DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS: 22 JULY 2017

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

1. ARUN JAITLEY LAUNCHES PRADHAN MANTRI VAYA VANDANA YOJANA PENSION SCHEME WITH 8% FIXED RATE
i. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley formally launched Pradhan Mantri Vaya Vandana Yojana, a pension scheme exclusively for senior citizens (60 years and above) with 8% fixed rate of interest on their savings.
ii. Life Insurance Corporation of India which has been given the sole privilege to operate this scheme started offering the scheme from May 4, 2017. The scheme will remain open till May 3, 2018.
iii. Pension is payable at the end of each period, during the policy term of 10 years, as per the frequency of monthly, quarterly, half-yearly, yearly as chosen by the pensioner at the time of purchase.

2. UP ASSEMBLY PASSES RESOLUTIONS ON RENAMING TWO AIRPORTS
i. The Uttar Pradesh Assembly has adopted 2 resolutions on re- naming the Kanpur and Bareilly airports after freedom fighter Ganesh Shanker Vidyarthi and as Nath Nagri respectively.
ii. The resolutions, moved by Minister for Civil Aviation Nand Gopal Gupta were passed by a voice vote in the absence of the opposition members.
iii. According to the minister the contributions of social worker and freedom fighter Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi who stayed in Kanpur and fought with the British through his writings Chakeri airport be named after him.
iv. He also said the civil terminal at the Bareilly airport should be re-named as Nath Nagri after the cultural name of the city.


3. PRESIDENT OF INDIA INAUGURATES THE 200TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATIONS OF THE PAIKA REBELLION OF ODISHA
i. The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee has inaugurated the 200th anniversary celebrations of the Paika Rebellion of Odisha in New Delhi.
ii. Pranab Mukherjee congratulated the people of the country and especially those of Odisha on the occasion. The President said that it was indeed a privilege for him to be present on the occasion of  inauguration of year-long celebration of Bi-Centenary of the Paika Bidroha of Odisha.
iii. It is a time to remember the great history of our country and pay respect to our great heroes. It is time to pay respects to other great warriors of Paika Bidroha who fought side by side such as Dinabandhu Samantray Mohapatra, Samanta Madhaba, Dama Subudhi Manjaraj and many more heroes of Paika Bidroha.
iv. Many scholars, researchers and historians have observed that the Paika Rebellion of 1817 was India’s first organized armed rebellion against British Raj. It was aimed at upholding the rights of the Odia people and sovereignty of Odisha.

4. INDIA, JAPAN CIVIL NUCLEAR COOP DEAL COMES INTO FORCE
i. The civil nuclear cooperation deal between Japan and India that provides for collaboration between their industries in the field came into force.
ii. To make operationalisation of the pact Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar and Japanese Ambassador Kenji Hiramatsu exchanged diplomatic notes.
iii. This agreement will pave the way for enhanced cooperation in energy security and clean energy. The civil nuclear cooperation agreement was signed last November during PM Narendra Modi’s visit to Tokyo.
iv. The agreement will bring full cooperation between the two countries in the development and uses of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes on a stable, reliable and predictable basis.
v. The deal allows Japan to export nuclear technology to India and will become the first non-NPT signatory to have such a deal with Tokyo.
vi. Other nations who have signed civil nuclear deal with India include the US, Russia, Mangolia, South Korea, France, Canada, Namibia, Argentina, Kazakhstan and Australia.

5. SEBI INKS PACT WITH ESMA FOR INFORMATION EXCHANGE ON CCPS
i. Markets regulator SEBI has signed a pact with the European Securities and Markets Authority for exchange of information Central Counterparties.
ii. The Memorandum of Understanding has been signed between the Securities and Exchange Board of India and ESMA under the European Markets Infrastructure Regulation.
iii. Central counter parties are entities that help to ease clearing and settlement activities. EMIR provides for signing of a cooperation arrangement between ESMA and the relevant non-EU authorities.
iv. The MoU establishes cooperation arrangements, including the exchange of information regarding Central Counter parties. These are established and recognised in India by SEBI, and which have applied for EU recognition under EMIR.

6. BOB SIGNS MOU WITH DGS&D FOR SERVICES TO GOVT’S E-MARKETPLACE
i. Bank of Baroda has signed an agreement with Directorate General of Supplies & Disposal.
ii. The MoU has been signed for extending various banking services to Government e-Marketplace.
iii. It will benefit all stakeholders and ensure a support system including a dedicated team for seamless functioning of the portal. DGS&D has been mandated to set up GeM. It is an initiative to bring greater transparency and efficiency in public procurements.
iv. The GeM SPV has been established as National Public Procurement Portal to provide an end-to-end online marketplace for central and state government their public sector undertakings, autonomous institutions and local bodies departments for procurement of common goods and services in a transparent and efficient manner.

