WBCS Current Affairs 10/06/2017 to 16/06/2017 Part 2
Posted: Sat Jun 24, 2017 6:33 pm36. CSIR-Structural Engineering Research Centre (SERC), Chennai, has come up with a cost-effective toilet. The toilet is expected to be set up in those areas where toilet coverage is not available.
The cost-effective toilet will weigh less than 500kg and will have a life span of 25-30 years. It can be assembled in under five hours. The toilet has been built with the help of the textile reinforced concrete (TRC) panels. The TRC panels has been developed by CSIR-SERC using textile reinforced concrete prototyping technology (TRCPT). CSIR-SERC had applied patent for this innovative all-in-one technology in 2014. The same TRC panels can be used as doors, roofing, walls and even flooring. There is no need of any moulds to prepare these sheets. These sheets vary in thickness from 15mm to 25mm. The reinforcement makes use of glass textile mesh with a grained cementious binder. This will be corrosion-free and is capable of withstanding winds. CSIR-SERC CSIR is an autonomous body and India’s premier research and development (R&D) organisation. It was established in 1942. It operates as an autonomous body registered under the Registration of Societies Act of 1860. It is mainly funded by the Union Ministry of Science and Technology. CSIR’s R&D activities include aerospace engineering, ocean sciences, structural engineering, metallurgy, life sciences, chemicals, mining, food, petroleum, leather, and environment. CSIR-SERC is one of the national laboratories under the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) situated at Chennai. The laboratory has built expertise in analysis, design and testing of structures and structural components. Its services are sought by the union, state as well as the public and private sector undertakings.
37. Renowned Telugu poet and writer Cingireddi Narayana Reddy has passed away. In 1992, Reddy was awarded the country’s third-highest civilian honour, Padma Bhushan. In 1977, he was awarded the Padma Shri. In 1997, he was nominated to the Upper House of Parliament. In 1998, he received the prestigious Jnanpith award for his poetic work Visvambara which got translated into three other languages. Reddy has also written several songs for Telugu movies. Narayana Reddy was born in Karimnagar district of Andhra Pradesh on July 29, 1931. He had obtained his MA and PhD in Telugu literature from Osmania University. Previously, he had also worked as a professor of the University.
38. The Ministry of Law and Justice has launched the ‘Tele-Law’ initiative in collaboration with the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology to provide legal aid services to the marginalized communities and citizens living in rural areas through the Common Service Centres (CSC) at the panchayat level, spread across the country.
‘Tele Law initiative would help people to seek legal advice from lawyers with the help of video conferencing facility available at the Common Service Centres (CSC). Apart from the lawyers, law school clinics, District Legal Service Authorities, voluntary service providers and Non-Government Organisations working on legal aid and empowerment can also be connected through the CSCs. In the initial phase, the initiative will be tested as a pilot project across 500 Common Service Centres (CSC) in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. In this phase, challenges to the initiative would be identified and necessary corrections would be made and would eventually be rolled out across the country in a phased manner. A new portal called ‘Tele Law’ will be made available across the CSC network to connect the citizens to legal service providers with the help of technology-enabled platforms. The initiative would strengthen access to justice for the marginalized communities. The government will also put in place a robust monitoring and evaluation system to assess the quality of the legal advice delivered to the people. Under the initiative, a Para Legal Volunteer (PLV), would be employed in each CSC. The volunteer would serve as the first point of contact for the marginalized communities in the rural areas who will help them understand the legal issues, explain the advice given by lawyers and assist in further action as per the advice of the lawyer. Around 1000 women Para Legal Volunteers will also be trained under this initiative to provide legal aid services through the CSCs. This is expected to promote women entrepreneurship and empowerment. Further, the National Legal Service Authority (NALSA) will also provide a panel of lawyers who will provide advice from the state capitals to the applicants in the CSCs through video conferencing.
39. Spain’s Rafael Nadal has defeated Swiss third-seeded Stan Wawrinka 6-2, 6-3, 6-1 to win his record 10th French Open title. This will be his fifteenth major title win. With this victory, Rafael Nadal has become the first man or woman in the Open era to clinch a Grand Slam tournament 10 times. The Open era which began in 1968 allowed professional players to compete with amateurs in the Grand Slam tournaments. With 15 Grandslam title wins, Nadal moves to the second place above Pete Sampras on the list of all-time Grand Slam winners of men’s tennis only behind Roger Federer, who recently registered his 18th title win at the Australian Open in January. Women’s Doubles Title America’s Bethanie Mattek-Sands and the Czech Republic’s Lucie Safarova have clinched their third successive grand slam doubles title after defeating Australian duo Ashleigh Barty and Casey Dellacqua at the French Open. French Open The French Open is a premier clay court tennis championship event held between late May and early June for a duration of two weeks at the Stade Roland-Garros in Paris. The event is the second of out of four annual Grand Slam tournaments. The other three events are Australian Open, Wimbledon and the US Open. The event has been named after the French aviator Roland Garros. Garros was a Tennis Lover. French Open is also called “Roland Garros” or Les internationaux de France de Roland-Garros or Tournoi de Roland-Garros.
40. The Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings 2018 has been released. In the list, three Indian universities have featured among the top 200 universities.
