Current Affairs - June 2019 Month June 2019 Type All 416 Current Affairs were found in Month - June 2019 for Type - All Appointments 1. Ajit Doval has been Re-appointed as National Security Adviser (NSA). He has also been given cabinet rank (with tenure of five years), as recognition of his contribution in national security. 2. Amit Agarwal (Former Amazon India head) has been appointed as new chairman of Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI). 3. Arun Kumar has been given additional charge of Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). He currently holds position of an additional secretary at aviation ministry. 4. Bharatiya Janta Party’s (BJP) Virendra Kumar appointed as Pro-tem Speaker of Newly Elected 17th Lok Sabha. After formation of a new government, a pro tem speaker is selected to chair first meeting after election when Speaker and Deputy Speaker are selected. 5. Chief Economic Adviser (CEA) Krishnamurthy Subramanian and B. Sriram former (MD and CEO of IDBI Bank) are appointed part-time members of Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI). IBBI is headed by M. S. Sahoo. 6. China’s Qu Dongyu elected as new director general of United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) at Rome (Italy) for 4 years. 7. Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India Rajiv Mehrishi has been elected as external auditor of World Health Organization (WHO) for four years term (2020 to 2023. 8. Denmark’s Inger Andersen appointed as new Executive Director (ED) of United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), for 4 years term. 9. Exporters body Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) has elected Sharad Kumar Saraf as its new president. 10. Government Appointed Shefali Juneja as India’s representative in Council of International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), for 3 years. ICAO is a United Nations agency, tasked with regulating international air travel. ICAO was established in 1944 by Convention on International Civil Aviation (Chicago Convention). It is headquartered in Quartier International of Montreal (Canada). 11. Government appointed V.S. Kaumudi as Director General of Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D), lowering the post to the rank of Additional Director General. 12. Govt. appointed Arvind Kumar as Director of Intelligence Bureau (IB) for 2 years, succeeding Rajiv Jain. Govt also appointed Samant Kumar Goel as Director of Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), for 2 years, succeeding Anil K Dhasmana. Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) also approved extension of tenure of Amitabh Kant as CEO of NITI Aayog for 2 years. 13. Indian Airline SpiceJet Chairman and Managing Director Ajay Singh elected to board of the International Air Transport Association (IATA). 14. Indian Author Amish Tripathi named as the director of London’s Nehru Centre, under Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR). London’s Nehru Centre was established in 1992, to promote cultural exchange between India and UK. 15. Indian Olympic Association president Narinder Batra has been elected as a member of the International Olympic Committee. 16. K Natarajan has been appointed as new Director General (DG) of Indian Coast Guard (ICG), succeeding Rajendra Singh.
Transcript
Current Affairs - June 2019
Month June 2019 Type All
416 Current Affairs were found in Month - June 2019 for Type - All
Appointments
1. Ajit Doval has been Re-appointed as National Security Adviser (NSA). He has also been given cabinet rank (with tenure of five
years), as recognition of his contribution in national security.
2. Amit Agarwal (Former Amazon India head) has been appointed as new chairman of Internet and Mobile Association of India
(IAMAI).
3. Arun Kumar has been given additional charge of Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). He currently holds position of an
additional secretary at aviation ministry.
4. Bharatiya Janta Party’s (BJP) Virendra Kumar appointed as Pro-tem Speaker of Newly Elected 17th Lok Sabha.
After formation of a new government, a pro tem speaker is selected to chair first meeting after election when Speaker and
Deputy Speaker are selected.
5. Chief Economic Adviser (CEA) Krishnamurthy Subramanian and B. Sriram former (MD and CEO of IDBI Bank) are appointed
part-time members of Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI). IBBI is headed by M. S. Sahoo.
6. China’s Qu Dongyu elected as new director general of United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) at Rome (Italy)
for 4 years.
7. Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India Rajiv Mehrishi has been elected as external auditor of World Health
Organization (WHO) for four years term (2020 to 2023.
8. Denmark’s Inger Andersen appointed as new Executive Director (ED) of United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), for 4
years term.
9. Exporters body Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) has elected Sharad Kumar Saraf as its new president.
10. Government Appointed Shefali Juneja as India’s representative in Council of International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO),
for 3 years.
ICAO is a United Nations agency, tasked with regulating international air travel. ICAO was established in 1944 by
Convention on International Civil Aviation (Chicago Convention). It is headquartered in Quartier International of Montreal
(Canada).
11. Government appointed V.S. Kaumudi as Director General of Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D), lowering the
post to the rank of Additional Director General.
12. Govt. appointed Arvind Kumar as Director of Intelligence Bureau (IB) for 2 years, succeeding Rajiv Jain. Govt also appointed
Samant Kumar Goel as Director of Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), for 2 years, succeeding Anil K Dhasmana.
Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) also approved extension of tenure of Amitabh Kant as CEO of NITI Aayog for
2 years.
13. Indian Airline SpiceJet Chairman and Managing Director Ajay Singh elected to board of the International Air Transport
Association (IATA).
14. Indian Author Amish Tripathi named as the director of London’s Nehru Centre, under Indian Council for Cultural Relations
(ICCR).
London’s Nehru Centre was established in 1992, to promote cultural exchange between India and UK.
15. Indian Olympic Association president Narinder Batra has been elected as a member of the International Olympic Committee.
16. K Natarajan has been appointed as new Director General (DG) of Indian Coast Guard (ICG), succeeding Rajendra Singh.
Organisation (National) - Bihar School of Yoga (Munger)
Organisation (International) - Japan Yoga Niketan (Japan)
Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (I&B) instituted new award called Antarashtriya Yoga Diwas Media Samman
(AYDMS) -
It will recognise contribution made by media in spreading awareness about Yoga and for promotion and
commemoration of International Yoga Day.
Media campaigns on yoga from 10 June to 25 June coverage will be considered for International Yoga Day Awards.
Total 33 awards will be given to media houses including 11 each for print media, TV and radio channels for excellent
coverage given to Yoga. Sammans will conferred in all 22 Indian languages (mentioned in Schedule 8 of constitution)
and English.
15. June 23 - United Nations Public Service Day, proclaimed in 2003.
June 23 is also observed as International Olympics Day and UN International Widows' Day.
16. June 25 is observed as International Day of Seafarer (DotS).
17. June 26 - International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, Proclaimed by United Nation General Assembly in
December 1987 and Observed since 1989. 2019 Theme is Health for Justice. June 26 is also observed as International Day in
Support of Victims of Torture.
On This occasion, Thaawarchand Gehlot (Minister of Social Justice & Empowerment) flagged off “17th Run Against Drug
Abuse” in New Delhi.
18. June 27 - International MSME Day. 2019 Theme is Big Money For Small Business: Financing the SDGs. On this occasion,
Ministry of Micro Small and Medium Enterprises organized an international convention with theme “Indian MSMEs, Global
Aspirations” in New Delhi.
19. June 29 is observed as International Day of the Tropics, proclaimed in 2016 by United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).
On this day in 2014, Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi launched inaugural State of Tropics Report which is culmination of
collaboration between 12 leading tropical research institutions, and offers unique perspective on Tropics, an increasingly
important region.
20. June 29 is observed as National Statistics Day in India, as 13th edition of this day. 2019 Theme is Sustainable Development
Goals (SDGs).
It is celebrated annually on occasion of Birth anniversary of India’s eminent statistician, Late Prof Prasanta Chandra
Mahalanobis.
Winner of Prof. C R Rao Award 2019 (Subhra Sankar Dhar, IIT Kanpur) for notable contribution in field of Statistics was
felicitated on this occasion.
21. June 3 - World Bicycle Day, declared by United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in 2018. It promotes use of Bicycle for its
environmental and health benefits.
22. June 30 - International Asteroid Day, Proclaimed by United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in December 2016. The day
marks anniversary of Tunguska impact over Siberia (Russia), on 30 June 1908.
23. June 30 - International Day of Parliamentarism, proclaimed by United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in May 2018. On this
day in 1889, on which Inter-Parliamentary Union, global organization of parliaments was established.
24. June 4 is observed as International Day of Innocent Children Victims of Aggression.
25. June 5 - World Environment Day, designated by United Nation General Assembly (UNGA) in 1972. It was first celebrated in
1974. Theme for World Environment Day 2019 is ‘Beat Air Pollution’, chosen by this year’s host, China.
Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change (MoEFCC) launched song ‘Hawa Aane De’ to spread awareness about Air
pollution. It is written by Swanand Kirkire.
Gujarat CM Vijay Rupani launched world’s first Emission Trading Scheme (ETS) for Particulate Matter(PM) to reduce air
pollution. It is aimed to reduce particulate pollutants PM2.5 and PM10 and incentivize the industrial units which cap their
emissions.Gujarat Pollution Control Board (GPCB) will set a limit or cap on amount of a pollutant that can be emitted byindustrial units.The permits are traded like any other commodity on National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange Limited(NCDEX).Buyer has to pay a charge for polluting whereas the seller will be rewarded for reduced emissions. The scheme wasinitiated in Surat by GPCB.It will be implemented across 350 industrial units in the city in a phased manner, with around 160 units in the firstphase.At present, the government has set a cap on concentration of emissions for each industrial unit at 150 microgrammeper cubic metre (ug/m3). It is the 24-hour average for emission standard set by the Central government for industrialunits.
On this occasion, Nagaland’s scenic Dzükou Valley became Plastic Free Zone.
On eve of World Environment Day, Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar launched a people’s campaign called
#SelfiewithSapling, urging people to advocate the cause on social media.
26. June 6 is observed as UN Russian Language Day, established by United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization (UNESCO) in 2010. June 6 is also observed as Birth Anniversary of Legendary Mewar Ruler Maharana Pratap.
27. June 7, 2019 observed as First ever World Food Safety Day, with theme - ‘Food Safety, everyone’s business’. It was facilitated in
December 2018 by World Health Organisation (WHO) in collaboration with Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of United
Nations (UN). On this occasion, Health Ministry launched various initiatives, Including -
State Food Safety Index (SFSI), to measure performance of States on five parameters of food safety.
Food adulteration checkin equiments named Raman 1.0 and Food Safety Magic Box.
