Daily News

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‘Ministry of Women & Child Development’ receives the ‘SKOCH Award’.

• SKOCH has conferred the ‘Best performing Social Sector Ministry’ award on the Ministry of Women and Child Development in New Delhi.

• ‘Ministry’s flagship schemes like ‘Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (BBBP), 6 months maternity leave, Sexual Harassment at Work Place Act, SHe-box, One-stop centers, Universal Women helpline (181), 33 percent reservation in police’ were lauded at the event.

• Minister of WCD reiterated at the event that foundation of ‘Sakhi Suraksha Advanced DNA Forensic Laboratory’ was laid in Chandigarh and added that 5 more advanced forensic labs would come up in Guwahati, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Pune, and Bhopal.

Did you Know

• SKOTCH Group is a think tank dealing with socio-economic issues with a focus on inclusive growth since 1997.
• SKOTCH Group has instituted India’s highest independent civilian honors in the field of governance, finance, technology, economics and social sector.
• Samir Kochhar is the chairman of SKOTCH group.
• Maneka Gandhi is the current Minister of Women and Child Development.

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PM to inaugurate the ‘3rd AIIB Annual Meeting 2018’

• It is announced that ‘Hon’ble Prime Minister of India, Shri. Narendra Modi will inaugurate the third Annual Meeting of ‘Asian Infrastructure and Investment Bank (AIIB)’ on June 26, 2018.

• Ministry of Finance and officials of ‘Asian Infrastructure and Investment Bank (AIIB)’ will jointly host the third Annual Meeting on June 25-26 at Hotel Trident/Oberoi and NCPA, Mumbai, India.

• The theme for this year’s meeting is ‘Mobilizing Finance for Infrastructure: Innovation and Collaboration’.

• It is expected that leaders from varied organizations and governments would come to share ideas and experiences for creating a sustainable future through sound infrastructure investment.

• Industries Department, Government of Maharashtra is the nodal Department, Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC), Government of Maharashtra is the nodal agency.

Did you Know

• Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) is a multilateral development bank with a mission to improve social and economic outcomes in Asia and beyond.
• It is headquartered in Beijing, China.
• It commenced operations in January 2016 and have now grown to 86 approved members from around the world.
• Mr. Jin Liqun is the inaugural President and Chairman of the Board of Directors.

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SEBI eases norms of ‘Initial Public Offering (IPO)’

• ‘Security and Exchange Board of India (SEBI)’ has eased disclosure norms for initial public offerings (IPOs) and tightened the definition of ‘promoter group’ to prevent fraudulent transactions.

• IPO issuers will now be allowed to announce the price bands two days before the issue opens for a subscription instead of the previous five days.

• The new IPO norms include ‘immediate relatives’ within the definition of promoter and promoter groups.

• Financial disclosures will need to be made for three years, compared with the earlier five years.

• The changes were based on the recommendations made by a panel led by capital markets expert Prithvi Haldea.

Did you Know

• ‘Security and Exchange Board of India (SEBI)’ is the capital markets regulator in India.
• It is headquartered in Mumbai, India.
• Ajay Tyagi is the Chairman of the ‘Security and Exchange Board of India’.

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Swiggy enters into the elite ‘Unicorn Start-ups club’

• Swiggy raised $210 million from a group of investors to enter into a select club of ‘unicorn start-ups’ with a valuation of $1 billion or more.

• The latest funding, led by Naspers and billionaire Yuri Milner’s DST Global, values Swiggy at roughly $1.3 billion, surpassing rival Zomato’s $1.1 billion valuation.

• Swiggy is one of the fastest entrants into the unicorn club.

Did you Know

• Swiggy is by far India’s best-funded food delivery start-up.
• It was founded in 2014 by Sriharsha Majety, Nandan Reddy, Rahul Jaimini.
• A unicorn is a privately held start-up company valued at over $1 billion. The term was coined in 2013 by venture capitalist Aileen Lee.

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Pulitzer Awardee columnist Charles Krauthammer passed away

• Charles Krauthammer was the Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist and pundit.

• He was 68 years old.

• Krauthammer's column appeared since 1984 on ‘The Washington Post’ and he worked for ‘Fox News’ also.

• Krauthammer is credited with coining the term ‘The Reagan Doctrine’ for President Ronald Reagan's policy of aiding anti-Communist movements worldwide.

