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CURRENT AFFAIRS

DIGEST

Most Important current affairs collected

for school students from The HINDU /

The Indian Express / Press Information

Buereaue Etc.

JUNE PART 2



Japanese passport ranked 'most powerful'

in world

The results are part of citizenship planning firm Henley and Partners' annual passport index, which ranks passports based on the number of countries a holder can go to without a visa or the number of countries a holder can go to where they can obtain a visa.

As per the annual passport index, Japan has been deemed the world's most powerful passport, with access to 189 countries.

Singapore and Germany, on the other hand, have secured the second place with both having access to 188 countries.

India has bagged the 76th position in a list of the world's most powerful passports, granting its holders visa-free access to 59 countries.

Arctic seas are the planet’s cleanest

According to Murmansk Marine Biology Institute , the Arctic’s seas are the cleanest seas on the planet.

In 2017, the Institute’s scientists organized several big expeditions to the Arctic.

The institute’s experts worked in the Barents, Norwegian and Greenland Seas

India among the top five countries

generating e-waste

Despite the government's emphasis on Swachch Bharat Abhiyaan and Smart Cities project, India continues to be among the top five countries generating e-waste, an ASSOCHAM-NEC recent study said.

The other countries topping the chart of e-waste generation are China, USA, Japan and Germany.

The study was published coinciding with "Environment Day"

In India, Maharashtra contributes the largest e-waste of 19.8 per cent.

E-waste generated in India is about 2 million TPA, the quantity that is recycled is about 438,085 TPA.

E-waste typically includes discarded computer monitors, motherboards, Cathode Ray Tubes (CRT), Printed Circuit Board (PCB), mobile phones and chargers, compact discs, headphones etc.

India ranks 137th on Global Peace Index

2018

According to a report by an Australian think tank, India has moved up four places to the 137th rank among 163 countries on the 2018 Global Peace Index.

Iceland remains the most peaceful country in the world, a position it has held since 2008. New Zealand, Austria, Portugal and Denmark also sit in the top five most peaceful rankings.

Syria remains the least peaceful country in the world, a position it has held for the past five years.

G7 summit 2018 held in Canada

The 44th G7 summit was held on June 8–9, 2018, in La Malbaie, Quebec, Canada. This was the sixth time since 1981 that Canada has hosted the meetings. The summit received significant attention due to a


significant decline of relations of members with the United States.

Due to this, the summit was dubbed the "G6+1" by France and some members of the media.

Points to Remember

Earlier it was known as G8, but in March 2014, the G7 declared that a meaningful discussion was currently not possible with Russia in the context of the G8. Since then, meetings have continued within the G7 process.

The G7 is a group consisting of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

58 Indian companies in 2018 Forbes 'Global

2000' list

Fifty-eight Indian companies featured on the 2018 Forbes ‘Global 2000’ list of the world’s largest public sector companies, the same number as last year.

The Mukesh Ambani-led oil-to-telecom conglomerate, Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), rank at 83, retaining its top spot as the most valued Indian company on the list.

HDFC Bank, the country’s largest financier, took the second spot among Indian companies, ranking at 202.

Overall, Industrial & Commercial Bank of China is ranked 1 for the sixth consecutive year

World Day against Child Labour: 12 June

The World Day Against Child Labour, which is held every year on June 12, is intended to foster the worldwide movement against child labour in any of its forms.

The International Labour Organization (ILO), the United Nations body that regulates the world of work, launched the World Day Against Child

Labour in 2002 in order to bring attention and join efforts to fight against child labour.

Indians form 2nd largest group of

international students in US

With 1,86,000 Indian students currently studying in the United States, India is the second highest sender of foreign students to the US, next only to China.

US consul general in Kolkata, Craig Hall, said that the United States is the top destination for foreign students worldwide and the number of Indian students in the US has more than doubled in the last 10 years.

Agni-5 missile successfully tested

The long range ballistic missile Agni 5 is successfully flight tested from Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Island (Wheeler Island).

All the Radars, Electro Optical Tracking Stations and Telemetry Stations tracked the vehicle all through the course of the trajectory.

