General - Current Affairs for June, 2016

Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) today entered into a strategic partnership with The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) for two years. As per MoU , both organizations have decided to enter into an agreement as Strategic Partners, to work jointly for the achievement of common goals and objectives related to energy efficiency in India and abroad.

• With this partnership, the main focus of TERI will be on working with governments, regulatory bodies, industry organisations, and utilities to create a policy environment for clean energy technologies.
• EESL will stress on implementing projects and programmes to promote clean energy technologies through innovative policy based business model to end users.
• The agreement will also bring in people and institutions who work on the policy side into the market based interventions.
• International linkages will also be enhanced

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has signed an MoU with the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW), a policy research institution, to launch a new ‘Initiative on Solar for Healthcare’.

• The collaboration will focus on providing effective health care delivery at the last mile by reducing uncertainty in critical infrastructure, particularly electricity supply via cost effective solar-based solutions.
• As of 2015, nearly 35 million citizens in rural India rely on un-electrified PHCs for primary health services.
• The synergy between health and energy are the two specific goals of this initiative, and the efforts within this collaboration advances on both fronts.

National Institute of Animal Welfare (NIAW) and Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi (JNU) have signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) to conduct academic programmes that will focus on development of Animal Welfare Sciences.

• The total cost of the project for the first year is Rs.88 lakh.
• More than 200 students are expected to be enrolled for diploma and certificate courses in the first year.
• These courses are aimed at providing a direction to the youth for employment in the sector.

Union Cabinet on 29th June 2016 approved the signing of the MoU between UPSC and Royal Civil Service Commission, Bhutan.

• MoU will strengthen the existing relationship between the civil service commission and facilitate experience and expertise sharing in different areas of recruitment.
• Draft MOU will be signed to develop institutionalised linkages between PSCs of the two nations

Oracle and ICT Academy of Tamil Nadu (ICTACT) has signed an agreement for implementing Oracle Academy curriculum across 450 educational solutions in the state to guide students regarding industry relevant skills

• Once the initial 450 faculty members are trained by Oracle Academy, ICTACT aims to train another 300 faculty
• Through the program, educators will teach computer science fundamentals and train teachers at ICTACT affiliated schools in local communities
• Collaboration will enable students from rural areas to develop computer science skills and knowledge needed to advance in the IT industry
• Collaboration will assist students to get better understanding about the nature of career paths and jobs available to them
• Oracle Academy ensures there is a strong talent pool with necessary training and credentials to fill in skilled jobs that economy demands

Exercise JALRAHAT commenced on 28th June at Narangi Cantt. Taking the leaf from the latest National Disaster Management Policy – 2016 and the call given by the Prime Minister urging the enhanced cooperation and involvement by Armed Forces in mitigating disasters, the Exercise JALRAHAT is a joint initiative taken by the Assam State Govt and the Armed Forces that is being led by GAJRAJ Corps with full support from HQ Eastern Command.

• It is pertinent to mention that in addition to Exercise Jalrahat based on Flood Relief in an urban setting, Indian Navy will be carrying out Exercise Prakampana based on relief and assistance in case of a super cyclone at Vizag, Andhra Pradesh in August 2016 and Indian Air Force will be undertaking Exercise Sahayta based on relief and assistance in case of a major earthquake at Bhuj, Gujrat.
• All these will be joint exercises like Exercise Jalrahat.

A visually challenged young man, Kartik Sawhney has been selected among 60 people as the Queen’s Young Leaders by the Buckingham Palace

• He is a founder of Project STEMAccess, which offers hands-on science workshops in India, as well as virtual training sessions. He is working on a portal that will allow students to convert textbooks into their desired accessible format.
• Neha Swain a youth facilitator and founder of Rubaroo to promote inclusive space for young people was also honoured.

United States, Canada and Mexico will generate half their overall electricity from clean energy by 2025, according to the White House

• This is an aggressive goal yet achievable continent wide
• In 2015, clean energy-wind, solar and hydropower plus nuclear power accounted for 37 percent of the three countries electricity
• In the United States, region’s largest electricity producer by far, clean energy generates around a third of the total output, placing it below Canada but ahead of Mexico
• The rise in the coming years will mostly be driven by renewables and energy efficiency
• Canadian cities use hydropower to generate 59 percent of electricity and nuclear power for another 16 percent
• Mexico will join an existing commitment by the US and Canada for reducing the methane production by 40-45 percent of its 2012 level by 2025

Shri Thaawarchand Gehlot, Union Minister for Social Justice & Empowerment, released first ever draft list of Denotified, Nomadic & Semi Nomadic Tribes,

• This was prepared by National Commission for Denotified, Nomadic & Semi Nomadic Tribes here today.
• The draft list has state wise details of the Denotified, Nomadic & Semi Nomadic Tribes.

