IMPORTANT CURRENT AFFAIRS OF JUNE 21, 2016

IMPORTANT CURRENT AFFAIRS OF JUNE 21,2016

• On June 20, 2016 World Refugee Day was observed.
• This day is observed by the United Nation High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
• This day is dedicated to raising awareness of the situation of refugees throughout the world.
• The decision to observe the day, coinciding with Africa Refugee Day, was made by the UN in December 2000.
• The first World Refugee Day marked the 50th anniversary of the UN Refugee Convention.
• Theme of the year 2016 : We Stand Together With Refugee
• The Assam Government has launched a unique initiative ‘Maitree Ek Gyan Yatra’ to link primary schools to high schools to colleges. 
• The purpose of the programme is to change the mindset of the teachers, as in some places in states teachers of a school considered it below their dignity to teach the lower level students.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi On June 20, 2016 released postage stamps on Surya Namaskara to mark the 2nd International Yoga Day to be celebrated on June 21. 
• The stamps, of ₹5 and ₹25, depict the 12 ‘asanas’ constituting the Surya Namaskara. 
• The Himachal Pradesh government has launched a ₹640 crore project for Skill Dvelopment under which multipurpose training centres will be set up in rural areas. 
• The training, to be given by both government and private associations, will be accessible to all people aged between 16-49, including BPL families. 
• Individuals will be trained in tourism, agriculture and banking sectors, among others.
• The government has announced that it will set up a new Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) to sell its shares in Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) and other private companies, as part of its ₹56,500 crore disinvestment target for the 2016-17 fiscal. 
• Note : ETFs are investment vehicles which hold assets like stocks or bonds and are traded on a stock exchange.
• Israel has approved additional funds of $18 million for construction of settlements in the West Bank. 
• According to reports, $88 million have already been allotted for settlements earlier. 
• Note : These settlements in the West Bank are considered illegal according to international law and the United States and the European Union have called for their construction to be halted.
• The 'Panama Papers' investigation, which revealed details of offshore entities owned by people across the world, won the Investigation of the Year award for the year 2016.
• This award was presented at the Global Editors Network summit in Vienna. 
• Important Points to Note : 
• 'Panama Papers' was the biggest ever data leak since 2015.
• The investigation was a collaboration of over 100 media organisations, with Indian Express being the Indian partner.
• The Anti Corruption Branch of Delhi has registered a case against former Chief Minister Shiela Dikshit and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in connection with Rs 400 crore water tanker scam.
• Chinese supercomputer Sunway TaihuLight, built at a cost of around $270 million (approximately ₹1,820 crore), has topped the list of the world's fastest computers. 
• It is almost 3 times faster than the previous record-holder Tianhe-2 and is almost five times faster than the quickest US computing system.
• Public sector aerospace and defence major Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) has unveiled indigenous Basic Trainer Aircraft (BTA)HTT-40 in Bengaluru. 
• The aircraft made its maiden flight recently the HAL Airport in Bengaluru in presence of Union Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar. 
• French firm Cooltech Applications has launched what it claims as the world's first commercially available magnetic refrigeration system. 
• It achieves refrigeration by passing a water coolant through magnetocaloric materials undergoing repeated magnetization-demagnetization cycles. 
• The system works without any refrigerant gas, making it more environmentally efficient than conventional refrigerators.
• The 48-hour long countdown for Wednesday's launch of record 20 Satellites by ISRO from Sriharikota began at 9:26 this morning.
• Workhorse PSLV C34 will carry the satellites and inject them into the 505 km sun synchronous orbit one after the other.
• Note : The 20 satellites include Cartosat-2 Series remote sensing payload of India for earth observation purposes, two Indian students satellites and 17 other micro and nano satellites of foreign customers from US, Canada, Germany and Indonesia.
• Actor Anton Yelchin (27), who portrayed the character 'Pavel Chekov' in the 'Star Trek' reboot series, died following an accident.
• Virginia Raggi has been elected as Rome's first female mayor.
• Businessman Bipin R Patel was appointed as the President of Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) for the term 2016-17.
• He is going to replace Rohit J Patel.
• Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg (Germany) has won the 2016 European Grand Prix of Formula One.
• The Indian mixed recurve team of Deepika Kumari and Atanu Das has won the Silver medal at the Archery World Cup held in Antalya, Turkey. 
• Japanese footballer Kazuyoshi Miura has broken his own record to become the oldest goalscorer in Japan’s football league.
• Miura, aged 49 years, is currently the world’s oldest active football player, and is playing in his 31st season as a professional. 
• Before retiring internationally, Miura scored 55 goals in 89 appearances for Japan.
• Cleveland Cavaliers On June 20, 2016 defeated defending champions Golden State Warriors 93-89 in the seventh game of the NBA finals to win the championship title for the first time in the franchise history.