• According to the President of India,construction or upgradation of about 35,000 kilometres of national highways are to be undertaken by 2022 under the ‘Bharatmala Project’. Also under the ‘Sagarmala Project’, a network of good quality roads are to be constructed in coastal areas and areas adjoining ports. 

• Competition Commission of India (CCI) has approved the merger of the Indiabulls Housing Finance and Lakshmi Vilas Bank. 

• World Archery appointed Abhinav Bindra as an independent person to sort out the ongoing mess in the Archery Association of India(AAI). AAI violated the constitution by unanimously electing two parallel bodies in Chandigarh and New Delhi.

• The International Day of Yoga was observed on 21st June every year. This was the 5th Edition of International Day of Yoga. Theme: Yoga for Climate Action. Note: On 11 December 2014, the United Nations proclaimed 21 June as the International Day of Yoga.

• World Music Day was observed on June 21.The event is also known as Fête de la Musique (or World Music Day) and was originated in France in 1982.

• The Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project which is one of the world’s largest multi stage and multi purpose lift irrigation scheme, was inaugurated by Telangana Chief Minister  Chandrashekar Rao in Jayashankar-Bhupalapally district of Telangana.

• National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s robot named Bumble became the first Astrobee robot to fly under its own power in space. Astrobee robots can move in any direction and turn on any axis in space.

• Namma Kolhapuri chappal has earned Geographical indication tag from Intellectual Property India. The approval for GI tag was jointly received by Karnataka and Maharashtra.

• India has opened its first specialised hydrotherapy treatment for elephants suffering from arthritis, joint pain and foot ailments in Mathura, Uttar Pradesh.

• India’s ace cueist Pankaj Advani has clinched the 35th men’s Asian Snooker Championship held in Doha. Advani defeated Thanawat Tirapongpaiboon 6-3 in the finals to become the first player to win the Asian Snooker and World Snooker championships in all formats.

• The International Olympic Committee (IOC) lifted the sanctions imposed on India to host international sporting events. The sanctions were imposed on india when Pakistani shooters were not issued visas for the World Cup held in Delhi in February 2019.

• The UAE has become the first country in the Gulf to launch ‘goAML’, a new anti money laundering reporting platform developed by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime to curb organised crimes.

• Saudi Arabia has become the1st Arab country to be granted full membership of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). FATF is responsible for issuing international standards, policies and best practices to combat money laundering, terrorist financing and proliferation.

• Mohamed Ould Ghazouani won the presidential election of Mauritania.

• United Nations Public Service Day was celebrated on 23^rd June.

• International Widow’s Day was observed on 23^rd June.

• Japan gifts Manipura “Peace Museum” which is built on the memories of one of the fiercest battles of the Second World War., the Battle of Imphal. Note: Chief Minister of Manipur: Nongthombam Biren Singh.

• National Thermal Power Corporation Limited and Power Grid Corporation of India Limited have signed an agreement to set up National Electricity Distribution Company Ltd.. NEDCL will be a joint venture company on 50:50 equity basis.

• The Government of India, the Government of Jharkhand and the World Bank signed a $147 Million Loan Agreement. Jharkhand will invest the amount to provide urban services such as water supply, sewerage, drainage and urban road.

• Malayalam film ‘Veyil Marangal (Trees Under the Sun)’have become the first Indian film to won ‘Outstanding Artistic Achievement’ award at the Shanghai International Film Festival. The film is directed by Bijukumar Damodaran.

• Bollywood actor Anupam Kher is coming out with his autobiography, “Lessons Life Taught Me Unknowingly”.

• “The New Delhi Conspiracy”is Meenakshi Lekhi’s first novel to be published soon. She has co written it with Krishna Kumar.

• The Indian women’s hockey team have won the FIH Series Finals after defeating  The best player title was clinched by Rani Rampal.

• The International Olympic Committee has formally opened new headquarters in Switzerland exactly 125 years after the Olympic Games were revived. Note: The next Summer Olympics to be held in Tokyo, 2020.

• RBI’s U.K. Sinhaled committee give their recommendations for MSME sector.

• Kerala has topped in NITI Aayog’s Health Index. Note: NITI Aayog CEO: Amitabh Kant; Vice Chairman: Rajiv Kumar.