In a demonstration of India’s commitment to longstanding India-Russia Strategic Partnership and Indian Navy’s increasing footprint and operational reach, Indian Naval Ships Sahyadri, Shakti and Kirch under the Command of the Flag Officer Commanding Eastern Fleet, Rear Admiral S V Bhokare, YSM, NM have arrived at Vladivostok on a four day visit (27 Jun - 01 Jul 2016),

• This is as part of deployment of the Eastern Fleet to the South China Sea.
• During the visit, the IN ships will have professional interactions with the Russian Navy aimed at enhancing co-operation between the two forces.

Mahasthangarh, a 3rd century BC archaeological site in Bangladesh close to 11 km north of Bogra has been declared the SAARC cultural capital for 2016-2017

• It will host cultural festivals from 2016 to 2017 as a result of this
• This is one of the earliest sites discovered for urban archaeology in Bangladesh
• 2016-2017 has been declared the SAARC year of cultural heritage
• It was the ancient capital of Pundravardhana i.e. home of the Pundra, a group of people not speaking languages of the Indo-European family.

An online facility permitting children to complain about abuse (sexual or physical) without revealing their identities is on the anvil

• WCD is working on an e-dropbox which will help children to lodge a complaint against abuse, molestation, harassment in everyday situations across school, home and other settings
• Officials say simple language, pictures and icons will be used to ensure even young children can use this facility
• WCD Minister Smt. Maneka Gandhi said this was another step in the fight against abuse and the attempt to increase the Laxman Rekha across children
• The e-dropbox will be hosted on the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights website and the icons and response system are being designed by the commission
• Project was inspired by Operation Nirbheek launched by the Delhi Police where complaint boxes were placed in different schools allowing girls to complain about any abuse and many of the complaints were made into FIR (First Information Reports).

The Asian Development Bank on 24th June 2016 approved USD 500 million loan to build a road bridge across the river Ganga near Patna in Bihar.

• This 9.8 km bridge will be India’s longest river bridge
• It will provide vital transport links between northern and southern parts of Bihar and with neighbouring Nepal.
• A key feature will be year round embarkment access for 250,000 inhabitants of the Ragophur Diara river island ending reliance on boats and seasonal pontoon bridges as only link to Patna.
• Bridge using state of the art engineering techniques will be the first of its kind in India
• Bihar government will provide support equivalent to 215 million US dollars

PM Shri Narendra Modi has launched the flagship Smart City Mission in implementation mode with 14 projects of the Smart City Plan in Pune after he set off on a mission through release of guidelines

• Smart City Mission was termed by the PM as a people’s movement and citizen participation to the tune of 25 lakh as noted on government websites for ideas regarding smart cities.
• City Challenge competition was also held for empowering people and involving them for participatory development.
• The PM also expressed satisfaction over large scale participation of people in forming comprehensive smart city planning
• The mission is meant for ensuring availability of basic services through necessary infrastructure for urban poor in comprehensive manner
• Extensive use of digital technology will also improve quality of governance and public services

State governments have been asked to link Aadhaar with caste and domicile certificates to be issued to school students.

• It is linked as part of a first-of-its-kind initiative by the Centre.
• The States have been told to ensure that such certificates are issued within 60 days to the students when they are studying in Class V or VIII.
• The development assumes significance as there have been complaints of delay in grant of scholarship to students belonging to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
• Besides, people have often complained of harassment allegedly by government officials in getting caste and domicile certificates issued.
• UIDAI number is a 12 digit unique number issued to all Indian citizens.

Aveek Sarkar on 22nd June 2016 resigned as editor-in-chief of Ananda Bazaar Patrika and The Telegraph and continue as chairman of the group.

• He is succeeded by Arup Sarkar
• Anirban Bhattacharya was appointed as the Editor of the Ananda Bazaar Patrika and R Rajagopalan was named as the Editor of The Telegraph.
• Aveek Sarkar will now play an advisory role as Editor (Emeritus) and Vice Chairman of the company.

Focused on fostering research in futuristic technologies like robotics and unmanned vehicles, DRDO on 23rd June entered into a JV with Jadavpur University for establishment of a INR 100 crore research centre.

