olympic Games will get Rs.20,000 while a gold medallist at World Cup/World Championship in Olympic and Asian Games disciplines will get Rs.16,000.
14. Mithali Becomes First Indian To Score 2000 T20I Runs
Indian cricketer Mithali Raj become the first batter from the country to score 2000 runs in T20I cricket. She achieved the feat during India’s Women’s T20 Asia Cup match against Sri Lanka in Kuala Lumpur.
Mithali has now scored 2015 runs in 74 T20Is with the help of 14 half-centuries. She has a decent average of 38.01 with the highest score of 76 not out.
When it comes to men’s T20I, the list is led by Martin Guptill (2271) followed by Brendon McCullum (2140) and Virat Kohli (1983).
15. Indian Coast Guard interceptor ship commissioned
The Indian Coast Guard (ICG) commissioned an interceptor boat- ICGS C-439 at the Naval Dockyard in Mumbai, Maharashtra. The Indian Coast Guard Ship (ICGS) C-439 was commissioned by Additional Director General K Natarajan, Coast Guard Commander of Western Seaboard.
The ICGS C-439 is designed by the L&T Marine & Ship Design Division, an in-house facility of Larsen & Toubro Limited.
The vessel is 27.4 m long with a displacement of 136 tonnes. It can achieve a maximum speed of 45 knots. It has full aluminum-alloy hull for reduced weight and is powered by twin water-jet propulsion systems to enable quick response.
16. FDI in India rises to US $61.96 billion in 2017-18: DIPP
Foreign direct investment in India increased to $61.96 billion in 2017-18. FDI inflows stood at $60 billion in the previous fiscal. According to an UNCTAD report, foreign direct investment (FDI) to India decreased to $40 billion in 2017 from $44 billion in 2016, while outflows from India, the main source of investment in South Asia, more than doubled.
