1. ICG co-hosts 12th ReCAAP ISC capacity building workshop in New Delhi
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) here on June 19-20, 2019. The ReCAAP is the first regional Government-to-Government agreement to deal with piracy and armed robbery at sea in Asia. Presently 20 countries are members of ReCAAP. India played an active role in the setting up and functioning of ReCAAPISC along with Japan and Singapore. Union Government has designated ICG as the focal point within India for ReCAAP. India has hosted this workshop earlier in November 2011 at Goa and December 2017 at New Delhi.
2. Ireland plans to ban the sale of petrol and diesel cars from 2030
Ireland has announced it will ban the sale of new petrol and diesel vehicles by 2030 as part of its new climate change plan. The government hopes to have 950,000 electric vehicles on Irish roads by then, supported by a network of charging stations. The measure is one of 180 proposals covering business, construction, transport, agriculture and waste management intended to put Ireland on a path to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050.
3. 12th session of Conference of States Parties to Convention to Rights of PwDs 2019 held in New York
The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 2006, promotes the full integration of persons with disabilities in societies. Article 40 of the Convention stipulates that “The States Parties shall meet regularly in a Conference of States Parties in order to consider any matter with regard to the implementation of the present Convention.” Since 2008, ten sessions of the Conference of States Parties have been held.
4. 12th session of Conference of States Parties to Convention to Rights of PwDs 2019 held in New York
Riva Ganguly Das arrived in Dhaka on Friday night to take up her assignment as the High Commissioner of India to Bangladesh. Previously, she was the Director General, Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), said the Indian High Commission in Dhaka. A career-diplomat, Riva Ganguly who speaks Bengali, Hindi, English, and Spanish, joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1986 and is a post graduate in political science from Delhi University.
5. WHO launched a new tool to handle AMR named “AWaRe”
WHO has launched a global campaign urging governments to adopt a tool to reduce the spread of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), adverse events and costs. The AWaRe tool was developed by the WHO Essential Medicines List to contain rising resistance and make antibiotic use safer and more effective. It classifies antibiotics into three groups – Access, Watch and Reserve – and specifies which antibiotics to use for the most common and serious infections, which ones should be available at all times in the healthcare system, and those that must be used sparingly or preserved and used only as a last resort.
6. IIT-Bombay secured top position among Indian institutions in QS World University Ranking 2020
The Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay (IIT-Bombay), has emerged as India's best institution in the 2020 QS World University Ranking. IIT-Bombay has been securing the top position among Indian institutes for the past three years by making it to the prestigious world ranking, thereby rising 27 places since the 2018 QS World University Ranking.
7. India extended $15 million grant to Niger to organize the AU summit
India has extended USD 15 million assistance to Niger for organizing the African Union (AU) summit scheduled to be held in Niamey early next month. The summit is scheduled to be held in Niamey from July 7-8. It will also be the first time that Niger is scheduled to host an AU summit. The assistance in the form of grant was symbolically handed over to Niger's Deputy Foreign Minister Lamido Ousseini Bala Goga Salamatou in the presence of Minister and Special Advisor to the Niger President Mohammed Saidil Moctar, by Ambassador of India to Niger Rajesh Agarwal at a ceremony held on June 17 in Niamey, a press statement by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Tuesday.
8. Facebook confirmed the launch of cryptocurrency ‘Libra’ in 2020
In a bid to foray into the world of global payments, Facebook has confirmed its plans to launch a new cryptocurrency in 2020. Dubbed as Libra, the digital coin will be based on a blockchain-based network called Calibra. It will be initially used to transfer money between individuals and eventually, as a payment gateway for online and offline services. Libra will not be controlled by Facebook. Instead, the social media giant has formed a non-for-profit Libra Association that will govern the development of the token.
