17th June 2018 Daily Current Affairs

International Current Affairs

• Today (17th June 2018) is World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought.
• This day is a United Nations observance with the purpose highlight ways to prevent desertification and recover from drought. Each annual celebration has a different theme. It should be celebrated all over the world.
• Theme of World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought 2018 : “Land has true value – invest in it”
  
• External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj today embarked on a 4-nation visit to Italy, France, Luxembourg and Belgium.
• Aim of this Visit : Providing opportunity to hold in-depth discussions with the political leadership on a wide range of global, regional and bilateral issues, and advance India's growing strategic engagement with the European Union.
• President of India Ram Nath Kovindreaches Athens (Capital city of Greece) on first leg of his 3 nation tour to Greece, Suriname and Cuba.
• During this visit, he participated in a community reception and addressed the Indian diaspora in the European country. 
• India has been excluded from the United Kingdom's new list of countries considered "low risk", whose applicants will undergo reduced checks while applying for student visas. 
• The countries on the list include the US, Canada and China among others. 
• India is going to host 23rd European Union Film Festival (EUFF) from 18th to 24th June 2018 at Siri Fort Auditorium, New Delhi. 
• This festival is organized by Directorate of Film Festivals, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting partnering with the Delegation of European Union (EU) and embassies of EU Member States in various city film club.
• The International Day of Family Remittances (IDFR) was observed on 16 June 2018 across the world. 
• Aim of IDFR : Recognizing significant financial contribution migrant workers make to wellbeing of their families back home and to sustainable development of their countries of origin. 

National Current Affairs

• To provide clean drinking water, the Ministry of Drinking Water & Sanitation has launched a scheme titled Swajal Yojana in 115 Aspirational districts of India. 
• Swajal Yojana is a community owned drinking water scheme for sustained drinking water supply.
• Under this scheme, 90% of project cost is taken care by the Government and remaining 10% is contributed by beneficiary community.
• This scheme will involve outlay of Rs. 700 crores through flexi-funds under existing National Rural Drinking Water Programme (NRDWP) budget.
• The 106th Indian Science Congress will be held at Lovely Professional University (LPU), Jalandhar, Punjab from 3rd to 7th January 2019. 
• Theme of Indian Science Congress 2019 :  ‘Future India: Science & Technology’.

MOUs & Agreements

• The Maharashtra government has signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Quebec province of Canada to increase economic cooperation and welfare of tribal community in the state.
• Under the MoU, the key areas of focus are Information Technology (IT), Biotechnology, Artificial Intelligence and Welfare of the Tribal Community.

Banking, Business & Economic Affairs

• State-owned Bank of Baroda along with Indian Overseas Bank and Andhra Bank are in advanced discussions with a possible buyer to sell their stake in Malaysian joint venture — India International Bank (Malaysia) Berhad.
• Important Note : Bank of Baroda holds a 40 per cent stake in India International Bank (Malaysia), while Indian Overseas Bank and Andhra Bank own 35 per cent and 25 per cent stake, respectively.
• American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate Time Warner has been renamed as WarnerMedia, a day after AT&T completed its $85.4 billion acquisition of the media conglomerate.
• India has proposed to introduce $240-million retaliatory tariffs on a list of 30 items imported from the United States. 
• India had asked the US to exempt it from its tariffs on steel and aluminium, but US rejected the request. 
• India has notified the World Trade Organisation about the list, including apples, almonds and motorcycles, on which it intends to impose tariffs.
• Public sector banks have written off bad loans worth Rs 1.20 lakh crore, an amount that is nearly one-and-a-half times more than their total losses posted in 2017-18.
• This is for the first time in a decade that banks have made huge write-offs of bad loans along with booking of hefty losses.
• Japan’s Cabinet has adopted an economic plan that will allow more foreign workers to work in the country. 
• This proposal will help rapidly aging country to make up for its declining workforce. 
• Note : In recent times, number of foreign workers in Japan has nearly doubled to 1.28 million.
• India’s IT major Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) became 1st listed company in India to close day’s trade with Market Capitalisation (m cap) of over Rs. 7 lakh crore (over $103 billion). 
• Note : M cap is value of company that is traded on stock market, calculated by multiplying total number of shares by present share price.

Awards & Honors

• To celebrate the best of south Indian cinema in the year 2017, the 65th Jio Filmfare Awards 2018 (south), was held at the Novotel Hyderabad Convention Centre in Hyderabad. Here is the winners list.
• 65th Jio Filmfare Awards 2018 (south) Winners
• Telugu
• Best Film (Popular): Baahubali 2:The Conclusion
• Best Actor In A Leading Role - Male (Popular): Vijay Deverakonda (Arjun Reddy)
• Best Actor In A Leading Role - Female (Popular): Sai Pallavi (Fidaa)
• Critics’ Award for Best Actor (Female): Ritika Singh (Guru)
• Critics’ Award for Best Actor (Male): Venkatesh (Guru)
• Best Director : SS Rajamouli (Baahubali 2: The Conclusion)
• Best Music Album: MM Keeravani (Baahubali 2: The Conclusion)
• Lifetime Achievement Award: Kaikala Satyanarayana
• Tamil
• Best Film: 'Aramm'
• Best Director: Pushkar Gayathri for 'Vikram Vedha'
• Best Actor in a Leading Role (Male): Vijay Sethupathi for 'Vikram Vedha'
• Critics’ Award for Best Actor: Karthi for 'Theeran Adigaram Ondru' and R Madhavan for 'Vikram Vedha'
• Best Actor in a Leading Role (Female): Nayanthara for 'Aramm'
• Critics’ Award for Best Actress: Aditi Balan for 'Aruvi'
• Best Music Album: AR Rahman for 'Mersal'
• Malayalam
• Best Film (Popular): Thondimuthalum Driksakshiyum
• Best Actor In A Leading Role - Female (Popular): Parvathy (Take Off)
• Best Actor In A Leading Role - Male (Popular): Fahadh Faasil (Thondimuthalum Driksakshiyum)
• Critics’ Award for Best Actor (Female): Manju Warrier (Udhaharanam Sujatha)
• Critics’ Award for Best Actor (Male): Tovino Thomas (Mayaanadhi)
• Best Director: Dileesh Pothen (Thondimuthalum Driksakshiyum)
• Best Composer: Rex Vijayan (Mayaanadhi)
• Kannada
• Best Film: Ondu Motteya Kathe
• Best Actor in a Leading Role (Female): Sruthi Hariharan (Beautiful Manasugalu)
• Best Actor in a Leading Role (Male): Puneeth Rajkumar (Raajakumara)
• Critics’ Award for Best Actor (Male): Dhananjaya (Allama)
• Critics’ Award for Best Actor (Female): Shraddha Srinath (Operation Alamelamma)
• Best Director: Tharun Sudhir (Chowka)
• Best Music Director: Bharath BJ (Beautiful Manasugalu)

Science & Technology

• The indigenous Pinaka rocket system of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), known for firing a salvo of 12 rockets in just 44 seconds, is being evolved into a precision-guided missile, with enhanced range and accuracy to hit its targets.
• The missile, which has completed the initial trials, will undergo developmental trials next month and is expected to be delivered to the Army in two years.

Sports Current Affairs

• The International Cricket Council (ICC) has charged Sri Lanka captain Dinesh Chandimal with "changing the condition of the ball" during the second Windies Test in St Lucia. 
• This comes after the umpires changed the ball after raising concerns about its condition and awarded Windies five penalty runs.