• Jagadish Chandra Bose Centre for Advanced Technology will act as the self accounting DRDO unit
• Centre will basically undertake research in areas such as secure systems, cognitive technologies, directed energy, unmanned and robotic technologies as well as other futuristic technologies
• DRDO will support and facilitate advanced research and use the outcome for creating futuristic defence systems

India is the third largest coal producer in the world after China and the US and will reach production level of 1.5 billion tonnes by FY20, according to a PwC report

• According to the report, India has witnessed a two fold increase in total raw coal consumption in the past ten years
• Coal is mostly consumed for electricity generation in the country to the tune of 64 percent followed by steel at 8 percent and cement at 5 percent.
• Coal production in India has seen a massive increase from FY2010 to FY2016.
• Total domestic output is now estimated at 628 million tonnes
• Of this, 90 percent comes from public sector coal producers while the private sector contributed 10 percent
• Import of coal has also witnessed a rise of 25 percent from 2011 to 2016 as per the report
• In 2015, India imported 212 million tonnes of coal as against 193 a year later
• To attain production level of 1.5 billion tonnes by FY20, coal production must be increased to 1 billion tonnes by FY2020

The Health Minister launched the M-Diabetes initiative which harnesses the power and potential of the vast mobile telephony network.

• With a missed call to 011-22901701 the caller can get more information on Diabetes and how to prevent and manage it.
• One can also log on to www.mdiabetes.nhp.gov.in for more information.
• Shri Nadda also launched the guidelines for screening of Diabetes, Hypertension and Common Cancer.

Indian educational institutions enter into academic collaborations with foreign institutes to ensure students who opt for these courses will have at least one semester of study for postgraduate degrees and two semesters for undergraduate degrees abroad.

• UGC has decided to amend the existing guidelines as per decision whereby Indian institutes which get top accreditations will now be able to approach the UGC to seek its nod for entering into academic tie-ups with highly-rated education institutions abroad.
• Under the previous norms, only foreign institutes could seek permission for academic collaborations.
• As per the new norms, the name of the foreign institute will also be mentioned on the degree certificate for such courses.
• A window of one year has been provided for institutes, which already have a global partnership, to get their pacts approved by UGC, the HRD minister said.

In a demonstration of India’s ‘Act East’ policy and Indian Navy’s increasing footprint and operational reach, Indian Naval Ships Sahyadri, Shakti and Kirch under the Command of the Flag Officer Commanding Eastern Fleet, Rear Admiral S V Bhokare, YSM, NM have arrived on June 21 at Busan on a four day visit, as part of deployment of the Eastern Fleet to the South China Sea.

• During the visit, the IN ships will have professional interaction with the Republic of Korea (ROK) Navy
• Bilateral relations between India and Republic of Korea are characterised by historical and cultural contacts dating back to ancient times
• Both countries have signed a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, with special emphasis on shipbuilding and electronics hardware manufacturing.
• In addition, both countries have forged ties in the field of military R&D, with MoU signed between Indian Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO)

Mori village in East Godavari district in AP will be developed as a smart village of the international standards

• Partners in the project on 19th June 2016 announced the prototype will be ready by mid December 2016
• Mori is a cashew exporting village in AP’s East Godavari district
• Project involves the use of digital tools, real time data and uninterrupted internet connectivity
• To provide 24/7 power supply, USP will be in place

Shadows of objects vanished in Dongla village, Ujjain district for a minute on account of the typical astronomical position of Sun on 21st June- the longest day of the year

• Sun was positioned on Tropic of Cancer on northern hemisphere around 12:28 pm
• Position was exactly atop the Dongla village where the Tropic of Cancer has passed creating a phenomenon where object shadows vanish for a minute
• This rare occurrence is seen once a year on solstice which is the longest day of the year
• Monday (June 21 2016) was the longest day in the northern hemisphere of 13 hours 34 minutes and shortest night of 10 hours 26 minutes
• Sun assumes the unique position as the earth is tilted 23.5 degrees
• The entire movement of the Sun and shadow less period was studied using a Shanku Yantra or vertical gnomon
• This is a traditional astronomical device installed by Sawai Raja Jaisingh of Jaipur in 1719 and with the help of the shadow of the gnomon, the angle of elevation and zenith distance of the sun can be determined.
• At Dongla village, Tropic of Cancer and ancient Indian Time Meridien meet and on June 21 solstice, the shadow of the gnomon vanishes

The Kaladan Multimodal Transit Transport Project (KMTTP) in Myanmar was conceptualized and is being administered by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) with a view to facilitate connectivity between the mainland and the North Eastern States of the country through maritime shipping, inland waterways and roads of Myanmar through the Kalandan project

• India Ports Global Private Limited (IPGPL) has been established as a Joint Venture between Kandla Port Trust and Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust for the purpose of development of ports overseas
• IPGPL was asked to partner IWAI in the Kaladan project as a sub-PDC.

