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Compendium- June, 2015

National

InternationalAppointments-National/International

Person Resigned/Retired

Sports

Honours/ Awards

Obituaries

Important Days

Foreign Visits / Foreign Visitors

Compiled By

Sanjay Singh


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National

India ranked 143 out of 162 countries on 2015 Global Peace Index

Global Peace Index As per recently released Global Peace Index (GPI) for year 2015, Indiawas placed at 143th rank out 162 countries. The report was published by Institute for

Economics and Peace (IEP). Indias rank has remained same compared to previous yearglobal rankings.

Key facts from Global Peace Index 2015

Top 10 peaceful countries: Iceland(1st), Denmark (2nd), Austria (3rd), NewZealand (4th), Switzerland (5th), Finland(6th), Canada (7th), Japan (8th), Australia(9th) and Czech Republic (10th).

Top 10 least peaceful countries: North Korea (153rd), Pakistan (154th), Congo (155),Sudan (156), Somalia (157), Central Africa (158th), South Sudan (159th), Afghanistan(160th), Iraq (161st) and Syria (162nd).

Indias neighbours: Bhutan (18th), Nepal (62nd), Bangladesh (84th), Sri Lanka (114th),Pakistan (154th).

In 2014, the violent events had cost $14.3 trillion from the global economy. It accounted for13.4% of global GDP. About 50 million people i.e. 0.75% of the current world population aredisplaced. In 2014, deaths from terrorism were reported in 69 countries reported.

It was up from 60 in 2013 highlighting the increasing use of terror tactics. In case of India,violence has cost it $341.7 billion i.e. 4.7% of its GDP in 2014 which is the fourth highestcost in the world.

About Global Peace Index (GPI)

It is an annual report published by the Sydney (Australia) based Institute for Economicsand Peace (IEP) since 2007. GPI uses 22 indicators to measure levels of world peace.Indicators range from a nations level of military expenditure to its relations withneighboring nations and the percentage of prison population in 162 countries. It alsoincludes safety and security in society, extent of domestic and international conflict. TheIEP is an international and independent think tank dedicated to draw the worlds attentiontowards peace as a positive, achievable, and tangible measure of human well-being anddevelopment.

Nadia district in West Bengal wins UN Public Service Award 2015

Nadia district in West Bengal has won the United Nations PublicService Award 2015 in the category of improving delivery of publicservices for or eliminating open defecation in the district.

The award was presented by the acting Secretary General of the UNLenni Montiel to District Magistrate of Nadia and Sabhapati ofNadia Zilla Parishad in Medellin, Colombia.

It was a collaborative effort with the United Nations Childrens Fund (UNICEF) and WorldBank along with state government and local governments.


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The programme was initiated in 2013. In one-and-half-years, toilets were built in 5 lakhhouseholds and over 200 cluster toilets in public places.

Indian Railways, Indian Army among worlds biggest employers: WEF Study

Worlds biggest employers Two Indian organizations,India Army and Indian Railways are

among the worlds biggest employers. Itwas revealed in a research published bythe World Economic Forum (WEF). Bothorganisations employ around 2.7 millionpeople together. Indian Railways wasplaced at 8th position with 1.4 millionstaff, while Indian Army was placed at 9thposition with 1.3 million employees in thelist of worlds biggest employers.

Top 10 worlds biggest employers are:

US department of Defense: It is the worlds biggest employer with over 3.2 millionemployees.

Peoples Liberation Army (PLA): Chinese military is 2nd biggest employer with 2.3million employees.

Walmart:US supermarket giant is 3rd biggest employer with 2.1 million workers.

McDonalds:Fast food giant is the 4th biggest employer with 1.9 million employees.

National Health Service of UK:It is 5th biggest employer with 1.7 million.

China National Petroleum Corporation: It is 6th biggest employer with 1.6 millionemployees. It is Chinese state-run company.

State Grid Corporation of China:It is 7th biggest employer with 1.5 million employees.

Indian Railways:1.4 million staff.

Indian Army:1.3 million employees.

Hon Hai Precision Factory: It is known around world as Foxconn, a leading electronicsmanufacturer. It is placed at 10th position with 1.2 million employees.

J Jayalalithaa launches first phase of Chennai Metro

First phase of Chennai Metro service was inaugurated by

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa after she flagged offinaugural train.

The first phase of Metro service covers the 10-km overhead(elevated) stretch. It connects Alandur in south Chennai toKoyabedu in the north.

The metro service will bear capacity of 1276 passengers with four coaches. It will coverseven stations in the stretch. They are Koyambedu, Arumbakkam, Vadapalani, ChennaiMofussil Bus Terminus, Ashok Nagar, Ekkattuthangal.


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The Corridor 2 or second phase of this metro connecting Chennai Central and St. ThomasMount is will be ready by end 2015. The whole project is implemented by Chennai MetroRail Limited (CMRL). It was approved by then Congress-led UPA government in 2009.

India ranked best for investment

A ranking of destinations for attractiveness to foreigninvestors has placed India at the top among 110 countries.China has secured the 65th position and the U.S. is at the 50th.In the 2014 index, India was at the sixth position and HongKong was number one.

The ranking is based on an index for baseline profitabilitythat assumes that three factors affect the ultimate success of aforeign investment: how much the value of an asset grows;the preservation of that value while the asset is owned; and the ease of repatriation ofproceeds from selling the asset.

The index combines measures for each of these factors into a summary statistic thatconveys a countrys basic attractiveness for investment.

NCR to have a second airport; Aviation ministry makes Jewar as first choice

The civil aviation ministry took an in-principle decision tohave a second airport in the National Capital Region (NCR).Among the probable sites for the airport, the ministryzeroed in on Jewar, keeping in view the fact thatavailability of land is a big problem.

On the UP governments choice of having an airport inFirozabad, the minister said the purpose of a secondairport near Delhi would be defeated if an airport comes up in Firozabad.

With the population of NCR (National Capital Region) 8 crore, covering Delhi, Gurgaon,Faridabad and Meerut in western Uttar Pradesh, using only one airport, there is an urgentneed for a second airport.

Rajasthan becomes No. 1 state in solar energy in India

Rajasthan has become number one state in the country in terms of total installed capacity of

solar energy. It was revealed in recently released data by the Union Ministry of New andRenewable Energy. Rajasthan with total 1,167 megawatt (MW) installed capacity hassurpassed Gujarat (1000 MW) which was previous number one state in the country.

Top five states in India are (in terms of installed capacity) Rajasthan: 1047 MW.Gujarat: 1000 MW. Madhya Pradesh:563 MW. Maharashtra: 363 MW. Andhra Pradesh: 247MW.

In 2014, Rajasthan government had released its Solar Policy which aimed at installing25000 MW of solar power in state. In this policy state government had introducednumerous investor-friendly measures to tap full potential of solar power.


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One of the key measure introduced was to installed solar plants was through State, PrivateEnterprises or Public-Private partnership (PPP). In this regard state government had inkedagreements number of private companies to develop solar parks with a cumulative capacityof 26,000 MW.

It should be noted that Rajasthan has all natural advantage for solar parks such as abundantbarren land and high solar radiation (insolation) in the country.

PM Narendra Modi launches Smart Cities Mission, says Centre committed to urban India

Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiledthree mega flagship schemes aimed atdeveloping cities and towns as "newengines for growth".

The three projects -- 100 smart cities, AtalMission for Rejuvenation and UrbanTransformation (AMRUT) and Housing for

All - will ring in a new urban era, whichwill entail an investment of over Rs 3 lakhcrore in the next five years.

The Smart City project seeks to enhancequality of life in 100 selected cities with 24 hour water and power supply, world classtransportation system, better education and recreational facilities, e-governance andenvironment-friendly atmosphere, among others. The Smart City project will be based onPPP model, Naidu said.

AMRUT seeks to ensure basic infrastructure for 500 cities with a population of above onelakh. Ensuring water supply to each household, sewer connections, sanitation and solid

waste management, provision for roads and public transportation beside implementationof reforms in urban governance would be the focus under the scheme.

India leads FDI in South Asia with 34 billion investment in 2014

India leads regional inflow of Foreign Direct Investment(FDI) in South Asia accounting for $34 billion investmentduring 2014 and the upward trend is likely to continue thisyear also, according to a UN report which placed China asthe world's largest FDI recipient.

