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concerns over fiscal slippages in view of Eco/Banking/RBI rush for farm loan waivers. The fifth meeting of Monetary Policy ECONOMY Committee (MPC) maintained the repo rate, at which it lends to the banks, at 6.25 JUNE 01 : The World Bank will extend a loan of USD per cent and the reverse repo, at which it 36 million to improve the efficiency of borrows, will be 6 per cent. public expenditure management and tax administration in Himachal Pradesh. JUNE 08 : signed the OECD multilateral convention that aims to check cross-border The programme duration is 5 years. tax evasion by multinational companies. The programme size is USD 45 million, of JUNE 09 : According to the global financial services which USD 36 million will be financed by major HSBC, India's growth is likely to the Bank and the remaining amount will be remain unchanged at 7.1 per cent this fiscal, funded out of state budget. as investments are low and government JUNE 02 : The country's economic growth is expected spending may not remain high given the fiscal to recover to 7.2 per cent in new GDP consolidation path the country is treading. series in financial year 2017-18 on lending JUNE 10 : Siemens Industry Software India Pvt. Ltd. rate cuts, says a survey. has signed an MoU with the Karnataka The data released by the Central Statistics Government Tool Room and Training Office (CSO) noted that the Gross Value Center and Design Tech Systems Limited Added (GVA) slipped sharply to 6.6 per to establish four Centers of Excellence cent in the last financial year ended March across the state. 31, from 7.9 per cent growth in 2015-16. According to the state government, the JUNE 02 : India’s GDP growth is expected to total cost of the project is Rs 2031.80 crore, recover from 7.1 per cent in 2016-17 to out of which Siemens Industry Software, 7.2 per cent this fiscal and further to 7.7 India contributes Rs 1822.48 crore and per cent in 2018-19 largely driven by the Government of Karnataka's share is Rs government's reform push and recovery in 219.32 crore. private investments. JUNE 13 : Retail inflation slumped to record low JUNE 03 : Shri Goyal proposed a partnership with of 2.18 per cent in May driven by sharp EESL, which can help India leapfrog drop in kitchen staples like vegetables and and distribute energy efficiency products pulses, strengthening government's case across the globe. for lowering of interest rate by RBI. JUNE 04 : India's economic growth is expected to Retail inflation was the lowest since the remain flat at 7.1 per cent in current fiscal government started publishing a wider CPI as investment is still weak and government data in 2012. spending might not be as high given the JUNE 14 : HDFC Bank surpassed Reliance Industries fiscal consolidation, says an HSBC report. Ltd to become the country’s second JUNE 04 : Noting that India is recovering from most valued firm in terms of market the temporary adverse effects of capitalization. demonetisation, the World Bank has TCS is the most valued Indian company. projected a strong 7.2 per cent growth rate for India this year against 6.8 per cent JUNE 14 : The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) growth in 2016. announced that it has issued Rs 500 denomination notes with inset letter A. The World Bank in its latest Global Economic Prospects, projects India’s The RBI also made it clear that the old growth at 7.5 per cent in 2018 and 7.7 per notes, which were introduced after Prime cent in 2019. Narendra Modi’s demonetisation drive in November 2016, will continue to remain JUNE 07 : The Reserve Bank kept interest rate the legal tender. unchanged as widely expected but raised www.mahendraguru.com [2] www.mahendraguru.com

JUNE 16 : China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment ratio) for 24X7 Power for All in Andhra Bank has approved $150 million equity Pradesh Project was signed. investment loan to the India Infrastructure Total Cost of the project is US$ 570 Fund, the bank's first such loan to fund million, out of which US$ 240 million private projects. is from World Bank (IBRD) and US$ The bank, in which India is a lead partner, 160 million from AIIB. The rest will be has approved two loans and one equity counterpart funding from GoAP. investment totalling $324 million to The objective of the project is to increase support infrastructure projects in India, the delivery of electricity to customers and Georgia and Tajikistan. to improve the operational efficiency and JUNE 17 : The government made the Aadhaar card system reliability in distribution of electricity mandatory for opening bank accounts and for in selected areas in Andhra Pradesh. financial transactions of Rs 50,000 and above. JUNE 23 : Retirement fund body EPFO joined hands Existing bank account holders have been with Housing and Urban Development asked to submit the Aadhaar number issued Corp (HUDCO) to enable its members avail by the Unique Identification Authority of credit-linked subsidy of up to Rs 2.67 lakh India (Uidai) by December 31, 2017. for buying affordable homes under PMAY. JUNE 21 : French defence firm Thales and Reliance Under the housing scheme, the Employees Defence Limited sealed a deal for setting Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) up a joint venture (JV) with a shareholding allows its subscribers from societies for of 49 per cent and 51 per cent respectively. withdrawing up to 90 per cent of their EPF The JV is being set up to develop Indian accumulations to buy homes. capabilities to integrate and maintain JUNE 24 : After a gap of 2-months, Reliance radars and manufacture high performance Industries Ltd (RIL) regained the status of airborne electronics, leveraging Thales the country's most valued firm, overtaking offset commitment as part of the deal for Tata Group's TCS in terms of market the supply of 36 Rafale fighter aircraft to valuation. Indian Air Force. JUNE 24 : Telecom operator Bharti Airtel announced JUNE 22 : World Bank's Board of Executive Directors the launch of *121# Digital Care platform has approved a loan assistance of 44 million in 11 Indian languages, including Hindi, dollars for the Assam State Public Finance Punjabi, Marathi, Gujarati, Tamil. Institutional Reforms (ASPIRe) Project. This support will be available in Kannada, The project aims at improving predictability Bangla, Odia and Assamese as well. and transparency in budget execution and JUNE 26 : The World Bank has cleared a USD efficiency in tax administration in Assam. 250-million loan for making Indian youth JUNE 22 : Economic think-tank NCAER has revised more employable through reskilling, in a up its projection for the country’s economic move that is seen to aid the Skill India mission. growth to 7.6 per cent for the current fiscal, Under the programme, adults in 15-59 years compared with the earlier prediction of 7.3 of age, underemployed or unemployed, per cent on forecast of normal monsoon. will get the skill training. The World Bank has forecast growth to be JUNE 28 : Technology major SAP India has partnered 7.2 per cent during 2017-18. with the Ministry of Micro, Small and JUNE 23 : Reliance Defence Limited said it has entered Medium Enterprises (MSME) to jointly into a Memorandum of Understanding launch Bharat ERP, a programme aimed at (MOU) with Daher Aerospace, France for digital empowerment of small businesses manufacture of aerospace components. in the country. JUNE 23 : A Loan Agreement for part funding of US$ The initiative aims to digitally enable 240 million from the World Bank (IBRD) nearly 30,000 MSMEs and youth in the and US$ 160 Million from AIIB (60:40 next three years.

