DAILY UPDATED CURRENT AFFAIRS – 28.07.2017 TO 29.07.2017

NATIONAL Punjab launched ‘Apni Gaddi Apni Rozgar’ scheme The Punjab government has announced the launch of its flagship ‘Apni Gaddi Apna Rozgar’ scheme by flagging off over 100 uberMOTO bikes. Under the scheme the state government will be providing commercial two wheelers and four wheelers to unemployed youth at subsidised rates. Travis Kalanick is the founder and CEO of UBER having headquarters at San Francisco and California in USA. ’s women commission to ink pact with UNDP Maharashtra’s women commission will ink an agreement with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) for rescue and rehabilitation of women who are victims of sex trafficking, acid attack and domestic violence. Achim Steiner is the head of UNDP having H.Q. at New York. Govt has launched 2 Mobile apps – ‘ Quake’ and 'Sagar Vani’  The government launched two Mobile apps - 'India Quake' for dissemination of earthquake parameters and the other one 'Sagar Vani' to disseminate ocean related information and alerts (like high waves and Tsunami early warnings) to the user community in timely manner for their safety.  Developed by the National Centre for Seismology (NCS), the 'India Quake' will automatically disseminate relevant parameter (location, time and magnitude) after the occurrence of earthquakes.  "SAGAR VANI" -- has been developed by the ESSO-Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) under through the Gaian Solutions Pvt. Ltd."  Both the apps -- India Quake and Sagar Vani -- were launched by the MoES and science & technology minister Harsh Vardhan on the occasion of the ministry of earth sciences' foundation day in New . Punjab first state to implement injection-safety programme Punjab has become the first state in the country where injection-safety programme is being implemented in collaboration with the World Health Organisation (WHO). India’s 1st mobile ticketing system Metro One will soon launch India’s first mobile ticketing system ‘OnGo’ for commuters to buy their tickets on their mobile phones. Through ‘OnGo’, commuters can purchase tickets on the Mumbai Metro app and other partner apps like Ridlr. A QR code will be generated that will have to be displayed before a non-protruding glass at the Automatic Fare Collection gates. PM Modi inaugurates Kalam’s memorial Prime Minister Modi inaugurated a memorial dedicated to former president A P J Abdul Kalam at Peikarumbu on his 2nd death anniversary. With ‘unity in diversity’ as its theme, memorial features quotes of Kalam and his pictures as a scientist and as the president of the country. IRCTC to take over catering services According to railways, Catering services in all trains with pantry cars will be handed over to IRCTC by the year-end. Till now, zonal railways were managing catering services in majority trains as per the catering policy 2010. This is being done in order to improve onboard food quality. Dr. A.K. Manocha is the chairman & managing director of IRCTC (H.Q-). A.K.Mittal is the chairman of Railway board. Supreme Court has put an end to immediate arrests in dowry cases Supreme Court has put an end to immediate arrest of the husband and his family members in the dowry harassment case. Police will now have to conduct a preliminary inquiry before making any arrest. The court’s latest order came as complaints piled up over the years alleging misuse of the anti-dowry harassment law framed in 1983 following a spate of dowry-related deaths by disgruntled wives. ONGC wins government nod Oil and Natural Gas Corp has won govt approval for acquisition of Gujarat State Petroleum Corp’s entire 80% holding in a KG basin gas block for Rs 7,738 crore. The company will also pay part consideration of USD 200 million to GSPC towards acquisition rights for discoveries other than DDW field in the block. ONGC: Headquarters: Uttarakhand, CEO: Dinesh K Sarraf PM launches deep-sea fishing scheme Prime Minister Modi launched a deep-sea fishing scheme for fishermen of Rameswaram. Under the initiative taken up under the “Blue Revolution” scheme, centre would allocate Rs 1,500 crore over a period of time for conversion of bottom trawling boats into deep sea liners. It would help fishermen to get better revenue and overcome problems of fishing in the Palk Strait. BILATERAL India and Bangladesh: India and Bangladesh have decided to set up a joint working group within 60 days for the conservation of elephants and manage their movement through corridors in their adjoining border areas. The decision was taken at Meghalaya during the second India-Bangladesh Dialogue on Trans-Boundary Conservation of Elephant Ajit Doval attended 2-Day BRICS NSA meeting National Security Advisor Ajit Doval arrived in Beijing to attend 2 day BRICS NSAs meeting. The group of NSAs would call on the Chinese president for an interaction on security issues relating to BRICS countries.

