NATIONAL:

Special Rhino Protection Force (SRPF) has been currently deployed across the Kaziranga National Park.

• The Special Rhino Protection Force (SRPF) has been currently deployed across the Kaziranga National Park. A first ever batch of 82 constables of a SRPF has been deployed in various parts of UNESCO World Heritage Site Kaziranga National Park in Assam.

The force consists of 74 men and 8 women who underwent 43 weeks of training. The constables assumed their duties across the national park to protect one horned rhino.

 Aim:

• This is the first time a special force that has been dedicated to keep a check on rhino poaching and related activities in the Kaziranga National Park.

•  From 2013, there was rampant rhino poaching in Kaziranga. In 2013 and 2014, 27 poaching incidents each year was reported. In the last 2 years there has been 6 cases each year. In 2019, there have been three cases so far.

About Kaziranga:

Kaziranga National Park, the prestigious national park of India, is situated in the state of Assam. It was created in 1908 and it was declared as National Park on 11 February 1974. It was declared as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in the year 1985.

 About Rhinos in Kaziranga:

The Assam state forest department reported that there are 2,547 rhinos in Assam in its 2018 census.

• Greater One-Horned rhinoceros and the Asian One-Horned Rhinoceros falls under the IUCN list of endangered species. A report said that about 3,000 Rhinos live in the wild, and around 2000 of which are found in Kazirnaga National Park.

INTERNATIONAL:

California 1st US state to ban discrimination against natural hair.

• California has become the first state in the US to ban discrimination against people based on their natural hair. The law prohibits employers and schools from enforcing a dress code against hairstyles such as afros, braids, twists, and locks. The law especially aims to end policies that discriminate against black people.

APPOINTMENTS AND RESIGNATIONS:

Harish Rawat resigns as AICC General Secretary.

• AICC General Secretary in-charge of Assam, Harish Rawat tendered his resignation from his post, taking the responsibility of the party's debacle in 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

About AICC :

• The All India Congress Committee is the Presidium or the central decision-making assembly of the Indian National Congress. It is composed of members elected from State-level Pradesh Congress Committees and can have as many as a thousand members.

• Location: Delhi.

 About Harish Rawat:

• Harish Chandra Singh Rawat is an Indian politician who was Chief Minister of Uttarakhand from 2014-2017. A five-time Member of Parliament, Rawat is a leader of the Indian National Congress party.

• Previous offices: Chief minister of Uttarakhand (2016–2017).

Chelsea appoint former midfielder Frank Lampard as their new manager.

• Chelsea have appointed their former midfielder Frank Lampard as their new manager on a three-year deal. The 41-year-old succeeds Maurizio Sarri, who left Chelsea in June to take charge at Juventus. Lampard had spent 13 years at Chelsea as a player before leading Derby to the Championship play-off final in his first season as a manager.

ABOUT FRANK Lampard:

• Frank James Lampard OBE is an English professional football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. He is currently the manager of Premier League club Chelsea.

• Frank Lampard has the fourth-most goals scored (177) in the Premier League.

ABOUT Chelsea Foot Ball club:

• Chelsea Football Club are an English professional football club. Founded in 1905, they compete in the Premier League, the top division of English football.

• Location: Chelsea, Londo, United Kingdom

•  Chelsea has the fourth-highest home attendance record (82,905) of English football clubs.

NATIONAL:

India seeks to buy $2.2 billion warships to meet China challenge .

• India sought bids for purchase of warships and support vessels for its navy and coast guard as it ramps up security of its maritime border in the Indian Ocean region.

• The shipbuilders invited include private shipyards Larsen & Toubro Ltd. and Reliance Naval & Engineering Ltd., apart from the state-run Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Ltd., Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers Ltd., Goa Shipyard Ltd., Hindustan Shipyard Ltd. and Cochin ShipyardNSE 0.10 % Ltd., people with knowledge of the matter said. They asked not to be identified citing rules.

INTERNATIONAL:

Zimbabwe runs out of passports amid economic crisis.

• Zimbabwe has run out of passports as the country has no adequate funds to pay for special imported paper, ink and other raw materials required to print the passports. Citizens seeking to apply for a passport face a minimum wait time of 18 months. Zimbabwe is facing its worst economic crisis in over a decade, with inflation at almost 100%.

BANKS AND ECONOMICS:

Ola Electric invests $250million funding from SoftBank.

• SoftBank invested around $250 million in Ola Electric Mobility.

The electric vehicle unit Ola becomes the newest unicorn from India. The likes of Flipkart, Zomato, Paytm in the parent company are with the Registrar of Companies.

