5th JUNE CURRENT AFFAIRS IN ENGLISH

1. Japanese passport ranked 'most powerful' in world

India has bagged the 76th position in a list of the world's most powerful passports, granting its holders visa-free access to 59 countries.

• The results are part of citizenship planning firm Henley and Partners' annual passport index, which ranks passports based on the number of countries a holder can go to without a visa or the number of countries a holder can go to where they can obtain a visa.
• As per the annual passport index, Japan has been deemed the world's most powerful passport, with access to 189 countries.
• Singapore and Germany, on the other hand, have secured the second place with both having access to 188 countries.

2. MIT Scientists Create Norman, The World's First “Psychopathic” AI

A team of scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have built a psychopathic AI using image pulled from Reddit.

• They’ve named it Norman after Alfred Hitchcock’s Norman Bates.
• Norman is a particular type of AI program that can “look at" and "understand" pictures, and then describe what it sees in writing.

3. Arctic seas are the planet’s cleanest

According to Murmansk Marine Biology Institute , the Arctic’s seas are the cleanest seas on the planet.

• In 2017, the Institute’s scientists organized several big expeditions to the Arctic.
• The institute’s experts worked in the Barents, Norwegian and Greenland Seas

4. World Environment Day: 5 June

World Environment Day (WED) occurs on the 5th of June every year, and is the United Nation's principal vehicle for encouraging awareness and action for the protection of our environment.

• First held in 1974, it has been a flagship campaign for raising awareness on emerging environmental issues from marine pollution, human overpopulation, and global warming, to sustainable consumption and wildlife crime.
• This year’s theme is ‘Beat Plastic Pollution’.
• New Delhi is the host city of this year’s World Environment Day.

5. Krishi Kalyan Abhiyan being implemented in 25 villages in each of the 111 Aspirational Districts

The Ministry of Agriculture and farmers’ welfare in line with the Hon’ble Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of doubling farmers’ income by 2022 has launched the Krishi kalyan Abhiyaan from 1st June, 2018 till 31st July, 2018 so as to aid, assist and advice farmerss on how to improve their farming techniques and raise their incomes.

• The Krishi kalyan Abhiyaan will be undertaken in 25 Villages with more than 1000 population each in Aspirational Districts identified in consultation with Ministry of Rural Development as per directions of NITI Ayog.
• In districts where number of villages (with more than 1000 population) is less than 25, all villages will be covered.

6. Government launches ‘JANAUSHADHI SUVIDHA’ – Oxo-biodegradable Sanitary Napkin

Union Minister of State for Chemicals & Fertilizers, Road Transport & Highways, Shipping, Shri Mansukh L. Mandaviya, launched the ‘JANAUSHADHI SUVIDHA’, the Oxo-biodegradable Sanitary Napkin, under the Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana (PMBJP).

• The affordable sanitary napkins will now become available at over 3600 Janaushadhi Kendras functional in 33 States/UTs across India, as promised by Union Minister, Chemical & Fertilizers and Parliamentary Affairs, Shri Ananthkumar on March 8, 2018 (World Women’s day).

7. Commerce Minister attends informal gathering of WTO in Paris

Commerce and Industry Minister, Suresh Prabhu, attended an Informal Gathering of World Trade Organisation (WTO) Ministers in Paris on 31 May 2018.

• Twenty-Eight (28) member countries of the WTO and the Director General of the WTO attended the informal meeting.
• In his intervention, the Minister observed that there were already a number of Ministerial mandates to guide work at the WTO and negotiators have been working for years on many issues. 

8. India's forest cover stood at 21.34 percent in 2015

According to the latest data from the Indian Forest Survey, 21.34 percent of the country's total land area is forest covered. This was 20.05 percent in 2009.

• According to the report, Mizoram with 89 per forest area is the most forested state in the country. After this, Lakshadweep with 84.56 per cent, Andaman Nicobar Islands with 82 per cent and Arunachal Pradesh with 80 per cent forest area occupied second, third and fourth places respectively.
• According to the report, 15 states of the country have more than 33 per cent of the forest area. Assam is at the bottom with 35 percent forest area among these 15 states.
• According to the report, the level of intensive forest area in the total area of ​​the country is 9.59 percent.

9. Asia’s 1st  ‘Blue Flag’ Beaches To Be Developed in India

13 Indian beaches will soon get the Blue Flag certification. These beaches of Odisha, Maharashtra and other coastal states will be the first in not just India, but in Asia, to get the Blue Flag certification.

• To get Blue Flag standards, a beach has to strictly comply with 33 environment and tourism related conditions.
• The Indian beaches are being developed according to the Blue Flag certification standards by the Society for Integrated Coastal Management (SICOM), an environment ministry’s body working for the management of coastal areas.

10. Bengaluru to host UN Global Compact Network India convention

Global Compact Network India (GCNI), a local network of the United Nations Global Compact in New York, is holding its 13th National Convention in Bengaluru.

• This year, the GCNI convention is of a greater significance as it is coinciding with the UN India Business Forum being hosted on June 7.
• The स्theme of the event is 'Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

11. Mahesh Jain appointed as RBI deputy governor

The government has appointed IDBI Bank Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Mahesh Kumar Jain as a deputy governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for a period of three years.

• Jain, who is also the managing director of the state-run lender, had previously led Indian Bank for a couple of years.
• Jain will fill the post vacated by S S Mundra, who had completed his three-year term in July last year.
• Other serving Deputy Governors are Viral V Acharya, N S Vishwanathan and B P Kanungo.