Current
Affairs Daily Updates: 10th July 2017
APPOINTMENTS
John Joseph
to take charge as chief of GST intelligence agency
- John Joseph appointed as
Director General of Goods and Services Tax Intelligence (DG GSTI).
- He has worked in the Finance
Ministry's important departments, including the Directorate of Revenue
Intelligence (DRI).
- The DG GSTI is the new name
given to the Directorate General of Central Excise Intelligence (DGCEI),
mandated to check service tax and central excise duty evasion.
Raninder
Singh Re-elected as NRAI President
- Raninder Singh as re-elected as
president of the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) for a
four-year term in Mohali.
- He recently introduced 18 per
cent Goods and Services Tax (GST) levied on all imports, including duty-free
imports.
- The National Rifle Association
of India is associated with International Shooting Sports Federation,
Asian Shooting Confederation, Commonwealth Shooting Federation, South
Asian Shooting Confederation and Indian Olympic Association.
BUSINESS AND ECONOMIC AFFAIRS
GMR gets
Rs. 1,330 crores loan from Axis Bank for developing Mopa airport
- Goa International Airports
Limited, a subsidiary of GMR Airports has executed a debt facility
agreement for the development of Greenfield airport at Mopa.
- The entire debt of Rs. 1,330
crore was underwritten by Axis Bank on a long tenor door to door basis of
18 years on competitive terms.
- The foundation stone for the
project was subsequently laid by the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, on
November 13, 2016.
Canara HSBC
Oriental Bank of Commerce Life Insurance tie with Dhanlaxmi Bank for marketing
bancassurance
- Private life Insurance company
Canara HSBC Oriental Bank of Commerce Life Insurance entered into an
alliance with the Kerala-based Dhanlaxmi Bank for marketing various life
insurance products.
- All the life insurance products
of Canara HSBC Oriental Bank of Commerce Life Insurance will be available
to customers of Dhanlaxmi Bank and would be sold by the licensed staff of
the bank.
- As part of the agreement, the
Bank will be a corporate agent for 3 years.
BOOKS AND AUTHORS
Crypto currency
guru Amit Bharadwaj launches e-book
- Crypt currency guru Amit
Bharadwaj has launched an e-book ‘Cryptocurrency for Beginners’, which
seeks to provide context and clarity on cryptocurrencies.
- This is his third book in the
series, after ‘Cryptocurrency Trading for Beginners’ and ‘Cryptocurrency
Mining for Beginners’.
- Amit Bharadwaj is the founder of
Amaze Mining & Research Ltd.
New book to
answer questions on Aadhaar
- A new book on Aadhaar seeks to
answer several questions associated with the 12-digit identification
number and its impact on the citizen-state relationship.
- Authored by political-economy
analyst Shankkar Aiyar, the book by Westland Publishing offers a linear
history on the “ups, downs and turnarounds of Aadhaar under two
governments with diametrically differing ideologies”.
- Aadhaar was created on July 6,
2009, by the then Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who, sharing his
insights on Aadhaar in the book has said, “I was not satisfied with merely
letting it happen.
DEATHS
Naresh
Chandra, India's former ambassador to the US, dies at 82 in Goa
- Former Indian Ambassador to the
US Naresh Chandra died at the age of 82.
- He was conferred with the Padma
Vibhushan - India's second highest civil honour - in 2007.
- The Padma Vibhushan is the
second highest civilian award of the Republic of India, preceded by Bharat
Ratna and followed by Padma Bhushan.
INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS
India to
import Crude Oil from United States for first time
- India, the world's third-largest
oil importer, will import crude oil from the United States of America
(USA) for the first time after Indian Oil Corporation bought a cargo that
will be delivered in October 2017.
- India is the latest Asian
country to buy US crude after South Korea, Japan, China, Thailand,
Australia and Taiwan.
Google
Doodle honours Eva Ekeblad a scientist who made alcohol from potatoes
- Eva Ekeblad, a Swedish countess,
and agronomist came a close second to that when she made vodka from
potatoes.
- On Ekebald’s 293rd birthday
Google has created a doodle to commemorate her contributions to science.
- Ekeblad was born on June 10,
1724, in Sweden, the first woman to gain admission to the Royal Swedish
Academy of Sciences.
NATIONAL AFFAIRS
First
Edition of WINGS 2017 “Sab Uden, Sab Juden”Expanding Regional Connectivity
Hosted in New Delhi
- The First edition of WINGS 2017 is
“Sab Uden, Sab Juden”- Expanding Regional Connectivity was hosted in New
Delhi by the Ministry of Civil Aviation.
