• Sharad Kumar has been named as acting Central Vigilance Commissioner as current (CVC)   K V Chowdary completed his tenure at the anti-graft body. 

• According to global market research agency Kantar in its 2019’s ‘100 Top BrandZ Report’, US retail giant Amazon has moved past hi-tech titans Apple and Google to become the world’s most valuable brand. Note: CEO of Amazon: Jeff Bezos.

• Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that single-use plastics will be banned in the country from 2021.

• The Government of Japan has decided to invest an amount of 784 billion Yen, equivalent to approximately Rs.13,000 crore, in several ongoing as well as new projects in different states of India’s North- Eastern region.

• The Reserve Bank of India constituted a six-member committee to review the ATM interchange fee structure with a “view to increase the ATM deployment in the unbanked areas”. The committee will be led by V G Kannan, Chief Executive, Indian Banks Association.

• British consumer goods giant Reckitt Benckiser named PepsiCo executive Laxman Narasimhan to succeed Rakesh Kapoor as chief executive officer.

• World Day Against Child Labour was observed on 12 June. The theme for World Day Against Child Labour 2019 is Children shouldn’t work in fields, but on dreams!

• According to the annual report on internet trends by venture capitalist Mary Meeker, India accounts for 12% world’s internet users. China has the largest base, accounting for 21% of all internet users globally.

• Renowned author Amitav Ghosh was awarded the 54th Jnanpith Award for his contribution to the enrichment of Indian Literature in English. He became the first English writer to get Jnanpith award.

• A team of scientists has discovered a new species of ‘paddy frog’ from Northeast India, primarily Assam. The new species has been named ‘aishani’, derived from the Sanskrit word ‘aishani’ or aisani meaning Northeast.

• Priyanka Chopra, a global UNICEF (: United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund) Goodwill Ambassador for Child Rights is going to be honoured with Danny Kaye Humanitarian Award by UNICEF.

• Virat Kohli, ranked 100th, remains the sole Indian in the Forbes list of world’s highest-paid athletes with estimated annual earnings of $25 million. The list is headed by Barcelona and Argentina football superstar Lionel Messi.

• The government has reduced the total rate of the contribution made by workers and employers towards the Employees’ State Insurance(ESI) scheme from 5%to 4%. 3.25% will be the employer’s share and 0.75% the employee’s.

• India’s ranked 141 among 163 countries on the Global Peace Index 2019,while Iceland remains the most peaceful country and Afghanistan the least peaceful nation, as per the report by Australian think tank Institute for Economics & Peace.

• A team of scientists and researchers have installed the world’s highest, fully automated weather stations atop Mount Everest.

• According to the Sebi circular, rating companies will now create a uniform probability of default benchmark for each rating category on their website, for one-year, two-year and three-year cumulative default rates, both for the short term and long term.

• Social networking giant Facebook has picked up a minority stake in social-commerce company Meesho in its first startup investment in the country. Bengaluru-based startup connects re-sellers to manufacturers to sell goods via social media platforms.

• The IAAF Council approved the global governing body’s new name and logo at the 217th IAAF Council Meeting in Monaco. The athletics body’s new name will be  ‘World Athletics’.

• World Blood Donor Day was observed on 14th June. The host country for World Blood Donor Day 2019 was Rwanda.

• Akshaya Patra, a non-profit organization, has been awarded the BBC World Service Global Champion Award. It runs one of the world’s largest school meals project in India.

• The Information and Broadcasting Ministry directed all satellite TV channels to display the cast, credits and titles of Hindi and regional language serials that they broadcast in the respective languages too.

• The Asian Development Bank (ADB)has approved projects for infrastructure development worth Rs 1,650 crore ($235 million)in seven of the eight districts headquarter towns in Tripura. The ADB would give 80% of the amount as grant-in-aid and the Tripura Government would have to repay back only 20% loan in due course of time. Note:  Takehiko Nakao is the president of ADB. Biplab Kumar Deb is CM of Tripura.

