GK and Current Affairs Updates

American multinational retail corporation, Walmart has topped the Fortune 500 list for the 4th consecutive year. 
•    Rounding out the top 10 in the 62nd annual rankings, based on total revenues for their fiscal years: ExxonMobil, Apple, Berkshire Hathaway, McKesson, UnitedHealth Group, CVS Health,General Motors, Ford Motor and AT&T.
•    Apple, which was the most profitable company on the list, with $53 billion in profits, was among companies making big moves this year, jumping to No. 3 from No. 5 last year. 
•    Other movers in the top 25 included Amazon.com (No. 18) and Walgreens (No. 19), which moved into the top 20 from No. 29 and No. 35 last year & Microsoft (No. 25) made the top 25 for the first time, up from No. 31 last year.
•    Facebook jumped 85 spots to No. 157, while Netflix leaped 95 spots to No. 379 (from No. 474) and Expedia moved 73 to No. 385. 
•    More than half of Fortune 500 companies saw sales drop, including No. 1 Walmart, which had a sales decline of 0.7% in 2015. 
•    For the entire list, revenues were down 4.2% from 2015.

Guwahati on 6 June 2016 became first city in the country to have its own ‘city animal’ with Kamrup metropolitan district administration declaring Gangetic River Dolphin as its mascot.
•    Gangetic River Dolphin is locally known as ‘Sihu’ and fewer than 2000 such animals remain in the River Brahmaputra along Guwahati.
•    In the three-month long voting process Gangetic River dolphin received 24247 votes out of 60003 total votes.
•    On the other hand, the Greater Adjutant Stork got 18454 votes while the Black Softshell Turtle got 17302 votes.
•    The Gangetic Dolphins are also called as the ‘Tigers of Ganga’ as it enjoys the position in Ganga that is equivalent to that of the tiger in the forest.
•    Its scientific name is Platanista gangetica.
•    Ganges River Dolphins prefer deep waters, in and around the confluence of two or more rivers. They share their habitat with crocodiles, fresh water turtles and wetland birds.
•    The distribution range of the Ganges River Dolphins in India covers seven states namely, Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal.
•    Rivers where these dolphins are found: River Ganges, Chambal (Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh), Ghaghra, Gandak (Bihar and Uttar Pradesh), Sone and Kosi rivers (Bihar), River Brahmaputra from Sadia up to Dhubri and Kulsi River, a tributary of the Brahmaputra river,
•    The Ganges River Dolphin has a sturdy, yet flexible, body with large flippers and a low triangular dorsal fin. It weighs up to 150 kg. Females are larger than males.
•    The Gangetic Dolphins are generally blind and catch their prey by emitting an ultrasonic sound which reaches the prey.
•    A Ganges River Dolphin Conservation Programme was initiated in 1997 to build a scientific database of the population status of the species and study the habitat quality of the dolphins' distribution range.

On 4th  June 2016 India became the co-chair of Working Group on Maritime Situational Awareness under Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia (CGPCS).
Steps taken by Indian Navy to ensure safety at Somalian Coast and in the Indian Ocean Region
•    In addition to escorting Indian-flagged ships, ships of other countries have also been escorted by the Indian Navy. 
•    To maintain high degree of alertness in the region, around 19 coastal security operations and exercises have been undertaken over the past year. 
•    It is a coalition of states, international organizations, the private sector and civil society that came together to fight piracy together in a coordinated manner.
•    It works on the basis of Contact Group model that facilitates discussion and coordination of actions among states and organizations to suppress Somali piracy.
•    Till now, more than 60 countries and international organizations, including India, have become part of this forum.
•    Seychelles is the current Chairman of the CGPCS for the biennium 2016-17.

On 5 June 2016 Rajasthan Government launched mobile application RajVayu for sharing information about Air Quality Index of Jaipur, Udaipur and Jodhpur. 
•    The app was launched by Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje on the eve of World Environment Day.
•    With this, Rajasthan became first state in country to launch such app for sharing information about air quality index of cities.  
•    The app has been designed by Rajasthan State Pollution Control Board (RSPCB) jointly with Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM). 
•    It will share details about the air quality, such as levels of pollutants likes SOx, NOx, CO, Ozone particles and Particulate Matter (PM) with the city residents and tourists. 
•    It will also share temperature, wind speed, humidity, weather forecast and advisories. 
•    This app is based on the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting Research (SAFAR-India) which is presently connected in Delhi, Mumbai and Pune. 
•    By 2017, the services of this application would be expanded in other cities in the state including in Ajmer, Alwar, Bhiwadi, Kota and Pali.

Ashok Ganapathy was on 6 June 2016 appointed as the Director of Bharti Airtel Ltd. He will take over the post with effect from 1 July 2016.
•    Ganapathy succeeds Manish Prakash as Director (Airtel Business). Prakash has been appointed as Director (strategic alliances). 
•    He will report to Gopal Vittal, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director (India & South Asia), Bharti Airtel.
•    In this new role, Ashok will be responsible for driving the growth of Airtel's B2B portfolio that serves top corporations, government entities and other corporate with end-to-end solutions.
•    Ganapathy joined Airtel in 2013 as the Hub CEO for Mumbai, Maharashtra, Goa & Gujarat circles. 
•    Ganapathy has an experience of 26 years in FMCG, entertainment, retail and telecom sectors. 
•    He started his career with Hindustan Unilever in 1990 as a management trainee.
•    He has a B. Tech degree from IIT, Madras and MBA from IIM, Ahmadabad.

