1- China launches freight train service connecting Europe by linking Harbin and Hamburg

China has launched a freight train service between its north eastern city of Harbin and Europe. The 9,820-km-long distance rail route will open new trade options for Chinese goods in the European Market. It was launched by HAO Logistics Co. Ltd which is a joint venture company that runs the freight service. The train carrying 49 containers of domestic goods such as electronic products and auto parts worth US 3 million dollars started its journey from Harbin capital of Heilongjiang province. The freight train will run once a week. Each single trip will take 15 days and it will transport goods from China, South Korea and Japan as well as goods from European countries such as Poland, Germany, Spain, France and Italy. This train will pass through countries like Russia and Poland to reach its final destination in Hamburg, Germany. Several other Chinese cities like Changsha, Chengdu, Chongqing, Yiwu, Hefei and Suzhou have launched similar freight train services to Europe.

2- V K Singh inaugurates first India-China Yoga College at Yunnan Minzu University, China

V K Singh

Minister of State (MoS) for External Affairs V K Singh inaugurated first India-China Yoga College at Yunnan Minzu University in Kunming, China. This is first Indian government institution related Indian spiritual art form i.e. Yoga in China inaugurated ahead of the first UN Yoga Day to be observed on June 21. The Yoga College was established in lines with the MoU for establishing the Yoga College signed during the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to China in May 2015. This college seeks to provide certification courses in the Indian spiritual art with them Indian teachers who are going to help in curriculum development and training. Indian Council of Cultural Relations (ICCR) will provide two teachers to the university.

Apart from this, Minister also unveiled the bust of Rabindranath Tagore at the University to mark his 150th birth centenary. It should be noted that Nobel laureate Tagore is most popular Indian literary personality whose works are widely translated and read in China.

3- Government launches Migrant Resource Centre in Chennai

Migrant Resource Centre (MRC) was set up in Chennai by the Union Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs (MOIA) and Tamil Nadu state government. The MRC will provide migrants and overseas Indian workers with information, advice, counseling and guidance on all aspects of overseas employment. It will include legal and regulatory requirements apart from documentation and policies, procedures, problems faced while working aboard by migrants and workers.

Following are support functions of MRCs

• Dissemination of information on safe and legal migration.
• Dissemination of information regarding status of recruiting agents along with other service providers.
• Registration and response to complaints and grievances within the redressal forum of MOIA.
• To offer counseling support in form of walk in or telephone and email support.

It should be noted that it is the fourth such MRC in India set up by MOIA. The first MRC was established in 2008 in Kochi, Kerala by MOIA. Later, fully functional MRCs in Hyderabad (Telengana & Andhra Pradesh), Gurgaon (Haryana) were established.

4- Three day Singhey Khababs Sindhu festival kicks off in Ladakh

Three day long tourism promotional Ladakh Singhey Khababs Sindhu (also known as Sindhu Darshan) Festival has begun in Jammu and Kashmir’s Ladakh region. It was inaugurated by Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed to promote the tourism potentials of Ladakh. The inaugural function of the festival was organised this morning on the bank of the Indus River near Shey village in Ladakh. In this edition of festival, local traditions and cultures like folk’s songs and dances will be presented along with customs, traditional archery and polo games and local handicrafts. Singhey Khababs Sindhu festival was started in 2001 by Union government to promote Lakakh as tourists’ destination in the country. Since then it is organised annually. It is celebrated to endorse the Indus River (Sindhu River) as a symbol of the communal harmony and unity of India. It also promotes cultural values and tourism in the region. The Festival starts with a colourful ceremony on the bank of the Indus River. Since it establishment it has helped Ladakh region to become most preferred tourist’s destination and also as a popular spot for shootings films.

5- US becomes world’s largest oil producer, surpasses Saudi Arabia: BP Report

As per recently released report by British Petroleum (BP) Energy Company, United States (US) became the world’s largest oil producer in 2014 surpassing Saudi Arabia. It was reveled in BP Energy Company report tilled Statistical Review of World Energy.