The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)-Bombay, IIT-Delhi and Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru, have featured in the top 200 global universities. For the first, three Indian institutions have found a place in the list of top 200 universities in the QS Rankings. IISc Bangalore has been placed at 190 from the152nd place secured last year. Similarly, IIT Delhi have climbed from 185 to 172 and IIT Bombay has jumped from 219 to 179 this year. IISc has been placed at 6th position among 959 universities for ‘Citations per Faculty’ in the 2018 rankings. It is measured by calculating how many times research papers from a university is cited in the research work of others and is then calibrated against its faculty strength. For the first time, the Delhi University (DU) has entered the top 500 group. Other Indian Universities that find a place in the list are: Jadavpur University (ranked in the 601-650 band), University of Hyderabad (601-650), Anna University (651-700), Manipal University (701-750), Aligarh Muslim University (800-1000), Birla Institute of Technology and Science (800-1000) The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has been ranked as the world’s best university for the sixth consecutive year. The second and third place in the overall rankings has been occupied by Stanford University and Harvard University respectively. This year’s ranking surveyed 26,000 universities across the globe. In total, 20 Indian institutions have been included in the ranking table this year. The list has a total of 959 top universities.
In the recently released NIRF Rankings for Indian educational institutes, IISc was ranked as the country’s best university. IIT Madras was ranked as the best institute in the category of engineering institutes. The Quacquarelli Symonds is a British agency that annually ranks higher educational institutes across the world based on six performance parameters such as Research, Teaching, Employability and Internationalisation, in addition to a 40 point weightage to the institute`s stature.
41. Unseeded Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia has lifted the the 2017 French Open Women’s Singles crown. She defeated Simona Halep 4-6, 6-4, 6-3. This will be Ostapenko’s first ever Grand Slam title. With this win, Ostapenko, 20, has become the first unseeded woman to win the French Open after Britain’s Margaret Scriven’s feat in 1933. Ostapenko also earned the distinction for being the first player of Latvian origin – men or women – to win a Grand Slam event. French Open The French Open is a premier clay court tennis championship event held between late May and early June for a duration of two weeks at the Stade Roland-Garros in Paris. The event is the second of out of four annual Grand Slam tournaments. The other three events are Australian Open, Wimbledon and the US Open. The event has been named after the French aviator Roland Garros. Garros was a Tennis Lover. French Open is also called “Roland Garros” or Les internationaux de France de Roland-Garros or Tournoi de Roland-Garros.
42. EU and France will give a grant of 3.5 million euros to three Indian cities- Nagpur, Kochi and Ahmedabad as part of the EU’s commitment under the Paris Climate agreement to curb emissions and promote sustainability in these cities.
The grants have been provided to help India’s smart city programme under the ‘Moblise Your City’ (MYC) initiative. India has become the first country to get benefits from the MYC initiative. The MYC initiative is supported by the French and German government and also has financial support of the European Union (EU). The initiative is aimed at helping 100 cities across the world to reduce Green House Gas (GHG) emissions by promoting sustainable urban transport and sustainability in urban spaces. MYC initiative was emphasised by the Indian and European leaders during Prime Minister Modi’s recent visit to Europe. Further it has been stated that more funds would be offered to India to carry forward its sustainable transport initiatives on the three smart cities.
French Development Agency (AFD) has been associated with several projects in India and conservation of biodiversity. AFD, at present, is funding the Vijayawada, Lucknow, Bengaluru, Kochi and Nagpur metro rail projects. AFD is a public financial institution of France whose mandate is to implement the policy defined by the French government. It is headquartered in Paris. It finances projects in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Latin America, the Caribbean and the French overseas territories to promote living conditions for populations and economic growth in these regions. France is the ninth largest foreign investor in India.
43. India has moved the World Trade Organisation (WTO) against the US as it has not yet complied with the rulings of the WTO pertaining to imposition of high import duty on certain Indian steel products. In December 2014, the WTO’s appellate body pronounced a ruling against the act of US which is imposing high import duty on certain Indian steel products. It had ruled that the imposition of import duty on steel products was inconsistent with various provisions of the Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures. The Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures (the SCM Agreement) – addresses two separate but closely related matters-The multilateral disciplines on the use of subsidies and the conditions under which Members may apply countervailing measures. India has sought consultation with the US for compliance of the WTO’s rulings. If the US refuses to comply then India has planned to approach the WTO’s compliance panel. In order to comply with the WTO rulings on countervailing duties on imports of hot-rolled carbon steel products from India, the US needs to amend its domestic norms. Earlier, the US had moved the arbitration panel of the WTO against India as it complained that India had failed to remove trade restrictions on American poultry. WTO The WTO is an inter-governmental organization for governments to negotiate global trade agreements and progressively liberalizing trade. The WTO operates a system of trade rules that apply to all its members. The WTO is also a place for Member governments to settle their trade disputes. Its located in Geneva, Switzerland. It was established on 1 January 1995 and its official languages are English, French and Spanish.
