Current Affairs Update – 24th June, 2016

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• The Union Government on 23 June
  2016 launched India’s first pilot programme to run two wheelers on Compressed
  Natural Gas (CNG) in New Delhi.
• The first of its kind programme
  was launched by Dharmendra Pradhan, Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural
  Gas, and Prakash Javadekar, Minister of State for Environment, Forests &
  Climate Change.

• The programme is implemented by
  Indraprastha Gas Limited (IGL) and GAIL (India) Limited.
• The programme is implemented
  under Hawa Badlo movement, which is supported by GAIL. The movement is a
  people’s initiative to fight air pollution.
• The programme involves 50 CNG
  retrofitted two wheelers.
• The scooters are being
  retrofitted with CNG kit manufactured by Ituk Manufacturing India Pvt. Ltd.

• Defence Research &
  Development Organisation (DRDO) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU)
  with Jadavpur University (JU), Kolkata, to establish the Jagadish Chandra Bose
  Centre for Advanced Technology (JCBCAT).
• Research contributions made to
  DRDO by Jadavpur University and existing research potential in the university
  led to establishing this centre of excellence. The MoU will facilitate DRDO and
  the Jadavpur University to pursue collaborative advanced research.
• The JCBCAT will primarily
  undertake research in areas of secure systems and cognitive technologies,
  directed energy, unmanned and robotics technologies and other futuristic
  technologies.

• The Padma Naidu Himalayan
  Zoological Park in Darjeeling will soon receive a snow leopard from Dudley
  Zoological Gardens in London.
• The leopard, named Makalu, is
  expected to make arrival at the Kolkata airport in an Emeritus Flight on the
  morning of 24 June 2016. Makalu will then be transported to the zoo.
• Makalu, who gets his name from
  the world’s fifth highest peak on the south-east side of the Everest, was born
  at the Black Country zoo.

• Union Ministry of Urban
  Development on 22 June 2016 approved the setting up of District Level Advisory
  and Monitoring Committees to promote people centric planning and execution of
  new urban development schemes.
• These committees will comprise of
  elected representatives of the country, thus giving Members of Parliament (MP)
  and Members of Legislative Assembly (MLA) a say in the implementation of the
  urban development schemes.
• In a first of its kind, these
  Committees will oversee, review and monitor implementation of urban
  development, affordable housing and urban poverty alleviation programmes.

1. Swachh Bharat Mission
2. Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and
   Urban Transformation (AMRUT)
3. Heritage City Development and
   Augmentation Yojana (HRIDAY)
4. Pradhan Mantri Awas
   Yojana-Housing for All (Urban) and
5. Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana-National
   Urban Livelihoods Mission

• To promote effective citizen
  involvement
• To review improvements in service
  level indicators like water supply,
• Review progress of implementation
  of reforms with focus on e-governance and ease of sanctioning of construction
  permits,
• Advise state and central
  governments regarding bottlenecks in implementation,
• Suggest mid-course correction in
  implementation
• Facilitate coordination among
  various agencies

• An Indian social entrepreneur has
  been named among 10 “champions and pioneers” by UN Chief Ban Ki-moon
  under the world’s largest corporate sustainability initiative that calls on
  companies to align with universal principles of human rights, environment and
  anti-corruption.
• Zubaida Bai, the founder of
  ‘ayzh’, a for-profit social venture providing health and livelihood solutions
  to impoverished women worldwide, was named among the 10 ‘2016 Global Compact
  SDG Pioneers’, an initiative launched by UN to search for “entrepreneurs”
  who can play a pivotal role.
• The UN Global Compact, the
  world’s largest corporate sustainability initiative, supports companies to do
  business responsibly by aligning their strategies and operations with ten
  principles of human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption; and to
  take strategic actions to advance broader societal goals, such as the UN
  Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with an emphasis on collaboration and
  innovation.
• Ban announced the 10 pioneers at
  the Global Compact Leaders Summit in the city this week.

• IIT-Kanpur professor Sanjay
  Mittal in third week of June 2016 bagged the prestigious G D Birla Award for
  Scientific Research for 2015.
• Mittal was instrumental in
  establishing the High Performance Computing (HPC) facility at IIT Kanpur and
  heads the National Wind Tunnel Facility.

• Russian hockey winger Artemi
  Panarin, playing for the Chicago Blackhawks, on 22 June 2016 won the 2015-2016
  Calder Memorial Trophy. The announcement was made by the US National Hockey
  League (NHL).
• In the selection process, Panarin
  received votes on all 150 ballots and was the top choice on 88 for 1258 voting
  points. He was followed by Shayne Gostisbehere of the Philadelphia Flyers (955)
  and Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers (858).

• Nokia on Friday announced the
  appointment of Sanjay Malik as the head of Indian market, effective August 1.
• Malik is currently Head of
  Network Implementation (NI) at Nokia Global Services and is credited with
  efficiently driving growth and delivering strong performance both in terms of
  revenue and operational efficiency, the company said in a statement here.
• In his new role, he will lead
  customer operations, drive the business growth strategy and superior customer
  engagement services for the India market. He will be based in Gurgaon.

• Neil O’Brien, the pioneer of
  quizzing in India, passed away on Friday at his home in Kolkata. His death was
  announced by his son and Trinamool Congress MP Derek O’Brien.
• West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata
  Banerjee and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal have expressed their
  condolences.
• A former member of Lok Sabha, the
  senior O’Brien was also a three-time nominated Anglo-Indian MLA in West Bengal
  and an educationist.
• He was the chairman of the
  Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE) and managing
  director of Oxford University Press, India.
• As a leader of the Anglo-Indian
  community, he was the president-in-chief of All-India Anglo-Indian Association
  and headed the Frank Anthony group of schools.
• O’Brien conducted the first
  well-organized, formal quiz in 1967 at Christ the King Church Parish Hall in
  Calcutta.