DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS: JUNE 3 & 4, 2018

NATIONAL

India successfully test fries indigenously developed Nuclear Capable Agni 5:

• India has successfully test-fired its indigenously developed nuclear-capable Long Range Ballistic Missile Agni-5, which has a strike range of 5,000 km, off the Odisha coast.

• The surface-to-surface missile was launched with the help of a mobile launcher from launch pad-4 of the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Dr Abdul Kalam Island in the Bay of Bengal.

• This was the sixth trial of the state-of-the-art Agni-5.

• Navigation systems, very high accuracy Ring Laser Gyro based Inertial Navigation System (RINS) and the most modern and accurate Micro Navigation System (MINS) had ensured the missile reached the target point within few meters of accuracy.

Shri Shripad Yesso Naik to inaugurate National Health Editors’ Conference on Yoga in New Delhi on 5th June:

• The Minister of State for AYUSH (Independent Charge), Shri Shripad Yesso Naik will inaugurate the 3^rd National Health Editors’ Conference on Yoga at Morarji Desai National Institute of Yoga (MDNIY) in New Delhi.

• The Ministry of AYUSH is organizing this Conference in collaboration with the Press Information Bureau (PIB) and Morarji Desai National Institute of Yoga (MDNIY).

• This Conference on ‘Evidence Based Recent Innovative Research on Yoga – A Review of Yoga Research’ is being organized to mark the beginning of International Day of Yoga, which takes place on 21^st June every year.

• One of the main highlights of the Conference is a Workshop on “How to Manage Stress through Yoga”. The Workshop will be conducted by Dr. I.V Basavaraddi, Director, MDNIY along with Yoga experts.

OUP to host 2^nd South Asia Conclave on July 4:

• Policymakers, bureaucrats, academicians and journalists will discuss topics linked to politics, business and healthcare among others at the second edition of Oxford University Press’ South Asia Conclave on July 4 in New Delhi.

• To closely examine the key issues affecting Indian politics, business and politics, political finance, civil-military relations and healthcare policy and, become a major platform to discuss issues pertaining to South Asia and develop a deeper understanding.

• The conference will be chaired by Ashutosh Varshney, professor of Political Science and Director of the Center for Contemporary South Asia, Brown University.

Piyush Goyal flags off Humsafar Jodhpur Bandra Express in Rajasthan:

• Union Railway Minister Piyush Goyal has flagged off Humsafar Jodhpur Bandra Express at Bhagat Ki Kothi Railway Station in Rajasthan’s Jodhpur.

• He also mentioned that railway projects worth over Rs 13,000 crore have been undertaken in Rajasthan currently.

• Adequate arrangements have been made in the trains, including mobile charging points, CCTVs and Bio Toilets.

Rajasthan

• Capital: Jaipur
• Chief Minister: Vasundhara Raje
• Governor: Kalyan Singh

NTPC adopts Hyderabad’s Charminar develop it under Swachh Bharat mission:

• The National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC), which is presently looking at developing and maintaining Hyderabad’s iconic Charminar, has now ‘adopted’ the monument under the Centre’s Swachh Iconic Places Projects of India.

• The scheme is a drive under the central government’s Swachh Bharat Mission, and the NTPC and the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the issue.

• As NTPC was selected, it decided to sanction Rs 8.19 crore to the GHMC in February this year, to develop the area.

Telangana

• Capital: Hyderabad
• Chief Minister: Chandrasekhar Rao
• Governor: E. S. L. Narasimhan

India Successfully Test-Fires SFDR Propulsion Based Missile:

• India has successfully carried out the flight test of Solid Fuel Ducted Ramjet (SFDR) propulsion based missile.

• SFDR is a propulsion technology different than that of conventional solid fuelled or liquid fuelled missiles.

• The technology demonstrator flight test was conducted from the Launch Centre-III of Integrated Test Range at Chandipur in Odisha.

Odisha

• Capital: Bhubaneswar
• Chief Minister: Naveen Patnaik
• Governor: Prof. Ganeshi Lal

MoEFCC, TERI sign MoU to set up a Resource Efficiency Cell at the Ministry:

• MoEFCC and TERI entered a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to set up a resource efficiency cell in the Ministry.

• The main objectives of the Cell are to provide a platform to mainstream resource efficiency in public policy.

• The initiatives were unveiled by Secretary, MoEFCC, Shri CK Mishra and Director General, TERI, Dr Ajay Mathur, at an event at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi.

• At the event hosted by TERI, the European Union and MoEFCC also signed a Joint Declaration of Intent (JDI) to support the implementation of the EU Resource Efficiency Initiative (EU-REI) Project in India, with a specific objective to foster the efficient and sustainable use of natural resources in India.

INTERNATIONAL

China Successfully Launches New Earth Observation Satellite:

• China has successfully launched a new Earth observation satellite which will be mainly used in agricultural resources research and disaster monitoring, official media reported.

• The Gaofen-6 satellite was launched on a Long March-2D rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in northwest China.

• A scientific experiment satellite named Luojia-1 was sent into space at the same time. It was the 276th mission of the Long March rocket series.

PM Modi 3-Nation Visit: Highlights

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has concluded his three-nation, five-day visit to Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore.

During Singapore Visits:

• PM Modi held wide-ranging talks with his Singaporean counterpart Lee Hsien Loong and delivered a keynote address at the Shangri-La Dialogue – Asia’s premier defence and strategic affairs conference. He is the first Indian Prime Minister to address the Shangri-La Dialogue.