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National & State News of JUNE 05 : India has surpassed China to secure the top position among 30 developing countries the Month on ease of doing business, according to a study that cited India's rapidly expanding JUNE 01 : BJP leader and Chandigarh MP Kirron Kher economy, relaxation of FDI rules and a released the stamp on the commemoration consumption boom as the key drivers. of Balwant Gargi centenary by the Panjab JUNE 06 : India signed a USD 39.2 million (over Rs University. 251 crore) loan agreement with the World JUNE 01 : ePayLater, a Mumbai-based fintech firm Bank for the Citizen Centric Service has joined hands with IRCTC for adding Delivery project in Assam. the new feature to Indian Railways ticket The programme size is USD 49 million, of booking services. which USD 39.2 million will be financed ePayLater's 'buy now, pay later' feature will by the Bank and the remaining amount enable you to buy tickets using a loaded will be funded out of the state budget. e-wallet and you will get 14 days to pay The Programme’s duration is 5 years. the money. JUNE 06 : Actress Dia Mirza was on World JUNE 02 : The Punjab government and the United Environment Day appointed brand Kingdom decided to join hands for ambassador for the Wildlife Trust of India imparting skill training and technical (WTI). education to the youths of the state in order to provide them better employment JUNE 07 : J P Nadda, Union Minister for Health and opportunities abroad. Family Welfare launched the ‘Skill for Life, Save a Life’ initiative to promote JUNE 03 : The President of India, Pranab Mukherjee skill development in the health sector. laid the foundation stone of a Driver’s Training Institute and a Secondary School ‘Skills for Life, Save a Life’ Initiative’ aims under the SMARTGRAM Initiative at to upscale the quantity and quality of trained village Dhaula, Gurugram (Haryana). professionals in the healthcare system. Three new Pradhan Mantri Kaushal JUNE 08 : The Union Cabinet gave ex-post Kendras (PMKKs) at Mahendragarh, facto approval to a memorandum of Ambala and Palwal were also inaugurated. understanding (MoU) inked between Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) and JUNE 03 : Soil Health Card, a revolutionary scheme, Mali's Direction Nationale De Industries. was initiated for farmers and it has made a huge difference to farming and farm The pact was signed on standardisation produce. and conformity assessment of goods. Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi had JUNE 08 : French reinsurance major, Axa Re is all inaugurated the scheme on February 19, set to open a branch in the country after 2015, in Suratgarh, Rajasthan. it received the second level of regulatory clearances or R2 from the Irdai. JUNE 05 : India has been ranked 45th, down four notches from last year, in terms of This is for the first time that the - competitiveness in the annual rankings based insurance multinational will have compiled by IMD which saw Hong Kong a re-insurance branch in any part of the topping the list. world. Switzerland and Singapore were ranked JUNE 08 : The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime second and third respectively, with the Minister Shri Narendra Modi has given its USA at the fourth spot -- its lowest position ex-post facto approval to the Agreement in five years and down from third last year. between India and Cyprus on Merchant Shipping, which was signed in April 2017. www.mahendraguru.com [4] www.mahendraguru.com

JUNE 09 : University of Delhi has been ranked among Industry to be held in Cologne, Germany. the top ten varsities in the country by a She also signed the India to be Co-Partner global ranking company in its list released Country in ANUGA 2017 Memorandum for 2018. of Understanding for Participation in the The data was released by Quacquarelli ANUGA Exhibition with Katharina C Symonds University World Rankings. Hamma, Chief Operating Officer, Koelnmesse GmBH (Organizers of ANUGA). Karnataka’s Manipal University was ranked highest among private universities JUNE 15 : State-owned oil firms IOC, BPCL and in the country. HPCL signed an agreement to jointly set up the world's largest refinery and JUNE 09 : India has been ranked among the top five petrochemical complex at Ratnagiri district consumer markets in Asia in the 2017 BMI of Maharashtra at a cost of USD 40 billion. Research. JUNE 17 : India will host the third annual meeting According to the research, China, Sri of the China-initiated Asian Infrastructure Lanka, Vietnam, India and Indonesia Investment Bank (AIIB) in 2018. represent five favourite consumer markets in Asia, offering retailers the strongest According to the AIIB press release, the consumer spending growth over its forecast third annual meeting of the AIIB's board of period to 2021. governors will be held in Mumbai, India, in June 2018. India is AIIB's second-largest JUNE 12 : NITI Aayog launched SATH Program shareholder. for providing ‘Sustainable Action for Transforming Human capital (SATH) to JUNE 18 : The President of India, Pranab Mukherjee the State Governments. laid the foundation stone of a Super Specialty Hospital of BRS Health & The program is aimed at initiating the Research Institute at Udupi, Karnataka. transformation in the education and health sectors and also aims to address the need JUNE 18 : Mahesh Sharma, Minister of State for technical support from NITI Aayog (Independent charge) for Culture & towards the states. Tourism launched the implementation of the ‘‘National Mission on Cultural Mapping JUNE 14 : Legendary singing sensation Asha Bhosle's of India’ at Goverdhan Block, Mathura wax statue will be featured at the Madame District, Uttar Pradesh, Block level mega Tussauds wax museum in Delhi. talent hunt programme (Sanskritik Pratibha JUNE 14 : To enhance the passengers experience by Khoj Samaroh). upgrading existing fleet of coaches with This Mission is part of the ‘Ek Bharat better furnishing, aesthetics & amenities Shreshtha Bharat’ umbrella. and better safety features with a view to provide a safe and comfortable travel, JUNE 21 : Minister for Science & Technology Dr. Minister of Railways Suresh Prabhakar Harshvardhan has launched a Mobile App Prabhu has launched MISSION RETRO- “Celebrating Yoga”. FITMENT in Rail Bhavan. The Mobile App has been developed by This is one of the largest retro fitment Department of Science & Technology, project in the world as Indian Railways’ Ministry of Science & Technology on the 40,000 coaches will be refurbished and occasion of International Yoga Day 2017. retrofitted in the next five years. JUNE 21 : Asian Development Bank will provide JUNE 14 : Minister of Food Processing Industries USD 275 million loan for a piped water Harsimrat Kaur Badal addressed a Joint Press supply project for rapidly urbanising small Conference with the organizers of ANUGA towns, covering 3 lakh households, in - an international business platform for Food Madhya Pradesh.

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The state government will provide a USD JUNE 24 : The Centre launched a liveability index which 124 million counterpart support for the will rank the country's 116 major cities on the project which is estimated to be completed basis of the quality of life they offer. by June 2022. Launching the first City Liveability Index, JUNE 21 : The Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah dedicated POWERGRID’s 400 Kilo Volt Naidu said, it will cover cities with (kV) Lucknow – Kanpur Direct Current population above one million, including (D/C) Transmission Line with associated the capital cities. bays to the Nation in Lucknow. The ranking will be released in 2018. JUNE 21 : Nearly three lakh people, led by Ramdev, JUNE 24 : Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala, Naya turned up at GMDC ground on the Raipur in Chhattisgarh and Rajkot in International Yoga Day to perform asanas, Gujarat figured in the new list of 30 cities which the yoga guru claimed is a world announced for development under the record. Centres Smart City Mission. JUNE 21 : The country's first indigenously built floating An investment of Rs 57,393 crore has been dock FDN-2 for the Indian Navy, was proposed for development of these 30 cities. formally launched at the L&T Shipbuilding Of the planned expenditure, Rs 46,879 crore Yard at Kattupalli near Chennai. will be for core infrastructure and Rs 10,514 The floating dock, awarded to Larsen and crore for technology-based solutions. Toubro by the Ministry of Defence in May JUNE 28 : Top stock exchange NSE inked a pact with 2015, was to design and build at an order Andhra Pradesh government to help micro, value of Rs. 468 crore. small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in JUNE 23 : The Union Cabinet approved a the state to raise capital through listing on Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) the bourses platform. between India and Portugal on cooperation As per the memorandum of understanding in the field of public administration and (MoU), the AP government would facilitate governance reforms. MSMEs to get listed on NSE Emerge, the JUNE 23 : The Union cabinet approved signing of an platform for small and medium enterprises, by agreement between India and Sri Lanka for supporting such firms financially or otherwise, cooperation in areas of traditional systems in bearing the expenses related to listing. of medicine and homoeopathy. JUNE 29 : The armies of India and Thailand will JUNE 23 : The Cabinet approved amendment of the begin the yearly joint training exercise bilateral Social Security Agreement (SSA) 'Maitree 2017' from July 3 to July 17 at between India and the Netherlands by Bakloh in Himachal Pradesh. incorporating the "Country of Residence" Approximately 50 troops from Royal principle into it. Thailand Army and an equal number The SSA has been in force since June 2010 of Indian soldiers from the Northern and has benefited Indian expatriates who Command will participate in the exercise. have been working in the Netherlands. JUNE 30 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi released a JUNE 23 : The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime special postal stamp and commemorative Minister Shri Narendra Modi has approved coin at the Sabarmati Ashram Centenary the Memorandum of Understanding on the occasion of the 150th birth (MoU) on cooperation in the textiles, anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi's spiritual clothing and fashion sectors between the guru Shrimad Rajchandra. Ministry of Textiles and the Department of Rajchandra was the spiritual guru of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Australia. Mahatma Gandhi.