Eat Right Awards instituted by FSSAI , to recognize contributions made by companies / individuals to empower citizens to
choose healthy food options.
28. June 8 - World Oceans Day. 2019 theme is ‘Gender and the Ocean’. June 8 is also observed as World Brain Tumor Day.
29. Observations Made on June 21 -
International Yoga Day (Described Separately).
World Music Day. 2019 Theme is Music at the intersections.
Summer Solstice day. Summer Solstice is longest day of year which marks official start of summer season in Northern
hemisphere.
World Hydrography Day, Proclaimed by International Hydrographic Organization in 2005. 2019 theme is “Hydrographic
information driving marine knowledge”.
Top
Defence
1. Kharga Prahar training exercise conducted by Indian Army in Punjab, by various units of Army’s Kharga Corps. Indian Army’s
II Corps, based in Ambala is known as Kharga Corps, stationed at Ambala since 1985.
2. Indian Navy deployed Ships INS Chennai and Sunayna in Gulf of Oman, Under Operation Sankalp. It aimed to re-assure Indian
Flagged Vessels transiting through Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman, after some incidents in region.
3. Anti-ship version of supersonic cruise missile BrahMos test fired from Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur in Odisha.
Range of this medium-range ramjet supersonic cruise missile is approx 290 km.
4. Armies of India and Myanmar held 3-week-long coordinated operation in their respective border areas called ‘Operation Sunrise
2’ to bust terror camps in Manipur, Nagaland and Assam. This was the 2nd edition of Operation Sunrise.
5. Army launched online platform named Retired Officers Digital Records Archive (RODRA), at URL https://rodra.gov.in, to have
a better connection with armed forces veteran officers and family pensioners.
6. Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) appproved setting up of new agency called Defence Space Research Agency (DSRO), tasked
with creating space warfare weapon systems and technologies.
DSRO will work in coordination with tri-services Integrated Defence Staff (IDS) officers. DSRA would be providing research
and development (R&D) support to Defence Space Agency (DSA) which again comprises of members of tri-services.
7. DRDO conducted First test of an indigenously developed Hypersonic Technology Demonstrator Vehicle (HSTDV) from
Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Abdul Kalam Island off Odisha Coast. HSTDV is an unmanned scramjet demonstration aircraft,
designed to cruise at Mach 6 speed with scramjet engine.
8. DRDO successfully test-fired indigenously developed nuclear-capable missile Prithvi-II, a surface-to-surface missile, with strike
range of 350 km.
9. Government approved Defence Ministry's proposal for restoration of ‘ration in kind’ to military officers stationed in peace areas.
In July 2017, government revoked free ration to officers in kind facility, giving a certain allowance instead. This was a
recommendation of 7th Central Pay Commission (CPC). This restoration came after efforts from all levels in Defence
Ministry and Armed Forces.
10. India and France will hold Joint Air Exercise Named Garuda, in July 2019 in France.
11. India will hold it’s first-ever simulated space warfare exercise in July 2019, named – IndSpaceEx, as a ‘table-top war-game’.
It aims to understand possible challenges in space warfare and to counter China's growing influence in this domain.
Recently, Under Mission Shakti, India launched a 19-tonne interceptor missile to destroy 740-kg Microsat-R satellite, at an
altitude of 283 km in a ‘hit-to-kill mode. With This, China started developing military capabilities in space in terms of both
kinetic and non-kinetic (lasers, electromagnetic pulse) weapons.
12. Indian Air Force (IAF) Russian Origin AN-32 transport aircraft crashed in Arunachal Pradesh, with no survivors among 13 air
warriors onboard. It was missing for over 8 days. Earlier, Between 1986 to 2016, An-32 aircrafts crashed 4 times, killing over 60
air warriors so far.
13. Indian Army commissioned a “Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring System” (CAAQMS) at its Eastern Command
headquarters in Fort William Military Station, Kolkata in West Bengal. Its done as part of Army’s ‘Go Green’ initiative, which
started in April 2019.
CAAQMS will measure air pollution continuously, measuring pollutants like SO2, NO, NO2, NH3, CO, O3, VOC and
particulate matters (PM 10 and PM 2.5).
14. Indian Coast Guard (ICG) will open a recruitment centre in Uttarakhand, as fifth ICG recruitment centre (Other 4 in Noida,
Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata).
15. Indian Naval Ship Tarkash Visited Alexandria (Egypt), as a part of Western Fleet Overseas Deployment programme and
demonstrate India's commitment to ties with Egypt.
16. Indian Navy and Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) signed contract worth INR 1187 crores for supply of heavyweight torpedo
Varunastra to Indian Navy, within 42 months.
Varunastra is basically a ship-launched, electrically-propelled underwater weapon equipped with one of the most advanced
automatic and remote-controlled guidance systems. It uses its own intelligence in tracing the target. It can hit stealth
submarines underwater.
17. Indian Navy deployed its P8I surveillance planes for carrying out anti-piracy patrol sorties from Salalah (in Oman) to patrol the
Gulf of Aden and other piracy prone areas. This is second time in 2019 that the P-8I was operated from Salalah for anti-piracy.
18. Indian Navy issued Expression of Interest(s) for shortlisting potential Strategic Partners (SPs) for Construction of six
Conventional Submarines for P-75(I) Project, costing Approx 45000 Crores.
This is 2nd project being undertaken under latest Strategic Partnership (SP) Model, with first being procurement of 111
Naval Utility Helicopters (NUH). This would provide a major boost to the indigenous design and construction capability of
submarines in India.
SPs in collaboration with OEMs will set up manufacturing lines for these submarines in India and make India global hub for
submarine production.
19. Non military air strike conducted by Indian Air Force (IAF) on a terrorist training camp in Balakot (Pakistan) on 26 February
2019 was code-named Operation Bandar (Monkey).
The name was inspired by the word monkey having a cultural significance in India as as in Ramayana, where Lord Hanuman
sneaked into Lanka and destroyed entire capital city of Ravana.
Balakot Air Strike was in response to Pulwama terror attack which killed 40 CRPF personnel.
12 IAF Mirage-2000 fighter jets struck on JeM training camp in in Balakot town, killing over 200 Militants.
20. US approved sale of NASAMS-II Air Defence system to India under its foreign military sales programme, at a cost of over Rs
6,000 crore (about US dollar 1 billion).
NASAMS-II (National Advanced Surface to Air Missile System) is an upgraded version of the NASAMS developed by
Raytheon in partnership with KONGSBERG Defence and Aerospace of Norway.
NASAMS-II is armed with 3D Sentinel radars, short and medium-range missiles, launchers, fire-distribution centres and
command and control units to quickly take down multiple airborne threats.
Top
Economy
1. Asian Development Bank (ADB) approved a project worth INR 1650 crores to develop infrastructure in seven districts of Tripura
- Khowai, Ambassa, Dharmnagar, Kailashahar, Udaipur, Bishramganj and Belonia.
2. India signed $287 million loan with World Bank for Tamil Nadu Health System Reform Programme, aimed at improving quality
of health care, reduce burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), and fill equity gaps in reproductive and child health services
in Tamil Nadu.
3. MOU signed between Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) and Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) for data exchange,
amid increasing need for surveillance in context of Corporate Frauds affecting important sectors of economy. It will enable
automated sharing of related information among SEBI and MCA.
4. According to National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER), Business confidence index (BCI) of India slipped 9.1 %
in fourth quarter of 2018-19.Political Confidence Index (PCI) of businesses increased by 12.1% on a quarterly basis in Q4.
BCI is an indicator of business sentiments across Indian industry segments, compiled by NCAER on the basis of four
components.
5. Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Ltd acquired ethnic apparel and lifestyle retailer ‘Jaypore E-Commerce Pvt. Ltd‘ which sells
ethnic fashion merchandise under its own brand ‘Jaypore’ for Rs 110 crores.
6. As per Crisil report, overall non-performing assets (NPAs) declined atto 9.3% in March 2019, compared to 11.5% in March 2018.
The decline is supported by RBI’s asset quality review and also with enactment of the bankruptcy law for resolving cases.
7. As per Data released by Controller General of Accounts (CGA), Government met fiscal deficit target of 3.4% for FY 2018-19, with
Fiscal deficit being 3.39 %. It was met through reduction in government spending, which also contributed to GDP growth slowing
to 5.8% in Q4 of FY19.
For FY19, the fiscal deficit stood at Rs 6.45 trillion(Lakh crore), slightly above than the revised estimate of Rs 6.34 trillion.
Expenditure of government was Rs 23.11 lakh crores, which is 1.5 lakh crores INR less than revised budget size of 24.57 lakh
crores.
Revenue deficit for FY19 was 108.2% of full year target, compared to 102% for FY18.
Revenue for FY19 was 16.66 trillion, about Rs 1.57 trillion less than revised estimates of Rs 18.23 trillion. Net tax revenue for
FY19 was at 88.7% of the revised full year target, compared to 97.9% for the same period last year.
8. As per RBI Report on Benchmarking India’s Payment Systems -
Report said that India has strong regulatory system and robust large value and retail payment systems, which have
contributed to the rapid growth in volume of transactions in these payment systems. However, India needs to make more
efforts to decrease volume of paper clearing and increase acceptance infrastructure to promote digital payments.
With e-Money transactions of 345.9 Crores in 2017, Share of e-Money in India’s payment systems rose to 21.5 % in 2017
from 0.8 % in 2012. India has 26 % of online transactions using e-Money, next only to China.
9. As per RBI report, bank frauds have been reached to INR 71,500 crores in 2018-19 with over 6,800 cases. In 2017-18, 5,916 cases
were reported by banks which involved Rs 41,167.03 crore. In last 11 fiscal years, 53334 cases of fraud were reported by banks
involving amount of INR 2.05 lakh crores.
ICICI Bank Reported 6811 Frauds, most for any Bank , involving INR 5033 crores. SBI was 2nd with 6793 fraud cases
involving Rs 23,734 crores.
10. Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), political risk insurance arm of World
Bank Group, agreed to expand Development Finance in Asia and Pacific to increase flow of private sector investment.
11. Bank of Baroda (BoB) and Edelweiss Group's ECL Finance partnered to explore co-lending opportunities to MSME, self-
employed and priority sector groups.