44. According to RBI, India’s foreign exchange (Forex) reserves have increased by $2.404 billion to touch a lifetime high of $381.167 billion in the week that ended on June 2. The increase was due to increase in foreign currency assets (FCAs). Components The components of India’s Foreign Exchange Reserves include: Foreign currency assets (FCAs), Gold, Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) and RBI’s Reserve position with International Monetary Fund (IMF). Out of all the components, FCAs constitute the largest component of the Forex Reserves. FCA rose by $2.748 billion to $357.290 billion in the reporting week. FCAs consist of US dollar and other major non-US global currencies. It also comprises of investments in US Treasury bonds, bonds of other selected governments, deposits with foreign central and commercial banks. FCAs include with them the effects of appreciation or depreciation of non-US currencies like the euro, pound, and the yen and is expressed in terms of dollars. The gold reserves declined by $343.2 million to $20.095 billion in the reporting week. SDRs’ value decreased marginally by $0.2 million to $1.472 billion. RBI’s reserve position with the IMF declined by $0.4 million to $2.309 billion.
45. The International Olympic Committee has approved a number of new events for the 2020 Tokyo Games at the IOC’s Executive Board meeting held at Lausanne, Switzerland. The new events were added to reflect the IOC’s focus on gender equality and appeal to young people.
The Tokyo Olympics would include 321 events which is an increase from 306 events held at Rio 2016. The new additions inlcude a mixed 4x400m relay along with 14 other events such as 3-on-3 basketball, the mixed relay, mixed swimming, mixed team archery, BMX freestyle etc. In addition, Mixed triathlon will also be included in the Tokyo games for the first time. Further, a mixed team event for judo will be included. Each team of judo will have 3 men and 3 women, all representing different weight classes. At the judo world championships, team events on mixed-gender basis have not taken place. Mixed Doubles Table Tennis competition will also be included. The mixed event was recently featured in the world championships held in Germany. The 10 minute 3-on-3 basketball event which will be played on a half-sized court is known for its speed. The game was adopted by the International Basketball Federation as an official discipline with common rules in 2007. Totally, the number of mixed events at Tokyo Olympics will double to 18 up from 9 held in Rio Olympics. The IOC’s focus in selecting the new events was for their appeal to young and urban audiences as well as for redressing long-standing imbalances between male and female athletes. IOC also reduced the number of athletes who will be competing in Tokyo olympics by 285 compared to Rio in order to prevent the games from being increasingly bloated and costly. IOC The IOC is the supreme authority of the Olympic Movement headquartered at Lausanne, Switzerland. It is a not-for-profit independent international organisation comprised of volunteers. It was founded on 23rd June, 1894. The IOC Session and Executive Board are responsible for making important decisions for the organisation.
46. SEBI has granted conditional approval for the appointment of Vikram Limaye as the MD and CEO of the NSE. In February 2017, Limaye who is MD and CEO of infrastructure financing company IDFC was selected for the post of NSE chief. However, SEBI had not cleared his appointment as he was also present in the Supreme Court appointed four-member panel managing the affairs of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). Now, the SEBI has cleared the appointment of Limaye subject to the condition that he relieves himself from his BCCI assignment, among other things. Limaye’s term with the BCCI ends in August this year. The NSE has already assured SEBI that Limaye will not seek an extension on his BCCI assignment. Limaye is expected to take charge of NSE at a time the exchange is facing challenges in multiple fronts. NSE has been functioning headless for the past six months. In addition, the vice chairman and founding member of the NSE Ravi Narain resigned from the board as the SEBI investigation in the algorithmic trading platform issue picked up. SEBI has also issued show cause notices to 14 directors of the exchange for their failure to maintain market sanctity. NSE plans for an initial public offering in the second half of this year.
Vikram Limaye was selected as the Managing Director of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) after Chitra Ramakrishna had quit the exchange in December 2016 citing personal reasons. Vikram Limaye is chartered accountant with an MBA from The Wharton School. Earlier, Mr Limaye was also named a member of a four-member panel by the Supreme Court to run the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), the apex cricket management body in the country.
47. NITI Aayog has launched SATH-‘Sustainable Action for Transforming Human capital’ with the State Governments for furthering the agenda of cooperative federalism.
NITI Aayog under the SATH initiative plans to identify and build three future ‘role model’ states for health systems. After identification of three states, NITI Aayog will work in close collaboration with the state machinery of these three states. It will help in designing a robust roadmap, develop a program governance structure, establish monitoring and tracking mechanisms, and provide support to the state institutions to achieve the end objectives. SATH program will be implemented by NITI Aayog along with McKinsey & Company and IPE Global consortium. Selection of States For selecting three model states, NITI Aayog spelled out three-stage process, namely, expression of interest, presentations by the states and assessment of commitment to health sector reforms. Subsequently, 16 states expressed interest in the initiative out of which 14 states presented their project proposals-Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chandigarh, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Punjab, Telangana and Uttar Pradesh. From these four states, NITI Aayog has shortlisted 5 states. After subsequent screening and evaluations, three states will be selected. Parameters such as MMR, IMR, incidence of malaria will be considered for determining potential impact, and metrics such as density of doctors and nurses, compliance to IPHS norms will be used to determine likelihood of success. The program will be launched after signing of MoUs with these three selected states. NITI Aayog NITI Aayog is essentially an advisory body that seeks to provide critical directional and strategic inputs across spectrum of key elements of policy to the centre as well as states. The Government of India has established Niti Ayog as a “Think Tank” which has no power to impose policies. By establishing Niti Ayog the government wants to be an “enabler” and leaves the impetus to provide a platform for cooperative and competitive federalism to the newly established body.