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STATE The fare will vary from a minimum of Rs. 15 to a maximum of Rs. 30. JUNE 02 : Union Food Processing Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal inaugurated the first mega JUNE 24 : Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's food park in Odisha being set up at an trip to the US, a village in Mewat region investment of Rs 80 crore. of Haryana has been dedicated to President Donald Trump. This is the 7th Mega Food Park operationalised in the last three years by Now onwards, the village will be known as the present government. Trump Sulabh Village. JUNE 03 : Union Minister of Statistics and Programme JUNE 28 : The Asian Development Bank (ADB) Implementation D.V.Sadananda Gowda signed an agreement with the Uttar Pradesh has inaugurated Making of Developed government for a road improvement India Festival - MODI Fest at Malleswaram project in the state. in Bengaluru. As per the agreement, 70 per cent finances JUNE 08 : Prominent telecom engineer and policy amounting to Rs 1,950 crore will be maker Sam Pitroda resigned as the technical provided by the ADB as loan, while the advisor to the Odisha government. state government will bear 30 per cent cost of the project which comes to Rs 832 JUNE 17 : Kerala's first metro line was flagged crore. off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the first phase - 13.2 km of the The project, which will start from 2017 total 25 km stretch - of the Kochi metro. and end in 2024, will cover over 430 km roads in 12 districts. According to the Kochi Metro website, the project cost an estimated Rs. 5,180 crore.

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International News of Mindanao region this month to counter threats from Islamic State group militants. the Month JUNE 05 : Nepal has signed a major deal with a JUNE 01 : India and Spain signed seven agreements, Chinese company to develop a 1,200 MW including on cyber security and technical hydroelectric project, the biggest hydro cooperation in civil aviation, during Prime project in the landlocked country that Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the could resolve its perennial power crisis. European country. JUNE 07 : Veteran Nepalese politician Sher Bahadur The two sides agreements on transfer of Deuba was elected as Nepal's prime sentenced persons and visa waiver for minister for the fourth time after the holders of diplomatic passports. main opposition party decided to end the Five MoUs were signed between the obstruction of parliament. two countries on cooperation in organ JUNE 07 : India signed an agreement with Sri Lanka transplantation, cyber security, renewable to provide USD 318 million as a line of energy, civil aviation and one between credit to develop the nation's railway India's Foreign Service Institute and sector. Diplomatic Academy of Spain. India has provided four lines of credit to JUNE 02 : India and Russia signed the much-awaited Sri Lanka to develop its railway sector, agreement on setting up of two more units amounting to USD 966 million. of a nuclear power plant in Tamil Nadu JUNE 07 : The world's fastest elevator that can and decided to give a "new direction" to operate at a record breaking speed of 1260 the defence cooperation between the two metres per minute is set to been installed "great powers". in a skyscraper complex building in The two countries also decided to hold China. the first tri- Services exercises, named The elevator has been developed by the Indra-2017, this year and start joint Japanese tech company Hitachi. manufacturing of frigates, adding on to the co- production of Kamov-226 military JUNE 08 : First woman Chief Justice of Nepal helicopters. Sushila Karki retired after attaining the age 65 years. She was 25th Chief Justice JUNE 01 : President Donald Trump announced his of Nepal Supreme Court. decision to withdraw the US from the Paris Agreement on climate change and Justice Karki was succeeded by Justice renegotiate the deal that was agreed upon Gopal Parajuli, who is now the senior by over 190 countries during the previous most judge of the Supreme Court of Obama administration. Nepal. JUNE 01 : India and Russia signed five Memorandum JUNE 09 : India and the UN Office for South- of Understanding (MoUs)/agreements South Cooperation have launched including a program of cultural exchanges a partnership fund that will support and implementation of the high-speed sustainable development projects across service at the Nagpur-Secunderabad the developing world. section among others. The India-UN Development Partnership JUNE 03 : Spencer is Trump's second pick for Navy Fund will implement country-level secretary, after Philip Bilden withdrew projects that are catalytic towards from consideration for the position in achieving the 17 sustainable development February out of concerns about divesting goals of the 2030 Agenda. from his business interests. JUNE 10 : India, France and the European Union JUNE 03 : Malaysia, the Philippines and Indonesia have joined hands as part of a global will launch joint patrols in waters off the sustainable development project, which

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will seek to transform three major Indian JUNE 16 : India has been re-elected to the UN's cities by improving urban mobility and principal organ on economic, social and cutting down carbon footprint. environmental issues for another three- JUNE 10 : Capping a two-year-long process, India year term. and Pakistan became full members of India was among 18 nations to win election the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation to the Economic and Social Council (SCO), a China-dominated security (ECOSOC). India obtained 183 votes, grouping that is increasingly seen as a the second highest after Japan in the Asia counterweight to NATO. Pacific category. JUNE 10 : Preet Kaur Gill and Tanmanjeet Singh JUNE 17 : The China-led Asian Infrastructure Dhesi respectively became the first female Investment Bank (AIIB) has approved the Sikh MP and first turban-wearing MP in membership of , Madagascar the UK general election results. With this and Tonga at its second annual meeting of the number of Indian- origin MPs in the governors. 'House of Commons' reached to 12. JUNE 17 : Switzerland ratified the automatic JUNE 10 : India and Mauritius signed a pact to exchange of financial account information institutionalize cooperation between with India and 40 other jurisdictions to Parliaments of the two countries. facilitate immediate sharing of details of The Memorandum of Understanding suspected black money, even as it sought (MoU) was signed by Lok Sabha strict adherence to confidentiality and data Speaker Sumitra Mahajan and Speaker of security. National Assembly of Mauritius Santi Bai JUNE 21 : Afghan President Ashraf Ghani Hanoomanjee. inaugurated the first Afghanistan-India air JUNE 14 : The government appointed ambassadors to corridor during a ceremony at the Kabul three European countries, Italy, Denmark International Airport - a direct route that and Belgium. bypasses Pakistan and is meant to improve commerce. Gaitri Issar Kumar, a 1986-batch (IFS) officer, has been The aim of the route is to create more appointed as India's next ambassador to opportunities and make Afghanistan an Belgium. She will also be accredited as exporter country. India's ambassador to the European Union JUNE 21 : A Protocol of Cooperation was signed (EU). between the National Archives of India and JUNE 15 : India and South Korea signed agreement the Minister of Culture of the Portuguese for $10 billion assistance for infrastructure Republic in the field of archives in development projects in India, including Lisbon, Portugal. As a first step under this smart cities. agreement, the Torre do Tombo (National Archives of Portugal) handed over to The two countries signed agreements to the National Archives of India digital establish $9 billion in concessional credit copies of 62 volumes of the collection and $1 billion in Official development known as 'Moncoes do Reino' (Monsoon assistance (ODA) funding for infrastructure correspondence). development projects in India. JUNE 22 : China has unveiled the world's first JUNE 15 : In a significant victory for India at the UN, ‘railless train’ that runs on a virtual track international law expert Neeru Chadha has making use of a sensor technology instead won a crucial election to a top UN judicial of metal rails. body that deals with disputes related to the law of the sea, becoming the first Indian This Autonomous Rail Rapid Transit woman to be appointed as a judge at the (ART) has been developed by China's tribunal. CRRC Zhuzhou Institute.

