1) Elections for India’s 15th President on July 17
•The process for electing the 15th President of India will begin on June 14 with the Election Commission issuing the notification for the polls. As per the Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi (in Picture), the Presidential elections will take place on July 17.
•The Commission has set June 28 as the last date for filing nominations, while July 1 will be the last date for their withdrawal. Polling will take place in Parliament House and in the Assemblies of the States. Counting of votes will take place in Delhi. The term of President Pranab Mukherjee will come to an end on 24 July 2017. He assumed the office of President in July 2012.
2) PM of India leaves for Kazakhstan to attend SCO summit
•Prime Minister Narendra Modi today left for Kazakhstan, where he will attend the summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), and meet some foreign leaders, including Chinese President Xi Jinping.
•At the summit in Astana, India and Pakistan will become full members of the grouping, which at present comprises China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan. Ahead of his two-day visit, PM Modi stated that he looked forward to deepening engagement with the SCO countries.
•At this meeting, on completion of the process, India will become a full member of the SCO upon which the SCO will represent over 40 per cent of humanity and nearly 20 percent of the global GDP. On the evening of June 9, he will also attend the inauguration of the Astana Expo with the theme of “Future Energy”.
3) World Oceans Day- 8 June
•World Oceans Day is a global day of ocean celebration and collaboration for a better future. The overall theme for World Oceans Day 2017 is 'Our Oceans, Our Future'.
•Conservation action focuses on Encouraging solutions to plastic pollution and preventing marine litter for a healthier ocean and a better future. World Oceans Day helps raise the profile of the ocean and inspire more involvement in helping to conserve this amazing resource we all depend on.
4) K G Karmakar, Gauri Shankar appointed directors of IPPB
•K G Karmakar and Gauri Shankar were appointed as Independent Directors of India Post Payments Bank (IPPB). The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved their appointment to the post on the board of directors of the bank for a period of three years.
•The IPPB has been incorporated as a public sector bank under the Department of Posts with 100 percent equity of the government of India.
5) Cabinet approves MoU between India and Korea for export credit of USD 9 billion
•The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has approved the proposed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Export-Import Bank of India (EXIM Bank) and Export-Import Bank of Korea (KEXIM) for export credit of USD 9 billion for infrastructural development in India and for the supply of goods and services as part of projects in third countries.
•The MoU is proposed to be signed between the two banks during the forthcoming visit of the Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley, to Seoul, the capital city of South Korea during 14-15 June 2017 for the Annual Financial Bilateral Dialogue. The decision is expected to promote the country’s international exports, and deepen political and financial ties between India and South Korea.
6) SEBI gets nod for MoU with Iran, EU counterparts
•The Union Cabinet recently gave its nod for Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to enter into two separate memoranda of understanding (MoU) with securities market regulators of the European Union and Iran.
•These MoUs are expected to strengthen cooperation between India and the respective countries on matters pertaining to securities market. In the case of the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), the MoU is likely to establish cooperation arrangements as a precondition for ESMA to recognise Central Counter Parties (CCPs) established in India and supervised by the Securities and Exchange Board of India to provide clearing services to clearing members or trading venues established in the European Union and to provide ESMA with adequate tools to monitor the ongoing compliance by the covered CCPs with the recognition conditions.
