Current Affairs – 3,July 2017 – GST Council cuts GST rate on fertilizers from 12% to 5%:

NATIONAL

Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik has inaugurated computerisation of PACS & launched Rupay KCC:

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik inaugurated computerisation of PACS and launched RuPay Kisan Credit cards in the state.

Patnaik said Odisha is the first state to implement an integrated Core Banking Solution Project covering all three tiers of short term cooperative credit structure – state cooperative bank, district central cooperative banks and 2,708 primary agriculture cooperative societies.

With computerisation of PACS, farmers are now able to draw their sanctioned loans from the ATM network of National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) having 2.14 lakh ATMs of all banks across the country.

Odisha

  • Chief Minister: Naveen Patnaik
  • Capital: Bhubaneswar
  • Governor: S.C.jamir

GST Council cuts GST rate on fertilizers from 12% to 5%:

The GST Council reduced the GST rate on fertilizers from 12% to 5%, while that on tractor parts was reduced from 28% to 18%.

Union Minister of chemical fertilizers Shri Ananthkumar said that farmers would benefit to the tune of Rs. 1261 crores under GST regime. Under the new GST rates announced by the Council, average weighted MRP will decrease to Rs. 5909/ Ton (or Rs. 295.47/ 50kg bag) as compared to the existing All India weighted Average of Rs 5923/ Ton (or Rs. 296.18/50 kg bag).

Indian Railways to introduce new Economy AC coaches:

    Train passengers will soon have option of travelling in a new class of ‘Economy AC coaches’ with fares less than normal 3AC tariff.

    The proposed fully AC train will have three-tier Economy AC coaches besides AC-3, AC-2 and AC-1 classes as part of the transformation exercise. An added feature would be automatic doors.

Madhya Pradesh sets record with plantation of 6 cr saplings in day:

    In Madhya Pradesh, a massive plantation campaign was undertaken yesterday to save the environment and conservation of the Narmada River.

    According to official sources over six crore saplings were planted in 24 districts of Narmada basin in just 12 hours. Arrangements were made to record the whole event for the Guinness World Record. Chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan launched the plantation drive at Amarkantak of Anooppur district.

Madhya Pradesh

    • Capital: Bhopal
    • Chief Minister: Shivraj Singh Chouhan
    • Governor: Om Prakash Kohli

Foundation stone of country’s biggest Global Skill Park to be laid in Bhopal:

    Union Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Rajeev Pratap Rudi and Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan laid the foundation stone of the country’s biggest Global Skill Park in Bhopal.

    Minister of State for Skill Development Deepak Joshi, said that the park being established with the support of Singapore’s Institute of Technical Education and Education Services (ITEES) with an estimated cost of Rs.645 crore.

Indian team wins global aerospace contest in US:

    A team of students from Dehradun’s University of Petroleum and Energy Studies (UPES) recently won an international aerospace contest of 40 teams held in the United States with their solar-powered glider that collected real-time atmospheric data.

PM Narendra Modi inaugurates TransStadia Arena in Gujarat:

    India PM Narendra Modi formally inaugurated TransStadia in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. The multi-purpose sports complex also hosts a 20-000 seater state-of-the-art football stadium, the first of its kind in the state.

    The Arena by TransStadia is a Rs. 550 crore project built on a unique Public Private Partnership (PPP) model and is hailed as India’s first convertible stadium.

IGNOU announces complete fee waiver to transgender students:

    The Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) announced exemption of fees for its transgender students of all programmes.

Vice Chancellor (VC) Ravindra Kumar announced the initiative during the 22nd Prof G Ram Reddy Lecture event held in the university.

Karnataka launches skilling programme:

    With the aim of creating over 10 lakh skilled jobs, Karnataka has launched the ‘Yuva Yuga’ scheme to skill the youth with new-age technologies.

    The Karnataka Department of IT, Biotech and Science & Technology will promote and encourage skill development among youth across multiple industries by providing training opportunities in digital technologies such as artificial intelligence, machine learning and many cutting-edge technologies.