All the mission objectives have been achieved. RakshaMantri Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman has congratulated all the DRDO Scientists, Staff, Armed Forces and Industries for the success of A5 Mission.


India's forest cover stood at 21.34 percent

in 2015

According to the latest data from the Indian Forest Survey, 21.34 percent of the country's total land area is forest covered. This was 20.05 percent in 2009.

According to the report, Mizoram with 89 per forest area is the most forested state in the country. After this, Lakshadweep with 84.56 per cent, Andaman Nicobar Islands with 82 per cent and Arunachal Pradesh with 80 per cent forest area occupied second, third and fourth places respectively.

According to the report, 15 states of the country have more than 33 per cent of the forest area. Assam is at the bottom with 35 percent forest area among these 15 states.

According to the report, the level of intensive forest area in the total area of the country is 9.59 percent.

Bengaluru to host UN Global Compact

Network India convention

Global Compact Network India (GCNI), a local network of the United Nations Global Compact in New York, is holding its 13th National Convention in Bengaluru.

This year, the GCNI convention is of a greater significance as it is coinciding with the UN India Business Forum being hosted on June 7.

The theme of the event is 'Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Cabinet approves the joint issue of postage stamp between India and Russia

The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi was apprised of the agreement signed in connection with release of Joint Stamps between Department of Posts, India and Russia Post (Joint-Stock Company “MARKA” of Russian Federation) to establish postal cooperation and strive towards mutually beneficial operational excellence in the field of issuance of stamps.

Bilateral relations between India and Russia are marked by broad understanding on issues of mutual interest.

India and Russia enjoy enhanced levels of cooperation in almost all areas of the bilateral relationship.

President Declares ‘Queen Pineapple’ as State Fruit of Tripura

The President of India, Shri Ram NathKovind formally declared the “Queen Pineapple” as the state fruit of Tripura.

The President inaugurated the National Highway from Matabari to Sabroom in Udaipur, Tripura.

The President also visited the Matabari Temple complex in Udaipur.

Sikkim gets its longest tunnel


Minister of State for Defence Subhash Ramrao Bhamre has inaugurated 578-metre-long Theng Tunnel, the longest in Sikkim.

Constructed on Gangtok-Chungthang State Highway by the Border Roads Organisation (BRO), the double-lane tunnel bypasses a treacherous stretch of road between Sikkim's capital Gangtok and Chungthang, which frequently remains closed due to land slides and shooting stones.

The tunnel would provide all-weather connectivity, said a Defense Ministry spokesperson.

Dhanush, India's first indigenous artillery

gun

India's first indigenous, long-range artillery gun "Dhanush" has passed its final test at Pokhran, paving the way for its induction into the Army.

Dhanush is a 155mm x 45mm calibre artillery gun and is also called the "desiBofors".

It has a strike range of 38 kilometres and 81% of its components are indigenously sourced.

India to have its 1st police museum in Delhi

India will soon have its first national police museum as the central government has decided to establish the unique facility in Lutyens' Delhi.

The museum will come up as an underground facility in the premises of the national police memorial in Chanakyapuri area of the national capital.

The museum is expected to be inaugurated on October 21 (Police Commemoration Day)

India's first lithium ion cell factory to come up in Andhra Pradesh

Munoth Industries Limited will set up India’s first lithium ion cell production project by investing Rs 799 crore in three phases in Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh.

It will provide a trigger for enabling mobile component manufacturing in India that will also lead to value addition in overall mobile phone manufacturing.

In the first phase, Rs 165 crore will be invested to produce li ion cells having total storage capacity of 200,000 Ah (Ampere hour) per day.

Grand Finale of the First Hardware edition

of Smart India Hackathon 2018

The Ministry of HRD along with AICTE, Persistent Systems, i4C and IIT Kharagpur is all set to host the Grand Finale of Smart India Hackathon 2018 – Hardware edition from Jun 18-22, 2018.

This was disclosed by the Union Minister for Human Resource Development, Shri Prakash Javadekar.

He said that the Smart India Hackathon 2018 is in line with the ‘Make in India’ initiative of the Prime Minister Shri NarendraModi and is proving to be an important vehicle for scouting new ideas and help them convert them into products and businesses.