"FDI inflows to the country (India) surged by 22% to about$34 billion" improving its position to 9th top host countryfor FDI in 2014, over its rank of 15th in 2013, the UNCTAD'sWorld Investment Report 2015 says.

India is likely to maintain an upward trend in 2015 as economy recovery gains ground.

Union Cabinet gives nod to rename SECI as Renewable Energy Corporation of India


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Union Cabinet has given nod to rename Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) as theRenewable Energy Corporation of India (RECI).

Apart from this decision, Union Cabinet also gave approval toSECI to convert into Section 3 Company by applying to theRegistrar of Companies (ROC) from a Section 8 Companyunder the Companies Act, 2013. This decision will help SECI

or renamed entity RECI.

SECI is a not-for-profit company under Section-25 of theCompanies Act 1956. it was Established in 2011 as afacilitation and implementation institution dedicated to SolarEnergy sector. Operates under: the aegis of Union Ministry ofNew and Renewable Energy,its Objective is to develop SolarTechnologies and ensuring inclusive solar power development throughout India.

India emerges as third largest FDI source for United Kingdom

India has emerged as the third largest ForeignDirect Investment (FDI) source for UnitedKingdom (UK) in 2014-15.

It was revealed in recently released reportInward Investment Report 2014-15 of UK Tradeand Industry (UKTI). This FDI source was basedin terms of number of projects e. source ofinward investment.

US has remained the largest source of inwardinvestment for UK with a total of 564 projects in 2014-15 and was followed by France (124

projects) and India (122 projects).

During the year 2014-15, the FDI from India increased by 65 per cent and has resulted increation of 7,730 jobs as well as protection of 1,620 jobs in UK. Sector wise Indiancompanies had invested in healthcare, agriculture-technology, food and drink.

Cairn India to merge with Vedanta Ltd

Cairn- Vedanta Metal and mining giant Vedanta Ltd and its subsidiary oil explorer CairnIndia have announced to merge.

The merger will create Indias largest diversified natural resources company. It will alsohelp Cairn spread its risk from volatile oil business to other metals and commodities.Decision in this regard was taken by Independent directors of both the companies ownedby billionaire Anil Agarwal.

The merger will be in an all share swap deal which will give the Vedanta Ltd access to CairnIndias 2.7 billion dollars (Rs 16,867 crore) cash pile. Vedanta will use this cash lying withCairn to pay off part of its 77,752 crore rupees debt For the merger each minorityshareholders of Cairn India will receive one equity share of Vedanta.

They will also receive one redeemable preference share of Rs 10 face value with 7.5%annual dividend. Previously Vedanta was known as Sesa Sterlite Ltd. In 2013 it had


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consolidated its iron ore mining business by merging Sesa Goa Ltd with Sterlite Industries(India) Ltd.

SoftBank Corp, Bharti Enterprises Limited and Foxconn formed a JV named SBGCleantech Ltd

Japan headquartered telecommunications and Internet major SoftBank Corp, BhartiEnterprises Limited and Taiwan-based Foxconn Technology Group on 22 June 2015 formeda Joint Venture (JV) named SBG Cleantech Limited. This JV is aimed at promoting theadoption of clean and safe energy in India.

SBG Cleantech will be a harbinger of solar and wind energy. The venture will invest indeveloping renewable energy plants across India. SBG Cleantech will be committed tocontribute to Union Government's mission of 24x7 power for all and achieving 100GWsolar and 60GW wind target by 2022.

SBG Cleantech will have Manoj Kohli, a Bharti Enterprises Limited veteran, as its executivechairman and Raman Nanda will be the Chief Executive Officer of the company. The

company will be headquartered in Delh

349 new species of flora and fauna discovered in the past one year in India

Scientists and taxonomists in India have discovered 349 new species of flora and fauna inthe past one year. Of these discovered flora and fauna 173 species are genera of plants and176 species of animals.

The list of new discovered species was published by the Botanical Survey of India (BSI) andthe Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) both headquartered in Kolkata, West Bengal. Key factsBiodiversity hotspots: Most of discoveries were from Indias two Biodiversity hotspots viz

Western Ghats and Eastern Himalayas. Western Ghats accounted for 22 per cent of the new discoveries. While, the Eastern

Himalayas accounted for 15 per cent discovered species. 25 species of seed plants werealone discovered in Arunachal Pradesh.

Animal species: Of the 176 new animal species discovered 93 species are of insects, 7species are of collembolans, 12 species of arachnidan, 12 species crustacean and 1 speciesof mollusca.

Reptiles: 2 species of reptiles for the first time have been found in India. One wasdiscovered in Tamil Nadu and another in Madhya Pradesh.

Fish: 23 new fish species were discovered. Majority of fish species were discovered innorth-east India.

Amphibians: 24 new amphibian species were discovered. Most of the new species ofamphibians were discovered in the Western Ghats.

New records: Apart from the discovered new species, the BSI has also added 105 newrecords species and ZSI 61 new records species. It should be noted that new records meansanimals and plants that have been spotted in India for the first time and those are foundelsewhere in the world.


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In year 2014, 614 new species of plants and animals were discovered which included 366plants and 248 animal species. With this, 96,891 species of animals and 47,791 species ofplants have been recorded so far in India.

Kerala Government declares June 22 as Snake Bird Day

Kerala Government has declared June 22 as Snake Bird Day in a bidto protect the endangered species which is also known as Indiandarter. The formal announcement was made by State minister forforest Thiruvanchur Radhakrishnan at a function organised by SnakeBird Foundation in Thiruvananthapuram.

It is water bird which is also known as Indian darter (Anhingamelanogaster). It has large slender long-necked water bird and ismostly black with silver wing markings.

As per IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, Snake Bird is classified asNear Threatened species. Threat: Its population is moderately

declining owing anthropogenic reasons like pollution, drainage, hunting and the collectionof eggs and nestlings.

It inhabits in shallow inland wetlands including rivers, lakes, swamps and reservoirs. Incase of India there are over 1500 snake birds in which majority are found in Kerala. Thesespecies usually nests atop tall trees near wetlands.

Maharashtra declares Blue Mormon as State butterfly

Maharashtra has officially declared BlueMormon species as State butterfly as part of

state symbols. Decision in this regard wastaken in State Wildlife Board meeting presidedby Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis inMumba

With this, Maharashtra became the first Statein the country to have a State butterfly.

Blue Mormon (Papilio polymnestor) is thesecond largest butterfly species in terms of size, after the southern birdwing (Troidesminos).

Blue Mormon has black, velvet wings with bright blue spots. The lower ends of its wings areblack. Its body has some red spots on one side. Distribution: It is only found (endemic to) inSri Lanka, Western Ghats of Maharashtra, South India and coastal belts of the country.

India sets two Guinness world records on International Yoga Day

India has set two Guinness world records (GWR) in Rajpath yoga event held on the eve offirst International Yoga Day led by Prime Minister Narendra Mod

First record is the largest number of participants- 35,985 people had participated in largestyoga demonstration at a single venue e. Rajpath yoga event.


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Second is the most number of nationalities at a single event People of 84 nationalitiesperformed yoga at one place.

The awards were received by Union AYUSH MinisterShripad Yesso Naik from representatives of GuinnessWorld Records.

In this event all participants of all ages had performedvarious yoga exercises on the entire two-km stretch fromRafi Marg crossing near Vijay Chowk to India Gate. This mass yoga event has brokenprevious world record on mass yoga exercise which was set by 29,973 students from 362schools on November 19, 2005 led by Vivekananda Kendra at Jiwaji University Gwalior.

Indias first green police station inaugurated at New Delhis Maurice Nagar

Delhi Police Indias first green police station was inaugurated on the occasion of World

Environment Day at Maurice Nagar in north Delhi. It was inaugurated by Delhi PoliceCommissioner Bhim Sain Bassi.

The police station has various provisions for preservation and safety of the environment.Students of Delhi University along with police officials had worked on the renovation of thispolice station to make it unique. Key features of green police station Roof of station hascoating of fresh lime based upon Medieval Indian Construction Methodology.

It will increase Albedo of the station and reduce the heat which helps to save electricalpower. All light fittings at the police station have been changed to LED lights in order toreduce consumption of electricity.

