Latest Current Affairs – June 27 & 28 2018
1. Indian money in Swiss banks rises 50% to over ₹7,000 crore
Reversing a three-year downtrend, Indians’ money in Swiss banks rose about 50% to 1.01 billion francs (₹7,000 crore) in 2017, official data showed. In comparison, the funds held by all foreign clients rose 3% to 1.46 trillion francs (₹100 lakh crore). Indians’ money in Swiss banks stood at a record high of 6.5 billion francs (₹23,000 crore) at 2006-end.
2. Bengaluru world’s 2nd best location to launch tech startups
Bengaluru has claimed the second spot in the list of best locations for launching tech startups, according to research firm SmallBusinessPrices.co.uk. The first place was secured by Boulder city in the US while the third best location was Johannesburg in South Africa. The research measured the average internet speed, the average business valuation, and cost of living, among other metrics.
3. India plans to cut oil imports from Iran amid US request
India is looking at cutting oil imports from Iran, and replacing them with more purchases from Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. This comes after the US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley asked PM Narendra Modi to reduce India’s dependence on Iran. The US reimposed sanctions against Iran after it withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal.
4. ICICI Bank loses ₹19,000 crore market cap in 4 days
ICICI Bank’s shares have plunged 11% in last 4 sessions, eroding ₹19,066 crore in market capitalisation. This comes after a whistleblower alleged that ICICI inflated profits by at least $1.3 billion over 8 years by delaying provisioning for 31 bad loan accounts. Further, CEO Chanda Kochhar has gone on an indefinite leave pending a probe into the Videocon loan case.
5. Climate change will lower Indian living standard: World Bank
Climate change will lower the living standard of 50% of South Asian population by 2050, with residents of central India being hit the worst, a World Bank report has revealed. Over 60 crore Indians will be moderately or severely affected by temperature and rainfall changes. Meanwhile, living standard of people residing in cold and dry mountain areas can slightly improve.
6. Jio becomes India’s second largest telco by revenue
Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Jio has overtaken Vodafone India to become the second largest carrier by revenue in India, as per TRAI data. Jio had adjusted gross revenue (AGR) of ₹6,217 crore in the March quarter compared to Vodafone India’s ₹4,937 crore. Market leader Bharti Airtel’s AGR fell about 10% from the previous quarter to ₹7,087 crore.
7. Priyanka Chopra named world’s hottest woman by Maxim
Actress Priyanka Chopra has been named the hottest woman in the world by men’s magazine Maxim India. Priyanka, who has also featured on the cover of the magazine’s June-July edition, won the title for the fourth time by topping its Hot 100 list. She had previously won the title in 2011, 2013 and 2016.
8. Indian shooter Manu sets world record, wins 8th gold of year
Sixteen-year-old Manu Bhaker won the top prize in 10m air pistol event at ISSF Junior World Cup in Germany. Apart from the CWG gold medal, this was Manu’s seventh ISSF individual gold in the year, third with a world record. India’s youngest CWG gold-medalist Anish Bhanwala added to the country’s tally by finishing third in men’s 25m rapid fire pistol.
9. Hindi most spoken language in India, Bengali second
Hindi is the mother tongue of 43.63% Indians, making it the country’s most spoken language, followed by Bengali, according to the language data of Census 2011 which was released on Tuesday. Further, Marathi has replaced Telugu as the third most spoken language in the nation. While Sanskrit is least spoken, Urdu became the seventh most spoken language in India.
10. India no longer has the largest number of poor: Report
As per a study in Brookings blog, India is no longer home to the largest number of extreme poor, being replaced by Nigeria. Further, the report states that India could drop to number three by this year end, with Congo overtaking it. India is pulling 44 people out of ‘extreme poverty’ every minute, but 78 million people still remain affected.
11. Netherlands bans burqa in public
The Upper House of the Dutch Parliament on Tuesday passed a law banning full-face veils such as the burqa and niqab in public places. The law bans wearing the veils in educational and government institutions, hospitals and on public transport, but not on streets. Violation of the law will result in a fine of nearly ₹32,000.
12. India 4th most targeted for web application attacks: Report
India ranked fourth in the list of top 10 target countries for Web Application Attacks globally since November 2017, according to Akamai Technologies. Registering over 2.8 crore attacks, India also ranked eighth in the list of Web Application Attack source countries globally. Further, Akamai recorded a 16% increase in the number of Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks since 2017.
13. UNESCO may drop the Mesoamerican Reef, Belize from threatened sites list
The Mesoamerican Reef was marked as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1960. It was placed on endangered status in 2009 because of Belize’s plans to allow oil exploration. To protect the site a number of measures were taken by the Belizean government and the activists. Now, UN body is considering to remove the reef from the UNESCO’s list of threatened World Heritage sites.
