Latest Current Affairs – July 07 & 08 2018
1. Rohit Sharma becomes first Indian to hit three T20I hundreds
Team India opener Rohit Sharma has become the first Indian cricketer to smash three centuries in T20I cricket. The 31-year-old achieved the feat by reaching the three-figure mark in 56 balls during the third T20I against England. Rohit is only the second cricketer after New Zealand’s Colin Munro to register three tons in T20I cricket.
2. Gymnast Dipa wins int’l gold on return from injury after 2 yrs
Arjuna-awardee gymnast Dipa Karmakar, who finished fourth at Rio Olympics, clinched the gold medal in the vault event of Artistic Gymnastics World Challenge Cup. The victory marked the 24-year-old athlete’s return to action after a lay-off of around two years due to injury. She scored 14.150 to win gold after topping the qualification with a score of 13.400.
3. Ambani gets another 5 years as Reliance Industries Chairman
Shareholders of Reliance Industries have approved giving Mukesh Ambani another five years as the Chairman and MD of the company. Ambani, who is India’s richest person with a fortune of $39.6 billion, has been on RIL’s board since 1977. Mukesh Ambani was made the Chairman of the company after the death of his father Dhirubhai Ambani in July 2002.
4. Spider-Man co-creator Steve Ditko passes away aged 90
Steve Ditko, the Marvel Comics artist who co-created the superhero Spider-Man, has passed away aged 90. He was found dead in his apartment in New York on June 29 and it is believed that he died about two days earlier. Ditko, along with writer Stan Lee, had introduced Spider-Man in an issue of Amazing Fantasy in 1962.
5. Mark Zuckerberg becomes the 3rd richest person in the world
Facebook’s 34-year-old CEO Mark Zuckerberg has dethroned Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett to become the world’s third-richest person with $81.6 billion wealth, according to Bloomberg. Zuckerberg gained $8.8 billion this year despite Facebook’s data-privacy crisis that slumped its stock by 18%. Amazon’s Jeff Bezos remains the world’s richest, while Microsoft’s Bill Gates second-richest.
6. Former Pak PM Nawaz Sharif sentenced to 10 years in jail
Former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was sentenced to ten years in prison in a corruption case. His daughter Maryam and her husband Captain Safdar were also sentenced to seven years and one year in jail respectively. The case pertains to the purchase of flats in London and came to light after the Panama Papers leak in 2016.
7. India to invest in ‘world’s emptiest airport’ in Sri Lanka
India will develop Sri Lanka’s loss-making Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport in Hambantota, called the ‘world’s emptiest airport’. With India’s investment, the project is expected to handle 5 million passengers, 50,000-ton cargo, and over 6000 air traffic operations every year by 2028. This comes in the backdrop of China developing the Hambantota seaport project in the country.
8. WB CM announces ‘one person, one car’ policy for ministers
In an attempt to cut the costs incurred by the state over travel expenses of ministers and bureaucrats, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced the ‘one person, one car’ policy. Further mandating economy class travel in low-cost airlines for all domestic air trips, she added that foreign travels will be sanctioned only by her.
9. MoEFCC declared the area around Mudumalai as an ESZ
The Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC) declared 438 sq.km. of the area around the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve in the Nilgiris as an eco-sensitive zone (ESZ). This is to prohibit construction and commercial mining activities and restrict hotels and resorts near the reserve.
The reserve, comprising the wildlife sanctuary and the national park, extending over an area of 321 sq.km, was declared a tiger habitat in 2007. Besides the tiger habitat, 367 sq. km. is the buffer area for a total of 688 sq. km. reserve area. The reserve is a critical part of the Nilgiris Biosphere Reserve spread over 5,500 sq. km.
10. Uttar Pradesh orders plastic ban from July 15, third time since 2015
During a programme in Barabanki district, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath announced ban on plastic bags, cups and glasses across the state from July 15 onwards. Maharashtra had banned the use of plastic from June 23. The latest announcemnt came as Prime Minister Narendra Modi is pushing a plan to completely end the use of single-use plastic in India by 2022.
11. AAI to set up Civil Aviation Research Organization at Hyderabad
State-run Airports Authority of India (AAI) will set up Civil Aviation Research Organization (CARO) at Begumpet Airport, Hyderabad. AAI has allocated Rs 1,200 crore for this project that will be spent over 12 years for research and development. The objective is to solve growing air traffic and to enhance safety, capacity and efficiency of aircraft operations in India.
12. International Day of Cooperatives celebrated on the 7th of July
The theme for the 2018 International Day of Co-operatives is “sustainable consumption and production of goods and services”.