7. ARUN JAITLEY RELEASES NATIONAL TRADE FACILITATION ACTION PLAN
i. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley released the National Trade Facilitation Action Plan and said WTO-Trade Facilitation Agreement coming into force on February 22, 2017 was a major milestone for the global trading system.
ii. The national action plan aims to transform cross border clearance ecosystem through efficient, transparent, coordinated, risk based, digital, seamless and technology driven procedures which are supported by state-of-the-art sea ports, airports and land borders.
iii. NTFAP also covers many activities in the areas of infrastructure augmentation; particularly the road and rail infrastructure leading to ports and the infrastructure within ports, airports, land customs stations for which various ministries like shipping, railways, civil aviation, road transport and highways, home affairs, finance and commerce have been assigned specified targets.

8. ISRAEL TO PARTNER DRDO FOR DEVELOPING MISSILE DEFENCE SYSTEM FOR INDIA
i. The Indian Army has signed a MoU with the Defence Research and Development Organisation to raise one regiment of the advanced Medium Range Surface to Air Missiles.
ii. The system will be jointly developed by Israel Aerospace Industries and DRDO with the involvement of private sectors and DPSUs.
iii. The army plans to have a total of 5 regiments of this air defence system, which will be deployed opposite to China and Pakistan. The MRSAM is an advanced, all weather, mobile, land-based air defence system. Each MRSAM system comprises a command-and-control system, missiles, a tracking radar and mobile launchers.
iv. The system can shoot down enemy ballistic missiles, aircraft, helicopters, drones, surveillance aircraft and Airborne Warning and Control System aircraft. It is capable of engaging multiple aerial targets at ranges of more than 50 km. The entire project has a total cost of Rs 17,000 cr.

9. RUSSIA’S KAZAN TO HOST 2022 WORLD SHORT COURSE SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS
i. Russia’s Kazan has been selected to host the 2022 World Short Course Swimming Championships.
ii. The President of the International Swimming Federation Julio Maglione has announced at a press conference in Budapest.
iii. The 2024 Short Course Worlds will be held in the Hungarian capital, which currently hosts the 17th FINA World Championships.

OBJECTIVE QUESTIONS BASED ON TODAY’S NEWS

Q1. FINANCE MINISTER ARUN JAITLEY FORMALLY LAUNCHED PRADHAN MANTRI VAYA VANDANA YOJANA, A PENSION SCHEME EXCLUSIVELY FOR SENIOR CITIZENS (60 YEARS AND ABOVE) WITH ____% FIXED RATE OF INTEREST ON THEIR SAVINGS?
a)  9%
b)  7%
c)  10%
d)  8%
Q2. MARKETS REGULATOR SEBI ENTERED INTO A PACT WITH WHICH ENTITY FOR EXCHANGE OF INFORMATION CONCERNING CENTRAL COUNTER PARTIES?
a)  African Securities and Markets Authority
b)  South American Securities and Markets Authority
c)  European Securities and Markets Authority
d)  North American Securities and Markets Authority
Q3. PRESIDENT PRANAB MUKHERJEE INAUGURATED THE 200TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATIONS OF THE PAIKA REBELLION WHICH BROKE OUT IN 1817 IN?
a)  Madhya Pradesh
b)  Odisha
c)  Karnataka
d)  Jharkhand
Q4. FINANCE MINISTER ARUN JAITLEY RELEASED THE NTFAP WHICH AIMS TO TRANSFORM CROSS BORDER CLEARANCE ECOSYSTEM THROUGH EFFICIENT, TRANSPARENT, RISK BASED, COORDINATED, DIGITAL, SEAMLESS AND TECHNOLOGY DRIVEN PROCEDURES. ABBREVIATION NTFAP STANDS FOR?
a)  National Trade Facilitation Action Plan
b)  National Trade Facilitation Agency Plan
c)  National Transaction Facilitation Action Plan
d)  National Trade Facilitation Authority Plan
Q5. WHICH RUSSIAN CITY HAS BEEN SELECTED TO HOST THE 2022 WORLD SHORT COURSE SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS?
a)  Volgograd
b)  Nizhny
c)  Kazan
d)  Vladivostok

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