Current affairs- 17 June :: 1) Janata Dal – United (JD(U)) on - TopicsExpress

Current affairs- 17 June :: 1) Janata Dal – United (JD(U)) on 16 June 2013 broke its 17-year alliance with the BJP opposing the elevation of Gujarat Chief Narendra Modi to chief of BJP’s election campaign committee. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar met Governor DY Patil and requested him to convene a special session on 19 June 2013 for him to seek a vote of confidence. 11 BJP ministers in Bihar cabinet were also removed from their posts. JD(U) national president Sharad Yadav resigned as the convener of BJP led alliance, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). After JD(U)’s exit from NDA, NDA now comprises of how many parties? – Three (BJP, Akali Dal and Shiv Sena) 2) After JD(U)’s parting of ways with the NDA, Sushil Kumar Modi, who was deputy Chief Minister of Bihar till now, decided to resign from the post of an important empowered committee at the Centre. Which committee is this? – Empowered Committee of State Finance Ministers on the Goods and Services Tax – GST (As GST committee chief, Modi held parleys with state finance ministers for implementation of the uniform tax regime. He had assumed the post after the then GST committee chairman Asim Dasgupta, finance minister of West Bengal resigned after the CPI(M)-led Left Front lost the elections in the state in 2011) 3) The Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), a prestigious central university of the country, recently decided to increase the fees of several under-graduate and post-graduate courses citing inflation in the recent years. AMU is going to increase fees after how many years? – 15 years 4) Which park situated adjacent to Istanbul’s famous Taksim Square came to news recently, where demonstrators protesting against the present Turkish Govt. led by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, organized a sit-in for a fortnight till they were forcibly cleared by security forces on 15 June 2013? – Gezi Park (Turkey’s riot police swept through the park and Taksim Square and forcibly removed thousands of peaceful protesters) 5) Who was appointed as Chief Advisor to the board of low-cost carrier AirAsia’s Indian venture? – Ratan Tata, Chairman emeritus, Tata Group (AirAsia’s Indian venture is a joint-venture between Malaysia-based AirAsia, India’s Tata Group and Telstra Tradeplace)