GK & Current Affairs June 2016

The economist Pedro Pablo Kuczynski have won the majority of votes in Peru's cliff-hanger presidential election.
•    The electoral commission said he received 50.12% of votes, against 49.88% for his rival, Keiko Fujimori.
•    About 50,000 ballots must first be settled by an electoral court before a winner can be officially declared.
•    This has been the tightest fought election in Peru in five decades.
•    As the last few votes were counted, the candidates remained neck-and-neck, with Mr Kuczynski leading by a tiny margin.
•    The closeness of the result came as a surprise after polls in the run-up to the election had suggested Ms Fujimori had a comfortable lead.
•    Analysts said corruption scandals in Ms Fujimori's Popular Force Party may have dented her support since April, when she comfortably won the first round of voting.
•    She is the daughter of Peru's former President, Alberto Fujimori, who is in jail for crimes against humanity.
•    'Promoting economic growth'
•    Mr Kuczynski, who is an ex-Wall Street financier, said he would use his international financial experience to promote economic growth.
•    He has the support of prominent figures such as Nobel-Prize-winning novelist Mario Vargas Llosa and left-wing candidate Veronika Mendoza, who came third in the first round of voting.
•    But he has faced scrutiny over his close relationship to Peru's business elite.

India has signed loan agreement of US 12 crore dollars with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to improve irrigation and water management infrastructure in Odisha.
On 7 June 2016 India signed loan agreement of 12 crore ($120 million) US dollars with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to improve irrigation and water management infrastructure in Odisha.
•    The financing will be used for modernizing seven irrigation subprojects resulting in improved irrigation in over one lakh hectares.
•    It will also help in strengthening of Water User Associations (WUAs) and the institutional capacity of Odisha’s Department of Water Resources.
•    The project aims to improve existing irrigation infrastructure, operation and maintenance, and water use efficiency that will lead to higher agricultural productivity.
•    The selected areas for the investment program are the Baitarani, Brahmani, Budhabalanga, and Subernarekha river basins and part of the Mahanadi delta.
•    The loan is the second tranche of a 157.5 million dollar financing facility under the Orissa Integrated Irrigated Agriculture and Water Management Investment Program.
•    The second tranche loan from ADB’s ordinary capital resources has a 20-year term. 
•    The State of Odisha, acting through its Department of Water Resources is responsible for implementing the tranche 2 activities and overall program, which are both due for completion by September 2018.

India was ranked low at 141st place on a Global Peace Index  making it less peaceful than countries like Burundi, Serbia and Burkina Faso – with violence taking a $680-billion toll on its economy in 2015. 
•    In a ranking of 163 countries, compiled by global think tank Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP), Syria has been named as the least peaceful, followed by South Sudan, Iraq, Afghanistan and Somalia.
•    On the other hand, Iceland was ranked as the world's most peaceful country, followed by Denmark and Austria. 
•    India has moved up two position, from 141st last year, but the study said the country's peace score has "deteriorated" over the past year – which means the slight rise in ranking could be due to worse performance of others.
•    India's scores for ongoing domestic and international conflict and militarization have deteriorated slightly. 
•    The country remains vulnerable to acts of terror and security threats at its shared border with Pakistan. 
•    The GPI 2016 ranks 163 independent states and territories according to their level of peacefulness. 
•    The economic impact of violence on the global economy touched $13.6 trillion or 13.3 percent of gross world product. 
•    The amount is also equivalent to 11 times the size of global foreign direct investment, it added.

The RBI kept the policy repo rate under the LAF unchanged at 6.5%
•    The cash reserve ratio of scheduled banks unchanged at 4% of net demand and time liabilities
•    And continue to provide liquidity as required but progressively lower the average ex ante liquidity deficit in the system from one per cent of NDTL to a position closer to neutrality.
•    The reverse repo rate under the LAF will remain unchanged at 6.0 per cent, and the marginal standing facility (MSF) rate and the Bank Rate at 7.0 per cent.
•    Since the first bi-monthly statement of April 2016, global growth is uneven and struggling to gain traction. 
•    World trade remains muted in an environment of weak demand. 
•    In the United States, growth was slow once again in Q1 because of contracting industrial activity and exports.
•    GDP growth slowed sequentially in China in Q1, with retail sales, industrial production and fixed investment showing signs of weakness in recent months amidst still rising levels of indebtedness among households and corporations. 

The World Oceans Day was observed globally on 8 June 2016 with the theme Healthy oceans, healthy planet. 
•    The main focus of this year's theme is on curbing the plastic pollution.
•    Plastic pollution is a serious threat because it degrades very slowly, polluting waterways for a very long time. 
•    The United Nations celebrated World Oceans Day 2016 by recognizing the winners of the Annual World Oceans Day Oceanic Photo Competition at an event at the United Nations Headquarters. 
•    To remind everyone of the major role the oceans have in everyday life. They are the lungs of our planet, providing most of the oxygen we breathe.
•    This day is celebrated to:
•    Inform the public of the impact of human actions on the ocean.
•    Develop a worldwide movement of citizens for the ocean.
•    Celebrate together the beauty, the wealth and the promise of the ocean.
•    In 2008, the United Nations General Assembly through its resolution 63/111decided that, as from 2009, 8 June would be designated by the United Nations as the World Oceans Day.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has announced that Thailand has become the first Asian country to eliminate mother-to-child HIV transmission.
On 8 June 2016 World Health Organization (WHO) recognized Thailand, Armenia, Belarus and Moldova for eliminating mother-to-child transmission of HIV and Syphilis.
•    The announcement was made in New York on the eve of the United Nations General-Assembly High-Level Meeting on Ending AIDS. 
•    With this remarkable accomplishment, Thailand also became Asia and the Pacific region’s first country to eliminate mother-to-child transmission of both infections.
•    These countries have worked to ensure early access to prenatal care, HIV and syphilis testing for pregnant women and their partners.
•    They also   provided treatment to women who test positive, as well as their babies.
•    The provision of reproductive health information, the engagement of communities and outreach to marginalized populations, in a manner consistent with basic human rights and gender equality, has helped to facilitate such access.
•    In 2014, WHO and partners developed global processes and criteria to validate the elimination of mother-to-child transmission of both infections through a rigorous review of country progress.
•    As treatment for prevention of mother-to-child-transmission is not 100% effective, elimination of transmission is defined as a reduction of transmission to such a low level that it no longer constitutes a public health problem.
•    On 30 June 2015, Cuba became the first country to be validated for having successfully eliminated mother-to-child transmission of HIV and syphilis.
•    In 2007, WHO launched the Global elimination of congenital syphilis: rationale and strategy for action. The strategy aims to increase global access to syphilis testing and treatment for pregnant women.

