Current Affairs Daily Updates: 31st July 2017

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Current Affairs Daily Updates: 31st July 2017
APPOINTMENTS
Ravi Mittal appointed as part-time member on IRDAI board
  • Ravi Mittal appointed an additional secretary in the Finance Ministry in place of Anil Khachiis now a part-time member of the board of IRDA (Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India).
  • He replaced N S Rao who is a joint secretary level officer.
  • Maruthi Prasad Tangirala appointed as the Executive Director (ED).
  • Suresh Mathur will be handling reinsurance portfolio at IRDAI as Executive Director.
  • Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDA) is an autonomous, statutory agency tasked with regulating and promoting the insurance and re-insurance industries in India.
AWARDS AND HONOURS
Japanese, Sri Lankan among Magsaysay award winners
  • Yoshiaki Ishizawa, a Japanese historian who helped Cambodians preserve the Angkor temples, and Gethsie Shanmugam, a Sri Lankan teacher who counselled war widows and orphans to overcome their nightmares, are among the six winners of this year’s Ramon Magsaysay Awards.
  • The other recipients named are Abdon Nababan, an Indonesian, a Singaporean businessman Tony Tay, a Philippine theatre group and Lilia de Lima, a Filipino.
BANKING AFFAIRS
SBI cuts savings bank rate on deposits up to Rs. 1 cr
  • The decline in rate of inflation and high real interest rates have prompted State Bank of India to cut the savings bank deposits rate from 4 per cent to 3.5 per cent on deposits below Rs. 1 crore.
  • This cut in savings bank rate will prompt many banks to follow suit. The savings bank deposits above Rs. 1 crore will continue to earn 4 per cent interest.
  • The cut in SB rate will enable it to maintain the marginal cost of funds based lending rate at the current level.
Union Bank slapped with Rs. 1 crore penalty by RBI for KYC non-compliance
  • The RBI has imposed a penalty of Rs. 1 crore on state-owned Union Bank of India for “non-compliance” with the directions on Know Your Customer (KYC) norms.
  • This action is based on deficiencies in regulatory compliance and is not intended to pronounce upon the validity of any transaction or agreement entered into by the bank with its customers.
  • The central bank said it had examined the documents regarding the complaint and notice was issued to the state-owned lender. The bank was asked to show cause “as to why penalty should not be imposed” for non-compliance with directions issued by the RBI.
  • The RBI said after considering the bank’s reply, oral submissions, additional information and documents, it concluded that the charge was substantiated and warranted imposition of monetary penalty.
Canara Bank launches CANDI first digital branch in Bengaluru
  • Canara Bank launched its first ‘Digital Banking Branch’ at Spencer Towers in MG Road, Bengaluru.
  • The branch is titled “CANDI” and its aim to provide an end-to-end digital experience to customers.
  • It will enable customers to get most of the information related to their accounts without visiting the branch.
  • It further offers Digital Challan to facilitate filling up challans digitally by customers at their own convenience for services like cash deposit, fund transfer, and cheque clearing.
BOOKS AND AUTHORS
Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis released the book ‘Mann Ki Baat A Social Revolution on Radio’ at Raj Bhavan
  • Governor of Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu (additional charge) C. Vidyasagar Rao and Chief Minister of Maharashtra Devendra Fadnavis released the book ‘Mann Ki Baat – A Social Revolution on Radio’ at Raj Bhavan.
  • The book includes transcripts of the first 23 episodes of Prime Minister’s monthly address on radio ‘Mann Ki Baat’.This book will enable citizens to read and understand Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision and his ideas of development.
  • Union Minister Piyush Goyal was also present on the occasion. ‘Mann Ki Baat’ is a new design of communication to reach people and it has truly worked as a revolution.
  • He chose All India Radio as the medium for broadcasting his programme because it is the only medium which reaches 99% of the population of the country.
IMPORTANT DAYS OBSERVED
United Nation's World Day against Trafficking in Persons is observed on July 30
  • The United Nations World Day against Trafficking in Persons is observed on  30 July across the world.
  • This year, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) selected ‘Act to Protect and Assist Trafficked Persons’ as the focus of the Day.
  • The theme aims at one of the most pressing issues of the largest mixed migration movements of refugees and migrants.
INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS
Sri Lanka and China sign $1.1 billion Hambantota Port Deal
  • Sri Lanka signed $1.1 billion deal to the United States of America to sell a 70% stake in the strategic Hambantota deep-sea port to China.
  • It is a deep-water port in the southern tip of Sri Lanka.
  • The deal was signed between Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) and China Merchants Port Holding Company (CMPort)
  • These sea lines run through several major maritime choke points such as the Strait of Mandeb, Strait of Hormuz, Strait of Malacca and the Lombok Strait as well as other strategic maritime centres in Pakistan, Maldives, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Somalia.
7th edition of SAARC Artists Camp & Paintings Exhibition begins in Nepal
  • The 7th edition of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Artists Camp and Exhibition of Paintings has begun at Kathmandu.