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DAILY UPDATED CURRENT AFFAIRS – 28.07.2017 TO 29.07.2017

The visit comes in the backdrop of ongoing standoff between India & China in the Doklam region. INTERNATIONAL China plans to build its 1st Mars simulation base on Tibetan plateau China plans to build its 1st Mars simulation base on Tibetan plateau in country’s northwest as it aims to send the 1st mission to the red planet by 2020. The project will incorporate education, tourism, scientific research & simulation training. China looks to catch up with India, US, Russia & EU in sending probes to Mars. New York City has ranked first among top 50 cities for women entrepreneurs New York ranked at the first spot among the top 50 global cities that foster high-potential women. The two Indian city in the top 50 tally are Bengaluru which ranked at 40th spot while Delhi ranked at the 49th spot. 7th edition of SAARC artists camp & exhibition of paintings begins in Kathmandu The 7th edition of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Artists Camp and Exhibition of Paintings has began at Kathmandu. SAARC was founded in Dhaka on 8th December, 1985. Its secretariat is based in Kathmandu, Nepal. Amjad Hussain B Sial from Pakisthan is the Secretary General of SAARC. BRICS tax authorities ink document to enhance cooperation Tax authorities of the five BRICS countries inked a landmark document to establish a mechanism for taxation cooperation in Xinhua, China. 9th BRICS Summit to be held in Xiamen, Fujian province, from September 3 to 5 in 2017. 8th BRICS summit was held at the Taj Exotica hotel in Benaulim, Goa, India. Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa are the memeber of BRICS. India to overtake US as 2nd largest 4G phone base With an estimated installed base of 340 million 4G devices, India will displace the US as the second largest market. With a base of 150 million users, India is currently placed behind China and the US. India is world’s third-biggest beef exporter: FAO report According to OECD-FAO Agricultural Outlook 2017-2026 report released by Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation (OECD), India exported 1.56 million tonnes of beef last year and was expected to maintain “its position as the third-largest beef exporter, accounting for 16 per cent of global exports in 2026″ by exporting 1.93 tonnes that year. The Outlook report ranked Brazil as the world’s top beef exporter, followed by Australia. Facebook Acquires Source3 Facebook has acquired Source3 to crack down on users who share pirated videos & other content without permission. Facebook is acquiring both technology & some of the team behind Source3. Source3’s approach is similar to YouTube’s Content ID content-flagging system that not only identify material that infringes copyright but also provide ways for content owners to make money from UGC. ECONOMY Bajaj alliance renewed agreement with Dhanalaxmi Bank Baja Aliianz life insurance has renewed corporate agency agreement with Dhanalaxmi bank, under which Dhanalaxmi Bank will continue to sell life insurance product of Bajaj Aliianz life insurance. Dhanalaxmi bank Headquarters situated at Thrissur, Kerala. Shri. G. Sreeram is the C.E.O of Dhanalaxmi Bank. PNB ties up with Bajaj Allianz General Punjab National Bank & Bajaj Allianz General Insurance have signed an agreement for distribution of insurance products through branches. Under the agreement, Allianz will offer insurance products such as health, personal accident along with commercial products such as property to bank’s customers. Bajaj Allianz General Insurance Headquarters situated at . Tapan Singhel is the C.E.O of Dhanalaxmi Bank. Axix Bank acquired payment wallet Freecharge Axix bank has entered into agreement to acquire payment wallet “free charge” .Snapdeal bought Freecharge in 2015. Jason Kothari is the CEO of Mumbai Based Payment wallet “Free charge”. Kunal Bahl is the CEO of Snapdeal while Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal are founder of Snapdeal. Axis Bank extends Shikha Sharma’s term Recently Axis Bank has re-appointed Shikha Sharma as its chief executive officer and managing director. Sharma’s re- appointment is for a period of 3 years & is effective 1 June 2018. Recently it was reported that Sharma was headed to Tata Group to head its financial services business which was later denied by the bank. RBI imposes monetary penalty on Union Bank of India The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has imposed a monetary penalty of Rs. 10 million on Union Bank of India for non- compliance with the directions issued by the apex bank on Know Your Customer (KYC) norms. The penalty imposed on July 26, is part of the exercise vested under the provisions of Section 47A(1)(c) read with Section 46(4)(i) of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, taking into account failure of the bank to adhere to certain directions issued by RBI. Cabinet approves revision of guidelines of Sovereign Gold Bonds Scheme Union Cabinet has given approval for revision of guidelines of Sovereign Gold Bonds (SGB) Scheme with a view to achieve its intended objectives. The investment limit per fiscal year has been increased to 4 kg for individuals, 4 Kg for Hindu Undivided Family (HUF) and 20 Kg for Trusts and similar entities notified by the Government from time to time.