9. Indian Railways and REL signed MoU for modernization of signaling system on four sections
The Railways has signed an MoU with RailTel Enterprises Limited (REL), a wholly-owned subsidiary company of RailTel Corporation of India Ltd, to upgrade its signaling system on four busiest sections. The project includes setting up automatic train protection system with Long Term Evolution (LTE)-based Mobile Train Radio Communication System (MTRC) along with a provision of Electronic Interlocking (indoor), wherever required, the RailTel said in a statement.
10. Fitch reduces India growth forecast for FY20 from 6.8% to 6.6%
Fitch Ratings Friday cut India's GDP growth forecast for the next fiscal to 6.8 percent from 7 percent estimated earlier on weaker than expected economic momentum. In its latest Global Economic Outlook, Fitch also slashed GDP growth forecast for current fiscal ending March 2019 to 6.9 percent from 7.2 percent projected in the December edition. The 6.9 percent estimate is a notch lower than 7 percent growth estimated by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) for the current fiscal.
11. Amazon emerges the country’s Most Attractive Employer Brand for 2019: Survey
According to the REBR 2019, Amazon scored high on financial health, utilization of the latest technologies and a strong reputation. E-commerce giant Amazon India is the country’s most attractive employer brand, according to the findings of the Randstad Employer Brand Research (REBR) 2019. The company, which has more than 50,000 direct and indirect employees in India, has been steadily been expanding operations over the past five years.
12. Maharashtra topped the USGBC list of Top 10 States for LEED in India
Maharashtra has 334 LEED-certified green buildings, while Karnataka and Tamil Nadu have 232 and 157 buildings, respectively. Last year’s list saw Tamil Nadu in the top position with 118 such buildings. Maharashtra bagged the top slot, followed by Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, in the second edition of the US Green Building Council’s (USGBC) list of India’s top ten states that have a maximum number of LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified green buildings.
13. Om Birla named as the new Lok Sabha Speaker by the NDA
Two-term BJP MP from Rajasthan, Om Birla, will be the new Speaker of the Lok Sabha after he was nominated by the ruling NDA for the post. Mr. Birla has been a three-term MLA in the Rajasthan Assembly and represents the Kota constituency in the Lok Sabha. He will assume office on Wednesday after being elected by the House MPs.
14. Om Birla named as the new Lok Sabha Speaker by the NDA
Japan's Naomi Osaka and Novak Djokovic of Serbia continue as World Number ones in the latest WTA and ATP rankings announced today. The rankings were announced ahead of Wimbledon which is just two weeks away. Naomi Osaka is just 252 points ahead of world No.2 Ashleigh Barty of Australia in unchanged top 20 WTA rankings. Osaka and French Open winner Ashleigh Barty are playing on the grass in Birmingham this week in preparation for the Wimbledon.
15. Gary Woodland wins 119th US Open 2019 by beating Brooks Koepka
Sometimes it takes something truly special to deny history and with two magical strikes here at the 119th US Open, Gary Woodland wrested the title from defending champion Brooks Koepka, just when it seemed the world No 1 was inexorably marching towards an immortal hat-trick. It has been 115 years since the Scot Willie Anderson won three US Opens in a row and when Koepka birdied four of the first five holes to close within one of Woodland, it appeared that old Willie would, at last, have a companion in the record books and the 29-year-old would collect his fifth major victory in the last nine he had played.
16. International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict observed on June 19,2019
"On the International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict, we must hear the survivors and recognize their needs and demands. They are mostly women and girls, but also men and boys, calling for our support to access life-saving health services, justice, and reparation." The date was chosen to commemorate the adoption on 19 June 2008 of Security Council resolution 1820 (2008), in which the Council condemned sexual violence as a tactic of war and an impediment to peacebuilding.
17. Autistic Pride Day is being observed on June 18, 2019
Autistic Pride Day is an event observed in the whole world every year on 18 June to represent diversity and infinite possibilities. This is a day to promote awareness, acceptance, and autonomy. Autistic Pride Day is a day to spread the message that people suffering from autism are not diseased but different. It acknowledges that autistic people are not sick but have a unique set of characteristics. On this day people living with the autism disease speak for themselves and celebrate in a unique way that autism affects each of them.