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JUNE 22 : A conference on alternate medicines, setting up 10 new sugar factories, besides a herbals and green plants, and Siddha sugar institute, in the East African state. medicines which originates from South The NSI will also provide academic and India will be held in Malaysia next month. technical assistance to ESC in setting up a The Tradalth Convention will take place hi-tech sugar institute. from August 18-20 and its main focus will JUNE 28 : China's Navy launched its biggest new be on Ayurveda and Siddha medicines and generation destroyer weighing 10,000 therapists. tonnes as part of a massive expansion to JUNE 27 : The US has cleared the sale of predator become a global naval power. Guardian drones to India, as President The biggest naval destroyer was an addition Donald Trump and Prime Minister to two aircraft carriers which China is in Narendra Modi pledged to deepen their the process of deploying to compete with defence and security cooperation. other naval powers liked the US and India, Resolving to expand their maritime especially in the India Ocean. security cooperation, they announced their JUNE 30 : US President Donald Trump has nominated intention to build on the implementation Indiana's health commissioner Jerome of their "White Shipping" data sharing Adams to serve as the next US surgeon arrangement, which enhances collaboration general. on the maritime domain awareness. Adams would succeed Dr Vivek Murthy. JUNE 27 : China launched its first self-developed The appointment is for five years. 'next-generation' bullet train 'Fuxing' with a maximum speed of 400kmh. JUNE 30 : President Donald Trump has nominated Kay Bailey Hutchison, a former The train was launched on one of the Republican senator from Texas, to be the country’s busiest lines -Beijing-Shanghai US ambassador to NATO. line. With the launch, Beijing aims to capture global high-speed rail market. Hutchison, who is 73, won a runoff special election to fill a vacant Senate seat in 1993 JUNE 28 : The National Sugar Institute (NSI) has and served three full terms. entered into an agreement with Ethiopia for

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JUNE 04 : Indian shuttler B Sai Praneeth lifted his Sports News of the maiden Grand Prix gold title by posting a Month come- from-behind victory over Indonesian Jonatan Christie in the mens singles final of JUNE 01 : Indian captain Virat Kohli(13), former the USD 1,20,000 Thailand Open. skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni(15) and stylish left-handed batsmen, Yuvraj JUNE 05 : Javelin thrower Anu Rani stole the Singh(90) and Suresh Raina(95), have limelight as she smashed her own national found places in this year's ESPN World record en route to winning the gold medal Fame 100 list that made its debut last year. on the fourth and final day of the 21st Federation Cup National Senior Athletics Heading the list is top Portuguese footballer Championships. Christiano Ronaldo while NBA great Lebron James, another soccer star Lionel JUNE 06 : Indian player Ramkumar Ramanathan Messi and tennis ace Roger Federer are the lifted the USD 15,000 ITF men's Futures top four athletes, in that order. tennis title after outplaying Raymond Sarmiento of the USA in straight sets. JUNE 01 : Barcelona striker Lionel Messi won the European Golden Shoe for a record JUNE 07 : Manchester United have overtaken Real equalling fourth time having scored 37 Madrid as the world's most valuable goals this season in the Spanish league. He football team, US magazine Forbes drew level with Real Madrid’s Cristiano announced in its annual global list ranking Ronaldo with the fourth honour. the sport's wealthiest clubs. JUNE 01 : Historian Ramachandra Guha, appointed JUNE 07 : Indian Grandmaster Krishnan Sasikiran by the Supreme Court as one of the four earned 6.5 points from 10 rounds to administrators of BCCI, resigned from his become the first Indian to win the 52nd post. Capablanca Memorial Chess tournament at Varadero, Cuba. JUNE 01 : India's Dhanraj Choudhary, who represents Asia in the International Table Tennis JUNE 08 : Indian cricket captain Virat Kohli is the Federation (ITTF), has been re-elected as a sole sportsperson from the country to Board of Director (BoD) for another four years feature among the world's 100 highest paid along with other continental representatives. athletes in the latest Forbes list topped by soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo. JUNE 02 : Manika Batra and Mouma Das made history by becoming the first Indian pair to JUNE 09 : Muttiah Muralidaran, the most successful reach the quarterfinals of the World Table bowler in Tests and One Day Internationals, Tennis Championships. was inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame. JUNE 02 : Chinese smartphone major Vivo has become the official sponsor for the 2018 He became the first player from Sri and 2022 editions of FIFA World Cup. Lanka and the 83rd overall to be inducted into the Hall of Fame when ICC CEO This means that Vivo will become the official Dave Richardson presented him with a sponsor of the 2018 FIFA World Cups in commemorative framed cap. Russia and 2022 edition in Qatar. It will also sponsor the FIFA Confederations Cup 2017 JUNE 09 : India and Mohun Bagan striker Jeje and FIFA Confederations Cup 2021. Lalpekhlua received the All India Football Federation's inaugural player of the year Vivo sponsors the Indian Premier League 2016 award. (cricket) and Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) in India. Sasmita Malik was adjudged the 2016 AIFF Women's player of the year. JUNE 03 : Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice as Real Madrid crushed Juventus 4-1 in Cardiff to JUNE 09 : India's Rohan Bopanna and Canada's become the first team to retain the European Gabriela Dabrowski won the mixed Cup in the Champions League era. doubles title at the French Open after www.mahendraguru.com [11] www.mahendraguru.com

beating Anna-Lena Groenefeld of Germany Kohli reached to the 8000-run mark in his and Robert Farah of Colombia in the final 175th innings to go ahead of South African in Paris. With this win, Bopanna became captain A B de Villiers who had taken 182 the fourth Indian — after Leander Paes, innings to reach to the milestone. Mahesh Bhupathi and Sania Mirza — to Sourav Ganguly (200 innings) and Sachin lift a Grand Slam trophy. Tendulkar (210 innings) are now third and JUNE 10 : Switzerland's tennis player Stanislas fourth in the list. Wawrinka has become the oldest player to JUNE 17 : India bagged five medals, including a reach the French Open men's singles' final gold in the 2017 Asian Junior Wrestling in 44 years. Championships in Taiwan. He is the oldest player to reach the finals India's gold came in the women’s 51kg on Roland Garros after Nicky Gallich. Niki freestyle category through Puja. made the final in 1973 at the age of 33. JUNE 18 : An inspired Pakistan hammered a JUNE 11 : Rafael Nadal coasted to a record 10th blundering India by 180 runs to lift the ICC French Open title, demolishing Stan Champions Trophy. Wawrinka in a brutally one-sided final which also earned the Spaniard a 15th This is Pakistan s first ICC title triumph Grand Slam crown. since their 2009 World Twenty20 win but more importantly it broke the jinx of JUNE 12 : India's Jitu Rai and Heena Sidhu combined not performing against India in big ticket to clinch the gold medal in mixed team matches. 10m air pistol event of the ISSF World Cup, beating Russia in the final. JUNE 18 : Indian shuttler Kidambi Srikanth came out with a spectacular performance as he France beat Iran by an identical score to defeated unseeded Kazumasa Sakai of win the bronze in the event. Japan in straight games to win the men's JUNE 13 : French Open champion Rafael Nadal moved singles title of the Indonesia Super Series up two spots to No 2 in the ATP rankings, Premier badminton tournament. his highest placing since October 2014. JUNE 18 : According to the top sources of the Andy Murray retained his No 1, while Stan International Cricket Council (ICC), the Wawrinka stayed at No. 3 next tournament of the ICC Twenty20 will Roger Federer is still No 5. be held in 2020 but the venue for this has not been decided yet. JUNE 14 : India captain Virat Kohli reclaimed the top spot in the latest ICC ODI rankings JUNE 19 : French tennis player Lucas Pouille claimed for batsmen following the conclusion of his first grass-court title at the Stuttgart the last round of league matches in the Open after beating Spaniard Feliciano Champions Trophy. Lopez. JUNE 15 : Vadodara's young racer Mira Erda will The 23-year-old Pouille defeated the world become the first Indian female driver to no. 33 Spanish rival. compete in one of the highest classes JUNE 21 : Pakistan jumped two places to sixth in the of Formula Racing in the country after ICC ODI team rankings following their signing up for the Euro JK series in the title triumph at the Champions Trophy upcoming JK Tyre-FMSCI National while the finalists India remained at Racing Championship. number three. JUNE 16 : Indian captain Virat Kohli became the JUNE 21 : Three Indians, including skipper Virat fastest cricketer to score 8000 runs in Kohli, were named in the ICC Team ODIs during his unbeaten knock of 96 of the Champions Trophy 2017, with against Bangladesh in the semifinals of the Pakistan’s Sarfraz Ahmed named its Champions Trophy. captain, a day after his side’s triumphant

