Current Affairs – 22 July, 2017 :  UP Assembly passes resolutions on renaming two airports:

  NATIONAL

UP Assembly passes resolutions on renaming two airports:

    The Uttar Pradesh Assembly adopted two resolutions on naming the civil terminals of the Kanpur and Bareilly airports after freedom fighter Ganesh Shanker Vidyarthi and as Nath Nagri respectively.

    The resolutions, moved by Minister for Civil Aviation Nand Gopal Gupta alias Nandi, were passed by a voice vote in the absence of the opposition members, who have been boycotting the Assembly proceedings.

Uttar Pradesh

• Capital: Lucknow
• Chief Minister: Yogi Adityanath
• Governor: Shri Ram Naik

Jaitley releases National Trade Facilitation Action Plan:

    Finance Minister Arun Jaitley released the National Trade Facilitation Action Plan (NTFAP) in New Delhi.

    The Action Plan aims to transform cross-border clearance ecosystem through efficient, transparent, risk-based, co-ordinated, digital, seamless and technology driven procedures which are supported by advanced sea ports, airports, and land borders.

GRSE Hands Over 2nd LCU Mark Iv Vessel:

    The second of the eight Mark IV LCU vessels, built by Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers Limited (GRSE), Kolkata, was formally handed over to the Indian Navy at a ceremony in Kolkata.

First child-friendly police station coming up:

    Rajasthan’s first “child-friendly” police station will come up shortly in Dholpur, with the provision for spreading awareness about laws against child labour, child marriage and sexual offences and establishment of a colourful and attractive child cell.

Rajasthan

• Capital: Jaipur
• Chief Minister: Vasundhara Raje
• Governor: Kalyan Singh   

Centre, Haryana Govt. ink pact to revive River Saraswati, provide water in drought-prone areas:

    The Centre and the Government of Haryana joined hands to revive the long lost River Saraswati and provide water to the drought-prone areas of India.

    Union Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas (Independent Charge) Dharmendra Pradhan and Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar witnessed the signing of the ‘Memorandum of Agreement’.

    The Haryana Government and ONGC have signed a Memorandum of Agreement for drilling of 10 water wells along the Petro Channel of Saraswati River up to a depth of 400-500 meters, which will aim at providing water in drought-prone areas”.

Haryana

• • Capital: Chandigarh
  • Chief Minister: Manohar Lal Khattar
  • Governor: Kaptan Singh Solanki

Vijay Goel, Nitin Gadkari flag off 10th ‘Slum Yuva Daud’:

    Sports Minister Vijay Goel and Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari flagged off the 10th Slum Yuva Daud at Khichripur in New Delhi.

    The Slum Yuva Daud is a part of the Adopt a Slum campaign of the Sports Ministry and Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan.

INTERNATIONAL

Mike Bloomberg delivers remarks at the launch of the WHO Report on the Global Tobacco Epidemic:

    The latest WHO report on the global tobacco epidemic published at the United Nations finds that more countries have implemented tobacco control policies, ranging from graphic pack warnings and advertising bans to no smoking areas.

    About 4.7 billion people – 63% of the world’s population – are covered by at least one comprehensive tobacco control measure, which has quadrupled since 2007.

US blocks $350 million aid to Pakistan for not acting against Haqqani network:

    The United States has blocked 350 million dollars in coalition support funds to Pakistan as Islamabad failed to act against the dreaded Haqqani network.

    US Defence Secretary James Mattis informed congressional defense committees that he was not able to certify that Pakistan has taken sufficient actions against the Haqqani network to permit full reimbursement of Coalition Support Funds.

USA

• President of the United States: Donald Trump

• Currency: United States Dollar
• Capital: Washington, D.C.

BANKING & BUSINESS

Finance minister Arun Jaitley introduces Bill to facilitate SBI’s merger with arms:

    Finance minister Arun Jaitley on introduced a bill in the Lok Sabha to repeal certain Acts, a move that was legally necessary in the wake of the merger of State Bank of India (SBI) with its subsidiary banks from April 1 this year.

    The finance minister introduced the State Banks (Repeal and Amendment) Bill, 2017 to repeal the State Bank of India (Subsidiary Banks) Act, 1959 and the State Bank of Hyderabad Act, 1956.

SEBI inks pact with ESMA for info exchange on CCPs:

    Markets regulator SEBI said it has entered into a pact with the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) for exchange of information concerning Central Counterparties (CCPs).

    Central counterparties are entities that help facilitate clearing and settlement activities. The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed between the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and ESMA under the European Markets Infrastructure Regulation (EMIR).

SEBI

• Headquarters: Mumbai
• Chairman: Ajay Tyagi

BoB signs MoU with DGS&D for services to govt’s e-marketplace:

    Bank of Baroda has entered into an agreement with Directorate General of Supplies & Disposal (DGS&D) for extending various banking services to Government e-Marketplace (GeM).

    DGS&D has been mandated to set up GeM, an initiative intended to bring greater transparency and efficiency in public procurements.

