1.Indian Boy Wins Intel International Science Award in US:-
(I) Prashant Ranganathan has emerged winner in the world’s largest pre-college science competition in the environment engineering category for his work on biodegradation of pesticides. Prashant is among the 20 high schools students from various parts of the country who participated in the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair held in the US. More than 1700 students across the world had participated in the event.
(II)Prashant Ranganathan is a student of Carmel Junior College in Jamshedpur. His project titled ‘Biodegradation of Chlorpyrifos using native bacteria’ is aimed at helping farmers to biodegrade the harmful pesticides. In all, Four Indian-Americans received top awards in various categories. Indian American Pratik Naidu has won an award in the category of computational biology and bioinformatics. Other Indian-American winners include Adam Nayak who has won in earth and environmental sciences, Karthik Yegnesh in Mathematics and Rahul Subramaniam in the microbiology category.
2.Hassan Rouhani Wins Iran’s Presidential Election:-
(I) Hassan Rouhani has been re-elected as the President of Iran. He was elected as president for his first term in 2013. He won 2013 elections by pledging to end Iran’s isolation and improve civil rights at home. Rouhani was born in Semnan province on November 12, 1948. He is a graduate of University of Tehran and did his PhD from Scotland’s Glasgow Caledonian University.
(II)The 68 year old Rouhani is a lawyer, academic and a former diplomat. Rouhani has won his second term by presenting himself as the candidate of change and social freedoms that ended many sanctions and a 13 year standoff over Iran’s nuclear programme.
He has held various key positions like the key defence portfolios during the 1980 -88 Iran-Iraq war. He had spent 16 years as secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, which is Iran’s top security post. Rouhani consistently worked to rebuild Irans’ relations with the West. He also became the first Iranian leader to speak with the President of United States when Barack Obama phoned in September 2013
3.Study on Common Risk Mitigation Mechanism (CRMM) for Solar Power Generation Projects in Solar Rich Countries Commissioned:
- (I) India along with countries like Argentina, Burkina-Faso, Chad, France, Ivory Coast, Mali, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Uganda and Yemen has jointly commissioned a study to define and structure a Common Risk Mitigation Mechanism (CRMM) for solar power generation projects in solar rich countries.
(II)The commissioning of the study is aimed at dramatic reduction in the cost of finance for renewable energy and the overall price of electricity. The exercise is part of the international efforts aimed at implementing the the Paris Declaration of the International Solar Alliance (ISA) adopted on 30 November 2015.
4.World Cup Archery: Indian Men’s Team Wins Compound Gold:-
(I) The Indian Men’s compound archery team has managed to win gold after defeating Columbia 226-221 in the archery World Cup stage 1 championships held in Shanghai, China. Indian archery team were represented by Abhishek Verma, Chinna Raju Srither and Amanjeet Singh.
(II)The Colombian team comprised Camilo Andres Cardona, Jose Carlos Ospina and Daniel Munoz. India beat USA in the semifinal and edged out Iran in the quarterfinals. The team also defeated Vietnam in the first round. The women’s team, however, failed to shine in the event. In the Women’s event, South Korea, Denmark and Russia emerged as winners in that order.
5.GST Council Finalises 4-slab Service Tax Structure:-
(I) The GST Council headed by finance Minister Arun Jaitley has finalised a 4-slab service tax structure at the rates of 5, 12, 18 and 28 per cent as against the single rate of 15% levied on all taxable services.
(II)GST regime is scheduled to be implemented from July 1. In the next GST Council meeting, tax rates on gold and other precious metals will be taken up for discussion.
- Air Marshal PN Pradhan Appointed as Deputy Chief of Integrated Defence Staff:-
(I) Air Marshal PN Pradhan has been appointed as the Deputy Chief of Integrated Defence Staff (Operations).
7.Madhav Chitale Committee Recommends Measures for De-silting Ganga:-
(I) The Union Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation had constituted a committee to prepare guidelines for desiltation of Ganga River last year. The four member committee is headed by Madhav Chitale (Expert Member of National Ganga River Basin Authority).
8.Prime Minister Releases Book Series written by MS Swaminath
(I) The Prime Minister Narendra Modi has released a two-part book series written by the eminent agricultural scientist Dr. M.S. Swaminathan. The series is titled – M.S. Swaminathan: The Quest for a world without hunger
9.Climate Change: Antarctica is Turning Green:-
(I) According to a new study conducted by a team of scientists from the University of Exeter in the UK, plant life on Antarctica is growing rapidly due to climate change. The scientists have observed a sharp increase in biological activity in Antarctica in the last 50 years. For ascertaining the growth, the scientists conducted tests at five cores from three sites and has observed the occurrence of major biological changes across the Antarctic Peninsula.
(II)The scientists made use of 150 years’ worth of data to arrive at the conclusion. The study has been published in the journal Current Biology.
10.China, ASEAN Countries Agree on Framework for South China Sea Code of Conduct:-
(I) China and the 10 member of the ASEAN grouping have agreed to a framework of a legally binding code of conduct aimed at preventing disputes in the strategic South China Sea. Though the draft of the framework has been finalised, no details about the text of the framework agreement has been released.
(II)Also, no date has been given on which the full code of conduct is set to be adopted by the parties. However, all the parties have agreed to continue to constructively advance the negotiations and work towards the early conclusion of the code of conduct.