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campaign. The side includes seven JUNE 27 : Latvia's Anastasija Sevastova defeated players from the two finalists - India Germany's Julie Goerges to win the and Pakistan. Mallorca Open. JUNE 21 : Mumbai girl Ahana Shah has won a bronze This is the second final Sevastova has medal with a score of 4 points out of 5 in the played in Mallorca, and the first title she Under-7 category of the 2017 Kenilworth has won in seven years. Junior Open Rapid Chess Tournament in JUNE 28 : The Indian shooting squad finished a the United Kingdom. creditable second at the ISSF Junior World Rithvik, of Hallfield, and Dicen, of St. Championship with three gold, two silver Patricks Club, emerged winners and and three bronze medals in Suhl, Germany. runner-up respectively. China topped the tally in the rifle/pistol JUNE 22 : India's women's softball team won the tournament with 19 medals, including silver medal at the Asia Pacific Middle eight gold. East Little League (Senior Division) JUNE 28 : Telangana's Sindhuja Reddy has been Softball Championship. selected as a member of the US women's India lost the final to Philippines after national cricket team, which has recently beating hosts Singapore in the semi-final. been recognized by the ICC. JUNE 26 : Yashaswini Singh Deswal won a gold at The wicketkeeper-batswoman, who had the women's 10m air pistol event to help played for Hyderabad in Ranji Trophy, is India consolidate their second position hoping to be a member of the US team in in the medals tally at the end of day two the ICC World Cup in 2020. of the ISSF Junior World Championship JUNE 28 : India pacer Jasprit Bumrah has risen to Rifle/Pistol in Suhl, Germany. second in the latest ICC Twenty20 rankings JUNE 26 : Indian shuttler Kidambi Srikanth clinched while skipper Virat Kohli has retained the his fourth Super Series title with an top spot in the batsmen's list. incredible straight-game triumph over There is no change in the top three of the reigning Olympic and world champion all-rounders' table which is headed by Chen Long in the Australian Open final. Shakib Al Hasan of Bangladesh. JUNE 26 : The Sports Journalists Federation of India, Pakistan's ICC Champions Trophy- at its annual general meeting, decided winning side's member Imad Wasim to confer the best Sportsperson of the has become the number-one ranked T20 Year Award on the ace shuttler and Rio bowler after South Africa's Imran Tahir Olympics silver medallist P V Sindhu. lost ground following the conclusion of the The Best Team of the Year award was series against England. bagged by the Indian junior hockey squad In the batting table, Kohli, Aaron Finch which won the World Cup in Lucknow last of Australia and Kane Williamson of December. New Zealand have retained the top three JUNE 27 : India shooters won a bronze medal in positions. men's 25m rapid fire pistol team event JUNE 28 : Lasith Malinga received a suspended at the ISSF Junior World Championship one-year cricket ban after the fast bowler Rifle/Pistol in Suhl, Germany. pleaded guilty to a charge of speaking to The trio of Anish, Anhad Jawanda and the media without permission, Sri Lanka's Shivam Shukla notched up a combined cricket board said. score of 1711 to claim third place and take The sanction is suspended for six months India's overall tally from the competition and Malinga will also be fined 50 percent to two gold, one silver and one bronze of the match fee from his next one-day medal. international, Sri Lanka Cricket said.

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JUNE 08 : NASA announced names of 12 new astronauts, including an Indian-American Science News of the Month Lt Col Raja Grinder Chari. They, the new astronauts, were chosen from a record JUNE 01 : Japan launched a satellite to help build a number of over 18000 applicants. high-precision geolocation system that will JUNE 12 : China has launched a record-breaking swarm complement the US-operated GPS. of 119 fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles. A H-IIA rocket blasted off at 9:17am (0017 The feat broke the previous record of a GMT) from the Tanegashima space centre swarm of 67 drones, the China Electronics in southern Japan carrying the "Michibiki" Technology Group Corporation (CETC) No.2 satellite, footage by Japan Aerospace said. Exploration Agency showed. JUNE 14 : The Defence Research and Development JUNE 02 : Scientists using data from NASA's lunar Organisation (DRDO) successfully test orbiter have identified bright areas in fired anti-tank missile Nag in a desert in craters near the Moons south pole that are the western sector of Rajasthan. cold enough to have frost present on the The "fire and forget" third generation anti- surface. tank guided missile Nag is equipped with JUNE 05 : India successfully test fired Quick Reaction the highly advanced Imaging Infrared Surface to Air Missile (QR-SAM) from the Radar (IRR) seeker with integrated launch pad-3 of Chandipur in Odisha. The avionics, technology which is possessed missile’s strike range is 20 to 30 kms. It is by very few nations. also capable of hitting multiple targets. The JUNE 15 : China successfully launched its first X-ray missile is an all-weather weapon system space telescope to help scientists study the capable of tracking and firing. evolution of black holes, strong magnetic JUNE 06 : ISRO created history by successfully fields and gamma-ray bursts. launching its heaviest and most powerful 'Insight' can be regarded as a small rocket GSLV-MkIII D1 carrying the modern observatory in space, as it carries a trio of communications satellite GSAT-19. detectors, that cover a broad energy band The country's heaviest rocket the from 1 keV to 250 keV. Geosynchronous Satellite Launch JUNE 15 : According to a new paper in the Vehicle (GSLV) MarkIII D1 carrying Proceedings of the National Academy of communication satellite GSAT-19 lifted Sciences, the oldest planet in the solar off from Sriharikota and was soon put in system is Jupiter. orbit successfully. It might seem odd that scientists used GSLV MkIII-D1 is capable of lifting meteorites to determine the age of Jupiter, payloads (or satellites) of upto 4,000kgs but the findings present a clear line of into the Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit deduction that identifies Jupiter as the (GTO) and 10,000kg into the Low Earth oldest planet. Orbit. JUNE 23 : The Indian Space Research Organisation JUNE 06 : Hottest planet in universe discovered, and (ISRO) has successfully launched earth it's just a few degrees cooler than sun observation satellite Cartosat-2 series Scientists have discovered the hottest weighing 712 kg and 30 co-passenger known planet located 650 light years from satellites (29 foreign, one Indian) with Earth, which is warmer than most stars in its rocket Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle the universe and sports a giant, glowing (PSLV). gas tail like a comet. The 30 satellites will together weigh 243 kg The Jupiter-like planet orbits a massive and the total weight of all the 31 satellites, star KELT-9 every day and a half. including Cartosat, is about 955 kg. www.mahendraguru.com [14] www.mahendraguru.com

The rocket will sling the satellites into a JUNE 23 : India's latest communication satellite 505 km polar sun synchronous orbit (SSO). GSAT-17 was successfully launched by a The co-passenger satellites comprise 29 heavy duty rocket of Arianespace from the nano satellites from 14 countries and one spaceport of Kourou in French Guiana. Indian nano satellite. The GSAT-17 with a lift-off mass of about The Indian nano satellite 15 kg NIUSAT 3,477 kg carries payloads in Normal C- belongs to Nooral Islam University, Tamil band, Extended C-band and S-band to Nadu. provide various communication services. The satellite will provide multi-spectral GSAT-17 that will strengthen ISRO's imagery for agricultural crop monitoring current fleet of 17 telecommunications and disaster management support satellites was launched into a applications. Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO).

