NEWS

1. United States has decided to increase the application fee of its Immigration Investor Visa Programme (EB-5). The fee will go up from $500,000 to $1.35 million. As of now, EB-5 is the quickest legal route available for immigrants to get Green Card and permanent residency in the U.S.

2. Indian Navy has issued tenders worth Rs. 15,000 crore for a range of warships. This includes the acquisition of six Next Generation Missile Vessels (NGMV) for navy. Along with this eight Fast Patrol Vessels, 12 Air Cushion Vehicles and eight ammunition barges for the Coast guard.

3. Indian pro boxer Vaibhav Yadav became World Boxing Council (WBC) Asia silver Welterweight Champion after winning the title bout held in Thailand.

4. Indian Air Force and French Air Force are participating in Garuda VI, a bilateral air exercise in France. This joint India-France air exercise is aimed at enhancing interoperability level of French and Indian crews in air defense and ground attack missions. IAF contingent comprises of- 120 air-warriors and 4 Sukhoi 30 MKI along with an IL-78 flight refueling aircraft. Also, IAF’s C-17 Globemaster strategic lift aircraft will provide logistics support to contingent during induction and de-induction phases.

5. Centre has declared entire State of Nagaland a ‘disturbed area’ for a period of 6 more months under Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) with effect from 30 June 2019.

6. Pakistan has agreed to allow year-long visa-free access for Indian pilgrims to holy Gurdwara of Kartarpur Sahib. Throughout the year, 5,000 pilgrims will be allowed to visit Kartarpur Sahib Gurdwara per day. 

7. Indian Army has placed an order for procuring Israeli Anti-Tank Spike missiles from Israel. Spike Missile is known for their precision targeting with an ability to pierce even bunkers and can hit targets at a range of 4 kilometers.

8. Kalyani Rafael Advanced Systems Ltd (KRAS) has secured $100-million order from Israel’s Rafael for manufacturing 1,000 Barak-8 Medium-Range Surface-to-Air Missile (MR-SAM) Missile kits for Indian Army and the Indian Air Force.

9. India’s Mohammad Anas won gold in men’s 400m and Hima Das won gold in women’s 200m event at Athletics Meet in Czech Republic. This is Hima Das 3rd international triumph in 11 days. Dutee Chand, became the first Indian sprinter to win women’s 100m in Summer University Games held in Italy.

10. England defeated New Zealand to win the 2019 Cricket World Cup. It was a very debatable match and drew a lot of criticism. However the match went till till the last ball.

11. The launch of Chandrayaan-2 was aborted due a development of leakage in of the joints. Fresh dates of the launch is awaited.