Egypt's Abdel Fattah al-Sisi Sworn In For Second Term In

Office

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi was sworn in for a second four-year term in office as the country faces major economic and security challenges.

Sisi took the oath in a packed house and in front of members of his government, after winning 97 percent of valid votes in the March presidential election.

Sisi, who as army chief ousted Egypt's first freely elected president Mohamed Morsi after mass street protests in 2013, won his first term in 2014 with an overwhelming majority of the vote.

Mahesh Jain appointed as RBI deputy

governor

The government has appointed IDBI Bank Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Mahesh Kumar Jain as a deputy governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for a period of three years.

Jain, who is also the managing director of the state-run lender, had previously led Indian Bank for a couple of years.

Jain will fill the post vacated by S SMundra, who had completed his three-year term in July last year.

Other serving Deputy Governors are Viral V Acharya, N S Vishwanathan and B P Kanungo.

Malaysia appoints ethnic Indian Tommy

Thomas as new attorney general

Malaysia’s king has approved the appointment of an ethnic Indian lawyer as the new attorney general, amid protests from Islamic groups that the job must be held by a Muslim.

A palace statement says Sultan Muhammad V has approved terminating current Attorney General Mohamad Apandi Ali and replacing him with Tommy Thomas, the first minority to hold the post in 55 years.

Ecuador's foreign minister becomes U.N. General Assembly

president

Ecuadorean Foreign Minister Maria Fernanda Espinosa on Tuesday was elected president of the 73rd United Nations General Assembly.

It is a mainly ceremonial title that nonetheless carries a high profile and important procedural functions.

Espinosa defeated Ambassador Mary Elizabeth Flores Flake of Honduras by 128 votes to 62, with two abstentions.


U.N. Security Council elects five members

for two-year term

The United Nations General Assembly voted to elect Germany, Belgium, South Africa, the Dominican Republic and Indonesia for a two-year term in the Security Council starting on Jan. 1, 2019.

The five members giving up their seat at the end of this year are the Netherlands, Sweden, Ethiopia, Bolivia and Kazakhstan.

Halep beats Stephens to win maiden

Grand Slam title

Romanian Simona Halep beat Sloane Stephens of US 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 win the French Open, which is her first Grand Slam title.

Halep became the second Romanian woman to win a Grand Slam singles trophy after Virginia Ruzici.

This was Halep's fourth major final and has lost all three in the past, including two at Roland Garros

Vettel wins Canadian GP

Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel dominated the Canadian Grand Prix to retake the championship lead as Lewis Hamilton could finish only fifth for Mercedes.

Mercedes' ValtteriBottas finished second.

Red Bull's Max Verstappen took third after a valiant but unsuccessful attempt to pass Bottas.


KNOW

THE

EVENT


This would be the first time in the history of FIFA World Cup that Russia would play host, from June 14 to July 15, 2018.

The 2018 World Cup mascot is a wolf named Zabivaka, which was chosen via online voting.

A total of 32 teams would be having their eyes on the trophy.

First time in the history of world cup VAR (Video Assistant Referee) system would be used.

The total prize money for 2018 World Cup is 400 USD million.

The tournament would be played across 11 cities and 12 stadiums.

Luzhniki stadium in Moscow has a capacity of 81,000 people and is the biggest stadium rebuilt in Russia on the occasion of World Cup.

Matches would also be played in the easternmost city Ekaterinburg and the westernmost city Kaliningrad which are 2,415 kms apart. It is approximately the same distance between Moscow and London.

Iceland and Panama would make their World Cup debut this year.

A look back into the history:

The first World Cup was conducted in Uruguay in 1930 and was also won by the host nation.

The least number of people who turned up to watch a World Cup match was just 300 back in 1930 in Uruguay.

2014 FIFA World Cup broke all records with approximately 3.2 billion fans who watched the matches all over the world and an average of 53,000 spectators per match.

The World Cup has been held 20 times since 1930 and Brazil has won the maximum number of times i.e five.

