Current Affairs June 2016 (English)
TNPSC Current Affairs May 29 - June 4, 2016
(Weekly Current Affairs in English)
CURRENT AFFAIRS: WORLD
- The world's longest and deepest rail tunnel, running under the Swiss Alps inaugurated. The 57-kilometer long Gotthard Base Tunnel will connect northern and Southern Europe and shorten travel time for many rail routes.
- It overtakes Japan's Seikan tunnel, which measures 53.9 kilometers, as the longest rail tunnel in the world. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Francois Hollande and Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi will join Swiss authorities for a ceremonial first run through the tunnel.
- Full service will begin in December. The tunnel was built in 17 years by 2,400 workers, at a cost of over 12 billion dollars.
2. India has gifted 2,000 bicycles to Nepal School Students
- India has gifted 2,000 bicycles to poor dalit girls in Nepal to encourage them to enrol in schools and enhance the literacy rate among them. The Indian Embassy said in a statement, bicycles were given to the girls studying in different government schools in Nepal.
- The gifting of bicycles to poor dalit girl students programme was conceived to enhance the literacy rate among girls in Nepal and also to encourage girls from poor and dalit families to enrol in schools.
3. World Boxing Heavyweight Champion Muhammad Ali Dies
- Boxing icon Muhammad Ali has died. After a 32-year battle with Parkinson's disease, Muhammad Ali passed away yesterday at the age of 74. Former world heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali, record-setting boxing career, made him one of the best-known figures of the 20th century.
- Known globally not only for his storied ring career but also for his civil rights activism, Ali had been hospitalized multiple times in recent years.
- France has declared flood emergency after the River Seine in Paris burst its banks in some places displacing thousands of people. President Francois Hollande made the announcement
5. World's smallest Pacemaker implanted in 92-year old at Gurgaon Hospital
- A two gram capsule sized medical device was implanted in a 92-year old patient at a hospital in Gurgaon, Haryana.
- The Micra Transcatheter Pacing System, the smallest pacemaker in the world, was successfully implanted in a 92-year old man at Medanta,
6. Asia's Largest tech trade show COMPUTEX in Taipei
- Asia’s largest technology trade show COMPUTEX kicked off in Taipei 31.05.2016, attracting more than 1,600 companies from 30 countries to showcase their latest products.
- This is the highest turnout, in terms of the number of nations, in five years. The highlight of this year’s show is virtual reality.
CURRENT AFFAIRS: INDIA
7. The draft National Water Framework bill on Water Conservation, Management
- The central government has come out with two draft model bills with an aim to improve water management and groundwater levels.
- The draft National Water Framework bill deals with water management issues and Ground Water Model bill will help states tackle groundwater crisis.
8. Govt notifies charges for sale of non-auctioned captive mines
- The government 01.06.2016 notified the charges for sale of non-auctioned captive mines, a move that will not only boost mergers and acquisitions in the space but will also unlock billions of dollars worth of assets.
- The transferee shall now have to pay to the State Government as transfer charges an amount equal to 80 per cent of royalty. This will be in addition to payment of royalty.
9. Unique Number for all in India by March 2017
- After creating the world's biggest biometric ID System, UIDAI (Unique Identification Authority of India) or has set yet another big target of linking every citizen of the country to Aadhaar based Unique Number System as well as giving them Aadhaar card by 2017.
- Till date 102 crore people have been enrolled for Aadhaar Card. It is estimated that by March 2017, there would be 128 crore people in the country that means, 26 crore people would have to be brought under Aadhaar enrolment in the next 10 months.
- Nita Ambani, Founder and Chairperson of Reliance Foundation has been nominated as a candidate to be a new member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
- She is the first Indian woman to be nominated to the IOC and is being considered in the category of volunteers who represent the IOC and Olympic Movement in their country. If she gets elected at the IOC Session scheduled from August 2 to 4, 2016 at the 129th IOC Session in Rio de Janeiro, she will become the first Indian woman to be on the apex sporting body.
11. India’s first integrated web portal to promote Net Zero Energy Buildings (NZEB)
- The Union Ministry of Power and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) launched India’s first integrated web portal designed to promote and mainstream Net Zero Energy Buildings (NZEB) in India.
- The portal (www.nzeb.in) was launched by Secretary of Union Ministry of Power Pradeep Kumar Pujari and Ambassador Mr Jonathan Addleton, USAID Mission Director to India.
12. The 0.5 % ‘Krishi Kalyan’ Cess on Service Tax
- The Central Government deciding to impose 'Krishi Kalyan' cess of 0.5 % on service tax from June 1, 2016.
13. P Dhanapal re-elected as Speaker of Tamil Nadu 15th Assembly
- The Ruling AIADMK P Dhanapal was unanimously re-elected as Speaker of the 15th Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly. With this, he becomes first speaker to be elected for a consecutive second term in the state’s legislative history.
- Pollachi V Jayaraman of ruling AIADMK was unanimously re-elected as the Deputy Speaker of the legislative assembly.
CURRENT AFFAIRS: SPORTS
14. ICC Champions Trophy 2017
- ICC has formally announced the groups for the ICC Champions Trophy 2017. The tournament is scheduled to be held in England. World Twenty20 champions West Indies will not take part because they were ranked outside the top eight sides at the cut-off point in September 2015.
- Hosts England will face world champions Australia, New Zealand and Bangladesh in Group A of the 2017 Champions Trophy. Defending champions India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and South Africa have been drawn in Group B.
15. Leander Paes WINS ‘Career Slam’ in French Open
- Indian tennis star Leander Paes completed a 'Career Slam' in mixed doubles with Swiss partner Martina Hingis with a hard-fought win over compatriot Sania Mirza and Ivan Dodig, in Paris.
- The unseeded Indo-Swiss pair eked out a 4-6, 6-4, 10-8 win over the second seeds in the summit clash that lasted one hour and 28 minutes.
16. Alaistar Cook becomes youngest batsman to score 10,000 Test runs
- England captain Alastair Cook became the first English cricketer to reach the 10,000 runs milestone in Test cricket during the second Test against Sri Lanka at Chester-le-Street.
- In the process, he also became the youngest batsman to achieve the extraordinary feat, surpassing Indian batting legend Sachin Tendulkar.
17. Real Madrid won their eleventh European Cup
- Real Madrid won their eleventh European Cup after a penalty shoot-out win over cross-city rivals Atletico. The two clubs from the Spanish capital couldn't be separated after 120 minutes of action at San Siro.
- Real Madrid players celebrated their 11th Champions League cup title in front of thousands of fans gathered at Santiago Bernabeu Stadium in the team's home city.
- Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) has won the ninth edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL). It is their maiden IPL title. In the final match played at Chinnaswamy stadium in Bangalore (Karnataka), SRH defeated Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) by eight runs.
19. Saina Nehwal lost in Indonesia Open badminton
- Three-time champion Saina Nehwal lost to World No. 1 Carolina Marin of Spain in the quarterfinals of the Indonesia Super Series Premier badminton tournament being held in Jakarta. Saina had won the Indonesia Open title in 2009, 2010 and 2012.
- The Olympic-bound Indian ace lost to the All England and World Champion in straight games 22-24, 11-21, in a women's singles battle that lasted 47-minutes.