Daily Current Affairs Updates: 27 June 2014

1) 15 killed as GAIL pipeline bursts in Andhra Pradesh: At least 15 people were charred to death and 18 suffered burns in a massive explosion in a GAIL-operated gas pipeline passing through Nagaram village in East Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh. The victims include three women and three children. Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu cut short his visit to Delhi and reached the accident site accompanied by Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.

2) Pune's Fergusson College recognized the Third Gender in its admission forms: In a first, Pune’s Fergusson College has included the option of choosing “transgender” in its application forms for academic programmes beginning this year. The move that is both open minded and adhering to Supreme court’s ruling on April 15 earlier this year to recognize the third gender Pune’s Fergusson College has opened its gates for the transgender community by making a transgender option available in its admission application forms for the academic year 14-15. Activists and professors in the various colleges in the city welcomed the decision and have expressed the need for other colleges to take the cue.

3) Saina Nehwal marched Into Australian Open Semi-Finals: India's Olympic bronze medallist Saina Nehwal marched into the women's singles semi-finals of the $750,000 Australian Badminton Open Super Series at the States Sports Centre, Sydney on 27 June 2014. The sixth seeded Hyderabadi needed only 47 minutes in the quarter-final to oust Japan's Eriko Hirose 21-18, 21-9 to level her career head-to-head to four-all.

4) Union Government granted Navratna Status to EIL and NBCC: The Union Government on 24 June 2014 granted Navratna status to Engineers India Ltd (EIL) and National Buildings Construction Corporation (NBCC). Department of Public Enterprises under the Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises granted the navratna status to enhance the greater financial and operational autonomy.

5) Poland's Wroclaw city named 2016 World Book Capital: Poland’s Wroclaw city will be the World Book Capital (WBC) for 2016 in recognition of its promoting the publishing and bookselling industries, Unesco said. “Civic leaders in Wroclaw have developed an excellent programme that will promote reading among the wider public all through the year,” Unesco director general Irina Bokova said in a statement. Wroclaw — the largest city in western Poland — was selected “in light of the strong assets of its programme in terms of quality and variety” and in particular, “for its special focus on grass-root community involvement, as well as promotion of publishing, bookselling industries and libraries at regional and international levels”.

6) France to honour Shah Rukh Khan with 'Legion of France': France has decided to honour Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan with the 'Legion of France', one of its highest civilian awards. French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius will present the award to Khan next week. Fabius is scheduled to arrive in New Delhi on June 29 to meet External Affairs Minister (EAM) Sushma Swaraj.