Public-sector aerospace and defence major Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) has inaugurated indigenous Basic Trainer Aircraft (BTA) HTT-40

• It only took one year for the company to fly the first prototype after launching the detailed design of the aircraft by earmarking internal resources only in August 2013 and completing the detailed design phase by May 2015.
• Digital Mock Up (DMU), real time systems clash analysis, laser tracking of assembly jigs, six degree of freedom, mathematical model and complete glass cockpit are among the many first initiatives of the project.
• According to HAL, HTT-40 has been designed to meet the current requirement of the IAF with the provision for role expansion to attach weapons to the trainer aircraft.

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India on 20th June 2016 banned use of potassium bromate as a food additive after Centre for Science and Environment alleged the presence of the substance in bread can cause cancer.

• Meanwhile, the food regulator has also referred the matter for further investigation to a scientific panel.
• A CSE study had found that 84% of 38 commonly available brands of pre-packaged breads, including pav and buns, tested positive for potassium bromate and potassium iodate.
• These two food additives are banned in many countries and listed as "hazardous" for public health.

A new Chinese computer system that can make 93 quadrillions calculations per second has claimed the top spot on the list of the world’s most powerful supercomputers.

• The computer called Sunway TaihuLight developed by the National Research Centre of Parallel Computer Engineering and Technology (NRCPC) is built entirely using processors designed and made in China.
• The supercomputer installed at the National Supercomputing Centre in China displaced Tianhe-2, an Intel-based Chinese supercomputer that has claimed the top 1 spot on the past six TOP500 lists. The closely watched list is issued twice a year.
• Sunway TaihuLight is twice as fast and three times as efficient as Tianhe-2, which posted a performance of 33.86 quadrillions of calculations per second.
• Titan, a Cray X40 system installed at the US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Oak Ridge National Laboratory, is now at the third position, with 17.59 quadrillions of calculations per second.

Bengaluru's Indian Institute of Science (IISc) is among the top 30 Asian universities in the 2016 Times Higher Education (THE) Asia University Rankings

• This is the first time an Indian university has made it to the top 30, with IISc in 27th place.
• Eight Indian institutions are among the top 100 on the list and India has the most institutions overall among the top 200 South Asian universities list of THE.
• The other Indian universities in the top half of the ranking include the Indian Institutes of Technology in Bombay (43rd), Kharagpur (51st), Delhi (60th), Madras (62nd), Roorkee (65th), and Guwahati (joint 80th) and Jadavpur University in joint 84th place.
• Singapore took the first two spots with the National University of Singapore and Nanyang Technological University in first and second place, respectively.

ConnectEd Technologies, an education technology startup creating scalable rural focused education solutions launched EkShiksha in collaboration with the state educational department

• Campaign aims at union of socially responsible corporates, NGOs, schools and grass root educators to overcome inquiry and provide quality education to children studying in rural schools.
• Rural schools will be equipped with smart classrooms by ConnectEd Technologies which is a solar powered teacher aid product that works in demanding rural conditions
• Campaign launch marked the inauguration of ConnectEd Technologies maiden project near Mumbai’s Palghar
• First phase of the project will focus on enhancing education infrastructure in densely populated schools

5 Solarised Community Centre and 100 shelter homes for the benefit of the nomads (wool-growers) involved in Pashmina sheep rearing, in very hard conditions; were launched in Ladakh on 19th June

• Average pashmina yield has done up by 9.3 percent in the past two years
• The P-3 program called the Pashmina Promotion Programme was launched by Minister of State for Textiles (Independent Charge).
• As part of this programme, financial assistance is being provided under different components such as Creation of Common Pashmina Facilitation Centre for Wool Testing, Portable Electric Units for Handloom Spinning and Weaving etc.

Six central universities have full fledged yoga departments from 2016-2017 and the number would be raised by 20 within one year. Six universities are Hemwati Nandan Bahugana Garhwal University, Uttarakhand (North), Viswa Bharti, West Bengal (East), Central University of Rajasthan (West), Central University of Kerala (South), Indira Gandhi National Tribal University, Amarkantak, Madhya Pradesh,(Central) and Manipur University (North East).

• Physical, mental, emotional and other aspects of the individual are honed through yoga.

