DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS 4 JULY 2020

DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS 4 JULY 2020

1. 33 FIGHTER JETS TO BE PROCURED

·        Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) has given its consent for the capital acquisition of various platforms and equipment required by the Indian Armed Forces, Army, Navy and the Air Force, worth Rs 38,900 crore.

·        Pinaka ammunition: Acquisition of Pinaka missile systems will enable raising additional regiments over and above the ones already inducted. It is all-weather, indirect fire, free flight artillery rocket system.

·        Long Range Land Attack Cruise Missile (LRLACM): Having a firing range of 1,000 kilometres to the existing arsenal,  LRLACM  addition will bolster the attack capabilities of the Navy and the Air Force.

·        Astra Missiles: Induction of Air-to-Air Missile (AAM) Astra, having Beyond Visual Range (BVR) capability, will serve as a force multiplier to the strike capability of the Navy and Air Force. 

·        DAC approved procurement of 33 fighter aircrafts & upgradation of existing 59 Mig-29 aircraft 

·        DAC also approved the proposal for procurement of 33 fighter jets including 21 MIG-29 ((Mikoyan-Gurevich) and 12 Su-30 MKI (Modernizirovannyi, Kommercheskiy, Indiski where ‘Su’ is Sukhoi) aircraft along with upgradation of existing 59 MIG-29 aircraft.

2. RUSSIANS GRANT PUTIN RIGHT TO EXTEND HIS RULE UNTIL 2036

·        The 77.9% Russian electorate have voted in favour of constitutional amendments that will allow 67 years old President Vladimir Putin to stay in power until 2036 i.e. until the age of 83.

·        His current term of 6 years will end in 2024.

·        Means now, he will be re-elected twice under the constitutional amendments. He is already the longest-serving leader in modern Russian history. 

3. INDIA’S EXTERNAL DEBT INCREASED BY 2.8%

·        In accordance with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) data, India’s external debt stood at $558.5 billion in March 2020, an increase of $15.4 billion or 2.8% as compared to the March 2019.

·        The largest component of the external debt is Commercial borrowings with a share of 39.4%, followed by non-resident deposits at 23.4% and short-term trade credit at 18.2%.

·        In terms of currency, United States (US) dollar-denominated debt continued to be the largest component of India’s external debt, with a share of 53.7% at end-March 2020, followed by the Indian rupee (31.9%), yen (5.6%), SDR (4.5%) and the euro (3.5%).

4. 2020’S DIANA AWARD ROLL OF HONOURS

·        Freya Thakral, a 13 year old student of the British School New Delhi received the 2020 Diana Award for her humanitarian work towards the ragpickers of Delhi.

·        The award is presented annually on the birth anniversary of Princess Diana.

·        The Diana award was established in 1999 in memory of Princess Diana, to recognise the social works and humanitarian efforts of youngsters across the United Kingdom(UK) and around the world.

5. 2020 COMMONWEALTH SHORT STORY PRIZE

·        The commonwealth writers announced Kritika Pandey, the winner of asian region prize as the overall winner of the 2020 Commonwealth Short Story Prize  for her story, “The Great Indian Tee and Snakes”.

·        The award was presented to her by Ghanaian writer and editor, Nii Ayikwei Parkes, the chair of the 2020 Judge panel in the online award ceremony.

·        Kritika is the second Indian to win the overall prize after Parashar Kulkarni in 2016.

6. FRENCH PM EDOUARD PHILIPPE RESIGNS

·        French Prime Minister Edouard Phillipe resigned during the expected government reshuffle.

·        The French President Emmanuel Macron has planned to open a new chapter for the two remaining years to focus on efforts to relaunch the French economy deeply hit by the coronavirus crisis.

7. INTEL CAPITAL TO BUY 0.39% STAKE IN JIO PLATFORMS

·        US based Electronic chip maker Intel’s investment arm, Intel Capital to buy 0.39% stake in Reliance Industries Limited(RIL)’s Jio Platforms  for Rs 1,894.50 crore.

·        This is the 12th deal of Jio Platforms. With this investment, Jio Platforms has raised Rs 1,17,588.45 crore from global investors since April 22.

·        With this investment, RIL holds 74.91% stake in Jio and 25.09% by the investors.

8. DELHI GOVT TO LAUNCH ‘PODHE LAGAO PRAYAVARAN BACHAO’

·        Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai informed that a  17 day campaign ”Podhe Lagao, Paryavaran Bachao” (Plant Trees, Save Environment) will be launched from July 10 to July 26  from the National Highway(NH) 20 near ITO to reduce air pollution.

·        During the campaign 31 lakh saplings  will be planted.