CURRENT GK
1.India to invite heads of 10 Asean nations for Republic Day celebrations :-
India will invite the heads of state or government of all 10 ASEAN nations for the Republic Day parade and celebrations next year.
ASEAN is the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, and has as members Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
Republic Day 2018 will be the first time ever that so many leaders will together be chief guests at the parade.
2.Shri Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi inaugurates workshop of Inspecting Authorities of Maulana Azad Education Foundation :-
The Minister of State for Minority Affairs (Independent Charge) & Parliamentary Affairs Shri Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi today said here that the Central Government is moving ahead for “transformation through transparency and efficiency”.
While inaugurating a workshop of Inspecting Authorities of Maulana Azad Education Foundation, Shri Naqvi said that under the NDA Government, transparency is the parameter of progress of poor and needy.
- GST intelligence agency gets new chief :-
Senior bureaucrat John Joseph has been appointed Director General of Goods and Services Tax Intelligence (DG GSTI), as per an official order.
Joseph, a 1983 batch officer of Indian Revenue Service (Customs and Central Excise), has worked in the Finance Ministry’s important departments, including the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI).
The DG GSTI is the new name given to the Directorate General of Central Excise Intelligence (DGCEI), mandated to check service tax and central excise duty evasion.
4.President of India inaugurates ‘Ashiana Annexe’ in Dehradun :-
The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee inaugurated the ‘Ashiana Annexe’ in Dehradun, Uttarakhand today (July 10, 2017) which comprises of twelve low cost dwelling units constructed to accommodate officers and staff of Rashtrapati Bhavan during Presidential visits to the Retreat at ‘Ashiana’.
These dwelling units have been constructed using the Habitech-NivaraTantra – Onsite Sanitation Integrated Community Housing Technology Innovations developed at the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT).
The Technology innovations comprise unique blocks known as “compacted intermeshing” blocks which are made from local soil.
- SBI in Nepal launches digital village :-
The State Bank of India has launched a digital village initiative in Nepal by installing a cash recycling centre.
The digital village initiative has been launched in Jarisingpouwa in Shankarapur Rural Municipality, 25 km east from Kathmandu.
The cash counter enables the villagers to deposit and withdraw money through the automatic machine.
6.Declaration of Historic City of Ahmadabad as a UNESCO’s World Heritage Property :-
It is under the dynamic and visionary leadership of the Prime Minister of India that India has been successful in securing the nomination of the “Historic City of Ahmadabad” on UNESCO’s World Heritage list on 8th July, 2017 during the 41st Session of World Heritage Committee.
This makes the walled city of Ahmedabad the first city in India and the third in Asia to be inscribed to the World Heritage List. In the past 3 years alone, India has managed to put five built heritage sites on the world heritage list of UNESCO.
India now has overall 36 World Heritage Inscriptions with 28 Cultural, 07 Natural and 01 Mixed site. While India stands second largest in number after China in terms of number of world heritage properties in ASPAC (Asia and Pacific) region, it is overall seventh in the world.
7.WHO appoints Saima Hossain as goodwill ambassador :-
Saima Wazed Hossain has been appointed as the WHO goodwill ambassador for autism in South-East Asia.
Saima’s role as the goodwill ambassador entails promoting the Thimphu declaration which focuses on “integrating the needs of autism affected people, into national health and socioeconomic development plans”.
Saima has previously received the Excellence in Public Health Award in September 2014 by the WHO South-East Asia regional office.
She also became the WHO regional champion for autism in May 2016.
8.The Union Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley to be the Chief Guest on the occasion of 36th Foundation Day of NABARD dedicated to celebrate the Silver Jubilee of SHG Bank Linkage Programme :-
Self Help Group Bank Linkage Programme (SHG BLP), the pioneering initiative of Financial Inclusion by NABARD completed 25 years during this year and is well poised to deliver the savings and credit services at the doorstep of rural poor especially women through their self-managed institutions called SHGs.
Commemorating this occasion, NABARD has dedicated its 36th Foundation Day to celebrate the Silver Jubilee of SHG Bank Linkage Programme.
9.Technical glitch brings NSE to a grinding halt :-
On a day when the benchmark Sensex gained 355 points to close at a new high of 31,715.64, the National Stock Exchange saw a technical glitch halt trading operations for more than three hours. The country’s largest stock exchange was able to resume trading in the third attempt at about 12:30pm.
NSE, which accounts for the majority share in both equity and equity derivatives segments, attributed the failure to a technical issue that occurred during the pre-open session at 9 am. Incidentally, the glitch comes at a time when the exchange is in the midst of a regulatory probe related to co-location and algorithmic trading.
10.FM launches a new tax payer service module ‘Aaykar Setu’ that compiles various tax tools, live chat facility, dynamic updates, and important links to various processes within the Income Tax Department in a single module :-
A new tax payer service module ‘Aaykar Setu’, was launched here today by the Union Finance Minister, Shri Arun Jaitley. To enhance mobile access experience, a mobile responsive android version was also released along with the desktop version.
Shri Jaitley stressed on the Government’s commitment towards continuously upgrading tax payer services. He said that this e-initiative would help in reducing physical interface between assesses and tax assessing authorities and thereby minimizing the chances of any tax harassment.
The new step is an effort by the Income Tax Department (ITD) to directly communicate with the taxpayers, on a range of multiple informative and useful tax services aimed at providing tax information at their fingertips. The module compiles various tax tools, live chat facility, dynamic updates, and important links to various processes within the Income Tax Department in a single module.
