Current Affairs - June 28, 2019 Current Affairs

The theme for WHD 2019 is "Hydrographic information driving marine knowledge". It was adopted by the International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) and was first celebrated in 2006, and since then it has been celebrated every year.

Mr. Ive has been a fixture on Apple's design team since the early 1990s and is known for shaping Apple's signature rounded, stylish designs.

The Switzerland authorities froze four bank accounts of beleaguered businessman Nirav Modi and his sister Purvi Modi, on Enforcement Directorate's request. Their total deposits of Rs. 283.16 crore have been frozen on the request of the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

Nagaland has the highest unemployment rate among the states at 21.4%, and Meghalaya the lowest at 1.5%, figures tabled by the government in Parliament during the current session show. The Periodic Labour Force Survey for 2017-18, other aspects of which have been reported earlier, shows huge variations among the states. Besides Nagaland, states with high unemployment are Goa and Manipur.

Italy's Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo have been chosen to host the 2026 Winter Olympics and Paralympics during the 134th session of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in Lausanne, Switzerland. Skating sports and ice hockey will be held in Milan, while most alpine skiing events will take place in the resort of Cortina. Other snow sports will be held in other venues in the Italian Alps, including Bormio and Livigno. The 2026 Winter Olympics will take place from 6 to 22 February and the 2026 Winter Paralympics will be held from 6 to 15 March.

The United Nations observe 27 June as the Micro, Small and Medium sized Enterprises Day. Since 2017, Micro, small and Medium-sized businesses celebrate this day in recognition of their work in local and global economies.

India will celebrate the National Statistics Day 2019 on June 29 to create public awareness about the importance of statistics in socio-economic planning and policy formulation.

World Hydrography Day (WHD) 2019 was observed on June 21. It is observed to publicise the work of hydrographers and the importance of hydrography. It aims to increase awareness about the protection of safe navigation and marine life protection. The theme for WHD 2019 is "Hydrographic information driving marine knowledge". It was adopted by the International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) and was first celebrated in 2006. In 2005, The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) had adopted a resolution to celebrate WHD on 21 June every year.

6th Edition of TechGig Code Gladiators 2019 Ex-champion, Sameer Gulati won the title as 'world's best coder'. He won prize money of Rs 3 lakhs a trophy and a certificate. The event was held at Reliance Corporate Park, Navi Mumbai. The event featured 10 hackathon theme rounds on technologies which includes Chatbots, Robotic Process Automation, Fintech, Software Testing, and New Commerce. Around 2.6 lakh coders fought for 87 days to claim the title this year. Around 21 per cent (55,633 out of 2,62,906) were female coders.

Krishnaswamy Natarajan, 1984 batch officer, has been appointed as new Director General (DG) of Indian Coast Guard (ICG). He succeeds Rajendra Singh who will be retiring on 30 June 2019. At present, he is serving as Additional Director General (ADG) of ICG's Western SeaBoard. The flag officer had joined the ICG on January 18, 1984. He has a Masters Degree in Defence and Strategic Studies from Madras University. He held various important command and staff appointments, both afloat and ashore. He served as the Commanding Officer, ICGS Mandapam. He is the recipient of President Tatrakshak Medal (Distinguished Service) in 2011 and Tatrakshak Medal (Meritorious) in 1996.

South Korean Ambassador to India Bong-kil Shin launched a collaborative initiative between South Korea and Bhagwan Mahaveer Viklang Sahayata Samiti (BMVSS) named 'Jaipur Foot Korea'. An agreement was also signed by the Korean Ambassador with BMVSS to provide assistance in prosthetic limbs sector.Korea will grant financial and technical assistance for research and development collaboration in the med-tech sector in the area of prosthetic limbs, bionic arms, 3-D printing-based Flat foot solution and mobility solutions.

The permanent secretariat is in Dhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh.

The BIMSTEC member states-Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand , Nepal and Bhutan are among the countries dependent on the Bay of Bengal.

BSES Yamuna Power Ltd launches behavioural energy saving app 'Susthome'. The app was launched as part of its Demand Side Management programme. BSES partners with energy resources institute TERI, Panasonic India and the Council on Energy, Environment and Water to launch the app. The other two initiatives are "Green Division concept and solar micro grids with battery storage".