All fans installed at this police station will be of five star ratings. It also planned to use solarpanels to light the police station. The toilets installed in this station are biodegradable andare capable of converting fecal matter into water and biogas through technique ofanaerobic bacterial decomposition.

It is also planned to replace the furniture with bamboo and cane which are believed to beenvironment friendly as they do not require cutting of trees. 400 areca palm plants havebeen planted in the police station and its premises in order to bring down the carbonpresence, as these plants are strong in carbon consumption.

Recycled paper for filing publics complaint will be used in bid to pr omote the use ofrecycled paper.

Union Cabinet approves Solar Power capacity target to 1 lakh MW under JNNSM by 2022

Union Cabinet approved increasing Indias solar power capacity target under the JawaharlalNehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM) to 1 Lakh Mega Watt (MW) by 2022.

1 Lakh Mega Watt (MW) target principally will comprise of 40,000 MW from Rooftop and60,000 MW through Large and Medium Scale Grid Connected Solar Power Projects.

After meeting this ambitious target, India will become one of the largest Green Energyproducers in the world by surpassing several developed countries.

These projects will help in generation of additional 2000 MW capacity of Grid-connectedsolar power projects and create employment of about 12,000 people in rural and urban


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areas. It will also help to reduce about 3.41 Million Tonnes (MT) of carbon emissions intothe open environment every year.

Union Government decided to increase number of work days under MGNREGA indrought hit areas

The Union Government on 17 June 2015 decided to increase the number of workdaysunder Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) from 100days to 150 days in drought-affected areas of the country.

The decision to increase the wage days in drought-affected areas was taken as Governmentis expecting an increase in demand for wage-based employment due to drought affectingregular agricultural activities in some places.

Earlier in February 2014, previous government led by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, thenumber of workdays under MNREGA was increased from 100 days to 150 days for tribalareas who have received land rights under the Forest Rights Act, 2006.

CEA-led committee to suggest GST rates, report likely in two months

A committee headed by the Chief Economic Adviser (CEA)will recommend the possible rates of Goods & Services Tax(GST), slated to be introduced from April 1 next year.

The setting up of two committees to facilitateimplementation of the new indirect tax regime. The otherwill be a Steering Committee under the co-chairmanship ofthe Additional Secretary in the Revenue Department and Member Secretary, EmpoweredCommittee of State Finance Ministers.

The CEA-led committee will recommend possible tax rates under GST that would beconsistent with the present level of revenue collection of the Centre and States.

While making recommendations, this Committee would take into account expected levels ofgrowth of economy, different levels of compliance and broadening of tax base under GST.The Committee would also analyse the sector-wise and State-wise impact of GST on theeconomy.

Pinaka Mark-II rockets successfully tested at Pokhran

Pinaka II rockets Advanced version of indigenous Pinaka mark-II rockets were successfully

tested on 30 May 2015 in Pokhran field firing ranges in Rajasthan.

They were test-fired using a multi-barrel rocket launcher (MBRL). In the test six roundswere successfully tested which had hit the target situated 53 kms from the firing point.

The MBRL version of Pinaka has high operational mobility, flexibility and accuracy which iscapable of acting as a force multiplier and has been developed to supplement artillery guns.Facts about Pinaka II rockets The Pinaka II rocket is also known as the Weapon AreaSystem (WAS).

Jointly and indigenously developed by the Defence Research and DevelopmentOrganisation (DRDO) and the Indian Army. It has battery of six launchers which can fire


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rockets with a range of 40-65 kms. WAS can fire a salvo of 12 rockets in 44 seconds with 1.2tonne of high explosives. Can neutralise a target area of 3.9 square km and supplementexisting artillery system at a range beyond 30 km.

Can be fitted with wide range of warheads including blast-cum-pre-fragmented highexplosives to anti-tank mines. It should be noted that Pinaka had undergone several toughtests since 1995 and already has been introduced into the Indian army.

Indian Railways names Haridwar Mail as Yoga Express

Indian Railways has named Haridwar Mail as Yoga Express with an immediate effect.

In this regard the train No 19031/19032 Ahmedabad-Haridwar-Ahmedabad famouslyknown as Haridwar Mail has been christened as Yoga Express.

This decision was taken by Indian Railways before celebration of first International YogaDay on 21st June which will be observed as global event.

RBI issued final guidelines for 6-year and 13-year Interest Rate Futures

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) issued the final guidelines for the 6-year and 13-year cashsettled Interest Rate Futures (IRF) on government securities with residual maturity of 4-8years and 11-15 years respectively under the Interest Rate Futures (Reserve Bank)(Amendment) Directions, 2015. For this purpose, RBI amended the Interest Rate Futures(Reserve Bank) Directions, 2013 dated 5December 2013.

For the 6-year cash settled IRFcontracts,the underlying shall be acoupon bearing government security of

face value of 100 rupees and the residualmaturity of 6-year IRF is between 4 and 8years on the expiry of futures contract.

For the 13-year cash settled IRFcontracts,the underlying can be a coupon bearing government security of face value of 100rupees and residual maturity will be between 11 and 15 years on the expiry of futurescontract.

Moreover, the RBI also expanded the residual maturity for the existing 10-year cash settledIRF from 9-11 years to 8-11 years to provide market participants a greater choice andflexibility to hedge their interest rate risk across different tenors.

Recommendations of Bibek Debroy Committee on restructuring of Indian Railways

The committee has suggested measures for restructuring the Railway Board and itsdepartments so that policy making is separated from day-to-day operations.

Recommendations of Bibek Debroy committee

Establishment of an independent regulator Railway Regulatory Authority of India (RRAI)with a separate budget and to be independent of the Ministry.

RRAI will decide on tariffs to revamp the cash-strapped railways.


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Railway Budget should be phased out with grossbudgetary support to Indian Railways.

No privatisation of Indian Railway but allowedparticipation of private sector in the railway projects.

State governments should be asked to entirely fundthe Government Railway Police (GRP).

The recommended changes should be implementedonly by Union Railways ministry in the first five yearsincluding the resolution of the social cost issue.

Background: Union government had constituted the high-level committee in September2014 to restructure the Railways and suggest ways for resource mobilisation. It was seven-member panel headed by eminent economist and NITI Aayog member Bibek Debroy. Theother 6 members are former cabinet secretary K M Chandrasekhar, Gusharan Das, RaviNarain, Partha Mukhopadhyay, Rajendra Kashyap, Ajay Tyagi and Ajay Narayan Jha.

India Fourth Largest Carbon Emitter: WRI Analysis

Carbon Emitter India is fourth largest carbon emitter in the world in terms of per capitaemission accounting for 6.6 % of global emissions for the year 2012. It was revealed by theWorld Resources Institute (WRI) in its latest analyses of the country-wise carbon emissionsof climate-damaging greenhouse gases (GHGs).

According to the analysis figures of WRI, Top 10 emitters are: China (25.26%), US(14.4%), European Union (10.16%), India (6.69%), Russia (5.36%), Japan (3.11%), Brazil(2.34%), Indonesia (1.76%), Mexico (1.67%) and Iran (1.65%).

Emission Disparity:Largest 10 emitters have contributed a majority of over 72% of global

GHGs emissions (excluding change in land use and forestry). Six of the top 10 emitters aredeveloping countries. On the other hand, the lowest 100 emitters had contributed less than3% of global emissions.

Sector wise: energy sector is the largest source of GHGs emissions accounting for morethan 75% of global emissions. Industrial and agricultural sectors also have significantlycontributed in GHGs emissions. The WRI analysis was based on data from its ClimateAnalysis Indicators Tool (CAIT) for the year 2012. It had analysed various economic sectorsfor the overall emission from different countries.

In Haryana village, contest of selfies with daughter to save girl child

Haryana's Bibipur village, which wants The Women's World' added to its name, has nowcome out with a unique idea to continue its efforts to create gender-neutral atmosphere inthe state.

The village panchyat has decided to organize a best selfie with daughters' contest to honourthe winning family with a trophy, certificate and Rs 2,100 as cash prize.

The panchayat has invited parents to send their selfies to the village sarpanch on WhatsAppby June 17 while the winner family would be announced after two days.

Village sarpnach Sunil Jaglan said they that had already received more than 120 entries inpast four days after they announced the contest.


