CURRENT AFFAIR -IAS

Current Affairs June 06 to June 12 2016 International Current News 5th June 2016 - the date on which the World Environment Day was celebrated recently. QF-16 -the unmanned world’s, most lethal drone which was recently tested by US Air Force over Florida and Gulf of Mexico. It is a new version of the F-16 fighter plane. A fully loaded F-16 has a six barrel M61 gun, along with 11 other places to mount weapons including nuclear missile. The World Bank – they slashed its 2016 global growth forecast on Wednesday to 2.4 per cent from the 2.9 per cent estimated in January due to stubbornly low commodity prices, sluggish demand in advanced economies, weak trade and diminishing capital flows. The downgraded World Bank forecast follows a similar move by the International Monetary Fund, which cut its growth forecasts two months ago. Jupiter - the largest planet of the solar system, is the planet which will be approached by American space agency NASA’s Juno spacecraft within less than a month. The Juno mission was launched on August 5, 2011 with the primary aim of improving our understanding of the solar system’s beginnings by revealing the origin and evolution of Jupiter. The Carbfix project – the project at Iceland’s Hellisheide plant, the world’ largest geothermal facility which recently made a breakthrough of turning carbon dioxide into stone in matters of months by pumping it deep under- ground, offering a revolutionary new way of storing the greenhouse gas to tackle climate change. The pioneering experiment in Iceland mixed CO2 emissions with water and pumped it hundreds of feet underground into volcanic basalt rock- where it rapidly turned into a solids. National Current News 6.5 % - the short-term lending rate which was retained by Reserve bank of India second bimonthly monetary policy for the current fiscal. It is the rate at which the RBI lends to commercial banks. Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) which is the share of deposits bank must kept with RBI, was kept at 4 percent Reserve Bank of India. Governor Raghuram Rajan kept the key policy rate unchanged citing higher upside risks to 'inflation trajectory' but said the central bank will remain accommodative provided data are supportive. Six – the number of nuclear power plant reactors to be set up in India for which the Nuclear Power Corporation of India and US firm Westinghouse have agreed to begin engineering and site design work immediately conclude contractual arrangements by June 2017. Once completed, the project would be among the largest of its kind, fulfilling the promise of the US-India civil nuclear agreement and demonstrating a shared commitment to meet India's growing energy needs while reducing reliance on fossil fuels. INS Vikramaditya - the naval ship which recently saw an incident of gas leak during repairs which led to death of 2 persons. INS Vikramaditya, the Russian made aircraft carrier is India’s largest naval ship equipped with a variety of integral weapons and sensors. It is presently undergoing repairs at Karwar in Karnataka. Rs.100 - the rate per kg for the first 5 kg of excess baggage which has been fixed by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation(DGCA) which will be effective from 15th June 2016. In addition to this other changes has also been introduced relating to refunds, compensation, delays and passenger facilities. Sports Updates Boxing - the sports with which Muhammad Ali, one of the world’s greatest athletes, who transcended his sport, race and politics who died recently was related. Born Caussius Marcellus Clay on January 17, 1942 in Louisville, Ali began boxing at the age of 12 itself. France – the country which is hosting the EURO 2016 football tournament. Maria Sharapova - the Russian former world number one who has been given a two-year ban by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) following her positive test for the banned drug meldonium at this year's Australian Open. Meldonium was added to WADA's list of banned substances at the start of the year after evidence that it boosted blood flow and enhanced athletic performance. Sharapova is the world's highest-paid female athlete. Her career earnings amount to $36 million while her off-court earnings, according to Forbes, are around $200 million. Laos – this country was defeated by India in one of the biggest ever wins and to help India book a berth in the 2019 AFC Asian Cup football Qualifiers. The victory and a berth in the Asian Cup Qualifiers will ease a lot of pressure on Coach Stephen Constantine whose future has been under a scanner after a string of poor shows by the national team. Sun Yu – the badminton player of China was defeated by Saina Nehwal in the finals to win the Australian Open badminton title. It is Saina’s second Australian Open victory, having clinched the title in 2014 as well. Current Affairs May 30 to June 05 2016 International Current News Robot Taxi - the Japanese technology company unveiled its driverless taxis on the sidelines of the G-7 summit held recently at Ise-Shima in Japan. Robot Taxi is a joint venture between ZMP that develops automated vehicle technology and mobile portal and e-commerce websites provider De Na Co. Harambe - the 17-year-old endangered gorilla which was shot dead by the Cincinnati Zoo authorities in the United States after a four-year-old entered the enclosure, sparking a furious debate on animal rights. The male western lowland gorilla named Harambe was killed on Saturday by a special zoo response team that feared the boy’s life was in danger. Video taken by zoo visitors showed the gorilla at times appeared to be protective of the boy but also dragged him through the shallow moat. National Current News Masala Bonds – they are the financial instrument through which the road transport and highway ministry is planning to raise fund for road projects. Masala Bonds are named after Indian spices and refer to the financial instrument via which the Indian firms can raise money from global market in rupees. These are similar to Dim Sum bonds issued in Chinese currency. 