12. Bengaluru based digital lending startup ZestMoney, in partnership with Digit Insurance announced to offer EMI (Equated
Monthly Installment) insurance to company’s five million customers. It will relieve its customers of debt in case of unforeseen
circumstances, as Policy will cover EMI cost in cases of hospitalization, death or permanent disability.
13. Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved strategic disinvestment of Air India & its five subsidiaries.
14. Competition Commission of India (CCI) approved merger of Indiabulls Housing Finance and Lakshmi Vilas Bank, in a share
swap deal. After merger, Indiabulls Housing Finance will get Long sought entry into Banking Space.
15. Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) launched a Fiscal Performance Index (FPI) to assess state and central budgets. It
incorporates qualitative assessments of revenue expenditure, capital expenditure, revenues, fiscal prudence and level of public
debt arrive at a more holistic picture of fiscal performance than fiscal deficit to GDP ratio. FPI has been constructed using United
Nations Development Programme’s (UNDP) Human Development Index methodology.
16. Department of Telecom (DoT) approved levying of penalty on Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea for denial of interconnection to
Reliance Jio Infocomm, when Jio entered market in 2016.
DoT asked Telecom Regulatory authority of India (TRAI) to review penalty amount worth INR 3050 crores, considering
financial stress in telecom sector.
In October 2016, TRAI recommended fine for Airtel and Vodafone amounting to INR 1050 crore each and for Idea it was 950
crores. New Merged Entity Vodafone-Idea will have to bear combined burden.
17. Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (Headed by Bibek Debroy) released note titled ‘GDP estimation in India-
Perspectives and Facts’. It provides clear rationale for India’s switch to an improved GDP estimation methodology in January
2015.
New methodology uses 2011-12 as base year and includes two major improvements - Incorporation of MCA 21 database and
Incorporation of Recommendations of System of National Accounts (SNA) 2008.
The note Rejects Points noted in recently published paper titled India’s GDP Mis-estimation: Likelihood, Magnitudes,
Mechanisms, and Implications’ by Arvind Subramanian, which said that India’s GDP was over-estimated post 2011-12.
Note says that India’s GDP estimation methodology is not a perfect exercise and Ministry of Statistics and Program
Implementation is working to improve its accuracy. However, as of now, India’s GDP estimation methodology is at par with
its global standing.
18. Export-Import Bank of India (Exim Bank) will provide Line of Credit (LoC) worth $150 million to Ghana and $95 million to
Mozambique for agricultural and railway projects.
19. Fincare Small Finance Bank and Kookmin Bank included in second schedule of Reserve Bank of India Act 1934. Both banks can
now broad-base its lines of funding and liquidity facilities.
20. Fitch Ratings certified long-term Issuer Default Ratings (IDRs) to six banks - State Bank of India(SBI), Bank of Baroda(New
Zealand), Punjab National Bank(PNB), Bank of Baroda (BOB), Canara Bank and Bank of India (BOI), with ‘BBB-‘ a stable outlook.
Rating of IDBI Bank’s long-term IDR was certified at ‘BB+’.
5 banks were also given the Viability Ratings (VR). BOB’s VR is maintained at Rating Watch Negative (RWN) and VR of
Canara Bank was downgraded to ‘bb-‘ from ‘bb’ as bank’s core capital position was not compared with its weak asset quality
and earnings.
21. GST collectiong in May 2019 were INR 100289 crores (CGST - 17811 crore, SGST - 24462 crore, IGST - 49891 crore and Cess -
8125 crores). Its the third consecutive month of GST revenue being over 1 Lakh Crores INR. In April 2019, It was 113865 crores,
highest ever monthly receipts ever in GST regime.
22. Government decided to reduce rate of contribution under ESI Act from 6.5% to 4% (employers’ contribution being reduced from
4.75% to 3.25% and employees’ contribution beingreducedfrom 1.75% to 0.75%).
Reduced rates will be effective from July 2019, to benefit 3.6 crore employees and 12.85 lakh employers.
Reduced rate of contribution will bring substantial relief to workers and will facilitate further enrollment of workers under
ESI scheme and bring more workforce into formal sector.
Also, reduction in contribution of employers will reduce financial liability of employers, enhancing Ease of Doing Business.
Earlier, Government enhanced Wage ceiling from INR 15000 to 21000 per month from July 2017, to expand Social Security
Coverage to more and more people.
ESI Act 1948 provides for medical, cash, maternity, disability and dependent benefits to Insured Persons under Act,
administered by Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC).
23. Govt. reduced interest rates for small savings schemes by 10 basis points for July-September quarter of FY 2019-20. Updated
Rates of Interest -
PPF and National Savings Certificate (NSC) will yield 7.9% interest (earlier 8%). KVP will fetch 7.6% with maturity of 113
months (as compared with earlier 7.7% with maturity of 112 months).
Girl child savings scheme Sukanya Samriddhi will fetch a lower return of 8.4% (earlier 8.5%). Term deposits of 1-3 years will
fetch interest rate of 6.9% (paid quarterly), while 5 year Deposit will get 7.7%.
24. HDFC sold over 4.22% stake in housing finance subsidiary Gruh Finance Ltd (Gruh), which is proposed to be amalgamated with
Bandhan Bank for INR 899.43 crores.
25. Health insurer Max Bupa partnered with fintech platform MobiKwik to promote Micro health insurance products for MobiKwik
customers.
26. IDBI Bank and Health Insurer Max Bupa signed Bancassurance corporate agency agreement. Under this, Bank will Promote
Insurer's products to its 2 crore customers. IDBI bank also signed similar bancassurance agreement with Tata AIG General
Insurance Company.
27. IRDAI hiked Third Party motor insurance premium for small and medium private cars by 12-12.5% for 2019-20. TP premium for
two-wheelers and heavy vehicles was also increased. Two-wheelers with engine capacities between 150cc and 350cc witnessed the
highest percentage increase at 21.11%.
28. India Signed a $147 Million Loan Agreement with World Bank for improving basic urban services in Jharkhand and improve
management capacity of urban local bodies (ULBs) in State.
29. India signed $250 Million Loan Agreement with World Bank for First Resilient Kerala Program, which seeks to enhance State’s
resilience against impacts of natural disasters and climate change.
30. India signed $31.58 million Loan Agreement with World Bank Uttarakhand Public Financial Management Strengthening Project,
that will help improve State’s ability to manage its Financial Systems and lead to Better Utilization of Development Resources.
31. India signed $350 million loan agreement with Asian Development Bank(ADB), to rehabilitate and upgrade two state highways
and 23 major district roads totaling about 850 kilometers in Chhattisgarh. It will improve connectivity and access to basic services
and livelihood opportunities in state. Total cost of the project is $521.69 million. State government will provide $171.69 million.
32. India signed Loan Agreement of $400 Million with World Bank, to expand coverage and quality of interventions for control of
Tuberculosis (TB), to support India’s National Strategic Plan to end TB in India by 2025.
33. India signed Loan Agreement of $328 Million with World Bank, to help improve quality and responsiveness of public health
services in Andhra Pradesh. The Loan will support Government of Andhra Pradesh as it scales-up its efforts to bring better health
care to all its citizens.
34. India signed US$ 250 Million Loan Agreement with World Bank, for Rajasthan State Highways Development Program II Project
to build State's capacity to better manage its highways and improve traffic flows on selected highways in State of Rajasthan.
35. Indian GDP Growth Forecasts (June 2019) -
American banking firm Goldman Sach Predicted Indian GDP Growth rate to be 7.2 % in 2019-20.
World Bank retained its forecast of India's growth rate at 7.5% for current financial year (FY 2019 - 20), In its Global
Economic Prospects report.
South Asia regional GDP is expected to expand to 6.9 % in 2019 (0.2 percentage point down from previous projections
owing to downward revisions for Pakistan).
World Bank also slashed global forecast for 2019 to 2.6% as compared to 2.9% earlier. Report stated that Growth
slowdown was because of deceleration in investments due to trade tensions between US and China.
Fitch Global Economic Outlook lowered India's growth forecast from 6.8% to 6.6% for FY 2019-20. It retained Indian GDP
growth forecast for the next fiscal (2020-21) at 7.1% and 7.0% for 2021-22.
Singapore based DBS Bank revised India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) forecast for FY 2019-20 to 6.8%, from 7% Eaelier.
Inflation rate was estimated at 3.8% for FY20 against 3.4% of FY19.
36. India’s trade deficit expanded to a six-month high of $15.4 billion in May 2019, with import growth outpacing export growth.
Exports grew 3.93% in May, while imports rose 4.31%.
37. Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India (ICICI) launched a dedicated center in Bengaluru to provide hazel free
services to small business owners and startups. It provides services including capital loans and legal and valuation desk to help
customers in resolving challenges related to collateral for various loans.
38. Jammu and Kashmir Bank came under purview of Right to Information Act and Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) guidelines,
to ensure greater transparency and accountability.
39. Karur Vysya Bank partnered with Centrum Wealth Management Ltd to form private limited Joint Venture (JV) to provide wealth
management services to its clients. KVB will hold 51% of share capital, Centrum will hold 45% and 4% will be held by JV’s Staff.
40. Maharashtra Government presented interim budget for the financial year 2019-20 with a revenue deficit of INR 20,292.94
crores, higher than 2018 deficit of INR 14,960.04 crores. -
Estimated revenue expenditure is INR 3,34,933 crores, against receipts of 3,14,640.12 crores.
Insurance cover will be provisioned for all people in state (5.5 crores), under Gopinath Munde Shetkari Apghat Vima Yojana
which will be expanded with outlay of Rs 210 crores.
Aid for Sanjay Gandhi Niradhar Yojana and Shravan Bal Yojana is raised from Rs 600 to Rs 1,000.
A widow with one child will get aid of Rs 1,100 per month and those with two kids will get Rs 1,200 per month.
Project Chullah-free and smoke-free Maharashtra will be launched by Government of Maharashtra, aimed at providing
smoke-free environment in kitchen for women.
41. Max Life Insurance Company launched a unique proprietary tool named ‘My Protection Quotient’ (MyPQ) to ensure financial
protection in country. The tool helps consumers to measure their preparedness for their life stage goals and gives protection
against unplanned eventualities of life. Final output is quotient reflected on a scale of 100, giving idea about status of financial
protection of an Individual.