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Second border haat opens in Sipahijala district of Tripura

The second border haat (rural market) was opened forcommon people at Kamalasagar in Sipahijala district ofTripura bordering Brahmanbaria district ofBangladesh.

The haat was jointly inaugurated by Prime MinisterNarendra Modi and his Bangladesh counterpart SheikhHasina by video-conferencing from Dhaka on June 6,2015. This market is set up at the zero line of theinternational border with one part on the Indian side and the other in Bangladesh.

Initially it will facilitate bilateral trade of 16 shortlisted locally produced goods. Thesegoods include agricultural and horticultural crops, spices, minor forest products excludingtimber, fish and dry fish, dairy and poultry products, cottage industry items, woodenfurniture, handloom and handicraft items.

People residing within a distance of 5 km from along the border are entitled to do businessat the haat which will take place once in a week initially. No local taxes would be levied onthe goods sold in the haats and currencies of both the countries would prevail.

First border haat was inaugurated on Srinagar- Purba border area in January 2015 byUnion Commerce and Industries Minister Nirmala along with her Bangladeshi counterpartTofail ahmed.

Government to Give Rs 6,000 Crore Interest-Free Loans to Sugar Mills

The government has approved interest-free loans for cash-

strapped sugar mills to help them pay nearly 30 per cent ofthe record Rs 21,000 crore they owe to cane farmers, manyof whom are struggling with huge debts as the first country-wide drought in six years looms.

Sugar cane prices, meanwhile, have jumped over the yearsdue to the populist policies of state governments to raiseminimum support prices for farmers.

Mills in India, the world's biggest sugar producer after Brazil, have been lobbying thegovernment for months seeking relief as prices of the sweetener have fallen below the costof production due to ample supplies.

The federal government earlier this year approved a subsidy to export raw sugar, althoughthat failed to boost shipments amid a global glut.

NCR gets bigger; Jind, Karnal and Muzaffarnagar districts added

The sprawl of the National Capital Region (NCR) just got bigger as the nod has been givenfor the inclusion of Muzaffarnagar district of Uttar Pradesh and the Jind and Karnal districtsof Haryana as part of the conurbation.


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Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu announced the decision for including thethree districts in NCR after chairing a meeting of the National Capital Region PlanningBoard (NCRPB) here.

Naidu said that a committee has been appointed to look into the demands for the inclusionof more areas in NCR.

The Union minister said that before including any area, the view of the particular stategovernment will also have to be taken.

Haryana Chief Minister Khattar said that with the inclusion of Jind and Karnal in NCR, 57per cent of the state's area had become part of the entity.

Naidu performs bhoomi pooja for AP capital

Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and his wifeBhuvaneswari performed bhoomi pooja at around 8.49 a.m.for the new capital Amaravati at Mandadam village inGuntur district.

Chief Minister's son and Telugu Desam Party (TDP)workers welfare committee convener Nara Lokesh; UnionMinisters Nirmala Sitaraman and Sujana Chowdary were among those present for theceremony.

The ancient city of Amaravathi is being developed separately from the new capital zone as aheritage town with funds from the Centre.

Jaipur Metro starts operations

Jaipur Metro, touted as one of the fastest built metrosystems in the country, was thrown open to public.

Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje flagged off the inauguraltrain on 9.6 km long route from Mansarovar to Chandpole.

Jaipur Metro commenced its regular commercial operationsfrom all its 9 stations-- Mansarovar, New Aatish Market,Vivek Vihar, Shyam Nagar, Ram Nagar, Civil Lines, RailwayStation, Sindhi Camp and Chandpole.

To encourage people to travel in the metro, upto 15 per cent discount has been offered onsmart cards, which can be recharged using Jaipur Metro website or Ticket Vending

Machines installed at all stations.

RBI lowers GDP growth forecast to 7.6% for FY16

The Reserve Bank of India has marked down the projection for output growth for 2015-16from 7.8 per cent in April to 7.6 per cent.

The RBI stated that strong food policy and management would be important to help keepinflation and inflationary expectations contained over the near term.

Assuming reasonable food management, inflation is expected to be pulled down by baseeffects till August but to start rising thereafter to about 6.0 per cent by January 2016.


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Service tax increased to 14%

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in his Budget had proposedto raise service tax from 12.36 percent (includingeducation cess) to 14 percent.

Some of the key services that will attract higher tax andhence become costlier are: railways, airlines, banking,insurance, advertising, architecture, construction, creditcards, event management and tour operators.

Jaitley had proposed to raise the service tax rate to 14percent to facilitate a smooth transition to the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime, whichthe government wants to roll out from April 2016.

Sunil Mittal-led Bharti Airtel has become the worlds third largest mobile operator with 303million subscriber. With operations in 20 countries, Bharti Airtel, which is present in India,Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Africa, has become the third largest mobile operator in theworld in terms of subscribers, the company said in a statement.

Book titled Transcendence: My Spiritual Experiences with Pramukh Swamiji authored byformer President Dr APJ Abdul Kalam and Arun Tiwari was released on 15 June 2015. InTranscendence, the authors Dr Kalam and Arun Tiwari have mapped a journey of self-realization reflected in the eyes of Pramukh Swamiji, painting a delightful fusion ofspirituality, science and leadership.

Union Government has exempted builders from obtaining prior green nod for constructionof Universities, School, College and Hostel facilities. In this regard Union Ministry ofEnvironment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has issued a circular to exempt greennod for educational institutions provided they should follow sustainable environmentpractises of construction.

State-run BSNL, with the Army's assistance, operationalised a mobile tower at an altitude of16,000 feet in Eastern Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir.The mobile tower atChongtash has been established with assistance from the Indian Army's Trishul Signallersin terms of transportation, setting up and rearward connectivity.

A book on Prime Minister Narendra Modi titled Modi Incredible emergence of a starwritten in Chinese language by Tarun Vijay. The book was published in July 2014 bySichuan Universitys South Asia Study Centre.The book is a biography based on the life and

economic vision of Narendra Modi. Election Commission of India (ECI) has suspended recognition of the PA Sangma-led

National Peoples Party (NPP) which was a recognized state party in Meghalaya. Therecognition of NPP was suspended under para 16A of the Election Symbols (Reservationand Allotment) Order, 1968 after the party failed to file the election expenditure statementincurred in 2014 Lok Sabha elections.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 15 June 2015 launched a book titled Education ofMuslims: An Islamic Perspective of Knowledge and Education Indian Context edited byProfessor JS Rajput. The book is aimed at informing and educating policy-makers, scholarsand readers about role of Islam in pursuit of education and knowledge.


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In a major policy shift, the Central Board of Trustees o f the Employees Provident FundOrganisation has decided to park 5 per cent of its funds in the equity market. Union LabourMinister Bandaru Dattatreya said the decision was in line with the suggestions made byFinance Minister Arun Jaitely that the EPFO invest up to 15 per cent of its funds in theequity market.

Union Railway Ministry inaugurated Integrated Security System in Mumbai. The ISS is

aimed at improving security on Railway premises, ensuring safety of the people andaverting terror attacks.

Memorial for former PM Narasimha Rao constructed at Ekta Sthal Samadhi Complex in NewDelhi. The completion of the work coincided with his birth anniversary that falls on 28 June.

Union Government asked Bihar, TN, Rajasthan to introduce milk in mid day meal scheme.The decision was made in a review meeting in which it was found that the State MilkFederations of these states have surplus stock of skimmed milk powder.

Union Cabinet approved to set up a National Memorial at birth place of Lok Nayak JPNarayan in Bihar. Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan was born at Lala Ka Tola, Sitab, Diara in

Chhapra (Saran) district of Bihar on 11 October 1902. Union Cabinet approved setting up of six Indian Institutes of Management (IIM). These new

IIMs will be located at Amritsar (Punjab), Bodh Gaya (Bihar), Nagpur (Maharashtra),Sambalpur (Odisha), Sirmaur (Himachal Pradesh) and Vishakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh).

Union Government launched Indias first Modernised Anganwadi Centre at Hasanpur

village in Sonepat. The centre has been set up as part of Nand-Ghar Yojana of UnionGovernment and is based on concept of Building as a Learning Aid piloted by UNICEF.

Union Ministry of Home Affairs designated Agatti and Minicoy Islands as ImmigrationCheck Posts. Both the islands will be used as transit points for all classes of passengers withvalid travel documents from 30 June 2015.

