IMPORTANT CURRENT AFFAIRS OF JUNE 10, 2016

IMPORTANT CURRENT AFFAIRS OF JUNE 10, 2016

1) Insurance regulator IRDA on 8 June 2016 proposed norms for selling and servicing of insurance policies through e-commerce platform with a view to increase insurance penetration in the country in a cost-effective manner. This would be done through own network of insurance companies. The Insurance Self-Network Platform (ISNP) has been the name given to this network as described in IRDA’s proposals.

i). According to the draft proposals of the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDA), the Insurance Self-Network Platform (ISNP) will undertake Insurance e-commerce activities in India such as selling and servicing of insurance products.

ii). The IRDA draft defines participants who can set up the ISNP. These include entities granted certificate of registration by IRDA such as insurers, insurance intermediaries, insurance agents and any other entity recognised by the Authority.

iii).It also lays down the procedure for grant of permission for establishing an ISNP. The pricing of the product would be decided by the insurer.

iv).  All products which are approved under the Product Approval Regulations/ Guidelines and permitted by the respective regulations can be offered through the ISNP.

v). According to IRDA’s proposals, promotion of e-commerce in insurance space will lower the cost of transacting insurance business and bring higher efficiencies and greater reach.

2) India will open its sixth consulate in the United States in Seattle as announced on 7 June 2016.

i). India will soon open its sixth consulate in Seattle to cater to the needs of large number of Indian-Americans living in the northwestern part of the United States. This was announced on 7 June 2016 by Indian Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar on the occasion of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s US visit.

ii). Apart from its embassy in Washington, India currently have consulates in New York, San Francisco, Chicago, Houston and Atlanta.

iii). The U.S. Embassy and Consulates in India issued more than 76,000 student visas in Fiscal Year 2015. Indian students accounted for the second-largest group of foreign students in the United States in the 2014-2015 academic year.

3) The two catering-enabled trains  Nizamuddin-Mumbai August Kranti Rajdhani Express and b) Pune-Secunderabad Shatabdi Express of the Indian Railways became the first to have optional catering facility from 9 June 2016, as announced by the Indian Railways.

i). Indian Railways on 8 June 2016 announced that two of its catering-enabled trains – Nizamuddin-Mumbai August Kranti Rajdhani Express and Pune-Secunderabad Shatabdi Express, will have optional catering service from 9 June 2016. This was done as the Railways is now seeking to explore the possibility of making mandatory catering services optional on trains as was announced in the Railway Budget 2016-17.

ii). Passengers have to specifically opt out from the mandatory food option and catering charges will be excluded from the ticket fare. However, catering services will be included by default.

iii). Catering charges ranges from Rs. 175 to Rs. 340 will be deducted from the total fare if the passenger opts out from the mandatory food option.

– This facility has been launched on trial basis on the two trains.

4)  Guwahati became the first city in India to have a ‘City Animal’, after the Gangetic River Dolphin was declared as city’s mascot.

i). The Assam city Guwahati on 6 June 2016 become the first city in the country to have its own ‘City Animal’ after the Kamrup Metropolitan district administration declaring announced the ‘Gangetic River Dolphin’ as the city’s mascot. This dolphin is locally known as ‘Sihu’.

ii). It is worth mentioning that the district administration had organised online and off-line voting among three protected creatures, which are on the verge of extinction, to decide the mascot.

iii).  Along with Gangetic River Dolphin, the other two animals were Black Softshell Turtle (Bor Kaso) and Greater Adjutant Stork (Hargila).

5)  All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) has successfully developed nano-particles loaded with antigen protein segments that could lead to the discovery of World’s first oral hepatitis B vaccine.

i). According to the information disclosed in the journal, Vaccine during June 2016, New Delhi-based All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) has been successful in developing nano-particles loaded with antigen protein segments for Hepatitis B. This could lead to world’s first-ever oral hepatitis B vaccine.

ii). The outcomes are positive in animal studies and if human trials are successful as well, an oral vaccine for hepatitis B could become a reality by 2021. The experiments done on mice have proved that oral dose for hepatitis B has been 20% more successful than its injectable dose.

iii). Oral vaccines do away with the risk of infection from blood-borne infections such as hepatitis B and HIV through unsterilised needles. The hepatitis-B vaccine used now is injectable, which requires two boosters after the initially injection, first one after one month and the second booster after six months.