TNPSC Current Affairs June 7, 2017 for Group 1 and Group 2 Mains

TNPSC Current affairs June 2017

1.India admitted as full member of SCO.

India  admitted as a full​ member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) during the summit held in June 8-9 in Astana, Kazakhstan. India along with Pakistan also admitted as full member.

About Shanghai Cooperation Organisation:

• It is a permanent political, economic, and military bloc founded in 2001 in Shanghai, China by the leaders of China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.
• It was earlier known as Shanghai Five which includes all the members of SCO except Uzbekistan founded in 1996.
• Uzbekistan was included in 2001 and was renamed to SCO and it has decided to admit India and Pakistan a full members on 2015.

India’s Benefit:

• India’s entry would help to get greater access to resource-rich Central Asian region.
• Central Asia and Russia are extremely rich in  fossil fuels, including oil, gas, coal , uranium and hydropower and more.The membership will allow India to have greater access to the region’s resources and facilitate further cooperation with countries of central Asia.
• It also provide an opportunity to address the threat of terrorism which has affected the peace and stability of region, since the SCO has mechanism to deal with the issue of terrorism, the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure, it will provide India a good platform to highlight terrorism and push Pakistan to abide. 

2.Union Cabinet approves agreement between India and Cyprus on Merchant Shipping

The Union Cabinet has given its ex-post facto approval to the Agreement between India and Cyprus on Merchant Shipping, which was signed in April 2017. The cabinet was chaired by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

About MoU:

• The Agreement will pave the way for cooperation in eliminating any hindrances which may hamper the development of sea trade between the two Countries.
• It will encourage participation in the transport of goods between the countries, and also from third countries.
• It also seeks to enhance cooperation for employment, improvement of conditions of work and for the welfare of seafarers employed on each other’s vessels.