Task Force report on enabling the Private Sector to grow pharmaceutical sector released.The Task Force gave recommendations towards concerns and constraints facing the sectorand suggested measures that would augment domestic production.

CCEA approved inclusion of Uttarakhand, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh in National DairyPlan- I. It also extended the implementation period for two years to 2018-19 to achieve keyoutputs of National Dairy Plan- I.

Union Cabinet approved transfer of NILs land to DRDO for establishing a defence researchcentre.The land will be transferred by Jadavpur University in West Bengal to DRDO on long-term lease for establishing a defence research centre namely the Jagadish Chandra Bose

Centre for Advanced Technology (JCBCAT). Union Cabinet approved Bureau of Indian Standards Bill, 2015. It will repeal the Bureau of

Indian Standards (BIS) Act, 1986 and seeks to improve the quality of goods, services andsystems in the country.

Union Government launched website to connect employers, job seekers. The employers andjob seekers can now register at www.eex.dcmsme.gov.in.

Railway Ministry decided to run Suvidha Trains. Under Suvidha train services onlyconfirmed and RAC tickets will be issued and there will be no waiting list.


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Union Government scrapped import duties on AIDS drugs. At present, more than a third ofIndias 2.1 million HIV/AIDS patients depend on getting their daily anti-retroviral for freefrom state-run distribution centers, which have been facing shortages.

Union Government launched Migrant Resource Centre in Chennai. The MRC will provideinformation, guidance, advise and counselling on all aspects of overseas employment tointending migrants and overseas Indian workers.

Union Cabinet approved proposal to promulgate the Negotiable Instruments (Amendment)Ordinance. The intended ordinance will amend the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 that isfocused on clarifying the jurisdiction related issues for filing cases for offence committedunder section 138 of the NI Act.

Indian Army carried out cross-border operation against militants in Myanmar. The elitecommandos of the Army during this cross-border operation went few kilometers inside theMyanmar territory and destroyed two camps of insurgents hiding along the Nagaland andManipur borders.

Union Ministry of Water Resources launched nationwide Jal Kranti Abhiyan from Jaipur.

The campaign aims to strengthen grass root involvement of all stake holders includingPanchyati raj institutions and local bodies in the water security and development schemes.

Union Government launched Khoya Paya web portal to exchange information on missingchildren. It was jointly launched by Maneka Gandhi, Union Minister of Women & ChildDevelopment and Ravi Shankar Prasad, Union Minister of Communication & InformationTechnology.

Union Ministry of Women and Child Development launched IAP Health Phone programme.This programme was developed by the Indian Academy of Pediatrics (IAP) in partnershipwith the Union Ministry of Women and Child Development, UNICEF and is supported byVodafone India.

The Constitution (100th Amendment) Act, 2015. The amendment deals with the LandBoundary Agreement (LBA) between India and Bangladesh.

Union Government simplified defence rules to woo foreign companies. In order to provide alevel-playing field to private players, the government withdrew excise and Customs dutyexemptions enjoyed by the Ordinance Factory Board and defence Public SectorUndertakings.

President gave assent to 119th Constitutional Amendment Bill on LBA between India andBangladesh. It is the 100th amendment to the Indian Constitution and amends its firstschedule.

Union Government notified Undisclosed Foreign Income as Assets and imposition of TaxAct, 2015. The Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets (Imposition of Tax) Bill, 2015 wasintroduced in Lok Sabha on 20 March 2015


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International

50 nations, including India sign 60-article agreement on China-led AIIB

Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank 50founding nations including India have

signed 60-article agreement of China-ledmultilateral Asian InfrastructureInvestment Bank (AIIB). Australia was thefirst country to sign the agreement andwas followed by 49 other members. IndianAmbassador Ashok Kantha signed theagreement on behalf of country. The 60-article agreement provides the legalframework for Institution of AIIB. Each members capital share and voting share.Governance structure of AIIB. Policy-making mechanism of AIIB.

Facts about Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB)

Designed to finance infrastructure projects including energy, transport and infrastructureprojects in Asia. AIIB is seen as a rival to the World Bank and Asian Development Bank(ADB) which managed by most prominent countries like US, Japan and European etc.

Headquarters:Beijing. It will be operational by end of 2015.

Authorized capital:It will be of 100 billion US dollars. The initial subscribed capital will bearound 50 billion US Dollar and the paid-in ratio will be 20 per cent.

Regional character of the Bank:Its regional members (Asian) will be the holding around

75 percent of shares i.e. they will be majority shareholders. They have been allocated theircapital share on quota basis i.e. based on their economic size.

Voting share:for each member country it is based on the size of their economy and not onauthorised capital share to the Bank.

Largest shareholders:China is highest contributor to AIIB with 29.78 billion US dollars i.e.with a 30.34 percent stake in authorized capital. China will have 26.06 per cent of thevoting rights along with veto powers for certain key decisions.

India:second largest shareholder with 8.52 per cent stake and voting share of 7.5 per cent.

Russia: third largest shareholder with 6.66 stake and voting share of 5.92 per cent. It

should be noted that there are 57 founder-member countries AIIB. Seven countries werenot able to sign this agreement as it was not ratified by their respective domesticauthorities. The seven countries are Denmark, Malaysia, Kuwait, Holland, Philippines andSouth Africa and Thailand.

BRICS bank to be operational by end of 2015: South Africa

The emerging market BRICS nations will have their own development bank by the end ofthe year.


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"The New Development Bank is expected to be operational by end of 2015," the SouthAfrican finance ministry said in a statement that announced the nomination of SouthAfrican banker Leslie Maasdorp as vicepresident of the bank and parliamentaryratification of two treaties concerning thelender.

The BRICS nations - Brazil, Russia, India,China and South Africa - which represent40 per cent of the world's population anda quarter of its economic output, decidedin 2013 to create their own developmentbank to step up lending for theinfrastructure projects needed to close the gap with the industrialised world.

The bank, which will be headquartered in Shanghai, is expected to have up to $100 billionin capital.

The inaugural meeting of the board of governors of the New Development Bank will be held

in the Russian city of Ufa on July 7 to confirm the appointment of the management of thelender.

India, US ink pacts to enhance cooperation in health sector

India and United States have signed aseries of agreements on health in order toenhance cooperation in health sector. Themultiple areas covered under suchagreement include cancer research,

medical infrastructure development andapplication of new diagnostic technologies.

MoU on cancer research, control, prevention and management: To develop collaborativeresearch projects on population-based cancer control and implementation science.

MoU on collaboration in Environmental, occupational Health and Injury Prevention andControl: Further enhance cooperation in the fields of environmental and occupationalhealth along with injury prevention and control research.

Set up mechanism of antimicrobial resistance which also include the applications ofsystems biology.

Brightest Galaxy in Early Universe named after Cristiano Ronaldo as CR7

Scientists in third week of June 2015 named a newly discovered galaxy after Portuguesefootball player Cristiano Ronaldo. The galaxy was labeled as CR7 (COSMOS Redshift 7).

CR7 is three times brighter than the brightest distant galaxy known till now, called Himiko.This brightest galaxy was discovered in the early universe that contains the first generationof stars. For this discovery, they used ESOs Very Large Telescope (VLT).


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China and Australia formally sign free trade agreement

China and Australia have signed a trade agreement that is set to increase market access forAustralian beef and wine exporters while boosting Chinese carmakers and electronicsproducers who wish to sell their goods to Australians.

One flashpoint is the inclusion of an investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) clause, whichgrants foreign companies the right to sue governments for breaching commitments in suchagreements.

The Australian union movement has also raised concerns about the access to be granted toChinese citizens under labour market provisions.

The Australian prime minister, Tony Abbott, said the agreement would give each nationunprecedented access to each others markets and pointed to the reduction in tariffsimposed on trade.

It removes barriers to Australian agricultural exports across a range of products, includingbeef, dairy, lamb, wine, horticulture and seafood,

First species of Yeti crab named Kiwa Tyleri found in Antarctica

Kiwa Tyleri Team of British scientists have discovered the first species of Yeti crab fromhydrothermal vent systems in Antarctica. Study in this regard was published in the journalPlos One. Researches have christened this species as Kiwa Tyleri after world-renownedBritish deep-sea and polar biologist professor Paul Tyler.