• Assam government will set up a Skill University at the cost of 850 crore rupees at Darrang district.

• Note: The Governing Council of NITI Aayog comprises the Prime Minister of India, Chief Ministers of all the States and Union Territories with Legislatures and  Governor of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and four Union Ministers as ex-officio members and three Union Ministers as Special Invitees. NITI Aayog: National Institution for Transforming India. NITI Aayog CEO: Amitabh Kant, Vice Chairman: Rajiv Kumar.

• Suman Rao from Rajasthan has won the Femina Miss India World 2019 beauty pageant. Shivani Jadhav from Chhattisgarh clinched Femina Miss Grand India 2019 title and Shreya Shanker from Bihar won Miss India United Continents 2019 title.

• World Elder Abuse Awareness Day was observed on 15th June.

• “World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought” was observed on June 17.The slogan for World Day to Combat Desertification 2019 is Let’s grow the future together!.

• Joshna Chinappa made a record for the most number of national titles after beating her Tamil Nadu state-mate Sunayna Kuruvilla.

• The Jammu and Kashmir Bankwill now come under the purview of Right to Information Act and Central Vigilance Commission (CVC)guidelines as per the decisions taken by the Board of Directors of the Jammu and Kashmir Bank. Note: Interim Chairman: R K Chibber.

• Facebook has announced a digital currency called Libra that will allow its billions of users to make financial transactions across the globe.

• Pakistan has appointed Lieutenant General Faiz Hameed as the new Director General of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).

• Autistic Pride Day was observed on 18th June.

• Sustainable Gastronomy Day was celebrated on 18th June.

• Gary Woodland won the 119th US Open, after defeating two-time defending champion Brook Koepka. Note: The United States Open Championship is the annual open national championship of golf in the United States.

• Unemployed youth having graduation or equivalent degree will be given unemployment allowance by Rajasthan government.Male applicants will get Rs 3,000/month, while the women and differently-abled will get Rs 3,500/month under Chief Minister Yuva Sambal Yojana. The applicants must be natives of Rajasthan and the amount will be given for two years or until they get employed. Note: Rajasthan CM: Ashok Gehlaut, Governor: Kalyan Singh.

• Reserve Bank fined country’s largest private sector lender HDFC Bank Rs.1 crore for not reporting frauds and non-compliance with other directions.

• International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict was celebrated around the world on 19th June.

• Om Birla,a two-time Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) member of Parliament (MP) from Rajasthan, has been elected as the 17^th Lok Sabha Speaker.

• Afghanistan leg spinner Rashid Khan recorded the worst bowling figures in a ICC World Cup Match after conceding 110 runs in 9 overs against England. Previous record of conceding 105 runs in 12 overs was held by New Zealand’s Martin Snedden.

• The Himachal Pradesh government makes mandatory for trekkers to carry a GPS device so that they can be provided all possible help in case of any emergency.

• India has signed agreements with Bangladesh and South Korea for DD India to be telecasted on the state platforms of the respective countries. As per the agreement, BTV World, a channel owned by Bangladesh TV and KBS World, an English language of South Korea, will now be available on the state-owned DD Free Dish.

• World Refugee Day was celebrated on 20th June. Theme for 2019: Step With Refugees- Take A Step on World Refugee Day.

• In the recently released QS World University rankings for 2020, IIT-Bombay which is ranked 152 is India’s best university for the second year in a row. The next two Indian Universities in the top 200 are IIT Delhi (182) and the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru (184).

• WHO offers a new tool “AWaRe”to contain rising antimicrobial resistance and make antibiotic use safer and more effective. AWaRe classifies antibiotics into three groups: (1)”Access” specifies which antibiotics to use for the most common and serious infections. (2)”Watch” specifies which ones should be available at all times in the healthcare system. (3)”Reserve” are those that must be used sparingly or preserved and used only as a last resort.