Three women fighter pilots of the IAF graduated from Air Force Academy at Dundigal. India ahas now joined a select few nations with women fighter pilots in the armed forces. Flying officers Mohana Singh, Bhawana Kanth, and Avani Chaturvedi were conferred with the President’s Commission.

• Total of 130 flight cadets including 22 women trainees were commissioned as Flying Officers at the Air Force Academy.
• Flying Officer Adarsh Hooda was awarded the President’s Plaque and the Chief of Air Staff Sword of Honour for standing first in the pilot course.
• Other awardees of the President’s plaque included Narendra Kushawaha and Sahil Yadav.

Yog Geet (song) was released on International Day of Yoga- the song is 3 minutes and 15 seconds in Hindi language. This song is written by Dheeraj Saraswat and sung by Sh. Gandhar TD Jadhav as well as Ms. Gatha Jadhav. The music of the song was produced by Sh. Sumanto Ray.

• As part of celebration of 2nd International Day of Yoga, a national level competition for selection of a Yog Geet was organised

Indian Institutes of Technology and TATA Institute of Fundamental Research have emerged as leaders in collaborations between University-Industry- Government in research and innovation landscape.

• UIG collaborations ere mapped on data corresponding to research publications in Web of Science database during 2005-2014
• Close to 459,164 publication records were downloaded form India of which 235,036 research records involved multi-institution collaboration
• The two institutions topped in linkages. While IITs were the top participating institutions in UI (University Industry), UG (University Government), IG (Industry Government) and UIG (University Industry Government) linkages, TIFR topped in IG and UIG linkages next. In UI and UG partnerships, AIIMS and BARC clinched the second spots.

Union Minister for Human Resource Development, Smt. Smriti Zubin Irani dedicated ‘Vidyanjali’- a school volunteer programme to the nation at New Delhi on June 16.

• This aims to create an education ecosystem where community engagement in schools will lead to improved learning and knowledge
• The programme will be piloted across 21 States which committed to do so in the conference of State Ministers of Education held on 8th February, 2016.
• These States are Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chattisgarh, Delhi, Haryana, HP, Gujarat, Goa, J&K, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, Telengana, Tripura, Uttarakhand and UP.

Russia on June 16 2016 launched the new Project 22220 nuclear icebreaker dubbed Arktika launched from the Baltic Shipyard in St. Petersburg which is the second largest city of Russia

• Project 22220 is the world’s biggest and most powerful vessel of this kind
• It has been built at the Baltic Shipyard of the United Shipbuilding Corporation of Russia
• The vessel is 189.5 years long and 37.1 yards wide

India’s internet user is rising with over 10 million sellers expected to be online by 2020 to meet the demands of a huge consumer base, according to N. Bawankule, director at Google India.

• By 2020, internet users in India would double to 650 million from current 350 million and over 100 million shoppers are expected to grow exponentially.
• Of the 350 million internet users. close to 76 million are urban accounting or less than 20 percent.

Global shipments of wearable devices are expected to reach 101.9 million units towards the close of 2016 representing 29 percent growth over 2015 according to the International Data Corp.

• Research firm also said market for wearable devices will experience CAGR of 20.3 percent. This will lead to 213.6 million units shipped in 2020.
• Research firm also said wearables market is a collection of disparate devices
• Other factors driving the market include cellular connectivity and applications

Kaspersky Lab investigates global forum where cyber criminals can purchase and sell access to compromised servers for close to USD 6 each. xDedic marketplace run lists 70,624 hacked RDP servers for sale. India ranks 4th in hacked servers with 3488 compromised servers listed on the site as of May 2016

• Research says many of the servers are for consumer websites and services and some have software installation for direct mail, financial accounting and PoS processing.
• India is among the top 5 countries attacked by ransomware
• These type of sites target owner infrastructure or serve as a launchpad for greater attacks
• Owners including government entities, universities and corporations need to be more alert

National aviation industry is expected to see strong growth period with air traffic at 14 percent estimated by positive outlook for crude prices. Report by ICICI Securities held that growth rate of 14 percent is low considering average annual growth rate of passenger traffic in India has been greater than 18-20 percent since 2000 given a positive crude price outlook

• Report also noted that air fare connections on account of lower crude prices have played up with 15 percent dip in fares in 2015-2016
• Fares are likely to stabilize with increase in oil outlook

The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has given its approval for signing of 15 years contract by the Ministry of Earth Sciences with the International Seabed Authority (ISA) for undertaking exploration and other developmental activities related to Polymetallic Sulphides in the allotted area of 10,000 sq km.

