Weekly Current Affairs (24th June 2019 – 29th June 2019)

National

• The Central Public Works Department (CPWD), which comes under the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), constituted a seven-member core group chaired by Additional Director General (training & research) M K Sharma to prepare a roadmap for implementation of a five-year “vision document” (STVD) as directed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
• On June 21, 2019 Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal stated that a Standing Group of Secretaries (GoS) has been constituted for ensuring inter-ministerial coordination on resolving issues related to e-commerce.
• The 7th Foreign Office Consultations between India and Brunei Darussalam was held on 24th June, 2019 in New Delhi.
• On June 22, 2019, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Hardeep Singh Puri inaugurated the Central Command Centre for Air Traffic Flow Management (ATFM) at Vasant Kunj, New Delhi to ensure higher standards of safety.
• The Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Narendra Singh Tomar announced that central Government has decided to use digital technology in rural India to double farmers’ income by the year 2022.

 International

• The UAE has become the first country in the Gulf to launch a new reporting platform named ‘goAML’ developed by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.
• Qu Dongyu became the first Chinese national to be elected to head the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization.
• The Nepalese Embassy in New Delhi issued a notice stating that Nepalese nationals must have a visa if they are entering India from Pakistan, China, Hong Kong, and Macau.
• G-20 summit has started in Osaka, Japan.
• On June 24, 2019, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree to extend the ban on food imports like meats, dairy products, fruits and vegetables from the European Union (EU) till December 31, 2020.

 Economy and Business

• RBI launched the Complaint Management System for lodging complaints against banks & NBFCs with a view to improving customer experience in timely redressal of grievances.
• Government of India stated that the number of wilful defaulters has risen 60% in the 5 years up to FY19, but over ₹ 7600 Cr has been recovered from these defaulters.
• Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) has estimated that the focus of the government to improve logistics, ease of doing business and modern trade infrastructure will boost exports of the country from current $535 billion to $1 trillion in the next 3 years.
• On June 20, 2019, Tech Mahindra, an information technology firm, entered into a multi-year contract with Airbus for cabin and cargo design engineering.
• Minister of State for Tribal Affairs, Smt. Renuka Singh will launch the “Go Tribal Campaign” by Tribes India.

 Sports

• On June 23, 2019, Indian Women’s Hockey team won the FIH ( Fédération Internationale de Hockey) Women’s Series Finals Hiroshima 2019 after defeating the host Japan by 3-1 in the finals held at the Hiroshima Hockey Stadium, Japan.
• The 20-time Grand Slam champion, Roger Federer (37) of Switzerland defeated David Goffin (Belgium) to win the 27th edition of the Halle Open 2019 (also known as Noventi Open 2019) at the Gerry Weber Stadion in Halle, Germany from 17 – 23 June 2019.
• Veyil Marangal (Trees Under the Sun), directed by Bijukumar Damodaran, has won the Outstanding Artistic Achievement Award at the 22nd Shanghai International film festival.
• On June 26, 2019, International Olympic Committee (IOC) suspended the Olympic status from the International Boxing Association (AIBA) and took over the responsibilities of the qualifying and final tournaments for the 2020 Tokyo Games.
• West Indies batsman Chris Gayle, aged 39, will retire from international cricket after the home Test series against India in August-September 2019.

 Awards

• A well-known educationist, pediatrician and author, Dr Gaurav Nigam was conferred with the ‘Innovative Research Excellence Award 2019’ by Lyonpo Ugyen Dorji, Minister for Labour and Human Resources of Bhutan at the Asian Leadership Summit held at Thimphu, Bhutan.
• Rachna Khaira of The Tribune News Service won RedInk Award for ‘Journalist of the Year 2019’.

 Appointments

• Canara Bank General Manager Sarada Kumar Hota has been appointed as the managing director of the National Housing Bank.
• Author Amish Tripathi was appointed as the Director of Nehru Centre in London, which comes under the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR).
• Krishnaswamy Natarajan, 1984 batch officer, has been appointed as new Director General (DG) of Indian Coast Guard (ICG).
• IPS officers Arvind Kumar & Samant Kumar Goel were appointed chiefs of the IB & RAW respectively .
• Acting Chief Justice of Telangana High Court, Raghvendra Singh Chauhan sworn-in as the second Chief Justice of Telangana High Court in Hyderabad.