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JUNE 21 : The iconic Taj Mahal Palace hotel in the Miscellaneous News city has acquired an `image trademark, making it the first building in the of the Month country to get intellectual property MISCELLANEOUS rights protection for its architectural design. JUNE 02 : The world’s biggest plane, boasting a 117-metre wingspan, has been launched by The hotel opened on December 16, the Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen. 1903. The six-engine, dual-hulled Stratolaunch JUNE 21 : According to Mercer's 23rd annual Cost aircraft is designed to launch satellites into of Living Survey, Mumbai is placed 57th orbit. Launching the satellites on rockets on the list while New Delhi was placed at while the Stratolaunch is in flight has the 99. Chennai (135), Bangalore (166) and advantage of saving fuel comparing to Kolkata (184) were the other Indian cities sending them into orbit from a launchpad. on the list. JUNE 06 : Electronics Company Zebronics has roped Luanda, the capital of Angola, was the in Bollywood actor Hrithik Roshan as its costliest city, driven by cost of goods brand ambassador. and security, followed by Hong Kong and Tokyo at the second and third places, JUNE 07 : Online food ordering and delivery firm respectively. Foodpanda has signed up Shah Rukh Khan as its brand ambassador. JUNE 26 : Actress Priyanka Chopra will soon be seen endorsing governments flagship JUNE 13 : Popular Bollywood actors Shah Rukh Skill India campaign, with the National Khan(65), Salman Khan(71) and Akshay Skill Development Corporation roping in Kumar(80) are among the ‘World’s the Bollywood celebrity as an ambassador Highest-Paid Celebrities’ list, according to for the initiative. Forbes magazine. Earlier, Indian cricket captain Virat American rapper, singer and songwriter Kohli, batting legend Sachin Tendulkar, Sean Combs leads the Forbes list with Bollywood actors Sidharth Malhotra and earnings of $130 million, followed by Shabana Azmi and singer Mohit Chauhan Beyonce Knowles with earnings of $105 had also become goodwill envoys for million. Skill India. JUNE 15 : According to a report by Ericsson Mobility, JUNE 26 : The 54th Femina Miss India World The overall mobile subscriber base in the 2017 winner is Manushi Chhillar from country is likely to grow to 1.4 billion by Haryana, while the first runner-up is 2022 and nearly one-third of them will be Sana Dua from Jammu and Kashmir and 4G users. the second runner-up is Priyanka Kumari China followed India with net addition of from Bihar. over 24 million mobile subscribers during Besides, Vinali Bhatnagar won the Miss the three-month period. Active crown whereas Vamika Nidhi won JUNE 16 : India has moved up six places to 60th the special award of ‘Body Beautiful’. among 130 nations on the Global JUNE 26 : Eleven days, 18 hours and 45 minutes Innovation Index (GII) 2017, emerging after setting out from California, as the top-ranked economy in Central and Srinivas Gokulnath created history by South Asia. becoming the first Indian to complete The improvement in India's rankings come what is considered to be the toughest after five continuous years of slide even as cycle race in the world -- the 4,900-km Switzerland, Sweden, the Netherlands, the Race across America (RAAM) in solo US and UK retained their top spots as the category. most-innovative countries. www.mahendraguru.com [16] www.mahendraguru.com

Among the nine men who finished, JUNE 29 : Sharjah has been crowned with the Gokulnath stood 7th while Samarth was prestigious 'the World Book Capital' for right on his heels at number 8. The race 2019 by UNESCO for the quality of its was won by Christoph Strasser. literary and cultural activities and for its JUNE 29 : Uttarakhand was conferred with the efforts to make books accessible to the award of excellence at the 2nd Global entire population of the nation. Skill Development Summit held in Paris Sharjah is the 19th city to become World recently for innovations and extensive use Book Capital. of IT for skilling the state’s youth.

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Appointments of the Radha Chauhan : Senior bureaucrat Radha Chauhan has Month been appointed Chief Executive Officer Miroslav Lajcak : of Government e- Marketplace (GeM), The UN General Assembly elected Slovak an online platform for central and state foreign minister Miroslav Lajcak to be government departments for purchase of the next president of the 193-member goods and services. powerful body. Christopher Wray : Sanjiv Singh : Sanjiv Singh has taken over as the US President Donald Trump announced Chairman of country's biggest company to appoint former assistant attorney Indian Oil Corporation (IOC). general Christopher Wray as the new FBI He replaces B Ashok. Director. Nirupama Rao : K G Karmakar & Gauri Shankar : Former Indian Ambassador to the US K G Karmakar and Gauri Shankar Nirupama Rao has been appointed public were appointed as Independent policy fellow to a Washington-based Directors of India Post Payments think-tank 'Wilson Centre' where she will Bank (IPPB). work on a project on the Sino-India ties, a The Appointments Committee of top American think-tank. the Cabinet has approved their Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma : appointment to the post on the board Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma, president of of directors of the bank for a period of Badminton Association of India has been three years. nominated as the chairperson of the Asian B.K. Manjunath : Para-Badminton Committee. B K Manjunath has been appointed The position was earlier held by former part-time chairman of Lakshmi Vilas BAI chief Late Dr. Akhilesh Das Gupta. Bank (LVB) for a tenure of three Amul Thapar : years. Amul Thapar, an Indian-American legal He was also appointed part-time chairman luminary, has been appointed a judge on of the bank for a tenure of three years, a the US Court of Appeals for the Sixth press release said. Circuit by President Donald Trump, the Shashi S Vempati : White House has said. Technocrat Shashi Shekar Vempati took Vitthal Radadiya : over as the CEO of Prasar Bharti as he Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) MP from vouched to make the public broadcaster a Porbandar Vitthal Radadiya has "modern broadcasting organisation." been elected as the vice chairman of Alok Sharma : Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Indian-origin MP Alok Sharma was (IFFCO). appointed minister of state in the Satish Borwankar : Department for Communities and Local Homegrown auto major Tata Motors Government in the UK government. said the head of its commercial vehicles Kajal Singh : Senior bureaucrat Kajal Singh has been division Ravindra Pisharody has appointed as Executive Vice President resigned citing personal reasons. Satish (Services) in Goods and Services Tax Borwankar has been given additional Network (GSTN). charge as Chief Operating Officer He has been appointed to the post for a (COO). period of three years. www.mahendraguru.com [18] www.mahendraguru.com

Leo Varadkar : Gauba will be replaced by Durga Shanker Leo Varadkar, a 38-year-old Indian- Mishra as the Urban Development origin doctor, scripted history by Secretary. becoming Ireland's youngest and the RR Mishra : Chairman-cum-managing Director of first openly gay prime minister of the Western Coalfields Limited (WCL), Rajiv Catholic-majority country. R Mishra has been assigned additional Inderpreet Sawhney : charge of director (personnel and IR) of Coal India Limited (CIL) after the The country's second-largest software termination of the services of R Mohan services firm, Infosys, announced the Das in April. appointment of former Wipro executive Inderpreet Sawhney as its group general The additional charge is for three months counsel. The appointment is effective or till the appointment of a regular July 3, 2017. incumbent to the post. Ramanathan Ramanan : Keshari Nath Tripathi : The government has appointed West Bengal Governor Keshari Nath Ramanathan Ramanan, a senior executive Tripathi took oath as Bihar Governor as of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), to additional charge in Patna. head Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) The post of Bihar Governor fell vacant functioning under NITI Aayog. after Ram Nath Kovind resigned Ramanan is currently a senior vice- following the BJP-led NDA’s decision to president at TCS. select him as its candidate for the post of president. Shashi Shanker : Sunil Kakar : IDFC Ltd announced the appointment of Shashi Shanker will be the next Chairman Sunil Kakar as the Managing Director and and Managing Director of India's biggest Chief Executive Officer of the company oil and gas producer, ONGC. with effect from July 16 for three years. Shanker is currently Director (Technical Besides, the company announced that and Field Services), ONGC. He will the board has approved the resignation of replace Dinesh K Sarraf who retires veteran banker Vikram Limaye from the on September 30 upon attaining post of MD and CEO who is set to join superannuation age. leading stock exchange NSE as its new Dalveer Bhandari : Managing Director and CEO. Justice Dalveer Bhandari has been Kaushik Basu : nominated by India as its candidate for Former chief economic advisor Kaushik another nine year term as judge of the Basu has taken over as president of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the International Economic Association principal judicial organ of the UN. (IEA). Basu's tenure will be of three- The ICJ elections will be held in years. November and if elected, he will serve a Basu has also served as senior vice- term of nine years. president and chief economist at the Rajiv Gauba : Following the end of his term, Union World Bank from 2012 to 2016 and Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi will be as the chief economic adviser to the replaced by Union Urban Development Government of India from 2009 to 2012. Secretary Rajiv Gauba. Mehrishi’s tenure Krishna R Urs : ends on August 30, following which Gauba will take over as Home Secretary US President Donald Trump has on August 31. appointed Indian-American Krishna R Urs as the new US Ambassador to Peru.

