Current Affairs 16th June 2018

International News

1. President 3-Nation Visit: Leaves for Greece

i. President Ram Nath Kovind left on a three-nation visit to Greece, Suriname and Cuba. The first halt of the nine-day tour will be at Athens, where he will meet Greek President Prokopis Pavlopoulos.
ii. President will leave for Suriname on the 2nd leg where he will hold discussions with President Desire Delano Bouterse. 

iii. In the last leg of his tour, the President will reach Cuba. He is scheduled to hold discussions with his Cuban counterpart Miguel Diaz – Canel Bermudez. 

Static/Current Takeaways Important for SBI Clerk/PO Exam 2018-

·                     Greece Capital- Athens, Currency- Euro, President- Prokopis Pavlopoulos.

·                     Suriname Capital- Paramaribo, Currency- Surinamese dollar, President- Desire Delano Bouterse.

·                     Cuba Capital- Havana, Currency- Cuban Peso, President-Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermudez. 

2. Maharashtra CM Meets World Bank CEO Kristalina Georgieva

i. Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis met World Bank CEO Kristalina Georgieva in Washington DC to seek assistance for a Multimodal Transport Corridor and the Rural Livelihood Project which aims to provide sustainable livelihood enhancements in 10,000 villages in the state.
ii. World Bank has assured of positive consideration of both the projects. Fadnavis, who is on a three-nation tour, also attended a business discussion organised by US-India Strategic Partnership Forum. 
iii. Mr Fadnavis was bestowed with the Outstanding Leadership in Development Award by Georgetown India Initiative and Centre for Strategic and International Studies.

Static/Current Takeaways Important for SBI PO/Clerk Exam 2018-

·                     President of the World Bank- Jim Yong Kim.

·                     Headquarters of World Bank- Washington, DC.

3. World's Most Experienced Spacewoman Peggy Whitson Retires As Astronaut

i. NASA's record-breaking astronaut, Peggy Whitson, retired after a 22-year-long career. Whitson, who joined NASA as a researcher in 1986, has spent more time off Earth than any other American, totalling 665 days over three International Space Station missions.
ii. The 58-year-old is the oldest woman to go into space and also the most experienced female spacewalker, with 10 missions.

Static/Current Takeaways Important for SBI PO/Clerk Exam 2018-

·                     NASA- National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

·                     NASA was founded in 1958.

·                     Jim Bridenstine is the 13th Administrator of NASA.

National News

4. Nitin Gadkari Releases NABARD Publication on 'Water Productivity Mapping of Major Indian Crops'

Nitin Gadkari 

i. Union Minister for Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, Shipping, Road Transport & Highways Nitin Gadkari released a book ‘Water productivity mapping of major Indian crops’ published by NABARD in a function at New Delhi.
ii. The book ‘Water productivity mapping of major Indian crops’ is based on a study of 10 important crops by a team under the leadership of leading agricultural economist Dr. Ashok Gulati.

Static/Current Takeaways Important for SBI PO/Clerk Exam 2018-

·                     NABARD stands for National Bank For Agriculture And Rural Development.

·                     NABARD came into existence on 12 July 1982.

·                     Headquarters- Mumbai, Chairman- Dr Harsh Kumar Bhanwala.

Banking News

5. Fitch Lowers Axis Bank's Outlook To Negative, Cuts ICICI Bank's Support Ratings

i. Global Rating agency Fitch has announced that ICICI Bank and Axis Bank have inequalities in their risk control mechanisms and has revised down its outlook on the latter to negative on sour assets worries.
ii. It downgraded ICICI Bank’s ‘support rating’ to ‘3’, from ‘2’, its support rating floor to ‘BB+’, from ‘BBB-’. But the agency has affirmed the issuer default ratings and viability ratings of ICICI Bank and Axis Bank at ‘BBB-’ and ‘BBB-’. Axis Bank’s rating degraded to negative from stable, pointing to the high proportion of NPAs.

Static/Current Takeaways Important for SBI PO/Clerk Exam 2018-

·                     ICICI Bank stands for Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India.

·                     Chanda Kochhar is the MD and CEO of ICICI Bank.

·                     Headquarters of ICICI Bank: Mumbai.

·                     Axis Bank CEO and MD- Shikha Sharma, Head Office- Mumbai.

Obituaries

6. Veteran Journalist Adiraju Venkateswara Rao Passes Away

i. Senior journalist and writer Adiraju Venkateswara Rao passed away. He was 79.  Rao worked in different Telugu and English newspapers. He also authored several books.
ii. He played an active role in the separate Telangana agitation in 1969 and the state government honoured him during the Telangana formation day celebrations recently.