DAILY GK UPDATES - 17TH JULY, 2015
NATIONAL UPDATES:
I.
Rakesh Sahni appointed
as the Chairman of Narmada Valley Development Authority.
II. Government allows use
of its Capital to SAARC Fund for Infrastructure Sector: It
cleared the utilisation of India’s capital contribution to SAARC Development Fund
(SDF) for promoting cross-border infrastructure projects, trade and growth.
III. Department of Telecom
panel reports recommendations on Net Neutrality: After
four months of long debateon the fundamental principle of internet freedom, the
panel led by A.K Bhargava has submitted its report on Net Neutrality. The
committee has said that it unhesitatingly recommends that the principles of Net
Neutrality must be adhered to. It opposed platforms such as internet.org.
IV. Varanasi has been
chosen as ‘the city of music’ by UNESCO: In
a development which will tremendously boost the India’s old-age traditions,
Varanasi has joined the global bandwagon of UNESCOs ‘Cities of Music’ under the
creative cities network.
V.
Union Government clears
proposal to redevelop 400 railway stations.
VI. Ottappalam to have
India’s 1st defence industrial park: Union
Government’s Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion has approved a
proposal from the Kerala Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation
(KINFRA) to set up country’s 1st defence industrial park at Ottappalam
in the Palakkad region.
VII. Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya,
Churachandpur of Manipur won 18th National Youth Parliament
Competition for Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas.
VIII. Union Government
approved signing of India-Canada Civil Aviation Pact: The
MoU will help in enhancing the experience and technical knowledge in the field
of Civil Aviations. It will also deepen the bilateral cooperation between the
two countries.
IX. Internet and Mobile
Association of India (IAMAI) and Indian Council for Research on International
Economic relations (ICRIER) released a report titled ‘An Inquiry into the
impact of India’s App Economy’: It provides a
detailed analysis of the entire value chain of the App Economy in India, including
its impact on growth and employment.
X. Union Cabinet approved
setting up of Panagariya Committee to classify Caste Census Data, 2011.
XI. Cabinet Committee on
Economic Affairs approved creation of Intra State Transmission System in 7
states: The 7 states include Andhra Pradesh,
Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and
Rajasthan.
INTERNATIONAL
UPDATES:
I. Asian Development Bank
(ADB), in its flagship publication ‘Asian Development Outlook’ retains India’s
economic growth forecast for 2015-16 at 7.8%.
II. IT Services company
Mindtreeacquires US, UK based firms for Rs 482 crore: It
acquired Bluefin Solutions Limited, a UK based IT service provider and
Relational Solutions Inc, a US based service provider.
III. Lower House of Japan’s
parliament approved bills changing self-defence law: Lower
house of the Japan’s parliament (DIET) approved 11 security-related bills that
change the self-defence law, which was followed by Japan since World War 2. The
change paves the way for the Japanese Military to potentially fight abroad for
the 1st time since World War 2. Now the bills need approval from the
Upper House within 60 days.
IV. Cameroon banned Islamic
veil after suicide bombings in Fotokol: It
banned wearing of full face Islamic veil, including the burka following the two
suicide bomb attacks in which two women dressed in the religious garments blew
themselves up.
V. Greek Parliament passed
a bill to implement EU mandated austerity measures: The
Hellenic Parliament of Greece gave its nod to the European Union mandated
austerity related legislative measures, thus paving the way for Greece to tap
into EU bailout funds.
OTHER UPDATES:
FINANCE/BANKING:
I. Overall
direct lending to farmers should not fall below average of past 3 years: RBI: It has directed banks to ensure that their
overall direct lending to farmers should not fall below the average of the last
three years. The direction was given against the backdrop of Government
expressing concern over adverse impact of any reduction in direct credit, given
the adverse weather conditions. It also made it clear that direct lending below
the target set for priority sector lending will attract usual penalties.
II. Competition
Commission of India (CCI) imposed a penalty of Rs 671 crore on 4 state-run
public sector insurance companies: The companies include National Insurance, New India
Insurance, Oriental Insurance and United India Insurance. The penalty was
imposed for manipulating the bidding process initiated by Government of Kerala
for selecting Insurance service provider for Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana.
III. RBI
permitted CBS-enabled Cooperative Banks to issue ATM Cards in tie-up with a
sponsor bank.
IV. India
and World Bank signed Financing Agreement for Andhra Pradesh Disaster Recovery
Project: The financing Agreement was signed for
assistance of 250 million US dollars. It is a loan for an implementation period
of 5 years and Andhra Pradesh Government will be implementing agency of
project.
SPORTS:
V. The
Archery Association of India constituted a 3 member committee to investigate
the reasons behind men’s compound archery team’s failure to appear for the
bronze medal play-off at the World University Games held at Gwangzhou, Korea.
VI. Governing
Council of the Champions League T20 decided to scrap the CLT20 competition due
to limited public following: The
GC consists of representatives of the Board of Control for Cricket in India
(BCCI), Cricket South Africa (CSA) and Cricket Australia (CA).
AWARDS:
VII. South
Africa’s Indian-origin Ahmed Kathrada received Knighthood from the French
Government for his lifelong service to the community: He is a freedom struggle veteran and
confidante of anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela. He is only the third South
African to receive the award from the French Government.
OBITUARIES:
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