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Click here to try Current Affairs Quiz : June 30 2016
INDIAN AFFAIRS
Union Government approved National Mineral Exploration Policy to accelerate activity in the country
Aim: Motivating the exploration activity in the country through improved participation of the private sector.
Focus: To make use of full mineral energy such as non Fuel and non Coal to the extreme and maximize sectoral contribution to the Indian Economy.
Fund Allocation: Rs.2116 crore over 5 years
Highlights:
♦ Providing platform for Geo-scientific Data of world standards in the public domain
♦ Quality research in a Public-Private Partnership
♦ Initiatives for search of deep seated and concealed deposits.
Union Cabinet approves MoU between UPSC and Bhutan’s Royal Civil Service Commission
Following the Memorandum of Understanding signed between, Now, Union Government approved MoU between Union Public Service Commission and Royal Civil Service Commission, Bhutan
Features:
♦ Will tighten the relationship between Royal Civil Service Commission, Bhutan and Union Public Service Commission.
♦ It will support sharing of experience and capability of both the parties in the area of recruitment process.
♦ To enhance institutionalized linkage between the Public Service commission of both nations.
FSSAI signs pact with ASCI to check misleading advertisements
i. Advertising Standard Council of India (ASCI) will comprehensively monitor these advertisements across various media. The council has been given a suo motu monitoring mandate by FSSAI to process complaints against misleading advertisements of food and beverages.
ii. The MoU was signed by FSSAI CEO Pawan Agarwal and ASCI Chairman Benoy Roychoudhry.
iii. The agreement also requires ASCI to report to FSSAI non- compliance of ASCI’s decisions for further action as required per provisions of the Food Safety Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) Act
The Union HRD Minister launches ‘Prashikshak’- a teacher education portal
i. Union Minister for Human Resource Development, Smt. Smriti Zubin Irani dedicated 
‘Prashikshak’ – a teacher education portal, to the nation at Vigyan Bhawan, in New Delhi.
ii. Prashikshak’ is launched with a vision to strengthen District Institutes of Education and Training (DIETs) and bring quality teachers into the Indian school education system.
iii. Prashiskshak Portal has started only for DIETs, it will cover block level institutes in the future and identify gaps at the bottom of the pyramid.
INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS
Union Cabinet approved MoU between India and Tanzania in the field of water resources
Union Government headed by Prime Minister gave nod to Memorandum of Understanding between India and Tanzania for bilateral cooperation in water resources Management and Development
Background:
♦ The Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation have been signing bilateral agreement with other countries in related to water resources development and management.
♦ The mentioned agreement was confirmed during the Tanzania Delegates had visited India during 2014 and discussed about the issues of water harvesting & management practices and decided to have a Memorandum of Understanding.
Ethiopia, Bolivia, Sweden and Kazakhstan elected non-permanent UNSC members
i. Bolivia, Ethiopia, Kazakhstan and Sweden have been elected as the non-permanent members of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) for a two-year period beginning in January, 2017. They will replace Spain, Malaysia, New Zealand, Angola and Venezuela.
ii. Italy and the Netherlands had been vying for the one remaining seat, but the voting yielded no clear winner so they have proposed to split a two-year term on the UN Security Council. In the voting each received 95 votes.
iii. The 193-member UN body conducted the elections for five non-permanent seats, which included one seat for the African Group, one seat for the Group of Asia and the Pacific small island developing states, one seat for the Group of Latin American and Caribbean States, and two seats for the Western European and Others Group.
iv. The voting for these countries in the UNGA was conducted by secret ballot in which members of the UNGA had voted.
v. Bolivia (183 votes) and Ethiopia (185 votes) were chosen from Group of Latin America and the Caribbean and Africa region respectively.
vi. Sweden (134 votes) won from the Group of Western Europe. Kazakhstan won from the Group of Asia Pacific against Thailand.
SCO Summit 2016 concludes in Tashkent, Uzbekistan
i. The 2016 Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit concluded on 24 June 2016 in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
ii. The 2-day meeting was conducted under the presidency of Uzbekistan.
Key highlights of the summit
iii. India and Pakistan signed the Memorandum of Obligations on 24 June 2016.
The signing of Memorandum of Obligations by India and Pakistan started the formal process of joining the SCO as a full member. They are expected to become full members by the next meeting at Astana in 2017.
BANKING & FINANCE
India to get $1 bn World Bank funding for solar projects
i. The World Bank today committed USD 1 billion (about Rs 6,750 crore) to support solar energy programme in India, which is reducing dependence on conventional energy sources to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
ii. As per the pact signed between Power Minister Piyush Goyal and World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim, the multilateral funding agency will provide more than USD 1 billion to support Indias ambitious solar initiatives through investments in generation.
APPOINTMENTS
Rodrigo Duterte sworn in as President of Philippines
i. Rodrigo Duterte was sworn in as the Philippines’ 16th president on 30 June 2016 inside the Malacanang presidential palace in Manila. He will have a six-year term.
ii. The first Mindanaoan president of the country, Duterte succeeds Benigno Aquino III.
