Current affairs notes on 19/06/2018

1.IRDAI has formed a panel to review the regulations pertaining to insurance marketing firms. The committee is headed by Suresh Mathur, Executive Director (insurance marketing firms), IRDAI, with nine more members. 

2.Additional Director General of the Coast Guard VSR Murthy commissioned the last of the five Fast Patrol Vessel (FPV) project of Indian Coast Guard, ICGS 'Rani Rashmoni', in Visakhapatnam. So far four such ships such as ICGS Rani Abbakka, ICGS Rani Avanti Bai, ICGS Rani Durgavati and ICGS Rani Gaidinliu, have been commissioned and are in active service at various locations on the eastern seaboard.

3.Banks Board Bureau (BBB), the advisory body formed by the government for selection of candidates for top level board appointment, has recommended 22 general managers to be elevated as executive directors at the various public sector banks.The Appointments Committee of Cabinet will take the final decision in this regard.This is the first major exercise undertaken by the BBB.

4.The Indian Army has drawn detailed plan to develop Jaisalmer Military Station in Rajasthan as smart facility patterned on Central Government's Smart Cities Mission. The development plan will provide a major boost to local economy and aid in ecological conservation.

5. Google has recently announced the launch of a training programme for journalists with an aim to raise awareness against misinformation and providing new tools to the fourth estate against fake news. The Google News Initiative India Training Network will provide training to 8,000 journalists in English and six other Indian languages in the next one year. 

6.On June 18, the 2018 National Yoga Olympiad has organized by National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) at in CIET in New Delhi to create awareness about a scientific and holistic way of living.

7.The high-level Conference on “International Decade for Action: Water for Sustainable Development, 2018-2028” will be held in Tajikistan from June 20, 2018. India will be represented by Nitin Gadkari, the Union Minister for Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation.

8.the Union Water Resources Ministry has teamed up with Google to generate flood warnings. CWC and Google will share technical expertise in the fields of artificial intelligence, machine learning, geospatial mapping and analysis of hydrological observation.

9.The state of Jammu and Kashmir is all set to see a governor’s rule following the sudden break in ties between BJP and PDP and subsequent resignation of chief minister Mehbooba Mufti.In other states, the president’s rule is imposed under the Article 356 of Constitution of India. In J&K, governor’s rule is mentioned under Article 370 section 92.

10. SAIL is supplying Steel for World’s Tallest Girder Rail Bridge. World’s tallest girder railway bridge is being built in the North East as part of the upcoming 111-kilometres long Jiribam-Tupul-Imphal railway line.

11.Chrysilla volupes:It is a spider belonging to the family of jumping spiders (Salticidae).Scientists recently rediscovered this species, which was believed have become extinct, from Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary (WWS) located in the Western Ghats region of Kerala.