20 July 2018 - Daily Current Affairs

20 July 2018 - Daily Current Affairs

1. RBI to issue new 100 Rupee notes with motif of 'Rani Ki Vav'

• The Reserve Bank of India will soon issue new 100 rupees notes in lavender color and bear a motif of "RANI KI VAV" on the reverse.
• It also bears Swachh Bharat logo with the slogan on the reverse.
• The dimension of the banknote will be 66 mm and 142 mm and come with the signature of RBI Governor Urjit R Patel.
• All 100 rupees banknotes issued earlier will also continue to be legal tender.

Note:

• Rani Ki Vav (located on the banks of Saraswati River) is an intricately constructed stepwell situated in the town of Patan in Gujarat.
• The stepwell was built as a memorial to an 11th-century king Bhima.
• It was added to the list of UNESCO's World Heritage Sites on 22 June 2014.

National Appointments

2. Prof Anil D Sahasrabudhe reappointed AICTE Chairman

• The Union Govt. has approved the renewal of appointment of Prof Anil D Sahasrabudhe as the chairman of the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE).
• Prior to his appointment as AICTE chairman (in July 2015), he was the professor of Mechanical Engineering at Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Guwahati.
• He obtained master’s degree from Indian Institute of Science (IISc) in 1982 and Doctoral (with UGC Fellowship) degrees from Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru in 1989.

Note:

• AICTE comes under the aegis of the Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Human Resources Development (HRD) established in November 1945.
• It is a national-level council for technical education responsible for planning and coordination of technical education and management of education system in the country.

Obituaries

3. Renowned Poet Gopal Das Neeraj passes away

• Famous Hindi poet ‘Gopal Das Neeraj’ (94-year) passed away in New Delhi after the prolonged illness.
• Neeraj created the name for his lyrics for films like Prem Pujari, Tere Mere Sapne, Chanda Aur Bijli and Sharmili.
• He won 3 Filmfare awards and conferred with Padma Shri (in 1991) & Padma Bhushan (in 2007).

Note:

• Some of the all-time hits like Likhe jo khat tujhe, ae bhai zara dekh ke chalo, Khilte hain gul yahan, Rangeela re, Shokhiyon mein ghola jaye and phoolon ke rang se dil ki kalam se.

National Affairs

4. Chhattisgarh launches 'Abhar Aapki Sewa Ka' app for pensioners

• The Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh ‘Dr. Raman Singh’ has launched an online portal and mobile app called 'Aabhaar-Aapki seva ka' to provide transparency in the pension facility.
• It is under e-governance, fulfilling the dream of Digital India plan of India and Digital Chhattisgarh.
• Through this application, around 80,000 pensioners of the state will get all the information related to pension and payment online.
• The application has been created by the state finance department.

5. NABARD award for Repco Micro Finance Ltd.

• A non-banking finance company ‘Repco Micro Finance Ltd’ (promoted by Repco Bank) has received NABARD 2018 award for its service to self-help group (SHG) linkage in Tamil Nadu for the fiscal year 2017-18.
• The NBFC has disbursed loans amounting to Rs 2,500 crore to over 10 lakh beneficiaries through 50,000 SHGs.
• Repco Micro Finance Limited (RMFL) incorporated in the year 2007 as Repco MSME Development & Finance Ltd and registered as NBFC with Reserve Bank of India in the year 2010.

6. India and US to hold first '2+2 dialogue' in New Delhi in September

• According to the US State Department, the inaugural 'two-plus-two dialogue' between India and the United States will be held in New Delhi on 6^th September this year (last month US postponed).
• Mike Pompeo (Secretary of State) and James Mattis (Defence Secretary) will travel to India for the dialogue with External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
• India and the US will discuss strengthening of strategic, security and defense cooperation as both the nations jointly address challenges in the Indo-Pacific region and beyond.
• The dialogue is seen as a vehicle to elevate the strategic relationship between the two countries.

7. UGC committee to regulate fee for medical courses in Deemed Universities

• The University Grants Commission (UGC) has constituted a Committee under the Chairpersonship of Prof. R.C. Deka to regulate the fees chargeable by self-financed Deemed to be Universities in Medical and Dental Courses.
• Prof. R.C. Deka was Director of AIIMS, New Delhi.

8. UGC Committee on Examination Reforms

• The University Grants Commission (UGC) has constituted a committee under the Chairpersonship of Prof. M.M. Salunkhe to look into the matters related to examination reforms.
• Prof. M.M. Salunkhe is the former Vice Chancellor, Central University, Rajasthan
• The Committee will submit its report by October 2018.

9. ONGC Board approves exiting Pawan Hans

• The board of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has approved exiting its helicopter service provider Pawan Hans by selling its entire 49% stake.
• The move will cut debt and consolidate resources in this core oil and gas business.
• ONGC wants its interest to be clubbed with the 51% government stake that is already on offer for sale.
• Pawan Hans owns a fleet of 46 helicopters.

Science & Defence

10. IAF participation in Exercise Pitch Black 2018

• The Indian Air Force (IAF) will participate with fighter aircraft in Exercise Pitch Black 2018 (PB-18), which is scheduled from 24 Jul to 18 Aug 18 in Australia.
• Pitch Black 2018 is a biennial multi-national large force employment warfare exercise hosted by the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF).
• The IAF contingent consists of 145 air-warriors including Garud team, 04 X Su-30 MKI, 01 X C-130 and 01 X C-17.