GK and Current Affairs Updates

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.

CFDA usually announces the recipient of the CFDA Fashion Icon Award prior to the show but for the 2016 presentation they decided to keep it secret.
•    Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter Receives CFDA Fashion Icon Award.
•    Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter is an American singer, songwriter, record producer and actress. 
•    Born and raised in Houston, Texas, she performed in various singing and dancing competitions as a child and rose to fame in the late 1990s as lead singer of R&B girl-group Destiny's Child. 
•    Beyoncé has received numerous awards. 
•    As a solo artist she has sold over 16 million albums in the US, and over 100 million records worldwide (a further 60 million additionally with Destiny's Child), making her one of the best-selling music artists of all time.
•    The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) listed Beyoncé as the top certified artist of the 2000s (decade), with a total of 64 certifications.
•    Her songs "Crazy in Love", "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)", "Halo", and "Irreplaceable" are some of the best-selling singles of all time worldwide. 
•    In 2009, The Observer named her the Artist of the Decade and Billboard named her the Top Female Artist and Top Radio Songs Artist of the Decade.
•    In 2010, Billboard named her in their "Top 50 R&B/Hip-Hop Artists of the Past 25 Years" list at number 15.
•    In 2012 VH1 ranked her third on their list of the "100 Greatest Women in Music".
•    Beyoncé was the first female artist to be honored with the International Artist 

Facebook India on 7 June 2016 appointed Umang Bedi as its Managing Director (MD).
Bedi will take over from Kirthiga Reddy. Reddy will be returning to the US to take on a new role at the company’s Menlo Park headquarters.
•    Bedi will officially start at Facebook in July 2016 while Reddy will take up her new role in August 2016.
•    Bedi has close to two decades of leadership experience covering sales, marketing and partnerships with multinational companies.
•    Prior to joining Facebook, Umang Bedi worked as Managing Director for South Asia at Adobe Inc.
•    He is an engineering graduate from the University of Pune. He is also an alumnus of Harvard Business School.
•    He is the recipient of the prestigious 40 Under Forty: India’s Hottest Business Leaders Award 2014 given by The Economic Times and Chicago-based global executive search and leadership consulting firm Spencer Stuart.

Western Railways will observe safety awareness week from June 6 to June 10, 2016 to mark the 'International Level Crossing Awareness Day' on June 10 at all six divisions to educate people about the dangers of crossing unmanned railway level crossings without caution.
•    India is a member country of 'International Union of Railways' which is celebrating June 10 as 'International Level Crossing Awareness Day'. 
•    Accidents can be avoided by ""3 Es"" viz Education, Engineering and Enforcement. 
•    With a view to spread awareness in this regard among the target audience, this awareness campaign will be conducted among school & college students and panchayats.
•    For the safety of railway passengers as well as road users, it is necessary for road vehicles to always stop before a railway crossing and watch carefully for the incoming train from either sides and then cross the railway level crossing safely.
•    It is planned to carry out this campaign on mass level for effective dissemination of related information. 
•    Caps, coasters, steering wheel stickers, pencil stand, paper scales, posters and sharpeners with LC (Level Crossing) Awareness slogans will be distributed at Schools and at LCs during Level Crossing Awareness week.