Suzuki Motors appoints scion Toshihiro Suzuki as CEO
i. Suzuki Motor Corp on 29 June 2016 announced the appointment of Toshihiro Suzuki as its next Chief Executive Officer (CEO).
ii. The appointment came after Osamu Suzuki announced that he will decline the CEO position to take responsibility for the automaker’s use of incorrect testing methods when calculating vehicle mileage.
Who is Toshihiro Suzuki?
♦ Toshihiro Suzuki is the son of Suzuki Motor Chairman Osamu Suzuki.
♦ Toshihiro served as a Senior Managing Executive Officer and Senior Managing Director of Suzuki Motor Corp.
♦ He joined Suzuki Motor Corp. in January 1994.
♦ He is a graduate from Tokyo University of Science, Japan.
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
India’s First Integrated Defence Communication Network Launched
i. India’s first Integrated Defence Communication Network (DCN) was launched on 30 
June 2016.
ii. The DCN was inaugurated by Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar at South Block.
iii. The network enables the Army, the Air Force, the Navy and the Special Forces Command to share situational awareness for a faster decision-making process. It is the first tri-service communication and IT network of the Armed Forces.
iv. It is a strategic, highly secure and scalable system. It has has a pan-India reach from Ladakh to the North East to island territories.
v. The network has been fully designed and developed in India by HCL Infosystems.
Sweden inaugurates world’s first electric road
Sweden on 22 June 2016 inaugurated a test stretch of an electric road in Sandviken, making it one of the first countries in the world to conduct tests with electric power for heavy transports on public roads.
About the test :
i. The test was conducted on parts of road E16. It involved a current collector on the roof of the truck that feeds 750 volts DC to the truck’s hybrid electric system. The current conductor can connect automatically at speeds up to 90 km/h.
ii. The tests will continue up through 2018. They will provide knowledge of how electric roads work in practice, and whether the technology can be used in the future.
iii. The experiment is based on the Government’s goal of energy efficiency and a fossil fuel-free vehicle fleet by 2030, and will contribute to strengthening Sweden’s competitiveness.
Anti-submarine torpedo Varunastra inducted in Navy
Indigenously-built heavyweight anti-submarine torpedo Varunastra has been successfully inducted in the navy, making India one of the eight countries to have the capability to design and build such a system.
Facts about Varunastra :
i. It has been developed by Naval Science and Technological Laboratory (NSTL), a premier laboratory of DRDO. Weighing around 1.25 tonnes, it can carry about 250 kg of explosives at a speed of around 40 nautical miles an hour.
ii. The Varunastra torpedo has been developed by Naval Science and Technological Laboratory (NSTL), a premier laboratory of DRDO. It weighs around 1.25 tonnes and carries about 250 kg of explosives at a speed of around 40 nautical miles an hour.
iii. It has almost 95 per cent indigenous content. It is capable of targeting stealthy and quiet submarines, both in deep and littoral waters in intense counter-measure environment.
iv. Varunastra has been designed with latest technologies such as high-speed and long endurance propulsion, software driven intelligence, conformal array acoustic homing with wide look angle and advanced digital signal processing.
v. It has a GPS-based locating aid, a unique feature in contemporary torpedoes in the world. It is also equipped with advanced autonomous guidance algorithms with low drift navigational aids, insensitive warhead which can operate in various combat scenarios.
Torpedo: It is a self-propelled weapon with an explosive warhead. It is launched above or below the water surface and propelled underwater towards a target. It is designed to detonate either on contact with its target or in proximity to it.
SPORTS
Amul signs up as official sponsor of Indian team to the Olympics
i. India’s leading food products company Amul has signed up as the official sponsor for the Indian contingent to the Rio Olympics 2016.
ii. The company will launch a series of advertising campaigns for milk and other dairy products to promote this association.
iii. In addition, the company’s products will also sport special branding to promote this association.
OBITUARY
Renowned artist K.G. Subramanyan dies at 92
Renowned artist K.G. Subramanyan, credited with being one of the pioneers of Indian modern art, passed away in Vadodara, Gujarat following a brief illness. He was 92. He was 
awarded the Padma Vibhushan in 2012.
Facts about K G Subramanyan :
i. Renowned artist K.G. Subramanyan dies at 92 Born as Kalpathi Ganpathi Subramanyan in 1924 in a village in Kerala. He studied economics at Presidency College, Madras and was actively involved in the Indian freedom struggle.
ii. The turning point of his life, as an artist, came when he visited Santiniketan to study in Kala Bhavan, the art faculty of Visva Bharati University. Here he got mentors as Nandalal Bose, Benode Behari Mukherjee and Ramkinkar Baij.
iii. In 1951 he became a lecturer at the Faculty of Fine Arts in M.S. University in Baroda. He was famous for his terracotta murals, glass paintings, illustrated children’s books, works on canvas that drew upon myth, memory and tradition, sculptures and drawings.
Awards and Honours: Padma Vibhushan (2012), Padma Bhushan (2006) and Padma Shri (1975)
