DAILY UPDATED CURRENT AFFAIRS – 11.07.2017 TO 13.07.2017

NATIONAL To push e-education govt launches four digital initiatives President Pranab Mukherjee has launched four major digital initiatives in to push e-education. These are Swayam, Swayam Prabha, National Academic Depository and National Digital Library.  Swayam: It an indigenously designed massive open online course (MOOC), It will host all the courses, taught in classrooms from 9th class till post-graduation and can be accessed by anyone, anywhere at any time. It aims to bridge the digital divide for students in e-education.  Swayam Prabha: It will provide high quality educational contents, developed by experts, through 32 DTH (direct to home) Television Channels with an aim to bring uniformity in standards of education. It will cover diverse disciplines of all levels of education in various languages. It will be available to all and will be having new content of 4 hours to be telecasted 6 times a day.  National Academic Depository: It is a digital depository of academic awards for authenticating all certificates issued by institutions. NAD will directly integrate with Boards/Universities which issue Certificates which will be verified, authenticated, accessed and retrieved in a digital depository for purpose of employment, higher education, and loans.  National Digital Library: It is a large online library containing 6.5 million books. It provides free access to many books in English and the Indian languages. Arun Jaitley launches 'Aaykar Setu' to enhance e-access of taxpayers  The Income Tax Department has launched an online facility that will enable payment of taxes, tracking of tax deducted at source and filing of applications for permanent account numbers (PAN).  The facility known as 'Aaykar Setu,' launched by finance minister Arun Jaitley, will also help people link their 12- digit biometric identifier Aadhaar with PAN.  Central Board of Direct Taxes will make it available as a desktop service and as an app for Android mobile phones, provid .  Tax Deducted at Source (TDS) is a means of collecting income tax in , under the Indian Income Tax Act of 1961. Any payment covered under these provisions shall be paid after deducting prescribed percentage. It is managed by the Central Board for Direct Taxes (CBDT) and is part of the Department of Revenue managed by Indian Revenue Service (IRS). Union Health Ministry and West Bengal Govt. signs MoU to set up transfusion medicine centre To strengthen the blood transfusion services in West Bengal and the surrounding areas, the Union health ministry has joined hands with the state government for setting up a centre for transfusion medicine at Kolkata. The MoU is a part of the Metro Blood Bank project of the health ministry under which centres of excellence in transfusion medicine in the four metro cities of Delhi, Mumbai, and Kolkata would be set up. NGT bans use of nylon and synthetic manja The National Green Tribunal has imposed a complete ban on „manja‟, the string used to fly kites, made of nylon or any synthetic material which is non-biodegradable, saying it posed a threat to the lives of birds, animals and humans. A bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar directed all state governments to prohibit the “manufacture, sale, storage, purchase and use” of synthetic manja or nylon threads and all other synthetic threads used for flying kites. Odisha to set up Kalinga International Sports City for mega events After the successful organisation of 22nd Asian Athletics Championships, the Odisha government has announced it would set up the Kalinga International Sports City in to hold mega international events in the coming years. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik also announced that four satellite stadiums with world class infrastructures would be set up in the state‟s Cuttack, Berhampur, Sambalpur and Rourkela. In a first, SSB collaborates with UP for skill development training The Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) has become the first Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) to begin skill development in collaboration with a state. It has signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Uttar Pradesh Government for three-month course on skill development. Cabinet approvals – 12 July 2017  Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between India and Bangladesh on cyber security cooperation.  Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between India and Palestine on cooperation in the field of information technology and electronics (IT&E).  Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between India and Palestine on cooperation in the field of health and medicine.  Approval for the Joint Interpretative Notes (JIN) on the agreement between India and Bangladesh for the promotion and protection of investments between the two countries.  Approval for the signing a Joint Declaration of Intent (JDI) between India and Germany on cooperation in the field of health.  Approval of widening and up gradation of a 65-km-long National Highway in Manipur to boost the state‟s connectivity with south and southeast Asia via Myanmar.

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DAILY UPDATED CURRENT AFFAIRS – 11.07.2017 TO 13.07.2017

 Approved the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), South Asia Regional Center (ISARC) in Varanasi, which will work to develop special rice varieties. It will be the first such international centre in eastern India and will play a major role in sustaining rice production in the region. Telangana issues ordinance to curb online rummy The Telangana government has issued an ordinance to curb the “social evils” caused by online rummy card games. It claimed that the game has become an addiction for many people and affected their family life. Notably, online gaming is an offence as per the provisions of another ordinance issued by the state a month ago.