Just once in the history of World Cup, two countries were host nations. South Korea and Japan both were host nations in 2002.

It has been rumoured that in 1950 India withdrew from the World Cup when they were not allowed to play barefoot.

Least number of teams participated in 1950. Just 13 teams played after India, Turkey and Scotland withdrew.

The World Cup was skipped in 1942 and 1946 due to World War II.

Brazil is the only nation to play in each


tournament.

EXAM BOOSTER

INDIAN

POLITY

INDIAN CONSTITUTION


Interesting Facts about the Indian Constitution

The original Constitution of India was handwritten by Prem Behari Narain Raizada in a flowing italic style with beautiful calligraphy. Each page was beautified and decorated by artists from Shantiniketan.

The original copies of the Indian Constitution, written in Hindi and English, are kept in special helium-filled cases in the Library of the Parliament of India.

With 25 parts containing 448 articles and 12 schedules, the Indian Constitution is the longest written Constitution of any sovereign country in the world.

The Constituent Assembly, which first met on December 9, 1946, took precisely 2 years, 11 months and 18 days to come up with the final draft.

When the draft was prepared and put for debate and discussion, over 2000 amendments were made, before it was finalized

The drafting of the Constitution was finally complete on 26th November, 1949. But, it was legally enforced only after two months on 26th January, 1950. Which came to be known as the Republic Day

The handwritten Constitution was signed on 24th January, 1950, by 284 members of the Constituent Assembly, which included 15 women. It came into force two days later on 26th January.

Our Constitution makers took inspiration from various other Constitutions while drafting the one for our country, which is why the Indian Constitution is often called a bag of borrowings.

The concept of Five Year Plans (FYP) was taken from the USSR, and the Directive Principles (socio-economic rights) were

taken from Ireland.

The ideals of Liberty, Equality and Fraternity in our Preamble have been taken from the French Revolution, which is also the French motto.

The Preamble to our Constitution was inspired by the Preamble to the Constitution of the United States of America, which also starts with "We the people".

The fundamental rights recognized by our Constitution have also been adopted from the American Constitution. The Indian Constitution recognizes nine fundamental rights as the basic human rights of all its citizens.

Interestingly, in the beginning, the Right to Property was also one of the fundamental rights. The Article 31 of our constitution said that, "No person shall be deprived of his property save by authority of law." However, the 44th Amendment, in 1978, deleted it.

The Indian Constitution has also been hailed as one of the world's best Constitution because in 62 years of its adoption, it had been amended only 94 times. As of now, our Constitution has undergone


a total of 100 amendments.

EXAM BOOSTER

Book of the past

-History Indus Valley Civilization


Also known as Harappa civilization because it is the first site discovered (1921) in entire civilization.

Bronze Age civilization:- this civilization existed in the Bronze Age.

Proto-historic civilization: this civilization had script, but it is not studied by any archeologists.

There were another two civilizations contemporary to the Indus valley civilization in the world:

i) Sumerian civilization (Mesopotamia)

ii) Egyptian Civilization (Nile Valley)

Authors of Indus Valley Civilization

Archeologist discovered four different races of people in the Indus valley civilization

a) Mongoloid

b) Proto-austroloids

c) Albinoids

d) Medeterrineans/ Dravidian

Important Characteristics of Indus Valley Civilization

Town Planning

The most remarkable feature of the Harappa civilization was its urbanization

.a) The Harappa settlement which were small towns shows an advanced sense of planning and organization.

b) Each city was divided into two parts .upper part or citadel and lower part or larynx. The essential civil and political institutions are located in citadel whereas common people live in the lower part.

c) In Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro the citadel was surrounded by a brick wall. Usually towns and cities were laid out in a parallelogramic form.

d) At Kalibangan the citadel and lower city were surrounded by a wall.The lower town was divided like a chess board.

Agriculture

a) Harappans cultivated wheat, barley, peas and dates

b) They also cultivated sesame and mustard which were used as oil.

c) Irrigation depended on the irregular flooding of rivers of Punjab and Sind. Canal irrigation was not practiced.