Characteristics of Kiwa Tyleri

Kiwa Tyleri species are found usually in warm-water refuge of hydrothermal vent systemssurrounded by the cold polar waters in the Southern Ocean near Antarctica. It lives in verylimited sized habitat near the warm-water hydrothermal

vent site.

This species is unable to move between vent sites becauseof the hostile, low temperature and extreme polarenvironment. So they, occur in highly-packed densities.

For food it is dependent on chemosynthetic bacteria whichovergrow the surfaces of hydrothermal vent chimneys. Itsbody is densely covered by bristles known as setae. It hasfur like appearance due to bacteria living on it. TermsHydrothermal vent systems: It is a fissure releasing geothermally heated water whichcomes out on planets surface.

Commonly found in active volcanic places. Chemosynthetic bacteria: They obtain energyfrom exothermic oxidation of inorganic or simple organic compounds in absence of light.This energy is utilized for metabolic processes.

US becomes world's largest oil producer, says BP Report

As per recently released report by British Petroleum (BP) Energy Company, United States(US) became the worlds largest oil producer in 2014 surpassing Saudi Arabia.


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Production: US had produced 11.6 million barrels of oil per day (bpd) e. 15.9% more oil in2014. While, Saudi Arabia was placed second position as ithad produced 11.5 million bpd in 2014. Russia was placed atthird position with 10.8 million bpd oil production.

Natural Gas Production: US also has surpassed Russia asthe worlds largest producer of natural gas.

Consumption: China had remained the worlds largestgrowth market for energy in 2014

Facts related to India:Indias oil production gad declined by 1.3% at 895,000 bpd, whilethe consumption had increased by 3% to 3.8 million bpd. India has shown 7.1% rise inenergy consumption.

Worlds First Electric Passenger aircraft BX1E manufactured in China

Air The worlds first electric passenger aircraft named BX1E was manufactured in China.The aircraft was designed by Shenyang Aerospace University and Liaoning General AviationAcademy located in the northeastern Liaoning Province of China.

Features of BX1E Electric Passenger aircraft

BX1E aircraft has a 14.5-meter wingspan and a maximum payload of 230 kgs. It can fly at analtitude of 3,000 meters. The aircraft can charge within two hours.

Fully charged aircraft can have flight time of 45 minutes to 1 hour with a maximum speedof 160 km per hour.

The first two BX1E aircrafts were delivered to Liaoning Ruixiang General Aviation Co. Ltd.

These aircrafts will be used in tourism, pilot training, meteorology and rescue operations.

14th June: World Blood Donor Day

World Blood Donor Day is being observed across the world on 14 June to raise the publicawareness about the need for safe blood donation.

The theme of this years campaign is

Thank you for saving my life. This yearscampaign encourages donors all over theworld to donate blood voluntarily andregularly with the slogan Give freely, giveoften. Blood donation matters.

Objective

To spread awareness about the need forsafe and secure blood supplies.

Provide an opportunity to draw public attention to the importance of blood donation forsaving lives.


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China launches freight train service connecting Europe

China launched a freight train service between its northeastern city of Harbin and Europe,opening a new trade route to Europe covering a distance of nearly 10,000 kms.

The train left Harbin, capital of Heilongjiang province, carrying 49 containers of domesticgoods such as electronic products and auto parts worth US$ three million from northeastand north China, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

First translated version of Hindu scripture Bhagavad Gita released in China

Bhagavad Gita Translated Chinese version of Bhagavad Gita, a sacred ancient Indianscripture was released in China. This is the first a well-known Hindu ancient religious textwas published in China.

The book was released by Indian Ambassador to China Ashok K Kantha during aninternational yoga conference. It was translated in Chinese by Professor Wang Zhu Chengand Ling Hai of Zhejiang University in Shanghai and was published by Sichuan PeoplesPublications.

The foreword for the book was written by K Nagaraj Naidu who had served as the consulategeneral at the Indian Consulate in Guangzhou city of China. Some of Indias ancient are well-known in China. It includes ancient Buddhist scriptures which were introduced to them bycelebrated Chinese traveler Huen Tsang after he had visited India in the 7th century.

Earlier in 2014, scholars from India and China published an Encyclopaedia on the age-oldcultural contacts between both countries which had showcased their history to over 2000years.

TCS, Infosys face US probe for H-1B visa violations

The US government has opened aninvestigation against two of the biggestIndian outsourcing companies forpossible violations of H1-B visa rules,according to a media report.

The Department of Labour has opened the investigation against Tata Consultancy Servicesand Infosys for possible violations of rules for visas for foreign technology workers undercontracts they held with an electric utility Southern California Edison

The power company had recently laid off more than 500 technology workers amid claimsthat many of those laid off were made to train their replacements who were immigrants onthe temporary work visas brought in by the Indian firms

The move by the Labour Department comes days after the NYT had reported that hundredsof employees at entertainment giant Walt Disney were laid off and replaced with Indiansholding H1-B visas.

Union Cabinet gives nod to Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal (BBIN) Motor VehicleAgreement

Union Cabinet meet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the signing ofBangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal (BBIN) Motor Vehicle Agreement.


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The agreement which is similar to the SAARC Motor Vehicle Agreement (MVA) seeks toregulate the vehicular traffic of passenger, personal and cargo amongst BBIN countries.

The agreement will be signed on 15th June 2015 at the Transport Ministers meeting inThimpu, Bhutan.

BBIN agreement aims to promote safe,environmentally sound and economical efficientroad transport in the sub-region of BBIN. It alsoseeks to help each member country to create aninstitutional mechanism for regional integration.

BBIN agreement will benefit member nations formutual cross border movement of passenger and goods for overall economic developmentof the region.

For implementation of this agreement each signatory member will bear its own costs.

Japan passes law to lower voting age to 18 from 20 years

Japan has passed a law lower the voting age to 18 years from its current 20 years. The billin this regard to revise the public office election law was passed by the upper house afterbeing approved in the lower chamber.

With passing of this law, 2.4 million of its population from 18 and 19-year-olds age groupwill extend the franchise in future elections. This move also has brought Japan in line withother developed countries in terms of voting age.

Last time, Japan had lowered the voting age from 25 to 20 years in 1945 after its surrenderin World War II. Population structure of Japan At present, around a quarter i.e. 26 percentof Japans 127-million population is aged 65 or over indicating population ageing with

negative growth rate. Japan is in last i.e. third stage of demographic transition as a result of low birth rates and

death deaths. The age structure of Japan is an inverted age pyramid representing largepopulation of elders.

Some facts: Presently, 170 nations in the world have voting age of 18 years. In case ofIndia, the voting age was lowered to 18 years by the Constitution (Sixty-first Amendment)Act, 1988.

26 African countries create TFTA: Cape Town to Cairo free-trade zone

African countries have signed a historic The Tripartite Free TradeArea (TFTA) that facilitates creation of Africas largest free-tradezone.

This free-trade zone will cover 26 countries in an area fromsouthernmost tip of African continent e. Cape Town (South Africa) toCairo (Egypt) in the north.

The pact was signed in Egypt will intent to ease the movement ofgoods across 26 member countries which represent more than halfthe continents GDP. TFTA pact combines existing three trade blocsamong the African nations viz Southern African Development Community (SADC), East


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African Community (EAC), Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA).

It will remove trade barriers on most goods, making them cheaper and stimulating $ 1trillion worth of economic activity across the region of more than 600 million people.

Stanford scientist Manu Prakash makes water based computer

Manu Prakash, who amazed the world last year by building a paper microscope, has nowcome up with a computer that works by moving water droplets. P

rakash is an assistant professor of bioengineering at Stanford University and he hasdeveloped the water computer with the help of two of his students. He was born in Meerut,India.

What Prakash did was devise a system in which tiny water droplets are trapped in amagnetic field. When the field is rotated or flipped, the droplets move in precise directionand distance. This became the basis of the computer clock, which is an essential componentof any computer.

Computer clocks are responsible for nearly every modern convenience. Smartphones,DVRs, airplanes, internet - without a clock, none of these could operate without frequentand serious complications.

India, Bangladesh make history with land swap

India and Bangladesh sealed a historic agreement that willsettle a 41-year-old land boundary dispute throughexchange of territories, removing a major irritant inbilateral ties.