BILATERAL British Council, Mumbai First join hands to transform Mumbai The British Council and Mumbai First will collaborate in education, tourism, arts and culture to transform Mumbai into a world class city. INTERNATIONAL India To Become Largest Milk Producer In 2026: Report  India, projected to be the most populous country over the next decade, will be the world's largest milk producer by 2026 and will account for the biggest increase in wheat production globally, according to a report by the UN and OECD.  The OECD-FAO Agricultural Outlook 2017-2026 said the world's population will increase from 7.3 to 8.2 billion with India's population will grow from 1.3 billion to 1.5 billion, an increase of almost 150 million.  Currently China with 1.41 billion inhabitants and India with 1.34 billion remain the two most populous countries with US at third. World Bank: New facility to empower women in entrepreneurship The World Bank Group has announced the creation of a more than $1 billion innovative new facility that aims to advance women‟s entrepreneurship. The facility would also help women in developing countries gain increased access to the finance, markets, and networks necessary to start and grow a business. World Bank-H.Q: Washington, D.C., United States, President -Jim Yong Kim Membership: 189 countries (IBRD); 173 countries (IDA) India to be part of new global foreign exchange committee  India will soon have representation in the Global Foreign Exchange Committee (GFXC) of various central bankers and experts that has been recently formed to work towards the development of a transparent global foreign exchange market.  The committee has been set up under the guidance of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), which is an organisation owned by 60 member central banks representing countries from around the world.  The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) was established in 1930, is an international financial institution owned by central banks which "fosters international monetary and financial cooperation and serves as a bank for central banks. Headquarters: Basel, Switzerland, CEO: Jaime Caruan World’s 1st Saola breeding centre in Vietnam The world‟s first centre for breeding Saola, a critically endangered hoofed mammal, is being constructed in Vietnam‟s central region. The centre in Bach Ma National Park in Thua Thien Hue province will open in 2018 as a joint effort by the Saola World Working Group and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, which will help tackle the ungulate endemic. Sri Lanka bans plastic bags amid garbage crisis Sri Lanka has banned plastic shopping bags as it is facing a dengue epidemic and garbage crisis. The use, production, import and sale of lunch sheets would be banned under the new regulation and burning of plastic bags in open areas would also be prohibited. Meeting of SAARC Minister of Law & Order 8th meeting of the SAARC Ministers of Law and Order has started in Colombo. The 3 day meeting will focus on the issue of tackling terrorism apart from discussing liberalization of visa, illegal trafficking in narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances and small arms.

ECONOMY Forex reserves at record high of $386.53 bn  The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has reported that country‟s forex reserves has touched a record high of $386.539 billion after it rose by $4.007 billion in the week to June 30, due to an increase in the foreign currency assets (FCAs).  The Foreign exchange reserves of India are India's holdings of cash, bank deposits, bonds, and other financial assets denominated in currencies other than India's national currency, the Indian rupee. The reserves are managed by the Reserve Bank of India for the Indian government and the main component is foreign currency assets.

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DAILY UPDATED CURRENT AFFAIRS – 11.07.2017 TO 13.07.2017

 Reserve Bank of India Act and the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 set the legal provisions for governing the foreign exchange reserves. Reserve Bank of India accumulates foreign currency reserves by purchasing from authorized dealers in open market operations The Foreign exchange reserves of India consists of below four categories 1. Foreign Currency Assets 2. Gold 3. Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) 4. Reserve Tranche Position in the IMF Special Drawing Rights (ISO 4217 currency code XDR,also abbreviated SDR) refer to an international type of monetary reserve currency created by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in 1969 that operates as a supplement to the existing reserves of member countries. Created in response to concerns about the limitations of gold and dollars as the sole means of settling international accounts, SDRs augment international liquidity by supplementing the standard reserve currencies. The value of the SDR is based on the exchange rates of the US dollar, the euro, the yen and the pound sterling. Over Rs 57,000 crore saved through DBT: Government The Union Government has saved around Rs 57,000 crore in 2016-17 through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) scheme under which subsidies are given directly to beneficiaries. In 2017-18, the beneficiary base rose from 10.71 crore in 2013- 14 to 35.62 crore. A total of 485 schemes have been identified from 60 ministries for the DBT. DBT The Direct Benefit Transfer scheme was earlier launched on June 1, 2013.It required the consumer to mandatorily have an Aadhaar number for availing DBTL (The Direct Benefit Transfer of LPG or PAHAL - Pratyaksh Hanstantrit Labh), subsidised on kerosene,National Child Labour Project and Student Scholarship SIDBI’s MSME counsellor programme Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) has launched a programme for Certified Credit Counsellors (CCC) for micro, small and medium entreprises (MSMEs). The CCCs are expected to advise the entrepreneurs by offering help in preparing business proposals, financial documents and financial statements; and sharing information on suitable credit instruments available in the market.

