JUNE 2019 Current Affairs

Persons in News 

June 2019 Current Affairs 

GOVERNMENT SCHEMES:

 Cabinet has cleared a special scheme for controlling foot and mouth diseases of animals. This disease is common amongst cow-bulls, buffaloes, sheep, goats and pigs. 13,343 crore rupees is to be allocated to eradicate the disease in five years.

 Centre approved a new scheme called Pradhan Mantri Kisan Pension Yojana.This is a voluntary and contributory pension scheme for all small and marginal farmers across the country.The beneficiaries should be in the age group of 18 to 40 years

 Ujjivan Small Finance Bank has appointed Flipkart founder Sachin Bansal as its independent director.

 Cabinet approved a proposal to extend the benefit of Rs 6,000 per year under the PMKISAN scheme to all farmers in the country.

 Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved the hike in rates of scholarship under National Defence Fund. Rates of scholarship enhanced from 2000 rupees per month to 2500 rupees per month for boys and from 2250 rupees per month to 3000 rupees per month for girls.

 Himachal Pradesh government has decided to provide 10 percent reservation to the Economically Weaker Sections among the general category.

 Ayush Ministry launched 'yoga locator' app to help people locate yoga centres and instructors.

 Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das inaugurated the Haj House in Ranchi.

 Assam government will set up a Skill University at the cost of 850 crore rupees at Darrang district.

 Under Chief Minister Yuva Sambal Yojana, Rajasthan government will give unemployment allowance up to Rs 3,500 to Unemployed youth

 Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar launched the Mukhyamantri Vriddha Pension  Yojana for poor people above 60 years of age in the state

 Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy launched village stay programme aimed at connecting with people and announced a 300-bed health care facility and a veterinary hospital for Yadgiri district.

APPOINTMENTS

 Ajit Doval has been appointed as the National Security Advisor (NSA) for a second consecutive term.

 Comptroller and Auditor General of India Rajiv Mehrishi has been elected as external auditor of the World Health Organization (WHO) for four years from 2020 to 2023.

 Nayib Bukele sworn in as president of El Salvador.

 Low cost carrier SpiceJet's Chairman and Managing Director Ajay Singh has been elected to the board of the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

 Eminent historian and writer Romila Thapar has been elected as a member of the American Philosophical Society (APS).

 M N Sarma will be the new Secretary General of the General Insurance Council.

 Renowned scientist and cyclone warning specialist Mrutyunjay Mohapatra has been appointed as the chief of India Meteorological Department (IMD).

 China has nominated a former Hong Kong police chief Andy Tsang Wai-hung to lead the UN Office on Drugs and Crime

 Kumar Iyer has been appointed by the UK government as the Chief Economist of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), making him the first Indian-origin member of the department's management board.

 IT Industry icon Azim Premji will retire as Executive Chairman of Wipro with effect from 30th July this year.

 Prayuth Chan-ocha elected as prime minister of Thailand

 Former Chief Election Commissioner N. Gopalaswami has been appointed as an electoral officer for the BCCI's Annual General Meeting. 

 Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (Gift City) has appointed former Corporate Affairs Secretary Tapan Ray as its Managing Director.

 Reserve Bank of India has approved the appointment of R K Chhibber as interim CMD of Jammu and Kashmir Bank.

 Arun Kumar Sahu appointed as the next High Commissioner of India to the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago.

 China has appointed Sun Weidong, an expert in South Asian affairs, as its new envoy to India.

 Chief Economic Adviser Krishnamurthy Subramanian and former MD and CEO of IDBI Bank B Sriram were appointed part-time members of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy

Board of India (IBBI).

 Senior IPS officer V S Kaumudi has been appointed as the Director General of the Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D).

 P K Mishra has been re-appointed as Additional Principal Secretary to Prime Minister

Narendra Modi.

 Major General Ruwan Kulatunga will be Sri Lanka's new chief of National Intelligence. He will replace Sisira Mendis

 Kassym-Jomart Tokayev took oath as the new president of Kazakhstan

 Pakistan appointed Lt. Gen. Faiz Hameed new chief of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).

