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| Current Affairs |
Dear Readers,
Welcome to
Mentor for Bank Exams. Here I am posting Daily Current affairs News Updates
about the National and International events were listed here. Candidates those
who are preparing for IBPS/SBI/PO/Clerk exam and all other competitive exams
can use this. Kindly make use of these!!!
APPOINTMENTS
1) Mondelez appoints Deepak Iyer as India
MD
Mondelēz International Inc. said
it has appointed Deepak Iyer as managing director of Mondelez India Foods Pvt
Ltd, the local entity of the world’s largest snacks company.
Iyer will also be part of the
company’s Asia Pacific leadership team. Iyer will report to Maurizio
Brusadelli, executive vice president and president (Asia Pacific), Mondelēz
International.
2) Bhaskar Khulbe appointed secretary to PM Modi
ACC (Appointments Committee of
Cabinet) has approved appointment of Shri Bhaskar Khulbe IAS (WB 1983),
additional secretary, Prime Minister's Office, as secretary to Prime Minister
in the pay scale of Rs 80,000 (fixed) in the Prime Minister's Office with
effect from 29.07.2016.
3) Air Marshal Neelakantan takes charge as
SAC Commanding-in- Chief
Air Marshal S Neelakantan assumed
charge as Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Southern Air Command (SAC).
The traditional Guard of Honour
was presented to him by the Air Warriors. Air Marshal S Neelakantan was
commissioned as a fighter pilot in the Indian Air Force on December 28, 1977.
AWARDS AND HONOURS
1) Artist Anita Gopalan gets PEN/Heim grant
Translator and artist Anita
Gopalan has been awarded the 2016 PEN/Heim Translation Fund Grant for her English
translation of Hindi novel “Simsim” by Geet Chaturvedi.
Ms. Gopalan, who is based in
Bengaluru, is the second Indian translator to be selected for the grant. PEN
America is a renowned literary organisation of the United States.
The artist will be honoured at
the 2017 PEN Literary Awards Ceremony in New York in February.
BUSINESS/ECONOMY NEWS
1) Freecharge Inks Partnership with PayUbiz
Freecharge, India’s fastest
growing digital payments platform has partnered with the leading payment
gateway solution provider, PayUbiz, to further strengthen its merchant base and
help consumers move from cash to digital payments.
This integration allows Freecharge
to tap PayUbiz’s more than 10,000 online merchants. Furthermore, the latter’s
wide assortment of merchants across sectors will also be accessible to
Freecharge patrons.
2) Bank of Baroda ties up with start-up
Fisdom
Bank of Baroda has tied up with a fintech start-up Fisdom
for personal wealth management services. Besides, the bank has entered into
pact with six other fintech companies, proficient in different areas, Fisdom
said in a release. These are CreditMantri, FundsTiger, Probe42, Power2SME,
IndiaLends and KredX.
3) RBI puts bank licences on tap, excludes
big groups
Universal bank licences will now
be available on tap, with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on releasing the
final set of guidelines for eligible entities to apply for licences as and when
they choose to, and keeping the doors closed to large business houses.
Non-banking financial companies
(NBFCs), qualified individuals and some private companies will be eligible to
apply for licences.
NBFCs that are part of large
conglomerates with more than 40% of their total assets coming from
non-financial businesses will not be eligible.
3) ICICI Bank reduces MCLR by 0.05 per cent
Country's largest private sector
lender ICICI Bank announced a 0.05 per cent reduction in its marginal cost of
funds based lending rate (MCLR).
The overnight MCLR will be 8.90
per cent under the revised rate structure which is effective from today.
The one-year MCLR, to which the
home loans are linked, has moved down to 9.10 per cent.
4) SBI starts certification for officers who sanction loans
To face the challenge of high
non-performing assets (NPAs), State Bank of India has started working on a
multi-pronged strategy, including a certification programme for loan
sanctioning officials.
As per the plan which will come
in force over next three years, the officials who successfully complete the
first learning will be authorised to sanction loan up to Rs 50 crore and those
who pass level two exam, will be given powers to sanction loan up to Rs 500
crore.