42. Merger of Induslnd Bank and Bharat Financial Inclusion Ltd (BFIL) will be effective from 4 July 2019, as per an order by
National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT).
The Merger process began in october 2018, with IndusInd Bank deciding to acquire leading micro-finance player BFIL,
earlier known as SKS Microfinance.
After merger, current CEO of BFIL, M R Rao, will become CEO of IndusInd Financial Inclusion Ltd (IFIL).
43. NBFC L&T Finanace Services Ltd launched “Digital Sakhi” educational program aimed at financial inclusion of rural women in
Villupuram District, Tamilnadu.
L&T Finance also launched ‘Sabse Khaas Loan’ for two-wheeler customers. , which provides burden-free and low-cost
finance for two-wheelers eliminates and need for hypothecation of vehicle to financier over tenure of loan.
44. NBFC Sundaram Finance Ltd (SFL) will acquire stakes held by BNP Paribas in their two joint venture companies for aprox INR
1000 Crores.
SFL will acquire 49.9 % stake of BNP Paribas in Sundaram BNP Paribas Home Finance limited (SBPHFL) for about
Rs.999.66 crores.
SFL will also acquire 49% stake of BNP Paribas Securities Services in Sundaram BNP Paribas Fund Services (SBFS) for about
1.50 crores.
With the acquisitions, both joint ventures would become a wholly owned subsidiary of Sundaram Finance.
45. National Health Authority (NHA) and ICICI Foundation signed MoU to train 15,000 state and district personnel and Pradhan
Mantri Arogya Mitras to provide delivery of health services under Ayushman Bharat Scheme over 1 year.
46. National Small Industries Corporation signed MoU with Common Service Centres (CSC) e-Governance Services India for
enhancing new offerins for MSME sector by synergizing each others' competence. MoU will also enable CSCs to utilize plethora
of NSIC offerings through the NSIC portal (www.msmemart.com).
47. Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) overtook India Oil Corporation (IOC) as India’s most profitable Public Sector
Undertakings (PSU).
ONGC's net profit increased by 34% to INR 26716 crores as compared to it IOC's net profit of INR 17274 crores for FY 2018-
19.
ONGC had lost the most Profitable PSU Title to IOC in previous two financial years (2016-17 and 2017-18).
48. Paytm Payments Bank had second most value of digital transactions in FY 2019-20, with 501.16 crores worth of Transactions. It
is behind only afer SBI in this regard. Paytm payments bank has share of 19% and 32% respectively in terms of mobile banking
and UPI transactions. Paytm PB has over 500 crore deposits in savings accounts, largest among payments bank in India.
49. RBI Launched Complaint Management System (CMS), to be used for lodging complaints against banks and NBFCs with a view to
improve customer experience in timely redressal of grievances.
50. RBI Mandated that all Payment System Operators (PSOs) shall store entire payment data in systems located only in India, after
PSOs sought clarification on issue of data localization.
In April 2018, RBI issued a directive on ‘Storage of Payment System Data‘ by which it had advised all system providers to
ensure that within a 6 months period, entire data relating to payment systems operated by them is stored in a system only in
India.
51. RBI Observed Financial Literacy Week Between June 3 - 7, 2019, with Theme Farmers, on how they can benefit by being a part
of formal banking system. RBI designed Audio visuals on “Basic Financial Literacy“, “Unified Payments Interface” (UPI) and
“Going Digital” for benefit of general public on topics relating to Financial Literacy.
52. RBI Second Bi-monthly Monetary Policy Review 2019-20 -
6 member RBI Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is led by RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das.
RBI cuts Repo Rate by 25 bps, also changing other monetary policy metrices.
RBI revises GDP growth for year 2020 downwards to 7 % from 7.2 % projected earlier.
Minimum Liquidity Ratio for Domestic Systemically Important Banks (DSIBs) to be 4 %. For other banks, Minimum
Liquidity Ratio shall be 3.5 %.
Current Monetary Policy Rates -
Repo Rate - 5.75 %
Reverse Repo - 5.50 %
Bank Rate - 6 %
CRR (Cash Reserve Ratio) - 4 %
SLR (Statutory Liquidity ratio) - 19 % (RBI decided to reduce SLR from to 18.0% in six quarterly instalments beginning
January 2019)
Marginal Standing Facility (MSF) Rate - 6 %
53. RBI advised all Scheduled Commercial Banks to adopt Education Loan Scheme, formulated by Indian Banks Association. It
provisions Loan upto Rs 10 lakh for study in India, upto 20 lakh for study abroad and Collateral free loans upto 7.5 Lakh under
Credit Guarantee Fund Scheme for Education Loans (CGFSEL). Repayment period of 15 years.
54. RBI amended norms on banks’ exposure to large borrowers, to reduce concentration of risk and align them with global norms. It
will help in lending to Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFC) in an effective way and invite scrutiny on structure of these
entities.
As per revised ‘Large Exposures Framework’ (LEF) norms, sum of all exposure values of a bank to a single counter-party
should not be greater than 20% of bank’s available eligible capital base at all times.
With regards to connected counter-parties, sum of all exposure values of a bank to a group of connected counter-parties
should not be greater than 25% of bank’s available eligible capital base at all times.
On exposures to NBFCs, banks’ exposures to a single NBFC are restricted to 15% of their eligible capital base.
55. RBI announced to set up a foreign exchange trading platform for retail participants, to create a infrastructure that ensures fair
pricing for users of foreign exchange like Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) exporters & importers and individuals. It will be
available to users from early August 2019. Draft Guidelines were issued in Oct 2017.
Foreign exchange trading platform will enable customer to choose most competitive rate among all banks and buy forex.
Minimum order size would be USD 1000 and thereafter in multiples of USD 500. Maximum order size shall be USD
500,000.
56. RBI asked banks to ensure their ATMs are grouted to a structure preferably wall, pillar, or floor by End of September 2019, to
enhance security.
This is one of recommendations made by panel formed In October 2016, under D K Mohanty. The Committee on Currency
Movement (CCM) was tasked to review entire gamut of security of treasure in transit.
57. RBI has Put Rs 1 crore Penalty on HDFC Bank, pertaining to submission of forged bill of entries (BoEs) by certain importers to
HDFC Bank for remittance of foreign currency.
58. RBI has put penalty of INR 2 crores on Kotak Mahindra Bank for its failure to adhere to RBI’s diktat on promoter shareholding.
RBI has been in a dispute with Kotak Mahindra since 2014 over its failure to meet milestone for stake reduction by Its founder
Uday Kotak.
Under RBI shareholding norms, Uday Kotak was required to cut his holding to 20 % from 30 % in Kotak Mahindra Bank, by
December 31, 2018 and to 15 % by March 2020.
59. RBI has set an average base rate of 9.18% for Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) and Micro Finance Institutions
(MFIs), to be charged from customers for quarter July - Sep 2019. RBI sets average base rate on basis of an average of base rate of
the 5 largest commercial banks.
60. RBI imposed penalty Rs 11.25 lakh on two prepaid payment instrument (PPI) issuers Yes Bank and ZipCash, for non-compliance
with regulatory norms.
61. RBI issued a regulatory framework for setting up of financial benchmark administrator (FBA) for administering ‘significant
benchmarks’ in markets for financial instruments. Significant benchmarks are notified by central bank taking into consideration
its use, efficiency, and relevance in domestic financial markets. Without obtaining RBI's authorization, FBA will not administer a
‘significant benchmark’.
FBAs will be incorporated in India as a company that will maintain a minimum net worth of Rs 1 crore.
62. RBI issued new NPA guidelines Prudential framework for resolution of stressed assets to deal with bad loans, as per provisions
of Section 35AA of the Banking Regulation Act 1949. Previous circular that was issued by RBI in Feb 2019, was rejected by
Supreme Court.
RBI mandated lenders to review accounts within 30 days of default and initiate a resolution plan before default. Its
Mandatory to sign inter-creditor agreement (ICA) by all lenders, which will provide for a majority decision making criteria.
Earlier norm of 100 % approval from creditors is also changed. ICA shall now provide any decision agreed by lenders
representing 75 % by value of outstanding credit facilities and 60 % of lenders by number shall be binding upon all lenders.
Lenders must resolve over INR 2000 crores NPA account within 180 days.
Lenders will have to make 35 % provisions–first 20 % for 180 days and additional 15 % if no resolution is found within 365
days.
For borrowers with exposure between INR 1500 - 2000 crores, new norms will be applicable from January 1, 2020. Terms
for loans up to 1500 crores will be announced shortly.
63. RBI permitted Asset Reconstruction Companies (ARCs) to acquire financial assets from peers (other ARCs), in view of
amendment to Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Securities Interest (SARFAESI) Act
2002. . However, RBI mandated that all such transactions have to be settled in cash. This will help improve liquidity in Asset
Reconstruction Companies’ market.
64. RBI relaxed regulations for Basic Savings Bank Deposit (BSBD) Accounts (also called no-frills accounts)
Now, BSBD account holders will get a cheque book and certain minimum facilities, free of charge by the bank. Previously,
additional facilities for these accounts attracted requirement of maintaining a minimum balance and other charges.
65. RBI stated that India’s Current Account Deficit (CAD) increased to $57.2 billion or 2.1% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in
FY19, against 1.8% of 2018 (which was $48.7 billion). It was highest in 6 years due to higher trade deficit caused by high crude oil
imports.
Increase in trade deficit to $180.3 billion for 2019 (against $160 billion in 2018), led to widening of CAD in FY19.
66. Revised Income Tax guidelines came into effect, aimed at making strict decision against tax invaders.
Under revised guidelines, those indulging in serious offences under black money and benami laws will not be able to get
away just by paying a penalty. Earlier, taxpayers were able to settle cases of tax evasion earlier by just paying the tax demand,
penalty and interest.
Offences under serious criminal cases of money laundering, terror financing, corruption, possession of benami propertiesand
undisclosed foreign assets will be generally non-compoundable (will not be written-off). CBDT has listed 13 cases where the
offences are not to be generally compounded.