The two sides exchanged documents regarding the LandBoundary Agreement (LBA) that was passed unanimouslyby the Parliament last month in the presence of Mr. Modiand his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina.

The exchange of documents paves way for the operationalisation of the 1974 India-Bangladesh LBA that provides for exchange of 161 enclaves between the two countries. Atotal 111 border enclaves will be transferred to Bangladesh in exchange for 51 that willbecome part of India.

Under the agreement, India will have an advantage of 500 acres and 10,000 acres will go toBangladesh.

United Kingdom celebrates 800 years of Magna Carta

United Kingdom (UK) celebrated 800 years of signing of Magna Carta on 15 June 2015. Thecelebrations to observe signing of 8 century year old historic document which had laidfoundation for modern democratic society was led by Queen Elizabeth II.

UK Prime Minister David Cameron was also had joined the queen to mark the celebrations.About Magna Carta Magna Carta is a Latin word which in English means Great Charter. It ismost important document of England signed on 15 June 1215 at Runnymede alongside theRiver Thames in the English county of Surrey.


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It had originated as a peace and truce treaty between King John and a group of rebelliousbarons within his kingdom. The document had written promises between King John and hissubjects mentioning that the king will govern England and deal with its people according tothe customs of feudal law.

Magna Carta had laid the first steps towards parliamentary democracy and the principlesupremacy of law i.e. no one is above the law. It also laid the principle of balance of power

between the governed and government. Its influence can be seen in other documents acrossthe world including the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights and on US Constitutionand Bill of Rights.

In case of India, its influence also can be seen on Part III of constitution which containsfundamental rights, described as the magna carta of India which has been derivedinspiration from Bill of Rights.

India Signs Legal Agreement with the World Bank for IBRD Loan of US$ 400 Million

The Loan and Project Agreements for World Bank (IBRD) assistance of US$ 400 million for

Tamil Nadu Sustainable Urban Development Project were signed between the Governmentof India/ Government of Tamil Nadu and World Bank.

The Loan Agreement was signed by Shri Raj Kumar, JointSecretary, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry ofFinance on behalf of Government of lndia and Mr. OnnoRuhl, Country Director, World Bank (lndia) on behalf of theWorld Bank.

The objective of the project is to improve urban services inparticipating Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) in a financiallysustainable manner and to pilot improved urban

management practices in selected cities.

The total project size is US$ 600 million, out of which World Bank support is US$ 400million.

India, US ink new defence framework accord

India and the US signed a new strategically important 10-year defence framework pact envisaging joint developmentand manufacture of defence equipment and technologyincluding jet engines, aircraft carrier design and

construction. Both sides also finalised two project agreements for hi-tech

mobile power source and next generation protective suitsfor chemical and biological warfare.

The framework also recognises the transformative nature of the Defence Technology andTrade Initiative (DTTI).


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USA Freedom Act Passes

The Senate passed the USA Freedom Act by 67-32, marking the first time in over thirtyyears that both houses of Congress have approved a bill placing real restrictions andoversight on the National Security Agencyssurveillance powers.

The Bill ends a system exposed by former NationalSecurity Agency (NSA) contractor Edward Snowden. Thespy agency collected and searched records of phone callslooking for terrorism leads but was not allowed to listento their content.

The new law would require companies such as VerizonCommunications Inc and AT&T Inc, to collect and storetelephone records the same way that they do now for billing purposes.

05 June: World Environment Day

Every year World Environment Day (WED) is observed on 05 June to raise globalawareness to take positive environmental action to protectnature and the planet Earth.

The theme for year 2015 is Seven Billion Dreams. OnePlanet. Consume with Care.

The theme highlights the need to respect the carryingcapacity of the planet earth and to manage natural resourcesefficiently to ensure prosperity and wellbeing globally.Observing this day is global initiative of United NationsEnvironment Programme (UNEP). The host country for theWED 2015 is Italy.

To mark this day Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated a tree plantation campaignacross India by planting Kadamb sapling at the lawns of his Race Course Road residence.

About World Environment Day (WED)

WED was established by the United Nations General Assembly in 1972 to mark the openingof United Nations Conference on the Human Environment 1972 which began in Stockholm.

The first World Environment Day was observed in 1973 and since then it is being heldevery year with a different themes.

South Korea Tests New Ballistic Missile

South Korea successfully test fired a ballistic missile capable of hitting targets anywhere inNorth Korea.

The test demonstrated improved ballistic missile capability that can strike all parts of NorthKorea swiftly, and with precision, in the event of armed aggression or provocation.

The Hyunmoo-2B is an upgraded version of the Hyunmoo-2A, both of which weredeveloped by the state-run Agency for Defense Development (ADD).


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Three-drug lethal injection protocol use did not violate Constitution: US Supreme Court.The court in its ruling said that the use of Midazolam does not violate the Constitution interms of being cruel and unusual punishment as per Eighth Amendment of the USConstitution

US Supreme Court ruled against EPA limiting mercury emissions from power plants. Thecase looked at the EPA's regulation of mercury and other emissions from power plants

under the Clean Air Act, 1970.

India, Thailand signed five MOUs during the 7th Meeting of India-Thailand JointCommission. The agreements were signed during three days the Visit of Minister ofExternal Affairs to Thailand from 27-29 June 2015.

Sri Lankas President Maithripala Sirisena dissolved Parliament. Sirisena dissolved theparliament within 160 days after assuming his office in January 2015.

US Supreme Court legalized Same-Sex Marriage Nationwide. The court ratified the Bill ofRights and added the Fourteenth Amendment that states no state shall deprive any personof life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.

US Supreme Court gave nod to subsidies under US Health Care Law in States without healthexchanges. The judgment was delivered by a 9-judge bench in the King v. Burwell case with6-3 division

International Conference on Nepals Reconstruction concluded. The Conference wasattended by at least 35 countries, including China, Britain, Norway, Japan, Sri Lanka, theEuropean Union besides the UN, World Bank and Asian Development Bank.

Union Cabinet approved signing of MoC between India and Japan on Industrial Property.The MoC will focus on capacity building, human resource development and awarenessgeneration.

Austria to file complaint against UK's Hinkley Point C nuclear project in European Court ofJustice. The petition is expected to be filed on 29 June 2015.

India to be the Partner Country for Russian Industrial Trade Fair Innoprom 2016. NirmalaSitharaman was on a three day visit to Russia to participate in annual St. PetersburgInternational and Economic Forum (SPIEF) held on 18-20 June 2015 at St Petersburg,Russia.

Nepal-India Treaty of Transit amended to facilitate import of vehicles into Nepal. The fourborder points are Raxaul-Birgunj, Jogbani-Biratnagar, Sunauli-Bhairahawa and NepalgunjRoad-Nepalgunj border points.

EU launched Operation EU NAVFOR Med against migrant-traffickers. During the operation,

ships will operate in international waters and airspace until the EU can secure a UNSecurity Council resolution endorsing its effort and permission from Libyan officials toenter their territory.

Pitcairn Island passed law to allow same-sex marriage. Pitcairn Island, a tiny speck in thePacific with a small population of 48 people, passed the law on suggestion of Britishauthorities after England, Wales and Scotland legalised the same-sex marriage in 2014.

India placed at 61st position in terms of foreigners money in Swiss banks. The countries totop the list are the United Kingdom (UK) and the United States (US) with UK aloneaccounting for 22 percent of total global funds in Swiss banks.


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Commemorations of the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo concluded. Theanniversary is celebrated to remember the June 1815 battle in which Napoleons Frencharmy was defeated by Duke of Wellingtons allied forces.

France announced ban on earphones for Drivers and Cyclists. Those found using earphoneswhile driving a vehicle or riding a cycle will be fined 135 Euro (214 dollar) and lose threelicense points.

Department of State of USA released Country Reports on Terrorism 2014. As per the report,Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan, India and Nigeria accounted for more than 60 percent ofterrorist attacks in 2014.

India, Tanzania signed six MoUs during the visit of President of Tanzania to India.Agreement on establishing a collaborative program in official statistics was inked betweenTanzanias EASTC and Indias NSSTA.

Blue Opposition Bloc led by Lars Loekke Rasmussen won Denmarks ParliamentaryElections. Incumbent Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt, the first woman PrimeMinister of Denmark, conceding defeat quit as the head of Social Democrat Party.

