CURRENT GK
1.Garib Nawaz Skill Development Centres to be established in 100 districts of the country :-
The Minister of State for Minority Affairs (Independent Charge) & Parliamentary Affairs, Shri Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said that Garib Nawaz Skill Development Centres will be established in 100 districts of the country which will effectively ensure employment oriented skill development of youth belonging to Minority communities.
Naqvi said that in next six months, Garib Nawaz Skill Development Centres, providing job oriented skill training in various fields, will be established in 100 districts.
2.Meeting between Prime Minister Modi and Prime Minister Abe of Japan :-
On the margins of the ongoing G-20 Summit in Hamburg, Prime Minister Modi had a bilateral meeting with the Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe.
The two leaders briefly reviewed progress in bilateral relations, including in important projects, since their last meeting in Japan during Prime Minister’s visit in November 2016. Prime Minister Modi expressed satisfaction at developments in bilateral relations since then.
- EPFO ties up with 5 banks to collect PF dues :-
Retirement fund body EPFO has inked pacts with five banks for collections of PF dues.
The tie-ups with Bank of Baroda, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Axis Bankand Kotak Mahindra Bank will help EPFO save around Rs 125 crore a year and expedite its investments as well as payment of benefits to its members.
Employers having bank account with these banks can now deposit PF dues directly in EPFO’s account using internet banking in real time basis instead of going through the aggregator mode.
4.Azarenka wins again, reaches 4th round at Wimbledon :-
Victoria Azarenka’s Grand Slam comeback has extended into the second week at Wimbledon.
The former No. 1 from Belarus, who gave birth to her first child in December, advanced to the fourth round on Friday by beating Heather Watson 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 on Centre Court.
Azarenka also lost the first set in her opening match, but that was only her third match since her return. Friday’s match was her fifth.
5.Officer Trainees of Bangladesh Foreign Service attending a special course at the Foreign Service Institute, New Delhi call on President :-
Officer Trainees of Bangladesh Foreign Service attending a special course at the Foreign Service Institute, New Delhi called on the President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee at Rashtrapati Bhavan today (July 7, 2017).
Welcoming the young diplomats of Bangladesh, the President said that he was delighted to see so many young faces from the Bangladesh Foreign Service.
He said that they were worthy representatives of a great nation.
- Indus OS partners with YES Bank to launch OS-integrated UPI platform :-
Indus OS has partnered with YES Bank to launch OS-integrated UPI (Unified Payment Interface) payment platform in India.
Users with Indus OS will be able to use this UPI payment platform on SMS/ messaging, dialler interface, and on third party apps like WhatsApp.
This means P2P transactions as well as utility payments can be made via SMS or messaging. The platform is expected to launch in this quarter.
7.J&K Assembly finally clears GST Bill :-
Jammu and Kashmir, the only State to miss the Goods and Services Tax (GST) rollout bus on July 1, will join the new tax regime from tonight as the State Assembly passed a Bill in this regard on Friday amid Opposition boycott.
The Assembly passed the Bill to adopt the presidential order that “offers safeguards to its special status”. CM Mehbooba Mufti said “J&K cannot get bigger azadi [freedom] than this order, restoring the lost sanctity of our Assembly.”
8.Informal BRICS Leaders Meeting in Hamburg :-
The leaders of the 5 BRICS countries held an informal meeting on the sidelines of G20 Summit in Hamburg, Germany.
This was in run up to the forthcoming 9th BRICS Summit in September in Xiamen, China. President Xi of China said he looked forward to welcoming the BRICS leaders.
In their interventions, the leaders discussed preparations and priorities for the forthcoming Xiamen BRICS Summit.
Prime Minister mentioned that BRICS has been a strong voice and needs to show leadership on terrorism and global economy.
9.Visa given to think tank members, says China :-
A fresh controversy broke out on Friday after a prominent think tank associated with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) claimed that, China had denied visa to its academic delegation even though the Embassy of China here claimed that the delegation had received visas.
Initial announcements and social media messages from the think tank indicated that this was the first such cancellation of visas for a think tank delegation after the launch of the India-China Think Tanks Forum on 9-10 December 2016.
10.Scheme for IPR Awareness – Creative India; Innovative India :-
Taking forward the National Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) Policy 2016, a ‘Scheme for IPR Awareness – Creative India; Innovative India’ has been launched by Cell for IPR Promotion and Management (CIPAM) under the aegis of the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion.
The Scheme aims at raising IPR awareness amongst students, youth, authors, artists, budding inventors and professionals to inspire them to create, innovate and protect their creations and inventions across India including Tier 1, Tier 2, Tier 3 cities as well as rural areas in the next 3 years.
11.SEBI examining CAs’, lawyers’ board roles :-
At a time when boardroom tussles are increasingly turning into legal battles, a panel appointed by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) is looking into the matter of lawyers and chartered accountants being on corporate boards as independent directors and the framework to follow if such directors’ law or audit firms were engaged in advising the respective companies.
There are many instances of leading lawyers and chartered accountants (CAs) being appointed as independent directors on the boards of companies and the regulator is evaluating whether there is a need to put in place a proper mechanism or protocol to deal with such instances and appointments to avoid any conflict of interest, said a person familiar with the matter.
12.Minister of Food Processing Industry laid foundation stone for First Maize Based Mega Food Park in Kapurthala, Punjab :-
Shri Harsimrat Kaur Badal, Union Minister of Food Processing Industry laid the foundation stone for First Maize based Mega Food Park in Kapurthala, Punjab today.
Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti, Minister of State for Food Processing was also present on the occasion.
Speaking on the occasion Shri Harsimrat Kaur Badal said that Maize is an amazing cereal and is an alternate to Jhona (paddy) and Kanak (wheat).
Maize is rich in protein, provides nutritional requirements that India needs and Maize consumes much lesser water and could contain the problem of further water depletion.
13.SEBI to move against non-compliant firms :-
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has initiated action against non-compliant “Exclusively Listed Companies (ELCs) on Dissemination Board (DB),” and its directors and promoters.
These are companies which were earlier listed on regional stock exchanges (RSEs) that have been de-recognised by the regulator.
Such companies were allowed to be part of the national exchanges through a dissemination board but were directed to submit a plan of action for listing or providing an exit option to shareholders.
14.21st India-Myanmar National Level Meeting held in Myanmar :-
21st India-Myanmar National Level Meeting took place at Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar on July 5-6, 2017.
Indian delegation was led by Shri Rajiv Gauba, Home Secretary designate, while Myanmar delegation was led by Maj Gen Aung Soe, Deputy Minister of Home Affairs, Myanmar.
During the meeting, security, cooperation in prevention of drug trafficking, boundary matters, wildlife smuggling, visa and prisoners in jail of respective countries were discussed.