On December 16, 1992, the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed in resolution 47/90 “the first Saturday of July 1995 to be International Day of Cooperatives, marking the centenary of the establishment of the International Cooperative Alliance”.
July 7 is also celebrated as Global Forgiveness Day, Chocolate Day.
13. SC judge AK Goel appointed as New Chairman of National Green Tribunal
Supreme Court judge Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel was appointed as the Chairman of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) for a period of 5 years. He was the first Supreme Court judge from Haryana. He replaces the acting chairperson Justice Jawad Rahim. Justice Goel was appointed Supreme Court judge in July 2014. About NGT:- The NGT was established on October 18, 2010 under the National Green Tribunal Act for effective and expeditious disposal of cases relating to environmental protection and conservation of forests and other natural resources.
14. HDFC Bank most valuable bank in the emerging market outside China
There are four lenders from India that now rank among the world’s 500 most valuable companies. HDFC Bank is followed by its housing finance cousin Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC), Kotak Mahindra Bank and State Bank of India.
♦ There are now 11 Indian companies among the world’s 500 biggest firms in terms of market cap. Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) tops the chart with a market cap of $103 billion, followed by Reliance Industries.
♦ HDFC Bank has gone past Russia’s Sberbank to become the most valuable bank in the emerging market outside China. HDFC Bank’s current market capitalisation is $78.4 billion against Sberbank’s $74.4 billion.
♦ Industrial & Commercial Bank of China topping the list with a market cap of $273.4 billion, followed by China Construction Bank ($225.1 billion).
15. Reliance Industries becomes India’s largest taxpayer in the private sector
Mukesh Ambani led Reliance Industries limited (RIL) is India’s largest payer of Goods and Services Tax (GST), Excise and Customs Duty, and Income Tax in the private sector. RIL’s consolidated net profit for the fourth-quarter (January-March) of fiscal 2017-18 stood at Rs. 9,435 crore, up by 17.3 per cent on a year-on-year basis.
16. Semi high speed train named ‘Train 18’ built by India’s Integral Coach Factory
India’s much-awaited indigenously manufactured semi high-speed train called “Train 2018”, code-named Train 18, is expected to be rolled out in September. It is built by Integral Coach Factory (ICF) of Chennai to promote Make in India, and is capable of running at a speed of 160 km per hour.
Important Key features of Train 18:-
♦ Train 18 doesn’t require an engine to run as it will be self-propelled on electric traction like the metro trains.
♦ Onboard Wi-Fi and infotainment.
♦ All coaches are AC chair-car type (executive class as well as second class) including the driving cab.
♦ Automatic doors with retractable footstep.
♦ The executive class will have rotating seats which can be aligned in the direction of travel.
17. Indias Bajrang Punia won gold medal at Tbilisi Grand Prix, Deepak won bronze
Indian wrestler Bajrang Punia won the gold medal at Tbilisi Grand Prix in Georgia with a 9-3 win over Iran’s Mehran Akbar Nasiriafrachali in the 65kg category final. Deepak Punia won the bronze medal in the 86kg category by defeating Turkey’s Osman Gocen 5-3.
18. BSNL unveiled internet telephony service ‘Wings’
Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) will roll out its new internet telephony service with brand name “Wings” from August 1. Those subscribing to “Wings”, entailing one-time registration fee of Rs 1,099, will be able to make calls using any internet connection including broadband, WiFi, 3G or 4G data network of any operator, thus overcoming connectivity problems even in areas having patchy signals.
Those subscribers can avail free domestic calls for one year, while the overseas calls will be priced as per international tariffs of BSNL landline.
19. CBIC launched GST ‘Verify App’
Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) has launched a mobile app ‘GST Verify’ developed by B Raghu Kiran, joint commissioner GST Hyderabad. It is an android app to verify if the person collecting GST from the consumer is eligible to collect it or not.
20. India and Nepal to jointly promote tourism
The second meeting of the Joint Working Group (JWG) on tourism cooperation between India and Nepal was held in Kathmandu, Nepal. Both the countries agreed to jointly promote Buddhist and Ramayana circuits and adventure tourism.
They agreed to improve critical tourism enabling infrastructures such as overland road connectivity, further streamline of scheduled bus route operations, including luxury bus coaches. The meeting also decided to set up an industry-led India Nepal Tourism Forum.
The Indian delegation was led by Suman Billa the Joint Secretary, Ministry of Tourism while Nepalese side was led by Ghanshyam Upadhyaya, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation.
21. Manoj Kumar Pingua is appointed as MD of NFDC
Manoj Kumar Pingua, a joint secretary of Ministry of Information and Broadcasting is appointed as the acting Manager of National Film Development Corporation (NFDC). The previous Managing Director of NFDC is Nina Lath Gupta.
