Current Affairs Updates for 14 June 2015

1) Rohan Bopanna-Florin Mergea duo won Stuttgart Open Tennis title:

--> Indo-Romanian tennis pair of Rohan Bopanna and Florin Mergea clinched the men's doubles title of the 574,965-euro Stuttgart Open on the grass courts of Tennis Club.

--> The fourth seeds took just an hour and 12 minutes to beat Austrian-Brazilian third seeds Alexander Peya and Bruno Soares 5-7, 6-2, 10-7 in the final.

--> This is the second title the two have won together, having won the clay court Madrid Open last month. 

2) Comet lander Philae wakes up from hibernation:

--> The comet lander Philae has awakened from a seven-month hibernation and managed to communicate with Earth for more than a minute, the European Space Agency said on 14 June 2015.

--> The probe became the first spacecraft to land on a comet when it touched down on the icy surface of 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko in November 2014.

--> Shortly after its historic landing, Philae managed to conduct experiments and send data to Earth for about 60 hours before its batteries were depleted and it was forced into hibernation.

3) Former Union Minister Sheila Kaul passed away:

--> Former Union Minister Sheila Kaul, a sister-in-law of Jawaharlal Nehru and oldest surviving former parliamentarian died on 14 June 2015.

--> A former Himachal Pradesh Governor, Kaul had been unwell for the past few days.

--> Urban Development Minister in the Narasimha Rao Cabinet, Ms. Kaul was accused of making out-of-turn allotment of government accommodations in return for monetary gain between 1992 and 1995.

4) Bibek Debroy committee on restructuring of Indian Railways submitted its report:

--> The panel on restructuring of the Indian Railways, headed by Mr. Debroy, submitted its final report on 12 June 2015.

--> The committee has set a five-year timeframe for implementing its recommendations and has suggested doing away with the Railway Budget.

--> The committee has suggested measures for restructuring the Railway Board and its departments so that policy making is separated from day-to-day operations.

5) World Blood Donor day observed:

--> World Blood Donor Day was observed across the world on 14 June to raise the public awareness about the need for safe blood donation.

--> The theme of this year’s campaign is "Thank you for saving my life".

--> This year’s campaign encourages donors all over the world to donate blood voluntarily and regularly with the slogan Give freely, give often. Blood donation matters.

6) Govt sets up Rs. 1500-crore nuclear insurance pool:

--> The government has launched an insurance pool to the tune of Rs. 1,500 crore which is mandatory under the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act (CLND).

--> This was announced by Minister of State in the Department of Atomic Energy Jitendra Singh in New Delhi on 13 June 2015.

--> Under the Rs. 1,500-crore pool, set up by General Insurance Corporation of India (GIC Re) and 11 other non-life insurers including New India, Oriental Insurance, National Insurance and United India Insurance from the public sector apart from private insurance companies, policies offered will be a nuclear operators liability insurance policy and a nuclear suppliers’ special contingency (against right to recourse) insurance policy.

7) Beno Zephine becomes first 100% blind officer in IFS:

--> Beno Zephine, 25-year-old from Chennai has been inducted into the Indian Foreign Service, the first 100 per cent visually-challenged person to gain entry into the 69-year-old service.

8) Robin nominated as United Kingdom’s first-ever national bird:

--> India has the peacock, America has the bald eagle and now Britain has the robin.

--> The red-breasted bird has topped a poll of more than 200,000 people to choose the UK's first national bird, winning a landslide victory.

--> The bird received 34% of votes, followed by the barn owl, which received 12% and the blackbird, 11%.