• It will be done in parts of Central and South - West Indian Ridges (SWIR), located in the Indian Ocean.
• By signing the 15 year contract, India's exclusive rights for exploration of Polymetallic Sulphides in the allotted Area in the Central Indian Ridge, and South West Indian Ridge in Indian Ocean will be formalised.
• Further, it will enhance India's presence in the Indian Ocean where other players like China, Korea and Germany are active. The program will be implemented by the Ministry of Earth Sciences with the participation from various national institutes and research laboratories/ organisations.

The Union Cabinet on 15 June 2016 gave its approval for Indian membership of the International Continental Scientific Drilling Program (ICDP) consortium. The approval clears the path for signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the GFZ - Helmholtz Centre Potsdam (German Research Centre for geosciences).

• The GFZ is a government-funded, Public Law Foundation of the State of Brandenburg, Germany.
• As a part of the membership agreement, India will get a seat on two ICDP panels - Executive Committee (EC) and Assembly of Governors (AOG).
• ICDP will provide technical / operational support, facilitate capacity building in terms of manpower training in key scientific areas, sample and data management

In an attempt to override the acute shortage of urban planners, the University Grants Commission (UGC) has asked all universities and colleges to introduce a course or a subject on urban planning at either the undergraduate or postgraduate level.

• The University Grants Commission has written to all universities and colleges to include a subject on urban planning from the current academic year- 2016-17.
• The UGC directive comes after the implementation of smart city project by the Centre.

Jal Marg Vikas is a project on the river Ganga that is being developed between Allahabad and Haldia to cover a distance of 1620 kilometers.

• The project is being implemented with technical and investment support from World Bank and would be completed over a period of six years at an estimated cost of 4200 crore rupees.
• It envisages development of a fairway with three metres depth which would enable commercial navigation of at least 1500 ton vessels on the river.
• The construction of multi modal terminals, jetties, river information system, channel marking, navigational lock, river training and conservancy works are to be undertaken as part of the project.

India, the US and Japan on 10th June 2016 began their annual exercise Malabar 2016 which is the 20th edition of the exercise to be conducted till June 17, 2016

• The main aim of this exercise is to boost the interoperability amongst the three navies and develop common understanding of procedures for Maritime Security Operations.
• Malabar 2016 will be conducted with the harbour phase at Sasebo and with the sea phase in the Pacific Ocean.
• The scope of MALABAR-16 includes professional interactions in harbour and a diverse range of activities at sea, including complex surface, sub-surface and air operations.

CEO of Deutsche Bank Asia Pacific Region Gunit Chadha has made the decision to quit following 13 years with the institution

• J Cryan, Co-CEO announced this in a note to employees though he did not cite a reason.

Global Nutrition Report: India has 1/3rd of 159 million stunted children in the world below 5 years of age. India has curbed stunting over the previous decade, but the growing number of diabetes patients means that India has become a centre for overweight people.

• Though still home to one-third of the world's 159 million stunted children aged below five years, India has witnessed a sharp decline in the prevalence of stunting, from 48% in 2006 to 38.7% in 2014.
• According to the latest estimates of the World Health Organization, the number of Indians with diabetes doubled from 32 million in 2000 to 63 million in 2013, and is projected to balloon to 101.2 million in the next 15 years.

Without a heart to pump oxygenated blood around the body, you die pretty quickly. Transplants though, are hard to come by, which is why scientists are looking into using CRISPR to allow pigs to host human-like hearts.

• In the meantime, however, one 25-year-old man has proved that it's possible to live over a year while literally heartless.
• Stan Larkin went a massive 555 days wearing an 'artificial heart' backpack, which filled in after his ticker was removed while he awaited a transplant donor.
• While implantable defibrillators and similar technology can assist with partial heart failure, this device - known as Syncardia - is designed to be used when both sides of the heart fail.

American borne Oman Mateen, a 29 year old security guard shot 50 people to death at the Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, Florida

• The attack left more than 50 people wounded
• The attack was termed an act of terror and hate by President Barack Obama

Institute for Economics and Peace on 10th June 2016 released the 2016 Global Peace Index which is the 10th edition of the GPI. This measures peace, its causes and economic value doing 2015 for 163 nations. India ranks 141 among the 163 countries with 2.566 GPI score showing an improvement in peace building as it held 143rd rank in 2014 and 2015.

• Index showed that the world became less peaceful in 2015 reinforcing the trend of declining peace over the previous decade.
• Countries improving in peace were 81 while 79 deteriorated

Lok Sabha MP, P D Rai launched the open government data portal 'Sikkim.data.gov.in' and Open Government Data Platform (Sikkim) on June 12.