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A career service American diplomat since Shamma Jain : 1986, Urs is currently Charge d Affaires Senior diplomat Shamma Jain has been of the US Embassy in Madrid, Spain, appointed as India's ambassador to where he was also the Deputy Chief of Greece. Mission. A 1983-batch Indian Foreign Service Rajesh Shah : The government appointed Rajesh V officer, Jain is currently serving as Indian Shah as Chairperson on the Board of envoy to . Governors of the National Institute of Fashion Technology. He will replace Jain succeeds M Manimekalai as Indian former cricketer Chetan Chauhan. envoy in Greece. Chetan Chauhan resigned from the post Arvind Kathpalia : after being made the Sports Minister of The government has appointed Arvind Uttar Pradesh. Kathpalia Director of Operations at Air Deepak Kumar : India as the government moves ahead with divestment of the national carrier. Senior IAS officer Deepak Kumar has taken over as the Chairman, National According to an order, he has been Highways Authority of India (NHAI). appointed for five years or for his retirement or next order, whichever is He succeeds YS Malik, who has been earlier. His appointment will be treated appointed as the Secretary, Road Transport from the date of assuming office. and Highways, NHAI said in a statement.

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Reliance Communications (RCOM) India Awards of the Month Enterprise Business unit received the Frost & Sullivan India Digital Transformation Award 2017 for its SIP Trunking service in Mumbai Press Club awards : the 'New Products and Services category. Mumbai Press Club's RedInk Award for Member of the Order of the British Empire : Lifetime Achievement in Journalism for Sachin Tendulkar's mother-in-law and social 2017 will be given to veteran journalist activist Annabel Mehta, a British national, Vinod Dua, while the RedInk Award for has been awarded the MBE (Member of the Journalist of the Year will be given to Raj Order of the British Empire) for her work Kamal Jha, Chief Editor of the Indian and service to the underprivileged. Express. The award will be presented to her at Kalinga Literary Awards : Buckingham Palace in London later this year. Popular writer Anand Neelakantan, Odia PM’s Yoga award : poet Haraprasad Das and author Paramita Satpathy were announced as the winners of The Ramamani Iyengar Memorial Yoga the Kalinga Literary Awards. Institute of Pune has been selected as the first recipient of the prime minister's award Neelakantan was chosen for the Kalinga for outstanding contribution for promotion International Literary Award, Haraprasad and development of yoga 2017. Das was chosen for the Kalinga Literary Youth Award and Satpathy was chosen for Environment award : the Kalinga Karubaki Award. Indian agricultural microbiologist Shrihari WHO Director General Special Recognition Award : Chandraghatgi has been conferred the Ministry of Environment Award for 2017 in Japan Union Health Minister J P Nadda was for developing cutting edge technologies to conferred the WHO Director-General's address burning environmental problems. Special Recognition Award for accelerating India’s tobacco control initiatives and taking Chandraghatgi, who is President and CEO of bold measures to protect people against EcoCycle Corporation, is the first foreigner hazards of tobacco use. to be given the Ministry of Environment Award, the highest award in environmental France’s Legion of Honour : sector in Japan. Bengali actor Soumitra Chatterjee will be Skytrax World Airline Award : conferred with Legion of Honour, France's highest civilian award. Qatar Airways was announced the World’s Best Airline at the SKYTRAX 2017 World This award will be given to Soumitra (82) Airline Awards. for his remarkable contributions to cinema and theater. Qatar Airways was voted Best Airline by travellers across the world in the annual International Booker Prize : passenger survey. The Doha based carrier Israeli author David Grossman has won the has now won the prestigious Airline of the Man Booker International Prize for his novel Year title for a fourth time. "A Horse Walks into a Bar." Compassionate Business Award : The award has a prize of 50,000 pounds Actress Sonam Kapoor and her producer- (USD 64,000) that is split evenly between sister Rhea Kapoor’s fashion label, Rheson, Grossman and translator Jessica Cohen. has bagged the Compassionate Business Last year the prize was awarded to "The Award from the People for the Ethical Vegetarian" by South Korea's Han Kang. Treatment of Animals (PETA) India for a line Frost & Sullivan India Digital Transformation Award of bags made exclusively of vegan materials. 2017 : www.mahendraguru.com [21] www.mahendraguru.com

Best Parliamentarian Award : Former India hockey captain Dhanraj Pillay RSP leader and Lok Sabha member N K will be conferred East Bengal football Premachandran has been selected for the club's highest honour Bharat Gaurav at its Best Parliamentarian Award for 2016 by foundation day ceremony on August 1. Lokmat media group for his contribution to The East Bengal club has chosen former strengthening the parliamentary democracy India footballers Syed Nayeemuddin and its value system. and Subhas Bhowmick for the Lifetime The award will be conferred on him by Achievement Awards at the function. Vice President Hamid Ansari and Lok Trafficking in Persons(TIP) : Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan during the IPS officer Mahesh Muralidhar Bhagwat upcoming session of Parliament. from Telangana has been conferred with the Shan-e-Mohammedan honour : prestigious Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report Mohammedan Sporting Club bestowed Heroes Award 2017 by the US state department the honour of the Shan-e-Mohammedan to for his fight against human trafficking in India. former India International Latifuddin Najam At the release of 2017 TIP Report in for his overall contributions towards the Washington, Bhagwat was recognised for 126-year-old club. his vital role in elevating human trafficking The Shan-e-Mohammedan is the Lifetime as a government priority, and his innovative Achievement Award of Mohammedan approach to investigating cases and Sporting Club, which is awarded annually to dismantling trafficking operations. respect and laud indispensable contribution GSMA Asia Mobile Award : of football players to the club. Indigenously developed mobile application for UN Highest public service award : digitizing vaccine logistics, eVIN, has won the In a major boost to Chief Minister Mamata prestigious GSMA Asia Mobile Award 2017 Banerjee's pet project 'Kanyashree', the (AMO) for outstanding contribution to the United Nations accorded its highest award UNs sustainable development goals in Asia. for public service to the West Bengal The Electronic Vaccine Intelligence Network government for the scheme initiated to (eVIN) is an online real-time vaccine empower the girl child with education. logistics management system developed The project was launched in 2011 soon after and implemented by the Ministry of Health Mamata Banerjee came to power and has and the United Nations Development helped more than 40 lakh female students in Programme (UNDP). the state. eVIN is presently being implemented across Shanghai Film Festival : 12 states in the country. Bollywood Superstar Salman Khan's Young Leaders Award 2017 : "Sultan" has won the best action movie Anti-hunger activist Ankit Kawatra was award at the Shanghai International Film recently awarded the Queen's Young Leaders Festival (SIFF). Award for 2017 at the Buckingham Palace. Directed by Ali Aabbas Zafar, the movie 25-year-old Ankit is the founder of Feeding also featured Anushka Sharma. India, an organisation which is working hard Bharat Gaurav : to eradicate hunger and food wastage in India.