Ola Electric issued 4,326 fully and compulsorily convertible series B preference shares of face value of Rs 10 each having the privileges and preferences.

Japanese investor paid a total of Rs 1,725.04 crore (around $250 million)

The SoftBank funding was received on Tuesday in light of a special resolution passed by the board of Ola Electric on June 25.

Tata Sons' Chairman Emeritus Ratan Tata invested an undisclosed amount in Ola Electric.

This investment is a part of company's series-A round of funding, was in Ratan Tata's personal capacity.

Ola Electric announced raising Rs 400 crore in a funding round

This is led by Tiger Global and Matrix India.

Ola raised $300 million from South Korean carmaker Hyundai Motors along with its affiliate Kia Motors.

As part of the deal, Hyundai plans to introduce its EVs in the cab fleet of Ola by 2021.

Ola Electric is currently running several pilots to deploy electric vehicles and charging solutions.

The company claimed they would introduce a fleet of 10,000 electric vehicles over the next year.

Ola Electric initially established to enable Ola's electric mobility pilot program in Nagpur in 2017.

Airtel Payments Bank ties up with Bharti AXA Life to sell term insurance.

• India's first payments bank Airtel Payments Bank has partnered with Bharti AXA Life Insurance to offer a life term insurance plan through its extensive network of banking points across the country.

• The product, Bharti AXA Life POS (Point of Sale) Saral Jeevan Bima Yojana, is a pure life term insurance plan which is aimed at the under-insured and uninsured segments in India. Both the partners will leverage vast network to reach deep rural pockets and serve the under-insured.

APPOINTMENTS AND RESIGNATIONS:

TSSOCA chief is new ISTA vice-president.

• Director of Telangana State Seed and Organic Certification Authority (TSSOCA) K. Keshavulu was elected vice president of International Seed Testing Association (ISTA), the body that regulates seed certification at the global level, during the ongoing 32nd ISTA Congress being held here.

• He is not only the first Indian but also first from any Asian country to hold one of the top executive posts in ISTA. Mr. Keshavulu is also tipped to be elected as the next president of ISTA at its 33rd Congress to be held in New Zealand in 2022 as is the practice in the organisation. He will hold the vice president’s post for a three-year term.

• teve Jones of Canada, who has been the vice president till the election of the new executive body on Tuesday, has been elected president for the 2019-22 term. The new committee will also have immediate past president Craig McGill of New Zealand and eight others as members at Large representing Zimbabwe, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Philippines, Finland and Argentina.

SPORTS:

World Cup 2019: Ambati Rayudu retires from International cricket, Iceland Cricket’s special offer to Rayudu.

• Ambati Rayudu retires from International Cricket. Rayudu made the announcement after the Indian cricket team management repeatedly ignored him in the ongoing world cup. Ambati Rayudu was named as one of the five stand-bys for the Indian world cup squad but he was snubbed twice, after the Indian selectors preferred Rishabh Pant and Mayank Agarwal over him.

NATIONAL:

Aparna Kumar created history by becoming the first civil servant and IPS officer to achieve the 7 Summits challenge.

• Aparna Kumar created history by becoming the first civil servant and IPS officer to achieve the incredible and rare feat of completing ‘7 Summits’ challenge'.  Kumar hoisted India's tricolour on Mount Denali in Alaska, USA. Mount Denali is the highest peak of North America standing at 20,310 ft. She scaled the summit in her third attempt.

Aparna Kumar:

• Aparna Kumar is an Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) Dehra Dun Frontier DIG. She is also the first woman IPS officer to reach the South Pole on January 13 after walking 111 kilometres with 35 kilograms of equipment on her back.

• In 2016, she became the first officer of the All India Services to successfully scale Antarctica’s highest peak Mount Vinson Massif followed by Mount Manaslu in Nepal in 2017.

Mount Denali:

• Mount Denali is considered the third most prominent and third most isolated peak on Earth, after Mount Everest and Aconcagua. Mount Everest is the highest peak in the world, Aconcagua is the highest mountain in the Southern and Western Hemispheres. It is also the tallest peak outside of Asia.

• Seven Summits:

• The seven listed summits in the challenge are:

• 1) Mount Everest in Nepal/China

• 2) Aconcagua in Argentina

• 3) Denali in the US

• 4) Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania

• 5) Mount Elbrus in Russia

• 6) Mount Vinson in Antarctica

• 7) Puncak Jaya and Mount Kosciuszko in Australia

Other Mountaineers in Summit Challenge:

• Canadian mountaineer Patrick Morrow was the first man to climb the Seven Summits in 1986.