• Sikkim this became the first Indian state to have this portal
• This is the first time the NE state has moved to a national platform
• On the open government data portal, data produced or commissioned by the government or government controlled entities can be freely used, reused and redistributed by anyone.

Nature Forever Society’s I Love Sparrows Global campaign aimed at highlighting the love for the house sparrow and not restricting conservation to researchers, conservationists and environmentalists. It entered the Limca book of records with one million people from all walks of life celebrating World Sparrow Day on March 20th.

• NSF came up with posters with 20 different themes and posted them on social media platforms where people could choose which theme they want to opt for
• Campaign is aimed at creating habitat and awareness for the house sparrow which was once the most common bird in the world

This includes time bound international targets to be reached over the next five years and ending epidemic as a public threat by 2030. Health Minister JP Nadda reiterated Indian commitment to fast track progress on ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030

• Member states adopted a new political declaration at the meeting including time bound international targets to be reached over the next five years and end the epidemic as a public health threat by 2030
• UNGA meeting has brought together state and government heads, people living with HIV and donor organisations to reiterate commitments in Political Declaration on HIV AIDS and set the world to end the epidemic by 2030 within the framework of SDGs
• A five point strategy was also proposed to end AIDS

West African nation Liberia has been declared Ebola free for the second time. The country has passed the WHO threshold of 42 days-twice the incubation period for the virus-since the last known patient tested negative for the second time.

• Liberia’s health ministry indicated the country was free of Ebola and there are no new cases of the deadly tropical virus left in West Africa.
• Liberia is a country hit by an outbreak beginning in neighbouring Guinea in December 2013 with more than 4800 Liberians killed by Ebola
• The virus was at its peak in 2014 and sparked anxiety about a possible global pandemic leading countries to enforce travel bans on three most affected places- Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone
• Guinea was declared Ebola-free by the WHO on June 1 and Sierra Leone on March 17.

The world’s first passenger drone capable of autonomously carrying a person in the air for 23 minutes has been given clearance for testing in Nevada.

• Chinese firm Ehang, which unveiled the electric Ehang 184 passenger drone at CES in Las Vegas in January, has partnered with the Nevada Institute for Autonomous Systems (NIAS) and the Governor’s Office of Economic Development (Goed) to put the drone through testing and regulatory approval.
• The founder and chief executive of Ehang, Huazhi Hu, said the move would lay the foundation for the 184’s commercialisation and kickstart the autonomous aerial transportation industry.

India has ranked 141 on the Global Peace Index making it less peaceful than countries like Burkina Faso and Burundi

• Violence took a USD 680-billion toll on its economy in 2015. In a ranking of 163 countries, compiled by global think tank Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP),
• Syria has been named the least peaceful, followed by South Sudan, Iraq, Afghanistan and Somalia.
• On the other hand, Iceland was ranked as the world’s most peaceful country, followed by Denmark and Austria.

Four Indian women including SBI MD Arundhati Bhattacharya and ICICI Bank MD Chandra Kochhar are in the new list of Forbes world’s 100 most powerful women who are building billion dollar brands and calling the shots in the financial market. Forbes 100 Most Powerful Women in the world list 2016 topped by German Chancellor Angela Merkel includes PepsiCo Chief Indra Nooyi and Biocon founder Kiran Mazumdar Shaw as well as HT Media head Shobhana Bhartia.

• Forbes indicated this year’s most powerful women are the smartest and toughest female leaders of their time making the mark in the world
• Bhattacharya, 60 ranked 25th on the list with SBI facing mounting bad loans at USD 11 billion in December according to Forbes
• Kochchar occupied the 40th position while Mazumdar Shaw was 77th and Bhartia was 93rd
• Nooyi was 14th on this list

Assam’s Guwahati has become the first city in the country to have its own City Animal with district administration declaring the Gangetic River Dolphin as the mascot. The animal known locally as Sihu will be the city animal.

• The district administration had decided on the basis of voting to select this animal from three protected creatures, the other two being Bor Kaso or Black Soft-shell Turtle and Hargila or Great Adjutant Stork
• There are currently less than 2000 Gangetic river dolphins in the Brahmaputra across Guwahati
• A small population of Black Soft-shell turtle are found in the river and its tributaries
• Number of Great Adjutant stork is less than 1200 in and around Guwahati.
• The Gangetic River Dolphin received 24,247 votes

NBC details chapters on making buildings and urban sites accessible and barrier free for the elderly and persons with disabilities. Many public spaces and buildings are inaccessible to India’s disabled estimated at 2.68 crore and the ministry of social justice and empowerment will make accessibility a focus area in the fraud code

• NBC comes under Bureau of Indian Standards and it is not binding, but provides the national benchmark for construction activities.

