Current Affairs June 7, 2017 –  Kerala Govt Implements ‘Green Protocol’ For Weddings:

NATIONAL

Mughalsarai station to get a new name:

The Uttar Pradesh cabinet decided to name the Mughalsarai railway station after RSS ideologue Deen Dayal Upadhyay.

The decision to rename the railway station was taken at a meeting of the State cabinet, chaired by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

Uttar Pradesh

• Capital: Lucknow
• Governor: Shri Ram Naik

First rural LED street lighting project in Andhra Pradesh:

The Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) under the Ministry of Power is going to retrofit 10 lakh conventional street lights with LED lamp in village panchayats in Andhra Pradesh.

It is the first project for rural LED street lighting in the country under the Government of India’s Street Lighting National Project (SLNP).

• Project Sponsor: Agence Francaise de Developpement (AFD)
• Project Maintenance: EESL & warranty of 10 years

CISF signs an MoU with NSDC for skilling retired CISF personnel:

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between CISF (Central Industrial Security Force) and NSDC (National Skill Development Cooperation) to develop skills amongst the retiring/retired personnel of CISF, their families, students and Low Medical Category persons during five years starting from June 5, 2017 till June 5, 2022.

Union Minister of State (I/C) for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Shri Rajiv Pratap Rudy and Union Minister of State for Home, Shri Kiren Rijiju at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi.

• CISF Headquarters: New Delhi
• NSDC Chairman: S Ramadorai

IMD to give malaria, chikungunya alerts:

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) is working on a forecasting system to give 15-day warnings on the likelihood of a malaria or chikungunya outbreak over different regions.

• IMD Headquarters: New Delhi
• IMD Director-General: K.J. Ramesh

Kerala Govt Implements ‘Green Protocol’ For Weddings:

    Kerala is set to implement “Green Protocol” for wedding in order to curb the thermocol, plastics and other non-degradable articles including disposable glasses and plates in the marriage function.

Chinese, Russian companies provide assistance for Nagpur-Mumbai Expressway:

Twelve international construction companies, including four Chinese and two Russian firms, have formally expressed interest in building the Rs 46,000-crore Nagpur-Mumbai Super Communication Expressway.

Five-member panel to study prison modernisation in Maharashtra:

The Maharashtra government has set up a five-member committee headed by a retired Bombay High Court judge to plan modernisation of prisons in the state.

The committee, to be headed by Justice (retd) Dr S Radhakrishnan, will submit recommendations on ways of setting up a model prison in the state where essential services can be provided to prisoners.

Maharashtra

• Capital: Mumbai
• Chief Minister: Devendra Fadnavis
• Governor: C. Vidyasagar Rao

INTERNATIONAL

China successfully tests solid-fuel variable ramjet engine:

China has successfully tested a solid-fuel variable flow ramjet engine which could enhance the real combat ability of the country stealth aircraft and boost firing range of missiles.

The solid-fuel ramjet engine has the advantage of low cost, high power, and high controllability with compact size.

The First UN conference on the health of the oceans and seas in New York:

The First UN Ocean Conference opened at the UN headquarters, New York. The Protecting the ocean is among the main objectives of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and conserving and sustainably using marine resources are the springboard for the Ocean Conference taking place from June 5-9.

The Governments of Fiji and Sweden have the co-hosting responsibilities of the Conference.

Mongolia’s first university satellite “Mazaalai” flies into space from U.S:

The first university satellite of Mongolia which is named after the Mongolian endangered Gobi bear “Mazaalai” was sent off into space in the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, United States.

The satellite was designed, developed and experimented by three Mongolian students D.Erdenebaatar, D.Amartuvshin and T.Turtogtokh studying at the Kyushu Institute of Technology, Japan.

Mongolia:

• Capital: Ulaanbaatar
• Currency: Mongolian tögrög/Tugrik (MNT)
• Prime Minister: Chimed Saikhanbileg

Banking & Business

Japan’s NEC to invest $10 million in 3 years:

    Japanese technology giant NEC, which announced a new Centre of Excellence in India, it will be investing $10 million over the next three years in the country, while targeting revenues of $100 million during the same period.

The Centre of Excellence in Noida will work on building Big Data and analytics solutions for clients across sectors such as banking and financial services (BFS), telecom, retail and the Government.

Japan

• Capital: Tokyo

• Currency: Yen

• Prime minister: Shinzō Abe

EPFO extends deadline for submitting Aadhaar to June 30:

  Retirement fund body EPFO has extended the deadline for submitting Aadhaar number to June 30 for it’s over four crore members.

However, the deadline for submission of Aadhaar number would be September 30, 2017 in case of north-east states.

Canara Bank cuts MCLR by 0.05% for various maturities

Public sector Canara Bank has cut MCLR rates by 0.05 percentage point for various maturities with effect.

