1) President Inaugurates Udyam Sangam-2018 To Mark UN SME Day
•The Mission has been approved by the Government of India for which the MSME Ministry will disburse subsidy of Rs. 550 crores to the artisans. A portal of the Ministry of MSME called “Sampark” was also unveiled by the President. This portal will act as a bridge between the talent pool and those enterprises seeking trained manpower.
2) Maharashtra Government Forms Study Committee For Floating Solar Power Plant
•The Maharashtra government has set up a committee to study issues related to the development of a 1,000-MW floating solar power plant at Ujani dam in Solapur district. The committee will be headed by the Director (Commercial) of Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Ltd (MSEDCL), Satish Chavan.
•Among other things, the committee will study the environmental impact of the project and monitor the month-wise water level of the dam. Ujani, located in Madha taluka of Solapur, around 300 kms from Mumbai, is among the largest dams in Maharashtra.
3) 15th India-Australia Joint Ministerial Commission Held In Australia
•The 15th India-Australia Joint Ministerial Commission (JMC) was held in Canberra, Australia. The meeting was jointly chaired by Minister of Commerce & Industry and Civil Aviation, Suresh Prabhu and Australian Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment Steven Ciobo.
•The JMC took place after a gap of 4 years. Both the sides agreed to have greater collaboration between Austrade, the Australian Trade and Investment Commission and Invest-India, which is the National Investment Promotion and Facilitation Agency of India. The talks culminated in the signing of an MoU between Austrade and Invest-India in order to facilitate bilateral investment flows.
4) Sanitation Action Plans Prepared For 10 New Swachh Iconic Places
•Ten new Swachh Iconic Places of the country came up with the thorough action plans for raising their sanitation standards to exemplary levels. The plans were formulated at a two-day consultation in Hyderabad held between Central and State Government agencies, local administrations and the Trusts of the iconic places.
•Over 100 delegates from across the country attended the consultation. All the 30 Swachh Iconic Places, selected so far under the Swachh Bharat Mission, also resolved to make their sites completely free of plastic.
5) E Sreedharan Committee To Lay Down Standards For Metro Rail Systems
•The government has set up a committee under former Delhi Metro chief E Sreedharan to lay down standardisation norms for components with an aim to cut costs in the construction and operation of metro rail systems in the country and bring them under the Make in India umbrella.
•Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved the proposal, following a meeting at the PMO to review ongoing and upcoming metro projects. The standards, once finalised by the committee, will be mandatory for all metro projects coming up with central assistance. Currently, metro projects with a total length of 370km are operational in eight cities, including Delhi, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Chennai, Kochi and Mumbai.
6) British Queen Elizabeth Approves Brexit Law
•Britain’s Queen Elizabeth granted royal assent to Prime Minister Theresa May’s flagship Brexit legislation, ending months of debate over the legislation that will formally end the country’s European Union membership.
•The EU withdrawal bill, passed by both houses of parliament, has been signed into law by the monarch, to cheers from Conservative lawmakers The EU (Withdrawal) Bill repeals the 1972 European Communities Actthrough which Britain became a member, and transfers decades of European law onto British statute books in a bid to avoid any legal disruption.
7) EAM Sushma Swaraj Introduces 'Passport Seva App'
•External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj launched the new Passport Seva App. Now, people can apply for a passport from any part of the country through the App. EAM Sushma Swaraj has launched Mobile Passport Application on the occasion of Passport Seva Divas (26 June) in New Delhi.
•]olice verification will be done on the address, provided by the applicant on the app and passport will be dispatched on the same address.
8) Key Decisions In 222nd Meeting Of Central Board Of Trustees, EPF
•The 222nd meeting of the Central Board of Trustees, EPF (Employees' Provident Fund) was held under the chairmanship of Union Minister of State for Labour & Employment (Independent Charge) Shri Santosh Kumar Gangwar at New Delhi. The Central Board approved the proposal for insertion of Paragraph 68HH in EPF Scheme, 1952 provisioning Advance from the fund to a member who ceases to be in employment for a continuous period not less than one month.
•Under this proposal, a member can avail 75% of the total fund (including employee as well as employer share) standing to the member’s credit with interest thereon. The Board took note of the Investment of Rs 47,431.24 crore in Exchange Traded Funds (SBI MF, UTI MF, CPSE, Bharat 22) and notional return on ETF investments which stood at 16.07% for the period from August 2015 to 31st May 2018.
•The Central Board approved the proposal to continue SBI Mutual Fund and UTI Mutual Fund as ETF manufacturer for investment in ETF by EPFO for the tenure of one year. The Central Board has considered and adopted the Consolidated Annual Accounts with Audit Report for the year 2016-17.