Mysuru Railway Station has become the first railway station in South Western Railway to receive the Integrated ISO certificate. The Railway Board had identified 37 major stations across the country to be developed as 'Eco Smart' stations and Mysuru railway station was one of them. ISO is International Organisation for Standardisation. It provides standards to services provided by businesses.

Mette Frederiksen has become the country's youngest ever Prime Minister. Denmark has become the third Nordic country in 2019 to form a leftist government after she won the elections. She is the leader of the Social Democratic party leader.

The new IB chief Arvind kumar is a 1984 batch IPS officer from Assam-Meghalaya cadre.

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) released the rankings of police stations for the year 2018. It covered 15,666 police stations. 20% weightage was assigned to the police station's infrastructure and citizen feedback on the performance of the police personnel posted at the police station and they were evaluated on the basis of crimes against women, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes & property related offences. The Kalu police station in Bikaner district of Rajasthan was ranked the best police station in the country. It was awarded the first rank for its performance in crime prevention, investigation and disposal of cases, crime detection, community policing and maintenance of law and order, women help desk facility, drinking water facility and WiFi. Campbell Bay police station in Nicobar district of Andaman & Nicobar Islands was ranked second. It has facilities like a separate woman help desk, a child-friendly room, an IT (Information Technology) room and a proper waiting room for the complainants and visitors.

Former Bengal cricketer Shyam Sundar Mitra passes away. He was awarded the Karthick Bose Lifetime Achievement Award by Cricket Association of Bengal. Mitra, who captained Bengal in the Ranji Trophy, was an elegant right hand batsman and a part-time medium pacer.

The US (United States) space agency, NASA's ( National Aeronautics and Space Administration) Curiosity rover has discovered the high amounts of methane gas on Mars that indicates life on the red planet.The measurement found 21 parts per billion of methane in the air, three times what was found during 2013.The finding came from the rover's Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) tunable laser spectrometer.

Hemant Pandey, a senior DRDO scientist, has developed a herbal drug - Lukoskin - to treat leucoderma, a condition in which white patches develop on the skin. The auto-immune condition, also called 'vitiligo', can be life-altering. Vitiligo is neither contagious nor life-threatening. Worldwide, the incidence of leucoderma is 1-2% of the population. In India, its incidence is around 4-5% in some parts of Rajasthan. In Gujarat, it is very high at more than 5-8%. This skin disorder is considered a social stigma in India where people confuse it with leprosy.

A multinational software firm in the United States Oracle introduced a new tool that will help small & mid-sized banks to tackle fraud. The Oracle Financial Services "Anti Money Laundering Express Edition(AMLXE)" designed to detect, investigate, and report suspected money laundering and terrorist financing activity. They targeted at smaller banks to comply with regulatory norms with a limited budget. It uses new architecture principles to offer quick deployment on premise or on cloud infrastructures allowing firms to transition at reduced implementation costs. The solution includes an in-built library with scenarios have the ability to detect money laundering behaviors.

Technology firm Mindtree has come under L&T's fold. A.M. Naik, the group chairman of L&T was on record that Mindtree was top most on his agenda.

Ministry of New and Renewable Energy and institutions under it observed Swachhta Pakhwada (cleanliness fortnight) from 1st June to 15th June 2019. During this period, MNRE undertook various activities such as Shramdan (cleanliness drive) by staff, lectures and seminars.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is among the 100 most influential women driving the UK-India relationship forward. The '100 Most Influential in UK-India Relations: Celebrating Women' list was launched by UK Home Secretary Sajid Javid to mark India Day in the Houses of Parliament in London. Penny Mordaunt, Britain's Secretary of State for Defence, is the other politician in the list.

Indian batsman Virat Kohlin in this ICC worldcup 2019 became the fastest batsman to reach 20,000 international runs eclipsing batting greats Sacin Tendulkar and Brian Lara.

The International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking 2019 was observed on June 26. The day is observed to enhance the efforts to achieve an international society free of drug abuse and create awareness on the problems caused by illicit drugs to society. The theme for 2019 was "Health for Justice. Justice for Health". On the occasion of International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, Shri Thaawarchand Gehlot, Union Minister of Social Justice & Empowerment launched "17th Run Against Drug Abuse" at JawaharLal Nehru Stadium, New Delhi.

Padmanabha Balakrishna Acharya sworn in as Governor of Manipur. The Nagaland Governor Acharya will serve as Governor of Manipur as an additional charge during the absence, on leave, of Dr Najma Heptulla, Governor of Manipur.