Ambition IAS

Online IAS Coaching, Preparation, Test Series & Current Affairs

13th July 2017 – Current Affairs Today

by Leave a Comment

Download : 13th July, 2017 – Current Affairs PDF

(Download older Current Affairs PDF’s here )

National Current Affairs

Recent Approvals by Central government

  • Union Cabinet has given its ex-post facto approval for signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between India and Palestine on cooperation in the field of Health and Medicine and cooperation in the field of Information Technology and Electronics (IT&E)
  • Cabinet approves Joint Declaration of Intent (JDI)between India and Germany on cooperation in the field of Health
  • The Joint Interpretative Notes (JIN) on the Agreement between India and Bangladesh would impart clarity to the interpretation of the existing Agreement between India and Bangladesh for the Promotion and Protection of Investments (BIPA).
  • Cabinet approves enhancement of the age of superannuation of Medical Officers of Central Armed Police Forces and Assam Rifles
  • Cabinet apprised of MoU between India and Bangladesh for cyber security cooperation
  • Cabinet approves creation of three posts of Directors for the three new AIIMS in Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal and Maharashtra
  • Cabinet approves establishment of the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), South Asia Regional Center (ISARC) at campus of National Seed Research and Training Center (NSRTC) in Varanasi

Rs 57,000 crore saved through DBT: Government

  • The government has saved over Rs 57,000 crore with its Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) scheme by which subsidies are given directly to beneficiaries.
  • According to government data, of the Rs 57,029 crore saved under DBT in 2016-17 the LPG subsidy scheme ‘Pahal’ accounted for Rs 29,769 crore.
  • A total of 485 schemes have been identified from 60 ministries for the DBT. 
  • DBT led to a saving of aboutRs 36,144 crore in 2015- 16.
  • According to the data till March, 2017, there were 140 schemes under the DBT net.
  • A total of 59 and 34 schemes were under the DBT at the end of 2015-16 and 2014-15 fiscals respectively
  • The beneficiary base rose from 10.71 crore in 2013-14 to 35.62 crore in 2017-18.

Livelihood Intervention and Facilitation of Entrepreneurship (LIFE)  program launched

  • The project has been launched to the people of the state of Meghalaya
  • In 2017-18, the program aims to reach out to additional 2144 villages
  • To bridge the economic disparity and ensure progress, LIFE will be implemented across the state, so that there is inclusive development.
  • LIFE aims to bring all the poor and vulnerable women into the SHGs movement.
  • The program will be implemented in the line with National Rural Livelihoods Mission.
  • The program focuses on improving the livelihood of rural poor in a sustainable manner through the process of SHGs, Village organisation and Producers Groups.

Rajasthan become the first State to fix Minimum qualifications for coop. societies’ polls

  • The Rajasthan Government modified the State Cooperative State Cooperative Societies Rules, 2003 and the new rules expected the benefit around 10,000 cooperative and agricultural credit societies.
  • The minimum educational qualification from class 5 to class 8 is must for members of dairy societies, farming societies, consumer societies, weavers’ societies, urban banks, housing construction societies, primary land development banks, credit societies and cooperative unions.
  • The minimum educational qualification of primary committee members is of class 8.
  • The minimum qualification required is class 10 for district level members
  • A member of State level committee must be a graduate.

International Current Affairs

41st annual UNESCO World Heritage Committee conference held in Poland

  • During this session 21 new sites have been inscribed to UNESCO’s World Heritage Among these were 18 cultural and three natural sites. In addition to the new inscriptions, the Committee also approved five site boundary changes.
  • The 5.5 km walled city area in Ahmedabad, Gujarat with an approximate population of four lakh has been declared India’s first World Heritage City by UNESCO.

NATO military drills in Eastern Europe begin in Bulgaria

  • NATO military exercisesin Eastern Europe have begun in Bulgaria. It involves 25,000 military personnel from more than 20 allied and partner countries.
  • The Saber Guardian 17 exercises are being led by U.S. Army Europe and run until 20th July.
  • There will be a total of18 specialized exercises.

Business & Economy

SBI waives charge on IMPS fund transfer of up to Rs 1,000

  • SBI has waived charges for fund transfer of up to Rs 1,000 through its IMPS (Immediate Payment Service) to promote small transactions.
  • State Bank of India charge Rs 5 along with the applicable service tax for IMPS fund transfer of up to Rs 1,000.
  • For IMPS, the charge will be Rs 5 along with GST for fund transfer in the range of Rs 1,000 to Rs 1 lakh.
  • The charge will go up to Rs 15 for transactions of Rs 1-2 lakh.
  • GST at the rate of18% is applicable on all financial transactions.

