Current Affairs Daily Updates: 13th July 2017

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Current Affairs Daily Updates: 13th July 2017
APPOINTMENTS
Justice Vikramajit Sen appointed as Chairperson New BCCC
  • Justice Vikramajit Sen was appointed as the Chairperson of the Broadcasting Content Complaints Council (BCCC).
  • His appointment was approved by the Board of Directors of Indian Broadcasting foundation (IBF).
  • Justice Sen succeeds Justice Mukul Mudgal, former Punjab and Haryana High Court Chief Justice, whose three-year term as BCCC Chairperson came to an end.
  • Justice Vikramajit Sen is an alumnus of St Xavier’s School (Delhi) and St Stephen’s College (Delhi). He earned his degree in Law from Faculty of Law, Delhi University. After a long tenure as a Judge of the Delhi High court, he was appointed as Chief Justice of Karnataka High Court.
  • He was elevated as a Judge of the Supreme Court of India in 2012, an office he served till December 2015.
Renault Nissan appoints Thomas Kuehl as President of Indian operations
  • Renault-Nissan appointed Thomas Kuehl as President of its Indian operations.
  • He replaces Guillaume Sicard.
  • He joined Nissan from Volkswagen and he has more than 22 years of automotive experience in different countries.
BANKING AFFAIRS
SBI waives charge on IMPS fund transfer of up to Rs 1,000
  • Country's largest bank SBI has waived charges for fund transfer of up to Rs 1,000 through its IMPS (Immediate Payment Service) to promote small transactions.
  • State Bank of India had been charging Rs 5 along with the applicable service tax for IMPS fund transfer of up to Rs 1,000. IMPS is an instant interbank electronic fund transfer service through mobile phones as well as internet banking.
  • For IMPS, the charge will be Rs 5 along GST for fund transfer in the range of Rs 1,000 to Rs 1 lakh. The charge will go up to Rs 15 for transactions of Rs 1-2 lakh. GST at the rate of 18 per cent is applicable on all financial transactions.
YES BANK Launches ‘YES GST’ Program to assist MSMEs
  • YES BANK launches ‘YES GST’ program for MSMEs (Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises) under its MSME CSR.
  • It organises more than 3,000 events on GST over the next 6 months in partnership with National Small Industries Corporation (NSIC), Federation of Indian Export Organizations (FIEO) and Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA).
  • The bank will help MSMEs to understand the impact of the changes in the tax system and prepare them to know the new GST tax system.
BUSINESS AND ECONOMIC AFFAIRS
Google acquires Bengaluru-based AI startup Halli Labs
  • Google has acquired Bengaluru-based artificial intelligence startup Halli Labs for an undisclosed sum.
  • Halli Labs was founded in 2017 by Pankaj Gupta with the goal of applying modern artificial intelligence and machine learning techniques to solve old problems.
  • Halli Labs becomes the latest AI start up to be acquired by a technology giant after a mass of similar acquisitions by firms such as Microsoft, Facebook, Apple among others.
  • Over 30 artificial intelligence startups have been acquired in the first quarter of this year.
  • Google has been the most aggressive buyer in this space with 11 acquisitions since 2012 followed by Apple, Facebook and Intel.
Retail inflation hits "historically low" level of 1.54 % in June
  • Retail inflation hit a ‘historically low’ level of 1.54% in June this year and reflects the firm and ongoing consolidation of macroeconomic stability.
  • Earlier, the Inflation had stood at 2.18% in May this year and at 5.77% in June last year.
  • According to Central Statistics Office data, overall food inflation fell to minus 2.12% in June.
  • The Retail Inflation in vegetables stood at minus 16.53% and prices of pulses and products declined, with retail inflation in this segment at minus 21.92% in June 2017.
BOOKS AND AUTHORS
Amit Shah, Mohan Bhagwat releases coffee table book on PM Narendra Modi’s life
  • BJP President Amit Shah and RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat released a coffee table book on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s life in New Delhi.
  • The book – Making of A Legend, composed by Sulabh International Founder Bindeshwar Pathak.
  • The book fully explains about the Life History of Narendra Modi.
INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS
India contributes Rs 3.2 crore to Philippines to take on ISIS
  • India has granted USD 500000 to the Philippines for the rehabilitation and relief efforts in war-torn Marawi City.
  • India announced the “immediate assistace” on the Facebook account of its embassy in Manila. It is the first time that India is sending financial aid to another country affected by terrorism.
  • As per the embassy, Sushma Swaraj offered the assistance to the Philippines during her conversation with Foriegn Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano.
  • India’s assistance is a part of the Union Government’s Act East policy and comes at a time when the Philippines is getting ready to host India-Asean foreign ministers meeting in Manila in August 2017.
Chinese troops depart for first overseas military base in Djibouti
  • Ships carrying personnel for China’s first overseas military base, in Djibouti in the Horn of Africa, have set sail to begin setting up the facility, as China’s rapidly modernizing military extends its global reach.
  • Djibouti’s position on the North-Western edge of the Indian Ocean has fuelled worry in India that it would become another of China’s “string of pearls” of military alliances and assets ringing India, including Bangladesh, Myanmar and Sri Lanka.
  • China began construction of a logistics base in Djibouti last year. It will be used to resupply navy ships taking part in peacekeeping and humanitarian missions off the coasts of Yemen and Somalia, in particular.
  • It will be China’s first overseas naval base, though Beijing officially describes it as a logistics facility.
Malta legalizes same-sex marriage
  • Island nation Malta has voted to legalize same-sex marriage, despite opposition from the Catholic Church.
  • The island nation's parliament agreed to amend country's marriage act, replacing words like husband and wife with the gender-neutral alternative spouse.
  • It also replaced mother and father with ‘parent who gave birth’ and "parent who did not give birth".
