Current Affairs - June 16, 2017 Current Affairs

Indians working across the globe sent home USD 62.7 billion last year, making India the top remittance-receiving country surpassing China, according to a UN report. The 'One Family at a Time' study by the UN International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) said about 200 million migrants globally sent more than $445 million in 2016 as remittances to their families, helping to lift millions out of poverty. 80 per cent of remittances are received by 23 countries, led by India, China, the Philippines, Mexico and Pakistan.

Ramanathan Ramanan, senior vice president at TCS, has been appointed as mission director of Atal Innovation Mission, under the government's premier think tank NITI Aayog. It's initiative to promote entrepreneurship in the country, in perhaps the first initiative to bring in best of private minds to drive innovation in governance.

The Union Government appointed ambassadors to three European countries, Italy, Denmark and Belgium. Ms. Reenat Sandhua 1989-batch IFS officer has been appointed as the next Ambassador of India to Italy.

Flipkart and eBay India approved by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) for subscription of Flipkart's shares issued by its Singapore-headquartered entity. In April, eBay Inc. had invested $500 million into Flipkart and sold its India business to the company to pick up a stake in Flipkart.

'Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas Sammelan' organised by V.O. Chidambaranar Port Trust at Esakki Mahal in Tenkasi in Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu. The Union Minister of State for Road Transport & Highways and Shipping Shri Pon. Radhakrishnan opened the centre has implemented various schemes like Ujwala, Jan Dhan Yojana and Skill Development for the benefit of the weaker sections of the society.

Delhi Metro Railway Corporation (DMRC) Principal Adviser E. Sreedharan has been selected for the Nanniyode Rajan Memorial Award. It is instituted by the Milma Thiruvananthapuram Regional Cooperative Milk Producers' Union (TRCMPU) in memory of its former chairman. The award consists of a purse of Rs.25,000 and a trophy.

The International Day of Family Remittances (IDFR), celebrated on 16 June. It is aimed at recognizing the significant financial contribution migrant workers make to the wellbeing of their families back home and to the sustainable development of their countries of origin. It is also aimed at encouraging the public and private sectors, as well as the civil society, to do more and collaborate to maximize the impact of these funds in the developing world.

India's Skipper Virat Kohli created a record by becoming the quickest batsman to score 8000 runs in One-Day International Cricket (ODI). He managed to cross the 8000 run mark in his 175th innings during India's match against Bangladesh in ICC Champion's Trophy semi-final in Birmingham. The most top scorers are Virat Kohli (175 innings), AB de Villiers (182 innings), Sourav Ganguly (200 innings), Sachin Tendulkar (210 innings), Brian Lara (211 innings).

Indian-American filmmaker Mira Nair won the Dorothy Arzner Directors Award for the film Queen of Katwe at this year's Women In Film Crystal + Lucy Awards. Queen of Katwe's lead actress Lupita Nyong'o presented the award.

India continued to climb on the Global Innovation Index (GII) 2017, emerging as the highest ranked economy in Central and South Asia, as it moved up six places to 60th among 130 nations. The improvement in India's rankings come after five continuous years of slide even as Switzerland, Sweden, the Netherlands, the US and UK retained their top spots as the most-innovative countries.

Private sector lender Yes Bank partnered with mobile payments switch TerraPay to enable real-time money transfer to bank accounts in India. It enables TerraPay's network partners to make instant cross-border money transfer to bank accounts in India.

Yuvraj Singh became the Fifth Indian cricket player to feature in 300 One Day Internationals (ODI). Yuvraj Singh started his ODI in the year 2000 scored 8500 runs and picked 100 wickets. After Mohammed Azharuddin, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, and Rahul Dravid Yuvaraj obtained the pride.

Sulabh International founder and chief Bindeshwar Pathak has announced that an open defecation-free (ODF) village in Mewat, Haryana will be named after the US President Donald Trump. The organisation is currently working in some villages of Mewat to make them ODF, one of which will be named after Trump.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has placed Central Bank of India under prompt corrective action (PCA) which puts restricts on banking activities such as from lending, hiring and expanding branches. The Central Bank has reported a loss of Rs 2439 crore for the financial year 2016-17.

State-owned oil firms IOC, BPCL and HPCL signed an agreement to jointly set up India's biggest refinery at Ratnagiri district of Maharashtra at a cost of USD 30 billion or Rs. 2 lakh crore. The three oil refining and marketing companies signed the joint venture agreement here this evening. The pact was signed by IOC Chairman Sanjiv Singh, HPCL Chairman and Managing Director Mukesh Kumar Surana and BPCL Chairman and Managing Director D Rajkumar.

Bollywood superstar Salman Khan's 'Sultan' has been lined up for a showcase at the 20th Shanghai International Film Festival. It is a sports drama, the movie features Salman in the role of a wrestler and he is paired with Anushka Sharma.