Key facts from Report Oil production:

US had produced 11.6 million barrels of oil per day (bpd) i.e. 15.9% more oil in 2014. While, Saudi Arabia was placed second position as it had produced 11.5 million bpd in 2014. Russia was placed at third position with 10.8 million bpd oil production. Natural gas: US also has surpassed Russia as the world’s largest producer of natural gas. In 2014, US had produced 1,250.4 million tons of oil equivalent natural gas. Russia had produced 1,062 million tons of oil equivalent natural gas in 2014. Consumption side: Primary energy consumption had slowed markedly with growth of just 0.9% in 2014. It was a lower rate than at any time since the late 1990s. Growth in consumption of China has slowed to its lowest level since 1998. The main reason for is due to its economy rebalances which are away from energy intensive sectors. But China had remained the world’s largest growth market for energy in 2014. China had consumed 2972.1 million tons of oil equivalent energy. US had consumed 2298.7 million tons. Japan had consumed 456.1 million tons oil equivalent energy. Russia had consumed 681.9 million tons oil equivalent energy.

Facts related to India:

India’s oil production gad declined by 1.3% at 895,000 bpd, while the consumption had increased by 3% to 3.8 million bpd. India has shown 7.1% rise in energy consumption. It is the fastest consumption among major economies. It had consumed 637.8 million tons of oil and oil equivalent natural gas, coal, nuclear energy, hydroelectricity and renewable energy. Refining: India is self-sufficient and fourth largest in refining capacity with 4.3 million bpd.

Top three nations are US (17.79 million bpd), China (14.09 million bpd) and Russia (6.3 million bpd).

6- Government sacks Dr Bimal K Roy, Director of Indian Statistical Institute (ISI)

Union Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MOSPI) has sacked Dr Bimal K Roy as the Director of Indian Statistical Institute (ISI). He was removed from the office on charges of indiscipline one-and-a-half months before the end of his term. Roy who is a renowned cryptologist was appointed Director of ISI in August 2010. In April 2015, he was conferred with India’s fourth highest civilian honour Padma Shri for his contribution in the discipline of literature and education. Professor Sanghmitra Bandyopadhayay now will replace Dr Bimal K Roy as the Director of ISI. With this appointment she has become the first woman to lead the institute. She is a computer scientist specialized in the field of computational biology. She had obtained a master’s degree in computer science from the IIT Kharagpur and pursued Ph. D. from ISI. Her research is mainly based in the areas of pattern recognition, evolutionary computation, bioinformatics and machine learning. In 2010, she was awarded with Shanti Swaroop Bhatnagar Award for her contributions to engineering sciences.

7- Musicians, film-maker chosen for Sangeet Natak Akademi fellowships and Akademi Puraskar for year 2014

Sangeet Natak Akademi has announced the names of recipients of Sangeet Natak Akademi fellowships (Akademi Ratna) 2014 and Sangeet Natak Akademi Awards (Akademi Puraskar) 2014. The names of the recipients were finalized in the meeting of General Council of the Sangeet Natak Akademi which is also known as the National Academy of Music, Dance and Drama. Akademi Fellowships which carries cash prize of 3 lakh rupees were conferred on R. Janakiraman- Musicologist. S. Sathyu– film-maker. Vijay Kichlu– Classical singer Tulsidas Borkar– Musician With this the total strength of Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellows has gone up to 40.

Recipients of Sangeet Natak Akademi Awards (Akademi Puraskar) for the year 2014 are

• In the field of music For Hindustani vocal: Ashwini Bhide Deshpande Nath Narelkar and Ustad Iqbal Ahmed Khan.
• Hindustani instrumental music: Pandit Nayan Ghosh (tabla) and Ronu Majumdar (flute).
• Carnatic instrumental music: Neyveli Santhanagopalan (Carnatic vocal), T.A. Kaliyamurthy (Thavil), Sukanya Ramgopal (Ghatam) and Dwaram Durga Prasad Rao (violin).
• In the field of dance Nine persons have been selected in this category. They are Adayar Janardanan (Bharatanatyam), Amusana Devi (Manipuri), Uma Dogra (Kathak), Sudhakar Sahoo (Odissi), Vedantam Radhesyam (Kuchipudi). Jagru Mahto (Chhau), Anita Sharma (Sattriya), Varanasi Vishnu Namboothiri (Kathakali) and Navtej Singh Johar (contemporary dance).
• In the field of drama/ theatre Eight theatre persons have been chosen in this category. They are Asgar Wajahat, Surya Mohan Kulshreshtha, Chidambar Rao Jambe, Debshankar Haldar, Ramdas Kamath, Amod Bhatt, Manjunath Bhagwat Hostota and Amardas Manikpuri.
• In the field of Traditional/tribal music/folk/theatre/dance and puppetry In this category eight artistes have been selected. They are Puran Shah Koti, KKalamandalam Ram Mohan, . Kesavasamy, Abdul Rashid Hafiz, Reba Kanta Mohanta, Ramdayal Sharma, K. Shanathoiba Sharma and Thanga Darlong.