Maria Sharapova was suspended for two years from Tennis by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) on 8 June 2016 for using a prohibited drug. 
•    She will remain under suspension for two years, commencing on 26 January 2016.
•    The Russian tennis sensation was provisionally banned in March 2016 after testing positive for meldonium at Australian Open in January 2016.
•    Meldonium is a metabolic modulator that is included under section S4 (Hormone and Metabolic Modulators) of the 2016 WADA Prohibited List, and therefore is also prohibited under the Programme.
•    Sharapova will serve a period of ineligibility of two years.
•    Due to her prompt admission of her violation, that period of ineligibility should be back-dated under Article 10.10.3(b) of the Programme to commence from 26 January 2016 (the date of sample collection) and so should end at midnight on 25 January 2018.
•    Her results at the 2016 Australian Open should be disqualified, with resulting forfeiture of the ranking points and prize money that she won at that event.
•    The Tennis Anti-Doping Programme applies to all players competing at Grand Slam tournaments and events sanctioned by the ITF, ATP, and WTA. 

India has surpassed Japan to become the world’s third-largest oil consumer.
•    With its oil demand galloping 8.1 per cent in 2015, according to BP Statistical Review of World Energy. 
•    With demand of 4.1 million barrels a day, India is the third-largest consumer behind the U.S. (19.39 million bpd) and China (11.96 million bpd). India accounted for 4.5 per cent of world oil consumption in 2015.
•    India’s demand growth surpassed China’s 6.3 per cent expansion. 
•    The U.S. oil consumption grew 1.6 per cent, which accounts for 19.7 per cent of the total world pie of 95 million bpd in 2015.
•    Japan slipped to the fourth spot after its oil usage contracted 3.9 per cent to 4.15 million bpd in 2015. 
•    In 2014, it used 4.3 million bpd, ahead of India’s 3.84 million bpd.
•    The review shows that global demand for primary energy grew only 1 per cent in 2015, which is significantly slower than the 10-year average.
•    Oil remained the world’s leading fuel, accounting for 32.9 per cent of global energy consumption and is gaining market share for the first time since 1999. 
•    Coal came in as the second-largest fuel by market share (29.2 per cent).
•    Natural gas’ market share of primary energy consumption stood at 23.8 per cent.

A study by Microsoft has found that At least four out of ten computers in Asia Pacific countries are likely to be infected with malware.
•    While Pakistan tops the list of countries figuring in the Malware Infection Index 2016, India ranks 8th on the list.
•    The index has also identified the top three most encountered malware as Gamarue, Skeeyah and Peals.
•    Out of the top five locations across the globe most at risk of infection, a total of four are from the Asia Pacific — Pakistan, Indonesia, Bangladesh and Nepal, topping the rankings at first, second, fourth and fifth places respectively in terms of computers encountering malware.
•    The Asia Pacific region is especially vulnerable with emerging markets most at risk of malware threats.
•    More than 40% of computers in the 19 countries in Asia Pacific region are infected against the global average being around 20%, Microsoft has claimed.

Forbes recently released a ranking of ‘The 100 Most Powerful Women In the World’. It includes four Indian women Arundhati Bhattacharya(30), Chairperson of SBI bank; Chanda Kochhar (40), MD and CEO of  ICICI Bank; Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw (77), Chairman and MD of Biocon; and Shobhana Bhartia (93), Chairperson and Editorial Director of HT Media Ltd.
•    Bhilai-born Arundhati’s background does not have anything to do with banking or finance; she graduated from Jadavpur University as an English Honours student. 
•    She converted her first job into her passion, which swiftly led her up the corporate ladder. On the way, she became an icon for every banker in the country.
•    Born in Jodhpur, Chanda Kochhar was a brilliant student who dreamt of becoming an IAS officer. She received the Wockhardt Gold Medal for Excellence in Management Studies as well as the J. N. Bose Gold Medal in Cost Accountancy for highest marks in the same year. 
•    She met her husband, wind energy entrepreneur Deepak Kochhar, at the Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies in Mumbai and is today the proud mother of a son and a daughter. 
•    Bangalore-born Mazumdar Shaw started her professional career as a trainee brewer in Carlton & United Beverages, before joining Biocon Biochemicals Limited of Ireland as a trainee manager. 
•    She commenced her entrepreneurial journey from a rented garage in Bangalore, from where she started the Indian arm of the company. 
•    Ranked no 93, Shobhana Bhartia makes her debut on the Forbes list with her impressive work as the chairperson of Hindustan Times Media.
•    The daughter of renowned industrialist KK Birla and granddaughter of GD Birla, Shobhana Bhartia inherited a newspaper that was started with the intention of helping with the freedom struggle in pre-independence India. 
•    She spent time in each department of the publication to gain an appreciation of the different cogs of the business, before taking on the top job.