CURRENT GK
1.2 Indian-Americans to be honoured with Great Immigrants award :-
Two Indian-Americans, Adobe Chief Shantanu Narayen (54) and former US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy (39) have been chosen for prestigious Great Immigrants: The Pride of America Award 2017.
They are among 38 distinguished US immigrants representing more than 30 countries of origin around the world honoured with this year’s award for their role in advancing US’s economy, society, and culture.
2.Paytm goes gaga over gold :-
Paytm, which has sold more than 100 kg of gold on its platform, is in discussions with jewellers across the country to enable buyers to redeem their digital gold in the form of jewellery.
In April this year, the digital-payments firm had partnered with MMTC-PAMP to allow consumers to purchase 24K 999.9 purity gold on its platform and store it in MMTC-PAMP’s secure vaults free of charge.
3.Railways, NBCC ink MoU to redevelop 10 railway stations :-
Rail Land Development Authority (RLDA) has inked MoU with National Building Construction Corporation (NBCC) for redevelopment of 10 railway stations across the country on global standards.
The identified stations to be taken up initially by NBCC, a PSU of Urban Development Ministry for redevelopment are Tirupati, Nellore, Puducherry, Sarai Rohilla (Delhi), Madgaon, Lucknow, Gomtinagar, Kota, Thane (New) and Ernakulam. RLDA is an arm of the Indian Railways for commercial exploitation of rail land.
4.Union Government launches National Biopharma Mission :-
The Union Ministry of Science & Technology has launched National Biopharma Mission, a first ever Industry-Academia mission to accelerate biopharmaceutical development in India.
Under this mission, the ministry also launched Innovate in India (i3) program to create an enabling ecosystem to promote entrepreneurship and indigenous manufacturing in the sector.
5.Prime Minister inaugurates Textiles India 2017 :-
The Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated Textiles India 2017, India’s first ever mega textiles trade fair at Gandhinagar, Gujarat.
The three-day fair will showcase the nation as a global sourcing hub and investment destination for manufacturers world-wide.
6.China cancels Indian journalists trip to Tibet :-
China has cancelled a trip of Indian journalists to Tibet. This was conveyed to the scribes by the Chinese embassy in New Delhi.
The cancellation of the journalists’ trip, which was scheduled from July 8-15, came in the backdrop of a standoff between Indian and Chinese troops in the Doklam area of the Sikkim sector.
A batch of Indian journalists who were to visit Tibet at the invitation of the Chinese government were informed by the Chinese embassy in New Delhi that the trip has been cancelled.
7.Eye on GST, CAs, tax consultancies hike fee by up to 30 per cent :-
Chartered accountants and tax consultants have hiked their consultancy charges by at least 15 per cent for small business and over 30 per cent for big business owing to increased tax filings, compliance and accounting work under the new Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime, which came into force on July 1.
“Due to increased compliance and filings in the new tax regime, chartered accountants and tax consultants have already hiked their fee by 15 per cent.
8.Google celebrates 140 years of Wimbledon with traditional purple, green doodle :-
Google on Monday celebrated 140 years of Wimbledon, the oldest tennis tournament in the world. The prestigious championship, one of the four Grand Slam events, commences today and runs two weeks until July 15. The doodle, designed in Wimbledon’s traditional colours of purple and green, was an animated gif of two white racquets — the dress code — hitting a ball back and forth. The outdoor grass tournament was conceived in 1877 at the All England Croquet and Lawn Tennis Club with 22 participants — men, as women weren’t permitted — and a total audience of 200.
9.Patchy batting sinks India in 4th ODI :-
An inexplicable slow batting pushed India to a 11-run defeat in the fourth One-day International cricket match against West Indies, who kept the five-match series alive, here on Sunday.
A second-string West Indies, which never looked like it was challenging India enough in this series, scored a modest 189 for nine. But sluggish batting by the visitors — specially Mahendra Singh Dhoni (54 off 114 balls) — turned it into a winning total.
10.Laptops ban lifted for flights from Abu Dhabi to US :-
The International carrier of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Etihad Airways, said on Sunday the US Department of Homeland Security has lifted a ban on carrying electronic devices, including laptops, onboard flights between the UAE capital Abu Dhabi and the US.
The lifting of the ban followed “an in-depth review of security procedures implemented at the Abu Dhabi International Airport Pre-clearance Centre,” Xinhua quoted the government-controlled carrier as saying.
11.India beat Pakistan by 95 runs in Women’s World Cup :-
Left-arm spinner Ekta Bisht came to the fore with a stellar show as India crushed Pakistan by 95 runs in a low-scoring encounter to record its third successive victory in the ICC Women’s World Cup here on Sunday.
After a couple of impressive outings by the batswomen in earlier matches, it was the turn of Ekta Bisht (10-2-18-5) & Co. to defend a meagre total of 169 and it bundled out the opposition for a mere 74 in 38.1 overs. India now has full six points from three games and is at the top of the table.
