Current Affairs Daily Updates: 17th July 2017

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Current Affairs Daily Updates: 17th July 2017
APPOINTMENTS
Shri R K Pachnanda takes charge as Director General, ITBP
  • Shri R K Pachnanda, an IPS officer, took charge as the new Director General of Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP).
  • He replaces Shri Krishna Chaudhary(DG). He is the 29th Chief.
Four new members appointed as Central Board of Excise and Customs
  • The four new members a senior bureaucrat John Joseph and three other officials have been appointed as members of the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC).
  • The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet approved the appointment of Sushant Kumar Panda, Ameeta Suri, Pranab Kumar Das and Joseph as the new members.
  • The CBEC is headed by a chairperson and can have a maximum of six members.The board and its officials are key stakeholders in the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST).
Lilly Singh appointed UNICEF’s Global Goodwill Ambassador
  • The United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) appointed Lilly Singh as its newest Global Goodwill Ambassador at a special event in New Delhi.
  • Lilly was in the capital to support UNICEF’s Youth4Change initiative, a programme for youth that brings them together to support their peers and communities in taking action on issues such as health, hygiene, child labour and gender equality.
  • The Head office of UNICEF is in New York, United States of America.
AWARDS AND HONOURS
International Indian Film Academy Awards 2017
  • The 18th edition of the International Indian Film Academy Awards was held in New York.
  • Here’s the complete list of the IIFA 2017 winners:
    • Best Film- Neerja
    • Best Actor (Male)- Shahid Kapoor for Udta Punjab
    • Best Actor (Female)- Alia Bhatt for Udta Punjab
    • Best Director- AnirudhRoy Chaudhary for Pink
    • Best Actor in Supporting Role (Female)- Shabana Azmi for Neerja
    • Best Actor in Supporting Role (Male)- Anupam Kher for MS Dhoni: The Untold Story
    • Best Debutant (Female): Disha Patani for M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story
    • Best Debut (Male)- Diljit Dosanjh for Udta Punjab
    • Best Lyricist- Amitabh Bhattacharya for the song Channa Mere Ya from Ae Dil Hai Mushkil
    • Best Playback Singer (Male)- Amit Mishra for Ae Dil Hai Mushkil
    • Best Playback Singer (Female)- Kanika Kapoor for Udta Punjab and Tulsi Kumar for Airlift
    • Best Music Direction- Pritam for Ae Dil Hai Mushkil
    • Best Actor In Comic Role- Varun Dhawan for Dishoom
    • Myntra Style Icon Award- Alia Bhatt
    • IIFA Woman Of The Year- Tapsee Pannu.
BUSINESS AND ECONOMIC AFFAIRS
Five P Venture signs agreement with Central Silk Board
  • Erode-based Five P Venture India Private Limited and Central Silk Board (CSB) inked an agreement for developing commercialization action of handloom silk products.
  • This Memorandum of Understanding(MoU) signed at the first-ever mega trade fair for the textile sector organised by the Ministry of Textiles at Gandhinagar.
  • The Headquarter of Central Silk Board (CSB) is in Bengaluru.
MobiKwik, Samsung Pay to enable one-tap payment solution for e-wallet users
  • MobiKwik and Samsung Pay enable one-tap payment solution for e-wallet users.
  • According to the digital payments firm MobiKwik wallet is now integrated with Samsung Pay Mini to enable one-tap payments at more than 1.4 million MobiKwik-powered merchants across the country.
  • More than 55 million and 1.4 million merchants will benefit from this association.
BOOKS AND AUTHORS
Katie Price Unveils New Novel “Playing With Fire”
  • Former glamour model Katie Price has unveiled the cover for her next novel "Playing With Fire", which will be available later this year.
  • The novel follows the story of a 27-year-old events manager named Indigo, who falls for restaurant entrepreneur Connor after she is tasked with planning the opening of his new Shoreditch nightclub.
DEATHS
Former Sikkim CM Nar Bahadur Bhandari passes away
  • Nar Bahadur Bhandari, one of the longest-serving chief ministers of Sikkim died recently.
  • He became the Chief Minister of Sikkim for the first time in 1979 on a Janata Parishad ticket and then again in 1984 and 1989 on a Sikkim Sangram Parishad ticket.
INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS
Indonesia renaming part of South China Sea as North Natuna Sea
  • Indonesia has become the latest South-east Asian nation to rename the South China Sea as North Natuna Sea.
