News : 18 June 2013

1. Protest in Brazil over government’s economic policies which led to increase in public transport prices in June 2013.
2. The Punjab government has allocated millions of rupees to Jamaat-ud-Dawah, a front of the banned LeT, for various development initiatives.
3. Afghan President Hamid Karzai announced at a ceremony on Tuesday that his country’s armed forces are taking over the lead for security nationwide from the U.S.-led NATO coalition.The handover of responsibility is a significant milestone in the nearly 12-year war and marks a turning point for American and NATO military forces, which will now move entirely into a supporting role. It also opens the way for their full withdrawal in 18 months.
4. M.V. OSM Arena, a stranded ship in the outer-anchorage of the Chennai Port Trust (ChPT), is to be towed out to the Chittagong ship-breaking yard in Bangladesh soon.The 28-year-old vessel has been in the high seas since February 2010 following an arrest order issued by the Calcutta High Court. The vessel drifted towards Napier Bridge on December 30, 2011, when cyclone Thane crossed the coast, resulting in loss of one of its anchors.
5. M. Mallikarjun Kharge being allotted the Railways portfolio in the Union Cabinet reshuffle, the Ministry has returned to Karnataka
6. Starting July, users will need to shell out less for calls made while on roaming as the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), on Monday, reduced the ceiling level for national roaming tariffs.
7. Google India has taken its first step in committing to the Indian e-commerce market with the introduction of product listing ads, a new format that will appear when users key in shopping-related queries.
8. The government appointed S.K. Roy as the Chairman of Life Insurance Corporation of India.

News : 17 June 2013

1. Britain spied on foreign politicians and officials participating in two G20 meetings in London in 2009 by using “ground-breaking” intelligence capabilities to get an edge during the high-stakes financial talks , according to documents uncovered by U.S. whistleblower Edward Snowden and obtained by the Guardian.
2. India’s trade deficit widened to a seven month high of $20.1 billion in May as gold imports continue to surge while exports declined by over a per cent
3. Search engine giant Google on Monday launched a new ad format ‘Product Listing Ads’ in India to provide users information like images, price and brands of products, which will help people shop better both online and offline.
4. The Union government should withdraw the Insurance Bill that envisaged enhancement of foreign direct investment in the insurance sector from 26 per cent to 49 per cent, the All India Insurance Corporation Employees Association (AIIEA) has demanded.
5. The Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) on Friday deferred a decision on the Rs. 2,000-crore Jet-Etihad deal and sought clarity on control and ownership.
6. The Great Indian Bustard, one of the critically endangered flying bird species in the world, will soon be tracked by satellite by the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) to understand the movement of this rare bird and its preferred habitat,primarily in Gujarat and Rajasthan.
7. China’s Tianhe 2 – worlds fastest computer.Speed : 33.86 petaflops (1000 trillion calculations) per second on a benchmarking test.Second being in US : TITAN having speed of 17.59 petaflops per second.
8.  The Foreign Ministers of Egypt and Ethiopia met in Addis Ababa on Monday in the hope of defusing tensions over a huge dam Ethiopia is building on the Blue Nile River.Egypt and Ethiopia began a sharp exchange of words after Ethiopia last month started to divert Nile waters as part of the construction of its massive $4.2 billion hydro-electric project dubbed the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam.
9. Iranian president-elect Hassan Rouhani will take office in Aug 2013.
10. The single-seater Solar Impulse plane, attempting a record-breaking trip across the U.S., made a smooth landing in Washington.The Swiss-made 63-meter-wide aircraft set down at Dulles International Airport.