• Indian Army officer Colonel Ranveer Singh Jamwal is the first Indian to summit the seven highest peaks spread across the seven continents. He is a recipient of India's highest adventure award, Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award Jamwal is also the first officer from the Indian Army to achieve this feat.

AGREEMENTS AND MOU’S:

India has signed Rs.200 crore deal with Russia to acquire Strum Ataka

• India has signed Rs.200 crore deal with Russia to acquire Strum Ataka. The anti-tank missile will be added to the fleet of Mi-35 attack choppers of Indian Air Force (IAF). This deal comes in  wake of an IAF’s attempt to keep itself battle-ready in situations like post-Balakot aerial strikes. The Strum Ataka anti-tank missile would give an added capability to Mi-35 attack choppers of IAF to take out enemy tanks and other armoured elements.

• Mi-35s are set to be replaced with Apache gunships being acquired from United States (US) and slated to be delivered from August onwards.

About Emergency clause:

• After 14 February Pulwama terror attack in which 40 CRPF personnel were killed, emergency powers were given to Indian Defence forces and India started increasing vigil at borders with Pakistan. Under, emergency powers given to three services, they can procure equipment of their choice within 3 month at a cost of about Rs.300 crore per case.

• IAF has emerged as front runner in terms of weapon acquisition under emergency procurement, followed by Indian Army. Under emergency provisions IAF has acquired also acquired Spice-2000 stand-off weapon system along with a number of spare and air to air mission.

APPOINTMENTS AND RESIGNATIONS:

NS Vishwanathan reappointed as Deputy Governor of RBI for 1 year.

• The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the reappointment of NS Vishwanathan as Deputy Governor of RBI for a period of one year from July 4, 2019. NS Vishwanathan's term as Deputy Governor was supposed to end on July 3, 2019. Earlier, RBI Deputy Governor Viral Acharya resigned citing personal circumstances.

NATIONAL:

Indian Crypto Exchange Koinex Shuts down its operation

• India's Largest cryptocurrency exchange, Koinex terminating its digital asset trading set-vices and other crypto-related operations citing regulatory uncertainty and disruption.

It was facing problems with its payment services and gateways, along with non-crypto related transactions like payment of salaries, rent, and purchase of equipment.

It started its digital assets exchange services in August 2017

It executed over 20 million orders in trading volume on its platform so far.

The country's central bank, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), barred banks from serving companies dealing in cryptocurrency exchanges.

About Koinex:

Founders: Rahul Raj, Rakesh Yadav, Aditya Naik

Sector: Digital assets

APPOINTMENTS AND RESIGNATIONS:

InMobi names Harvard professor Khanna as independent director.

• InMobi Group's Board of Directors has appointed Harvard professor Tarun Khanna as an independent director of the firm. "InMobi’s journey...being the first unicorn to becoming a successful global company to emerge out of India is an inspiration for any entrepreneur," Khanna said. A member of the faculty since 1993, Khanna is the Jorge Paulo Lemann Professor at Harvard Business School.

SPORTS:

Hosts England hand India their first defeat in 2019 World Cup.

• Hosts England handed India their first defeat in 2019 World Cup by beating them by 31 runs on Sunday. With the victory, England moved to the fourth spot on the points table, while Pakistan slipped one place to the fifth position. Notably, India and England have now played 100 ODIs against each other, with England emerging victorious 42 times.

Rohit 2nd Indian in history to smash 3 hundreds in a World Cup.

• Opener Rohit Sharma has become the second Indian batsman in history to smash three hundreds in a World Cup edition. The 32-year-old, who slammed 122* against South Africa and 140 against Pakistan earlier in 2019 World Cup, reached the three-figure mark in 106 balls against England today. Ex-India captain Sourav Ganguly had smashed three hundreds in the 2003 World Cup.

Kohli first captain to score five straight fifties in WC history.

• India captain Virat Kohli has become the first skipper to score five consecutive fifties in World Cup history. The 30-year-old achieved the feat after reaching the 50-run mark against England in the 2019 World Cup on Sunday. Kohli is only the second player ever to score five fifties in a row in World Cup history after Australia's Steve Smith.

NATIONAL:

Government of Jharkhand to get $147 Million Loan from World Bank.

• Government of Jharkhand and the World Bank, signed a $147 Million Loan Agreement

They provide basic urban services to the people of Jharkhand and planned to help improve the management capacity of the urban local bodies (ULBs) in the State.

The Jharkhand Municipal Development Project mainly focus on improving the municipal sector’s capacity.

It will invest in urban services such as water supply, sewerage, drainage, and urban roads; and strengthen the capacity of the Jharkhand Urban Infrastructure Development Company (JUIDCO)

The ULBs planned to carry out reforms in the areas of urban finance and governance.

