DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS: 31 JULY 2017

DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS: 31 JULY 2017

(DAILY NEWS INDIA)

SHARED BY: WWW.DAILYGK.IN

1. 7TH EDITION OF SAARC ARTISTS CAMP & EXHIBITION OF PAINTINGS BEGINS IN NEPAL

i. The 7th edition of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation Artists Camp and Exhibition of Paintings has begun at Kathmandu.

ii. These events provides platform to artists to exchange ideas with fellow artists and help in creating special bonding among them and 40 artists from SAARC member countries except Afghanistan taking part in the 4 day camp.

iii. Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation of Nepal, Jitendra Narayan Devhas inaugurated the event. The event is aimed to bring art and culture of member countries together. It strengthens people to people contact.

iv. The event is organised by Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, Nepal and SAARC Cultural Centre, Colombo, Sri Lanka.

2. PUNJAB LAUNCHES ‘APNI GADDI APNI ROZGAR’ SCHEME

i. The Punjab government has announced the launch of its flagship ‘Apni Gaddi Apna Rozgar’ scheme by flagging off over 100 uber MOTO bikes.

ii. Under the scheme the state government will be providing commercial two wheelers and four wheelers to unemployed youth at subsidised rates.

iii. The scheme aims to generate job opportunities for youth and providing better mobile transport in Punjab. Uber is also ready to offer luxury vehicles for those who want to spend lavishly. Its focus is mainly on providing affordable products.

iv. Apni Gaddi Apna Rozgar Scheme aims to create entrepreneurship opportunities for the youths. n its 1st phase the Uber bike taxis will run in Mohali, ludhiana, Zirakpur and Kharar regions of Punjab.

3. INDIA AMONG TOP NATIONS WITH POTENTIAL FOR DIGITAL PAYMENTS’ – DIGITAL EVOLUTION INDEX

i. India has featured among 60 nations on Digital Evolution Index 2017, exhibiting a high potential in terms of digital payments.

ii. On the Digital Evolution Index 2017, India has been categorised under the “break out” segment which refers to countries that have relatively lower absolute levels of digital advancement, yet remain poised for growth and are attractive to investors by virtue of their potential.

iii. The report outlined that India has been experiencing rapid strides of progress with an evolving payments landscape, catalysed by the government’s demonetisation decision.

4. CANARA BANK LAUNCHES “”CANDI””-ITS FIRST DIGITAL BRANCH IN BENGALURU

i. Canara Bank has launched its 1st ‘Digital Banking Branch’ at Spencer Towers in MG Road, Bengaluru.

ii. The branch is titled “CANDI” and its aim to provide an end-to-end digital experience to customers. It will enable customers to get most of the information related to their accounts without  visiting the branch.

iii. The bank becomes the 1st in the public sector category to initiate artificial intelligence in banking.

iv. A humanoid has been introduced in the branch to addresses basic queries of customers on banking products and services. It brings advanced technology to streamline services and improve efficiency. The branch offers a variety of tools and devices that include Customer On-Board Application.

v. An app-based token and queue management system are also provided by the bank to enable paperless appointment system with the help of cloud technology. It further offers Digital Challan to facilitate filling up challans digitally by customers at their own convenience for services like cash deposit, fund transfer, and cheque clearing.

vi. An interactive touch screen-based ‘Touch Banking’ is also installed in the branch to enable the customers with better understanding related to banking products like car loan, home loan, education loan.

5. JAPANESE, SRI LANKAN AMONG MAGSAYSAY AWARD WINNERS

i. A Japanese historian Yoshiaki Ishizawa, who helped Cambodians preserve the Angkor temples and a Sri Lankan teacher Gethsie Shanmugam, who counselled war widows and orphans to overcome their nightmares are among the six winners of this year’s Ramon Magsaysay Awards.

ii. The Ramon Magsaysay Award is an annual award named after former Philippine President Ramon Magsaysay. It is regarded as Asia’s version of the Nobel Prize and was first awarded in the year 1958.

6. RAVI MITTAL APPOINTED PART-TIME MEMBER ON IRDAI BOARD

i. Ravi Mittal has appointed an additional secretary in the Finance Ministry in place of Anil Khachi, is now a part-time member on the board of IRDAI.

ii. According to Ministry source, Former finance secretary Sushma Nath is another part-time member on the IRDAI board.

iii. Mittal has replaced N S Rao at Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India who is a joint secretary level officer.

iv. Maruthi Prasad Tangirala officer has been appointed as an Executive Director at IRDAI. He is a 1990-batch IP&TAFS officer and his position will be equivalent to a joint secretary.

v. Tangirala has replaced Sriram Taranikanti. Suresh Mathur will be handling reinsurance portfolio at IRDAI as Executive Director.

vi. Mamta Suri, who has been working as a chief general manager at IRDAI has now been promoted as ED and appointed in the same position at the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India.

