(DAILY NEWS INDIA)
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