The main need is to establish 31 million people reside in urban areas

The population of urban population growth at nine of 24 districts in Jharkhand is above India’s overall urbanization pace of 2.7 percent.

The Loan Agreement was signed by Mr. Sameer Kumar Khare, Additional Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance on behalf of the Government of India and Mr. Shanker Lal, Acting Country Director (India),    the World Bank, on behalf of the World Bank.

Most of these components will open to all 43 ULBs in the state to participate within an agreed framework under the project.

Over 350,000 urban residents of the participating ULBs are expected to benefit

Interventions such as piped water supply, stormwater drains, climate-friendly road construction and energy efficient street lighting will help improve urban services but also make it environmentally sustainable. 

The Work on two sub-projects namely Khunti water supply subproject and the Dhanbad roads subproject to commence shortly.

Kerala topped NITI Aayog's health index 2019 ranking

• Kerala has topped ranking state in terms of overall health performance as per the report submitted by NITI Aayog on health index. This is the second edition of its type. It measured the annual and incremental performances of states and UTs.

Larger States:

Overall performance:

Next to Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra have emerged as the second and third best performers, respectively, on health parameters. Uttar Pradesh and Bihar were ranked the two worst performers, respectively.

Kerala secured an overall score of 74.01, while Uttar Pradesh was the least performing state with an overall score of 28.61. The report highlighted the outbreak of encephalitis in Bihar that killed over 150 children till 24 June.

Incremental performance:

In terms of incremental performances, Haryana, Rajasthan, and Jharkhand made the maximum improvement in terms of health among larger states.

Smaller states:

Among the smaller states, Mizoram ranked first in overall performance, while Tripura and Manipur were top two states in terms of incremental performance.

Union Territories:

• Among the Union Territories, Chandigarh ranked first in overall performance, while Dadra and Nagar Haveli made the most improvement.

Report prepared by:

The report was prepared NITI Aayog in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare with technical assistance from the World Bank.

Healthy States Progressive India:

NITI Aayog's report, titled 'Healthy States Progressive India', ranked states and Union Territories (UTs) based on the Health Index. The evaluation was based on 23 indicators that covers the key aspects of health sector performance.

The first edition of the report of this kind was released in 2018. It measured the annual and incremental performances of states and UTs for period 2014-15 (as base year) to 2015-16 (as reference year).

In the 2018 report, Kerala, Punjab, and Tamil Nadu had ranked on top in terms of overall performance among bigger states. Jharkhand, Jammu and Kashmir, and Uttar Pradesh topped in terms of annual incremental performance.

NITI Aayog:

Formed on: 1 January 2015

Headquarters: Delhi   

Chairman: Narendra Modi

Vice Chairman: Rajiv Kumar

CEO: Amitabh Kant

It replaced the Planning Commission.

The government think tank aims to achieve Sustainable Development Goals  (SDG). It also plans to enhance cooperative federalism by fostering the involvement of State Governments of India in the economic policy-making process.

APPOINTMENTS AND RESIGNATIONS:

Amazon India head Amit Agarwal takes over as IAMAI Chairman.

• The Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) has named Amit Agarwal, the SVP and Country Manager of Amazon India, as the new Chairman of the association. Agarwal takes over the position from former Google India and South East Asia VP Rajan Anandan. Yatra CEO Dhruv Shringi was named Vice Chairman, while Times Internet Vice-Chairman Satyan Gajwani was named Treasurer.

Warner Bros gets first female CEO in studio history.

• WarnerMedia has named Ann Sarnoff as the CEO of Warner Bros. Sarnoff, currently President of BBC Studios Americas, will be the first woman to head the studio behind 'Wonder Woman' and 'Friends'. The 57-year-old will be replacing Kevin Tsujihara.

DAYS:

International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking is observed on 26 June.

• The International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking is observed on 26 June every year. It is a United Nations International Day against drug abuse and the illegal drug trade. It is observed since 1989. The day was instituted by General Assembly Resolution 42/112 of 7 December 1987.

2019 Theme:

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has set the theme for 2019 as 'Health for Justice. Justice for Health'. The theme highlights that justice and health are two sides of the same coin when it comes to addressing drug problems.

Effective responses to the world drug problem require inclusive and accountable institutions of criminal justice, health and social services to work hand in hand to provide integrated solutions, in line with the international drug control conventions, human rights obligations and the Sustainable Development Goals.

INTERNATIONAL:

Former General Mohamed Ould Ghazouani won presidential election of Mauritania.

• Mauritania, a country in Northwest Africa conducted election a former general and defense minister, Mohamed Ould Ghazouani of Union for the Republic (UPR) party won the presidential election.

