DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS: 26 JULY 2017

DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS: 26 JULY 2017
(DAILY NEWS INDIA)
SHARED BY: WWW.DAILYGK.IN

1. CENTRAL ROAD FUND (AMENDMENT) BILL, 2017 INTRODUCED IN LS
i. Government introduced in the Lok Sabha, Central Road Fund (Amendment) Bill, 2017, a bill providing for allocation of about Rs 2,000 cr from Central Road Fund for developing national waterways.
ii. Central Road Fund (Amendment) Bill, 2017 was moved by Minister of State for Shipping Pon Radhakrishnan in absence of Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari.
iii. The bill seeks to amend the Central Road Fund Act, 2000, to allocate 2.5% of the proceeds of CRF for development and maintenance of NWs and a reduction in the share provided for development of National Highways.
iv. According to the objects of the bill, National Waterways provide cost-effective, logistically efficient and environment-friendly way of transport, whose development as a supplementary mode would enable diversion of traffic over congested roads and railways

2. UNION HOME MINISTER RAJNATH SINGH CHAIRS ST MEETING OF ISLANDS DEVELOPMENT AGENCY
i. The Union Home Minister Shri Rajnath Singh chaired the 1st meeting of the newly constituted Islands Development Agency in New Delhi.
ii. The Union Home Minister presented the vision for developing India’s maritime economy while preserving the natural eco-system and addressing the security concerns.
iii. The CEO of NITI Aayog has made a detailed presentation on the current status. He informed that Concept Development Plans and Detailed Master Plans are being prepared for identified islands.
iv. It includes the following factors people’s participation, principles of sustainability, eco-system preservation and determination of carrying capacity as the guiding principles.
v. It was also decided that Lt. Governor of Andaman & Nicobar Islands and Administrator of Lakshadweep Islands will be included as members of IDA.
vi. With this meeting, the efforts for holistic development of Islands of India received a major boost.


3. BOLIVIA DECLARED TOTAL INDEPENDENCE FROM WORLD BANK & IMF
i. Bolivia’s President Evo Morales has declared his government’s independence from World Bank and IMF.
ii. Some of Bolivia’s largest resistance struggles in the last 60 years have targeted the economic policies carried out by the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. The World Bank and IMF had dictated the economic fate of Bolivia and the world.
iii. Bolivia’s popular uprising known as The Cochabamba Water War in 2000 against United States– and the associated World Bank policies shed light on some of the debt issues facing the region.
iv. Since 2006, a year after Morales came to power; social spending on health, education, and poverty programs has increased by over 45%. Bolivia is now in the process of becoming a member of the Southern Common Market, Mercosur and Morales attended the group’s summit in Argentina last week.

4. STANDARD CHARTERED BANK UNVEILS FOREX CARD
i. Standard Chartered Bank has launched a Multi-currency Forex Card for overseas travellers.
ii. The card will also provide Forex rate lock-in with zero mark-up on cash withdrawals and shopping abroad. The card is designed to offer travelers a secure way to carry money when traveling abroad.
iii. It will allow customers the convenience of loading up to 20 widely used currencies on one card with an online reload facility during the overseas travel.
iv. Travelers get protection against the frequent currency fluctuations by locking in the currency exchange rate they availed during the time of loading the card.
v. The card will also provide travelers insurance covers against misuse of lost card, personal accident insurance and loss of baggage or personal documents.
vi. Some of the currencies that can be loaded are US dollar, Singapore dollar, Euro, British Pound, Swiss franc, Thai baht, South African rand and Japanese Yen.

5. VETERAN ACTRESS SHAKUNTALA BARUA GETS ‘MAHANAYAK SAMMAN 2017’
i. West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee  conferred this year’s ‘Mahanayak Samman 2017’ to veteran actress Shakuntala Barua for her contribution to the world of cinema.
ii. Prosenjit Chatterjee and Nusrat Jahan took home the Best Actor and Best Actress awards. The Best Director, Cinematographer, Music Director and Script Writer awards went to Arindam Sil, Shoumik Halder, Pt Bickram Ghosh and Padmanabha Dasgupta
iii. Suparnokanti Karati for ‘Bisarjan’ film and Shiboprasad Mukhopadhyay of Windows Productions for ‘Praktan’ film were awarded in Best Film and Best Producer categories.
iv.  Mahanayak Samman is bestowed upon the best talents of the Bengal’s film industry by the West Bengal State Government.

6. GOOGLE CEO SUNDAR PICHAI JOINS ALPHABET BOARD OF DIRECTORS
i. Google CEO Sundar Pichai is going to join the board of directors of Alphabet, Google’s parent company.
ii. Alphabet is the 2nd most valuable U.S. company behind Apple. Alphabet shares have risen by more than 50% since Pichai, following a steady rise through Google’s managerial ranks.
iii. The move represents a vote of confidence in Pichai, who has led Google through a period of sustained growth. Google accounts for the vast majority of Alphabet’s revenue and virtually all of its profits.

