current affairs 30 June 2022

African nations Gabon and Togo join Commonwealth Group of Nations.

The African nations of Gabon and Togo have been admitted into the Commonwealth group of nations.
Gabon and Togo are the Francophone countries.
Oil-rich Gabon, a former French colony on the Atlantic Ocean, has been ruled by the Bongo family for 55 years.
Togo, a former German then French colony, has also been under dynastic rule for more than half a century.
The 54-nation group of mostly former British colonies accepted Togo and Gabon's application for membership on the final day of its leadership summit in Rwanda.
The French-speaking West African states are the first new members to join the Commonwealth since Rwanda in 2009.
Mozambique -- a former Portuguese colony -- became the first Commonwealth member without historic links to Britain when it joined in 1995.

The chief executive of India Resurgence Asset Reconstruction Company, Avinash Kulkarni, has been selected to head the India Debt Resolution Company.
He will be the sole agent to resolve more than ₹83,000 crore of bad loans to be acquired by the government-backed National Asset Reconstruction Company.
Kulkarni has previously worked in the State Bank of India.
Kulkarni's appointment follows another SBI veteran Natarajan Sundar being selected as CEO of the NARCL in April. Sundar took over as the CEO at the end of May.
IDRCL is a private sector company controlled by private sector banks that own a 51% share.

NASA has successfully launched a rocket from Australia's remote Northern Territory, making history as the agency's first commercial spaceport launch outside the United States.
The rocket is expected to travel more than 300 kilometers (186 miles) into space on its mission to observe the Alpha Centauri A and B constellations -- the nearest star systems to the Earth.
Alpha Centauri bears a special meaning for Australia. It is mostly only visible from the Southern Hemisphere and is one of the pointers to the Southern Cross constellation that appears on the country's flag.
It was the first of three launches, with a further two planned for July 4 and July 12.
The Arnhem Space Center describes itself as the only commercially owned and run multi-user equatorial launch site in the world.

Former Karnataka chief minister S M Krishna, Infosys founder and IT industry veteran N R Narayana Murthy, and former badminton player Prakash Padukone, have been selected for the Kempegowda International Award, which has been instituted beginning this year.
Chief Minister of Karnataka has present the awards to recipients during the grand celebration on the 513th birth anniversary of Kempegowda, the architect of Bengaluru city.
The award carries a cash prize of ₹5 lakh along with a plaque.
The Kempegowda Award or Nadaprabhu Kempegowda Award is a civilian award presented annually by Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike, Bengaluru, Karnataka.

The third edition of the National Kite Boarding Championship is being held in Thoothukudi (Tuticorin), Tamil Nadu starting from June 27.
It is held under the aegis of Yachting Association of India (YAI) which is the National Federation for the sport of Sailing in India.
The three day event is being hosted by Aqua Outback, Tuticorin and being organised by Tamil Nadu Sailing Association and Chennai Sailing Academy.
Thoothukudi (Tuticorin) is one of India's windiest coast making it an ideal arena to conduct wind based water sports and bringing together some of the best athletes from the country to train and compete.
Kiteboarding will be making its debut in Olympics at Paris in 2024.