Notes:
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has formed committee to improve standards of corporate governance of listed companies. The committee under the chairmanship of Uday Kotak, chief of Kotak Mahindra Bank, will submit the report within a period of 4 months. The committee would make recommendations to SEBI on ensuring independence in spirit of independent directors and their active participation in functioning of the company and steps for improving safeguards and disclosures pertaining to related party transactions. Besides, the panel would suggest measures for addressing issues faced by investors on voting and participation in general meetings and ways for improving effectiveness of board evaluation practices.

Notes:
Nepali-Hindi film Ralang Road will represent India at the 52nd Karlovy Vary International Film Festival at Karlovy Vary in Czech Republic, which is scheduled to be held from June 30 to July 8, 2017. It will be after 13 years that an Indian film will compete with other international films at this film festival. Ralang Road tells the stories of four people living in the Himalayan countryside. The film explores cultural immigration and lifestyles in a complex social setup. The film is directed by Karma Takapa and produced by HumanTrail Pictures.

Notes:
Indian wild card Nitin Kumar Sinha has won the boys singles title at the 2017 HCL Asian Junior Tennis Championship. He defeated Malaysian player Christian Didier Chin in a final match held at the Shri Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex, Mahalunge – Balewadi, in Pune. In girls singles final, Mihika Yadav defeated top seed Mahak Jain in two straight sets 6-3, 6-3. The championship is the second highest tournament anywhere in the world after the junior grand slams and provides top Indian players a chance to compete against their global counterparts as well as earn valuable ITF points to build on their overall international ranking.

Notes:
Real Madrid has won the 2017 UEFA Champions League football competition by defeating Juventus 4–1 in the final. This is the first time in UEFA Champions League a team won consecutive seasons. Thus, Real Madrid became the first team in the UEFA Champions League era to successfully defend their title. Real Madrid is a professional football club based in Madrid, Spain.

Notes:
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has successfully launched its 3136 kg GSAT-19 communication satellite with its brand new and heaviest – Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark-III D-1 (GSLV-Mk III D-1) satellite into Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO) from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh on June 5, 2017. The satellite GSAT-19 has an intended life span of 10 years and is developed to improve telecommunication and broadcasting areas. The GSLV-Mk III is popularly known as “fat boy” and is developed for 15 years at a cost of around Rs 300 crore. The rocket is capable of carrying payloads of up to 4,000 kg into the GTO and 10,000 kg into the Low Earth Orbit (LEO). The GSLV-Mk III is a three stage rocket. Its first stage is made of two strap on motors filled with solid fuel. The second stage uses the liquid fuel and the third is the cryogenic upper stage “C25”, which is powered by the highly complex indigenous cryogenic engine “CE20”. The number 20 denotes the 20-ton thrust it generates for the rocket to reach the intended height with the heavy mass on board.

Notes:
India has signed a $39.2 million loan agreement with the World Bank (WB) for the ‘citizen-centric service delivery’ project in Assam. The programme size is $49 million, of which $39.2 million will be financed by the World Bank and the remaining amount will be funded out of state budget. The programme duration is 5 years. The purpose of the project is to improve access in the delivery of selected public services in Assam. The Project seeks to enable citizens to access services under the RTPS Act in a timely, efficient, and accountable manner. The Project adopts an integrated approach to improve access and accountability.

Notes:
As per second bi-monthly monetary and credit policy review for 2017-18 of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the policy repo rate under the liquidity adjustment facility (LAF) remain unchanged at 6.25%. Consequently, the reverse repo rate under the LAF remains at 6.0%, Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) remains at 4% and the Marginal Standing Facility (MSF) rate and the Bank Rate at 6.50%.Though, the Central bank has cut the Statutory Liquidity Ratio (SLR) by 0.5%. It has projected inflation in the range of 2% to 3.5% for first half of 2017-18 and 3.5% to 4.5% for the second half. It has also cut the growth projection for current fiscal to 7.3% from 7.4%.

Notes:
Hoshiar Singh, a 1994 batch officer of the Indian Telecom Service, has been appointed as new Registrar of Copyrights for a period of five years. The Office of Copyrights, under the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DoPT) is mandated to protect the music and film industry besides addressing its concerns, among others. According to norms, the Copyright Office is under the immediate control of a Registrar of Copyrights, who acts under the superintendence and directions of the Central Government. The headquarters is located in New Delhi.

Notes:
The Mukurthi National Park (MNP) is a 78.46 km2 protected area located in the western corner of the Nilgiris Plateau west of Ootacamund hill station in the northwest corner of Tamil Nadu state in the Western Ghats mountain range of South India. It is home to an array of endangered wildlife viz. royal Bengal tiger, Asian elephant, Nilgiri langur, Bonhote’s mouse, Nilgiri tahr, etc. The park is a part of Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve, India’s first International Biosphere Reserve.

Notes:
The 17th summit of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit has started in Astana, Kazakhstan from June 8, 2017. In this summit, India and Pakistan has become full members of the organization. The SCO is a Eurasian political, economic, and military organisation which was founded in 2001 in Shanghai by the leaders of China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. It is mainly aimed at military cooperation between the members and involves intelligence- sharing, counter-terrorism operations in Central Asia. Afghanistan, Belarus, India, Iran, Mongolia and Pakistan have observer status.