Finance Minister will be sole authority to relax the guidelines in a deserving case.
Offences under Sections 275A, 275B and 276 of Act will not be compounded. New guidelines supersede those issued in 2014.
67. Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) issued wider disclosure norms for Credit Rating Agencies (CRAs), amid rising
instances of debt defaults and credit rating agencies (CRAs) failing to forewarn investors of deteriorating credit profiles of firms.
Now, CRAs will be required to disclose a matrix on probability of default (PD) for various rated instruments. CRAs will also
have to comply with a uniform Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) in respect of tracking and timely recognition of default.
Standardised and uniform PD benchmarks shall be disclosed by CRAs, for ratings of long-term and short-term instruments,
on a consolidated basis for all financial instruments rated by a CRA.
68. Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) allowed stock exchanges with Commodity Derivative Segment (CDS) to introduce
futures on commodity indices, to will facilitate mutual fund and institutional participation in commodity exchanges.
Stock exchanges are required take prior approval from SEBI to launch such contracts.
Constituent futures contracts should be in existence on the respective exchanges for at least the previous twelve months and
they should have been traded at least 90% of trading days during previous twelve months, with average daily turnover during
previous 12 months at Rs 75 crore for agricultural and agri-processed commodities and Rs 500 crore for all other
commodities.
69. Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) released a discussion paper for informant mechanism related to insider trading.
Proposed amendments to SEBI (Prohibition of Insider Trading) Regulations 2015 are aimed at providing confidentiality and
safeguards.
It proposes monetary reward up to Rs 1 crore for genuine whistleblowers, or 10 % of Involved amount (whichever is less). It
would be in the case where money disgorged is at least Rs 5 crores.
Informant will be required to fill a Voluntary Information Disclosure Form (VIDF) which must include credible information.
SEBI suggested to set up Office of Informant Protection (OIP) which will act as a medium of exchange between informant
and board.
70. State Bank of India (SBI) will become first bank to introduce repo-linked home loan products, from July 2019. Any changes in
Repo Rate by RBI would be passed on directly to customers.
Home loans up to 75 lakh will be priced at 2.65% over repo rate of 5.75% resulting in the interest rate of 8.40%. At present,
SBI offers home loans linked to its MCLR (Marginal Cost of Funds Based Lending Rate) at 8.55%.
SBI also reduced interest rate on Cash Credit Account (CC) and Overdraft (OD) customers with limits above Rs 1 lakh. Now,
effective Repo-Linked Lending Rate (RLLR) for CC/ OD customers is 8% whereas for savings deposits above Rs 1 lakh new
rate is 3%.
In March, SBI had linked all CC accounts and ODs with limits above 1 lakh to repo rate plus a spread of 2.25%. For
account balance above 1 lakh, it had set its savings deposit rates to 2.75% below repo rate.
71. Tata Mutual Fund launched side-pocketing (segregated portfolio) option to set aside its troubled investment in Dewan Housing
Finance Limited (DHFL). They are created for 3 schemes - Tata Corporate Bond Fund, Tata Medium Term Fund, and Tata
Treasury Advantage Fund.
This is India’s first formal use of side pocketing provisions, introduced by SEBI in December 2018.
Side pocketing -
Its a procedure introduced by SEBI allowing Asset Management Companies (AMCs) to separate out a section of their
portfolio corresponding to bad debt held by them.
Investors receive units in segregated portfolio and these units are held separately. No further inflows are allowed into
the side-pocketed component of the fund.
Investors can redeem these units when money is recovered from bad debt.
72. Yashovardhan Birla (Chairman of Yash Birla group) has been declared a ‘wilful defaulter’ by UCO Bank, after defaulting on loans
of Rs 67.65 crores. Wilful default occurs if any unit defaults in meeting its payment / repayment obligations to the lender even
when it has the capacity to honour said obligations.
As per Govt Data, number of wilful defaulters in nationalised banks increased by over 60% to 8,582 in five years to March
2019.
Top
International
1. 2019 Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival (BIFAN) will be held in Bucheon City (South Korea), as 23rd edition of this
festival which is known as a Mecca of film culture.
4 Indian movies Gully Boy (directed by Zoya Akhtar), Andhadhun (directed by Sriram Raghavan), Manikarnika: The Queen
of Jhansi (directed by Radha Krishna Jagarlamudi (Krish)) and a Tamil movie, Super Deluxe (directed by Thiagarajan
Kumararaja) will be screened at the festival.
2. 57 Indian companies Named in Forbes' world’s 2,000 largest public companies List -
At the top of Indian Companies in List, is Reliance Industries (71st Overall).
Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) is at top of list for 7th year in a row.
American Express topped in consumer financial sector.
575 companies are from US, most for any nation. US is followed by China and Hong Kong (309) and Japan (223).
3. Jaipur Foot Korea, a collaborative initiative between South Korea and Jaipur-based prosthetic limb non-profit organisation
Bhagwan Mahaveer Viklang Sahayata Samiti (BMVSS) has been Launched.
Jaipur Foot is a lightweight and durable prosthetic limb/artificial limb. It is a rubber-based prosthetic leg for people with
below-knee amputations.
4. A Letter of Intent (LoI) exchanged between Ahmedabad and Japanese city of Kobe for a sister city partnership, to pave way for an
enhanced economic relationship and cultural exchange between two cities.
5. According 100 Top BrandZ Report 2019 by Kantar, US E-Commerce Firm Amazon became world’s most valuable brand, leaving
Behind Google. Brand value of Amazon surged by 52 % to $315 billion.
6. According to United Nations report ‘World Population Prospects 2019’, India will surpass China as world’s most populous
country by 2027.
World population is projected to increase by another 2 billion people by 2050, to 9.7 billion. More than 50% increase will be
concentrated in 9 countries - India, Pakistan, US, Nigeria, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Ethiopia, Egypt, Tanzania,
and Indonesia.
Indian population is expected to increase by 27.3 crores by 2050. In 2019, population of India is 1.37 billion and China is at
1.43 billion.
Between 2019 and 2050, nearly 55 countries are estimated to face population shrinking by at least 1%.
7. According to report Renewable Power Generation Costs in 2018 by International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) -
India leads in producing solar power at lowest cost globally. India has lowest total installed cost for new utility-scale solar PV
projects that were commissioned in 2018 at $793/Kw(kilowatt), which is 27% lower than in 2017.
Top 3 with Highes costs - Canada($2,427/kW) Russia ($2,302/kW), Japan($2,101/kW).
8. According to report by World Health Organization (WHO), Four countries from Asia (China, Iran, Malaysia and Timor-
Leste) and one country from Central America (El Salvador) were malaria-free in 2018. The report confirmed that world is on a
track to reach malaria elimination by 2020.
India had 4 % of global maleria cases in 2018. Nigeria had most (25 per cent) followed by Democratic Republic of Congo (11
%).
9. According to report on internet trends by venture capitalist Mary Meeker, India ranks second by witnessing 12% world internet
users (close to 455 million). China leads with 21% of global internet users while U.S (United States) placed third with 8%. Total
internet users are approx 3.88 billion.
10. According to the World Investment Report 2019 released by United Nation Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) -
Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) to India grew by 6 % to USD 42 billion in 2018, ranking India among top 20 host economies
for FDI inflows in 2017-18.
Global FDI flows decreased by 13 % in 2018 to USD 1.3 trillion from USD 1.5 trillion in previous year, as 3rd consecutive
annual decline.
FDI inflow to South Asia increased 3.5% to $54 billion dollars.
FDI flows to Sri Lanka and Bangladesh rose to record level, to $1.6 billion and $3.6 billion respectively, but Pakistan
witnessed a 27% decline in investment to $2.4 billion.
11. African Union (AU) suspended Sudan until establishment of a civilian-led transition to democracy, ending the stretched bloody
crisis.
Since December 2018, Sudan is facing international anger over increasing bread prices and shortages, which then turned
into protests against Omar al-Bashir (7th President of Sudan) and culminated in military removing him after a three-decade
rule. Military took control of Sudan after ouster of Omar in April 2019.
Widespread violence since then has caused huge amount of casualties.
12. Agreement between India and Marshall Islands for Exchange of Information with respect to taxes has been notified. It enables
exchange of information, including banking and ownership information, between two countries for tax purposes.
13. Airports Authority of India (AAI) signed technical assistance agreement with American Aircraft Maker Boeing to develop and
modernise India’s Air Traffic Management, by jointly developing a 10-year roadmap. Roadmap will be undertaken with a grant
from the United States Trade and Development Agency (USTDA).
14. American Rapper Jay-Z has been named world's first billionaire rapper by Forbes'.
15. American multinational private equity Firm Blackstone will accquire 100 % Stake in India's Aadhar Housing Finance, by making
fresh infusion of 800 crores and buying 17% stake held by World Bank arm IFC for about 400-500 crores.
The deal values Aadhar HFC at around Rs 2,700 crores, with assets around 10,000 crores, and a network of 316 branches.
Blackstone’s Total INR 3,500 crore investment comes in as a confidence booster for troubled Indian NBFC space, which has
been hit by a liquidity crunch following the IL&FS crisis.
16. As per New Energy Outlook (NEO) report 2019 by Bloomberg NEF -
Wind and solar power will make up almost half of Global electricity system by 2050. Electricity demand will increase 62 %,
which will attract $13.3 trillion in new investment, of which wind will take $5.3 trillion and solar will take $4.2 trillion.
Share of coal power will come down from 37 to 12 % by 2050.
17. As per Asian Development Bank (ADB) Report, Bangladesh emerged as fastest growing economy among 45 countries of Asia-
Pacific region. In FY year 2018-19, Bangladesh attained growth rate of 7.9 %, as its fastest rate since 1974. It is predicted to be 8%
in FY 2019-20.
18. As per Ericsson Mobility Repor, India has highest data usage per smartphone in World, with Monthly data usage being 9.8
gigabytes (GB) in 2018.
19. As per Mercer’s 25th Annual Cost of Living Survey -
Mumbai is India’s most expensive city, being included in top 20 most expensive cities in Asia for expatriates. Mumbai is
ranked 67th globally.
Costliest Cities in world - Hong Kong (1), Tokyo (2), Singapore (3) and Seoul (4).