 Zuzana Caputova was sworn in as Slovakia's first female president

 BJP MP and NDA nominee Om Birla has been unanimously elected as speaker of the Lok Sabha

 Former Union Minister and seven-time MP Virendra Kumar took oath as the Pro-tem Speaker of the 17th Lok Sabha

 Danish economist and environmentalist Inger Andersen took charge as new Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP

 Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has promoted Rabi N Mishra as the central bank’s executive director (ED

 Alok Vardhan Chaturvedi has been given extension of over three months Director General (DG) of Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT

 Shefali Juneja was appointed as India's representative in the council of International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO).

 Governor of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana ESL Narasimhan administered the oath of office to Justice Raghvendra Singh Chauhan as the Chief Justice of Telangana High

Court.

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

 NCLT has appointed Aneesh Nanavati as Resolution Professional (RP) for Reliance Communications and its two subsidiaries — Reliance Telecom and Reliance Infratel.

 China's Qu Dongyu has been elected as the new director general of the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO). Dongyu is the first Chinese citizen elected to this post.

 K Natarajan will be the new Chief of the Indian Coast Guard

 Indian Olympic Association president Narinder Batra has been elected as a member of the International Olympic Committee. 

 Senior IPS officers Arvind Kumar and Samant Kumar Goel have been appointed chiefs of Intelligence Bureau (IB) and Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), respectively.

 Amitabh Kant has been given a two-year extension as Chief Executive Officer of NITI Aayog

 Donald Trump has nominated Mark Esper to be the U.S. Secretary of Defense.

 San Francisco has become the first major US city to effectively ban the sale and manufacture of electronic cigarettes.

 Parminder Singh Dhindsa has been re-elected the president of the Cycling Federation of India (CFI).

 Justice Prasanta Kumar Saikia sworn in as Lokayukta of Arunachal Pradesh.

EVENTS

 Fincare Small Finance Bank and Kookmin Bank have been included in the second schedule of the Reserve Bank of India Act

 According to a report by the International Data Corporation (IDC), Indian software market is expected to grow at a year-on-year (YoY) rate of 13.7 per cent and touch $6.1 billion by the end of 2019.

 Tripura will host 10th National Science Film Festival of India in 2020

 A major exercise, Kharga Prahar, was jointly conducted by the Indian Army and Indian Air Force (IAF) in Punjab

 Telangana celebrated the fifth Formation Day on 2nd June.

 Elephanta Festival organised in Mumbai.

 Yoga Mahotsava was inaugurated by the NITI Aayog Vice-Chairman Rajeev Kumar at New Delhi.

 Centre has shortlisted five cities, Delhi, Shimla, Mysore, Ahmedabad and Ranchi to hold National Programme of the International Yoga Day 2019.

 The main event of International Day of Yoga 2019 celebrations will be held at Prabhat Tara in Ranchi on 21st June.

 'Gandhi Cycle Rally for Peace' was organised in Saudi Arabia to mark the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.

 India successfully conducted the maiden flight test of its indigenously developed unmanned scramjet demonstration aircraft for hypersonic speed flight from a base off

Odisha coast.

 The National Centre for Good Governance (NCGG), India's leading civil services training institution, has entered into an agreement with the Maldives Civil Services

Commission for capacity building of 1,000 civil servants from the Maldives over the next five years

 Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Maldivian President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih jointly inaugurated the coastal surveillance radar system built by India and a composite training facility of the Maldives National Defence Force in Male.

 India has been designated as the Guest of Honour at the 33rd Guadalajara International Book Fair to be held in Mexico. This book fair will be organised from November 30 - December

 Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended the meeting of Council of Heads of State (CHS) of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in Bishkek on June 13-14, 2019.

 India successfully launched the indigenously-developed Hypersonic Technology Demonstrator Vehicle (HSTDV) in its maiden test from a base off the Odisha coast.

 16th Asia Media Summit started in Siem Reap, Cambodia.