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Germany at the heart of a united Europe, Eulogies of the Month has died. He was 87. John G Avildsen : Ranjith Kally : Veteran Indian-origin South African John G Avildsen, who won an Oscar photographer Ranjith Kally, who was well- for directing the 1976 "Rocky", starring known for capturing the country's anti- Sylvester Stallone, has passed away. He apartheid struggle for democracy, has died. was 81. Miguel D'Escoto : Swami Atmasthanandaji Maharaj : Former President of the UN General President of Ramakrishna Math and Assembly Miguel D'Escoto died. He Mission Swami Atmasthanandaji Maharaj was 84. died. He was 98. D'Escoto was also a former Foreign Amrit Pal : Veteran actor Amrit Pal passed away. Minister. He headed the UN General He was 76. The actor mostly played Assembly from 2008-2009. villainous roles in films and shared screen Govardhan Reddy : space with top yesteryear stars such as Vinod Khanna, Dharmendra, Mithun Congress leader and Rajya Sabha Chakraborty, Anil Kapoor among others. member from Telangana Palvai Govardhan Reddy died. He was 80. P K Kaw : Internationally recognised plasma physicist and pioneer of thermo-nuclear Reddy was elected to the Rajya Sabha in fusion in India, Prof P K Kaw died. He 2012 was a member of several committees. was 69. Predhiman Krishan Kaw was Mehrunnisa Dalwai : the founder director of the Institute of Noted social activist, author Mehrunnisa Plasma Research (IPR), Gandhinagar. Dalwai passes away. Mehrunnisa Dalwai, K R Mohanan : eminent social activist, author and wife of Noted filmmaker KR Mohanan died in the late thinker and Marathi writer Hamid Thiruvananthapuram. He was 69. Dalwai passed away. She was 87. His prominent films include "Ashwathama" Adam West : Adam West, the actor who played the (1978), "Purushartham" (1987) and Caped Crusader on the classic 1960s "Swaroopam" (1992). He was also an series "Batman", has died. He was 88. accomplished documentary filmmaker. C Narayana Reddy : Desh Bandhu Gupta : Legendary Telugu poet and writer C Desh Bandhu Gupta, the self-made Narayana Reddy, a recipient of the billionaire and founder chairman of prestigious Jnanpith award, passed away. Lupin died. He was 79. In 50 years Jyoti Bajpayi : Former Board of Control for Cricket in Lupin has become India's 2nd pharma India (BCCI) Treasurer, Jyoti Bajpayi company by global sales died. He was 80. O N Dhar : O N Dhar, a former bureaucrat who P N Bhagwati : Former Chief Justice of India P N served as an aide to Sheikh Abdullah and Bhagwati, considered a pioneer of other former prime ministers of Jammu judicial activism in the country for and Kashmir, passed away. He was 91. introducing the concept of PILs, died. O N Dhar had worked with Sheikh As a Supreme Court judge, Bhagwati Abdullah, Bakshi Ghulam Mohammed introduced the concepts of public interest and Mir Sadiq when they were prime litigation (PIL) and absolute liability to ministers of Jammu and Kashmir till 1965. the Indian judicial system. Sabita Chowdhury : Helmut Kohl : Helmut Kohl, the physically imposing Popular singer Sabita Chowdhury died. German chancellor whose reunification She was 72. She was the wife of music of a nation divided by the Cold War put legend Salil Chowdhury. www.mahendraguru.com [23]

www.mahendraguru.com IMPORTANT DAYS August 20 Sadbhavna Divas August 29 National Sports Day August 3 Internatioal Friendship Day August 30 Small Industry Day August 6 Anti Nuclear Day August 6 Hiroshima Day ABBREVIATIONS August 8 World Senior Citizen's Day REC Rural Electrification Corporation August 9 Quit India Day FEDAI Foreign Exchange Dealers Association August 9 Nagasaki Day of India

August 12 International Youth Day MRSAM Medium Range Surface to Air Missile

August 14 Pakistan's Independence Day PRAGATI Pro Active Governance and Timely August 15 Indian Independence Day Implementation

August 19 World Humanitarian Day PAHAL Pratyaksha Hastaantarit Laabh

August 19 World Photography Day POTUS President of United States

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SPECIAL FEATURES India's GSLV Mk III Successfully launches GSAT-19 Satellite The first developmental flight (GSLV MkIII-D1) of India's heavy lift launch vehicle GSLV Mk-III was successfully conducted from Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR, Sriharikota with the launch of GSAT-19 satellite. This was the first orbital mission of GSLV MkIII which was mainly Capping a two-year-long process, India and Pakistan intended to evaluate the vehicle became full members of the Shanghai Cooperation performance including that of its Organisation (SCO), a China-dominated security grouping fully indigenous cryogenic upper that is increasingly seen as a counterweight to NATO. stage during the flight. India’s membership was strongly pushed by Russia while Weighing 3136 kg at lift-off, Pakistan’s entry into the grouping was backed by China. GSAT-19 is the heaviest satellite launched from the Indian soil. Shanghai Cooperation Organisation TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS It is an Eurasian political, economic, and security organisation, the creation of which was announced Payload to Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO): on 15 June 2001 in Shanghai, China by the leaders of GSLV Mk III will be capable of placing the 4 tonne China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and class satellites of the GSAT series into Geosynchronous Uzbekistan. Transfer Orbits. Headquarters: Shanghai, China Payload to Low Earth Orbit (LEO): Total Members: 8 The powerful cryogenic stage of GSLV Mk III enables Date Country it to place heavy payloads upto 8 tonne into Low Earth Orbits of 600 km altitude. 26 April 1996 China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan The performance of the engine and stage during the mission was as predicted. 15 June 2001 Uzbekistan About sixteen minutes after lift-off, GSAT-19 satellite 9 June 2017 India, Pakistan was successfully placed in orbit. Observers: 4 (Afghanistan, Belarus, Iran and Soon after its separation from GSLV, the Master Control Mongolia.) Facility (MCF) at Hassan in Karnataka assumed control Secretary General: Rashid Alimov of the satellite. PM's bilateral meetings on the sidelines of SCO GSAT-19 is a high throughput communication satellite. Summit in Astana In the coming days, GSAT-19 orbit will be raised from The Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, held bilateral meetings its present Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO) to the with the leaders of Kazakhstan, China and Uzbekistan, on final circular Geostationary Orbit (GSO) by firing the the sidelines of the SCO meeting in Astana. satellite's Liquid Apogee Motor (LAM) in stages. In his meeting with President Nursultan Nazarbayev of During the final phase of this operation, the solar panels Kazakhstan, the Prime Minister congratulated Kazakhstan and antenna reflectors of the satellite will be deployed. for membership of the UN Security Council in 2017-18. The satellite will be commissioned into service after its Kazakhstan is currently the largest supplier of uranium to positioning in the designated slot in the GSO following India, and both sides agreed to maintain the partnership. in-orbit testing of its payloads. The Prime Minister invited Kazakhstan to become a India's membership to Shanghai Cooperation member of the International Solar Alliance. Organisation (SCO) www.mahendraguru.com [26] www.mahendraguru.com

GST Act : Major Amendments However, since J&K has a separate constitution and has special provisions regarding legislature, CGST & IGST will be passed separately. SGST will be passed separately, similar to the other states. Fixing the Upper limits of GST rates- CGST- 20% & IGST- 40% Earlier, the upper cap fixed was 14% and 25% respectively in both the laws. Now, the upper cap has been fixed at 20% and 40% respectively under CGST and IGST Law to keep a flexibility for rates increase in future. However, the GST slabs remain the same – 5%, 12%, 18% and 28%. Petroleum Products Will Come under GST What is the GST Bill? The petroleum products (crude oil, high speed diesel, petrol, natural gas and aviation turbine fuel/ATF) have A bill is a draft of a proposed law presented to the now been brought under GST. Parliament for discussion. This will be highly beneficial to Indian businesses as Once it is passed by the Parliament, it becomes an act. So businesses now can take input credit on petrol products GST Bill has now become GST Act. purchased. Are There Any Changes to the GST Act? Many industries like the plastic and chemical industries The Model GST law was first drafted in June 2016 and have petroleum products as inputs for manufacture. later revised in November 2016. Besides, machinery, vehicles use petrol/ATF to run. Lok Sabha has passed the 4 bills with certain amendments. Availability of input credit will help to reduce prices of Here is a list of the major changes proposed in GST bill: goods. Applicability of GST Law in the State of Jammu and Conclusion Kashmir These changes show that the government is trying its best J&K Finance Minister Haseeb Drabu has confirmed that to make GST litigation free. J&K will apply GST.

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