Least Expensive Cities - Tunis (209), Tashkent (208), and Karachi (207).
20. As per data by US based think-tank Global Financial Integrity (GFI) India lost $13 billion in revenue collections due to trade
misinvoicing in 2016, amounting to 5.5% of total revenue collections. Out of this $13 Billion, $4 billion was due to export
misinvoicing and nearly $9 billion was due to import misinvoicing.
GFI urged India to adopt a public registry of beneficial ownership information on all legal entities. It considered using online
tools for building the capacity of customs authorities to better detect misinvoicing and take corrective steps in real time.
21. As per study named The BP Statistical Review of World Energy, by United Kingdom (UK) based energy Firm BP, global carbon
emissions grew by 2.0% in 2018, highest rate since 2010-2011.
There is growing mismatch between societal demands for action on climate change and actual pace of progress being made
in this domain.
Although the use of renewable forms of energy globally grew by 14.5% in 2018 but it still accounted for just 33% of total rise
in power generation in 2018.
Study says it It should not be a race to renewables, but a race to reduce carbon emissions across many fronts.
22. Bangladesh’s first iron ore mine discovered at Isanpur village in Dinajpur. At depth of 1,750 feet, a 400-foot thick iron layer was
discovered and it is extended over an area of 6-10 square kilometers. Percentage of iron is 60, higher in quality that other iron ore
mines globally.
23. Barbadian Singer Rihanna named world’s richest female musician by Forbes magazine with an estimated wealth of $600 million.
Forbes' Magazine also named American Rapper Jay-Z (real name Sean Carter), as World’s 1st Billionaire Rapper.
24. Canada Govt. will ban single-use plastics from 2021, amid global efforts to phase out plastic bags, straws and cutlery clogging
oceans.
25. Cash-strapped Pakistan secured financial assistance in form of a bailout package of $3 billion from Qatar, during Qatar’s Emir
Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad visit to Pakistan. Recently, Pakistan also reached a preliminary agreement with International Monetary
Fund (IMF) for $6 billion bailout package.
26. Central American Nation El Salvador recognized forests as living entities. Its citizens will now be required to preserve forests and
respect them as more than just property.
27. China launched space rocket named Long March 11 from a mobile launch platform in Yellow Sea off Shandong province (China)
for first time. China became 3rd nation after U.S. and Russia to launch satellites into orbit from a floating platform. The rocket
carried 2 experimental satellites (named Bufeng-1A and Bufeng-1B) and 5 commercial ones.
28. Estonia, Niger, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Tunisia, and Vietnam elected to United Nations Security Council (UNSC)
as Non-permanent Members for a 2-year term beginning January 1, 2020.
UNSC has 15 members - 5 permanent (China, France, Russia, UK and US) and 10 non-permanent members who are elected
for two-year terms.
29. Europe’s Highest Volcano Mount Etna (southern Italy) erupted with huge burst. Mount Etna has elevation of 3,326 m (10,912 ft),
as highest peak in Italy and highest active volcano in Europe outside Caucasus. Mount Sinabung (Sumatra Island of western
Indonesia) also erupted.
30. Facebook formally announced its 'Libra' cryptocurrency project, aiming to make moving money around world as easy.
Libra cryptocurrency will be stored in a digital wallet called ‘Calibra', enabling users to send and receive money through
messages.
Libra will be accessible to anyone with an entry-level smartphone and data connectivity. It will be Managed by secifically
formed Libra Association.
Libra will be backed by a reserve made to keep its value stable.
31. Forbes' Highest Paid Atheletes List -
Indian Cricketer Virat Kohli only Indian in Forbes 2019 list of world's highest-paid athletes. He is rakned at 100th spot,
down from last year’s 83rd rank. He earned total of $25m in last 12 months, including $21m through endorsements
and $4m from salary.
Top 10 Paid Atheletes -
Name Sport Country Earnings
Lionel Messi Football Argentina $127m
Cristiano Ronaldo Football Portugal $109m
Neymar Football Brazil $105m
Canelo Alvarez Boxing Mexico $94m
Roger Federer Tennis Switzerland $93.4m
Russell Wilson American Football United States $89.5m
Aaron Rodgers American Football United States $89.3m
LeBron James Basketball United States $89m
Stephen Curry Basketball United States $79.8m
Kevin Durrant Basketball United States $65.4m
American Tennis Player Serena Williams is only woman in list, ranked 63rd with earnings being $29.2m.
32. Global Peace Index (GPI) 2019 Report by Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP) -
India ranked 141 among 163 countries in 2019 List, compared to 136 in 2018.
Top 5 - Iceland (1), New Zealand (2), Portugal (3), Austria (4), Denmark (5)
Bottom 5 - Afghanistan (163), Syria (162), South Sudan (161), South Sudan (160), Iraq (159)
Neighbours - China (110), Pakistan (153), Bangladesh (101), Nepal (76), Sri Lanka (72), Bhutan (15)
33. Global internet body Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) and Indian apex body for IT industry
NASSCOM (National Association of Software and Services Companies) collaborated for developing standards and identifier
technology that will feed into global consultation for managing Internet-of-Things (IoT) devices and infrastructure using internet.
Collaboration will provide a structure for both bodies to jointly identify research projects, predominantly in new technologies
related to internet’s system of unique identifiers.
34. Imports from Pakistan to India declined by 92% in March 2019 to $2.84 million due to imposition of 200% customs duties on all
products after Pulwama terror attack.
India hiked customs duty to 200% on all goods imported from Pakistan, in February 2019 after Pulwama terror attack. It had
also revoked MFN (Most Favoured Nation) status which was given to Pakistan in 1996.
35. India abstained from voting on United Nation General Assembly (UNGA’s) resolution aimed at examining options to end trade in
goods which are used for capital punishment and torture.
India stated that it is unacceptable to place death penalty on par with torture that it firmly believe that freedom from torture
is a human right which must be protected. Resolution was adopted a 81 voted in favour, 20 against, and 44 abstentions.
India warned that it may start a duplicative parallel process related to goods being used for torture and capital punishment
and that it will create ambiguity by conflating different issues.
36. India and Portugal will cooperate in setting up of a national maritime heritage museum at ancient Indian site of Lothal in
Gujarat, to showcase and preserve India’s rich and diverse maritime heritage.
During Portuguese Defence Minister João Gomes Cravinho visit to India in April 2019, discussions were held for developing
maritime museum. A similar museum in Lisbon is administered by Portuguese Navy.
37. India cancelled $500 million arms deal with Israel for purchase of Spike anti-tank missiles from defence contractor Rafael
Advanced Defense Systems, after DRDO claimed that it could deliver an alternative with a partnership with VEM technologies Ltd
within two years.
38. India designated as Guest of Honour at 33rd Guadalajara International Book Fair (also called Feria Internacional del Libro de
Guadalajara), in Mexico. It will be organised in November - December 2019.
39. India extended $15 Million financial support to Africann Nation Niger, for organising African Union (AU) summit in July 2019 in
Niamey (Capital of Niger). The support extended by India was in response to a specific request by Niger government.
40. India extended aid of 1.6 billion Nepalese Rupees (NPR) to Nepal for rebuilding earthquake-hit houses in two district that were
most hit.
In February 2016, MoU was signed between India and Nepal for grant worth USD 100 Million to be provided by India, for
supporting reconstruction of 50000 private houses in two districts of Himalayan nation namely Nuwakot and Gorkha that
were most damaged.
41. India imposed higher tariffs on 28 American goods including almonds, apples and walnut in retaliation to recent high tariffs put
by US on variouS Indian Products. India is expected to get about $220 million of additional revenue from new tarriffs on items
imported from US.
The trade war was triggered by US announcing higher duties on Indian steel and aluminium in 2018.
India decided to levy higher tariffs following USA’s withdrawal of $5.6 billion trade concessions given to India by US under
Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) programme, which benefits Indian Exports.
42. India signed agreements with Bangladesh and South Korea to broadcast DD (Doordarshan) India channel in two countries and
their state channels will be shown on DD Free Dish in India. Bangladesh's BTV World and South Korea's KBS World channels will
be available for Indian viewers.
43. Indian Air Force (IAF) signed INR 300 crore deal with Israel’s Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, to procure a batch of SPICE
2000 guided bombs.
IAF used SPICE bombs recently for a non-military, pre-emptive strike on terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed’s (JeM) terrorist
training camp in Pakistan’s Balakot region, after JeM carried out suicide attack in pulwama, Killing over 40 CRPF Personnel.
44. Indian Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister Nirmala Sitharaman named in 100 Most Influential in UK-India Relations :
Celebrating Women list. List also includes several other priminent names such as Penny Mordaunt (Britain’s Secretary of State for
Defence) and Ruchi Ghanashyam (Indian High Commissioner to UK).
45. Indian IT firm Tech Mahindra signed multi-year contract with American Aircraft Manufacturer Airbus for cabin and cargo design
engineering. It aims to capitalise on specialised skills and competencies in growing cabin engineering business.
46. Indian Railway Station Development Corporation (IRSDC) partnered with French National Railways (SNCF) & AFD, to support
Railway Station Development Program in India. France's AFD will provide financing up to €700,000 to French Railways (SNCF),
to provide technical support to IRSDC, the station development arm of Indian Railways.
47. Ireland Government will ban sale of new petrol and diesel vehicles by 2030, to combat greenhouse gas emissions and protect
environment. This is one of 180 measures of Irish government published in its Climate Action Plan. Government would stop
granting National Car Test (NCT) certificates to Petrol / Diesel vehicles by 2045.
48. Japan agreed to invest an amount of 205.784 billion Yen (approx INR 13000 crores), in several projects in India's North- Eastern
States.
49. Japan gifted Manipur state a Museum of Peace built on memories of Battle of Imphal, one of fiercest battles of 2nd World War
(WWII ). It has been funded by Japan Based Nippon Foundation.
Battle of Imphal took place in region around city of Imphal from March to July 1944. Japanese Army (Along with Netaji
Subhash Chandra Bose Led Indian National Army (Azad Hind Fauj)) invaded India, aiming to destroy Brisith Allied forces,
but were driven back into Myanmar.