About Sangeet Natak Akademi

Established: in 1953

Function: Responsible for preservation and promotion of the performing arts of the country. It also recognizes the contribution of outstanding musicians, dancers and theatre artists by bestowing them its Fellowships and Awards. Its aim is to create benchmarks in the practice of the performing arts.

8- Legendary West Indies fast bowler Sir Wesley Hall inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of fame

Former West Indies paceman Sir Wesley Winfield Hall has been inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame. He is 80th cricketer to be inducted in the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame and 18th from West Indies. He is the 4th cricketer to be inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame in 2015 after Betty Wilson, Anil Kumble and Martin Crowe.

About Sir Wesley Winfield Hall

Sir Wesley Hall had played in 48 Tests in his one decade career spanning from 1958 to 1969. In his Test career he had taken 192 wickets which included five wickets in an innings for 9 times and 10 wickets in a match on one occasion. In 170 first-class matches, Hall had claimed 546 wickets at an average of 26.14. In 1964-65, his 16 wickets were instrumental in guiding the West Indies to its first series win over Australia. He retired in 1968-69 at the end of the tour of Australia and New Zealand. After retiring from cricket he entered into politics of tinny Caribbean island nation He had served in Barbados Senate and also Minister of Tourism in 1987. He also had as a selector and team manager and served as President of West Indies Cricket Board from 2001 to 2003. In 2012 for services to sport and the community he was knighted with the Knight Bachelor

About ICC Cricket Hall of Fame

The ICC Cricket Hall of Fame recognises the achievements of the legends from the game of cricket. It was launched in January 2009 by the International Cricket Council (ICC) as part of its centenary celebrations in association with the Federation of International Cricketers’ Associations (FICA). Tags: Awards • Cricket • Sports • West Indies

9- US opens probe against Indian IT giants TCS, Infosys for H1B visa violations

United States (US) government has opened an investigation against two of the biggest Indian Information Technology (IT) outsourcing companies for possible violations of H1-B visa rules.  The two IT giants are Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and Infosys. The investigation is being carried by US Department of Labour for against both companies for possible violations of rules for visas for foreign technology workers under contracts they held with an electric utility Southern California Edison. US Department of Labour investigation move comes after the power company had recently had laid off more than 500 technology workers from US. These laid off workers were made to train their replacements who were immigrants on the temporary work visas brought in by the Indian firms. Prior to this, around 250 employees at entertainment giant Walt Disney were laid off and replaced with Indians holding H1B visas.

10- Twitter Inc CEO Dick Costolo resigns

Dick Costolo

Dick Costolo has resigned as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Twitter Inc after leading the company for five years. He will demit the office of CEO on 1 July 2015. Till his replacement is found Jack Dorsey, Twitter co-founder and Square Inc’s CEO will take over as the Interim CEO. Under the technological leadership of Costolo, Twitter had evolved from a startup to a public company. He was also had pioneered for introducing Twitter’s famous 140 character messaging service which had gained cultural prominence and had become a powerful tool for worldwide celebrities, activists and citizen journalists to propagate their views. Dick Costolo had joined the company in 2009 as its Chief Operating Officer (CTO) and later in 2010 was appointed as its CEO.

In 2013, he had helped the company to go public and also had struggled to attract new users to the service. Twitter was founded in 2006. Presently has 302 million active users and has a market value around 25 billion US dollars.

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