14. Indian Shooter Saurabh wins gold medal with world record score at ISSF Junior World Cup
Sixteen-year-old Indian shooter Saurabh Chaudhary set a new world record and won a gold in the 10m air pistol event in the ISSF Junior World Cup in Germany. He got 243.7 points in the final.
The junior world record before this was 242.5 by Chinese shooter Wang Zhehao at the first ISSF Junior World Cup of the year in Sydney. The other Indian in the final, Anmol Jain, fell short of the podium, finishing fourth with 199.6.
15. China bans HBO after UK comedian criticises President Xi Jinping
China has banned US film and television production company HBO’s website following UK comedian John Oliver’s critique of Chinese President Xi Jinping on his show. Oliver had compared the Chinese President to cartoon character ‘Winnie the Pooh’.
16. Prince William becomes first British royal to visit Israel and Palestine
UK’s Prince William became the first member of the royal family to visit Israel on an official visit. Prince William met Holocaust survivors, Israeli President Reuven Rivlin and PM Benjamin Netanyahu as part of his three-day visit. Prince William will also meet Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas which will mark the first royal visit to the West Bank.
17. World Food Prize 2018 awarded to Economist Lawrence Haddad, Dr. David Nabarro
Lawrence Haddad, who is a British economist and food policy researcher, and Dr. David Nabarro, who has worked with the World Health Organization and United Nations on health and hunger issues, were named the 2018 World Food Prize recipients.
They dedicated their careers to improving the availability of nutritious food for pregnant women and children in an effort to reduce the effects of malnutrition in developing countries.
18. S Ramesh appointed as chairman of CBIC
Senior bureaucrat S Ramesh has been appointed as chairman of the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC), the apex policy-making body for indirect taxes. He will succeed Vanaja N Sarna, who superannuates on June 30. Sarna was appointed as chief of the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC), which has now been rechristened as the CBIC, in March last year.
19. Worlds Largest Multilateral Naval Exercise RIMPAC begun off Hawaii
The 26th edition of two month long exercise Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) begun off Hawaii in the Western Pacific Ocean. Navies of 26 countries including India is participating in this exercise, which is scheduled off Hawaii from June 27 to August 27. INS Sahyadri, Commanded by Captain Shantanu Jha, has reached the Pearl Harbour, Hawaii, to participate in RIMPAC 2018. Subsequently, the 25th edition of the exercise was attended by INS Satpura in 2016.
20. Oxytocin ban to come into effect in India from 1st July
The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare of India has banned the manufacture of Oxytocin for domestic use from 1st July 2018 as it has been misused widespread in the dairy industry.
Oxytocin is a hormone that occurs naturally to cause uterine contractions during labor and lactation. In dairy industries, livestock is injected with oxytocin to make them release milk at a time convenient for the farmers. It is also used in vegetables to increase their size.
21. EDF and GE sign deal to build 6 nuclear reactors for India
French state-run power utility EDF and American conglomerate General Electric (GE) have signed to build 6 EPR (European Pressurized Reactors) nuclear reactors with capacity 1,650 megawatts (MW) at Jaitapur nuclear plant in Ratnagiri district, Maharashtra.
This agreement would make Jaitapur power plant the world’s largest nuclear power generating station by net electrical power rating. It will also help the Union Government to achieve its ambitious target of 22,480 MW nuclear power generation capacity by 2031.
22. President inaugurated Udyam Sangam 2018 in New Delhi
On International MSME (Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises) Day 2018 (June 27), the President of India Ram Nath Kovind inaugurated the Udyam Sangam-2018 in New Delhi.
It will empower women and weaker sections by providing training to 80 lakh women. The President also launched the Solar Charkha Mission which will cover 50 clusters and every cluster will employ 400 to 2000 artisans.
President unveiled a portal of the Ministry of MSME called ‘Sampark’, which will act as a bridge between the talent pool and those enterprises seeking trained human resources.
23. Ministry of Women and Child Development organises POSHAN Abhiyaan TECH-THON
With an aim to integrate information technology for better rolll out of its major social sector schemes, Ministry of Woman and Child Development organized a day-long Seminar on Technology Partnerships for Steering POSHAN Abhiyaan called ‘TECH-THON’. Poshan is an overarching Scheme for Holistic Nourishment launched by PM Modi.
POSHAN Abhiyaan was launched by the Prime Minister on 8thMarch, 2018 in Jhunjhunu, Rajasthan. Now, Effective monitoring and Timely interventions along with use of Specially designed software will surely help achieve the target of Poshan Abhiyan.