YES BANK Launches ‘YES GST’ Program to Assist MSMEs

  • YES BANK, India’s fourth largest private sector bank, along with YES Global Institute has launched ‘YES GST’ program for MSMEs (Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises) under its MSME CSR initiative, ‘Say YES to Sustainable MSMEs in India’.
  • YES BANK is organizing more than 3,000 events on GST over the next 6 months in partnership with National Small Industries Corporation (NSIC), Federation of Indian Export Organizations (FIEO) and Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA), among others.
  • The bank will help MSMEs to understand the impact of the changes in tax system and prepare them to know the new GST tax system.

Chhattisgarh govt to merge DCCBs with state cooperative bank

  • The Chhattisgarh government has planned to merge all district cooperative central banks (DCCBs) of the state into a single State Cooperative Bank. 
  • It aimed to serve the farmers with better and efficient banking facilities.
  • The decision will be benefit the farmers and the interest rates will come down by another 1.5 to 2% on loans to farmers.
  • This will directly affect the state government’s interest subsidy, where it will be saving Rs 40-50 crore annually.
  • Now, the farmers will get modernized bank facilities at the village level along with ATM and Micro ATM services.
  • It can carry out transaction from any branch in any part of the state and soon mobile banking and Internet banking facilities will be added.

HAL signs MoU with Defence Ministry

  • The revenue from operations has been targeted at Rs 17,900 crore, the highest ever.
  • HAL has also focuses on specific emphasis on capacity building, modernization, solar power plants.
  • It aims to achieve capital expenditure of Rs 1,300 crore.
  • The Company also aims to achieve 5% increase in indigenous content through indigenization under Make-in-India initiatives.
  • HAL’s motive is on Make-in-India projects such as Hindustan Turboprop Trainer-40 (HTT-40), Light Combat Helicopter (LCH) and Light Utility Helicopter (LUH).

People in News

Nissan appoints Thomas Kuehl as president of Indian operations

  • Kuehl will take charge of his new assignment from October one, 2017 and will be responsible for both Nissan and Datsun brands.
  • He will replace Guillaume Sicard, who stepped down recently to take up a new post with Alliance partner Renault as Vice President.
  • He will head all operations in India, including marketing and sales, manufacturing, and research and development. 
  • Kuehl, who joins Nissan from Volkswagen, has more than 22 years of automotive experience in different countries and different areas of value chain.

BCCI appoints Ravi Shastri as new head coach of Indian cricket team, Zaheer Khan bowling coach

  • Ravi Shastriwas appointed as new head coach of Indian cricket team.
  • Former India pacer Zaheer Khan will be the bowling coach
  • Rahul Dravid, who is also the India A and U-19 coach, will be batting consultant on overseas Test tours.

Science & Technology

NASA’s Juno mission has completed a close flyby of Jupiter’s Great Red Spot

  • This flyby came as part of Juno’s sixth science orbit around the planet the next close flyby will occur 1st Sept. 
  • NASA’s Juno mission approached closest to Jupiter’s center on July 10 at 9:55 p.m. EDT (0155 on July 11 GMT), at which point the probe was just 2,200 miles (3,500 kilometers) above the planet’s visible cloud tops.
  • After 11 minutes and 33 seconds, Juno passed directly above the Great Red Spot at a height of 5,600 miles (9,000 km).

IMD’s Doppler Weather Radar inaugurated

  • Fifty more such radars will be installed in the country in near future.
  • With the commissioning of new station 60% of the country is covered with Doppler Weather Radar in the network of Indian Meteorological Department.
  • To solve the severe drinking water shortage in the country, Desalination Mission will be launched in the country with the support of NITI Ayog.
  • The facility is built as part of the modernization of observational network by replacing conventional network using indigenous technology.

Astronomers discover smallest star known in our galaxy

  • The star known as EBLM J0555-57Ab is almost 600 light-years away from Earth
  • The astronomers believe that this new star could possibly help them search for alien life.
  • The new star is just a bit larger than Saturn and has a gravitational pull approximately 300 times stronger than that on Earth.
  • Another small star discovered by NASA and surrounded by seven planets is almost two thirds the size of Trappist-1.
  • The smallest stars provide optimal conditions for the discovery of Earth-like planets, and for the remote exploration of their atmospheres

 

Sitemap