 Third edition of Thai Film Festival “Namaste Thailand Film Festival" started in New Delhi

 Prahlad Singh Patel, Minister of State (I/C) of Culture & Tourism, Government of India inaugurated the exhibition titled "Astitva: The Essence of Prabhakar Barwe”, at

National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi

 Directorate General of Training joined hands with Cisco and Accenture to train youth for digital economy by setting up a future-ready employability skilling programme for

ITI students

 External Affairs Minister, Dr S. Jaishankar, attended the 5th Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) Summit in Dushanbe, Tajikistan.

 Second meeting of the India-Italy Counter Terrorism Joint Working Group was held in New Delhi

 R K Singh participated in G20 Ministerial Meeting on Energy Transitions and Global Environment for Sustainable Growth in Japan.

 Fifth meeting of the Governing Council of NITI Aayog was held at New Delhi

 The Group of 20 major economies (G20) have agreed on a deal to reduce plastic waste that is choking the seas.

 Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Kyrgyzstan President Sooronbey Jeenbekov inaugurated Indian-Kyrgyz Business forum.

 Italy has conferred Knighthood on Italian language expert Pratishtha Singh for her extensive contribution in the field of culture and political studies promoting IndoItalian ties.

 Indian Coast Guard (ICG) will be co-hosting 12th Capacity Building workshop with Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery against

Ships in Asia (ReCAAP) Information Sharing Centre (ISC) in New Delhi on June 19-20, 2019.

 World's largest multi-stage lift irrigation project, Kaleshwaram will be launched in Telangana.

 India-EU Seminar on Talent Mobility held in Pune, Maharashtra

 11th India Stonemart will be organised in Jaipur in 2021. 11

 20th meeting of Financial Stability and Development Council (FSDC) was held in New Delhi

 Prime Minister Narendra Modi, will attend the 14th G20 Summit in Osaka, Japan from 28th to 29th June.

 Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao inaugurated the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project (KLIP) worth Rs 80,000 crore

 Fourth National Yoga Olympiad concluded at New Delhi.

 Third Indo-French cyber dialogue was held in Paris.

 First international theatre festival of Bangladesh was held in Dhaka

 The International Labour Organization (ILO) has adopted a historic global treaty against violence and harassment in the workplace.

 International Olympic Committee (IOC) has lifted the sanctions imposed on India to host international sporting events with immediate effect.

 The air strike by the Indian Air Force (IAF) on a terrorist training camp in Balakot, Pakistan, was code-named ‘Operation Bandar’.

 Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister of State (Independent charge) for Civil Aviation inaugurated the Air Traffic Flow Management - Central Command Centre at New

Delhi.

 Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is among the 100 most influential women driving the UK-India relationship forward alongside one of Britain's senior-most

Cabinet ministers Penny Mordaunt.

 Indian Air Force is participating in a bilateral exercise named ‘Garuda-VI’ in France from 01-12 Jul

 Government has proposed to establish Five Sainik Schools in Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Odisha and Telangana.

 India successfully test-fired indigenously developed nuclear-capable missile Prithvi-II as part of a user trial by the Army from a test range off the Odisha coast.

 A life-size sculpture of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, who ruled over Punjab for close to 40 years in the early 19th century, was unveiled at the historic Lahore Fort in Pakistan to

mark his 180th death anniversary

 Minister of State for Tribal Affairs Renuka Singh launched the “Go Tribal Campaign” by Tribes India at New Delhi.

SPORTS

 South Africa's Imran Tahir Becomes Second South African Spinner to Play 100 One Day Internationals.

 Ashish Ray penned down India's journey in world cup in new book titled "Cricket World Cup -The Indian Challenge".

 Indian junior women's hockey team clinched the Cantor Fitzgerald U-21 International 4-Nations title after beating Ireland at Dublin.

 Sunil Chhetri became the most capped India player surpassing Bhaichung Bhutia's 107 international matches.

 ICC has entered into content partnerships with Facebook, YouTube and Twitter.

 Asian Football Confederation confirmed that China will host the eighteenth Asian Cup in 2023.

 Eighth edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup started in Paris.

 Curacao won the 47th King's Cup Football Tournament in Buriram, Thailand.

 India and Portugal will cooperate in the setting up of a national maritime heritage museum at Lothal in Gujarat.