• He was awarded a Pulitzer in 1987 for ‘His witty and insightful’ commentary.

Did you Know

• The ‘Pulitzer Prize’ is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine and online journalism, literature, and musical composition in the United States.
• It was established in 1917.

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Mongolia launches construction of first oil refinery with India’s aid

• Mongolia launched construction of its first oil refinery, a long-awaited project that is funded by India.

• The project aims to reduce the dependency of Mongolia on Russian fuel.

• The oil refinery, in southern Dornogovi province, will be capable of processing 1.5 million tonnes of crude oil per year.

• The cost of the refinery is estimated at $1.35 billion, and it will include a pipeline and its own power plant. The refinery will process Mongolia’s own crude oil, which is now sold to China.

Did you Know

• Mongolia is a large landlocked Asian country wedged between giants China and Russia.
• Ulaanbaatar is the capital of Mongolia.
• U Khurelsukh is the Prime Minister of Mongolia

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Aadhaar biometric data cannot be used for crime investigations

• Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has clarified that the biometric data collected by it cannot be used for any other purpose except for generating Aadhaar and authenticating the identity of cardholders.

• Invoking section 29 of the Act, the UIDAI issued a statement after reports emerged about the purported use of Aadhaar biometric data for the purpose of investigating a crime.

• However, UIDAI has said that the section 33 of the Aadhaar Act allows a very limited exception and permits the use of or access to Aadhaar biometric data in cases involving national security after pre-authorisation by an oversight committee headed by the Cabinet Secretary.

Did you Know

• ‘Unique Identification Authority Of India (UIDAI)’ is a statutory authority established under the provisions of the ‘Aadhaar Act, 2016’ on 12 July 2016 by the Government of India, under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.
• It is Headquartered in New Delhi.
• Chairman (part-time) of UIDAI- Shri J Satyanarayana
• Member (part-time) of UIDAI- Shri Anand Deshpande
• Chief Executive Officer (CEO)- Shri Ajay Pande.
• Aadhar is Aadhaar is a 12-digit unique identification number issued by the Indian government to every individual resident of India in the form of a card.

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Plastic ban in Maharashtra from 23rd June

• From June 23, India’s second-populous state Maharashtra will start penalizing all those found using plastic products, including single-use disposable items.

• Maharashtra Government enforced the ban after issuing the Maharashtra Plastic and Thermocol Products (manufacture, usage, sale, transport, handling, and storage) notification in March 2018.

• Manufacturers, distributors, and consumers were a period of three months to dispose their existing stock and come up with alternatives to plastic usage

• As per the notification, violators will be fined Rs 5,000 and Rs 10,000 for the first and second-time offense. A third-time offender will have to shell out Rs 25,000 and may also face imprisonment for a period of three months.

Did you Know

Maharashtra state-
• Governor- C. Vidyasagar Rao
• Chief Minister- Devendra Fadnavis
• Capital- Mumbai
• Winter Capital- Nagpur.

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Seychelles Parliament Blocked India’s planned naval base

• Foreign Ministry of Seychelles has announced that Seychelles parliament will not ratify a pact allowing India to build naval facilities on one of the archipelago’s islands.

• The two countries signed an agreement in January to build military facilities on the remote ‘Assumption Island’.

• Reasons cited to not ratify India’s naval base revolves around the sovereignty issues of the Seychelles country.

Did you Know

• Seychelles is a group of about 115 islands in the western Indian Ocean.
• Victoria is the is the capital of the Republic of Seychelles.
• Danny Faure is the President of Seychelles.

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Eurozone declares Greek crisis as over

• The Greek government has announced that Eurozone Ministers declared its crisis over as they granted the country debt relief under a bailout exit strategy.

• The Eurozone Ministers’ agreement comes nearly a decade after Greece finances spun out of control, sparking three bailouts and threatening the country’s euro membership.

• Greece is slated to leave its third financial rescue since August 2010.

Did you Know

• The capital of Greece is Athens.
• Prime Minister of Greece is Alexis Tsipras.
• The ‘Eurozone’ officially called as the ‘Euro area’, is a monetary union of 19 of the 28 European Union member states which have adopted the euro as their common currency and sole legal tender.