In terms of the guidelines of RBI, all rupee loans sanctioned and credit limits renewed from June 7, 2017 will be priced with reference to the tenor based MCLR rates are as, the new MCLR will be 8.10 %, while for one month and three month maturities new marginal cost based lending rates (MCLR) will be priced at 8.15 % and 8.20 % respectively.

Canara Bank

Headquarters: Bengaluru

Tagline: Together We Can

CEO: Rakesh Sharma

Adani Power shifts Mundra unit to subsidiary

The board of directors of Adani Power approved the transfer of its Mundra (Kutch) power plant to a separate subsidiary, Adani Power (Mundra) Ltd.

The company’s board has considered and approved the slump sale of its Mundra power business undertaking, generating 4,620 Mw of power, to its subsidiary company, namely Adani Power (Mundra).

Adani

Headquarters: Ahmedabad

Chairman: Gautam S Adani

Centre-Canara Bank to raise Rs 20,000 cr to give loans to IITs, IIMs:

The HRD ministry and Canara Bank have set up an agency to fund creation of infrastructure and research facilities at higher education institutes.

The government said the Higher Education Financing Agency (HEFA) has been authorised to raise up to Rs 20,000 crore to give loans for specific needs of the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs), Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research (IISERs) and the National Institutes of Technology (NITs).

India signs $39.2 million pact with World Bank for Assam project:

India signed a USD 39.2 million (over Rs 251 crore) loan agreement with the World Bank for the ‘Citizen Centric Service Delivery‘ of 5-year project in Assam.

The programme size is USD 49 million of which USD 39.2 million will be financed by the Bank and the remaining amount will be funded out of the state budget.

Vijaya Bank set to develop 100 digital villages:

    Vijaya Bank has announced that it plans to develop as many as 100 digital villages in various States across the country as part of its initiative to promote digital banking among the rural population.

At present, Vijaya Bank is the only public sector financial institution to develop digital villages with focus on rural population. Already, the bank has developed 5 villages into Digital Villages.

Vijaya Bank

• Headquarter: Bangalore
• CEO of the Bank: Kishore Kumar Sansi
• Tagline: A friend you can bank upon

NHB approves merger between Aadhar Housing Finance and DHFL Vysya Housing Finance:

The proposed merger between Aadhar Housing Finance and DHFL Vysya Housing Finance has hit the final lap with it getting the nod from housing finance regulator National Housing Bank (NHB HQ: New Delhi). In next move, they applied to National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) for the next stage approval.

Science & Technology

Astronomers find hottest giant planet Kelt-9b:

Astronomers have discovered the hottest planet ever known as “Kelt-9b”, with a dayside temperature of more than 4,300 degrees Celsius.

• KELT-9b is 2.8 times more massive than Jupiter, but only half as dense
• The KELT-9b planet was found using the Kilo degree Extremely Little Telescope(KELT)

APPOINTMENTS

Sher Bahadur Deuba elected Nepal PM:

Sher Bahadur Deuba, a veteran politician known for his close ties with India, elected the Prime Minister of Nepal for the fourth time, taking over the reigns of the country. He is the 40th Prime minister of the country.

Nepal

• Currency: Nepalese rupee
• Capital: Kathmandu

AWARDS

Authors Neelakantan, Satpathy and Haraprasad Das to be honoured with Kalinga Awards:

Popular writer Anand Neelakantan, Odia poet Haraprasad Das and author Paramita Satpathy were on announced the winners of the Kalinga Literary Awards. Kalinga Literacy Festival held in Bhubaneswar with theme of “Literature for Peace and Harmony”.

List of Winner

• Anand Neelakantan: Tje Kalinga International Literary Award
• Haraprasad Das: Kalinga Literacy Youth Award
• Paramita Satpathy: Kalinga Karubaki Award

SPORTS

Virendra Ojha among medal winners at South African ultra marathon:

    Virendra Ojha, became the first Indian to complete the Comrades Marathon in South Africa, winning a bronze at the world’s oldest ultra marathon race. Ojha, a 1993-batch IRS officer presently posted as Commissioner of Income Tax in Mumbai.

OBITUARY

Saudi arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi dies

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.

Saudi Arabia

• Capital: Riyadh

• Currency: Saudi riyal

Veteran Politician Era Sezhiyan passed away:

Tamil Nadu Veteran Politician and former parliamentarian Era Sezhiyan has passed away at age of 95. He was first elected to the Lok Sabha in 1962 on DMK ticket.

Spanish Writer Juan Goytisolo passed away:

Veteran Spanish writer Juan Goytisolo, one of Spain’s most celebrated writers of the post-war period passed away at age of 86. He won the Cervantes Prize, the Spain’s version of the Nobel in 2014.