 Team India's Champion All-rounder Yuvraj Singh announced his retirement from all forms of cricket.

 Australian Ashleigh Barty has won the women's singles title of French Open by defeating Czech Republic' Marketa Vondrousova.

 Spain's Rafael Nadal has won the men's singles title of French Open by defeating Austrian Dominic Thiem.

 Indian para-athletes Sandeep Chaudhary and Sumit shattered two world records in men's F40-46/61-64 javelin throw category at the World Para Athletics Grand Prix in

Grosseto, Italy.

 Lewis Hamilton has won the 2019 Canadian Grand Prix Title

 India cricket captain Virat Kohli has once again become the sole Indian in the Forbes 2019 list of world's highest-paid athletes. However, Kohli is last on the list of top-100 athletes, headed by Barcelona and Argentina football superstar Lionel Messi.

 Third Youth Men's and Women's National Boxing Championship started at Rudrapur in Uttarakhand.

 The Indian football team remained static at 101st place in the latest FIFA rankings.

 Adding yet another feather to his already decorated cap, India skipper Virat Kohli became the fastest cricketer to reach 11,000 runs in One-day internationals, breaking Sachin Tendulkar's 17 year-old record

 India won the FIH Men's Series Finals title by defeating South Africa at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar.

 Indian men's recurve team has won a silver medal in the World Archery Championships

 Top seeds Mahesh Mangaonkar and Joshna Chinappa emerged as the men's and women's national champions at the 76th Senior National Squash Championship.

 Japan's Naomi Osaka and Novak Djokovic of Serbia have been ranked Number one in the latest Women's Tennis Association (WTA) and Association of Tennis Professionals

(ATP) rankings.

 Grand Master Farrukh Amonatov (Elo 2624) from Tajikistan emerged champion in A category of the 12th Mumbai Mayor Club International Chess tournament.

 Rising Indian shuttlers Aakarshi Kashyap and Kiran George continued their fine form in the domestic circuit to bag the top honours in the singles event at the Yonex Sunrise All India Senior Ranking tournament in Vijayawada.

 Asian champion P U Chitra won the gold medal in women’s 1500m at the Folksam Grand Prix in Sollentuna, Sweden

 Archery's world body World Archery (WA) has de-listed the Archery Association of India (AAI) as a member

 India's Pankaj Advani won the 35th men's Asian Snooker Championship to complete a career grand slam in cue sports

 Pranati Nayak won the bronze medal in vault event at the Senior Asian Artistic Championships in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

 Swiss Star Roger Federer defeated Belgium's David Goffin in straight sets to win his record 10th title in the Halle ATP tournament.

 Ashleigh Barty became only the second Australian woman to top the world rankings after winning the Birmingham WTA title.

 Indian Women Hockey team defeated Japan by 3-1 to clinch the FIH Women’s Series Finals Hockey Tournament.

 Fifteen-year-old Cori Gauff of the United States made history when she became the youngest player to qualify for Wimbledon.

 India captain Virat Kohli became the fastest batsman to reach 20,000 international runs.

 Red Bull's Max Verstappen won Austrian Grand Prix 2019.

 India proposed to host the 2023 International Olympic Committee (IOC) session in Mumbai

 Liverpool FC won the Champions League trophy title for the sixth time at Madrid.

 Gianni Infantino re-elected as FIFA president for a second term.

 FIFA has appointed Qatar as the host of the FIFA Club World Cup in 2019 and 2020.

AWARDS

 Three Indian-origin women- President and CEO of computer networking firm Arista Networks Jayshree Ullal, cofounder of IT consulting and outsourcing firm Syntel Neerja Sethi and CTO and cofounder of streaming data technology company Confluent Neha Narkhede are in the Forbes list of 'America's Richest Self-Made Women 2019'

 Former President Jimmy Carter will be awarded with the inaugural George H. W. Bush Award for his contributions to relations between the U.S. and China.

 Sweden's teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg has been awarded with Amnesty International's Ambassador of Conscience Award for mobilising world public opinion

on the looming peril of global warming.

 Google's CEO Sundar Pichai and NASDAQ president Adena Friedman have been chosen for the prestigious Global Leadership Awards 2019.

