Current Affairs Today: June 23 2015

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Indian Affairs 

De-addiction cum rehabilitation centres to come up in Punjab

• The Central government will start 26 de-addiction cum rehabilitation centres across Punjab to curb the menace of drug abuse.
• The first type such centre will start from Hoshiarpur on June 26 on the occasion of International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking.
• The people of Punjab especially youths have fallen in the trap of drug abuse and this initiative is to bring them back to mainstream.

FSSAI orders recall of four protein supplements

• Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has ordered recall of four protein supplements — Mulmin Pro, Mulmin Syrup, Mulmin Plus Capsule and Mulmin Drops with immediate effect.
• This decision has been taken on the basis of recommendations made by the scientific panel for functional foods, nutraceuticals, dietic products and other similar products.

Rajasthan topped the list of States commissioning grid connected Solar Power projects

• Rajasthan topped the list of states commissioning grid connected solar power projects in the country with an installed capacity of 1147 megawatt. The list was released by the Union ministry of New and Renewable Energy on 4 June 2015.

Top 5 states commissioning grid connected Solar Power Projects

• Rajasthan – 1147 Megawatt
• Gujarat – 1000 Megawatt
• Madhya Pradesh – 563.58 Megawatt
• Maharashtra – 363.7 Megawatt
• Andhra Pradesh – 248.4 Megawatt

Kerala declares June 22 as ‘Snake Bird Day’

• Kerala government has declared June 22 as the ‘Snake Bird Day’ as part of a campaign to protect the endangered species.
• Snake bird is a large slender long-necked water bird and is mostly black with silver wing markings

Maharashtra declares Blue Mormon as state butterfly

Blue Mormon whose scientific name is Papilio polymnestor has been declared as the ‘State butterfly’ by the Maharastra government. It is the only state in India to have a ‘state butterfly’.

About Blue Mormon:

• It is a large, swallowtail butterfly found primarily in Sri Lanka and India, mainly restricted to the Western Ghats of Maharashtra, South India and coastal belts. It may occasionally be spotted in the Maharashtrian mainland between Vidarbha and Western Maharashtra. It is a beautiful species having exquisite velvet-like black wings with bright blue spots
• It is the second largest butterfly found in India, after the ‘southern birdwing’ which is endemic to peninsular India. The government has decided to name it as state butterfly to bring awareness about this much neglected species of butterfly.

International Affairs 

• World Bank pledges USD 500 million for quake-hit Nepal
• Attack on afghan parliament by Taliban failed

Sri Lanka, China begin joint military training exercise ‘Silk Route- 2015’

• The armies of Sri Lanka and China will engage in a three-week training exercise Programme beginning from 22nd june in Sri Lanka at Colombia. Major General Jagath Dias as the Chief Guest inaugurated the training exercise at the Army Headquarters.
• This programme consist of 2 stages,1st stage of the ‘was conducted in China from March 29 -April 17 with 42 Commandos from Sri Lanka.
• 2nd stage of ‘Exercise – Silk Route – 2015,’ organized by Directorate of Training in Sri Lanka -43 commandos from china under three phases.(20 days)

Typhoon Kujira hits south China’s Hainan Province

• Typhoon Kujira, 8th typhoon of 2015,made landfall in south China’s Hainan Province on Monday evening-22nd june.
• The province has displaced more than 40,000 people in advance, and over 20,000 fishing boats have been called back to harbor.
• Strong gales and heavy rains hit the northern, central and eastern parts of the island,ranging from 50 mm to 150 mm.
• 30% of the tropical island affected and causing drinking water shortage for 130,000 people and drying up 119 small reservoirs.