He won with 52% votes.

He succeeds Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz.

Anti-slavery activist Biram Dah Abeid won second with 18.58% votes.

Sidi Mohamed Ould Boubacar biggest Islamist party won third with 17.87% votes.

First time in 60 years Mauritania faced elections.

They gained independence (28 November 1960) from France.

About Mauritania:

Capital: Nouakchott

Currency: Mauritanian ouguiya

AGREEMENTS AND MOU’s:

NSIC signs MoU with CSC e-governance services India.

• National Small Industries Corporation (NSIC) signed an MoU with Common Service Centres (CSC) e-Governance Services India to enhance new offerings for the MSME sector.

This MoU enables CSCs to utilize a plethora of NSIC offerings through the NSIC portal.

He facilitates VLEs and MSMEs through digital empowerment in accessing NSIC integrated support services encompassing Marketing, Finance, Technology.

The MoU special focus on providing services to village level entrepreneurs (VLEs) to exponential growth of Village Entrepreneurs in the country.

The MoU enable CSCs  to utilize plethora of  NSIC offerings through the NSIC portal www.msmemart.com .

About NSIC (National Small Industries Corporation Limited)

Founder: Government of India

Founded: 1955

Headquarters: New Delhi

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY:

Maruti Suzuki inks partnership with BOB for dealer financing

• Maruti Suzuki, an Automobile producer in India marked 'Favored Financier' MoU(Memorandum of comprehension) with Indian worldwide with Bank of Baroda(BOB) so as to improve credit for business stock financing.

• The association with Bank of Baroda permits Maruti Suzuki to back chances to sellers just as clients. The financing will work in accordance with the Bank of Baroda's item program of Supply Chain Finance.

• The tight liquidity circumstance in the budgetary arrangement of the IL&FS emergency and rising awful credits incited the banks. Moneylenders presented exacting credit standards for vehicle vendors because of the rising instances of awful advances in this portion of the car business. The sellers were approached to give guarantee stretched out by banks.

APPOINTMENTS AND RESIGNATION:

RBI Deputy Governor Viral Acharya resigned.

• The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) Deputy Governor Viral Acharya resigned six months before the scheduled end of his term

He returned to New York University Stern School of Business (NYU stern) as CV Starr Professor of Economics.

He submitted a letter to RBI he is unable to continue his term as a Deputy Governor of the RBI beyond July 23, 2019.

He joined RBI on January 23, 2017.

He leave the central bank on December 10, 2018

He is in charge of the Financial Stability Unit, Monetary Policy Department, Department of Economic and Policy Research, Financial Markets Operation Department.

About Reserve Bank of India

Established:1 April 1935

Headquarters: Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

Governor: Shaktikanta Das

SPORTS:

Lewis Hamilton won French Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes won the French Grand Prix .It is held in Circuit Paul Ricard, Le Castellet, France.They verified 187 points. The United Kingdom got an eighth straight success in the year 2019 .It was the 6th success of the period.It is 79th of his vocation. He crushed Valtteri Bottas of Mercedes (Finland) verified 151. Charles Leclerc of Ferrari (Monaco) got third Max Verstappen of Red Bull (Belgium) fourth.

NATIONAL:

India’s first iron ore mine discovered in Bangladesh

• Iron ore mine discovered at Isabpur village in Dinajpur.

This announcement was made by the Geological Survey of Bangladesh.

After the effect of extensive drilling over two months in the area. A 400-foot thick iron layer was found in Bangladesh after the result of the Geological Survey.

• Around 1,750 feet beneath the surface stretched over an area of 6-10 square kilometer.

The percentage of iron in the mine around 65.

It indicates the high quality of the ore. The other countries like Canada, China, Brazil, Sweden, and Australia have the percentage of iron ore is below the level of 50.

• Other minerals such as gold, copper, nickel, and chromium also found at various levels of the mining.

The discovery of the iron mine opened up economic prospects for the country.

The iron concentration in the magnetite ore is 65 percent.

Indian Navy launches Operation Sankalp in Gulf of Oman

• Indian Navy launched ‘Operation Sankalp’ in the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman.Their main aim is to reassure safe passage of Indian flagged vessels transiting through the area.

• This deployment depends on the following recent maritime incidents in the region. INS Chennai and INS Sunayna deployed in the region to undertake maritime security operations.

• An aerial surveillance in the area done by IN aircraft.

Information Fusion Centre-Indian Ocean Region (IFC-IOR) of Indian Navy watch over the movement of ships in Gulf region.

INTERNATIONAL:

Saudi Arabia became the first Arab country to get FATF membership

• Saudi Arabia turned into the principal Arab nation to get participation of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).