Classification of Small Industries as per MSME Development Act,2006 Class/Category Manufacturing Service Micro Enterprises Investment upto Rs.25 lakhs Investment upto Rs.10 lakhs Small Enterprises Investment above Rs.25 lakhand upto Investment above Rs.10 lakhand upto Rs.5 crore Rs.2 crore Medium Enterprises Investment above Rs.5 croreand upto Investment above Rs.2 croreand upto Rs.10 crore Rs. 5 crore SIDBI (CEO: Dr. Kshatrapati Shivaji, H.Q- Lucknow)  Small Industries Development Bank of India is an independent financial institution aimed to aid the growth and development of micro, small and medium-scale enterprises (MSME) in India. Set up on April 2, 1990 through an act of parliament, it was incorporated initially as a wholly owned subsidiary of Industrial Development Bank of India.  SIDBI has also floated several other entities for related activities. Credit Guarantee Fund Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises provides guarantees to banks for collateral-free loans extended to SME.  SIDBI Venture Capital Ltd. is a venture capital company focussed at SME. SME Rating Agency of India Ltd. (SMERA) provides composite ratings to SME.  Another entity founded by SIDBI is ISARC - India SME Asset Reconstruction Company in 2009, as specialized entities for NPA resolution for SME. Govt to make MRP, expiry date mandatory on goods sold online from Jan 2018 To protect online consumers, the government has made it mandatory for e-commerce companies from January 2018 to print not only the MRP on goods but also information like expiry date and customer care details. An amendment in this regard has been made to the Legal Metrology (Packaged commodities) Rules, 2011 by the consumer affairs ministry last month. A six-month deadline has been given to the companies to comply with the new rule. Gifts above Rs 50,000 per year by an employer subject to GST: Govt The Finance Ministry has announced that gifts of above Rs 50,000 value in a year, when given by the employer to the employee without consideration and outside the contractual agreement, will come under the ambit of Goods and Services Tax (GST). Axis Bank, IIC pact to boost trade with Latin America Axis Bank has announced that it will help traders boost relations between India and Latin America and the Caribbean in a collaboration with Inter- American Investment Corporation.  It will facilitate trade with Latin America and the Caribbean in which Axis Bank will participate in the Trade Finance Facilitation Programme (TFFP) as a confirming bank.

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DAILY UPDATED CURRENT AFFAIRS – 11.07.2017 TO 13.07.2017

 Axis Bank said it is the first Indian Bank to be a part of such a facility.  The Inter-American Investment Corporation (IIC) will be acting on behalf of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).

PERSON IN NEWS  Former India all-rounder Ravi Shastri has been named as the Indian cricket team‟s new head coach till the 2019 ICC World Cup. Anil Kumble was appointed in 2016 the head coach for a year.  Former fast bowling spearhead Zaheer Khan was appointed the bowling coach and former batting great and captain Rahul Dravid was named batting consultant for specific overseas tours.  Former Indian batsman Sandeep Patil was named the brand ambassador of the Indian indoor cricket team. Patil will be the face of the team in the lead-up to the 10th edition of the World Indoor Cricket Federation (WICF) World Cup, scheduled to be held from September 16 to 23 in Dubai.  Ned Segal, a longtime Goldman Sachs banker and the former Senior Vice President of Finance at Silicon Valley‟s financial software company Intuit, has been appointed as the new Chief Financial Officer at Twitter.  Former Indian Ambassador to the U.S. Naresh Chandra has passed away.  Renowned cartoonist Mangesh Tendulkar has been passed away after illness.  Elsa Martinelli, the veteran Italian actress, best known for her work in the 1955 film “The Indian Fighter” has passed away.

SPORTS India tops medal tally for first time in Asian Athletics Championships history  22nd edition of Asian Athletics Championships (AAC) was hosted by Odisha from 6 to 9 July 2017 at the Kalinga Stadium, Bhubaneshwar. 23rd AAC will be held on Doha capital of Qatar.  Hosts India, with 12 gold, five silver and 12 bronze (29 medals), topped the medals tally for the first time in the history of Asian Athletics Championships.  China ended this edition with a tally of eight gold, seven silver and five bronze. Kazakhstan finished third with four gold, two silver, two bronze on third place.  Olly, the Olive Ridley sea turtle, an endangered specie that travels to Odisha‟s Rushikulya and Gahirmatha beaches for its nesting, was chosen as the mascot. The Gold winners are as Women Men 400 metres Mohammad Anas 1500 metres PU Chitra 1500 metres Ajay Kumar Saroj Sudha Singh 5000 metres Govindan Lakshmanan 3000 metres 4 × 400 metres relay Debashree Mazumdar 4 × 400 metres relay Kunju Muhammed M. R. Poovamma Amoj Jacob Arokia Rajiv Nirmala Sheoran Mohammad Anas Shot put Manpreet Kaur 10,000 metres Govindan Lakshmanan Heptathlon Swapna Burman Javelin throw Neeraj Chopra

 Mercedes‟s driver Valtteri Bottas has won the Austrian Grand Prix by defeating Ferrari‟s German Sebastian Vettel.  India will host next edition of Theatre Olympics, the biggest theatre celebration of the world. The eight edition of the greatest carnival will start from February 17-April 08, 2018.  Indian women‟s cricket team skipper Mithali Raj has surpassed former England captain Charlotte Edwards to become the highest run-scorer in the One-Day Internationals (ODI). The Indian skipper now has 6,028 runs in 181 ODIs

IMPORTANT DAY World Population Day – July 11 2017  Theme of World Population Day 2017 is „Family Planning: Empowering People, Developing Nations„  Shri J P Nadda launches new family planning „Mission Parivar Vikas‟ initiatives on World Population Day

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