 Six Indian-origin students have won the prestigious 2019 Scripps National Spelling Bee.

 Prime Minister Narendra Modi was conferred with the Maldives' highest civilian award, the Order of the Distinguished Rule of Izzudeen.

 RBI has slapped a penalty of ₹2 crore on the Kotak Mahindra Bank for not disclosing information on promoter shareholding.

 A grassroots women's organisation "Deccan Development Society" in Andhra Pradesh is among the 22 winners of a prestigious United Nations Equator Prize 2019. This

award given biennially to recognise outstanding efforts towards local, innovative, nature-based climate solutions.

 Amitav Ghosh has been honoured with Jnanpith Award 2018

 Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has conferred an Indian national with the 'Star of Jerusalem' medal. It is the highest honour given to foreign nationals by thePalestinian Authority.

 Akshaya Patra, a non-profit organisation running one of the world's largest school meals project in India, has been awarded the BBC World Service Global Champion Award for the programme.

 UNICEF will honour Priyanka Chopra with the Danny Kaye Humanitarian Award.

 Amasebailu in Kundapura Taluk of Udupi district has become Karnataka’s first solarpowered Gram Panchayat.

 Tripura Government will build museum to showcase the work of celebrated music composer R.D. Burman.

 Antonietta Rozzi of Italy, Japan Yoga Niketan, Swami Rajarshi Muni of Life Mission, Gujarat, and Bihar School of Yoga, Munger, are the recipients of the 2019 Prime

Minister's Award for outstanding contribution for promotion and development of Yoga.

 Indian engineer Nitesh Kumar Jangir has won the 2019 Commonwealth SecretaryGeneral's Innovation for Sustainable Development Award in London

 Sam Brownback, the US Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom, has been presented with the Mahatma Gandhi Award for Advancing Pluralism by the

Hindu American Foundation for his leadership role in protecting the rights of minority Hindu community in countries such as Pakistan, Afghanistan, Myanmar and Malaysia.

 Former president Pratibha Patil was conferred with the ''Orden Mexicana del Aguila Azteca'' (Order of the Aztec Eagle) highest civilian award of Mexico.

 Veteran actress Sheela has been chosen for the prestigious J C Daniel Award, the Kerala government's highest honour for outstanding contribution to Malayalam cinema.

PERSONS IN NEWS

 On the occasion of International Yoga Day, yoga guru Baba Ramdev announced his first official autobiography, titled "My Life, My Mission".

 Arundhati Roy has authored a book named My Seditious Heart

 Flight Lieutenant Mohana Singh has become the first woman fighter pilot to fly a Hawk jet aircraft

 Famous Actress-singer Ruma Guha Thakurta passed away. She was 84.

 Dr. Patricia Bath, a pioneering ophthalmologist who became the first African American female doctor to receive a medical patent after she invented a more precise treatment of cataracts, has died. She was 76.

 Johanna Konta became the first British woman in 36 years to reach the Roland Garros semi-finals when she swept past Sloane Stephens of the United States.  President of the 74th session of the UN General Assembly.

 Rajasthan's Suman Rao emerged the winner of Miss India World 2019

 Head priest of Hazratbal shrine, Ghulam Hassan Banday, died. He was 80

 Pakistan's former foreign minister Abdul Sattar has died. He was 88.

 Swami Satyamitranand Giri Maharaj passed away. He was 87

 Freedom fighter Mohan Ranade, who participated in Goa’s liberation movement, passed away. He was 90.

 Cyrus Poonawalla, founder and Chairman of the Serum Institute of India, received an honorary degree from the University of Oxford for his work in the field of life-saving

vaccines and philanthropy

 Former Puducherry Chief Minister R V Janakiraman passed away. He was 79.

 Lee Hee-ho, a South Korean feminist activist who fought for democracy against dictatorships alongside her husband and future President Kim Dae-jung, has died. She

was 96.

 Renowned author and former educationist of Indian origin Ahmed Essop has died in South Africa. He was 88.

 Poet and lyricist Pazhavila Ramesan died. He was 83.