• The quantity of perpetual individuals from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is 39. The enrollment conceded into the worldwide illegal tax avoidance after the Annual General Meeting in Orlando, Florida.

• FATF commended their 30th commemoration of its first gathering .Saudi Arabia got a welcome from FATF in 2015 and they joined as an "onlooker part'.

Mexico became the first country to ratify the trade deal to replace NAFTA

• Mexico turned into the main nation to endorse the economic accord to supplant 25-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

• The exchange accord is known as the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).

• The USMCA (NAFTA 2.0) adjusted for automakers, stricter work, and ecological guidelines, licensed innovation assurances, and advanced exchange arrangements.

• US President Donald Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexico's and President Enrique Pena Nieto marked the arrangement in November 2018 need to sanctioned by every one of the three governments.

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY:

Cricket Australia signs a multi-year partnership with HCL

• Indian multinational information technology service HCL Technologies(Hindustan Computers Limited, HCL) signed a multi-year deal with Cricket Australia (CA), the administrative body of Australian Cricket.

India's third largest sports deal, Accenture was working with Cricket Australia

A five-year deal from November 2013.

• HCL becomes the digital technology partner of Australia (CA)

The company will help CA more fans, cricketers, fans, employees, and volunteers through digital experience around the world. 

• HCL build CA's digital products such as Cricket Australia Live App, cricket.com.

Cricket Australia's fan following gradually increased upto 20 million per year.

AWARDS AND RECOGNITION:

Dr Gaurav Nigam, an educationist, pediatrician and author, honoured with 'Innovative Research Excellence Award 2019'

• Dr Gaurav Nigam deliberated with 'Inventive Research Excellence Award 2019' .The honor was given by Lyonpo Ugyen Dorji, Minister for Labor and Human Resources of Bhutan at the Asian Leadership Summit .

• The capacity is held at Thimphu, Bhutan. The occasion sorted out by the Global Leaders Foundation.

• He won this honor for his magnificence in school training of extraordinary commitment towards the imaginative improvement look into exercises in the field of school instruction in South Asian Region.

• He is the author of iCare. He is the writer of the book titled 'Villain Inside My Mind'.

APPOINTMENTS AND RESIGNATION:

Shefali Juneja appointed as India's representative in the Council of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO)

• India's Pranati Nayak won a bronze decoration at the Senior Asian Artistic Championships in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. She is from West Bengal .

• She got equipped for finals.She verified 6th spot and concocted a score of 13.384 to win the bronze decoration.

• She scored 13.400 and 13.367 in the first and second vault score as of late.

Justice V Ramasubramanian appointed as the Chief Justice of the Himachal Pradesh High Court

• Justice V Ramasubramanian designated as Chief Justice of the Himachal Pradesh High Court.

• He succeeded Chief Justice Surya Kant. The function was managed by Governor Acharya Devvrat.

• He filled in as an Additional Judge of the Madras High Court .

• He joined as changeless Judge from November 9, 2009.

Justice Raghvendra Singh Chauhan appointed as the second Chief Justice of Telangana High Court

• Raghvendra Singh Chauhan named as the second Chief Justice of Telangana High Court in Hyderabad.

• He succeeded Chief Justice T.B. Radhakrishnan in April, 2019 .He has a place with Rajasthan .

• He made vow before Governor E.S.L. Narasimhan. Boss Secretary S.K. Joshi started swearing-in service .

• The Registrar General of Telangana High Court A. Venkateswar Reddy read out the warrant

SPORTS:

Indian Gymnast, Pranati Nayak won bronze at 2019 Asian Artistic Gymnastic Championship held in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

• India's Pranati Nayak won a bronze decoration at the Senior Asian Artistic Championships in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. She is from West Bengal .

• She got equipped for finals .She verified 6th spot and concocted a score of 13.384 to win the bronze decoration. She scored 13.400 and 13.367 in the first and second vault score as of late.

AGREEMENT'S AND MOU’s:

KSEB signed an agreement with GJ Eco Power Pvt. Ltd. to establish Waste-to-Energy (WtE) plants.

• The Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) signed a power purchase agreement with Kochi-based GJ Eco Power Pvt. Ltd. to establish Waste-to-Energy (WtE) plants across the State. GJ Eco Power Pvt. Ltd. has been implementing the project at the Brahmapuram solid waste treatment plant.

• The proposed plant is expected to be commissioned within 18 months of the launch of its construction. The power purchase agreement was signed in the presence of Electricity Minister M.M. Mani, Electricity Department secretary B. Ashok and KSEB chairman and managing director N.S. Pillai.

