CURRENT AFFAIRS OF 17th JUNE, 2023

CURRENT AFFAIRS OF 17^th JUNE, 2023

1. United Nations’ World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought is annually observed on 17 June to create awareness about the threats posed by desertification and drought and promoting efforts to combat these challenges. The theme of World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought 2023 is “Her land. Her rights”.
2. World Crocodile Day is observed on 17 June every year to spread awareness about the conservation of endangered crocodiles and alligators around the world.
3. Gopichand Hinduja has taken over as the Chairman of the Hinduja Group after the recent demise of his brother Srichand P Hinduja.  
4. UNESCO has announced that the United States will rejoin the agency in July, four years after leaving due to allegations of bias against Israel.
5. The United Kingdom has announced the appointment of senior diplomat Jane Marriott as the next British High Commissioner to Pakistan, making her the first female British envoy to Islamabad.
6. Goa Institute of Management (GIM) has been recognized as a ‘pioneering’ school in the prestigious Positive Impact Rating 2023 Report.
7. Historian and writer Ramchandra Guha’s book ‘Rebels Against the Raj: Western Fighters for India’s Freedom’ has won the Elizabeth Longford Prize for Historical Biography 2023.
8. RING, a digital credit platform in India, is collaborating with the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) to implement its UPI Plug-in feature into its existing digital services.
9. The World Bank has initiated its first-ever project dedicated solely to road safety in South Asia, with a financial agreement of USD 358 million signed with the Government of Bangladesh in Dhaka.
10. Sudhansh Pant, a 1991-batch Rajasthan cadre IAS officer, has been appointed as the Officer on Special Duty (OSD), Department of Health and Family Welfare.
11. India’s Animation, Gaming, Visual Effects, and Comics (AVGC) sector is set to make a remarkable impression on the global stage as the country participates for the first time at the prestigious Annecy International Animation Festival (AIAF) in France.
12. Union Minister of Education and Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Shri Dharmendra Pradhan flagged off Gabon’s first Agri-SEZ project from New Delhi.
13. Fino Payments Bank has announced its collaboration with Sequoia Capital-backed fintech Hubble to launch India’s first spending account.
14. The Indian Navy on 15 June 2023, launched an outreach program called ‘Julley Ladakh’ (Hello Ladakh) to increase awareness about the Navy and engage with the youth and civil society in the pristine state of Ladakh.
15. Japan’s parliament has raised the age of sexual consent from 13 to 16, a limit which had remained unchanged for more than a century and was among the world’s lowest consent age.
16. Daniel Ellsberg, a U.S. military analyst, who was known for leaking the ‘Pentagon Papers’, which exposed how the US Government deceived the public about the Vietnam War, passed away on 16 June 2023, at the age of 92.