Current Affairs 23rd and 24th June 2017

ONGC and UNESCO join hands to get Chilika Lake heritage site tag in - June 2017

• A joint team of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) carried out a preliminary survey for the conservation of Chilika Lake in June 2017.

Indian anti-hunger activist Ankit Kawatra has been chosen for Queen’s Young Leaders Award

• Anti-hunger activist Ankit Kawatra is all set to receive the distinguished Queen’s Young Leaders Award with 60 others from all the 53 Commonwealth countries.
•  Queen Elizabeth II will be honoring at a ceremony to be held on 29th June 2017 in the Buckingham Palace.

4th state to be open defecation free - Uttarakhand

• Union Minister of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, Narendra Singh Tomar during a Swachh Bharat Program organized in ONGC, Dehradun on 22nd June 2017 declared Uttarakhand as the fourth state to be open defecation free (ODF) in the country.

International Olympic Committee partnered with - Intel

• Intel and The International Olympic Committee declared a long-term technology partnership on 21st June 2017  in New York at an official signing ceremony  with IOC President Thomas Bach and the US tech giant's Chief Executive Officer Brian Krzanich.

Iconic al-Nuri mosque of Mosul blown up by - Islamic State

• The Great Mosque of al-Nuri in Mosul, Iraq was blown up by a group of Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) on 21st June 2017.  They also destroyed its famous leaning minaret, also called al-Hadba.

International Widows’ Day observed globally on - 23rd June 2017

• The International Widows’ Day was observed globally on 23rd June 2017 with an opportunity for action towards achieving full rights and recognition for widows, who have been living with an invisible status for too long invisible.

VAJRA scheme to attract Indian scientists abroad launched by - Union Government

• On 22nd June 2017, The Department of Science and Technology (DST) under Ministry of Science and Technology launched the Visiting Advanced Joint Research Faculty (VAJRA) scheme in order to bring together the Indian scientists settled in foreign and India-based researchers to conduct joint researches in India.

Amendment of Social Security Agreement between India and Netherlands approved by Union Cabinet on - 22nd June 2017

• The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved amendment of the bilateral Social Security Agreement (SSA) between

India and the Netherlands by incorporating the 'Country of Residence' Principle into the SSA on 22nd June 2017.

• Employees are urged to contribute a day's salary for farmer's families by - Maharashtra government
• The Maharashtra government issued a notification on 22nd June 2017 appealing its employees to contribute a day's salary to provide financial assistance to families of farmers in the suicide-prone regions of the state.

United Nations Public Service Award won by - Bengal's Kanyashree initiative

• The West Bengal Government's Kanyashree Prakalpa was awarded the first prize in United Nations Public Service Award for Asia Pacific on 23rd June 2017 at The Hague, Netherlands.

My Plant’ app to create database on tree plantation to launch by - Maharashtra Government

• Maharashtra Forest Minister, Sudhir Mungantiwar announced on 23rd June 2017 that the government is planning to launch a mobile app named ‘My Plant’ on 1st July 2017.
• The app would be helping in recording data regarding tree plantations in the state.

Portal on weather information launched by - Power Minister Piyush Goyal

• Piyush Goyal, the Union Minister of State (IC) for Coal, Power, New & Renewable Energy and Mines launched a weather portal for Power sector on 23rd June 2017 that will be helping all the Indian electricity distribution companies in managing power distribution.

India to become most populated country in the world by 2024 as per - UN Report

• In roughly seven years, around 2024, Indian population is expected to cross that of China, according to a UN report. As per the report, At present China with a population of about 1.41 billion and India with a population of 1.34 billion are two of the most populous countries  comprising 19 and 18 percent of the total global population respectively.