About 70000 Japanese soldiers, alongside those of Indian National Army (INA) of Subhash Chandra Bose, died in battles
with British forces in areas around Imphal and Kohima from March-June 1944. Last of these battles was fought at Red Hill
in Imphal.
50. Mahatma Gandhi Information Technology and Biotechnology Park (MGIT-BP) inaugurated at Grand-Bassam in Cote d’Ivoire
(West Africa), built with India’s assistance of $20 Million through Exim Bank. MGIT-BPIt is a dedicated Free Trade Zone (FTZ)
for IT and Biotechnology.
51. Mexico became first country to approve replacing 25 year old trade deal North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) , with
new trade deal named as United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).
USMCA (NAFTA 2.0) has been modified to include changes for automakers, stricter labor and environmental standards,
intellectual property protections, and digital trade provisions.
US, Canada and Mexico signed the deal in November 2018.
52. Microsoft owned GitHub acquired US based start-up Pull Panda, a firm that creates code review tools for the platform for an
undisclosed sum.
53. Mumbai Named Most congested globally, ranking first in Traffic Index-2018, compiled by location technology specialist
TomTom. Mumbai has congestion level of 65 %. New Delhi ranked fourth. The study covered 403 cities in 56 countries.
54. National Accreditation Board for Certification Bodies (NABCB), India’s national accreditation body, secured international
equivalence by Asia Pacific Accreditation Cooperation, for its accreditation programme based on international standard ISO/IEC
17024.
With this, NABCB hopes to facilitate export of Indian services and skills into world market by attesting that persons are
certified following international standards by certifying bodies.
55. Nepalese Embassy in New Delhi ruled that Nepalese nationals will be required to have visa if they are entering India from
Pakistan, China, Hong Kong and Macau.
An open boarder allows Nepalese nationals an easy entry into India and some of whom subsequently travel to Gulf countries
for work. As per rule, Nepal citizens entering India directly from Nepal do not require passport/Visa, but must have an
identity card.
Now it has also been made mandatory to require NOC to enter Gulf countries via India, amid security concerns.
56. PM Narendra Modi accepted invitation from French President Emmanuel Macron to attend outreach session of the 45th G7
Summit to be held in August 2019 in Biarritz (France), as a special invitee. G7 group of countries are - Canada, France, Germany,
Italy, Japan, UK, and USA.
57. Parliamentary Assembly of Council of Europe voted for restoring Russia’s voting rights, 5 years after they were revoked over its
illegal annexation of Crimean Peninsula (in 2014).
Russia had responded by boycotting assembly and since 2017, Russia also refused to pay its share of 33 million Euros.
58. Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) data by National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) reported that female labour force declined
in India in 2017-18. Bottom 5 Nations with lowest female labour force participation in 2017-18 -
67. Sri Lanka National Carrier SriLankan Airlines has been named ‘World’s Most Punctual Airline’ for 2nd consecutive time, by
global flight tracker, ‘Flightstats’. SriLankan Airlines Achieved punctuality rating of 90.75% in May 2019, despite challenges
caused by heightened security after recent terror attacks in Sri Lanka.
68. Sri Lanka’s first ever satellite ‘Raavana-1’, successfully placed into orbit from International Space Station (ISS) along with two
other BIRDS 3 satellites from Japan and Nepal.
Raavana-1 was sent to International Space Station in April 17, through assistance of Cygnus-1 spacecraft from US. It was
deployed to Oerbit using JAXA (Japanese Aerospace and Exploration Agency) owned Kibo experiment module.
It was designed and developed by two Sri Lankan engineers - Tharindu Dayaratne and Dulani Chamika.
69. Tata Motors-owned Jaguar Land Rover partnered with BMW to develop next-generation electric drive systems.
70. Three Indian-origin techies featured in Forbes list of America’s 80 richest self-made women.
Jayshree Ullal (CEO of computer networking firm Arista Networks) - Ranked 18th with $1.4 billion worth
Neerja Sethi (cofounded IT consulting firm Syntel) - ranked 23rd with $1 billion worth.
Neha Narkhede - Ranked 60th with a net worth of $360 million.
71. Two Indian women featured on IT firm IBM’s list honouring 40 women in Artificial Intelligence (AI) from 15 different countries.
The list includes Harmeen Mehta (Chief Information Officer of Bharti Airtel) and Seema Gaur (IFFCO).
72. UAE become first Gulf country to launch 'goAML', a new anti money laundering reporting platform developed by United Nations
Office on Drugs and Crime to curb organised crimes. All financial entities and Designated Non Financial Businesses or Professions
have to register on 'goAML'. Platform will help Financial Intelligence Unit of UAE to prevent money laundering, financing of
terrorism and other illicit financial activities.
73. UAE’s Federal Authority for Identity and Citizenship (ICA) issued first Golden Residence Permit in Abu Dhabi, as part of
Investors Permanent Residence System aimed to attract investors and qualified individuals.
The first permit has been issued to investor Yousuf Ali, Board Member of Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce and Industry
and Chairman of the Lulu International Group. He is worth 4.7 billion dollars and is ranked richest expat in UAE by Forbes.
UAE government announced that first batch of 6,800 investors with 100 billion Dirhams worth of investments in country
will be granted Golden Card.
UAE had approved long-term visa system for expatriates in early 2019, mentioning the criteria needed to be met. The
programme is an outreach initiative for investors and business leaders of foreign origin.
74. US asked all Visa applicants to provide information about their social media use and declare their social media profiles going
back five years. It aims to enhance careful examining of foreign nationals seeking Visa and to screen out dangerous individuals
seeking entry.
If visa applicant do not use social media they will have the option to say so but if applicant lies about social media use, they
could face serious consequences. Also, in future, visa applicants will be required to turn more extensive information on their
travel history.
75. US based Tech Firm Oracle introduced a new tool to help small & mid-sized banks to tackle fraud, named Oracle Financial
Services “Anti Money Laundering Express Edition(AMLXE)”. It is designed to detect, investigate, and report suspected money
laundering and terrorist financing activity.
76. US terminated India’s designation as a beneficiary developing nation under GSP (Generalized System of Preference) trade
program w.e.f. 5 June 2019. Reasons stated are trade imbalance with India, no access to Indian market for US dairy, medical
device industry and issues related to data localisation norms.
Under US’s oldest preferential trade scheme called GSP, India is largest beneficiary and exported goods worth $6.35 billion
under scheme in 2018. As Outcome, exports will become costlier, but overall impact would be minimal on India’s outbound
trade with US.
GSP benefits were instituted on 1 January 1976, as unilateral, non-reciprocal and non-discriminatory benefits extended by
some developed nations to developing countries.
U.S. designed trade program seeks to promote economic growth in developing countries by providing preferential duty-free
entry for up to 4,800 products from 129 beneficiary countries and territories.
77. United Arab Emirates (UAE) Cabinet adopted a National Strategy for Wellbeing 2031.
It has 2 pronged objectives - To make UAE a world leader in quality of life by undertaking various strategic objectives and
initiatives, and To promote an integrated concept of wellbeing, thereby supporting vision of UAE Vision 2021 and UAE
Centennial 2071.
90 new projects will be launched that will target more than 40 priority areas and will improve physical, psychological and
digital health of future generations.
An important initiative is development of first National Wellbeing Observatory, which will support policymaking .
78. United Nation Security Council (UNSC) extended arms embargo and sanctions on South Sudan for a year, Despite resistance
from Russia, China and African countries. A US-drafted resolution was adopted by UNSC after a vote of 10 in favour with five
abstentions.
As per rule, in 15-member UNSC, a resolution presented for vote requires a minimum of nine votes for adoption.
79. Venezuelan government will issue new banknotes due to rising hyperinflation which has eroded Its currency’s value. Central
bank of Venezuela will release new Banknotes of 10,000, 20,000 and 50,000 bolivar denominations.
It is aimed at countering hyperinflationary situation that reached more than 1.3 million percent and strengthen payment
system and commercial transactions in country.
Highest bill in circulation was 500 bolivar note before this announcement. Largest denominations banknotes of 50,000
bolivars are worth about Rs.560 ($8) which is more than minimum wage of 40,000 bolivars.
80. World Helath Organization Launched a new tool AWaRe (Access, Watch and Reserve), to contain rising antimicrobial resistance
and make antibiotic use safer and more effective. It antibiotics into three groups -
Access specifies which antibiotics to use for the most common and serious infections.
Watch specifies which ones should be available at all times in the healthcare system.
Reserve are those that must be used sparingly or preserved and used only as a last resort.
Top
Meetings
1. 14th summit of Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) held in Mecca, Saudi Arabia.
During the summit, OIC Nations asked countries that have moved their embassies to Jerusalem (by recognizing it as Israel’s
capital) to rethink their strategy, considering it a serious violation of international law and international legitimacy. USA and
Guatemala earlier moved their Israeli Embassy to Jerusalem.
OIC was established in 1969 by 24 member states, with now 57 member states.
OIC appointed Yousef Aldobeay of Saudi Arabia as its special envoy for Jammu & Kashmir. OIC also called upon India to
hold a referendum in J&K under United Nations’ patronage. Earier in March 2019, India was invited for first time as the
guest of honour for plenary session of the OIC foreign ministers’ meet held in at Abu Dhabi (in UAE).
2. 16th Asia Media Summit 2019 organised in Siem Reap province (Cambodia). It was held under topic Media Digitalization
Focusing on Developing Markets. Previous (15th) AMS was hosted by India in 2018.
3. 19th Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit held in Bishkek (capital of Kyrgyzstan).
Prime Minister Narendra Modi Attended on India's Behalf. He also held bilateral meetings with Russia and China on
sidelines of SCO summit. Several Agreements Were signed between India and Kyrgyzstan during this visit -
India announced $ 200 million line of credit forKyrgyzstan, for several developmental projects.
MOUs signed for Cooeration between -
National Security, Health, Biomedical Research, Defence, Information and Communication Technology, Legal
Metrology.
Cooperation between Export-Import Bank of India and Investment Promotion and Protection Agency of
Kyrgyzstan.