• Under the agreement, the KSEB will purchase the power generated from the 9.76 MW WtE plant at a rate of Rs.6.17 per unit for a period of 20 years from the commercial operation date. Kerala State Electricity Regulatory Commission has approved the tariff.

• The company had been roped in by the Kochi Corporation to implement the State’s first WtE project in the public-private partnership mode.

• KSEB will be supplied with 330 tonnes per day (TPD) of municipal solid waste by the local body. It is tasked with generating 47 million units (mu) of power.

APPOINTMENTS AND RESIGNATIONS:

Indiabulls Housing Finance Ltd has appointed Naveen Uppal as the Chief Risk Officer.

• Indiabulls Housing Finance Ltd has appointed Naveen Uppal as the Chief Risk Officer (CRO). The appointment complied with norms of National Housing Bank (NHB), the housing finance sector regulator. His appointment will be for a period of three years with effect from June 17, 2019. He will be directly reporting to the managing director and CEO of the company.

RBI's norm:

• The appointment comes after the announcement made by RBI on 16 May which said that all non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) with assets of more than ₹5,000 crore to appoint a chief risk officer (CRO). RBI’s move was in the wake of ongoing rating downgrades of non-banks which has raised fears of another liquidity crisis.

Mr.Uppal:

• Uppal has over 23 years of experience in operations, audit and credit risk within the finance industry. He has been associated with Indiabulls Housing Finance for 12 years and presently heads risk and compliance. He was also associated with ICICI Bank as its zonal operations head.

Indiabulls Housing Finance Ltd:

♦ Founded on: January, 2000   

♦ Headquarters: Gurgaon, India

♦ Chairman and Founder: Sameer Gehlaut

♦ Vice Chairman and MD: Gagan Banga

♦ Indiabulls Housing Finance Ltd. (IBHFL) is India’s second largest housing finance company, regulated by the National Housing Bank (NHB).

♦ It was rated the 13th largest consumer finance company worldwide by Forbes Global 2000 in June 2018.

Kona Raghupati was elected as the Deputy Speaker of the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly.

• Kona Raghupati was unanimously elected as the Deputy Speaker of the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly on 18 June 2019. He is a two-time MLA from the ruling YSRCP who is representing Bapatla constituency.

• Mr. Raghupati was nominated by the Municipal Administration and Urban Development Minister Botsa Satyanarayana which was backed by other members of the cabinet and senior leaders of the ruling party. Speaker Tammineni Sitaram declared the election of Kona Raghupathi as Deputy Speaker as he was the only contestant.

Mr. Raghupati:

• He is from political family. He holds a Bachelors degree. His father, Kona Prabhakara Rao, was a veteran Congress leader who even served as the Speaker for the Assembly of united Andhra Pradesh, for a brief period between 1980 and 1981. Rao also acted as Governor for three states, Pudducherry, Sikkim and Maharshatra, serving a brief period in each state between 1983 and 1986.

Om Birla has been elected as the 17th Lok Sabha Speaker.

• Om Birla has been unanimously elected as the 17th Lok Sabha Speaker with the opposition Congress coming out in support of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA)’s candidate. Birla will replace Sumitra Mahajan.

Mr.Om Birla:

• He is a two-time Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) member of Parliament (MP) from Rajasthan. Birla is also a member of theStanding Committee on Energy in Parliament, member of Committee on Petitions and Consultative Committee for Ministry of social justice and empowerment. He has an 86% average attendance in the House.

Nominated by:

• Mr.Birla was nominated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, defence minister Rajnath Singh, home minister Amit Shah and minister for transport and highways and shipping Nitin Gadkari. He was also backed by Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and YSR Congress Party (YSRCP).

• The United Progressive Alliance (UPA) which was led by the Congress has also decided to support Birla’s candidature.

NATIONAL:

India to host COP-14 of UNCCD.

• India will be hosting the 14th session of the Conference of Parties (COP-14) of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) for the first time. COP-14 will be held between September 2 and 14 in Delhi.

Participants: It is expected that atleast 5,000 delegates from nearly 197 countries will be participating.

• The Centre launched a flagship project, part of a larger international initiative called the Bonn Challenge ahead of the COP-14. The flagship project aims to enhance India’s capacity for forest landscape restoration (FLR).

• The Bonn Challenge is a global effort to bring 150 million hectares of the world’s deforested and degraded land under restoration by 2020, and 350 million hectares by 2030.

COP-13 of UNCCD:

• The 13th session of the Conference of Parties (COP-13) of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) was held in Ordos, China. Around 113 countries had agreed to specify concrete targets with clear indicators, to rehabilitate more land and reverse degradation, which currently affects over a third of the world’s land resources.

