28 June 2017 - Current Affairs

Dhanraj Pillay to get East Bengal's highest award ‘Bharat Gaurav’


  • Former India hockey captain ‘Dhanraj Pillay’ will be awarded, East Bengal football club’s highest honor ‘Bharat Gaurav’ on their foundation day (1st August).
  • Currently, Pillay serves as the manager of the Indian national hockey team.
  • In football, the East Bengal club has selected two former India footballers, ‘Syed Nayeemuddin’ and ‘Subhas Bhowmick’ for the Lifetime Achievement Awards.

Note:
  • Dhanraj Pillay made his international hockey debut in Allwyn Asia Cup ( in 1989) and played total 339 matches for India, scoring 170 goals.
  • Pillay received the ‘Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award’ for his remarkable performance in 1999-2000.

Kaushik Basu takes over as President of International Economic Association


  • Economic Advisor 'Kaushik Basu' has taken over as the President of the International Economic Association (IEA) for three years.
  • ‘Kaushik Basu’ has served as India’s chief economic adviser and chief economist at the World Bank.
  • Currently, Mr. Basu is the C. Marks Professor of International Studies and professor of economics in the College of Arts and Sciences at Cornell University.
  • Basu received his B.A. in Economics from St. Stephen’s College (Delhi University) in 1972, M.Sc. & Ph.D. both in economics from the London School of Economics.
  • The International Economic Association (IEA) is a leading organization founded in 1950 for professional economists that seek to shape global economic policy and research.


India seeks cooperation of Myanmar in enhancing road, sea, and air connectivity


  • According to the Commerce and Industry Minister ‘Nirmala Sitharaman’, the bilateral trade between the India and Myanmar has a much larger untapped potential.
  • India's trade with Myanmar grew by 6% from 2.05 billion Dollar to 2.18 billion Dollar in 2016-17.
  • Now, Both the sides also agreed to explore opening of two new border trade points at Pangkhuwa and Zoninpuri.
  • The neighboring country shares a long land border of over 1600 kilometer with India as well as a maritime boundary in the Bay of Bengal.


India's policy panel proposes to break up of Coal India into 7 firms


  • According to NITI Aayog’s new draft of a New Energy Policy (NEP), India should split the seven units of state-controlled Coal India Ltd (CIL) into independent companies to make it more competitive.
  • The move called for reforms in allocating coal blocks to independent companies specialized in coal mining.
  • The policy states that Coal India Ltd (CIL) is expected to remain the principal vehicle of coal production in the country in the immediate future.

Note:
  • Coal India Limited (CIL) is an Indian state-controlled coal mining company headquartered in Kolkata, West Bengal.
  • It is the largest coal producer company in the world and contributes around 82% of the coal production in India.

NPPA announces provisional ceiling prices of 761 medicines including anti-cancer & HIV


  • The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) Chairman ‘Bhupendra Singh’ has announced, provisional ceiling prices of 761 medicines (including anti-cancer, HIV, diabetes, and antibiotic) with a majority being reduced ahead of the GST implementation.
  • The Goods and Services Tax (GST) is to be rolled out from 1st of next month.
  • The actual increase or decrease in prices after the rollout of new indirect tax regime is expected to be in the range of 2-3% depending on states.
  • These prices will be notified as formally revised ceiling prices immediately after GST notification.

Note: The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) is a government regulatory agency that controls the prices of pharmaceutical drugs in India.

Last date extended for 6 months for conversion of PIO cards


  • The Union Govt. has extended for six months the last date for applying for conversion of Person of Indian Origin (PIO) cards to Overseas Citizens of India (OCI) cards to 31st December 2017.
  • Earlier, the facility was available till 30th June 2017.
  • The PIO card was first implemented in 2002 as a benefit to foreign nationals who could establish at least a third-generation tie to the Indian origin.
  • In 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced that the PIO and OCI cards would be merged and the Indian diaspora would be given the maximum possible benefits.

Note:
  • The PIO card was valid for travel, work, and residence in India for a period of 15 years.
  • The OCI card was implemented in 2005, carried more expensive benefits than the PIO card, and was valid for the holder's lifetime.

Chandrababu Naidu announces the establishment of MSME, Corporation by earmarking Rs. 100 cr.


  • The Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister ‘N. Chandrababu Naidu’ has announced to the establishment of Micro, Small, Medium Entrepreneurs (MSME) Corporation by earmarking 100 crore rupees.
  • The MSME Corporation office will be constructed at Amaravati in 15 acres of land.
  • The Industrial Promotion Councils (IPCs) are being set up, headed by a Minister, in all the districts and MSME Bhavans would be constructed in all the 175 Assembly constituencies.
  • The State government would set up an industrial hub in every Assembly constituency and asked Small and Medium Entrepreneurs to extend a helping hand to SC, ST, BC, and minorities to grow as entrepreneurs.


World’s First ATM celebrates its 50th Birthday


  • The world’s first ATM (automated teller machine) was opened on 27th June 1967 by Barclays Bank in Enfield, London, celebrated its 50th anniversary.
  • To commemorate the anniversary, Barclays transformed the ATM at its ‘Enfield branch’ into gold.
  • The ATM machines were the brainchild of Scottish inventor ‘Shepherd-Barron’.
  • At present, there are over 3 million cash machines across the globe.


Google fined record 2.42 billion euros by European Commission


  • The European Commission has fined Google 2.42 billion euro (USD 2.7 Billion) for breaching the anti-trust rules by illegally favoring its shopping service.
  • The European Commission regulates EU competition rules.
  • Google has abused its market dominance by offering an illegal advantage to its another product, its comparison shopping service.
  • The EU has also asked Google to stop its anti-competitive practice in 90 days or be prepared to face penalty payments up to 5% of Alphabet’s average daily worldwide turnover.


‘Roger Federer’ defeats ‘Alexander Zverev’ to lift ninth Halle Open title


  • Swiss Legend ‘Roger Federer’ has defeated ‘Alexander Zverev’ 6-1, 6-3 in the final to clinch the 2017 Halle Open Men’s Singles title.
  • The Halle Open is a tennis tournament held in Halle, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.


India finish second in Junior Shooting World Championship


  • The Indian shooting squad has finished second at the ‘ISSF Junior World Championship’ with three Gold, two Silver, and three Bronze medals in Suhl, Germany.
  • India picked up a gold and silver in the team and individual sections of the 25m pistol junior men's event.
  • China topped the tally in the rifle/pistol tournament with 19 medals, including eight gold.
  • India also won the team bronze in the 25m pistol junior women's event.


Lasith Malinga gets one-year ban and fined for media remarks


  • Sri Lankan fast bowler ‘Lasith Malinga’ has been suspended for one year after pleaded guilty to a breach of contract by speaking to the media without permission.
  • Malinga will also be fined 50% of the match fee from his next one-day International(ODI).
  • Earlier, Malinga appeared before Sri Lanka Cricket’s (SLC's) special inquiry panel, where he accepted the charges against him and tendered a formal apology.


Indian men's & women's throwball teams bag gold medals in World Games


  • The Indian men's & women's throwball teams bagged one gold medal each in the World Games at Kathmandu, Nepal.
  • The women's team defeated Pakistan 15-13, 15 -12 in final to clinch the title.
  • The men posted a 15-13, 15-12 win over Bangladesh in final to finish at the top of the podium.

Note: The World Games has been organized by the International Sports Council (Canada), saw participation from 11 countries, competing in 42 different categories.

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