48. Government has awarded a Rs 1,600-crore contract for constructing 109-km road connecting Paletwa river terminal to Zorinpui in Mizoram border as a part of the $484-million Kaladan multi-modal transport (KMTT) projects in Myanmar which will offer connectivity to Mizoram.
Kaladan multi-modal transport projects was the first major project undertaken by the Indian government in Myanmar. India has finished constructing Sittwe port in the trouble-prone Rakhine state of Myanmar. Also, the extension of the Aizawl-Saiha National Highway by 90 km to the international border at Zorinpui at the Indian side is nearing completion. In addition, four-laning of the 300 km Aizawl-Tuipang highway to ensure faster movement of goods between Sittwe and Aizawl is also nearing completion. KMTT KMTT is essentially a multi-modal transport project having three different stretches involving shipping, Inland Water and road transport stretches. The longest among them is Shipping segment from Kolkata to Sittwe port in Myanmar. Government of India is funding this project and it is considered as an important investment of India in its neighbourhood. The cargo will start from Kolkata port and reach Sittwe port in Myanmar by ship. The Sittwe Port would be linked to Lashio (also in Maynmar) via the Kaladan river transport route. Lashio would be connected to Mizoram via road transport (National Highway 54)
The idea for Kaladan multi-modal transport projects was mooted in 2003. However, India and Myanmar signed the framework agreement for Kaladan project only in 2008. Construction began in 2010 but inadequate fund allocation and planning failure delayed the completion of the project. In 2015, the present government revised the budget estimates by nearly six times and has involved the State-owned Ircon Infrastructure and Services Ltd as consultant with an objective to complete the project in 2019. As per the terms of the framework agreement, India should also set up an SEZ at Sittwe. The setting up of SEZ at Sittwe is important to promote Indian investment in the region which has overwhelming Chinese influence. Significance The completion of KMTT project will play a major role in economic development of the North-East India and it will improve the bilateral relations between India and Myanmar. When completed, the KMTT will shorten the current time taken to transport goods from Kolkata to Mizoram by three-four days, and the distance by around 950 km. KMMT is hailed as “Future gateway to South East Asia”.
49. The Supreme Court has upheld the government’s decision and ruled that it would be mandatory for all Aadhaar holders to link it with the permanent account number (PAN) for filing of income tax returns. However, in a partial setback to the government, the apex court refused to make it compulsory for those people who do not possess an Aadhaar card or have not yet applied for one. The Court stayed the retrospective invalidation of PAN for non-compliance till a Constitutional Bench decides on the privacy question pending before it. As a result, a person who do not possess Aadhaar card will not face criminal consequences for not linking Aadhaar card with PAN card. The Supreme Court also upheld the legislative competence of Parliament in enacting the law to this effect. However, it has stated that it has not touched upon the issue of Right to Privacy and other aspects which will be decided by the Constitution bench.
Government had made linking of Aadhaar card with PAN card mandatory for filing of Income Tax returns as it would help to weed out fake and fraudulent financial accounts. According to the Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Act, 2016, the Aadhaar number is mandatory only for receiving social welfare benefits. But as per the provisions of the Finance Act 2017, the Aadhaar number/Aadhaar enrolment number is mandatory to file income tax returns and to apply for a new PAN. The government will declare the existing PAN to be void if the taxpayer fails to link it with Aadhaar by July 31, 2017. In 2015, a three-judge bench had referred the issue of Right to Privacy and other aspects to a larger constitution bench, which is yet to be constituted.
50. In a first Preet Kaur Gill has become the first Sikh to be elected to the British Parliament’s House of Commons. Similarly, Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi has become the first turban-wearing Sikh to be elected to the House of Commons. In a first, the House of Commons will have a record 12 Indian-origin MPs, which will be two more than the present record of 10 (five each from Labour and Conservative). The victories of Preet kaur Gill and Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi is considered as a significant milestone for Sikh politicians in United Kingdom in this election. Dhesi and Gill are from the opposition Labour party. While Dhesi has won from the Slough constituency and Gill has won from Birmingham Edgbaston. Other Indian-Origin Winners Alok Sharma, who is minister for Asia has retained his Reading West seat. Goa-origin Suella Fernandes (Conservative) and Virendra Sharma have retained their her seats comfortably. Lisa Nandy (Labour) and Seema Malhotra (Labour) have retained their Wigan seat Feltham and Heston seats respectively.
51. The President of India, Pranab Mukherjee has launched a mobile Application ‘Selfie with Daughter’ at Rashtrapati Bhavan. The App is aimed at raising awareness among people about female foeticide and sex selection. The President has urged the people to take selfies with their daughters to make the campaign a huge success. The app is expected to create awareness and help in dealing with the problems arising out of gender imbalance. The President has termed the App as an innovative concept and as an act of gentle persuasion.
The ‘Selfie with Daughter’ campaign was started in village Bibipur, Jind, Haryana by a former Sarpanch Sunil Jaglan in June 2015. The aim of the ‘Selfie with Daughter’campaign is to motivate society to feel proud to be parents of a girl child which in turn is expected to have a positive impact in improving the child sex ratio. The campaign has attracted many celebrities including Sachin Tendulkar who has joined the campaign on social media. The campaign was termed as an international movement by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the time of his meeting with Silicon Valley CEOs in the US.