• The RedInk Awards for Excellence in Journalism are conferred to encourage good quality reporting and analysis, fair play and high ethical standards in Indian journalism. Rachna Khaira of The Tribune has bagged the prestigious RedInk Award for ‘Journalist of the Year’. She won it for exposing the functioning of the UIDAI and its Aadhaar data cache. Two retired senior journalists Dinu Ranadive from the Maharashtra Times, and Sebastian D’Souza, from the Mumbai Mirror, have jointly received the Lifetime Achievement Award for this year.

• Union Minister of Social Justice & Empowerment flagged off “17th Run Against Drug Abuse” on the occasion of “International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking” in New Delhi. ‘Listen First’ was chosen as the theme to increase the support for prevention of drug use.

• Qu Dongyu becomes the first Chinese national to head the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization.

• Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has named new heads for the country’s premier spy agencies — the Intelligence Bureau (IB) and the Research & Analysis Wing (RAW). Arvind Kumar will head the Intelligence Bureau, the main internal intelligence unit of the government. Samant Goel will take charge of the RAW, which looks after the external intelligence of the country. Note: Prime Minister is the head of the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC).

• The International Maritime Organization observed 25^th June as the Day of the Seafarer. The 2019 campaign for the day: I Am On Board.

• The United Nations observed 26 June as the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking. Theme: Health for Justice, Justice for Health. Note: Secretary General of the United Nations: Antonio Guterres.

• Ministry of New and Renewable Energy and institutions under it observed Swachhta Pakhwada (cleanliness fortnight)from 1st June to 15th June 2019.

• The Rahimatpur police station in Satara district in Maharashtra has emerged as the State topper in a survey based on the ‘SMART’ policing concept. The survey was executed by the Quality Council of India.

• Indian Olympic Association president Narinder Batra has been elected as a member of the International Olympic Committee.He is the first Indian to have this distinction. Note: President of IOC: Thomas Bach.

• The United Nations observed 27^th June as the Micro, Small and Medium sized Enterprises Day.

• G-20 summit has began in Osaka, Japan. The theme of the summit is Human centred future society. The next G20 Summit will be hosted by Saudi Arabia in November 2020.

• Mercer has released 25th Annual Cost of Living Survey. The costliest city in the world for the second consecutive year is Hong Kong. The world’s least expensive cities for expatriates are Tunis (209), Tashkent (208), and Karachi (207).

• Padmanabha Balakrishna Acharya was sworn in as Governor of Manipur.  The Nagaland Governor Acharya will serve as Governor of Manipur as an additional charge during the absence, on leave, of Dr Najma Heptulla, Governor of Manipur. Note: Chief minister of Manipur: N. Biren Singh.

• Virat Kohli becomes the fastest cricketer to score 20,000 international runs. He took just 417 innings to reach the milestone.

• The GoI has reduced interest rates for small savings schemes by 10 basis points for the July-September quarter of the 2019-20 financial year. Some schemes that will fetch lower interest rates are Kisan Vikas Patra (7.6%), Public Provident Fund (7.9%), Sukanya Samriddhi Account (8.4%).

• Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar announced an annual financial assistance of Rs.5 lakh to “loktantra senanis” or their spouse. Under this, they will be provided treatment at private or government hospitals.  “Loktantra senanis” are those people who were imprisoned during the 1975-77 Emergency under preventive detention laws. Note: Governor: Satyadev Narayan Arya.

• The Reserve Bank relaxed the leverage ratio (LR)to 4% for Domestic Systemically Important Banks (DSIBs) and 5% for other banks. The reduced leverage ratio will be effective from the quarter commencing October 1, 2019. The leverage ratio, as defined under Basel-III norms, is Tier-I capital as a percentage of the bank’s exposures.

• India has signed a loan agreement worth 400 million dollar with the World Bank to help treat and eliminate Tuberculosis from the country.

• The GoI, the Government of Kerala and the World Bank have signed the Loan Agreement of USD 250 million for the First Resilient Kerala Program. The program will focus on strengthening the state’s institutional and financial capacity to protect the assets and livelihoods of poor and vulnerable groups. Note: Kerala CM: Pinarayi Vijayan, Governor: P. Sathasivam.

• The United Nations observed 29 June as International Day of the Tropics.

• Statistics Day was observed on 29^th The day is celebrated on the birth anniversary of Prof. P C Mahalanobis. Theme of Statistics Day for year 2019: Sustainable Development Goals.