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 India, 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, Chennai 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 Bhubaneswar 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. 1441, Opp. IOCL Petrol Pump, CRPF Square, Bhubaneswar-750015 1 Ph. : (0674) 6556677, 8093556677. Web : www.vanik.org, E-mail : [email protected] 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. 1441, Opp. IOCL Petrol Pump, CRPF Square, Bhubaneswar-750015 2 Ph. : (0674) 6556677, 8093556677. Web : www.vanik.org, E-mail : [email protected] 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.