The cost-effective toilet will weigh less than 500kg and will have a life span of 25-30 years. It can be assembled in under five hours. The toilet has been built with the help of the textile reinforced concrete (TRC) panels. The TRC panels has been developed by CSIR-SERC using textile reinforced concrete prototyping technology (TRCPT). CSIR-SERC had applied patent for this innovative all-in-one technology in 2014. The same TRC panels can be used as doors, roofing, walls and even flooring. There is no need of any moulds to prepare these sheets. These sheets vary in thickness from 15mm to 25mm. The reinforcement makes use of glass textile mesh with a grained cementious binder. This will be corrosion-free and is capable of withstanding winds. CSIR-SERC CSIR is an autonomous body and India’s premier research and development (R&D) organisation. It was established in 1942. It operates as an autonomous body registered under the Registration of Societies Act of 1860. It is mainly funded by the Union Ministry of Science and Technology. CSIR’s R&D activities include aerospace engineering, ocean sciences, structural engineering, metallurgy, life sciences, chemicals, mining, food, petroleum, leather, and environment. CSIR-SERC is one of the national laboratories under the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) situated at Chennai. The laboratory has built expertise in analysis, design and testing of structures and structural components. Its services are sought by the union, state as well as the public and private sector undertakings.
37. Renowned Telugu poet and writer Cingireddi Narayana Reddy has passed away. In 1992, Reddy was awarded the country’s third-highest civilian honour, Padma Bhushan. In 1977, he was awarded the Padma Shri. In 1997, he was nominated to the Upper House of Parliament. In 1998, he received the prestigious Jnanpith award for his poetic work Visvambara which got translated into three other languages. Reddy has also written several songs for Telugu movies. Narayana Reddy was born in Karimnagar district of Andhra Pradesh on July 29, 1931. He had obtained his MA and PhD in Telugu literature from Osmania University. Previously, he had also worked as a professor of the University.
38. The Ministry of Law and Justice has launched the ‘Tele-Law’ initiative in collaboration with the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology to provide legal aid services to the marginalized communities and citizens living in rural areas through the Common Service Centres (CSC) at the panchayat level, spread across the country.
‘Tele Law initiative would help people to seek legal advice from lawyers with the help of video conferencing facility available at the Common Service Centres (CSC). Apart from the lawyers, law school clinics, District Legal Service Authorities, voluntary service providers and Non-Government Organisations working on legal aid and empowerment can also be connected through the CSCs. In the initial phase, the initiative will be tested as a pilot project across 500 Common Service Centres (CSC) in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. In this phase, challenges to the initiative would be identified and necessary corrections would be made and would eventually be rolled out across the country in a phased manner. A new portal called ‘Tele Law’ will be made available across the CSC network to connect the citizens to legal service providers with the help of technology-enabled platforms. The initiative would strengthen access to justice for the marginalized communities. The government will also put in place a robust monitoring and evaluation system to assess the quality of the legal advice delivered to the people. Under the initiative, a Para Legal Volunteer (PLV), would be employed in each CSC. The volunteer would serve as the first point of contact for the marginalized communities in the rural areas who will help them understand the legal issues, explain the advice given by lawyers and assist in further action as per the advice of the lawyer. Around 1000 women Para Legal Volunteers will also be trained under this initiative to provide legal aid services through the CSCs. This is expected to promote women entrepreneurship and empowerment. Further, the National Legal Service Authority (NALSA) will also provide a panel of lawyers who will provide advice from the state capitals to the applicants in the CSCs through video conferencing.
39. Spain’s Rafael Nadal has defeated Swiss third-seeded Stan Wawrinka 6-2, 6-3, 6-1 to win his record 10th French Open title. This will be his fifteenth major title win. With this victory, Rafael Nadal has become the first man or woman in the Open era to clinch a Grand Slam tournament 10 times. The Open era which began in 1968 allowed professional players to compete with amateurs in the Grand Slam tournaments. With 15 Grandslam title wins, Nadal moves to the second place above Pete Sampras on the list of all-time Grand Slam winners of men’s tennis only behind Roger Federer, who recently registered his 18th title win at the Australian Open in January. Women’s Doubles Title America’s Bethanie Mattek-Sands and the Czech Republic’s Lucie Safarova have clinched their third successive grand slam doubles title after defeating Australian duo Ashleigh Barty and Casey Dellacqua at the French Open. French Open The French Open is a premier clay court tennis championship event held between late May and early June for a duration of two weeks at the Stade Roland-Garros in Paris. The event is the second of out of four annual Grand Slam tournaments. The other three events are Australian Open, Wimbledon and the US Open. The event has been named after the French aviator Roland Garros. Garros was a Tennis Lover. French Open is also called “Roland Garros” or Les internationaux de France de Roland-Garros or Tournoi de Roland-Garros.
40. The Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings 2018 has been released. In the list, three Indian universities have featured among the top 200 universities.
