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Current Affairs - 17 June 2021
1.Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella named as Chairman of the board
- Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has been named as the Chairman of the Microsoft
Corp. - He will succeed John Thompson, who will now serve as a lead independent director.
- Nadella took over as CEO in 2014 from Steve Ballmer.
- He has been instrumental in scaling up its business including billion-dollar acquisitions like LinkedIn, Nuance Communications, and ZeniMax.
- Nadella has transformed the software titan into America’s second-largest firm by value after tech giant Apple.
Foot Notes:
About Microsoft:
CEO: Satya Nadella
Founded: April 4, 1975
Founders: Bill Gates, Paul Allen
2.World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought 2021: 17th June
- Every year on June 17, World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought is
observed. - The day’s focus is to turn the degraded land that has lost its natural productivity due to human activity into healthy land.
- The UN-designated day is all about a green planet, sustainable development, and the health and welfare of people.
- This year’s theme is “Restoration.Land Recovery. We build back better with healthy land”.
3.Google Pay to allow 'tokenized' payments through SBI, IndusInd cards
- Google Pay has tied up with a clutch of leading Indian banks to offer 'tokenized'
card services to customers on its UPI app. - It has now added debit cards by SBI, IndusInd Bank, and Federal Bank and Credit cards by IndusInd Bank and HSBC India to its tokenized offerings.
- It is a feature that enables users to make debit or credit card payments through a secure digital token attached to their phone.
- The network partner for these transactions is VISA.
Foot Notes:
About Google:
Founded: September 4, 1998
CEO: Sundar Pichai
Headquarters: Mountain View, CA
Founders: Larry Page, Sergey Brin
4.Asian Development Bank, India sign $ 484 mn loan to upgrade road network in TN industrial corr
- The ADB and the GoI signed a $484 million loan to improve transport
connectivity and facilitate industrial development in the Chennai–Kanyakumari Industrial Corridor (CKIC) in Tamil Nadu. - CKIC is part of India’s East Coast Economic Corridor (ECEC).
- ADB is the lead partner of the Government of India in developing ECEC.
- The project will upgrade about 590 km of state highways in the CKIC influence areas that cover 23 of the 32 districts b/w Chennai and Kanyakumari.
Foot Notes:
About Asian Development Bank:
Headquarters: Mandaluyong, Philippines
Founded: December 19, 1966
Leader: Masatsugu Asakawa
5.IIT Bombay Hosts Conference of BRICS Network Universities as part of 13th B
- A 3-day virtual Conference of BRICS Network Universities (BNU) on the theme
of electric mobility was inaugurated at IIT Bombay. - This conference is part of the engagements that India is hosting under the education stream during its Chairship of the 13th BRICS Summit.
- Over 100 students, researchers, and faculty from the BNU of the 5-member countries are expected to participate in the conference.
- IIT Bombay is the lead institution of India for the BNU.
6.India extends $ 100 million LoC to Sri Lanka for Solar Energy Projects
- India has signed an agreement extending a $100 mn Line of Credit (LOC) to Sri
Lanka for projects in the Solar Energy Sector. - The agreement was signed between Sri Lanka and the EXIM Bank.
- This LOC will help finance various projects in the solar energy sector in Sri Lanka.
- Some of the projects were announced during the Founding Conference of the ISA held in March 2018 in Delhi.
- Thus far 89 countries, including Sri Lanka, have signed the Framework Agreement of the ISA.
Foot Notes:
About Sri Lanka:
Capital: Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte
President: Gotabaya Rajapaksa
7.China sends its first crew to new space station
- China launched a spacecraft ‘Shenzhou-12’ carrying 3 astronauts to part of its
own space station. - It was launched from Gobi Desert.
- China becomes the third country to send astronauts into space.
- This is a third of the 11-mission needed to complete China’s space station by 2022.
- The Chinese station reportedly is intended to be used for 15 years and may outlast the International Space Station.
- This is also China’s 7th crewed mission overall.
Foot Notes:
About China:
President: Xi Jinping
Capital: Beijing
Currency: Renminbi
8.Centre appoints Finance Ministry official Anand Mohan Bajaj to SEBI Board
- The Govt of India has appointed Anand Mohan Bajaj as a Member of the Board
of Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). - Currently, he is holding the post of Additional Secretary in the Finance Ministry since May 2020.
- He will succeed Tarun Bajaj, who is now the Revenue Secretary.
- He had rejoined the Finance Ministry in September 2018 as Joint Secretary.
- He had earlier served as Director (capital markets) in the Finance Ministry between July 2006-June 2011.
Foot Notes:
About SEBI:
Chairperson: Ajay Tyagi
Headquarters: Mumbai, Maharashtra
Founder: Government of India
Founded: April 12, 1992
9.PM Modi addresses Europe’s biggest startup & tech event -Viva Tech
- PM Modi addressed the 5th edition of Viva Tech, the largest digital, and start-up
event in Europe. - The Prime Minister has been invited as a Guest of Honour.
- He said that India is adaptable and agile even in the middle of the pandemic.
- VivaTech is being held in Paris every year since 2016.
- It is jointly organized by Publicis Groupe, a prominent advertising and marketing conglomerate, and Les Echos – a leading French media group.
10.TRAI launches TV Channel Selector Portal
- TRAI has launched TV Channel Selector Portal.
- This portal will facilitate those subscribers who do not own a mobile phone but want to use a web browser for the selection of TV channels.
- This portal will help the subscriber to check their own subscription and view all the channels provided by the DTH and Cable operators.
- The portal also allows the subscriber to modify the existing subscriptions.
- The users can also provide feedback through the portal.
Foot Notes:
About TRAI:
Headquarters: New Delhi, India
Founded: February 20, 1997
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