New UK rules will hit Indian Nurses

• UK is making changes to its immigration rules. According to which, persons from outside the European Union should be earning £35,000 or more in order to be able to stay in the UK after six years.
• This is going to particularly hit hard for nurses from non-EU countries working for UK as Nurses do not make such kind of money. Indian nurses make up second largest in that group after Filipinos. Now they will have to leave UK within 2 years.  Last year, Indians made up 40 per cent of foreign nurses recruited from non-EU countries.
• This will affect UK too as one in four nurses in the NHS(National Health Service) are recruited from abroad and have spent millions of pounds to train the foreign nurses who now have to be sent back.

Iran MPs pass bill to safeguard nuclear ‘rights

• The parliament of Iran passed a bill obliging the government to safeguard the country’s “nuclear rights and achievements,” despite talks with global powers on curbing the country’s disputed atomic programme.
• This was met by anger from President Hassan Rouhani’s government which said the draft law was unconstitutional as it contravened the country’s defence and security policies.

EU launched Operation EU NAVFOR Med against migrant-traffickers

• European Union launched the EU naval operation against human smugglers and traffickers in the Mediterranean called “EUNAVFOR Med“.
• The operation’s mission is to identify, capture and dispose of vessels and enabling assets used or suspected of being used by migrant smugglers or traffickers.

Japan marks 70th anniversary of Battle of Okinawa

• Japan marked the 70th anniversary of the end of the Battle of Okinawa which killed a quarter of its population. More than 100,000 Okinawans and 80,000 Japanese troops died in the 82-day battle for the strategically placed island chain.
• This battle is believed to be the bloodiest episode of the Pacific War.

Banking & Finance 

• RBI opposes finance ministry plan to use gold deposits as bank CRR
• India to launch new overnight benchmark rate from July 22

India to more than double capital injection in state banks to $3 billion

• This fiscal year India is planning to inject about $3 billion into state-owned banks and could double that amount next year. This step is taken to boost capital and help lenders meet the global Basel III regulatory requirements.
• The planned capital infusion into the banks is more than double of an earlier estimate of $1.25 billion made in this year’s budget.

Awards

NUSI Gets Best Welfare Organiztion Award-2015

• National Union of Seafarers of India (NUSI) has been honoured with the ‘Best Welfare Organization of the Year – 2015’ award.
• NUSI is India’s oldest and largest shipping trade union. NUSI has got around 80,000 seafarers as members working aboard Indian as well as foreign cargo ships.

Science & Technology

Europe Launches Satellite To Give Observation In Colour Vision

• European Space Agency (ESA) launched a satellite that will give its ambitious Copernicus Earth observation project “color vision,” by delivering valuable images that could help forecast crop harvests and respond to humanitarian crises.
• The spacecraft will collect environmental data required to help policymakers craft legislation and react to emergencies, such as natural disasters.

 Sports

Former Brazil skipper Lucio signs for FC Goa

• Lucio , former Brazil skipper and 2002 World Cup winner has signed up with FC Goa for the second season of Indian Super League.
• Lucio who is 37 years old is a former Bayern Munich and Inter Milan defender

Russia won European Team Athletics Championships 2015

• Russia on 21 June 2015 won the European Team Athletics Championships by winning 10 of the 40 events on the program. The championships were held in Cheboksary, Russia.
• This is the fourth time that Russia won the title since the inception of games in 2009.
• In totality, Russia won the 368.5 points, 22 points ahead of Germany which secured second place. France had their best finish at the championships, coming third by winning 319.5 points.

 Obituary

‘Titanic’ music composer James Horner dies         

• James Horner, who won the Oscars for the music of ‘Titanic’ died at the age of 61 in a plane crash near Santa Barbara.
• Horner won the Oscar award for Original Dramatic Score and another academy award for Original song “My Heart will go on”, performed by Celine Dion.

Mother Teresa’s successor Sister Nirmala dies

• Sister Nirmala Joshi who was the successor of Mother Teresa as the head of Missionaries of Charity died at the age of 80.
• Nirmala expanded the organisation’s reach to 134 countries by opening centres in nations such as Afghanistan, Israel and Thailand.