  • At a press conference in Jakarta, Deputy Minister for Marine Sovereignty Arif Havas Oegroseno disclosed a new map with the renamed territory.
  • In 2011, the Philippines renamed the waters as the “West Philippine Sea”.
NATIONAL AFFAIRS
Union Government launches GST training Programme
  • The Union Government launched a Goods And Service Tax (GST) training Programme to skill around two lakh youths in six months and to handle tax compliance issues like invoice making.
  • The people would be trained under the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY).
  • It will be implemented in 14 states and in the next six months, two lakh people will get complete training about GST.
  • To mark the second anniversary of Skill India mission the ministry has inaugurated the training course at 100 centres in the country.
MSDE celebrates Second Anniversary of Skill India Mission 
  • Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) celebrated the second anniversary of Skill India Mission on the World Youth Skills day.
  •  100 GST training centres, 51 Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Kendras and 100 Yoga training centres were inaugurated on the occasion.
  • On the occasion, Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) announced a national training Programme to certify GST practitioners under its flagship scheme of Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY). This would facilitate the country’s transition to the new tax regime seamless and convenient.
  • During the event, an MoU was inked between the skill development ministry and the water resources ministry. The MoU intends to develop skilled manpower for laying sewerage pipeline, construction of toilets, waste collection and its disposal activities.
Matunga becomes India's first railway station run by women
  • The Central Railway has taken a step towards Women Empowerment by appointing an all-female work staff at the suburban Matunga station.
  • It is first such ladies special station in India.
  • A total of 30 women staffers, including 11 booking clerks, five RPF personnel, seven ticket checkers are working under the supervision of station manager Mamta Kulkarni since last two weeks.
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY AFFAIRS
New Horizons Spacecraft unviels new maps of Pluto, Charon
  • NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft unveiled a set of detailed and high-quality global maps of Pluto and its largest moon Charon on the occassion of the two year anniversary of the flyby.
  • These new maps from the landmark exploration of Pluto by NASA’s New Horizons mission will help unravel the mysteries associated with Pluto. The New Horizons spacecraft made its historic flight through the Pluto system on 14 July 2015.
  • It provided the first close-up images of Pluto and its moons and collected other data for deeper understanding of these mysterious worlds on the solar system’s outer frontier.
GSI discovers millions of tonnes of precious metals and minerals in Indian waters
  • Scientists from the Geological Survey of India (GSI) have discovered the presence of millions of tonnes of precious metals and minerals deep under the waters within the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of peninsular India.
  • They have confirmed the presence large amount of lime mud, phosphate-rich and calcareous sediments, hydrocarbons, metalliferous deposits and micronodules.
  • The presence of lime mud, phosphate-rich sediments was discovered off Karwar, Mangaluru and Chennai coasts, gas hydrate in the channel-levee system of Mannar Basin off the Tamil Nadu coast, micro-manganese nodules around Lakshadweep Sea and cobalt-bearing ferromanganese crust from the Andaman Sea.
SPORTS AFFAIRS
I H Manudev wins 1st National Masters Snooker Tournament Title
  • I H Manudev won the first National Masters snooker tournament title in Chennai.
  • He defeated former Asian champion, Alok Kumar.
  • Manudev, Alok, Chirag Ramakrishnan and Rafath Habib have qualified for the World Six-Red and Team Championship Snooker to be held in Egypt and also for the World Snooker Championship to be held in Malta.
Lewis Hamilton won Formula One's fifth British Grand Prix
  • Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton won the British Grand Prix for the fifth time.
  • He matches the record of Jim Clark and Alain Prost.
  • Valtteri Bottas who races for Mercedes stood second in the race.
Roger Federer lifts a record 8th Wimbledon Title
  • Roger Federer won a record eighth Wimbledon title and became the tournament’s oldest champion.
  • He defeated Marin Cilic to win the title.
  • It is his 11th Wimbledon final and 29th title.
  • Wimbledon is the oldest tennis tournament in the world held in England.
Harinder Pal Sandhu won Victorian Open title
  • India’s Harinder Pal Sandhu won a Victorian Open Squash Title, in Melbourne.
  • He defeated Rex Hedrick of Australia.
  • It was his fourth title of the year.
  • He defeated Piedro Schweertman of the Netherlands yesterday to reach the final.