India to host 8th Edition of Theatre Olympics ‘The Biggest Theatre Celebration of the World’
  • India will host the 8th edition of Theatre Olympics in 2018, the biggest theatre celebration of the world.
  • The eight edition of the greatest carnival will start from February 17-April 08, 2018.
  • The Theatre Olympics will take place simultaneously in various cities across the country.
  • There will be five hundred plays and seven hundred ambience performances from across the world.
NATIONAL AFFAIRS
Delhi Police to be equipped with 'super cop belt'
  • National capital police will be the first state police in India who will get ‘super cop belt', a specially designed belt, widely used by Police in UK, USA, Russia and para-military forces like CRPF, CISF, NSG etc.
  • This belt will help cops to keep things like Gun, Mobile Pouch, Security Batten, Wireless Set Pouch & ammunition pouch.
Model United Nations Regional Conference begins in Kathmandu
  • A Model United Nations (MUN) Regional Conference is held in Kathmandu.
  • The basic aim of the MUN is to provide a platform to young minds to get full energy and resources to a more prosperous and peaceful world.
  • The event is organised by the United States Embassy in partnership with the Youth Thinker’s Society.
  • The conference simulates four UN committees–United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Economic and Financial Committee (ECOFIN), United Nations Security Council (UNSC) and United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC).
Gujarat to get India's first high-speed rail training centre
  • The country is set to get its first high-speed rail training centre at Gandhinagar.
  • India’s first bullet train is proposed to hit the track in 2023, the training centre is supposed to start operating by 2020.
  • The centre will provide for advanced training modules on cutting edge technologies.
Rajasthan becomes first State to fix minimum education qualification for cooperative body poll
  • Rajasthan becomes the first state in the country to fix minimum educational qualification for contesting cooperative body polls.
  • The new rules will benefit around 10,000 cooperative and agricultural credit societies.
  • For contesting the election as members of governing boards of dairy societies, farming societies, consumer societies, weavers' societies, urban banks, housing construction societies, primary land development banks, credit societies and cooperative unions, the minimum educational qualifications will range from class 5 to class 8.
National Green Tribunal declares 100m from edge of Ganga as No-development Zone
  • The National Green Tribunal (NGT) passed a slew of directions, measures, fines, and strict deadlines to rejuvenate River Ganga.
  • It declared ‘No-Development Zone’ along with an area of 100 metres from the edge of the river in the stretch between Haridwar in Uttarakhand and Unnao in Uttar Pradesh.
  • The NGT banned dumping of waste of any kind within 500 metres from the edge of River Ganga Rs. 50,000 environment compensation will be imposed on anyone who dumps waste in the river.
Chhattisgarh Government to merge DCCBs with state cooperative bank
  • The Chhattisgarh Government has planned to merge all District Cooperative Central Banks (DCCBs) of the state into a single State Cooperative Bank.
  • The farmers will get modernised bank facilities at the village level along with ATM and Micro ATM services.
  • It will directly affect the State Government’s interest subsidy, where it will be saving Rs 40-50 crore annually.
Meghalaya CM launches LIFE program at Songsak
  • Meghalaya Chief Minister Mukul Sangma launched the ambitious flagship programme titled “Livelihood Intervention and Facilitation of Entrepreneurship” (LIFE) at Songsak in East Garo Hills.
  • The program for the year 2017 - 18 aims to launch the particular program at 2144 villages.
  • The program will be implemented in the line with National Rural Livelihoods Mission.
Revamped NHB RESIDEX launched
  • Minister of Housing & Urban Affairs Shri M.Venkaiah Naidu  released the new version of NHB RESIDEX on the occasion of the National Housing Bank entering its 30th year.
  • This component of RESIDEX, called Housing Price, Prices is based on actual market information.
  • The other component of RESIDEX called as Prices based on the information furnished by banks and other lending agencies showed that prices have increased in 27 of the 50 cities surveyed.
Union Government empowers Army to procure weapons systems for short intense wars
  • The Union Government has empowered the Indian Army to procure critical weapons systems and military platforms to maintain readiness for short duration intense wars.
  • The purpose of this new scheme is to maintain an optimum level to fight small wars.
  • Under the new scheme, Vice Chief of Army was given full financial powers. Army has been empowered on a routine basis to review the optimum holding state and maintaining it in a recurring manner.
Union Cabinet approves establishment of International Rice Research Institute in Varanasi
  • Union Cabinet approved establishment of International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) set up a regional centre International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), a Global Rice Research Institute.
  • It will be named as IRRI South Asia Regional Centre (ISARC) and will be set up on the campus of National Seed Research and Training Centre (NSRTC) in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh.
  • This Center will be the first International Center in the eastern India and it will play a major role in harnessing and sustaining rice production in the region.
  • It is expected to be a boon for food production and skill development in the eastern India and similar ecologies in other South Asian and African countries.
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY / DEFENCE AFFAIRS
Scientists discover Smallest Star known in the Universe
  • Scientists from the University of Cambridge, United Kingdom have discovered the smallest star in the universe. It has been named as EBLM J0555-57Ab.
  • The star was identified by SuperWASP, a planet-finding experiment run by several universities.
  • EBLM J0555-57Ab located about 600 light years away. It is slightly larger than Saturn in size and may possibly have Earth-sized planets with liquid water in its orbit.
SPORTS AFFAIRS
Jadeja, Ashwin remain on top of ICC Test bowlers' rankings
  • India's spin duo of Ravindra Jadeja (898 points) & Ravichandran Ashwin (865 points) continues to remain at the top two positions in the ICC Test bowlers' rankings released in Dubai.
  • In the all-rounder's chart, Jadeja remains static at second place, while Ashwin is holding on to the third spot.