Current Affairs Update – 13 June, 2017

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI)
  announced on Tuesday that it has issued Rs 500 denomination notes with inset
  letter A. However, the old notes, which were introduced after Prime Narendra
  Modi’s demonetisation drive in November 2016 will continue to remain the legal
  tender.
• The central bank, in a statement,
  said that this was in continuation of the issue of Rs 500 denomination
  banknotes in Mahatma Gandhi (new) series, which were notified on November 8,
  2016. From time to time, the bank introduces new series of legal tender.
• “In continuation of issuing
  of Rs 500 denomination banknotes in Mahatma Gandhi (new) series from time to
  time which are currently legal tender, a new batch of banknotes with inset
  letter “A” in both the number panels, bearing the signature of Urjit
  R Patel, Governor, Reserve Bank of India; with the year of printing ‘2017’ on
  the reverse, are being issued,” an official statement said.
• This comes after RBI Deputy
  Governor N S Vishwanathan said in March that the central bank did not have any
  plan to introduce new denomination currencies as it wanted to encourage
  cashless transactions in the country, according to IANS.
• Arun Ram Meghwal, minister of
  state for finance, said that the government was not planning to print Rs 5,000
  and Rs 10,000 currency notes, Financial Express reported.
• The RBI had announced on December
  16, 2016 that it would issue Rs 500 notes with the inset letter ‘E’ in both the
  number panels, the report added.

• India to be a co-partner in a
  global food and beverages trade ANUGA to be held in Cologne, Germany from
  October 7-11, this year.
• Ministry of Food Processing
  Industries has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with ANUGA, world’s
  largest promotional and investment trade fair organised in Germany.
• The aim of signing this MoU is to
  create a business platform for Indian Food Processors and exporters and also to
  put Indian food and cuisine at Global platform. It will double the income of
  farmers and connect India to world markets.
• Minister of Food Processing
  Industries Harsimrat Kaur Badal said that ‘Partnership of ANUGA and the
  Government of India, Ministry of Food Processing Industry is bound to create
  next level of market for Indian food processing industries.
• ANUGA has over 7000 exhibitors
  showcasing vide variety of food products from 98 countries and approximately 2
  million visitors from 187 countries.

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• The Insurance Regulatory and
  Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has announced taking over the management
  of the Sahara India Life Insurance Company.
• Insurance regulator, IRDAI in an
  order issued in New Delhi on 12 June 2017 said that Subrata Roy run insurer was
  “acting in a manner” prejudicial to the interest of subscribers.
• IRDAI appointed one of its
  general managers, RK Sharma, as administrator to manage the affairs of the
  insurer with “immediate effect”. IRDA appointed RK Sharma (GM
  (F&A-NL)) the administrator of Sahara India Life Insurance Company by
  exercising the powers granted under section 52 A of the Insurance Act, 1938.
• The Administrator shall conduct
  the management of the business of the insurer as per applicable provisions of
  the Insurance Act, 1938.
• The regulator said it has
  “reasons” to believe that Sahara India Life Insurance Company
  “is acting in a manner likely to be prejudicial to the interest of holders
  of life insurance policies”.
• IRDAI further said it will be the
  endeavour of the administrator to ensure the servicing of the policyholders and
  managing the affairs of the insurer in a smooth manner as far as feasible.

• The Centre has approved proposals
  for setting up of 100 Ayurveda, Unani, Siddha, and Homeopathy (AYUSH) hospitals
  across the country.
• The same was revealed by the
  Minister of state for AYUSH, Shripad Yesso Naik. The Minister said that during
  the last three years the Union government had approved posting of 4000 AYUSH
  doctors in primary health centres across the country. He added that their
  salaries are being paid by the Union government.
• The minister further stated that
  an AYUSH hospital equivalent to AIIMS would be opened within a month in New
  Delhi.
• Besides this, the Union Ministry
  had approved setting up of two 50-bedded integrated AYUSH hospitals at Theni
  and Tiruvannamalai districts in Tamil Nadu.
• Further, a total of Rs 283.6 lakh
  has been released out of sanctioned amount of Rs 563 crore for conservation and
  development of medicinal plants across Tamil Nadu.

• Pema Khandu, Chief Minister of
  Arunachal Pradesh, on 12 June 2017 reiterated demand for a separate time zone
  for the north-eastern states.
• The demand is made to improve
  work efficiency and save electricity in the north-eastern region of the
  country.
• Khandu stated that several
  daylight hours are getting wasted as government offices opens only at 10 AM and
  closes as early as 4 PM.
• n North East India, the day
  starts getting brighter by 4 AM and darker by 5 PM. Productive hours at
  offices, mainly government offices, are usually for only 7 hours.
• Establishments like theatres,
  restaurants see increased business in the summer months when there is more
  daylight. People tend to stay out more rather than calling it a night.
• Khandu demanded that the
  north-eastern states should be allowed to advance their clocks by some time
  (approximately 0.5-1 hour) to save more daylight hours.

