The Adani Group, a global integrated infrastructure conglomerate, announced commissioning of a 50-megawatt (MW) solar Photo Voltaic (PV) plant in Mahoba district of Uttar Pradesh (UP). The plant has been commissioned at a total cost of Rs. 315 crore under the National Solar Mission Scheme. With this, the Adani Group’s capacity in solar energy has now increased to 838 MW, spread across Gujarat (Bitta – 40 MW), Tamil Nadu (Ramanathapuram – 648 MW), Uttar Pradesh and Punjab (Bhatinda – 100 MW).

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has issued a new batch of Rs. 500 banknotes. The new batch of banknotes has inset letter “A” in both the number panels. It also bears signature of the central bank’s governor Urjit R. Patel, with the year of printing ‘2017’ on the reverse. The design of these notes is similar in all respects to the Rs. 500 banknotes in Mahatma Gandhi (New) Series which were first notified post-demonetisation on November 8, 2016. The new series earlier released and currently in circulation has the inset letter “E”. They will continue to be valid.

India and Israel signed a “white shipping” agreement to improve data sharing on non-classified merchant navy ships or cargo ships. The agreement was signed to further deepen bilateral military ties. The agreement was signed by Chief of Indian Navy Staff Sunil Lanba and Chief of the General Staff of Israeli Defence Force Lt Gen Gadi Eisenkot after their meeting.

Verizon completed the US $4.5 billion takeover process of email and internet giant Yahoo. The takeover ends Yahoo’s 21-year history as a publicly traded company. Yahoo’s email and other digital services such as sports, finance and news will be run by Tim Armstrong, who has been running AOL since Verizon bought that company for $4.4 billion two years ago. Armstrong will now be CEO of a new Verizon subsidiary called Oath, which will consist of Yahoo and various AOL services.

The second edition of India-Australia Joint Maritime Exercise ‘AUSINDEX-17’ began off the coast of Australia at port Freemantle on June 13, 2017. The first edition was held in 2015 in Visakhapatnam. INS Shivalik, a muIti-role stealth frigate, INS Kamorta, an anti-submarine warfare corvette, and INS Jyoti, the fleet replenishment tanker, will be taking part in this exercise.

The Minister of Railways Suresh Prabhu launched the Mission Retro-Fitment to enhance the passengers’ experience. This is one of the largest retro fitment project in the world as Indian Railways’ 40,000 coaches will be refurbished and retrofitted in the next five years.

The World Bank has approved more than US $500 million for Afghanistan to support a string of projects to boost the economy, help improve service delivery in five cities and support Afghan refugees sent back from Pakistan. The largest chunk of the package, i.e., $205.4 million, will go toward supporting communities affected by refugees returning from Pakistan.

The Union Ministry of Rural Development has selected ‘Project Jal Sanchay’ in Nalanda district of Bihar for the national award for excellence in the Mahatma Gandhi national rural employment guarantee programme (MGNREGP). The ‘Project Jal Sanchay’ is a model of water conservation launched under MGNREGP to offer farmers a wide spectrum of solutions to their water crisis.

The book “Indira Gandhi – A life in nature” presents the former prime minister’s life as a naturalist and examines how she steered India’s conservation policy, which is authored by Jairam Ramesh, the senior Congress leader and former Environment Minister . The author noted that Mrs. Gandhi used her political authority to save ecologically sensitive areas from destruction like the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, the entire northeast and the rainforests in the Western Ghats. The book also refers to Indira Gandhi’s association with nature lovers Salim Ali, Billy Arjan Singh, Sunderlal Bahuguna and Anne Wright. In all, the book highlighted the former PM Indira Gandhi’s love for nature, wildlife and forests.

The four northeast Indian states share 1,643-km border with Myanmar – Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Mizoram and Manipur. It is in news recently, because the Indian Government has set up an expert committee to examine the rules which allow free movement of Indian and Myanmarese citizens within 16 kms of the border, but are exploited by militants for smuggling arms, drugs, and fake Indian currency. The committee will be headed by the special secretary (Internal Security) in the Ministry of Home Affairs. The committee will give its report for uniform and effective implementation of free movement regime within 3 months. It will also prepare standard operating procedures common for all the four states so that militants, criminals and contraband are filtered at the border without causing inconvenience to genuine people.