5) NHPC to raise Rs 4,500 cr after
Subansiri project clearance
As part of its Rs 3,000 crore
diversification plan to venture into solar and wind power projects, NHPC
Limited (previously known as National Hydroelectric Power Corporation) is
looking at feasible options in various states in the sector.
The company also plans to raise
Rs 4,500 crore through private placement, but is waiting National Green
Tribunal (NGT) clearance for the 2,000-Mw Lower Subansiri hydroelectric project
at Gerukamukh along the Assam-Arunachal Pradesh border.
6) Novopay aims to disrupt payments in
rural India with its assisted wallet
Bengaluru Novopay, a
Bengaluru-based payment firm is slowly disrupting the mobile wallet space by
focusing to serve unbanked and rural customers.
Novopay has tied up with RBL,
Axis Bank, IDFC and Bank of India to deliver its services to customers through
the bank-backed wallet.
The local Kirana store validates
the user, who receives the money with the Aadhaar-based unique identification
numbers database, using biometric scanners and the smartphones.
7) Wipro Infrastructure to acquire Israel's
H R Givon
Wipro Infrastructure Engineering
(WIN) will acquire Israel-based H R Givon, supplier of metallic parts and
assemblies to the aerospace industry, in an all-cash deal.
This acquisition will help WIN
broaden its product portfolio, expand global footprint and strengthen its
ability to forge deeper customer relationships in the aviation and aerospace
industry.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
1) Seventh meeting of SAARC Immigration
Authorities has begun in Islamabad
Seventh meeting of SAARC
Immigration Authorities has begun in Islamabad. It is in preparation for the
2-day SAARC Home Ministers conference beginning tomorrow which will also be
attended by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh.
The Immigration Authorities meet
is reviewing different areas to maximize the potential of visa exemption scheme
launched among the member countries in 1992.
The meeting will formulate
recommendations to be presented in the meetings of Home Secretaries and
Interior Ministers during the conference.
2) Texas allows guns in college classrooms
under new law
A new law went into effect in
Texas that allows certain students to bring guns into classrooms, with
supporters saying it could prevent mass shootings and critics saying the
measure will endanger safety on campuses.
The law took effect as the
university held a memorial to mark the 50th anniversary of one of the deadliest
U.S. gun incidents on a college campus.
3) China holds live-fire navy drills in
East China Sea
China’s navy has fired dozens of
missiles and torpedoes during exercises in the East China Sea.
The exercise aimed at improving
the "intensity, precision, stability and speed" of its forces amid an
environment of strong electromagnetic forces that result from modern electronic
warfare.
4) Typhoon Nida smashes into southern China
Typhoon Nida made landfall near
Hong Kong on Monday, bringing heavy rain and damaging winds across parts of
southern China.
The system weakened quickly and
within seven hours of arriving, the Joint Typhoon Warning Center issued a final
warning as the winds eased down, although widespread flooding remains a threat.
Typhoon Nida (which is locally
known as Carina) made landfall near the Dapeng Peninsula in Guangdong province
on the South China Sea at 0400 local time (2000 GMT Monday).
NATIONAL NEWS
1) Parliament passes bills assigning
constitutional status to NEET
The Rajya Sabha passed the Indian
Medical Council (Amendment) Bill, 2016, and the Dentist (Amendment) Bill, 2016,
seeking to amend the Indian Medical Council Act, 1956 and the Dentist Act,
1948.
The bills were passed by Lok
Sabha on 19 July and aim to bring private colleges under the ambit of the
Indian Medical Council (Amendment) Bill and Dentist (Amendment) Bill.
2) Central body approves Rs 400 crore for
Ganga rejuvenation projects
A high-level panel of the
National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA) on Monday approved various
projects worth approximately Rs 400 crore for development of ghats (river
fronts) and crematoria at different places along the river Ganga from
Uttarakhand to West Bengal under the Centre’s ambitious Namami Gange programme.