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DAILY UPDATED CURRENT AFFAIRS – 28.07.2017 TO 29.07.2017

Insolvency Action against Bhusan steel National company law tribunal has allowed banks to initiate insolvency proceeding against Bhusan Steel and Bhusan steel power. Petition for launching the insolvency process was filled by SBI in case of Bhusan Steel while a similar plea was filed by PNB against Bhusan Steel and Power. BSE signs MoU with Egyptian Exchange Bombay Stock Exchange has joined hands with Egyptian Exchange for cooperation in exchange of information across business areas. BSE: NSE :  The Bombay Stock Exchange is an Indian stock  NSE is the largest and youngest in the country and exchange located at Dalal Street, Kala Ghoda, World’s third largest stock exchange in terms of Mumbai. transactions.  BSE or Bombay Stock Exchange is the oldest stock  National Stock Exchange is the youngest stock exchange in Asia that was established in 1875. exchange of the country which came into force in the  BSE’s index is known by the name SENSEX year 1992. In 1992, NSE was set up as a tax paying (Sensitive Index) which shows 30 top trading company which later on registered as a Stock companies. Exchange under the Securities Contract Regulation  Ashish Chauhan is the CEO of BSE. Act, 1956, in the year 1993.  Both the stock exchanges are located in Mumbai,  Nifty (National Fifty) is the index of NSE, displays Maharashtra as well as recognised by the Securities 50 most traded companies. and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).  J. Ravichandran is the CEO of NSE. NPCI gets final nod from RBI  National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), the umbrella organization for all retail payment systems in the country, has received the final nod from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to function as the Bharat Bill Payment Central Unit and operate the Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS).  The final clearance from RBI comes almost a year after NPCI launched the BBPS pilot project to make payment of utility bills easier. The pilot started on 31 August with eight BBPS operating units that had received in-principle approval from RBI.  The total number of Bharat Bill Payment Operating Units certified by NPCI now stands at 24.  Nearly 45 crore bills which comprise of electricity, telecom, DTH, water and gas are permitted under BBPS. A.P. Hota is the managing director and chief executive of NPCI. IOB goes live with Bharat Bill Payment system Public sector Indian Overseas Bank has offered Bharat Bill Payment System, introduced by the National Payments Corporation of India, for its customers. Indian Overseas Bank is one of the three public sector banks (apart from Bank of Baroda and Union Bank of India) to get the approval from RBI for providing the service. BBPS is an integrated bill payment system that offers inter-operable online bill payments to customers. AWARD Jhulan Goswami to be felicitated by Mohun Bagan at their annual awards ceremony City football giants Mohun Bagan will confer former club captain and coach Subrata Bhattacharya with the prestigious Mohun Bagan Ratna award while India Women’s cricket team veteran pacer Jhulan Goswami will be given a special award at the club’s annual day programme in Kolkata. Sehwag & Usha in Arjuna Award committee Virender Sehwag & P T Usha have been named in a 12-member Committee which has been handed the job to pick this year’s Khel Ratna & Arjuna awardees. Committee to be headed by Justice C K Thakkar, will meet on August 3 to select this year’s awardees. The Committee also includes Mukund Killekar (boxing), Sunil Dabbas (Kabaddi), M R Mishra (Journalist), S Kannan (Journalist) among other members. PERSON IN NEWS Jeff Bezos: Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos has overtaken Bill Gates ( Founder of Microsoft) as the richest person in the world, with a with a net worth of $90.6 billion. Bezos dethroned Gates, who has been the richest man on the planet since 2013, after a rise in the share price of Amazon ahead of its latest results. Nawaz Sharif: Nawaz Sharif stepped down as Prime Minister of Pakistan after the Supreme Court disqualified him from holding office in the Panama Papers case. The Pakistan Supreme Court has unanimously disqualified Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for life from his post after an investigative panel found his family’s wealth was far above their earnings in the Panama Papers case. Subhash Garg: Economic Affairs Secretary Subhash Chandra Garg has been appointed as India’s Alternate Governor on the Board of Governors of the Asian Development Bank (ADB). ADB is headquartered in Manila, in the Philippines. Takehiko Nakao is the President of ADB.