Important Centers

1. Harappa

a) Located in the bank of river Ravi was the first site excavated.

b) It ranks the premier city of civilization.

c) In Harappa a substantial portion of the population was engaged in activities other than food production like administration, trade, craft etc.

d) It is located in the midst of some important trade routes which are still in use.

2. Mohenjo-Daro

a) Located on the bank of river Indus. It is the largest Harappa city, also known as HILL OF THE DEAD.

b) Important architecture feature was Great bath.

c) The town plan was regular

d) No monumental architecture clearly marks the presence of a palace or temple.

3. Kalibangan

a) Located on the dried bed of river ghangarr. It was excavated by B.K THAPAR This area had the highest concentration of Harappan settlement.

4. Lothal

a) It was located in the coastal flats of Gulf of Cambay. This place seemed to have been an out post for sea trade. It was an important centre for making object out of stone, shells and metals.

Reasons for Decline of Indus valley

Aryan invasion

Floods

Ecological degradation


EXAM BOOSTER

BASIC

SCIENCE SENSE AND SENSE ORGANS


BASIC SCIENCE

SENSE ORGANS

The Five Sense Organs in Human Being

The sense organs — eyes, ears, tongue, skin, and

nose — help to protect the body. The human sense organs

contain receptors that relay information through sensory

neurons to the appropriate places within the nervous

system.

Each sense organ contains different receptors

General receptors are found throughout the body

because they are present in skin, visceral organs (visceral

meaning in the abdominal cavity), muscles, and joints.

Special receptors include chemoreceptors

(chemical receptors) found in the mouth and nose,

photoreceptors (light receptors) found in the eyes, and

mechanoreceptors found in the ears

OOOH, THAT SMELL: OLFACTION

Olfactory cells line the top of your nasal cavity. On

one end, olfactory cells have cilia — hair-like attachments

— that project into the nasal cavity.

On the other end of the cell, are olfactory nerve

fibers, which pass through the ethmoid bone and into the

olfactory bulb. The olfactory bulb is directly attached to the

cerebral cortex of your brain.

As you breathe, anything that is in the air that you

take in enters your nasal cavity: hydrogen, oxygen,

nitrogen, dust, pollen, chemicals.

You don’t “smell” air or dust or pollen, but you

can smell chemicals. The olfactory cells are

chemoreceptors, which means the olfactory cells have

protein receptors that can detect subtle differences in

chemicals.

The chemicals bind to the cilia, which generate a

nerve impulse that is carried through the olfactory cell, into

the olfactory nerve fiber, up to the olfactory bulb and to

your brain

Your brain determines what you are smelling. If

you are sniffing something that you haven’t experienced

before, you need to use another sense, such as taste or

sight, to make an imprint in your brain’s memory

MMM, MMM, GOOD: TASTE

The senses of smell and taste work closely together. If you cannot smell something, you cannot taste it, either

Taste buds on your tongue contain

chemoreceptors that work in a similar fashion to the

chemoreceptors in the nasal cavity.

However, the chemoreceptors in the nose will

detect any kind of smell, whereas there are four different

types of taste buds, and each detects different types of

tastes: sweet, sour, bitter, and salty

A common misconception is that the little bumps

on your tongue are the taste buds.

As with all misconceptions, this idea is wrong, too.

The little bumps on your tongue are called papillae, and the

taste buds actually lie down in the grooves between each

papilla.

Foods contain chemicals, and when you put

something into your mouth, the taste buds in your tongue

can detect what chemicals you are ingesting

Each taste bud has a pore at one end with

microvilli sticking out of the pore, and sensory nerve fibers

attached to the other end

Chemicals from food bind to the microvilli,

generating a nerve impulse that is carried through the

sensory nerve fibers and eventually to the brain

NOW HEAR THIS: SOUND

The ear not only is the organ of hearing, but it also

is responsible for maintaining equilibrium — or balance.


To maintain equilibrium, the ear must detect

movement. To hear, the ear must respond to mechanical

stimulation by sound waves.

The outer ear is the external opening to the ear

canal. Sound waves are shuttled through the ear canal to

the middle ear. The eardrum sets the mechanics in motion

When a sound wave hits the eardrum, the

eardrum moves tiny bones — the malleus, incus, and

stapes — which subsequently move.