- The Plenary session was chaired
by the Union Minister of Civil Aviation, Shri P. Ashok Gajapathi Raju.
- This event brought together the
key stakeholders of the Aviation Sector such as States, Tourism Departments,
and Tour Operators as a Group representing airline consumers to facilitate
interaction with various airlines, airport operators, cargo operators and
other ecosystem players at a common forum.
First Maize
Based Mega Food Park in Punjab
- Union Minister of Food
Processing Industry laid the foundation stone for First Maize based Mega
Food Park in Kapurthala, Punjab.
- Mega Food Park is an inclusive
concept and a scheme of the Ministry of Food Processing of the Government
of India, aimed at establishing a "direct linkage from farm to
processing and then to consumer markets" through a network of
collection centres and primary processing centres.
Delhi
Government launches Free Surgery Scheme
- Delhi Government launches a new
health scheme to enable capital’s resident's avail free surgery in private
hospitals at government’s cost. This would be applicable in case
government hospitals were unable to operate within one month.
- The Government has tied up with
21 private laboratories to provide 13 expensive medical tests including CT
scan and MRI to anyone coming to Delhi Government Hospitals.
- According to the scheme, if the
waiting period for 52 surgeries that is for heart bypass, cataract and
kidney stones removal listed by the government is more than one month,
patients would be eligible to get it done at 48 Hospitals.
First
International Aviation Security seminar organised by National Security Guard in
Haryana
- National Security Guard (NSG)
organized First International Aviation Security Seminar in Manesar, Haryana.
- The seminar was inaugurated by
Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha whereas Minister of
State for Skill Development & Entrepreneurship (I/C) Rajiv Pratap Rudy
attended the seminar.
UNESCO
declares Ahmedabad as World Heritage City
- Ahmedabad city is declared as a
World Heritage City at the 41st session of United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) world heritage committee
being held at Krakow in Poland.
- There is a total of 287 world
heritage cities across the globe, there were only two cities in the Indian
subcontinent Bhaktapur in Nepal and Galle in Sri Lanka.
- The Ahmedabad will join the
World Heritage Cities like Paris, Cairo, and Edinburgh.
President
Pranab Mukkerjee launches 3 digital initiatives over e-education
- President Pranab Mukherjee
launches digital initiatives
Swayam, Swayam Prabha, and National Academic Depository - in New
Delhi to push e-education in the country.
- The main aim of the initiatives
is to raise the Gross Enrollment Ratio in the higher education from 24.5
to 30 by 2020.
- Swayam Prabha is the platform of
32 DTH channels devoted to telecasting high-quality educational programs
24X7 using GSAT-15 satellite.
- National Academic Depository
will facilitate online verification of certificates.
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY / DEFENCE AFFAIRS
India, US
and Japan navies kick off 2017 Malabar Exercise
- India, Japan, and United States
(US) started the 2017 MALABAR trilateral naval Exercise near Chennai in
the Bay of Bengal.
- It is the 21st edition of the naval
exercise.
- The primary aim of this
multilateral exercise is to increase interoperability amongst the three
navies and develop a common understanding of procedures for Maritime Security
Operations and deepen defence relations.
- The 8 day long Malabar 2017
exercise consists of both ashore and at-sea activities.
SPORTS AFFAIRS
Mercedes
Valtteri Bottas won Austrian Grand Prix
- Valtteri Bottas won the Austrian
Grand Prix for Mercedes.
- Bottas of Sebastian Vettel and
Daniel Ricciardo finished second and third respectively.
- The First Austrian Grand Prix
was held in the year 1963.
Harinder
Sandhu wins South Australian Open title
- Harinder Pal Sandhu won the
South Australian Open squash title.
- He defeated Rhys Dowling of
Australia in the final match.
- Dipika Pallikal was the Champion
of 2016 South Australian Open title.
India tops
medal tally for first time in Asian Athletics Championships History
- India topped the medal tally for
the first time in the history of Asian Athletics Championships.
- They maintain the top position
by obtaining 29 medals which include 12 Gold, 5 Silver, and 12 Bronze.
- China is placed in the second
spot (20 Medals) who ended this edition with a tally of 8 gold, 7 silver,
5 bronze.
- Kazakhstan is placed the third
position with 4 Gold, 2 Silver, 2 Bronze medals.
Atthaya
Thitikul becomes youngest Ladies European Tour winner
- Atthaya Thitikul became the
youngest winner on the Ladies European Tour.
- She defeated Ana Menendez of
Mexico.
- She broke the previous record of
the formerly top-ranked Lydia Ko, who at 14 years and eight months won her
first professional event at the New South Wales Open in 2012.
