United States, Canada and Mexico win bid to host World Cup 2026

  • The United States, Mexico and Canada won the right to host the 2026 FIFA football World Cup.
  • The three nations beat Morocco in a vote by FIFA member nations in Moscow.
  • The North American bid received 134 of the 203 votes, Morocco won 65 votes.
  • The FIFA World Cup will return to North America for the first time since 1994 when the United States hosted the tournament.
  • The FIFA World Cup 2018 is being held at Russia; the FIFA World Cup 2022 will be held in Qatar.

India Ranks 177 on Global Environment Performance Index 2018

  • India came in second-last on the Global Environment Performance Index (EPI) rankings, getting 177th spot out of 180 countries, with an EPI score of just 30.57.
  • Burundi is last with an EPI score of 27.43.
  • Switzerland is the top ranking nation on the EPI, with a score of 87.42. This is followed by France and Denmark, registering scores of 83.95 and 81.60, respectively.
  • India has an Air Quality score of 5.75, which is lower than China (14.39) and Pakistan (15.69).

Wholesale inflation at 14-month high of 4.43% in May 2018

  • Inflation based on wholesale prices reached a high of 4.43% in May this year, on rising prices of prices of fuel and vegetables.
  • In contrast, the inflation a year back (in May 2017) was just 2.26%.
  • Inflation in vegetables was 2.51% in May 2018, compared with April 2018, when it was -0.89%.
  • Inflation in the ‘fuel and power’ basket shot up to 11.22% in May 2018, contrasted with 7.85% in April this year.
  • Potato inflation was at a peak of 81.93%, against 67.94% in April.
  • The previous spike was in March 2017, when the WPI inflation stood at 5.11%.

Maharashtra govt, Quebec sign pact for greater economic cooperation

  • The Maharashtra government and Canada’s Quebec province have signed a pact to increase the economic cooperation.
  • Key areas of focus are information technology, biotechnology, artificial intelligence and welfare of the tribal community.
  • CM Devendra Fadnavis signed the MoU with the Canadian PM Philippe Couillard.

Raksha Mantri inaugurates 1st BEL Representative Office in Vietnam

  • Raksha Mantri, Nirmala Sitharaman inaugurated the first Representative Office of Navratna Defence PSU Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) in Hanoi, Vietnam.
  • This was done during the Vietnam-India Defence Industry Business Meeting.
  • Sitharaman handed over a symbolic key of the Representative Office of BEL at Vietnam (VIRO) to Chairman & Managing Director, Gowtama MV.
  • The Representative Office will promote BEL’s exports which include Weapon Systems, Radar Systems, Naval Systems, Coastal Surveillance Systems and Military Communication Systems.

Sulabh founder Bindeshwar Pathak honoured with Japan’s Nikkei Asia Prize

  • Social reformer and founder of Sulabh International, Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak (PhD), was honoured with Japan’s prestigious Nikkei Asia Prize for Culture and Community.
  • Dr. Pathak received the award for his significant work in tackling poor hygiene and discrimination.
  • Launched in 1996, the award honours people in Asia who have made significant contributions in one of the three areas: regional growth; science, technology and innovation; and culture and community.
  • Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Infosys Chairman Narayan Murthy are among the few Indians who have won the prize in the past.

US approves $930 million deal to sell AH-64E Apache attack choppers to India

  • The US government has approved a deal to sell six AH-64E Apache attack helicopters to the Indian military.
  • The 6 choppers will cost $930 million.
  • The agreement has been sent to the US Congress for approval, and will go through if there is no objection.
  • In addition to the Apache aircraft, the deal includes night vision sensors, GPS guidance and Hellfire anti-armor and Stinger air-to-air missiles.

Indian-American Dhivya Suryadevara to become CFO of General Motors

  • Indian-American Dhivya Suryadevara has been named the Chief Finance Officer (CFO) of the USA’s largest automaker, General Motors (GM).
  • Suryadevara is currently the vice president of corporate finance at GM.
  • She will take over from Chuck Stevens, the General Motors’ present CFO, on September 1 this year.
  • GM’s CEO is also a woman - Mary Barra. And Mary and Dhivya are the first women in their respective positions in the auto industry.

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