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched three Indian digital payment systems – RuPay, BHIM app and UPI by SBI at the ‘Business, Innovation and Community Event’ in Singapore. With the launch, India’s RuPay digital payments system was linked up with Singapore’s 33-year old Network for Electronic Transfers (NETS).

• In a special gesture, an orchid was named after Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the occasion of his visit to National Orchid Garden in Singapore. 

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Singapore’s former Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong jointly unveiled a plaque to pay tribute at the immersion site of Mahatma Gandhi’s ashes at the waterfront Clifford pier. 8 agreements were signed between the two sides which covered areas as wide as military cooperation and connectivity.

• He also went to the Changi Naval Base, the prime naval base for the Republic of Singapore Navy. There the PM visited the Indian Naval Ship INS Satpura. It have signed implementation agreement between their navies concerning mutual coordination, logistics and services support for naval ships’, submarines and naval aircraft (including ship borne aviation assets).

During Malaysia Visits:

• In Malaysia where he met his 92-year-old Malaysian counterpart Mahathir Mohamad to personally congratulate him on his stunning election victory and the two leaders had “productive discussions” on bolstering the bilateral strategic ties.

During Indonesia Visits:

• India and Indonesia signed 15 MoUs in the fields of defence, scientific and technological cooperation, railways and health, among others.

Singapore:

• Capital – Singapore

• Currency- Singapore Dollar 

• President- Halimah Yacob

Malaysia

• Capital- Kuala Lumpur

• Currency- Malaysian ringgit 

• Prime Minister- Mahathir Mohamad.

Indonesia

• Capital- Jakarta

• Currency- Indonesian rupiah

• President- Joko Widodo.

Banking & business

Financial literacy week: RBI

• The Reserve Bank of India has chosen customer protection as theme for the Financial Literacy Week beginning on June 4 till June 8 will focus on creating awareness among customers of banks about financial products and services, good financial practices and going digital.

• The week will focus on four consumer protection messages like ‘Know Your Liability’ for unauthorized electronic banking transaction and Good practices for a safe digital banking experience.

India to be shared mobility leader by 2030:

• India is expected to be a leader in shared mobility by 2030 as rising share of electric and autonomous vehicles will improve shared mile economics, says a Morgan Stanley report.

• By 2030, Morgan Stanley expects shared miles to reach 35 per cent of all the miles travelled in India and this will further increase to 50 per cent by 2040.

Gail India to import 1^st Russian LNG shipment:

• India will import its first ever cargo of LNG from Russia under a long-term deal as the world’s fourth-largest buyer of liquefied natural gas (LNG) diversifies its import basket to meet its vast energy needs.

• State-owned gas utility GAIL India Ltd will bring the shipload of LNG from Gazprom at Petronet Ltd’s import terminal at Dahej import terminal, Gujarat.

APPOINTMENTS

Assam girl ambassador of ‘promote science’ initiative in France:

• Assam’s Priyanka Das, working on satellite navigation for French major Safran, has been appointed ambassador for an initiative in France to encourage girls to follow scientific careers and take it to higher education levels.

• “For Girls and Science” initiative was launched in 2014 to promote more scientific vocations among young people, especially girls, and inspire them to become scientists of tomorrow.

• And it is supported by the Ministry of National Education of France and the L’Oreal Foundation.

• It is linked to the L’Oreal Women in Science programme that awards five women scientists each year in collaboration with UNESCO.

Abdel Fattah al-Sisi Sworn in as Egyptian President:

• Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi was sworn for a second four-year term in office as the country faces major economic and security challenges.

• Sisi, who as army chief ousted Egypt’s first freely elected president Mohamed Morsi after mass street protests in 2013, won his first term in 2014 with an overwhelming majority of the vote.

AWARDS

International Olympiad winners of 2017-18:

• Shri P.P. Chaudhary felicitates International Olympiad winners of 2017-18, and gave away awards to toppers and international rank holders from class IV to XII for the six Olympiad exams conducted by Science Olympiad Foundation (SOF).

• 120 students have been awarded the SOF Scholarship of Excellence in English (SOF SEE) for the year 2017-18.

• Each winner receives a scholarship of Rs.5000/- + a Merit Certificate.

• Over 45,000 schools from 1,400 cities across 30 countries participated in the six SOF Olympiad exams during 2017-18 and millions of students appeared in them.

• About 55,000 students from 5,850 schools have been awarded for achieving top state level ranks.

• In addition, over 8,00,000 students have been awarded “Medals of Excellence” for achieving top rank in their respective schools. 1,500 principals & teachers were also honoured for their commitment to academics and single minded pursuit in improving the students’.

India’s Sanjana Ramesh wins the MVP Award at Basketball without Borders Asia 2018:

• The fourth and final day of Basketball without Borders Asia 2018 concluded in thrilling fashion as the 66 campers from 16 countries and territories in Asia-Pacific competed in championship games and a pair of All-Star games.

• The 10th BWB Asia camp wrapped up with the Awards Ceremony. Rence Forthsky Padrigao (Philippines) was named Boys MVP, while Sanjana Ramesh from India was crowned as MVP on the girl’s side.

Rabada wins South Africa’s top player prize:

• Kagiso Rabada, the World’s No. 1 Test bowler, was named South Africa’s Cricketer of the Year.

• Rabada collected a total of six awards, including Test cricketer of the year, ODI player of the year and players’ player of the year.

Obituary

Former Footballer Timothy Pereira Passes Away:

• Timothy Pereira, former football international who represented Tata FC, died here last night after a prolonged illness. Pereira was 75.

DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS: JUNE 2, 2018