3) Government launches performance, credit
rating scheme for MSMEs
The Ministry of Micro, Small and
Medium Enterprises has launched a performance and credit rating scheme to
assess the capabilities and creditworthiness of industries in the sector.
The implementing of 'Performance
and Credit Rating Scheme' for MSMEs is to provide a trusted third party opinion
on their capabilities and creditworthiness so as to create awareness about the
strengths and weaknesses of their existing operations.
4) Odisha to recruit members of transgender
community as jail warders
The Odisha government has decided
to recruit members of transgender community persons as warders in jails of the
State as per the directive of the Supreme Court.
The home department has issued
instructions to the Odisha Subordinate Staff Selection Commission (OSSC) to
include the gender category.
5) Rename Madras high court as Tamil Nadu
HC and not as Chennai HC, resolution passed by Tamil Nadu assembly says
The Tamil Nadu assembly unanimously
passed a resolution asking the central government to rename the Madras high
court as Tamil Nadu high court and not as Chennai high court.
The resolution comes after the
central government introduced the High Courts (Alteration of Names) Bill, 2016
in the Lok Sabha to change the name of the Madras high court to Chennai high
court.
6) PM Modi to launch national campaign
aimed at youth on 9 August
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 9th
August will launch a campaign aimed at acquainting the young generation with
the sacrifices made by freedom fighters during India's Independence struggle.
The campaign is called '70 Saal
Azadi -- Zara Yaad Karo Qurbani' (70 years of Independence -- Let's recall the
sacrifices).
7) MoC launches ‘Twitter Sewa’ to address comman man’s concerns
The Minister of Communications
Manoj Sinha today launched “Twitter Sewa” for addressing the complaints and
concerns of common man and other stake-holders in the telecom and postal
sectors. The twitter handle of the Minister will be @manojsinhabjp.
8) Andhra Pradesh signs MoU with Japan to
develop food value chain
The Andhra Pradesh government on
30 July 2016 signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Japan to develop a
food value chain in the state.
Under the MoU, Japan’s Ministry
of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) will encourage direct investments
by Japanese companies in the fields of agriculture and food-related industry in
Andhra Pradesh.
8) Rajasthan Launches SMS Monitoring System
for Mid-Day Meals in Schools
Rajasthan government has launched
an SMS-based system through which meal data will be sent everyday by schools to
a toll free number that will be monitored at the state-level.
The unique initiative aimed to
remove corruption from mid-day meal scheme.
Under the new system launched
today, the mid-day meal in-charge of the school will have to send the meal data
immediately after serving food to students to a toll free number, 15544, that
would be checked at the state-level every day.
OBITUARY
1) Indian-American Professor Emeritus Braj
B Kachru passes away
Noted Indian-American Professor
Emeritus of Linguistics Braj B Kachru has passed away in Urbana. He was 84.
Braj Kachru is a Jubilee Professor Emeritus of Linguistics, faculty of Liberal
Arts and Sciences at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
1) Virgin Galactic space plane gets
operator license
Virgin Atlantic's rocket planes
may soon be taking to the skies once more, as the would-be space tourism
company is awarded an operator license for its SpaceShipTwo craft.
The license, granted by the US
Federal Aviation Administration's Office of Commercial Space Transportation,
will pave the way for commercial flights, Virgin Galactic said in a statement.
2) Google and GSK form venture to develop
bioelectronic medicines
GlaxoSmithKline has teamed up
with Google’s parent company Alphabet to develop miniature electronic implants
for the treatment of asthma, diabetes and other chronic conditions.
GSK, Britain’s biggest drug
company, said it would form a joint venture with Verily Life Sciences, a
division of Alphabet, to work on research into bioelectronic medicines. GSK
will own 55% of Galvani Bioelectronics, and Verily will hold 45%.
SPORTS NEWS
1) Golfer Walker bags maiden major title at
PGA Championship
American golfer Jimmy Walker
pulled off an astonishing wire-to-wire triumph at the PGA Championship,
sloshing 36 holes across soggy Baltusrol course and outduelling top-ranked
defending champion Jason Day down the stretch to clinch his maiden Major title.