 Veteran athletics coach N Lingappa, a Dronacharya awardee, died. He was 95.

 Director of Rajasthan Patrika Group and Senior Journalist Milap Kothari passed away. He was 68.

 Veteran Telugu actress and director G Vijaya Nirmala died. She was 73.

FINANCE

 Fincare Small Finance Bank and Kookmin Bank have been included in the second schedule of the Reserve Bank of India Act

 According to a report by the International Data Corporation (IDC), Indian software market is expected to grow at a year-on-year (YoY) rate of 13.7 per cent and touch $6.1 billion by the end of 2019.

 The Reserve Bank of India has reduced the repo rate by 25 basis points to 5.75 percent from 6.0 per cent in its second Bi-monthly Monetary Policy Review of 2019-20.

  Current Policy Rates are-

 Repo Rate- 5.75%

 Reverse Repo Rate- 5.50%

 Bank Rate- 6.00%

 Marginal Standing Facility (MSF) - 6.00%

 According to FICCI survey, India's GDP growth rate is projected to 7.1 per cent for the financial year 2019-20.

 Tata Consultancy Services surpassed Reliance Industries to become the most valued firm by market valuation.

 Indian Railway Station Development Corporation (IRSDC) entered into a tripartite agreement with French National Railways (SNCF) and French Development Agency (AFD), under which a grant of up to 7 lakh euros will be provided to boost capacity building for railway station development program in India.

 According to global market research agency Kantar 2019 100 Top BrandZ report, US retail giant Amazon has moved past giant companies Apple and Google to become the

world's most valuable brand.

 According to the World Investment Report 2019, released by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), India was among the top 20 host

economies for FDI inflows in 2017-18. Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) to India grew by 6 per cent to USD 42 billion in 2018

 Payment solution provider Payswiff has signed a strategic alliance with Mastercard to promote low-cost payments acceptance solutions to tier-II and III cities in the country.

 Reserve Bank has waived off all charges for transactions using NEFT and RTGS.

 57 Indian Companies found a place in the Forbes' global list of 2000 companies-2019. Reliance Industries is the only Indian company in top 200 companies of the list. China's

Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) has topped this list.

 Bharat Dynamics Ltd (BDL) announced signing of a contract worth Rs 1,187.82 crores for supply of Heavy Weight Torpedoes to the Indian Navy.

 Government has reduced rate of contribution towards ESI scheme from 6.5% to 4%.

 Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a 200 million dollar line of credit to Kyrgyzstan.

 Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved projects for infrastructure development worth Rs 1,650 crore ($235 million) in Tripura

 According to 'The World Population Prospects 2019: Highlights', published by the Population Division of the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, India, projected to surpass China as the world's most populous country around 2027, is  expected to add nearly 273 million people between now and 2050.

 Global rating agency Fitch has cut India's growth forecast for the current fiscal for a second time in a row to 6.6 per cent.

 US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer announced the acquisition of biotechnology firm Array BioPharma.

 According to the Randstad Employer Brand Research (REBR) 2019, E-commerce giant Amazon India is the most attractive employer brand in the country followed by Microsoft India and Sony India

 Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas has set up a five-member committee to review the existing framework of LPG marketing in India. This committee will be headed by

economist Kirit Parikh.

 The Reserve Bank of India has set up an eight-member expert committee under the leadership of former chairman of Sebi UK Sinha to review the current framework for

the MSME sector

 India has extended a grant of $15 million to Niger to help it organize the African Union (AU) summit. The summit will take place from July 7-8 in its capital Niamey.

 The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has fined HDFC Bank Rs 1 crore for non-compliance with the central bank’s norms on know your customer (KYC)/anti-money laundering

(AML) and reporting of frauds

 The Reserve Bank of India has imposed a fine of Rs 10 lakh on South Indian Bank for violating norms regarding bank guarantees.

 Mortgage major HDFC announced to acquire Apollo Hospitals Group's entire stake in Apollo Munich Health Insurance for Rs 1,336 crore.

 Walmart-owned e-commerce major Flipkart has roped in a few banks and NBFCs to

offer its seller-partners working capital loans within two days.