Karnataka

    • Capital: Bengaluru
    • Chief Minister: Siddaramaiah
    • Governor: Vajubhai Vala

PIB launches webpage on GST:

    The government’s information dispensation arm, Press Information Bureau, has launched a special page for the Goods and Services Tax. The page on the PIB website was launched by Principal Director-General, Press Information Bureau, A. P. Frank Noronha.

INTERNATIONAL

Japan PM’s party suffers historic defeat in Tokyo poll, popular governor wins big:

 

    Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party suffered an historic defeat in an election in the Japanese capital, signalling trouble ahead for the premier, who has suffered from slumping support because of a favouritism scandal.

  On the surface, the Tokyo Metropolitan assembly election was a referendum on Governor Yuriko Koike’s year in office, but the dismal showing for Abe’s party is also a stinging rebuke of his 4-1/2-year-old administration.

Japan

  • Capital: Tokyo
  • Currency: Yen

999: Oldest emergency helpline turns 80 in U.K

    The world’s oldest emergency helpline 999 completed 80 years of its existence in the U.K., with the Scotland Yard celebrating the “cornerstone” of British policing by organising several events.

Russia

Russian President: Vladimir Putin.

  • Currency: Russian ruble
  • Capital: Moscow

Saudi Arabia decided to extend by 48 hrs deadline for Qatar:

    Saudi Arabia and its allies have decided to extend by 48 hours the deadline for Qatar to accept their list of demands to lift a de facto blockade.

    With the deadline expiring, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt agreed to give Doha an extension to respond positively to their demands.

Saudi Arabia

  • Capital: Riyadh
  • Currency: Saudi riyal

Syrian President Bashar Assad to be face of new Syrian Lira bank note:

    A new 2,000 Syrian Lira bank note with the face of President Bashar Assad will go into circulation, the Syrian Central Bank announced.

    The notes are the first time Syria will depict President Bashar Assad on its currency since he took office 17 years ago.

Syria

  • Capital: Damascus
  • Currency: Syrian pound

Banking & Business

PNB to block all Maestro debit cards from July 31:

Punjab National Bank (PNB) Maestro debit cards holders will face a card blockage if they fail to replace it with a more secure EMV chip based card by July 31. The bank will not charge anything for the replacement and it will be provided free of cost.

Punjab National Bank

  • Headquarters & CEO: New Delhi & Sunil Mehta
  • Tagline: The name you can bank upon

Karnataka Bank unveiled ‘KBL Image Debit Card’:

Karnataka Bank has launched the ‘KBL-Image Debit Card’ to enable its cardholders to personalise the card with the image of his/her choice. Now, customers will have the option of selecting an image either from the bank’s gallery of images or any image of his/her choice to be printed on the debit card.

Karnataka Bank

  • Headquarters & CEO: Mangalore & Mahabaleshwara MS
  • Tagline: Your Family Bank, Across India

Total to sign USD 4.8 bn gas deal with Iran:

Oil Ministry announced that French energy giant Total is to sign a USD 4.8 billion deal to develop an Iranian offshore gas field. It is the biggest foreign deal since sanctions were eased.

The international agreement for the development of phase 11 of South Pars will be signed in the presence of the oil ministry and managers of Total, the Chinese company CNPCI and Iranian company Petropars.

Money in Swiss banks: India slips to 88th place:

    India has slipped to 88th place in terms of money parked by its citizens with Swiss banks, while the UK remains on the top. India was placed at 75th position in 2015 and at 61st in the year 2014.   

    Indian deposits is at 676 million Swiss francs (about Rs 4,500 crore) – a record low. India was ranked in top 50 continuously between 1996 and 2007.

BBC, Sky Sports bag new ECB media rights worth 1.1 billion pounds:

    The BBC and Sky Sports have agreed a five-year deal to broadcast England’s international and first-class matches played at home between 2020-2024.

    The new media rights deal, worth 1.1 billion pounds, will mark the return of live televised English international and domestic cricket to the BBC for the first time in 21 years, while Sky takes its partnership with English cricket into its third decade.

AWARDS

Writer Preeti Shenoy bags Indian of the Year award:

Writer Preeti Shenoy was honoured with the Indian of the Year award in the field of Literature. Shenoy, who is one of India’s top five highest selling women authors, was awarded by Brands Academy.

