Current Affairs - June 15, 2017 Current Affairs

Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Vice President Rahul Gandhi on Monday approved appointment of Fairoz Khan as the new President of the National Students Union of India (NSUI), the students wing of the party.

The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra approved to the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers' Welfare and the Ministry of Agriculture in the State of Palestine on agriculture cooperation. The MoU provides for cooperation in the fields of agricultural research; veterinary field including capacity enhancement of Palestinian Veterinary services and Animal Health; irrigation and climate change.

China successfully launched its first X-ray space telescope to study black holes, pulsars, and gamma-ray bursts. The 2.5-tonne telescope was sent into an orbit of 550 kilometers above Earth.

Israeli author David Grossman won the Man Booker International Prize for his novel "A Horse Walks Into a Bar". He is the first Israeli author to win the Man Booker International Prize.

The World Elder Abuse Awareness Day (WEAAD) is commemorated on June 15 every year across the world. It aims the importance of preventing financial exploitation in the context of elder abuse to the enjoyment of older persons human rights. The 2017 theme for the WEAAD is "Understand and End Financial Abuse of Older People: A Human Rights Issue".

Minister of State for External Affairs Gen VK Singh will attend the two-day BRICS Foreign Ministers Meet beginning in Beijing. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi will chair the meet, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang.

India to be Co-Partner Country in ANUGA 2017, Minister of Food Processing Industries Smt Harsimrat Kaur Badal has signed the Memorandum of Understanding for Participation in the ANUGA Exhibition with Ms Katharina C Hamma, Chief Operating Officer, Koelnmesse GmBH (Organizers of ANUGA). ANUGA -an acronym for Allgemeine Nahrungs Und Genumittel Ausstellung ( General od and Non essential Provisions Exhibition) is the world's biggest and most important trade fair for Food and beverage trade. It takes place biennially (every 2 years). ANUGA 2017 is the 34th edition.

The World Bank approved financing worth more than 500 million dollars for Afghanistan to support a string of projects to boost the economy. It helps improve service delivery in five cities and support Afghan refugees sent back from Pakistan

Navies of India and Australia will participate in bilateral maritime exercise AUSINDEX-17 with an aim to enhancing interoperability and cooperation between the two forces. Indian naval ships Jyoti, Shivalik and Kamorta are on a port visit to Freemantle, Australia from June 13 to 17 and will join the exercise.

The Nalanda University has signed MoU with South Korea's Academy of Korean Studies for academic linkages and collaborations in Patna, Bihar. As per the MoU, both the universities will increase their bilateral ties through joint research programmes, faculty and student exchange, mutual sharing of data,academic research/education, joint teaching & cooperation in other areas.

India has announced a number of new diplomatic appointments in its missions abroad, including envoys to the European Union, Italy and Denmark. Ajit Vinayak Gupte, joint secretary in the external affairs ministry, has been named India's Ambassador to Denmark.

According to the Code Compliance Rating of banks done by the Banking Codes and Standards Board of India (BCSBI) 2017, only one (IDBI Bank) out of 26 public sector banks and eight out of 17 private sector banks got 'high' rating. The eight private sector banks that got 'high' rating are Axis Bank, DCB Bank, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, IndusInd Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, RBL Bank and YES Bank.

Law expert Neeru Chadha elected as the International Tribunal for the Law of the Seas (ITLOS). She is the second Indian woman to occupy a top position at the United Nations after Lakshmi Pandit who served as the President of the United Nations General Assembly.