DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS: 21 JULY 2017

(DAILY NEWS INDIA)
SHARED BY: WWW.DAILYGK.IN

1. LOK SABHA PASSES IIIT PUBLIC PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP BILL 2017
i. A bill to grant statutory status to the Indian Institutes of Information Technology in Public Private Partnership mode was passed through a voice vote in Lok Sabha. The Government has also mentioned that fees for the poor students will not increase and that reservation law will apply in these institutes.
ii. The previous United Progressive Alliance government initiated the opening of 20 IIITs with private partnership of which 15 are already operational.
iii. The 15 IIITs that are currently operational are located in Chittoor (Andhra Pradesh), Vadodara (Gujarat), Guwahati (Assam), Sonipat (Haryana), Una (Himachal Pradesh), Dharwad (Karnataka), Ranchi (Jharkhand), Kottayam (Kerala), Nagpur and Pune (both Maharashtra), Senapati (Manipur), Kota (Rajasthan), Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh), Tiruchirappalli (Tamil Nadu) and Kalyani (West Bengal).

2. JANAHITHA GRIEVANCE REDRESSAL SYSTEM LAUNCHED IN TELANGANA
i. Telangana government has launched a portal “Janahitha” grievance redressal system. This portal will receive complaints from the public.
ii. The programme was inaugurated in Suryapet district by Telangana Energy minister G Jagadish Reddy.
iii. The portal has been developed by Telangana’s IT department, is a single window for all grievances and their redressal management. This program will bring transparency and give efforts to resolve the issues of people living in the state’s remote areas.Janahitha grievance redressal system launched in Telangana
iv. It is aimed for the public to submit their complaints online smoothly and get speedy redressal. The public can also apply for various welfare schemes through the facility.
v. The public can lodge their grievances through different means like portal, e-mail, WhatsApp or calling at the call centre from their homes. The complaint redressal process would be monitored by officials at the district headquarters and Secretariat in Hyderabad, who will send SMS to the citizens on their status.

3. RECENT APPROVALS BY CENTRAL GOVERNMENT – JULY 19 2017
i. Cabinet approves MOC in respect of tax matters between India and BRICS countries – Brazil, Russia, China and South Africa. Cabinet apprised of MoU between India and Netherlands on cooperation in space technology.
ii. Cabinet approves IRDAI’s admission as a signatory to International Association of Insurance Supervisors, Multilateral Memorandum of Understanding.
iii. Cabinet approves revalidation of permission to raise Extra Budgetary Resource of Rs. 660 cr as Government of India Bonds by Inland Waterways Authority of India in 2017-18.
iv. Cabinet has given its ex-post facto approval for the promulgation of the Central Goods and Services Tax (Extension to Jammu & Kashmir) Ordinance, 2017 and replacement of the Ordinance by the Central Goods and Services Tax (Amendment) Bill, 2017.
v. National Steering Committee on Climate Change, under the Chairmanship of Secretary Environment Ministry, Mr Ajay Narayan Jha, approved the Detailed Project Reports submitted by Governments of Rajasthan, Gujarat and Sikkim for funding under the National Adaptation Fund for Climate Change.

4. INDIA ON TRACK TO GROW AT 7.4 PER CENT IN 2017: ASIAN DEVELOPMENT BANK REPORT
i. According to ADB India is expected to achieve the projected growth rate of 7.4% in 2017 and further up 7.6% on 2018.
ii. According to the report, South Asia will be the fastest growing of all sub-regions in Asia and the Pacific, with growth on track to meet original projections of 7% in 2017 and 7.2% in 2018.
iii. ADB has upgraded its growth outlook in the Asian region to 5.9% in 2017 from 5.7% and to 5.8% for 2018 from 5.7%.
iv. The growth prospects in developing Asia for 2017 have improved than expected export demand in the first quarter of this year.