7. JANALAKSHMI FINANCIAL SERVICES APPOINTS AJAY KANWAL AS CEO
i. Janalakshmi Financial Services, the largest microfinance company, has announced the appointment of its new CEO Ajay Kanwal. He will replace VS Radhakrishnan, who will take over the role of vice chairman.
ii. Kanwal will take charge from 1st of August. He has having 27 years of experience in both consumer and commercial banking sector.
iii. Janalakshmi Financial Services set up in Bengaluru in 2008 by former Citibank senior executive Ramesh Ramanathan and his wife Swati. Janalakshmi finance bank got licence from Reserve Bank of India to set up Small Finance Bank.

8. RELIANCE DEFENCE LAUNCHES FIRST TWO NAVAL PATROL VESSELS SHACHI AND SHRUTI
i. Reliance Defence and Engineering Limited (subsidiary of Reliance Infrastructure) announced the launch of its 1st two Naval Offshore Patrol Vessels – ‘Shachi’ and ‘Shruti’ – at their shipyard in Pipavav, Gujarat.
ii. The two NOPVs — ‘Shachi’ and ‘Shruti’ — are the 1st warships to be launched by a private sector shipyard in India.
iii. The five NOPVs are patrol ships armed with a 76 mm Super Rapid Gun Mount system along with two 30 mm AK-630 guns, which provide medium range and short range offensive and defensive capabilities.

9. KONSAM WINS GOLD IN ASIAN YOUTH & JUNIOR WEIGHTLIFTING CHAMPIONSHIPS
i. Indian weightlifter Konsam Ormila Devi has bagged a gold medal at the Asian Youth and Junior Weightlifting Championships in Kathmandu, Nepal.
ii. According to the Indian Weightlifting Federation, the weightlifter from Manipur lifted 56kg in snatch and 70kg in clean & jerk for a total effort of 126kg in the 44kg weight category to finish at the top.

10. INDIA TO HOST MAIDEN MEN’S WORLD BOXING CHAMPIONSHIP IN 2021
i. The International Boxing Association has announced that India will host their first Men’s World Championship in 2021.
ii. The announcement was made after a 2-day executive committee meeting that was held in Moscow.
iii. The AIBA Men’s World Championships 2019 will be held in Russia city of Sochi. The 2018 Women’s World Championships will also be held in New Delhi.
iv. The 2019 Women’s World Championships will be held in Trabzon, Turkey.

11. PM MODI RELEASES BOOK SELECTED SPEECHES OF PRESIDENT PRANAB MUKHERJEE
i. The PM, Shri Narendra Modi has released the 4th volume of Selected Speeches of President Pranab Mukherjee.
ii. The PM said that the guidance he received from President Pranab Mukherjee will help him immensely. He described President Pranab Mukherjee as extremely knowledgable and extremely simple.
iii. Under President Pranab Mukherjee, Rashtrapati Bhavan became a ‘Lok Bhavan’. The PM also said that a treasure of historical documentation has come up in his tenure.

OBJECTIVE QUESTIONS BASED ON TODAY’S NEWS

Q1. WHICH BANK HAS RECENTLY LAUNCHED A MULTI-CURRENCY FOREX CARD FOR OVERSEAS TRAVELLERS?
a)  Standard Chartered Bank
b)  State Bank of India
c)  HSBC Bank
d)  IDFC Bank
Q2. PRESIDENT OF WHICH COUNTRY HAS DECLARED HIS GOVERNMENT’S TOTAL INDEPENDENCE FROM WORLD BANK AND INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND?
a)  Chile
b)  Ecuador
c)  Bolivia
d)  Peru
Q3. WEST BENGAL CM MAMATA BANERJEE CONFERRED THIS YEAR’S ‘MAHANAYAK SAMMAN 2017’ TO WHICH VETERAN ACTRESS FOR HER CONTRIBUTION TO THE WORLD OF CINEMA?
a)  Anamika Bhattacharya
b)  Shakuntala Barua
c)  Sayantini Mukherjee
d)  Ambika Sengupta
Q4. RELIANCE DEFENCE AND ENGINEERING LIMITED (SUBSIDIARY OF RELIANCE INFRASTRUCTURE) ANNOUNCED THE LAUNCH OF ITS 1ST TWO NAVAL OFFSHORE PATROL VESSELS NAMED?
a)  ‘Shachi’ and ‘Smruti’
b)  ‘Smruti’ and ‘Shruti’
c)  ‘Shachi’ and ‘Shivam’
d)  ‘Shachi’ and ‘Shruti’
Q5. WHICH ASIAN COUNTRY WILL HOST BOXING WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP IN 2021?
a)  India
b)  China
c)  Thailand
d)  Bangladesh

ANSWERS: 

1 - A    2 - C    3 - B    4 - D    5 - A