The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)-Bombay, IIT-Delhi and Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru, have featured in the top 200 global universities. For the first, three Indian institutions have found a place in the list of top 200 universities in the QS Rankings. IISc Bangalore has been placed at 190 from the152nd place secured last year. Similarly, IIT Delhi have climbed from 185 to 172 and IIT Bombay has jumped from 219 to 179 this year. IISc has been placed at 6th position among 959 universities for ‘Citations per Faculty’ in the 2018 rankings. It is measured by calculating how many times research papers from a university is cited in the research work of others and is then calibrated against its faculty strength. For the first time, the Delhi University (DU) has entered the top 500 group. Other Indian Universities that find a place in the list are: Jadavpur University (ranked in the 601-650 band), University of Hyderabad (601-650), Anna University (651-700), Manipal University (701-750), Aligarh Muslim University (800-1000), Birla Institute of Technology and Science (800-1000) The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has been ranked as the world’s best university for the sixth consecutive year. The second and third place in the overall rankings has been occupied by Stanford University and Harvard University respectively. This year’s ranking surveyed 26,000 universities across the globe. In total, 20 Indian institutions have been included in the ranking table this year. The list has a total of 959 top universities.
In the recently released NIRF Rankings for Indian educational institutes, IISc was ranked as the country’s best university. IIT Madras was ranked as the best institute in the category of engineering institutes. The Quacquarelli Symonds is a British agency that annually ranks higher educational institutes across the world based on six performance parameters such as Research, Teaching, Employability and Internationalisation, in addition to a 40 point weightage to the institute`s stature.
41. Unseeded Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia has lifted the the 2017 French Open Women’s Singles crown. She defeated Simona Halep 4-6, 6-4, 6-3. This will be Ostapenko’s first ever Grand Slam title. With this win, Ostapenko, 20, has become the first unseeded woman to win the French Open after Britain’s Margaret Scriven’s feat in 1933. Ostapenko also earned the distinction for being the first player of Latvian origin – men or women – to win a Grand Slam event. French Open The French Open is a premier clay court tennis championship event held between late May and early June for a duration of two weeks at the Stade Roland-Garros in Paris. The event is the second of out of four annual Grand Slam tournaments. The other three events are Australian Open, Wimbledon and the US Open. The event has been named after the French aviator Roland Garros. Garros was a Tennis Lover. French Open is also called “Roland Garros” or Les internationaux de France de Roland-Garros or Tournoi de Roland-Garros.
42. EU and France will give a grant of 3.5 million euros to three Indian cities- Nagpur, Kochi and Ahmedabad as part of the EU’s commitment under the Paris Climate agreement to curb emissions and promote sustainability in these cities.
The grants have been provided to help India’s smart city programme under the ‘Moblise Your City’ (MYC) initiative. India has become the first country to get benefits from the MYC initiative. The MYC initiative is supported by the French and German government and also has financial support of the European Union (EU). The initiative is aimed at helping 100 cities across the world to reduce Green House Gas (GHG) emissions by promoting sustainable urban transport and sustainability in urban spaces. MYC initiative was emphasised by the Indian and European leaders during Prime Minister Modi’s recent visit to Europe. Further it has been stated that more funds would be offered to India to carry forward its sustainable transport initiatives on the three smart cities.
French Development Agency (AFD) has been associated with several projects in India and conservation of biodiversity. AFD, at present, is funding the Vijayawada, Lucknow, Bengaluru, Kochi and Nagpur metro rail projects. AFD is a public financial institution of France whose mandate is to implement the policy defined by the French government. It is headquartered in Paris. It finances projects in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Latin America, the Caribbean and the French overseas territories to promote living conditions for populations and economic growth in these regions. France is the ninth largest foreign investor in India.
43. India has moved the World Trade Organisation (WTO) against the US as it has not yet complied with the rulings of the WTO pertaining to imposition of high import duty on certain Indian steel products. In December 2014, the WTO’s appellate body pronounced a ruling against the act of US which is imposing high import duty on certain Indian steel products. It had ruled that the imposition of import duty on steel products was inconsistent with various provisions of the Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures. The Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures (the SCM Agreement) – addresses two separate but closely related matters-The multilateral disciplines on the use of subsidies and the conditions under which Members may apply countervailing measures. India has sought consultation with the US for compliance of the WTO’s rulings. If the US refuses to comply then India has planned to approach the WTO’s compliance panel. In order to comply with the WTO rulings on countervailing duties on imports of hot-rolled carbon steel products from India, the US needs to amend its domestic norms. Earlier, the US had moved the arbitration panel of the WTO against India as it complained that India had failed to remove trade restrictions on American poultry. WTO The WTO is an inter-governmental organization for governments to negotiate global trade agreements and progressively liberalizing trade. The WTO operates a system of trade rules that apply to all its members. The WTO is also a place for Member governments to settle their trade disputes. Its located in Geneva, Switzerland. It was established on 1 January 1995 and its official languages are English, French and Spanish.