Cooperation between Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS) of India and National
Institute of Strategic Studies (NISS) of Kyrgyz Republic
Cooperation between Y. S. Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Himachal Pradesh and Kyrgyz
National Agrarian University (KNAU).
Road map on Trade and Economic Cooperation between the Republic of India and the Kyrgyz Republic for the Five-
Year period (2019-2024).
Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) between India and the Kyrgyz Republic.
Protocol to Amend Article 26 of India-Kyrgyzstan Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA).
Chinese President Xi Jinping was conferred with highest national award of Kyrgyzstan titled Manas Order of the First
Degree.
Next SCO Summit (20th) will be hosted by Chelyabinsk (Russia) in 2020.
Founding members of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) are China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.
India and Pakistan officially joined in 2017. Uzbekistan Joined in 2001
4. 2019 G20 summit (14th G20 meet) held in Osaka (Japan).
G20 Its a forum of 19 Major Economies and EU.
Indian Delegation was led by PM Narendra Modi.
Informal summit of 'Russia-India-China' (RIC) leaders was held on sidelines of G-20 Summit 2019.
An informal meeting of BRICS nations was also held on sidelines of the G20 Summit 2019.
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia increased India’s Haj quota by 30000, lifting it to 200000 per year. It was discussed during
PM Narendra Modi’s bilateral talks with Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman during ongoing G20
Summit in Osaka (Japan).
G20 Members -
Australia, Canada, Saudi Arabia, United States, India, Russia, South Africa, Turkey, Argentina, Brazil, Mexico,France,
Germany, Italy, United Kingdom, China, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea.
It was first G20 summit to be hosted by Japan. Next (15th) G20 meet will be hosted by Riyadh (Saudi Arabia) in Nov 2020.
5. 2nd Global Disability Summit held at Buenos Aires (Argentina). India was represented by Minister for Social Justice and
Empowerment Thaawarchand Gehlot.
6. 5th Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) Summit 2019 held in Dushanbe (Tajikistan),
with theme Shared Vision for a Secure and More Prosperous CICA Region.
External Affairs Minister Jaishankar Represented India. India is a member of CICA since 1999.
7. RK Singh, Minister of State for Power and New & Renewable Energy (IC) and Skill Development & Entrepreneurship attended
G20 Ministerial Meeting on Energy Transitions and Global Environment for Sustainable Growth being in Karuizawa (Japan). G20
Summit 2019 is to be held in Japan in Osaka in End of June 2019.
8. Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman attended meeting of G-20 finance ministers and central bank governors in Fukuoka
(Japan).
9. For first time ever India will be hosting 14th session of Conference of Parties (COP-14) of United Nations Convention to Combat
Desertification (UNCCD) in September 2019, to address issue of land degradation and desertification.
10. G20 Ministerial meeting on Trade and Digital Economy held in Japanese city of Tsukuba. Indian delegation was led by Railways
& Commerce and Industries Minister Piyush Goyal. G20 Summit 2019 is to be held in End of June 2019 in Osaka (Japan).
11. India hosted triennial International Seed Testing Association (ISTA) Congress in Hyderabad (Telangana), with First hosting of
this conference in Asia. Telangana was chosen as It is India’s major hub of seed production and meets 60% of country’s needs in
major crops like rice, soyabean, sorghum, maize, pearl millet and cotton.
12. Indian Coast Guard (ICG) co-hosted 12th Capacity Building workshop with Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating
Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in Asia (ReCAAP) Information Sharing Centre (ISC).
ReCAAP is first regional Government-to-Government agreement to deal with piracy and armed robbery at sea in Asia, with
20 Member countries.
13. Intersessional meeting of Kimberley Process (KP) hosted by India in Mumbai.
India is one of founder members of the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme and is Chair of Kimberley Process for 2019
with Russia as Vice Chair. Alok Vardhan Chaturvedi (Director General in Directorate General of Foreign Trade) is designated
as KP Chair 2019.
Kimberley Process is a joint initiative involving Government, international diamond industry and civil society to stem flow of
Conflict Diamonds. Conflict Diamonds means rough diamonds used by rebel movements or their allies to finance conflict
aimed at undermining legitimate governments. KPCS has 55 members from 82 countries.
14. Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (also known as Quad) meeting held Bangkok (Thailand).
Quad is an informal strategic grouping consisting of India, US, Australia and Japan. It is committed to preserving rules-
based order in the Indo-Pacific region.
15. World Food India 2019 will be held in November 2019 in New Delhi, as biggest gathering of all global and domestic stakeholders
in Food Processing Sector. Tagline of event will be “Forging Partnerships for Growth”.
Top
National
1. Competition Commission of India approved acquisition of electrical and automation (EA) business of Larsen & Toubro Limited
(L&T) by Schneider Electric India Private Limited (Schneider) and MacRitchie Investments Pte. Ltd. (MacRitchie).
Commission found that Schneider and L&T are Top 2 players in low voltage (LV) switchgear industry in India. Their
consolidation would make it difficult for new players to enter market. Thus, Commission was agaionst the acquisition of EA
business of L&T by Schneider Electric India.
To eliminate competition concerns, Commission ordered Acquirers to reserve a part of L&T’s installed capacity to offer white
labelling services to third party competitors. This would be available in respect of five high market share LV switchgears,
which are generally used together in LV panels.
2. Directorate General of Training (Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship) Partnered with Cisco and Accenture to
set up a future-ready employability skilling program for ITI students.
Program includes curriculum with modules for digital literacy, career readiness, employability skills and advanced
technology skills such as data analytics, and a blended learning model enabled by a combination of online self-learning via
Bharat Skills portal, accessible by 15,00,000 students across all ITIs in India.
Initial phase of in-classroom training programme is being rolled out across 227 ITIs in Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Bihar and
Assam, targeting Over 100000 youth.
3. Punjab and Haryana High Court accorded status of “legal person or entity” to animals in Haryana, granting them
“corresponding rights, duties and liabilities of a living person”. Nearly an year ago, Uttarakhand High Court passed a similar order
to promote welfare of animals.
4. 2019 marks 20th anniversary of victory in Operation Vijay, known as ‘Kargil War’. It will be observed Between July 25 - 27, 2019
with Theme Remember, Rejoice and Renew. A ‘Wreath Memorial Ceremony’ will be organised at ‘Kargil War Memorial’ in Dras on
Kargil Vijay Diwas (26 July 2019) to honour brave-hearts who laid down their lives during ‘Operation VIJAY’.
5. 2nd Edition of US Green Building Council (USGBC) list of India’s top states with maximum number of Leadership in Energy and
Environmental Design (LEED) certified green buildings -
Maharashtra ranked the top slot with 334 LEED-certified green buildings, followed by Karnataka and Tamil Nadu with 232
and 157 buildings respectively.
6. 2nd edition of India International Mega Trade fair (IIMTF) held at Bidhannagar (Salt Lake) city in Kolkata, as Kolkata’s largest
and most popular retail event.
7. 3rd Advance Estimates of production of major crops for 2018-19 released by Department of Agriculture, Cooperation and
Farmers Welfare - Estimated production of major crops during 2018-19 -
Foodgrains –283.37 million tonnes.Rice – 115.63 million tonnes. (record)Wheat – 101.20 million tonnes (record)Nutri / Coarse Cereals – 43.33 million tonnes.Maize –27.82 million tonnes.Pulses –23.22 million tonnes.Gram – 10.09 million tonnes.Tur –3.50 million tonnes.
Oilseeds –31.42 million tonnes.Soyabean – 13.74 million tonnesRapeseed and Mustard – 8.78 million tonnesGroundnut – 6.50 million tonnes
Cotton – 27.59 million bales (of 170 kg each)
Sugarcane – 400.37 million tonnes (record)
8. Go Tribal campaign was launched by Ministry of Tribal Affairs and TRIFED (Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development
Federation of India) in association with Amazon Global.
It aims to create awareness and promote tribal arts and crafts as well as help in welfare of over 700 Indian tribes, by making
available tribal handcrafts via global online markets.
Under this, Tribes India and Amazon Global Marketing will launch TRIBES India products globally through website
(Amazon.com).
9. Tribal Affairs Minister Arjun Munda launched e-governance initiatives for ST Welfare schemes, on URL
https://dbttribal.gov.in/ and NGO Grants Online Application & Tracking System (https://ngograntsmota.gov.in/) for bringing in
greater e-Governance in implementation of welfare schemes for STs.
In DBT Tribal portal, there are 3 main modules for Pre-Matric & Post-Matric Scholarship - Data Sharing, Communication
and Monitoring modules.
The NGO portal, developed for implementing scheme of Aid to Voluntary Organizations working for welfare of STs, has been
fully revamped with simplified Application form, Inspection Report and Fund Processing module.
10. V.O. Chidambaranar Port Trust (Tuticorin and Central Warehousing Corporation (CWC) signed MOU for facilitating Direct Port
Entry (DPE) of e-sealed factory stuffed export container tothe port under ‘Ease of Doing Business’. CWC will use 18,357 sqm area
earmarked for operating DPE facility for 30 years on Annual Lease Rental basis.
11. NITI Aayog released 2nd Edition of “Healthy States, Progressive India” -
It ranks states and Union territories on their year-on-year incremental change in health outcomes, as well as, their overall
performance.
Round II of the report focuses on highlighting overall performance and incremental improvement over 2 year period (2016-
17 and 2017-18) in the States and UTs
Ranking is categorized as Larger States, Smaller States and Union Territories (UTs). Health Index is a weighted composite
Index based on 23 related indicators.
Among Larger States -
Kerala, Andhra Pradesh & Maharashtra ranked on top in terms of overall performance. While Haryana, Rajasthan and
Jharkhand are the top three ranking States in terms of annual incremental performance.
Among Smaller States -
Mizoram ranked first followed by Manipur on overall performance. Tripura followed by Manipur were top ranked
States in terms of annual incremental performance.
Among UTs -
Chandigarh and Dadra and Nagar Haveli ranked on top in terms of overall performance as well as annual incremental
performance
12. A Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) signed between Ministry of Shipping and Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur (IIT
Kharagpur) for setting up Centre for Inland and Coastal Maritime Technology (CICMT), under Sagarmala Programme
(government initiative aimed at enhancing performance of India’s logistics sector).