Airbus on 1 June 2016 displayed the world's first 3D-printed aircraft THOR at the International Aerospace Exhibition in Schoenefe.
The drone THOR is short for Test of High-tech Objectives in Reality and it resembles a large, white model airplane.
•    Is the world's first 3D-printed aircraft with just 3 parts.
•    It is windowless, weighs 21 kilo grams (46 pounds) and less than four metres (13 feet) long. It is Lighter, faster and cheaper.
•    Except the electrical elements, all other parts are printed (3D) from a substance called polyamide.
•    Thor's inaugural flight was conducted in November 2015 near the northern German city of Hamburg.
•    Airbus and Boeing are already using 3D printing, notably to make parts for their huge passenger jets the A350 and B787 Dreamliner.
•    The new 3D printers can make pieces up to 40 centimeters (15 inches) long and is of most use in particularly complex designs.
•    Apart from costs savings, 3D printing also promises ecological benefits as lighter jets use less fuel and spew out fewer pollutants.
•    It will be a radical technical innovation to reducing carbon emissions in aviation with air traffic expected to double in the next 20 years.

Deshauna Barber, a serving Army Reserve officer of United States (US), was on 5 June 2016 crowned as the Miss USA 2016 at the Miss USA competition 2016 held at the T-Mobile Arena off the Las Vegas Strip.
•    She represented the US capital as Miss District of Columbia. Miss Hawaii Chelsea Hardin came in as the first runner-up and Miss Georgia Emani Davis was the second runner-up.
•    With this, Barber became the first-ever military member to win Miss USA title. She will now represent the USA at Miss Universe Competition 2016.
•    Barber inherited the crown from 2015 winner Miss Oklahoma Olivia Jordan.
•    Barber works as an IT analyst at the US Department of Commerce.
•    Barber was commissioned as a Quartermaster Officer in 2011 in the Army Reserve of US.
•    She is currently a Logistics Commander for the 988th Quartermaster Detachment Unit based at Fort Meade, Maryland.
•    She is a member of Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority.
•    She was crowned as Miss District of Columbia USA 2016 in December 2015 by outgoing titleholder Lizzy Olsen.

Bollywood actress Dia Mirza was on 6 June 2016 named as the ambassador for Swachh Saathi (student internship) programme. It is a youth-based programme of Swachh Bharat Mission.
Under this Programme, more than 2000 interns would be enrolled to coordinate around 10000 schools across India.
•    They will also ensure that all students in the schools take the pledge for Clean India.
•    She was a second runner up at Femina Miss India 2000 and was subsequently sent to Miss Asia Pacific 2000, where she won. She became the first Indian to win this title in 29 years.
•    She also won Miss Beautiful Smile, Miss Avon and Miss Close-Up Smile in Miss India.
•    Besides being Bollywood actress, she was well-known in media for her social work.
•    She won an IIFA 2012 Green Award for her contribution towards green environment.
•    She conducted many awareness campaigns on prevention of female foeticide, HIV awareness, the Cancer Patients Aid Association, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), ADAPT, Child Rights and You (CRY).
•    She supported the Naramada Bachao Andolan in Public.
•    She made her bollywood debut with Rehnaa Hai Terre Dil Mein opposite R. Madhavan.
•    She is a member in the board of the Coca Cola foundation which works towards rural development in India.
•    She is the Eco Ambassador for Panasonic.

Chief Minister of Haryana Manohar Lal Khattar on 3 June 2016 laid foundation stone of Jai Jawan Awas Yojna (JJAY) at Bahadurgarh, Haryana.
Jai Jawan Awas Yojna is an initiative to provide affordable housing to serving and retired JCOs and Other Ranks.
•    The project is being executed by Army Welfare Housing Organization.
•    It aims to provide low cost housing.
•    This housing project has been named in the memory of Late Major Rajiv Joon, recipient of Ashok Chakra and Shaurya Chakra. 
•    Major Joon had attained martyrdom fighting militants in Anantnag district of Jammu & Kashmir.
•    The residential project at Bahadurgarh will be pitched at a very low cost for the benefit of JCOs and Other Ranks.
•    The Chief Minister had granted dispensation in construction which permitted construction of about 500 dwelling units instead of 400 planned earlier.

The Delhi Government on 6 June 2016 announced implementation of its solar policy.
•    The policy aims at making the national capital a solar city with installation of 1 GW solar power capacity by 2020. 
•    This target is proposed to double it to 2 GW during further next five years.
•    The policy has been prepared by the Delhi Government in consultation with the Dialogue and Development Commission after extensive consultations with local and international experts.
•    Mandatory deployment of solar panels on the government or public institutions.
•    Virtual net metering to give access to the solar net metering facility to the consumers who do not have a suitable roof for installing a solar system.
•    Group net metering to encourage solar plants on rooftops of buildings that cannot consume all of the energy generated locally.
•    Generation based incentive for three years.
•    Amendment of the building bylaws for rooftop solar installations.