United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD):

Drafted: 17 June 1994

Signed: 14 October 1994

Location: Bonn, Germany

Parties: 197 (196 states + the European Union)

UNCCD aims to combat desertification and mitigate the effects of drought through national action programs that incorporate long-term strategies supported by international cooperation and partnership arrangements.

APPOINTMENTS AND RESIGNATIONS:

Lieutenant General Faiz Hameed is appointed as Pakistans Director General of Inter-Services Intelligence.

• Lieutenant General Faiz Hameed has been appointed as Pakistan’s Director General of Inter-Services Intelligence (DG-ISI), a powerful spy agency. He assumed his office on 17th June 2019.The Pakistan Army also announced a number of changes to postings of its top generals.

Lt. Gen. Hameed was appointed as Director-General of the ISI in place of Lieutenant General Asim Munir. Munir was transferred and appointed as Corps Commander Gujranwala. Lt. Gen. Munir was appointed as ISI chief in October 2018 after the retirement of his predecessor Lt. Gen. Naveed Mukhtar.

Lieutenant General Faiz Hameed:

• Lieutenant General Faiz Hameed is a three-star rank general in the Pakistan Army. He is currently the 24th Director-General of Inter-Services Intelligence (DG-ISI).

• On April 12, the Pakistan Army promoted then Major General Hameed to the rank of Lieutenant General and appointed him Adjutant General at the General Headquarters (GHQ) later that month.

He was previously serving as the head of the Counter Intelligence wing in the ISI.

Indiabulls Housing appoints Chief Risk Officer after new rules.

• Indiabulls Housing Finance on Monday said it has named Naveen Uppal as Chief Risk Officer to comply with regulator National Housing Bank's direction. Uppal has been associated with Indiabulls Housing Finance for 12 years and presently heads Risk and Compliance. He'll directly report to the company's Vice-Chairman, MD and CEO or the board-constituted risk management committee of the company.

Paytm Mall names Rudra Dalmia as Exec Director, Board member.

• Paytm Mall has named Rudra Dalmia as the Executive Director and also appointed him to its board. Dalmia is an SRCC alumnus and has an MBA from Cornell University's Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management. "I welcome [Dalmia] to Paytm family...am proud to see him as a board member of Paytm e-commerce," Paytm CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma said.

SPORTS:

Eoin Morgan breaks world record for hitting most sixes in an ODI.

• England captain Eoin Morgan set the world record for most sixes (17) in an ODI, achieving the feat during his 71-ball 148-run knock against Afghanistan in World Cup today. The previous record (16 sixes) was jointly held by Rohit Sharma, Chris Gayle and AB de Villiers. Morgan also smashed the fastest World Cup hundred by an England player (57 balls).

APPOINTMENTS AND RESIGNATIONS:

PV Ramashastri appointed UP ADG Law and Order.

• IPS PV Ramashastri on Monday assumed the charge as Additional Director General (ADG) Law and Order, Uttar Pradesh. This comes after CM Yogi Adityanath, on Friday, transferred six senior police officers after reviewing state's law and order situation. Praising his predecessor, Ramashastri said during former ADG (Law and Order), Anand Kumar's tenure, there were "stern actions against hardcore criminals".

DAYS:

World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought observed on June 17.

• World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought day is observed every year on June 17

The theme for this year is Let's grow the future together.

Aim: To promote public awareness of international efforts to combat desertification.

Land degradation neutrality is achieved through problem-solving, strong community involvement and cooperation at all levels. 

• United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres land degradation and drought are major threats affecting millions of people worldwide, particularly women and children.

• Every year, the world loses 24 billion tons of fertile soil and dryland degradation reduces national domestic product in developing countries by up to 8 per cent annually.

Protecting and restoring land and better using it can reduce forced migration, improve food security and spur economic growth.

• They can also help to address the global climate emergency.

To recognize the imperative of combating desertification as part of the efforts to achieve Sustainable Development Goals

About Minister for Environment, Forests and Climate Change

Formed: 1985

Headquarters: New Delhi

Annual budget: ₹2,675.42 crore

Minister responsible: Prakash Javadekar

SPORTS:

Joshna Chinappa wins record 17th national title.

• Indian squash player Joshna Chinappa won a record 17th national title after beating Sunayna Kuruvilla 11-5, 11-4, 7-11, 11-5. Chinappa broke the 16-time national champion Bhuvneshwari Kumari's record, which stood for 27 years. Rajasthan's Bhuvneshwari had won the national titles from 1977 to 1992. In the men's final, Mahesh Mangaonkar won the title.