NATIONAL NEWS
1.Govt starts review of Foreign Trade Policy:-
The Ministry of Commerce and Industry has started an exercise to review the current Foreign Trade Policy, with an objective to boost exports and domestic manufacturing and reduce the trade deficit.An official release said, the present Foreign Trade Policy was brought out on 1st of April, 2015 and is valid for five years, which ends on 31st March 2020.A mid-term review was held in December 2017 after theintroduction of Goods and Services Tax.The Ministry is also holding consultations with various stakeholders in this regard including exporters, industry associations, commodity boards, foreign missions, State governments and various ministries.
2.Lok Sabha passes Aadhaar and Other Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2019:-
Lok Sabha today passed Aadhaar and Other Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2019 by voice vote. The Bill seeks to amend Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Act 2016 and to further amend the Indian Telegraph Act 1885 and the Prevention of Money Laundering Act 2002.The Bill also proposes giving a child an option to exit from the biometric ID programme on attaining 18 years of age.This Bill will make the use of Aadhaar for opening bank accounts and procuring mobile phone connections voluntary. Replying to a debate on the bill, Minister of Law and Justice said more than one hundred 23 crore people of the country have been enrolled in Aadhar and around 70 crore mobile phones are connected to Aadhaar number. He said around 2 crore 50 lakh Aadhar authentications are done daily in the country.Mr. Ravi Shankar Prasad told the House that Aadhaar is in national interest and it does not violate privacy of any Individual. He reassured the House that there is no mandatory compliance to have Aadhar card to avail the benefits of government schemes.He also informed the House that Aadhar is getting appreciation globally and many countries are showing interest to follow the India’s digital identification scheme.Mr. Prasad said, the low cost technologies can advance the country and Aadhaar is one such technology developed by our scientists and IT professional.Replying to the Opposition member’s demand for not bring the Data Protection Bill, the Minister said, the government respects the protection of individual’s Data and the Data Protection law work is in progress and will come out shortly. Congress, TMC, PDP and some other Opposition members opposed the frequent promulgation of Ordinances by the government.
3.National Policy on Electronics aims at positioning India as global hub for electronics System, Manufacturing:-
RS Prasad Minister for Electronics and Information Technology Ravi Shankar Prasad today said that the National Policy on Electronics 2019 aims at positioning India as a global hub for electronics System and Design and Manufacturing.In reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha, he said that the vision of the policy is to create an enabling environment for the industry to compete globally.Mr. Prasad said, the government has notified the policy in February this year. He also informed the House that in 2014 whereas only two mobile manufacturing companies were operational, now this number has gone up to 268.Mr. Prasad said, government also wants to make the country the hub of Start-Ups. He said, as many as 19000 Startups are in the country out of which seven thousand are in area of technology.
4.Rural sanitation coverage jumped to 99% from 38% in 2014:-
Government today said, under Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin), nine crore 62 lakh individual household toilets have been constructed so far.In a written reply in Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Jal Shakti Rattan Lal Kataria said, the sanitation coverage in the rural areas of the country has increased to more than 99 per cent, which was over 38 per cent on 2nd October 2014.He said, 632 Districts, 30 States, over 2.50 lakh Gram Panchayats and five lakh 67 thousand 498 villages have been declared open defecation Free.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
5.Duty Free shops at Dubai airports to accept Indian currency:-
Dubai Duty Free has announced that Indian Rupee will now be an accepted currency at all the retail outlets of the Dubai airport. However, the change, if any, will be given back in Dirhams and not the Indian currency.Stores at the Dubai Airport will accept notes of various denominations, including 100s, 200s, 500s and 2000s. The move makes the Indian rupee the 16th international currency to be accepted at Dubai’s airports.According to a report, out of the 90 million passengers who used Dubai’s airports, 12 million of them travelled to or from Indian destinations.