7. CAELEB DRESSEL BECOMES 1ST EVER SWIMMER TO WIN THREE GOLD MEDALS IN ONE NIGHT AT WORLDS CHAMPIONSHIP

i. The 20-year-old American Swimmer Caeleb Dressel has become the 1st swimmer to win 3 gold medals on a single night at either the FINA World Swimming Championship or the Olympics.

ii. Caeleb Dressel accomplished this feat at 2017 FINA World Aquatics Championships in Budapest, Hungary.

iii. Dressel started with a victory in the 50-meter freestyle, came back about a half-hour later to nearly break Michael Phelps’ world record in the 100 butterfly, and closed the night by leading off a world-record performance in the mixed 400 freestyle relay.

ivi. He now has 6 gold medals in the championships, putting him in position to tie Phelps’ record of seven at the 2007 Champonships in Melbourne, Australia.

8. MANOJ KUMAR, SHIVA THAPA STRIKE GOLD IN CZECH REPUBLIC TOURNAMENT

i. Indian boxers have bagged a total of 8 medals at the 48th Grand Prix at Usti Nad Labem in Czech Republic.

ii. In the tournament out of the 8, five were gold medals. The 3 other medals are two silver and one bronze. The 5 gold medals for India were bagged by world championships bronze-medallist Shiva Thapa, former Commonwealth Games gold-medallist Manoj Kumar, Amit Phangal, Gaurav Bidhuri and Satish Kumar.

iii. The 2 boxers who finished with silver medals were Kavinder Bisht and Manish Panwar. Sumit Sangwan has awarded bronze medal.

9. MAHA GUV, CM LAUNCH BOOK ‘MANN KI BAAT – A SOCIAL REVOLUTION ON RADIO’

i. Governor of Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu (additional charge) C. Vidyasagar Rao and CM of Maharashtra Devendra Fadnavis has released the book ‘Mann Ki Baat – A Social Revolution on Radio’ at Raj Bhavan in Mumbai.

ii. The book includes transcripts of the first 23 episodes of PM’s monthly address on radio ‘Mann Ki Baat’. This book will enable citizens to read and understand PM Narendra Modi’s vision and his ideas of development.

iii. Union Minister Piyush Goyal was also present on the occasion. He also said that ‘Mann Ki Baat’ is a new design of communication to reach people and it has truly worked as a revolution.

10. WORLD DAY AGAINST TRAFFICKING – JULY 30 2017

i. The United Nations World Day against Trafficking in Persons 2017 was observed on 30 July around the world.

ii. The day aims at raising awareness of the plight of human trafficking victims, and promoting and protecting their rights.

iii. The theme of United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime is ‘Act to Protect and Assist Trafficked Persons’.

iv. This year the theme focuses on the significant impact of conflict and natural disasters, as well as the resultant, multiple risks of human trafficking that many people face.

OBJECTIVE QUESTIONS BASED ON TODAY’S NEWS

Q1. 7TH EDITION OF SOUTH ASIAN ASSOCIATION FOR REGIONAL COOPERATION ARTISTS CAMP AND EXHIBITION OF PAINTINGS BEGUN IN?

a)  New Delhi, India

b)  Dhaka, Bangladesh

c)  Islamabad, Pakistan

d)  Colombo, Sri Lanka

e)  Kathmandu, Nepal

Q2. ON THE DIGITAL EVOLUTION INDEX 2017, WHICH FEATURES COUNTRIES HAVING HIGH POTENTIAL IN TERMS OF DIGITAL PAYMENTS, INDIA HAS BEEN CATEGORISED UNDER WHICH SEGMENT?

a)  ‘break out’ segment

b)  ‘multi bagger’ segment

c)  ‘upcoming’ segment

d)  ‘trending’ segment

e)  ‘high value’ segment

Q3. CANARA BANK HAS LAUNCHED ITS 1ST ‘DIGITAL BANKING BRANCH’ TITLED ‘CANDI’ IN?

a)  Chennai

b)  New Delhi

c)  Kolkata

d)  Bengaluru

e)  Mumbai

Q4. WHO AMONG THE FOLLOWING HAS BEEN APPOINTED AS A PART-TIME MEMBER ON THE BOARD OF IRDAI?

a)  Jash Narula

b)  Ravi Mittal

c)  Ashok Jain

d)  Sanjeev Sen

e)  Akash Nagar

Q5. WHAT WAS THE THEME OF ‘WORLD DAY AGAINST TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS 2017’ OBSERVED ON JULY 30?

a)  “Creating supportive atmosphere for trafficking victims”

b)  “United Stand against trafficking in persons”

c)  “Let’s act now to protect and assist trafficking victims.”

d)  “Advcating tougher laws against trafficking in persons”

e)  “Raise your voice against trafficking in persons”

ANSWERS: 

1 - E    2 - A    3 - D    4 -B     5 - CS