5th June Current Affairs: Special Days 1. World Environment Day (WED) is celebrated every year on June 5 to raise global awareness to take positive environmental action to protect nature and the planet Earth. It is run by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). • The 2014 theme for World Environment Day will focus on Small Islands and Climate Change, the official slogan for the year 2014 is Raise Your Voice Not The Sea Level. • The first World Environment Day was celebrated in 1973. Appointments 1. Congress appointed Captain Amrinder Singh as its deputy leader in the Lok Sabha. • Party spokesperson Shobha Ohza said Mr Jyotiraditya Scindia has been appointed as the Chief Whip of Congress in the House. • Mr Venugopal and Mr Dipender Singh Hooda will function as whips, she said. 2. Sanjay Kapoor was on 5 June 2014 appointed as Micromax Chairman. Sanjay Kapoor was a former CEO of Bharti Airtel company. • Sanjay was the chief executive officer for India and South Asia of Airtel from March 2010 till May 2013. 3. Indian Army Lt Gen appointed member of UN panel. Lieutenant General (retd) Abhijit Guha is part of the five-member panel of experts appointed by Under-Secretaries-General for Peacekeeping Operations and for Field Support Herve Ladsous and Ameerah Haq. • Guha has recently concluded a term as Director of the Office for Peacekeeping Strategic Partnerships in the Department of Peacekeeping Operations and also served as the former Deputy Military Adviser in the department from 2010 until 2012. Banking 1. The Reserve Bank of India has invited applications for Prof. K.N. Raj Memorial National Fellowship Scheme for the year 2014-15 from eligible scholars. Applications in soft form need to be sent to the Reserve Bank on or before July 18, 2014. • The theme will be identified by a Steering Committee on Economic and Policy Research (SCEPR) of the Reserve Bank of India. 2. RBI norms from newly introduced special term repo facility. • It has been decided to introduce special term repo auctions of 28-day tenor for a notified amount up to 0.25 per cent of net demand and time liabilities (NDTL) of the banking system. • The 28-day special term repo auction will usually be conducted on non-reporting Fridays. • The first such special term repo auction will be conducted on June 6, 2014. Deaths 1. Chester Nez, the last of the World War II Navajo code talkers died. He died at his home in Albuquerque, New Mexico at the age of 93. • He was one of the 29 Navajos who created an unbreakable code that was never broken by any one. Economy 1. In Global Textiles Exports, India overtook Italy to become the second largest exporter. China still remains the largest exporter of textiles in the world as per the recent data released by UN Comtrade in Global Textiles as well as Apparel Exports. • India’s textiles exports to the world stand at 40.2 billion US dollars. International 1. Queen of Britain announced to introduce a new legislation bill Recall of Member of Parliament (M.P.) Bill. The Bill will allow voters to sack misbehaving MPs. • 10% of an MP’s constituents would have to sign a petition requesting a recall for a by-election to happen. • This will only apply to cases where the MP is sent to jail for a year or less, or if the House of Commons decide that an MP’s behaviour justifies it. 2. Quebec province of Canada adopted legislation Right-to-Die that allows terminally ill patients to kill themselves with a doctor’s help. Bill 52, An Act respecting end-of-life care, received broad support from nearly 80 per cent of MNAs. • It seems that legislation that legalizes euthanasia or assisted suicide will call on a judicial row with Ottawa, as federal law forbids euthanasia even with a person’s consent. • Other countries where Euthanasia is legal are Netherlands, Belgium and Luxemburg. 3. Lithuania is set to adopt the euro on 1 January 2015, after the European Commission said it had met the criteria for joining the single currency. • It will become the 19th member of the eurozone out of 28 countries in the European Union, and the last of the Baltic States to join. • All other countries are expected to join. Estonia was the first Baltic state to become a member of the eurozone in 2011, followed by Latvia on 1 January 2014. National 1. The Indian Army today launched the `Army Veterans Grievance Handling (AVGH) Portal`, an initiative that would enable the large fraternity of veterans and their dependents, to take up their grievances with the concerned agencies at the click of a button. • Developed and designed by National Informatics Centre (NIC) Ltd, this internet based web portal is among one of the several initiatives undertaken by the Indian Army to reach out to its Veterans & Veer Naris in recent times. • With a unique User ID and Password, a veteran can login at his /her convenience, and refer to a host of policy letters / regulations to educate himself on the latest entitlements and benefits. 