19th Plenary Session of the Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia (CGPCS) took place in Mahe, Seychelles during 31 May – 3 June 2016.

• India was chosen to co-chair the important Working Group on Improving Maritime Situational Awareness (MSA) in the Region through consensus.
• Seychelles is the current chairman of the CGPCS for the biennium 2016-17.
• CGPCS was set up as a group of interested and affected nations, industry associations and multilateral agencies to take pro-active steps for checking piracy in the Indian Ocean region through a UN Security Council resolution.

Odisha is the first region in the country to give transgender people social welfare benefits – such as a pension, housing and food grains – usually allocated for only the most impoverished. Niten Chandra, principal secretary of Odisha’s Department of Social Security, said the move to give the transgender community the same benefits as those living below the poverty line was aimed at improving their overall social and economic status.

• In a landmark judgment in April 2014, Supreme Court recognised transgender as a legal third gender and called on the government to ensure their equal treatment.
• The court recognised the community as a marginalised group and directed authorities to implement policies to improve their socio-economic status.

Asia’s largest annual security forum Shangri-La Dialogue was inaugurated in Singapore on 3 June 2016. It is the 15th Asia Security Summit to openly discuss and debate security matters in the Asia-Pacific region.

• It is expected that the 2016 discussions will by dominated by the issues like territorial disputes in the South China Sea, military provocations of North Korea and Islamist extremism, migration, counterterrorism, military competition and cybersecurity.
• The Singaporean government along with British think tank the International Institute for Strategic Studies launched the Summit in 2002.

Pope Francis has proclaimed two new saints- a Lutheran convert who hid Jews during World War II and the Polish founder of the first men’s religious order dedicated to the immaculate conception. Pope Francis called Swedish-born Elizabeth Hesselblad and Stanislaus Papczynski “exemplary witnesses to this mystery of resurrection” during the canonization Mass on Sunday in St. Peter’s Square.

• Stanislaus of Jesus and Mary, as he is known, supported hospitals and shelters for the poor in the 17th Century. His crowning achievement was founding the order of Marian Fathers, which preached the cult of Holy Mary.

Indira Gandhi National Open University started the online admission process for numerous degree, diploma and postgrad courses. RD Darekar of the regional centre said admissions are open for July 2016. Yashwatrao Chavan Maharashtra Open University (YCMOU)'s online admission process is already under way and the registration for new students is getting encouraging response.

Students across the country would soon be able to watch live telecast of lectures from six IITs and some other top institutions while seated in their living rooms, with the Union human resource department launching 32 Direct-to-Home channels to cater to their needs.

• The department of space has agreed to allot two transponders on a GSAT series satellite for this ambitious project, while MoUs have been signed with many institutions, which will provide lessons and content that will be beamed on these channels.
• Lectures of over a dozen other premier institutions will also reach students on TV and these names are being finalised.
• These channels will be freely available on Doordarshan's Free Dish DTH platform and all that the students will need is a Set Top Box to receive them.

An iron dagger buried with Egypt’s King Tutankhamun was made from a meteorite, new research shows. Archaeologists and historians have been fascinated by King Tut’s mummified remains and the mysterious objects found in his tomb since their discovery in the 1922.

• Tutankhamun was an Egyptian pharaoh of the 18th dynasty (ruled c. 1332—1323 BC in the conventional chronology).
• In the past, scientists have claimed that an iron dagger, found along with a gold blade in King Tut’s tomb, may have come from meteorites. They found its makeup of iron, nickel and cobalt matched other meteorites in a database, and “strongly suggests its meteoritic origin.”

This tunnel with a massive rail passage under the Swiss Alps aims to increase transit through the heart of Europe

• With political unity on the continent shaken by massive inflow of migrants and looming threat of EU Brexit, the tunnel is set to join economics and nations
• The 57 kilometre Gotthard Base Tunnel made its ceremonial first run with EU leaders on board.

To fast-track proceedings and ensure timely disposal of cases filed by capital market regulator Sebi, a special court is in the process of being set up in the national capital.

• This would be the fourth special court to be established in the country to hear cases filed by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi).
• Following amendment in the Sebi Act, back in 2014, three special courts have already been constituted in Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai