NATIONAL
UPDATES:
1.NPPA announces provisional ceiling prices of 761
medicines including anti-cancer & HIV: Bhupendra Singh, the chairman of The National
Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA), has announced provisional ceiling prices of 761 medicines (including
anti-cancer, HIV, diabetes, and antibiotic) with a majority being reduced ahead
of the GST implementation. The actual increase or decrease in prices after the
rollout of new indirect tax regime is expected to be in the range of 2-3%
depending on states.These prices will be notified as formally revised ceiling
prices immediately after GST notification.
2.
Last date extended for 6 months
for conversion of PIO cards: For applying the conversion of Person of Indian
Origin (PIO) cards to Overseas Citizens of India (OCI) cards, the
Union Govt. has extended the last date for to 31st December 2017. Earlier, the
facility was available till 30th June 2017.The PIO card was first implemented
in 2002 as a benefit to foreign nationals who could establish at least a
third-generation tie to the Indian origin.
International
UPDATES:
1. Kaushik Basu takes appointed as President of International Economic
Association: Economic Advisor,
Kaushik Basu has taken over as the president of the International Economic
Association (IEA) for three years. He has served as India’s chief economic adviser
and chief economist at the World Bank. At present, Mr.Basu is the C. Marks
Professor of International Studies and professor of economics in the College of
Arts and Sciences at Cornell University.
2. Cyber-attack that
hit Ukraine spreads to other countries: A massive cyber-attack began with Ukraine’s government offices and airports. It has spread to other
countries, including India, the United Kingdom, Russia and Spain. Cyber
security experts believe that the virus, named Petrwrap or Petya, could be a
ransomware attack, similar to the WannaCry breach in May that had affected more
than three lakh people.
OTHER UPDATES:
BANKING AND FINANCE:
1. World’s First Automated Teller Machine (ATM) celebrates its 50th
Birthday: The world’s first ATM was opened on 27th June 1967 by
Barclays Bank in Enfield, London, celebrated its 50th anniversary. To celebrate
its the anniversary, Barclays transformed the ATM at its ‘Enfield branch’ into
gold. The ATM machines were the brainchild of Scottish inventor
‘Shepherd-Barron’.
SPORTS:
2. Roger Federer defeats
Alexander Zverev to lift ninth
Halle Open title: In the finals the 2017 Halle
Open Men’s Singles title.Swiss Legend ‘Roger Federer’ has defeated
‘Alexander Zverev’ 6-1, 6-3.
3. One-year ban and fined for media remarks – Lasith Malinga: After pleading guilty
to a breach of contract by speaking to the media without permission, Sri Lankan
fast bowler Lasith Malinga has been suspended for one year. Malinga will also
be fined 50% of the match fee from his next one-day International (ODI).
4. India finish second in Junior Shooting World Championship: The
Indian shooting squad has finished second at the ISSF Junior World
Championship with three Gold, two Silver, and three Bronze medals in Suhl,
Germany. India picked up a gold and silver in the team and individual sections
of the 25m pistol junior men's event. China topped the tally in the rifle/pistol
tournament with 19 medals, including eight gold. India also won the team bronze
in the 25m pistol junior women's event.
BUSINESS AND ECONOMY:
5. Google fined 2.42 billion euros
by European Commission: The European Commission has fined Google
2.42 billion euro (USD 2.7 Billion) for breaching the anti-trust rules by
illegally favoring its shopping service. Google has abused its market dominance
by offering an illegal advantage to its another product, its comparison
shopping service.
6.
Flipkart - the only Indian firm in MIT’s Smartest Companies 2017: On MIT
Technology Review’s 50 Smartest Companies list for 2017,E-commerce major
Flipkart is the only Indian company on the list.MIT cited Flipkart’s
competitiveness against Amazon and its use of artificial intelligence to
improve product search on its website the main reasons for this place.