SBI, Carlyle to buy out GE Capital’s 26% stake in SBI Card:

    State Bank of India (SBI) and marquee private equity investor Carlyle Group will acquire GE Capital Group’s entire 26 percent stake in SBI Card.

    SBI Card is a joint-venture between SBI Cards and Payment Services and GE Capital Business Process Management Services, which issue credit cards and process card transactions.

Tohoku Steel to start plant in Sri City:

    Tohoku Steel India Private Ltd., a wholly-owned unit of Tohoku Steel Co. Ltd. of Japan, is setting up a facility at Sri City, near here, to manufacture heat-resistant stainless steel for making automobile engine valves. The plant, which will come up on a six-acre plot in the domestic tariff area (DTA) of Sri City, is expected to involve an investment of about 80 crore.

‘IFCI violated norms in sanctioning loans’:

    A Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report has found that a majority of loans given by IFCI during 2012-16 were either not in line with the General Lending Policy, or were given out without due diligence having been performed. This had led to a 78% increase in non-performing assets (NPAs) over the last three years.

    The audit on IFCI was carried out due to the high level of NPAs, which amounted to 3,544.54 crore as of March 31, 2016, or 13.05% of total outstanding loans.

India, China, Pak among 10 nations with 95% HIV in APAC last year: UN

    India, China and Pakistan are among the 10 countries that accounted for more than 95 per cent of all new HIV infections in the Asia and the Pacific region in 2016, according to a UN report.

China

• Currency: Renminbi
• Capital: Beijing
• Prime minister: Li Keqiang
• President: Xi Jinping

Pakistan

• Currency: Rupee
• Capital: Islamabad
• Prime Minister: Nawaz sharif

Over 77.55 lakh GSTIN registration done till July 18: Centre

    Centre said that over 77.55 lakh GSTIN registration have been done till 18th of this month. In GST registration, the supplier is allotted a 15-digit GST identification number called GSTIN.

    Registration of any business entity under the GST Law requires obtaining a unique number from the concerned tax authorities for the purpose of collecting tax on behalf of the government and to avail Input Tax Credit for the taxes on his inward supplies.

APPOINTMENTS & RESIGNS

Adobe names Shanmugh Natarajan as MD India operations:

    Adobe Systems Incorporated said it has appointed Shanmugh Natarajan as the Managing Director for Adobe Systems in India.

    Natarajan, who was formerly the Executive Director, will continue to lead Adobe operations in India, in addition to his ongoing responsibility as Vice President, Engineering, Digital Media at Adobe.

Shankarsinh Vaghela quits Congress, but says he will not join BJP:

    Leader of Opposition in Gujarat assembly Shankarsinh Vaghela quit the Congress party. Life turned a full circle for Vaghela, a BJP rebel who merged his Rashtriya Janata Party (RJP) with Congress 17 years back, as he resigned from the Congress party on his 77th birthday.

MEA spokesperson Gopal Baglay appointed Joint Secretary in PMO:

    Senior diplomat and External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Gopal Baglay was appointed as Joint Secretary in the Prime Minister’s Office. He has been appointed in place of Vinay Mohan Kwatra, who has been already named as India’s Ambassador to France.

Sanjay Kothari appointed secy to new President, Ashok Malik press in-charge:

    The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has appointed 1978-batch IAS officer of Haryana cadre, Sanjay Kothari, as the secretary to President-elect Ram Nath Kovind.

    Senior journalist Ashok Malik has been named as press secretary to Kovind, said an order issued by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT).

Brenda Hale appointed as UK supreme court’s first female president:

    Brenda Hale has been appointed as the first female president of the UK supreme court.

    Hale, an expert in family law who has been the court’s deputy president since June 2013, will succeed Lord David Neuberger as its head in October.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY:

Astrosat, Chandra and Hubble jointly detect massive cosmic explosion:

    Three space-based observatories Astrosat, Chandra, Hubble Space Telescope and a ground-based observatory HARPS have simultaneously detected a massive coronal explosion on the nearest planet-hosting star ‘Proxima Centauri’, a top scientist revealed.

SPORTS

Russian city to host world short-course swimming championships in 2022:

    Kazan was controversially named host of the FINA World Swimming Championships in 2022, the first major event in a summer Olympics sport to be assigned to Russia since an International Olympic Committee recommendation that high-profile competitions should not be awarded to the country in the wake of allegations of a “state-supported” doping programme there.

    Kazan will host the short-course (25m) championships in 2022, while Budapest has been named as the 2024 location. The Hungarian capital is presently staging the 17th FINA World Championships.

Russia

• Russian President: Vladimir Putin.
• Currency: Russian ruble
• Capital: Moscow

Usain Bolt breaks 10 seconds for first time this season in Monaco Diamond League:

    Usain Bolt ran under 10 seconds for the first time this year as he narrowly won the 100 metres at the Monaco Diamond League meeting.

    Usain Bolt won in 9.95 seconds, three hundredths of a second ahead of American Isiah Young. South Africa’s Akani Simbine was third in 10.02. Last month, he won at the Golden Spike in Ostrava, Czech Republic, in 10.06 after a slow start.

Current Affairs Quiz – July 22, 2017