Important Days

• On June 26, 2019, International Day in Support of Victims of Torture observed all over the world to remind people that human torture is not only unacceptable – it is also a crime.
• World Hydrography Day (WHD) 2019 was observed on June 21.
• International Widows Day was observed on June 23, 2019.
• Annually on June 23, International Olympic Day is celebrated all around the world.

 Science and Tech

• India scraped $500 million arms deal with Israel for the purchase of Spike anti-tank missiles from defence contractor Rafael Advanced Defence Systems.
• On June 25, 2019, The US (United States) space agency, NASA’s ( National Aeronautics and Space Administration) Curiosity rover has discovered the high amounts of methane gas on Mars that indicates life on the red planet.
• On June 25, 2019, Space Exploration Technologies Corp (SpaceX) launched a hefty rocket with 24 payload military and scientific research satellites with a deep space atomic clock, solar sail, clean and green rocket fuel, and even human ashes, including an astronaut.
• On June 14, 2019, National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) Astrobee Robot “Bumble” became the first Astrobee robot to fly under its own power in space.

 Defence

• India test-fired indigenously developed nuclear-capable missile Prithvi-II as part of a user trial by the Army from a test range off the Odisha coast.
• The three best police stations in the country are in Rajasthan, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and West Bengal, an internal survey of the Union Home Ministry has found.

 Obituaries

• President of the BJP’s Rajasthan unit Madan Lal Saini has passed away at the age of 75.
• Jharna Dhara Chowdhury, eminent social activist and secretary of the Gandhi Ashram Trust in Jayag, Noakhali, Bangladesh passed away due to old age complications.
• On June 25, 2019, A renowned seer, Swami Satyamitranand Giri Maharaj (Swami Satyamitranand), aged 87, passed away at Dehradun in Uttarakhand after a prolonged illness.
• Veteran freedom fighter Mohan Ranade passed away in Pune, Maharashtra at the age of 90.
• Famous Telugu writer Abburi Chaya Devi has died.

 States

• On June 27, 2019, Justice Prasanta Kumar Saikia (Retired) was sworn in as the Chairperson of the Lokayukta in Arunachal Pradesh.
• The ISTA will hold its 32nd Congress in Hyderabad.
• Justice V Ramasubramanian was sworn in as the Chief Justice of Himachal Pradesh High Court in Shimla on Saturday.
• Kerala has topped among large states on overall health performance in NITI Aayog’s Health Index followed by Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra.
• West Bengal government has announced a crop insurance scheme called Bangla Shashya Bima in collaboration with the Agriculture Insurance Company of India for the 2019 Kharif season.

 Miscellaneous

• Meenakshi Lekhi, a women politician(MP of Bharatiya Janata Party and spokesperson) has written her debut novel titled ‘The New Delhi Conspiracy’.
• Adani Power will acquire GCEL as the consortium of lenders has approved its resolution plan.
• On June 19, 2019, The Information & Broadcasting (I&B) Ministry, Government of India signed the agreement with Bangladesh and South Korea for DD (Doordarshan) India, an Indian English News and Current Affairs Channel which is to be telecasted in those countries.
• Yoga guru Baba Ramdev will pen an Autobiography titled ‘My Life, My Mission’.
• Veteran Actor Anupam Kher, aged 64, has penned an Auto-Biography titled “Lessons Life Taught Me, Unknowingly”.

 Agreements

• Max Bupa has partnered with MobiKwik to promote bite-sized group insurance products.
• Two Memorandum of Agreements (MoAs) on ‘Railway Station Redevelopment’ for the renovation of a total of 22 railway stations was signed by Indian Railway Stations Development Corporation (IRSDC).
• On June 21, 2019, National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) and PowerGrid Corporation of India Limited (PGCIL) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to set up a Joint Venture (JV) the National Electricity Distribution Company Limited (NEDCL).
• On June 28, 2019, The World Bank and the Government of India signed a loan agreement of $400 Million for the Program Towards Elimination of Tuberculosis(TB), which kills approximately half a million people in India every year.