This movement is picked up by the

mechanoreceptors in the inner ear, which exist on hair cells

containing cilia between the end of the semicircular canals

and the vestibule

When the cilia move, the cells create an impulse

that is sent through the cochlea to the eighth cranial nerve,

which carries the impulse to the brain.

The brain then interprets the information as a

specific sound.

The fluid within the semicircular canals of the

inner ear moves, and that movement is ultimately detected

by the cilia. When the fluid doesn’t stop moving, you can

develop motion sickness.

The cilia transmit impulses to the brain about

angular and rotational movement, as well as movement

through vertical and horizontal planes, which helps your

body to keep its balance

SEEING IS BELIEVING: SIGHT

When you look at an eye, the iris is the colored

part. The iris actually is a pigmented muscle that controls

the size of the pupil, which dilates to allow more light into

the eye or contracts to allow less light into the eye. The iris

and pupil are covered by the cornea.

Behind the pupil is an anterior chamber. Behind

the anterior chamber is the lens. The ciliary body contains a

small muscle that connects to the lens and the iris.

The ciliary muscle changes the

shape of the lens to adjust for far or near vision. The lens

flattens to see farther away, and it becomes rounded for

near vision

The process of changing the shape of the lens is

called accommodation. People lose the ability of

accommodation as they grow older, prompting the need

for glasses.

A TOUCHY-FEELY SUBJECT: TOUCH

The skin contains general receptors. These

receptors can detect touch, pain, pressure, and temperature.

Throughout your skin, you have all four of these receptors

interspersed. Skin receptors generate an impulse when

activated, which is carried to the spinal cord and then to the

brain.

The skin is not the only tissue in the body to have

receptors, however. Your organs, which are made of tissues,

also have receptors. Joints, ligaments, and tendons

contain proprioceptors, which detect the position and

movement of the limbs.


KNOW

THE

SERVICE INDIAN REVENUE

SERVICE


INDIAN REVENUE SERVICE

Indian Revenue Service (IRS) is a civil services competitive

exam in India conducted by UPSC for recruitment to

Revenue Department. The Indian Revenue Service (IRS), is

the administrative revenue service of the Government of

India. It is one of the Group A services. IRS is a Central Civil

Service that functions under the Department of Revenue in

the Union Ministry of Finance and is concerned with the

collection and management of the various direct and

indirect taxes, accruing the same to the Union

Government.

IRS comprises two branches:

IRS comprises two branches - IRS (Income Tax) and IRS

(Customs and Central Excise), now Customs and GST (Goods

and Services Tax) which are controlled by two

separate statutory bodies, viz., Central Board of Direct

Taxes (CBDT) and Central Board of Indirect Taxes and

Customs (CBIC) respectively.

The work culture and work profile Mainly attached to the

Income Tax and Customs Departments but are also

deputed to many other agencies and departments Advising

on tax policy matters by playing a significant role in framing

or amending of statutes and frames regulations in relation

to taxes They also participate and negotiate treaties on

behalf of the Government of India in the fiscal matters in

both bilateral or multilateral forums such as OECD and

Global Form on Transparency in Tax Matters

Roles and Responsibilities

Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officers act as the guardians

of the Economic borders.

They are appointed to law enforcement and

intelligence organizations like the Central Bureau

of Investigation, Research and Analysis Wing,

Intelligence Bureau etc.

in the Income Tax and Customs Departments - IRS

officers are charged with profound responsibilities

of identifying the tax evasions.

They hold statutory powers to search for and

seize illegally accumulated wealth and arrest the

culprits to prevent further evasions

Indian Revenue Service officers have been playing

a significant role in probing and exposing of many

scams in the country

IRS officers perform all important border postings

and protect the country from smuggling and

safeguard its economic borders. They undertake

patrolling missions in high seas and preventive

operations against piracy and smuggling

Documents

1 of 21 preamble2.pdf · Agni-5 missile successfully tested The long range ballistic missile Agni 5 is successfully flight tested from Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Island (Wheeler Island)