44. According to RBI, India’s foreign exchange (Forex) reserves have increased by $2.404 billion to touch a lifetime high of $381.167 billion in the week that ended on June 2. The increase was due to increase in foreign currency assets (FCAs). Components The components of India’s Foreign Exchange Reserves include: Foreign currency assets (FCAs), Gold, Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) and RBI’s Reserve position with International Monetary Fund (IMF). Out of all the components, FCAs constitute the largest component of the Forex Reserves. FCA rose by $2.748 billion to $357.290 billion in the reporting week. FCAs consist of US dollar and other major non-US global currencies. It also comprises of investments in US Treasury bonds, bonds of other selected governments, deposits with foreign central and commercial banks. FCAs include with them the effects of appreciation or depreciation of non-US currencies like the euro, pound, and the yen and is expressed in terms of dollars. The gold reserves declined by $343.2 million to $20.095 billion in the reporting week. SDRs’ value decreased marginally by $0.2 million to $1.472 billion. RBI’s reserve position with the IMF declined by $0.4 million to $2.309 billion.
45. The International Olympic Committee has approved a number of new events for the 2020 Tokyo Games at the IOC’s Executive Board meeting held at Lausanne, Switzerland. The new events were added to reflect the IOC’s focus on gender equality and appeal to young people.
The Tokyo Olympics would include 321 events which is an increase from 306 events held at Rio 2016. The new additions inlcude a mixed 4x400m relay along with 14 other events such as 3-on-3 basketball, the mixed relay, mixed swimming, mixed team archery, BMX freestyle etc. In addition, Mixed triathlon will also be included in the Tokyo games for the first time. Further, a mixed team event for judo will be included. Each team of judo will have 3 men and 3 women, all representing different weight classes. At the judo world championships, team events on mixed-gender basis have not taken place. Mixed Doubles Table Tennis competition will also be included. The mixed event was recently featured in the world championships held in Germany. The 10 minute 3-on-3 basketball event which will be played on a half-sized court is known for its speed. The game was adopted by the International Basketball Federation as an official discipline with common rules in 2007. Totally, the number of mixed events at Tokyo Olympics will double to 18 up from 9 held in Rio Olympics. The IOC’s focus in selecting the new events was for their appeal to young and urban audiences as well as for redressing long-standing imbalances between male and female athletes. IOC also reduced the number of athletes who will be competing in Tokyo olympics by 285 compared to Rio in order to prevent the games from being increasingly bloated and costly. IOC The IOC is the supreme authority of the Olympic Movement headquartered at Lausanne, Switzerland. It is a not-for-profit independent international organisation comprised of volunteers. It was founded on 23rd June, 1894. The IOC Session and Executive Board are responsible for making important decisions for the organisation.
46. SEBI has granted conditional approval for the appointment of Vikram Limaye as the MD and CEO of the NSE. In February 2017, Limaye who is MD and CEO of infrastructure financing company IDFC was selected for the post of NSE chief. However, SEBI had not cleared his appointment as he was also present in the Supreme Court appointed four-member panel managing the affairs of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). Now, the SEBI has cleared the appointment of Limaye subject to the condition that he relieves himself from his BCCI assignment, among other things. Limaye’s term with the BCCI ends in August this year. The NSE has already assured SEBI that Limaye will not seek an extension on his BCCI assignment. Limaye is expected to take charge of NSE at a time the exchange is facing challenges in multiple fronts. NSE has been functioning headless for the past six months. In addition, the vice chairman and founding member of the NSE Ravi Narain resigned from the board as the SEBI investigation in the algorithmic trading platform issue picked up. SEBI has also issued show cause notices to 14 directors of the exchange for their failure to maintain market sanctity. NSE plans for an initial public offering in the second half of this year.
Vikram Limaye was selected as the Managing Director of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) after Chitra Ramakrishna had quit the exchange in December 2016 citing personal reasons. Vikram Limaye is chartered accountant with an MBA from The Wharton School. Earlier, Mr Limaye was also named a member of a four-member panel by the Supreme Court to run the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), the apex cricket management body in the country.
47. NITI Aayog has launched SATH-‘Sustainable Action for Transforming Human capital’ with the State Governments for furthering the agenda of cooperative federalism.
NITI Aayog under the SATH initiative plans to identify and build three future ‘role model’ states for health systems. After identification of three states, NITI Aayog will work in close collaboration with the state machinery of these three states. It will help in designing a robust roadmap, develop a program governance structure, establish monitoring and tracking mechanisms, and provide support to the state institutions to achieve the end objectives. SATH program will be implemented by NITI Aayog along with McKinsey & Company and IPE Global consortium. Selection of States For selecting three model states, NITI Aayog spelled out three-stage process, namely, expression of interest, presentations by the states and assessment of commitment to health sector reforms. Subsequently, 16 states expressed interest in the initiative out of which 14 states presented their project proposals-Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chandigarh, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Punjab, Telangana and Uttar Pradesh. From these four states, NITI Aayog has shortlisted 5 states. After subsequent screening and evaluations, three states will be selected. Parameters such as MMR, IMR, incidence of malaria will be considered for determining potential impact, and metrics such as density of doctors and nurses, compliance to IPHS norms will be used to determine likelihood of success. The program will be launched after signing of MoUs with these three selected states. NITI Aayog NITI Aayog is essentially an advisory body that seeks to provide critical directional and strategic inputs across spectrum of key elements of policy to the centre as well as states. The Government of India has established Niti Ayog as a “Think Tank” which has no power to impose policies. By establishing Niti Ayog the government wants to be an “enabler” and leaves the impetus to provide a platform for cooperative and competitive federalism to the newly established body.
