22-23 July 2018 - Daily Current Affairs
1. PM Modi embarks on his 3-nation tour to Rwanda, Uganda & South Africa
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi embarked on a three-nation visit to Rwanda, Uganda and South Africa.
- In the first leg (of five- days tour), Mr Modi will visit Rwanda and participate in an event on GIRINKA, a national social protection scheme of Rwanda personally initiated by the President Paul Kagame.
- In his second leg (24th July), Mr Modi will leave for the Kampala (Ugandan capital).
- In the last leg of his tour (25th July), Prime Minister Modi will arrive in Johannesburg (South Africa) and attend the 10th BRICS Summit.
- This will be the first visit by an Indian Prime Minister to Rwanda and the first visit by the Prime Minister to Uganda in over 20 years.
Note: The 2018 BRICS summit (25-27 July 2018) is 10th annual BRICS summit, an international relations conference attended by the heads of government of the five-member states Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
Participating leaders of 2018 BRICS summit
- Brazil: Michel Temer (President).
- Russia: Vladimir Putin (President)
- India: Narendra Modi (Prime Minister)
- China: Xi Jinping (President)
- South Africa (Host): Cyril Ramaphosa (President).
2. Facebook to launch its own Internet Satellite in 2019
- Facebook has confirmed it is working on a new satellite project “Athena” (in early 2019) to provide broadband internet connections to rural and underserved areas.
- In 2016, Facebook's internet satellite for Africa was lost when SpaceX's rocket exploded.
- Facebook appears to have filed with the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) under the name Point View Tech LLC.
National Affairs
3. Govt slashes minimum annual deposit requirement under SSY
- The Union Government has reduced the minimum annual deposit requirement for accounts under Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana (SSY) to Rs. 250 from (earlier Rs. 1,000) to take advantage of the girl child savings scheme.
- The minimum initial deposit to open the account has also been reduced to Rs. 250.
- The interest rate on Sukanya Samriddhi account is revised every quarter (for the July-September quarter fixed at 8.1%).
- In November 2017, more than 1.26 crore accounts have been opened across the country in the name of girl children, securing an amount of 19,183 crore rupees.
Note:
- Under the Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana (SSY) scheme, a parent or legal guardian can open an account in the name of the girl child until she attains the age of 10 years.
- Deposits can be made up to 14 years from the date of opening of the account.
- The deposits made to the account, and also the proceeds and maturity amount, would be fully exempted from tax under section 80C of the Income Tax Act.
4. Sunil Mehta Panel on NPAs submits its report with recommendations to FM
- The Sunil Mehta committee has submitted its report to Finance minister Piyush Goyal with some recommendations to tackle Non-Performing Assets (NPAs) and creating credit capacity.
- The Sunil Mehta panel presented project 'Sashakt' and recommended a five-pronged strategy to deal with stressed assets.
- The plan focuses on turning around assets in a manner that will create additional jobs by reviving businesses and prevent job losses from foreclosures.
- The plan will bring incredible long-term external capital to limit the burden on the domestic banking sector.
Note: The committee was formed with a view to tackling Non-Performing Assets (NPAs) and creating credit capacity.
5. Maharashtra govt to implement 7th Pay Commission from November
- According to the Maharashtra Finance minister Sudhir Mungantiwar, The Maharashtra government will implement recommendations of the Seventh Pay Commission for its employees in November 2018 (from Diwali).
- The decision will benefit 19 lakh government employees across the state and put a financial burden of Rs. 21,530 crores on the state exchequer.
- In March 2018, the finance department has made provisions of Rs. 10,000 crores in its annual budget.
Note: On 25 September 2013, then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has approved the constitution of the 7th Pay Commission.
6. Chandrababu Naidu launches e-Pragati core platform
- The Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh ‘N. Chandrababu Naidu’ has launched ‘e-Pragati core platform’ at Undavalli to connect all departments and stand-alone to resolve the issues.
- e-Pragati is aimed at connecting the citizen to 34 departments, 336 autonomous organisations and 745-plus services.
- Through this project, the State government intends to realise the vision of ‘Sunrise AP 2022’.
7. Kerala tops in governance, Tamil Nadu second
- Acording to the Public Affairs Index 2018 released by the think tank Public Affairs Centre (PAC), Kerala stands as the best-governed state in the country since 2016 among large states followed by Tamil Nadu.
- Telangana, Karnataka and Gujarat are ranked third, fourth and fifth respectively among the top five states delivering good governance.
- Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand and Bihar ranked the lowest.
- Public Affairs Index 2018 released annually (since 2016), the index examines governance performance in the states through a data-based framework.
Sports
8. Govt selects 734 athletes for Khelo-India scholarships
- According to the Youth Affairs and Sports Minister ‘Rajyavardhan Rathore’, the Sports Authority of India (SAI) has shortlisted 734 youngsters for the scholarship under the Khelo India Talent Development Scheme to nurture sporting talent.
- Through this programme, the athletes will get training at government-accredited residential academies.
- An annual stipend of Rs. 1.2 lakhs will be given to each selected player (quarterly basis) to meet their out of pocket expenses, treatment of injuries and other expenses.
- The plan is to develop more such academies so that young athletes can get access to the best training without having to travel long distances.
9. Johnson beats Ramkumar to claim Newport title
- American Steve Johnson (28-year) beats first-time ATP finalist Ramkumar (India) to win Newport title 2018.
- Steve Johnson defeated Ramkumar Ramanathan (from Chennai) 7-5, 3-6, 6-2 on Newport's grass court for his fourth career ATP title.
10. India bags 8 medals including two gold at Jr Asian Wrestling Ch'ship
- India won 8 medals (2 gold, 3 Silver and 3 Bronze) in the Junior Asian Wrestling Championship in New Delhi.
- Sachin Rathi (74-kilogram category) Deepak Punia (86-kilogram category) won the gold.
- Suraj Rajkumar Kokate (61-kilogram category) won a bronze while Mohit won bronze in the 125-kilogram category.
- Iran (189 points) topped the team championship.
- India (173 points) finished second while Uzbekistan (128 points) came third.
11. Manu-Sumeeth retain Lagos International title
- Senior national champions Manu Attri & Sumeeth Reddy (Defending champions) retained the men's doubles title at the Lagos International badminton tournament in Nigeria.
- They defeated Vaibhav and Prakash Raj 21-12, 21-12 in the finals.
- In women's singles, Sree Krishina Priya had to settle for a silver after a loss to Russia's Ksenia Polikaprova in a thrilling final.
Note:
- The Lagos International is an annual open international badminton tournament held in Lagos, Nigeria.
- The Lagos International organized by the Lagos State Badminton Association (LSBA) and Badminton Federation of Nigeria.
12. BAI announces a cash reward of Rs. 10 lakhs for shuttler Lakshya Sen
- The Badminton Association of India (BAI) has announced Rs. 10 lakhs cash reward for young shuttler Lakshya Sen for winning a gold medal at the Asia Junior Championship in Jakarta, Thailand.
- Lakshya Sen has become the third Indian shuttler to secure a gold medal at the Badminton Asia junior championships.