2. The West Bengal Government launched its lone residential football academy, first-ever done by any state, to promote young local talents. • State’s Sports minister Madan Mitra said “No other state government or the Centre has taken any such initiative so far, but we have done it under the strong leadership of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. Persons in News 1. Activist-turned-politician and senior Aam Aadmi Party leader from Maharashtra, Anjali Damania who unsuccessfully contested against former BJP president Nitin Gadkari from Nagpur Lok Sabha seat has quit party posts. • AAP leader Mayank Gandhi said, she has only quit party posts. Science & Technology 1. Researchers from Brown University have developed a new biochip sensor that can measure concentrations of glucose in a complex solution similar to human saliva. • The advance is an important step toward a device that would enable people with diabetes to test their glucose levels without drawing blood. 2. Japanese firm SoftBank has unveiled the worlds first emotional humanoid robot that can learn, understand human facial expressions and read peoples emotions. • The bug-eyed 120-centimetre tall robot, called Pepper, uses an emotional engine and cloud-based artificial intelligence system that allows it to analyse gestures, expressions and voice tones. • SoftBank president Masayoshi Son said Pepper is not yet perfect, but he can already understand about 70 to 80 per cent of spontaneous conversations. 3. Researchers have now developed an innovative roof tile coating to fight against air pollution. • The research teams from University of California have developed a roof tile coated with titanium dioxide mixture, which when applied to a roof, can actually clean up the air around us. • The roof tile coating can break down the same amount of smog-causing nitrogen oxides per year as a car driven 17,703km. It is also very inexpensive and costs only about $5 (Rs 300). Seminars – Meetings 1. The National Academy of Agricultural Sciences (NAAS) is organizing the 12th Agricultural Science Congress at National Dairy Research Institute (NDRI), Karnal during February 3-6, 2015. • The theme of the 2015 Agriculture Science Congress has been specifically chosen as “Sustainable Livelihood Security for Small Holder Farmers”. • It was informed by Dr S. Ayyappan, President of NAAS while addressing NAAS Foundation Day Celebration, here today. Sports 1. Mayookha Johny’s gold medal in long jump provided a silver lining on an otherwise gloomy day, as she clinched a qualification berth for the Commonwealth Games in the 54th National inter-State athletics championship at the PAC Stadium, LUCKNOW. • When national record-holder Kumaravel Premkumar failed to qualify for the final in men’s long jump, following a below par 7.0m, Mayookha. • The silver medal went to V. Neena. 2. The Japan Football Association (JFA) named veteran football striker Kazuyoshi Miura as its ambassador for the FIFA World Cup in Brazil. • The 47-year-old, known as Kazu, played for Japan and was the first Japanese recipient of the Asian Player of the Year award in 1993. • The FIFA World Cup starts on 12th June in Brazil. Awards 1. British-Irish writer Eimear McBride has won this years Womens Prize for Fiction with her debut novel A Girl is a Half-formed Thing. • McBrides novel, about a young, troubled Irish girl and her relationship with her brother, was up against five other books competing for the 30,000-pound ($50,000) prize. • Previous winner of what was originally called the Orange Prize for Fiction include A.M. Homes for May We Be Forgiven (2013). 2. The Asian Women of Achievement Awards 2014 were presented in London Hilton on Park Lane. • The award ceremony marked 15 years of celebrating Britain’s remarkable Asian women across business, the arts, media, sports and social and humanitarian work. 2014 Winners are: • Professional Asian Woman of Achievement: Yee Yee Low (Senior Concept Engineer at Shell) • Social and Humanitarian Asian Woman of Achievement: Sharmila Nikapota, (Co-Founder of the Sohana Research Fund) • Asian Woman of Achievement in Arts and Culture: Nisha Tandon (Executive Director at ArtsEkta) • Asian Woman of Achievement in Public Service: Shemiza Rashid (Teacher and Broadcaster) • Asian Woman of Achievement in Business: Karina Govindji (Gallup) • Asian Woman of Achievement in Finance: Valerie Dias (Visa Europe) • RBS AWA Chairman’s Award: Professor Geeta Nargund (CEO of Create Health Foundation) • Entrepreneurial Asian Woman of Achievement: Shazia Saleem (Founder of ieat Foods) • Young Asian Woman of Achievement: Divya Reddy (Production Technologist at Shell UK) • Asian Woman of Achievement in Sport: Shehneela Ahmed and Samera Ashraf • Asian Woman of Achievement in the Media: Poorna Bell (Lifestyle Editor of The Huffington Post UK).
Posted on: Mon, 09 Jun 2014 12:56:41 +0000
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