50,000 - the amount of PF withdrawal on which no tax is being deducted at source from June 1, 2016. The government has notified raising the threshold limit of PF withdrawal for deduction of tax from existing Rs 30,000 to Rs 50,000. "The Finance Act, 2016 has amended section 192A of Income Tax Act, 1961 to raise the threshold limit of PF withdrawal from Rs 30,000 to Rs 50,000 for Tax Deducted at Source (TDS)," the notification stated. The government had introduced the proposal to deduct TDS on PF withdrawals in order to discourage pre-mature withdrawal and to promote long term savings. 1% - the tax on cash purchase of gold jewellery which was rolled back by government recently which was announced in this year’s Union Budget. The jewellers had earlier been on a 45-day strike after Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in his Budget speech in February proposed 1% excise tax on non-silver jewellery. KaBom - the name of Khasi traditional drum on which the Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently tried his hand during his visit to Meghalaya. The prime minister expressed keenness about the rhythm and beat a drum together with the other Khasi tribal musicians. The Prime minister visited the state to address at the 65th plenary session of North Eastern Council. Finmeccanica - the Italy’s company for which the central government has decided to cancel all ongoing tenders for defence equipment as a precursor to blacklisting of the firm which is being investigated for bribery in the Agusta Westland VVIP chopper deal. The government has also started the process for blacklisting Finmeccanica and its subsidiaries. The government has already withdrawn the RFP for heavy weight torpedoes for Socrpene submarines which was won by WASS, a Finmeccanica subsidiary, during the United Progressive Alliance regime. KKC- it stands for Krishi Kalyan Cess which is 0.5 per cent of service tax introduced from 1st June 2016 on all services thus increasing the total tax chargeable on services to 15 per cent. Four month – the period for which the window under the Income Declaration Scheme has been launched from 1st June 2016 which gives a chance to domestic tax payers to declare undisclosed income or assets and avail immunity from penalty and prosecution by paying tax 45 per cent. The scheme requires declaration of undisclosed asset at its fair market value (FMV) as on date of commencement of the scheme and will be regarded as cost of acquisition of the asset for any subsequent transfer. Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation – this department will be the coordinating agency for the government initiative to launch a special drive at 100 sites that will be identified as ‘iconic places’ as part of the Swachh Bharat Mission. The first list of 10 includes heritage sites such as TajMahal, Vaishno Devi temple, Golden Temple, ChhatrapatiShivaji Terminus, Ajmer Dargah. The coordinating agency will work with the ministries of urban development, culture, tourism and the government of states where the sites are located. Banking sector - the sector for which the government is planning to launch the second edition of Indradhanush. The government is mulling Indradhanush-II, expanding the scope of banking reforms, to get rid of bad loans, manage risks better, bring millions of un-banked and under-banked people into the fold as well as create a holding company for the public sector banks. Indradhanush -- a seven-pronged strategy to revamp functioning of PSBs through professional appointments, creation of Banks Board Bureau, re-capitalisation, de-stressing, empowerment, accountability, and governance reforms -- was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government in August last year. Indradhanush-II is likely to chart out the process for resolution of non-performing assets. Apart from resolution, risk management, financial inclusion, expansion of digital banking, credit growth and use of modern technology are among the areas that are likely find a mention in Indradhanush-II. The Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest Act (also known as Sarfaesi Act) would be amended to enable banks to recover NPAs speedily, with fewer legal hurdles. The Debt Recovery Tribunal will also be streamlined to shift its processes online and ensure faster processing of cases. Sports Updates Alastair Cook – he recently became the youngest player to score 10,000 runs in Test cricket. He scored the runs at 31 years and 157 days beating Sachin Tendulkar record of 31 years and 326 days. He became the first England batsman to score 10,000 Test runs and also the 12th player of all time to make 10,000 test runs. Novak Djokovic - the world’s No. 1-ranked player defeated British second seed Andy Murray 3-6 6-1 6-2 6-4 to claim his maiden French Open title at Roland Garros and hold all four grand slams at the same time. Djokovic is first man to hold all four major titles at the same time since Rod Laver, and only the third man in history to do it, along with Don Budge, who won six consecutive major titles from 1937 to 1938. Garbine Muguruza - the tennis player from Spain won the ladies singles trophy of French Open at Roland Garros. She achieved the rare feat of overpowering world Serena Williams to claim her maiden Grand Slam title with a 7-5, 6-4 win over the world number one and defending champion in the French Open final recently. AIBA - the Boxing world’s body which in a historic decision recently, allowed professional boxers to compete alongside amateur ones in AIBA competitions. The decision will allow professional boxers to also take part in Olympics and other international events. Bhuvneshwar Kumar – the player of Sun Risers Hyderabad who won the ‘Purple cap’ for the taking the maximum number of wickets in IPL 9. He took 23 wickets in the tournament. Virat Kohli – the player of Royal Challengers, Bangalore who won the ‘Orange cap’ for scoring the maximum runs in IPL 9. He scored total of 973 runs. Seema Punia - the Indian women discuss thrower won gold medal at the Pat Young Throwers Classic in California, USA recently. The reigning Asian Games champion registered an attempt of 62.62 metres to better the Olympic qualifying marks of 61 metres and qualified for Rio Olympics.