03 July 2019 - Daily Current Affairs

03 July 2019 - Daily Current Affairs

1. PK Purwar appointed as the CMD of BSNL

• Pravin Kumar Purwar (MTNL chairman) has been appointed as the interim Chairman-Managing Director (CMD) of the government-owned BSNL (Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd.) for a period of three months.
• He succeeds Anupam Shrivastava who retired upon superannuation on June 30, 2019.
• BSNL is India's largest fixed telephony and broadband, and fifth largest mobile telephony services provider.

Note:

• Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (incorporated on 15th September 2000) is an Indian state-owned telecommunications company, headquartered in New Delhi.
• BSNL is the fourth largest mobile telephony provider in India.
• Number of employees: 1,74,216 (2018).

2. Nalin Singhal has been appointed as new CMD BHEL

• Dr. Nalin Shinghal has been appointed as the chairman and managing director (CMD) of Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL).
• Mr. Singhal is presently working as Chairman and Managing Director of Central Electronics Limited.
• BHEL is India’s largest power generation equipment manufacturer and is owned by Government of India.

3. Karnam Sekar takes over as Indian Overseas Bank MD and CEO

• Karnam Sekar was taken over the charge as new Managing Director (MD) and CEO (Chief Executive Officer) of Indian Overseas Bank.
• He has replaced R Subramaniakumar.
• Mr. Sekar began his career in State Bank of India (SBI) as a probationary officer.
• He also had served Dena Bank as its Managing Director and CEO

Note:

• Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) is a major public sector bank based in Chennai, India, with about 3,400 domestic branches. and about 6 foreign branches and representative office.

Source: Money Control

4. S. Vishwanathan reappointed RBI deputy governor for one year

• N.S. Vishwanathan has been reappointed as deputy governor of the Reserve Bank of India.
• The Appointments Committee of Cabinet has approved the extension of Vishwanathan's term as RBI deputy governor by one year (from 4 July 2019).
• Vishwanathan is in charge of regulation of banks, non-banking finance companies and cooperative banks.
• Besides Vishwanathan, the other deputy governors of the RBI include B.P. Kanungo and M.K. Jain.

Source: Business Standard

5. IMF appoints economist David Lipton as interim leader

• American economist David Lipton will serve as interim leader of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
• He will replace Christine Lagarde who was nominated to head the European Central Bank.
• Chief of International Monetary Fund Christine Lagarde has been nominated as the first woman to head the European Central Bank.

Source: AIR News

6. Manoj Kumar Nambiar elected chairman of MFIN

• Microfinance Institutions Network (MFIN) has elected Manoj Kumar Nambiar (managing director of Arohan Financial Services) as its Chairman.
• He will replace Udaya Kumar Hebbar, President MD & CEO of CreditAccess Grameen.
• Vineet Chattree (Svatantra Microfin) will be the vice-chairman.
• Microfinance Institutions Network is an association for the microfinance sector in India. Its member organizations constitute the leading microfinance institutions in India.
• MFIN comprises 56 NBFC-MFIs and 40 associates including banks, small finance banks and NBFCs.

Source: Business Standard

Obituaries

7. Professional motorcycle racer, Carlin Dunne passes away

• Professional motorcycle racer, Carlin Dunne (36-years) passes away during Ducati Streetfighter V4 prototype run at Pikes Peak Hill Climb.
• He had earned the title of "King of the Mountain" after becoming the first motorcycle rider in the history of the race to achieve a sub-10-minute time in 2012 while piloting a modified Ducati.

Book & Author

8. Smriti Irani launches a book title ‘Whispers of Time’

• Union Minister Smriti Irani has launched a book titled 'Whispers of Time' at the India International Centre in New Delhi.
• The book 'Whispers of Time' authored by Dr Krishna Saksena (91-years).
• ‘Whispers of Time' is an effort to condense nine decades of her life experiences, realisations and observations into a book of fiction based on facts.
• Dr.  Saksena is the first woman candidate from Uttar Pradesh to get a PhD degree in English Literature in the year 1955.

National Affairs

9. Chattisgarh govt raises the retirement age of private sector labourers to 60 years

• The Chattisgarh government has decided to increase the retirement age of industrial labourers working in private sectors to 60 years from the current 58 years.
• Employees and labourers working in various undertakings, factories, industries and commercial institutions would now retire at the age of 60 years.
• Final notification will be issued within 15 days after disposing of the suggestions received from all stakeholders.
• This will be applicable to all undertakings, including factories, establishments, institutions and other industrial units coming under the purview of the Chhattisgarh Industrial Employment (Standing Order) Act, 1961, and the Chhattisgarh Industrial Employment (Standing Order) Rule, 1963.

Source: Business Standard

10. Union Govt. to enhance import limit on Tur Dal

• According to Minister of State for Consumer Affairs, Danve Raosaheb Dadarao, The Union Government has decided to enhance the import limit on Tur Dal from two lakh metric tonne to four lakh metric tonnes for the year 2019 - 20.
• The Union government has also decided to release two lakh metric tonnes of Tur Dal, available in the buffer stock of pulses to States and Union Territories under the Price Stabilization Fund.
• Union Government had signed an MoU with Mozambique, in July 2016 to improve domestic availability and facilitate price stability of Tur and other pulses.

Source: AIR News

International Affairs

11. The US designates Baloch Liberation Army as a terror group

• The United States has designated the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), which is fighting Pakistani rule in Balochistan province, as a terrorist organisation.
• BLA is an armed separatist group that targets security forces and civilians, mainly in ethnic Baloch areas of Pakistan.
• The department has also made it a crime for anyone in the US to assist the BLA terrorists and freezing any US assets they may have.
• The US has also sanctioned Hezbollah operative Husain Ali Hazzima, chief of the Beirut-based terrorist group's intelligence unit.

Source: AIR News

12. Amazon tops as the world’s most valuable brand: BrandZ Report

• As per the BrandZ Report, Amazon has topped in the 100 Most Valuable Global Brand for 2019.
• The brand value of Amazon saw an increase of 52% in 2019 at USD 315,505 million (USD 207,594 million- in 2018).
• Apple is at the second rank followed by Google at 3rd.
• Three Indian companies (HDFC Bank-60^th, LIC-68^th & TCS-97^th) have found place in the ranking.

Note:

• The BrandZ rankings of the world’s most valuable brands have been compiled by WPP’s research arm.
• BrandZ calculates the value that the brand contributes to businesses by combining financial and market data with surveys of nearly 4m consumers in 51 countries on their views about brands. 

Sports

13. Odisha to host 21st Commonwealth Table Tennis tournament

• Odisha Government will host the 21st Commonwealth Table Tennis Championship at the Jawaharlal Indoor Stadium in Cuttack (from 17th to 22 July 2019.
• This championship will see participation from some of the best players from across the world.
• Sports Secretary Vishal Dev and senior vice president, TTFI SN Sultan and president, OSTTA LN Gupta signing the MoU in presence of CM Naveen Patnaik.

Note:

• The tournament has received a good entry with 14 associations, consisting India, Singapore, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, England, Scotland, Wales, Jersey, Australia, Cyprus, South Africa, Nigeria, Pakistan.