Hong Kong lawmakers rejected Beijing-backed election reform package. The electionreform package was voted down by 28 votes to eight in the Legislative Council (known aslegco) of 70 legislators.

China and Australia signed Free Trade Agreement. The China-Australia Free TradeAgreement (ChAFTA) will ensure 85 percent of all exports of Australia to China tariff-free.

Union Cabinet approved agreement with Spain on abolishing visa requirements fordiplomatic passports. Similar agreements on abolishing visa requirements for diplomaticpassports holders have been signed by India with 40 countries.

Commission on GSJG released the Confronting the Crisis of Global Governance report. Thereport says that the United Nations and other global institutions aren't equipped to tackletoday's global challenges ranging from massive violence in fragile states to runaway climatechange.

India and Poland set trade target of 5 billion US dollars by 2018. The decision was taken on15 June 2015 at the fourth session of the bilateral Joint Commission on EconomicCooperation, held in Warsaw, capital city of Poland.

Australia applied holding order to Maggi Noodles from India. The department took thismeasure in response to reports of levels of lead that are potentially noncompliant with thepermissible levels in the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code.

RTA of UAE included four Indian languages into its driving tests. Out of seven languages

included are Hindi, Malayalam, Tamil and Bengali (Indian languages) and Chinese, Russianand Persian.

Israeli government approved bill to force feed prisoners. The Bill is called as Law to PreventHarm Caused by Hunger Strikes.

Spain passed law awarding citizenship to descendants of expelled Jews. Tens of thousandsof Jews were expelled in 1492 during the Spanish Inquisition, who were forced to convertthem to Catholicism or were burnt at the stake.

India, Japan and Australia held first ever trilateral dialogue. The representatives of threecountries discussed prospects of cooperation in the fields of economy and security withspecial emphasis on maritime security.


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Nepal political parties reached agreement on proposed Constitution framework. Theagreement is related to the number of federal states, form of governance and electoral andjudicial systems to be set out in the constitution.

Justice and Development Party won Turkey's parliamentary polls. According to preliminaryresults, the pro-Kurdish left-wing Peoples' Democracy Party (HDP) which crossed the 10percent threshold, managed to enter Parliament for the first time.

India and Bangladesh signed 22 bilateral documents. Instruments of Ratification of 1974Land Boundary Agreement and its 2011 Protocol as well as letters on Modalities forimplementation of 1974 Land Boundary Agreement were exchanged.

WTOs Dispute Settlement Board ruled against Indias ban on poultry imports from the US.The appellate body agreed with the panel's finding that India's AI (avian influenza)measures are inconsistent, because they are not based on a risk assessment

India and the Netherlands signed agreements to enhance bilateral cooperation. Theagreements were signed during the visit of Prime Minister of Netherland Mark Rutte toIndia.

India and Belarus signed six Agreements during the visit of President to Belarus. The twonations inked a protocol amending the agreement for the Avoidance of Double Taxation andthe Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with respect to Taxes on Income and on Property (Capital)of the 27 September 1997.

India joined MCAA on Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information (AEOI). Thedeclaration to comply with the provisions of the Multilateral Competent AuthorityAgreement (MCAA) was signed in Paris by Mohan Kumar, the Indian ambassador to France.

President Pranab Mukherjee concluded two-nation visit to Sweden and Belarus. He visitedSweden from 31 May to 2 June and Belarus from 2 June to 4 June 2015 and these visits werefirst ever by an Indian President to either country.

US President Barack Obama signed USA FREEDOM Act 2015 into law. This Act has limitedgovernments ability to collect phone data, which was done through a policy named as 2001USA Patriot Act, which was in existence since the attacks of 11 September 2001.

South Korea and China signed bilateral Free Trade Agreement (FTA). It aims to graduallyremove tariffs on more than 90 percent of traded goods between both the countries within20 years.

Trial run of Kolkata-Dhaka-Agartala bus service began. In its journey, the bus will cross twointernational checkpoints and they are Petrapole on West Bengal-Bangladesh border and atAkhuara on Tripura-Bangladesh border.

India, Sweden signed 6 agreements during visit of Pranab Mukherjee to Sweden. Mukherjeewho is on a five-day long visit to Sweden and Belarus between 31 May and 4 June 2015 isthe first ever Indian head of state to visit Sweden.

US removed Cuba from terror blacklist to strengthen ties with Cuba. The removal of Cubafrom the terror list would also help in the process of lifting economic sanctions.

Union Cabinet approved Agreement on Coastal and Maritime Shipping between India andBangladesh. The agreement paves the way for the commencement of coastal shippingbetween the two countries.


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laws of India.

Appointments-National/International

Afghan prez Ghani nominates first female judge to Supreme Court

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani nominated a female judge to the Supreme Court in anunprecedented move that has angered some Islamic

conservatives.

Anisa Rasouli, the head of the Afghan Women JudgesAssociation and a former juvenile court judge, was the onlyfemale nominated to the nine-member bench after theannouncement was delayed due to opposition by a group ofIslamic conservatives earlier this month.

President Ghani's wife Rula stepped into the limelightduring the presidential election last year and has been actively campaigning for women'srights since then.

Zaheer Abbas appointed as ICC President

Former Pakistan cricket team captain Zaheer Abbas has beenselected the new President of International Cricket Council(ICC) for one year term.

He will be 13th President of ICC and succeeds Mustafa Kamalof Bangladesh who had resigned from the post of ICC Presidentin April 2015.

Decision in this regard was taken during the ICC AnnualConference week in Barbados. Zaheer Abbas was a right-handed batsman. He had played 78 Tests and 62 One-DayInternationals (ODIs) in his 22-year long illustrious careerspanning from 1969 to 1985.

He had scored 5,062 runs in Test career and 2,572 runs in ODI career. He also hadrepresented Pakistan in three World Cups in 1975, 1979 and 1983. He also captainedPakistan in 14 Tests and 13 ODIs matches. In his career, he had scored 108 centuries.

He was the only Asian batsman to score 100 first-class centuries and was also first batsmanto score three consecutive centuries in ODIs.

Prominent scientist Ameenah Gurib-Fakim sworn-in as first woman president ofMauritius

Ameenah Gurib-Fakim Prominent scientist Ameenah Gurib-Fakim was sworn in asPresident of Mauritius. With this she became first woman to become President of IndianOcean island nation which is a ceremonial position.

Ameenah Gurib-Fakim is an alumnus of the universities of Exeter and Surrey of UnitedKingdom. She is also the chair of organic chemistry at Mauritius University. She isinternationally renowned biodiversity scientist and biologist Ameenah Gurib-Fakim astheir new President.


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laws of India.

She had worked with the World Bank and other international institutions. She also hadserved as the Managing Director of Centre International de DveloppementPharmaceutique (CIDP) Research & Innovation.

Ameenah had authored numerous academic and research papers. She has received severalaccolades and honours including Laureate for the LOreal-UNESCO Women in ScienceAward for Africa (2007), African Union Award for Women in Science for the Easter African

Region (2009) etc.

Steffi Graf appointed Kerala's brand ambassador for Ayurveda

Tennis legend Steffi Graf was appointed the Ayurveda brand ambassador of Kerala.

The Kerala tourism department was given sanction tosign an agreement with Graf to become Ayurveda brandambassador as part of the department's 'Visit KeralaScheme', Chandy said.

The tourism department had already held discussionsand reached an agreement with the German formerWorld number one tennis player, who had bagged 22Grand slam single titles.

Kerala's Ayurveda, an ancient system of health care which is famous for its holistic effect onbody and mind, attracts a large number of people from the country and abroad every year.

Beno Zephine becomes first 100% blind officer in IFS

The 25-year-old from Chennai was informed by theexternal affairs ministry that she has been inducted into

the Indian Foreign Service, the first 100 per cent visually-challenged person to gain entry into the 69-year-oldservice.

Former diplomats have hailed the decision to allow 100per cent visually challenged people into the service.

She was working as a probationary officer for state bank of India.

UN elected Denmark's Mogens Lykketoft to head General Assembly

The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on 15 June 2015 elected Denmark's MogensLykketoft as its President for its upcoming 70th session in September 2015.

He will have tenure of one year and succeeds Uganda's Sam Kutesa to preside over the 193-membe

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