Shenoy’s books include “It’s All In The Planets”, “Why We Love The Way We Do”, “It Happens For A Reason”, “The One You Cannot Have” and “34 Bubblegums And Candies” among others.

Other prominent winners along with Shenoy included Deepa Malik (Paralympics Gold Winner), Kavita Krishnamurthy (Singer) and Ranveer Brar (Celebrity Chef and TV Host).

APPOINTMENTS

Melwyn Rego takes charge as MD and CEO of Syndicate Bank:

Melwyn Rego, former chairman of the Bank of India, has been appointed as Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Manipal-based Syndicate Bank. Rego assumed charge on July 1. He was earlier the Managing Director and CEO of Bank of India.

SYNDICATE BANK

  • Headquarters: Manipal
  • Tagline: A Faithful & Friendly Financial Partner

Science & Technology

NASA’S First Asteroid Deflection Mission Enters Next Design Phase:

NASA is developing the first-ever mission that will deflect a near-Earth asteroid and help test the systems that will allow mankind to protect the planet from potential cosmic body impacts in the future.

The Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) — which is being designed and would be built and managed by the John Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory is moving from concept development to preliminary design phase, the US space agency said.

NASA

    • NASA Headquarters: Washington, D.C., United States
    • Acting Administrator: Robert M.Lightfoot Jr

Scientists develop world’s sharpest laser:

The sharpest laser in the world has been created by German scientists with the light it emits able to travel 2 billion miles before it goes out of sync. That can help make optical atomic clocks more precise as well as test Einstein’s theory of relativity. 

Researchers, including those from the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) in Germany have now developed a laser with a linewidth of only 10 miliHertz (mHz) closer to the ideal laser than ever before.

BOOK & AUTHOR

PM Narendra Modi at book launch, President Pranab Mukherjee:

    President Pranab Mukherjee’s retirement on July 25, Prime Minister Narendra Modi along with other dignitaries released a book dedicated to the outgoing President. ‘President Pranab Mukherjee – A Statesman’ is the title of the book released by at Rashtrapati Bhavan.

SPORTS

MS Dhoni becomes first Indian batsmen to hit 200 sixes in ODIs:

MS Dhoni became the first Indian batsman to hit more than 200 sixes in One Day International Cricket (ODI). Currently, in international cricket, he has now hit 322 sixes and stands fifth on the all-time list.

India beat Pakistan by 95 runs in Women’s World Cup:

    Left-arm spinner Ekta Bisht came to the fore with a stellar show as India crushed Pakistan by 95 runs in a low-scoring encounter to record its third successive victory in the ICC Women’s World Cup.

Germany defeat Chile to Win 2017 Confederations Cup:

    Lars Stindl’s goal in the 20th minute helped Germany beating Chile in the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup final held in Russia.

Jehan Daruvala wins FIA F3 European Championship:

Jehan Daruvala of Sahara Force India Academy created history by becoming the first Indian to win in the FIA F3 European Championship.

Jehan’s victory in race 3 comes 18 years after Narain Karthikeyan won in the British F3 Championship.

Venkatesh Shetty wins Gulf Monsoon Scooter Rally:

Venkatesh Shetty, riding an Aprilia SR 150 won the 28th edition of Gulf Monsoon Scooter Rally in neighbouring Navi Mumbai.

Neeraj Chopra finishes 5th in Diamond League:

Indian javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra finished at a respectable fifth position in a 10-man elite field after producing a best effort of 84.67m at the prestigious Diamond League.

    Neeraj will next take part in the Asian Athletics Championship in Bhubaneswar from July 6-9.

Sundaram Ravi remains only Indian umpire in ICC Elite Panel:

    Sundaram Ravi remains the only Indian umpire in the ICC Elite Panel with the world body naming an unchanged line-up for the 2017-18 seasons.

    The decision was made by the ICC Umpires Selection Panel consisting of Chairman and ICC General Manager – Cricket, Geoff Allardice, ICC Chief Match Referee Ranjan Madugalle.

Historic Events of the Day

July 3: International Plastic Bag Free Day

The International Plastic Bag Free Day is a unique opportunity to spread the word that a plastic bag free world is possible and that sound environmental alternatives to single use plastic bags are available.

 

 

 

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