24 June 2016

SCO summit 2016 begins in Tashkent, Uzbekistan 


The 2016 Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit started in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. The 2-day meeting of heads of state of SCO is being conducted under the presidency of Uzbekistan. 
Key Facts
  • During the summit, the issues related to strengthen stability and security in Central Asia will be undertaken. 
  • It will also take into consideration the expansion of SCO’s contacts with other international organization and states.
  • It will also seek wide involvement of the SCO observer states and dialogue partners in practical cooperation within the organization will be discussed. 
  • In it, India and Pakistan will sign a memorandum of obligation for obtaining SCO member states status.

India, Switzerland ink MoU to enhance cooperation in skill development

India and Switzerland have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to establish formal cooperation in the fields of skills development and vocational and professional education and training. The MoU was signed between Switzerland’s State Secretary Mauro Dell’ Ambrogio and Union Minister for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Rajiv Pratap Rudy in Winterthur.
 Key Facts 

  • The MoU is consistent with the strategy of the Switzerland’s State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI) on international cooperation in vocational and professional education and training. 
  • Under it, both countries will complement the existing commitment to professional skills development and vocational and professional education and training. 
  • The MoU seeks to institutionalise cooperation between the two countries in the field of skill development and aims to promote Swiss vocational and professional education and training internationally.


Government launches project for CNG-run two-wheelers

·        Environment Minister PrakashJavadekar and MoS for Petroleum and Natural Gas (Independent Charge) DharmendraPradhan launched a pilot project in Delhi to run 50 two-wheelers on CNG.

·        The performance of these two-wheelers will be closely monitored for efficiency and emissions during the pilot phase, Pradhan said.

·        The CNG-fuelled two-wheelers are expected to emit 75% lesser hydrocarbons


Britain offers cooperation for development of Andhra Pradesh

·        Britain would extend cooperation for development of Andhra Pradesh according to British High Commissioner in India Dominic Asquith.

·        Britain would offer its expertise in public transport and encourage industrialists to invest in the State.

·        He also said that his country would extend cooperation for skill development, medical services, IT and infrastructure development in Andhra Pradesh.

·        He said Visakhapatnam; Vijayawada and Tirupati airports would be developed as international airports.

Britain votes to leave the European Union

·        Britain voted to end its 43-year old association with the European Union in a landmark referendum.

·        The country voted 52%-48% in favour of 'Leave' to become the first member state to exit the 28-nation European Union.

·        Nigel Farage, leader of the eurosceptic UK Independence Party called for June 23 "to go down in history as independence day."



Anil Kumble named head coach of Indian team


·        Former captain Anil Kumble was named the head coach of the Indian team for a one-year period.


·        The decision was made after BCCI's advisory panel consisting of Sachin Tendulkar, SouravGanguly, and VVS Laxman interviewed 21 candidates for the job.


·        Kumble, who is the third highest wicket-taker in Test cricket history, played for India from 1990 to 2008.

Boxers Manoj, Vikas qualify for Rio Olympics

·        Boxers Manoj Kumar and VikasKrishan have qualified for the Rio Olympics, after beating RakhimovShakvakatdzhon and Lee Dongyun, respectively, in the AIBA World Olympic qualification event in Azerbaijan.


·        Before them, Shiva Thapa was the only Indian boxer with an Olympic berth.

·        Two other boxers, Devendro Singh and SumitSangwan, are still in the running for an Olympic quota.

IIT-Kanpur professor Sanjay Mittal has been awarded with - 2015 GD Birla Award

Sanjay Mittal, who is an IIT-Kanpur professor, has been awarded the twenty-fifth GD Birla Award for Scientific Research for the year 2015. 

Sanjay Mittal has been also bestowed with this award for his significant contributions have been in the area of Mechanics. 

Know About Sanjay Mittal –

• Sanjay Mittal is a Professor at the Department of Aerospace Engineering in the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur.
• Sanjay Mittal was instrumental in establishing the High Performance Computing (HPC) facility at IIT Kanpur. Along with this he also heads the National Wind Tunnel Facility. 

Scientists develop world’s first 1000-processor microchip named Kilo-core


The scientists have developed d a microchip, named KiloCore that has 1000 independent programmable processors. The microchip is the world’s first 1,000-processor chip and has the highest clock-rate processor ever designed at the university level.

Key Facts

  •  KiloCore microchip has been designed by a team scientist from the University of California, Davis, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. 
  • It contain around 621 million transistors and was fabricated by tech giant IBM using their 32 nm (nanometre) CMOS technology. 
  • It is the most energy-efficient chip which has maximum computation rate of 1.78 trillion instructions per second.
  •  It can execute around 115 billion instructions per second by dissipating only 0.7 Watts of energy. 
  • Each core processor on the chip is independently programmable and runs an average maximum clock frequency of 1.78 GHz. 
  • It has potential to save energy when not needed as each processor is independently clocked and it can shut itself down.

Mahashangarh declared as the SAARC cultural capital for 2016-17

Mahasthangarh, the 3rd century BC archaeological site in Bogra, Bangladesh, has been declared as the South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (SAARC) cultural capital for the year 2016-17. As a SARRC cultural capital, the historic place will host festivals on literature, films, foods and dances from October 2016 to September 2017. Besides, the year 2016-17 has also be declared the SAARC Year of Cultural Heritage. 

About Mahasthangarh 

  • Mahasthangarh is one of the earliest urban archaeological sites so far discovered in Bangladesh. It dates back 3rd century BC and is located 11 km north of Bogra in Bangladesh.
  •  It was the ancient capital of Pundravardhana i.e. home of the Pundra, a group of people not speaking languages of the Indo-European family


Russian ice Hockey player Artemi Panarin wins 2015-16 Calder Memorial Trophy

The Russian professional ice hockey winger Artemi Panarin (24) has won the 2015-16 season Calder Memorial Trophy. He was presented with this award as the US National Hockey League (NHL’s) Rookie of the Year at the NHL Awards ceremony. Presently, Artemi Panarin plays for the Chicago Blackhawks at the NHL. In the 2015-16 season in 80 games, he had surpassed all rookies in goals (30), points (77), assists (47), power-play goals (8), power-play points (24) and game-winning goals (7). With this, he also becomes the first Chicago Blackhawks player to win the Calder Memorial award since American Patrick Kane, who got the 2007-2008 rookie trophy.

 About Calder Memorial Trophy 

  • The Calder Memorial Trophy is an annual award given to the ice hockey player selected as the most proficient in his first year of competition in the NHL.
  •  The winner is selected in a poll of the Professional Hockey Writers’ Association at the end of the regular season. The trophy is awarded at the NHL Awards ceremony after the playoffs.



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