• The Union Government on 13 June
  2017 constituted an expert committee to examine the rules which allow free
  movement of Indian and Myanmarese citizens within 16 kilometres of the border
  but are exploited by militants for smuggling arms, drugs and fake Indian
  Currency.
• The committee will be headed by
  the special secretary (Internal Security) in the Ministry of Home Affairs.
• The decision to constitute the
  committee was taken at a meeting of the chief ministers of northeastern states
  which share a porous border with Myanmar. The meeting was chaired by Home
  Minister Rajnath Singh.
• The committee will prepare
  standard operating procedures common to all the four states so that militants,
  criminals and contraband are filtered at the border without causing
  inconvenience to genuine people. It will give its report for uniform and
  effective implementation of free movement regime within three months.

• Indian superstars Shahrukh Khan,
  Salman Khan and Akshay Kumar are among Forbes’ annual list of the highest-earning
  entertainers in the world.
• The Forbes list of the ‘World’s
  Highest-Paid Celebrities of 2017’ has been topped by American rapper and
  entrepreneur Sean Combs, known by his more famous stage name ‘Diddy’, with earnings
  of 130 million dollars.
• SRK, 51, ranks 65th on the list,
  with earnings of USD 38 million, tied with singer and actress Jennifer Lopez.
  “King Khan continues to bank big from starring roles in Bollywood movies. He
  also cashes in on endorsement deals for dozens of brands most Americans have
  likely never heard of,” Forbes said.
• Salman is on the 71st spot with
  USD 37 million in earnings, tied with English singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran.
  Forbes said Salman continues to produce and star in films, which earn well at
  the box office.
• Akshay, 49 is ranked 80th on the
  list with earnings of USD 35.5 million, tied with musician Bon Jovi. “Kumar, a
  king of the Bollywood box office for over a quarter of a century, mints
  millions through both starring and ensemble roles,” Forbes said.
• The list also includes American
  singer and icon Beyonce on the second spot with earnings of USD 105 million.
  Author J K Rowling, with USD 95 million, is at number three. R&B musician
  Drake is at the number four spot with USD 94 million. Football star Cristiano
  Ronaldo (USD 93 million) rounded out the top five.
• Forbes said together, the world’s
  100 highest-paid celebrities banked a cumulative USD 5.15 billion during the
  June 2016 to June 2017 scoring period.

• Project Jal Sanchay, a water
  conservation model adopted successfully by the authorities in Nalanda district
  of south-central Bihar, has been selected for the national award for excellence
  in the Mahatma Gandhi national rural employment guarantee programme (MGNREGP)
  by the Union ministry of rural development.
• The award for excellence will be
  conferred on 19 June 2017 at a function organised at Vigyan Bhawan in New
  Delhi. The water conservation model has been developed in the state’s chief
  minister Nitish Kumar’s native district.
• Speaking on the occasion, Nalanda
  deputy development commissioner (DDC) Kundan Kumar said that the water
  conservation programme had begun just as an administrative initiative but it
  soon turned into a people’s movement.
• Under the project, check dams
  were created and traditional Aahar-Pyne irrigation system and traditional water
  bodies were desilted and renovated.
• Campaigns about the usefulness of
  rainwater harvesting were also carried out.

• Scientists are developing a new
  system that would be able to predict if a car driver is about to have a heart
  attack. The feature would help avoid road accidents due to an unexpected
  cardiac event.
• Speaking on the development,
  Kayvan Najarian, a researcher from the University of Michigan in the US, noted
  that when a person has a medical emergency behind the wheel, fellow passengers
  and motorists also face the risk of death or serious injury.
• Najarian further said that a
  large number of traffic incidents are caused by medical conditions while
  driving, specifically cardiovascular events, such as myocardial infraction and
  myocardial ischemia.

• A book titled Indira Gandhi: A
  Life in Nature authored by Jairam Ramesh was released on 10 June 2017 at the
  Indira Gandhi Memorial Museum in New Delhi.
• The book was launched by Congress
  president Sonia Gandhi in the presence of former ministers, bureaucrats and
  environmentalists.
• The first copy of the book,
  published by Simon & Schuster, was presented to the Congress President,
  former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, former minister Karan Singh and Priyanka
  Gandhi.

• The International Albinism
  Awareness Day was observed on 13 June 2017 with an aim to end multiple forms of
  discrimination that is faced by people who suffers from albinism.
• Albinism results in a lack of
  pigmentation (melanin) in the hair, skin and eyes, causing vulnerability to the
  sun and bright light. As a result, almost all people with albinism are visually
  impaired and are prone to developing skin cancer. There is no cure for the
  absence of melanin that is central to albinism.