Current Affairs Update 22 and 23 June 2017

DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS UPDATE

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In this Current Affairs Update we regularly provide day-to-day important Current Affairs Headlines like National,International,Financial,Obituaries etc.In addition to this we provide Weekly Current Affairs Antibiotics and Monthly Current Affairs PDF One Liner.You can easily download those PDFs and if you like those please share it.

India’s biggest municipal bonds programme launched in Maharashtra.

• To finance its 24x7 water supply project, the Pune Municipal Corporation on Thursday launched India’s biggest municipal bonds programme.The project looks to raise Rs 2,264 crore in five years.Pune’s bond programme is the first since the publication of the Issue and Listing of Debt Securities by Municipalities Regulations, 2015, by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).
• In its first part, the corporation raised Rs200 crore through the Bombay Stock Exchange’s bond trading platform at a coupon rate (a fixed security amount) of 7.59% for 10 years. The issue received a good response with bonds being over-subscribed by six times.
• Municipal bonds are debt instruments through which a corporation or municipality raises money from individuals or institutions. The civic body floating the bonds returns the principal amount on a maturity date with a specific amount of interest. 

Qatar Airways is now the best airline in the world.

• Qatar Airways has been named Best Airline in the World for 2017 by leading consumer aviation website Skytrax .
• The Gulf-based carrier was presented with the honor at Tuesday's World Airline Awards at the 2017 Paris Air Show. 
• The other carriers to make the Skytrax top 10 include (in no particular order): Singapore, Hainan, ANA, Cathay Pacific, Emirates, Etihad, Lufthansa, Garuda Indonesia, and EVA Air.
• This is Qatar Airways' fourth win in the last 10 years after securing the top spot in 2011, 2012, and 2015.

Haryana And Uttarakhand Declared Open Defecation Free States Under Swachh Bharat Mission.

• Uttarakhand and Haryana have become the fourth and fifth Open Defecation Free (ODF) states of India under the Swachh Bharat Mission, said an official statement on Thursday.
• The two states on Thursday joined the league of Sikkim, Himachal Pradesh and Kerala, which were the first three states to be declared ODF.
• Uttarakhand's 13 districts, 95 blocks, 7,256 gram panchayats and 1,5751 villages, while Haryana has 21 districts, 124 blocks, and 6,083 gram panchayats -- all of which have declared themselves as ODF in formal declarations in Dehradun and Chandigarh, respectively.
• With the total number of ODF states now rising to five, over two lakh villages and 147 districts have been declared Open Defecation Free across the country.

Russian diplomat appointed to lead new UN counter-terror unit.

• The United Nations has appointed veteran Russian diplomat Vladimir Voronkov to head a newly-established counter-terrorism division, despite growing tensions between the US and Russia. 
• UN deputy spokesman Farhan Haq announced the appointment made by Secretary General Antonio Guterres, one week after the General Assembly voted to create the new coordinating body.
• It will oversee the counter-terrorism efforts of 36 UN-funded programmes currently housed under a variety of UN agencies, 12 inter-agency working groups, as well as Interpol, and the World Customs Organisation.

SEBI eases norms to buy stressed assets.

• As part of the larger attempts of the government to resolve the massive bad debt issue, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on Wednesday relaxed norms for investors acquiring assets in companies with stressed assets and facing bankruptcy proceedings.
• The board of the capital markets regulator has decided to exempt the acquirers from making open offers after buying stakes from lenders while including checks such as a three-year lock-in for new investors and mandating that such relaxation would have to be approved by a special resolution.
• This would come as a big relief to both lenders and acquirers concerned about a possible open offer since sizeable stakes could change hands.

As per RBI data Bank Credit grows at 6.02% , deposits at 11.19%.

• Banks’ credit growth was up 6.02% to Rs76,58,212 crore in the fortnight ended 9 June from Rs72,22,939 crore in the same period of fiscal 2016, according to the data released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
• The growth in advances in the reporting period was slightly higher than the previous fortnight ended 26 May 2017, RBI data showed. In the fortnight ended 26 May, advances had grown by 5.08% with outstanding loans at Rs75,93,546 crore.
• In the fiscal ended 31 March, credit growth had plunged to a multi-year low of 5.08% with outstanding loan at Rs78.81 trillion as against Rs75.01 trillion on 1 April 2016. In the reporting fortnight, bank deposits grew at 11.19% to Rs105,77,947 crore from Rs95,13,148 crore in the fortnight ended 10 June 2016.

Manappuram Home Finance announces appointments of MD, CEO.

• Manappuram Finance today announced the appointment of Jeevandas Narayan as the Managing Director and Subhash Samant as CEO of its fully-owned home loans subsidiary, Manappuram Home Finance. 
• Prior to this Narayan, who has more than 37 years of experience in the financial services industry, was Managing Director of State Bank of Travancore, a release issued here said.

Kannadiga agri scientist Dr Srihari Chandraghatgi wins Japan's top honour for environment.

• Dr Srihari Chandraghatgi, hailing from Siddapura, Uttara Kannada district, has won the prestigious top honor in Japan, bagging the Ministry of Environment Award 2017. The award, a first for a foreigner, is given for developing cutting edge technology to address environmental issues. The award was conferred at a programme in Kasumigaseki, Tokyo on June 8, by Japan's State Minister for Environment.
• Dr Chandraghatgi has been serving as Agri-microbiologist in Japan since over two decades. He is the President and CEO of EcoCycle Corporation and has more than a dozen patents in his name. His technology has been implemented in over 400 spots in Japan, Thailand, India, China and the US. He is credited with finding natural microorganism that protects the environment. He is also famous for his technology of utilising natural water in dry regions for cultivation, reports Kananda Prabha.

Saudi king ousts nephew to name son as first in line to throne.

• King Salman of Saudi Arabia has ousted his nephew as crown prince and replaced him with his son, Mohammed bin Salman, confirming the 31-year-old as heir and consolidating the kingdom’s move to reassert its influence as a regional power.
• The move was announced by royal decree just after midnight, stunning the Saudi establishment, which has seen Bin Salman’s profile soar over the past three years but regarded the role of the former crown prince, Mohammed bin Nayef, a veteran security tsar, as secure.

Indian Railways: Rajdhani and Shatabdi trains to undergo a makeover of Rs 50 lakh each train under ‘Operation Swarn’.

• With an aim to enhance travel experience and provide passengers with advanced amenities, Indian Railways premium trains – the Rajdhani Express and Shatabdi Express are all set to get a face-lift. After years of service, the two trains are believed to undergo a makeover under the project ‘Operation-Swarn’. An amount of Rs 50 lakh will be allotted to each Rajdhani and Shatabdi train on various routes for the revamp and two committees will be formed to monitor the work.
• The upgradation work will start from September 26 and more trains will be identified in a phased manner. The Mumbai-Delhi Rajdhani Express and Mumbai-Ahmedabad Shatabdi Express have been selected for upgradation in the first phase.