Current Affairs 25 June 2018

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National and International

India, Seychelles ink six agreements in several fields

• India and Seychelles have signed six MoUs to further expand bilateral ties between the two sides. These include areas of naval cooperation, cybersecurity, culture, dvelopment projects among others.
• The MoUs were exchanged in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Seychelles President Danny Faure after the two leaders held bilateral and delegation level talks in Hyderabad House.
• The Prime Minister announced a line of credit worth 100 million USD for Seychelles.
• India and Seychelles agreed to work together on a project to develop a naval base at the Assumption Island, Seychelles.

Report on ‘Women in Prisons’ launched by the Ministry of Women and Child Development

• The Ministry of Women and Child Development (MWCD) has come up with its report titled ‘Women in Prisons’ which aims to build an understanding of the various entitlements of women in prisons, the various issues faced by them and possible methods for resolution of the same.
• The report contains a comprehensive list of 134 recommendations for improving the lives of women under incarceration, addressing a wide range of issues pertaining to pregnancy and childbirth in prison, mental health, legal aid, reintegration in society and their caregiving responsibilities among others.
• Various changes in the National Model Prison Manual 2016 have also been suggested to bring it in line with international standards and norms.

E Sreedharan to head the committee on standards for metro rail systems

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved a proposal to set up a committee to lay down standards for metro rail systems in the country.
• The committee will be headed by E Sreedharan, also known as the “Metro Man”

Turkey’s Erdogan wins presidential election

• Tayyip Erdogan won Turkey’s presidential election on Sunday, the head of the country’s electoral body said.
• Electoral board Chairman Sadi Guven said that with more than 97 per cent of votes counted, Erdogan had an absolute majority. 

Bahadurgarh Metro dedicated to public

• The 11.2-km-long fully elevated Mundka-Bahadurgarh section of the Delhi Metro’s Green Line was opened to passengers on June 24, 2018.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the section through video-conferencing at a function held at the City Park Metro station in Bahadurgarh, known as the Gateway to Haryana. This is the DMRC’s third foray into the neighbouring state of Haryana. 
• 11-km-long track had been constructed at a cost of Rs 2,028 crore 

Business, Banking and Economy News

RBI sets June 2019 as deadline for upgradation of OS of all ATMs

• Highlighting concerns about the ATMs running on Windows XP and/or other unsupported operating systems, RBI has set June 2019 as the deadline for upgradation of supported versions of operating system in a phased manner.

i. Not less than 25% of them shall be upgraded by	September 2018
ii. Not less than 50% of them shall be upgraded by	December 2018
iii. Not less than 75% of them shall be upgraded by	March 2019
iv. All of them shall be upgraded by	June 2019

Awards and Recongnitions

IIFA Awards held in Bangkok, Thailand

• The International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) Awards 2018 was organised in Bangkok, Thailand on June 24, 2018. 

List of award winners:

• Best Picture – Tumhari Sulu
• Best Direction – Saket Chaudhary (Hindi Medium)
• Best Actor in a Leading Role – Female – Late Sridevi (Mom)
• Best Actor in a Leading Role – Male – Irrfan Khan (Hindi Medium)
• Best Supporting Actor – Female – Meher Vij (Secret Superstar)
• Best Supporting Actor – Male – Nawazuddin Siddiqui (Mom)
• Best Story – Amit V Masurkar (Newton)
• Best Debut Director – Konkona Sen Sharma (A death in the Gunj)
• Best Music Direction – Amaal Mallik, Tanishk Bagchi & Akhil Sachdeva (Badrinath Ki Dulhania)
• Best Playback Singer Female – Meghna Mishra (Main Kaun Hoon – Secret Superstar)
• Best Playback Singer Male – Arijit Singh (Hawayein – Jab Harry Met Sejal)
• Best Lyrics – Manoj Muntashir (Mere Rashke Qamar – Baadshaho)
• Style Icon Award – Kriti Sanon
• Next IIFA give away winner – Arjun Kapoor

Preti Taneja wins UK’s Desmond Elliott Prize

• Preti Taneja has won the prestigious Desmond Elliott Prize given for the best debut novel in English  published in The UK titled “We That Are Young”.
• The novel is a retelling of Shakespeare’s “King Lear” set in modern-day India.

Sports News

Deepika Kumari wins individual recurve gold at Salt Lake World Cup

• Archer Deepika Kumari won her first individual gold medal in six years at the Salt Lake World Cup following a 7-3 win over Germany’s Michelle Kroppen in the recurve final.
• In six appearances at the Archery World Cup, Deepika had come back with silver medals in 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2015 but this time she finally got the elusive yellow metal.

R Praggnanandhaa of India becomes world’s second youngest Grand Master

• R Praggnanandhaa has become the country’s youngest and the world’s second youngest Grand Master at the age of 12 years, 10 months and 13 days.
• He hails from Chennai. He won the final round against Dutch GM Roeland Pruijssers and finished second in the 4th Gredine Open held in Italy.

Saroha wins gold in World Para Athletics Grand Prix

• Amit Kumar Saroha the Haryana para-athlete clinched a gold medal in the men’s club throw event (F51) at the World Para Athletics Grand Prix in Tunisia.
• He hurled the club to a distance 29.42m, the season’s second best performance, to bag the gold.

Lewis Hamilton wins French Grand Prix

• Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) won 2018 French Grand Prix to regain top spot in the world championship.
• This was his first win in France, his third this year and the 65th of his career.
• Top three: Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) ; Max Verstappen (Red Bull) ; Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari)