1) India becomes 71st country to ratify UN International Convention on Road Transports
•India has become the 71st country to ratify the United Nations International Convention on Road Transports, TIR. The Convention is a multilateral treaty to boost International Transport of Goods. TIR is managed and developed by IRU - the world road transport organisation.
•The TIR Convention is part of India's multi-modal transport strategy that aims to integrate the economy with global and regional production networks through better connectivity. TIR will help India to integrate with Myanmar and Thailand as well as Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal. China was the last TIR contracting party who acceded to the Convention in July 2016.
2) Shri Piyush Goyal Launches Energy Conservation Building Code 2017
•Shri Piyush Goyal, Minister of State (IC) for Power, Coal, New and Renewable Energy and Mines launched the Energy Conservation Building Code 2017 (ECBC 2017). Developed by Ministry of Power and Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE), ECBC 2017 prescribes the energy performance standards for new commercial buildings to be constructed across India.
•The updated version of ECBC provides current as well as futuristic advancements in building technology to further reduce building energy consumption and promote low-carbon growth. The code aims to optimise energy savings with the comfort levels for occupants, and prefers life-cycle cost effectiveness to achieve energy neutrality in commercial buildings.
•ECBC 2017 was developed by BEE with technical support from United States Agency for International Development (USAID) under the U.S.-India bilateral Partnership to Advance Clean Energy – Deployment Technical Assistance (PACE-D TA) Program.
3) 114-year-old Taj Palace of Mumbai becomes first Indian building to get trademark
•The iconic Taj Mahal Palace hotel in the Mumbai City has acquired an 'image trademark', making it the first building in the country to get intellectual property rights protection for its architectural design. thereby joining the elite and small club of trademarked properties in the world which includes the Empire State Building in New York, the Eiffel Tower in Paris and Sydney Opera House.
•Usually, logos, brand names, combination of colours, numerals and even sounds are trademarked but the registration of an architectural design has never been attempted since the Trademark Act came into force in 1999.
4) World Refugee Day: 20 June
•The World Refugee Day is observed across the world on 20 June to commemorate the strength, courage, and perseverance of millions of refugees. The day is celebrated by United Nations.
•The Day also marks a key moment for the public to show support for families that are forced to flee for their lives each day.
5) Afghan President inaugurates first Afghanistan-India air corridor
•Afghan President Ashraf Ghani inaugurated the first Afghanistan-India air corridor at the Kabul International Airport. The corridor is a direct route that will bypass Pakistan and is meant to improve commerce in Afghanistan.
•The aim of the route is to create more opportunities and make Afghanistan an exporter country. Afghan agricultural products will for the first time head to India on cargo planes. Afghanistan is a mountainous landlocked country and all imports and exports depend on neighboring countries.
6) IDBI initiated insolvency proceeding against Lanco, first among 12 accounts identified by RBI
•IDBI Bank has started insolvency resolution process against Lanco Infratech Ltd. following a directive from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). While this is the first resolution process initiated by the lenders against 12 large borrowers identified by the RBI recently.
•The other accounts identified by RBI include Essar Steel, Bhushan Steel, Electrosteel Steel, Alok Industries, Jyoti Structures, Monnet Ispat and Jaypee Associates. The RBI’s internal committee identified 12 accounts on the criteria that they have outstanding loan of Rs 5000 crore and is classified as non-performing loan as in March 2016. These accounts constitute 25% of total NPAs.