 A memorandum of understanding was signed between the Dr Ambedkar International Centre (DAIC) under the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment and the Dalit Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DICCI) for empowerment of SC and ST communities through research on Dalit entrepreneurship. दलित उद्यलमता पर

 According to Asian Development Bank (ADB), Bangladesh has emerged as the fastest growing economy among the 45 countries of the Asia-Pacific region.

 The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has approved the merger of Indiabulls Housing Finance Limited (IBHFL) with Lakshmi Vilas Bank Limited (LVB).

  The Reserve Bank has assigned lead bank responsibility to the SBI for three new carved out districts in Telangana and Madhya Pradesh.

 According to a report by Trust Research Advisory (TRA), Private sector insurance company Aviva Life Insurance has found place in India's top 10 most trusted brands. Aviva has been placed at the eighth position in this list

 Government of India and World Bank signed a Loan Agreement of $31.58 million for the Uttarakhand Public Financial Management Strengthening Project.

 The Central Association of Private Security Industry (CAPSI) has partnered with the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham) to establish collaborative relations between the two bodies for the propagation of the 'Security star Agencies Rating' (STAR) scheme.

 Government of India and World Bank signed a Loan Agreement of $328 Million to help improve the quality and responsiveness of public health services in Andhra Pradesh.

 World Bank and Government of India signed a Loan Agreement of $400 Million to expand the coverage and the quality of interventions for the control of Tuberculosis

(TB).

 According to a report by IHS Markit, India will overtake the UK to become the world's fifth largest economy this year

 Private Sector Axis Bank said that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has approved appointment of Rakesh Makhija as the chairman of the bank.

 According to the Drought Early Warning System (DEWS), about 42% of India is 'abnormally dry', which is around 6 per cent more than last year.

 According to World Bank Global Economic Prospects, India is estimated to grow at 7.2 per cent in fiscal year 2018-19. Along with this, India is projected to grow at 7.5 per

cent in the next three years supported by robust investment and private consumption.

  The World Bank will provide USD 287 million to improve health care in Tamil Nadu.

 IT major Wipro will acquire US-based International TechneGroup Incorporated for $45 million (around ₹312 crore).

 According to the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), foreign direct investment in services sector grew 36.5 per cent to 9.15 billion US dollars in 2018-19 fiscal year.

 Hospitality firm Oyo Hotels & Homes and telecom operator Bharti Airtel announced their partnership around accommodation booking through mobile app.

  Gujarat government launched ‘Emission Trading Scheme' (ETS).

 Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has launched a Fiscal Performance Index (FPI) to assess state and central budgets.

 Tanzania is banning the importation, production, sale and use of plastic bags.It becomes the 34th African country to implement such restrictions, according to the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP).

 United States of America (USA) has w.e.f. 5 June 2019 withdrawn India’s Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) benefits.

 ONGC has toppled Indian Oil Corp (IOC) to regain crown of being the country's most profitable public sector company.

INDIA’S RANK

 India ranked 95th out of 129 countries in a new index that measures global gender equality looking at aspects such as poverty, health, education, literacy, political

representation and equality at the workplace. The Sustainable Development Goals Gender Index has been developed by UK-based Equal Measures 2030.

 According to the Global Peace Index released by Australian think tank Institute for Economics and Peace, India has slipped by four points to rank 141 among 163

countries. Iceland has topped this list

 According to property consultant CBRE, Bengaluru entered the list of top 10 cities that attracted maximum cross-border investments in Asia Pacific (APAC) for the first time

as it receiving over $1.6 billion last fiscal

 Three Indian institutes -- IIT-Bombay, IIT-Delhi and IISc-Bangalore -- have found place among the top 200 in the prestigious Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings. भारत

 NITI Aayog released the Second Edition of “Healthy States, Progressive India”. Among the 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.

PLACES:

 Orchha town in Madhya Pradesh has been included in the tentative list of the UNESCO’s world heritage sites.

 An ancient Buddhist site in Uttar Pradesh's Sarnath known as Chaukhandi Stupa has been declared to be “of national importance” by the Archaeological Survey of India.