48. Government has awarded a Rs 1,600-crore contract for constructing 109-km road connecting Paletwa river terminal to Zorinpui in Mizoram border as a part of the $484-million Kaladan multi-modal transport (KMTT) projects in Myanmar which will offer connectivity to Mizoram.
Kaladan multi-modal transport projects was the first major project undertaken by the Indian government in Myanmar. India has finished constructing Sittwe port in the trouble-prone Rakhine state of Myanmar. Also, the extension of the Aizawl-Saiha National Highway by 90 km to the international border at Zorinpui at the Indian side is nearing completion. In addition, four-laning of the 300 km Aizawl-Tuipang highway to ensure faster movement of goods between Sittwe and Aizawl is also nearing completion. KMTT KMTT is essentially a multi-modal transport project having three different stretches involving shipping, Inland Water and road transport stretches. The longest among them is Shipping segment from Kolkata to Sittwe port in Myanmar. Government of India is funding this project and it is considered as an important investment of India in its neighbourhood. The cargo will start from Kolkata port and reach Sittwe port in Myanmar by ship. The Sittwe Port would be linked to Lashio (also in Maynmar) via the Kaladan river transport route. Lashio would be connected to Mizoram via road transport (National Highway 54)
The idea for Kaladan multi-modal transport projects was mooted in 2003. However, India and Myanmar signed the framework agreement for Kaladan project only in 2008. Construction began in 2010 but inadequate fund allocation and planning failure delayed the completion of the project. In 2015, the present government revised the budget estimates by nearly six times and has involved the State-owned Ircon Infrastructure and Services Ltd as consultant with an objective to complete the project in 2019. As per the terms of the framework agreement, India should also set up an SEZ at Sittwe. The setting up of SEZ at Sittwe is important to promote Indian investment in the region which has overwhelming Chinese influence. Significance The completion of KMTT project will play a major role in economic development of the North-East India and it will improve the bilateral relations between India and Myanmar. When completed, the KMTT will shorten the current time taken to transport goods from Kolkata to Mizoram by three-four days, and the distance by around 950 km. KMMT is hailed as “Future gateway to South East Asia”.
49. The Supreme Court has upheld the government’s decision and ruled that it would be mandatory for all Aadhaar holders to link it with the permanent account number (PAN) for filing of income tax returns. However, in a partial setback to the government, the apex court refused to make it compulsory for those people who do not possess an Aadhaar card or have not yet applied for one. The Court stayed the retrospective invalidation of PAN for non-compliance till a Constitutional Bench decides on the privacy question pending before it. As a result, a person who do not possess Aadhaar card will not face criminal consequences for not linking Aadhaar card with PAN card. The Supreme Court also upheld the legislative competence of Parliament in enacting the law to this effect. However, it has stated that it has not touched upon the issue of Right to Privacy and other aspects which will be decided by the Constitution bench.
Government had made linking of Aadhaar card with PAN card mandatory for filing of Income Tax returns as it would help to weed out fake and fraudulent financial accounts. According to the Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Act, 2016, the Aadhaar number is mandatory only for receiving social welfare benefits. But as per the provisions of the Finance Act 2017, the Aadhaar number/Aadhaar enrolment number is mandatory to file income tax returns and to apply for a new PAN. The government will declare the existing PAN to be void if the taxpayer fails to link it with Aadhaar by July 31, 2017. In 2015, a three-judge bench had referred the issue of Right to Privacy and other aspects to a larger constitution bench, which is yet to be constituted.
50. In a first Preet Kaur Gill has become the first Sikh to be elected to the British Parliament’s House of Commons. Similarly, Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi has become the first turban-wearing Sikh to be elected to the House of Commons. In a first, the House of Commons will have a record 12 Indian-origin MPs, which will be two more than the present record of 10 (five each from Labour and Conservative). The victories of Preet kaur Gill and Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi is considered as a significant milestone for Sikh politicians in United Kingdom in this election. Dhesi and Gill are from the opposition Labour party. While Dhesi has won from the Slough constituency and Gill has won from Birmingham Edgbaston. Other Indian-Origin Winners Alok Sharma, who is minister for Asia has retained his Reading West seat. Goa-origin Suella Fernandes (Conservative) and Virendra Sharma have retained their her seats comfortably. Lisa Nandy (Labour) and Seema Malhotra (Labour) have retained their Wigan seat Feltham and Heston seats respectively.
51. The President of India, Pranab Mukherjee has launched a mobile Application ‘Selfie with Daughter’ at Rashtrapati Bhavan. The App is aimed at raising awareness among people about female foeticide and sex selection. The President has urged the people to take selfies with their daughters to make the campaign a huge success. The app is expected to create awareness and help in dealing with the problems arising out of gender imbalance. The President has termed the App as an innovative concept and as an act of gentle persuasion.
The ‘Selfie with Daughter’ campaign was started in village Bibipur, Jind, Haryana by a former Sarpanch Sunil Jaglan in June 2015. The aim of the ‘Selfie with Daughter’campaign is to motivate society to feel proud to be parents of a girl child which in turn is expected to have a positive impact in improving the child sex ratio. The campaign has attracted many celebrities including Sachin Tendulkar who has joined the campaign on social media. The campaign was termed as an international movement by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the time of his meeting with Silicon Valley CEOs in the US.