  • Minister of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation of Nepal, Jitendra Narayan Devhas inaugurated the event.
  • These events provide platform to artists for exchanging ideas with fellow artists and helping in creating special bonding among them and 40 artists from SAARC member countries except Afghanistan taking part in the 4 day camp.
  • The event is organised by Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, Nepal and SAARC Cultural Centre, Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Shahid Khaqan Abbasi declared as interim Pakistan Prime Minister
  • Pakistan Muslim League selected Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi to be the interim Prime Minister of Pakistan.
  • Nawaz Sharif recently resigned as Pakistan Prime Minister after the Supreme Court disqualified him from holding public office.
NATIONAL AFFAIRS
Punjab launches ‘Apni Gaddi Apni Rozgar’ scheme
  • The Punjab government has recently announced the launch of its flagship ‘Apni Gaddi Apna Rozgar’ scheme by flagging off over 100 uber MOTO bikes. Under the scheme, the state government will be providing commercial two wheelers and four wheelers to unemployed youth at subsidized rates.
  • Though Uber will be able to operate easily with in Punjab, but it may not have a smooth ride with in the Chandigarh Central Region. Since Haryana is charging a high entry tax on commercial passenger vehicles entering from Chandigarh and Punjab.
  • Uber and Ola- both have taken up the matter with Monahar Lal led BJP government. The scheme aims to generate job opportunities for youth and providing better mobile transport in Punjab. Uber target is to create 10,000 entrepreneurial opportunities in one year and 45,000 in next five years.
Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi launches Jiyo Parsi Publicity Phase-2 in Mumbai
  • Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Minority Affairs & Parliamentary Affairs, has launched the Jiyo parsi Publicity hase-2 in Mumbai, Maharashtra.
  • While launching the Phase-2, Naqvi said that Parsi community has immense contribution in nation building and Parsi community has been a “role model” for other communities for its culture and traditions. The Parsi Community has given so many great people who have been ‘architects of nation building”.
  • The main aim of the Jiyo Parsi scheme is to reverse the declining trend of Parsi population by adopting a scientific protocol and structured interventions. The scheme also aims to stabilize their population and increse the population of Parsis in India.
Mission for Clean Ganga approves 7 projects
  • The Executive Committee of National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) in its 4th meeting approved seven projects in the sector of sewage infrastructure that development and research.
  • Three projects were approved in sewage sector in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Central Government will provide operation and maintenance cost for 15 years to all these six projects along with 100% central assistance.
  • The study will be an extension of a research carried out by National Environment Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) to identify the special properties of river’s waters.
Union Government launches Jiyo Parsi Publicity Phase-2 in Mumbai
  • The Union Ministry of Minority Affairs launched Jiyo Parsi Publicity Phase-2 in Mumbai, Maharashtra under the Jiyo Parsi scheme.
  • The Jiyo Parsi Publicity Phase-2 aims to decline trend of the population of the Parsi community and reverses it to bring their population above the threshold level.
  • Jiyo Parsi scheme is a Central Sector Scheme for containing population decline of Parsis in India. Its main objective is to reverse the declining trend of the Parsi population by adopting a scientific protocol and structured interventions. It aims to stabilize and increase the population of Parsis in India.
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY / DEFENCE AFFAIRS
World's Smallest spacecraft sprites launched by the Indian Rocket
  • The world's smallest spacecraft ever launched have successfully been placed in low Earth orbit by Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) PSLV rocket.
  • It is named as Sprites, the 3.5cmx3.5cm space probes weigh 4 grams each and run on sunlight.
  • The probes are part of Breakthrough Initiatives, a $100 million program aimed at sending one-gram chips to star systems beyond the solar system in search of extra-terrestrial intelligence.
DRDO develops India's first unmanned tank 'Muntra'
  • Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has developed India's first unmanned tank, which has three variants namely surveillance, mine detection and reconnaissance in areas with nuclear and bio threats.
  • It is called Muntra (Mission UNmanned TRAcked) and has been rolled out of the Chennai lab.
  • The tanks will facilitate Indian Armed forces in conducting unmanned surveillance missions. Muntra-S developed for unmanned surveillance missions, whereas Muntra-M is built for detecting mines.
SPORTS AFFAIRS
Sebastian Vettel of Ferrari wins Hungarian Grand Prix
  • Sebastian Vettel of Ferrari wins Hungarian Grand Prix won his fourth victory of the season.
  • Valtteri Bottas from Mercedes obtained the third place in the season.
  • He defeated Kimi Raikkonen.
Caeleb Dressel becomes first ever Swimmer to win three gold medals in one night at worlds Championship
  • The 20-year-old Caeleb Dressel as America’s newest star of the pool recently became the first swimmer to win three gold medals on a single night at either the worlds or the Olympics.
  • Caeleb Dressel accomplished this feat at 2017 FINA World Aquatics Championships in Budapest, Hungary.