DAILY CURRENT
AFFAIRS: 31 JULY 2017
(DAILY NEWS INDIA)
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”
1 - E 2 - A 3 - D 4
-B 5 - CS