6.Australia proposes to ban extremists’ return for 2 years :-
Australia’s government today proposed new laws that would prevent extremist Australians from returning home for up to two years, as the country prepares for the repatriation of Islamic State group supporters from the West Asia.Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton introduced the legislation based on British law as part of a raft of counter-terrorism and asylum seeker bills in the first parliamentary session since elections in May.Mr Dutton said, orders could also apply to Australians who intelligence agencies assess to be a risk to security for reasons related to politically motivated violence. He said, 230 Australians had flown to Syria and Iraq to fight with extremist groups since 2012.
SPORTS NEWS
7.Poznan Athletics Grand Prix: Hima Das wins Gold in women’s 200 metres:-
Indian sprinter Hima Das won the women’s 200m gold, while national record holder shot putter Tajinder Pal Singh Toor bagged a bronze in the Poznan Athletics Grand Prix in Poland. Hima, the world junior champion and national record holder in 400m clocked 23.65 seconds on her way to the 200m gold.
This was Hima’s first competitive 200m race of the year. She has a personal best of 23.10 seconds, which she clocked last year. Another Indian, V K Vismaya finished third with a personal best time of 23.75 seconds in the race at Poznan last night.Asian champion Toor won the men’s shot put bronze with a best effort of 19.62 metre. His national record while winning Asian Games gold last year stands at 20.75 metre. Muhammed Anas, the 400m national record holder, was third in the men’s 200-metre race with a timing of 20.75 seconds. KS Jeevan won the men’s 400-metre bronze in 47.25 seconds.
8.ICC World Cup: Pakistan to take on Bangladesh in final league game :-
In the ICC Cricket World Cup, Pakistan will take on Bangladesh in their final league game at Lord’s this afternoon.The match will begin at 3 P.M. Indian Standard Time.Pakistan would need a miracle to qualify for the semifinals.After England’s win over New Zealand on Wednesday, Pakistan today needs to bat first and defeat Bangladesh by an outlandish margin of 316 runs.However, if Bangladesh bat first, Pakistan are out even before the game begins.Pakistan currently sit fifth in the 10-team points table. Meanwhile, a win for Bangladesh will see them end the tournament in fifth place instead of Pakistan because of their superior net run-rate.The Tigers are already out of the semifinal race after their defeat to India on Tuesday.Australia, India and England have already booked their places in the semifinals.Last night, West Indies beat Afghanistan by 23 runs in their last league match at Leeds. Earlier, batting first, West Indies scored 311 runs for 6 wickets in 50 overs.Chasing the formidable target, Afghanistan were all out off the final ball for 288.
BUSINESS NEWS
9.GST collection stands at Rs 99,939 crore in June:-
The total gross Goods and Services Tax (GST) collection in the month of June stood at 99,939 crore rupees. The total number of GST returns filed for the month of May was 74.38 lakh. Last month the GST collection crossed one lakh crore rupees.An official release said, the revenue in the month of June is 1.86 per cent higher than the monthly average of GST revenue in last fiscal which was 98,114 crore rupees.
10.Govt hikes Minimum Support Price of Kharif crops for 2019-20 season:-
In a major boost to the farmers’ income, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved the increase in the Minimum Support Prices, MSP for all Kharif crops for 2019-20 Season.Briefing reporters in New Delhi after the cabinet meeting, Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said, the move will lead to increased investment and production through assured remunerative prices to the farmers.
He said the MSP of paddy has been increased by 65 rupees per quintal, Jowar by 120 rupees and Ragi by 253 rupees per quintal. He said the MSP of Tur has been raised by 125 rupees, Moong by 75 rupees and Urad pulses raised by 100 rupees per quintal.The Minister said, the MSPs of soyabean increased by 311 rupees, sunflower by 262 rupees and sesamum by 236 rupees per quintal which is a major step towards increasing the income of farmers.The increase in MSP for Kharif Crops for 2019-20 season is in line with the principle of fixing the MSPs at a level of at least 1.5 times of the all India weighted average Cost of production, which was announced in the last budget 2018-19.