 5. RS 20 NOTES IN MAHATMA GANDHI 2005 SERIES SOON: RBI
i. The Reserve Bank of India will shortly issue bank notes of denomination Rs 20 in Mahatma Gandhi series 2005. It will be similar in design to those currently in circulation.
ii. According to the RBI, the new notes will be bearing inset letter ‘S’ in the number panel and signature of Governor Urjit R Patel.
iii. The design of these banknotes to be issued now is similar in all aspects to the Rs 20 banknotes in the same series issued earlier. All the banknotes in the denomination of Rs 20 issued by the Bank in the past will continue to be legal tender.

6. L K ADVANI RECEIVES LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD FOR CONTRIBUTIONS IN LOK SABHA
i. Veteran Bharatiya Janata Party leader L.K. Advani received the Lifetime Achievement Award for his contributions as a parliamentarian in the Lok Sabha. Janata Dal (United) leader Sharad Yadav also received the Lifetime  Achievement Award as a Rajya Sabha.
ii. The other awardees from the Lok Sabha included Congress leader Kumari Sushmita Devi (Best Woman Parliamentarian) Revolutionary Socialist Party MP K. Premachandran (Best Parliamentarian) and BJP leader Meenakshi Lekhi (Best Debut Woman Parliamentarian).
iii. The awardees from the Rajya Sabha included Samajwadi Party MP Jaya Bachchan (Best Woman Parliamentarian), CPI-M leader Sitaram Yechury (Best Parliamentarian) and Congress MP Rajni Patil (Best Debut Woman Parliamentarian).

7. RAM NATH KOVIND ELECTED AS INDIA’S 14TH PRESIDENT
i. BJP-led National Democratic Alliance nominee Ram Nath Kovind was elected as the 14th President of India. Mr. Kovind defeated Opposition candidate and former Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar.
ii. Before contesting presidential election, Kovind was the Governor of Bihar. He has served as a BJP MP in the Rajya Sabha as well. He will be the 2nd Dalit President of India after KR Narayanan.

OBJECTIVE QUESTIONS BASED ON TODAY’S NEWS

Q1. UNION CABINET CHAIRED BY PRIME MINISTER NARENDRA MODI GAVE APPROVAL FOR THE SIGNING OF MEMORANDUM OF COOPERATION IN RESPECT OF TAX MATTERS BETWEEN INDIA AND THE REVENUE ADMINISTRATIONS OF?
a)  BRICS Countries
b)  G20 Countries
c)  ASEAN Countries
d)  SAARC Countries
Q2. A BILL TO GRANT STATUTORY STATUS TO THE INDIAN INSTITUTES OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (IIITS) IN PUBLIC PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP (PPP) MODE WAS PASSED THROUGH A VOICE VOTE IN LOK SABHA ON JULY 19, 2017. CURRENTLY, HOW MANY SUCH IIITS ARE OPERATIONAL ACROSS INDIA?
a)  20
b)  15
c)  30
c)  25
Q3. MR. RAM NATH KOVIND WAS ELECTED AS THE ____ PRESIDENT OF INDIA?
a)  16th
b)  15th
c)  14th
d)  17th
Q4. WHICH STATE GOVERNMENT HAS LAUNCHED ‘JANAHITHA’, AN INTEGRATED GRIEVANCE REDRESSAL MANAGEMENT SYSTEM UNDER WHICH A CALL CENTRE SET UP FOR THE PURPOSE WILL RECEIVE GRIEVANCES FROM COMPLAINANTS IN SIMPLER FORMS SUCH AS AN SMS, E-MAIL OR A CALL?
a)  Haryana
b)  Andhra Pradesh
c)  Punjab
d)  Telangana
Q5. WHO AMONG THE FOLLOWING RECEIVED THE LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD FOR HIS CONTRIBUTIONS AS A PARLIAMENTARIAN IN THE LOK SABHA AT A FUNCTION ORGANISED BY THE LOKMAT MEDIA GROUP?
a)  Atal Bihari Vajpayee
b)  L K Advani
c)  Yashwant Sinha
d)  Murli Manohar Joshi

ANSWERS: 

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