Current Affairs 3 August : Coconut palm declared State tree of Goa: For IBPS RRB – 2017

NATIONAL

Coconut palm declared State tree of Goa:

The State government has decided to include coconut palm as tree in the Goa, Daman and Diu (Preservation of Trees Act), 1984 to regulate felling of coconut trees under this Act,” the Cabinet stated.

The State Cabinet also resolved to declare the coconut tree as the “State tree”.

Goa

• Capital: Panaji
• Chief Minister: Manohar Parrikar
• Governor: Mridula Sinha

Indian Army develops app for soldiers to track promotions, postings:

The Indian Army has developed a mobile application through which serving soldiers can track details like postings and promotions. An army official said that through the app named ‘Humraaz‘, soldiers can also view their monthly salary slips and the Form 16 and also download them.

For security reasons, the installation of the application has been linked to verification of Aadhar details. The Aadhar details will be verified with the Army database over National Information Centre cloud and Army personal will get a one-time-password on their registered mobile number.

Cabinet approves MoU between India and BRICs countries to set up BRICS Agriculture Research Platform:

The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has given its ex-post facto approval for a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed among India and various BRICs countries for establishment of the BRICS Agriculture Research Platform (BRICS-ARP).

    BRICS-ARP will be the natural global platform for science-led agriculture-based sustainable development for addressing the issues of world hunger, under-nutrition, poverty and inequality, particularly between farmers’ and non-farmers’ income, and enhancing agricultural trade, bio-security and climate resilient agriculture.

The MoU on establishment of the Agricultural Research Platform was signed by the foreign Ministers of BRICS countries in the 8th BRICS Summit held on 16th October, 2016 at Goa.

Google’s Internet Saathi programme reaches 100,000 villages :

                                 American Internet giant, Google India said that it has reached a milestone of 100,000 villages with its Internet Saathi programme which was launched as a pilot in Rajasthan in July 2015 along with Tata Trusts.

Google will also be expanding the program in two new states – Haryana and Bihar.

Bihar

• Capital: Patna

• Chief Minister: Nitish Kumar

• Governor: Keshari Nath Tripathi(additional charges)

Haryana

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

PM Modi addresses 99th birthday celebrations of Dada Vaswani via video conference:

The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, addressed via video conference, the 99th birthday celebrations of Dada Vaswani in Pune.

He recalled that he had first met Dada Vaswani 27 years ago at the World Religions Conference in the United Nations.

INTERNATIONAL

India permitted to construct Kishanganga, Ratle projects under Indus Water Treaty: World Bank

India is allowed to construct Kishanganga hydroelectric power facilities on tributaries of the Jhelum and Chenab rivers with certain restrictions under the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty (IWT), the World Bank has said.

World Bank

• Headquarters: Washington, D.C., United States

• CEO: Kristalina Georgieva

Cabinet apprised of MOU between India and Spain on India-Spain cooperation in renewable energy:

The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has been apprised of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between India and Spain on India-Spain Cooperation in renewable energy. The MoU was signed on 30th May, 2017 at Spain. The MoU will help in strengthening bilateral cooperation between the two countries with the exchange of expertise and networking of information.

Spain

• Currency: Euro
• Capital: Madrid

China, BRICS trade ministers vow to fight protectionism:

China and the other BRICS nations pledged to fight protectionism and safeguard intellectual property rights.

Trade ministers from Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa concluded two days of meetings in Shanghai agreeing to deepen trade and investment links, and “safeguard and develop” the multilateral trading system. The ministers also approved guidelines for cooperation between the five countries on intellectual property rights (IPR).

China

• Currency: Renminbi

• Capital: Beijing

• Prime minister: Li Keqiang
• President: Xi Jinping

Trump signs Russia sanctions bill:

U.S. President Donald Trump signed into law new sanctions against Russia, a move Moscow said amounted to a full-scale trade war and an end to hopes for better ties with the Trump administration.

USA

• President of the United States: Donald Trump

• Currency: United States Dollar

• Capital: Washington, D.C.

RUSSIA

• Russian President: Vladimir Putin.

• Currency: Russian ruble

• Capital: Moscow

BANKING & BUSINESS

SEBI forms committee on fair market conduct:

Regulator SEBI set up a committee on ‘fair market conduct’ which will suggest measures for improving surveillance of the markets and strengthen rules for algo trades, among other norms.

The panel, under the chairmanship of former law secretary T K Viswanathan, would suggest measures for improvement in PIT (Prohibition of Insider Trading) norms, PFTUP (Prohibition of Fraudulent and Unfair Trade Practices) regulations and mainly related to ‘trading plans’.

SEBI

• Headquarters: Mumbai
• Chairman: Ajay Tyagi

India in line to meet fiscal deficit target of 3.2%: Report

The Indian government is on track to achieve the fiscal deficit target of 3.2% of GDP in the current fiscal year, said a report by UBS.

The Centre’s fiscal deficit narrowed from a peak of 6.5% of GDP in 2009-10 to 3.5 % of GDP in 2016-17 and is estimated to fall further to 3.2% of GDP in 2017-18.

PayPal unveils two innovation labs:

PayPal has unveiled its newest Innovation Labs at the Chennai and Bengaluru Tech centres. The lab is the first by PayPal in India and third after the U.S. and Singapore. The firm said the lab will serve as a platform to promote innovation which is a core value for PayPal globally.

Karnataka

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

RBI Widens Basel-III-Compliant Asset Base:

    Ahead of the implementation of the stringent capital requirements under the Basel-III regime from 2019, the Reserve Bank amended a slew of previous regulations on the same, helping banks shore up their capital buffers and improves liquidity coverage ratios.

APPOINTMENT & RESIGN

FICCI appoints Sanjaya Baru as secretary general:

Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s media advisor and senior journalist Sanjaya Baru has been named new secretary general of industry chamber Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry.

Mr Baru will assume the charge from September 1, FICCI president Pankaj Patel said in a statement. He will replace A. Didar Singh.

FICCI

• Headquarters: New Delhi

• Chairman: Pankaj Patel

Controversial PM Peter O’Neill re-elected Papua New Guinea PM:

Papua New Guinea’s controversial Prime Minister Peter O’Neill has secured a second term after a troubled election process that took almost six weeks.

    Peter O’Neill has been re-elected prime minister of Papua New Guinea by a newly elected parliament.

Papua New Guinea

• Currency: Papua New Guinean kina

• Capital: Port Moresby

Prince Philip of UK retires after 65 years of service:

96-year-old Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh will begin his retirement from royal duties after appearing for one final solo public engagement. He is the longest-serving consort to a British monarch with 65 years of public service.

United Kingdom

• Currency: Pound sterling

• Capital: London