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DAILY UPDATED CURRENT AFFAIRS – 28.07.2017 TO 29.07.2017

PV Sindhu: Olympics silver medallist PV Sindhu was appointed as the deputy collector, a Group-1 service post, in Andhra Pradesh govt. Chandrababu Naidu had promised a Group-I post to Sindhu when she won the silver medal in Olympics. The govt had also presented her a cash award worth Rs 3 cr. Marty Sklar: Marty Sklar, the legendary Disney Imagineer, has passed away.

SPORTS Deaflympics 2017 concluded at Samsun, Turkey  Indian golfer Diksha Dagar has won a silver medal in womens individual golf event of the Deaflympics.This is the 1st time golf is a part of Deaflympics.  The Indian Deaflympics contingent made the country proud winning five medals at the 2017 Deaflympics held in Samsun, Turkey (July 18th to 30th).  Wrestler Virender Singh clinching the gold in 74kg freestyle event, while golfer Diksha Dagar won silver in the women’s individual golf.  Prithvi Sekhar and Jafreen Shaik won bronze in men’s doubles tennis, while wrestlers Sumit Dahiya and Ajay Kumar bagged bronze.  India placed at 26th position in the medal table while Russia with total 199 medal(85 gold) ranked at first position. League cancelled for 2018 The 6th edition of Hockey India League has been postponed to 2019 by Hockey India. This comes as the dates in 2018 clashes with the Indoor World Cup, which may bar foreign players’ participation in it.

MISCELLANEOUS Microsoft launches ‘Made for India’ Kaizala app Technology giant Microsoft has officially launched ‘Kaizala’, a productivity app that has been designed to enhance the collaboration and communication experience for Indian enterprises. Delhi Metro first to become 100% ‘green’ Delhi Metro has become the only completely ‘green’ Metro system in the world for adhering to green building norms for its residential colonies. Delhi Metro has secured the platinum rating for adherence to green building norms for its 10 residential colonies from the Indian Green Building Council (IGBC). Samsung beats Intel to become the world’s largest chipmaker South Korean electronics giant Samsung has surpassed Intel to become the world’s largest maker of computer chips. Samsung’s semiconductor business earned a revenue of $15.8 billion during the quarter ended June, while Intel reported $14.76 billion in chip revenue during the same period. Arundhati’s novel in Man Booker longlist Arundhati Roy’s latest work of fiction, “The Ministry of Utmost Happiness”, has made it to the longlist of this year’s Man Booker Prize. The book came after a 19-year-long hiatus since her debut novel “God of Small Things” that won the Booker Prize in 1997. The shortlist of six books will be announced on September 13, and the 2017 winner will be finally announced on October 17. AI system that can create 3D models Scientists including one of Indian origin have developed new artificial intelligence software called SurfNet that can create three dimensional models from 2D photographs. When fully developed SurfNet could have significant applications in the fields of 3D searches on the internet researchers. In an advance version it can allow future robots to navigate in the real world.

IMPORTANT DAY World Hepatitis Day: 28 July This day Observed every year by World Health Organisation (WHO). World Hepatitis Day 2017 theme: “Eliminate Hepatitis”. Hepatitis is a viral infection which causes inflammation in liver. The Union Health Minister J.P.Nadda has announced that government will provide Hepatitis C vaccine free from next year. He also said that government is planning to provide Rs 2500 to 3000 crore in the budget for this purpose. International Tiger Day: 29 July This year’s International Tiger Day was celebrated with the slogan ‘Fresh Ecology For Tigers’ Protection’. The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) said, only 3,890 tigers are left in the world. Of them, India has the highest number. Till July last year, there were 2,500 tigers in the country. World Day against Trafficking in Persons: 30 July World Day against Trafficking in Persons 2017 Theme: ‘Act to Protect and Assist Trafficked Persons’

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