09 July 2019 - Daily Current Affairs

09 July 2019 - Daily Current Affairs

1. Kyriakos Mitsotakis becomes Greece's new PM

• Kyriakos Mitsotakis (51-year) was sworn in as the Prime Minister of Greece. 
• Mitsotakis’ New Democracy party won an outright majority with 158 seats in the 300-seat legislature.
• Earlier, he was Leader of the Opposition (from 2016 to 2019) and also served as Minister of Administrative Reform (from 2013 to 2015).
• Mitsotakis is the son of former Prime Minister Constantine Mitsotakis, one of the country’s longest-serving parliamentarians.

Note:

• The Prime Minister of Greece is the head of government of the Hellenic Republic and the leader of the Greek cabinet.

2. LinkedIn appoints Ashutosh Gupta as country manager for India

• Ashutosh Gupta has been appointed as the Country Manager for India of LinkedIn (Microsoft-owned social networking site).
• He will replace Mahesh Narayanan, who was the country manager for India (LinkedIn) from January 2019 to June 2019.
• Gupta will take charge, in his new role, from 2nd September 2019.
• LinkedIn has over 630 million global users and more than 57 million members in India.

Note:

• LinkedIn is an American business and employment-oriented service that operates via websites and mobile apps.
• It is mainly used for professional networking, including employers posting jobs and job seekers posting their CVs.
• LinkedIn allows members (both workers and employers) to create profiles and "connections" to each other in an online social network which may represent real-world professional relationships.

Source: Live Mint

National Affairs

3. Central Govt to set up three CoE in Sports at Itanagar in AP

• The Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Youth Affairs and Sports Kiren Rijiju has informed that central government is going to set-up three Sports Centre of Excellence (for Martial Arts, Weightlifting and Boxing) in Itanagar (Arunachal Pradesh).
• These centres will have a capacity of 300 sportspersons with the residential facility.
• The Union government will also set up 12 to 15 football stadiums with Astro-turf football pitches across the state in the next three years.
• Mr. Rijiju further announced that this year Arunachal Pradesh will host the North East Youth Festival.

Source: DD News

4. BSF launches Operation ‘Sudarshan’ to fortify anti-infiltration along Pak Border

• The Border Security Force (BSF) has launched massive exercise, code-named 'Sudarshan', to fortify the 'anti-infiltration grid' along the Pakistan border in Punjab and Jammu.
• The exercise will see the entire BSF's senior field brass, thousands of troops and machinery being deployed in these forward areas.
• It will cover the entire over the 1,000 km length (Jammu shares 485-km and Punjab shares 553-km) of the India-Pakistan International Border.
• It further runs down towards Rajasthan and Gujarat on India’s western flank.
• A fleet of heavy and small all-terrain vehicles has been mobilised in these areas as the field commanders are moving in those localities.

Note:

• The BSF is the primary force guarding this frontier as the ‘first line of defence’.

Source: Indian Express

5. Parliament passes Aadhaar and Other Laws (Amendment) Bill

• Parliament (Lok Sabha & Rajya Sabha) has passed the Aadhaar and Other Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2019.
• The bill seeks to amend Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Act, 2016 and to further amend the Indian Telegraph Act, 1885 and the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002.
• The bill also proposes giving a child an option to exit from the biometric ID programme on attaining 18 years of age.
• The Bill, which also provides for a stiff Rs 1 crore penalty and a jail term for private entities violating provisions on Aadhaar data.
• According to Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, the amendments to Aadhaar & other laws were necessitated after the Supreme Court's ruling on privacy.

Source: AIR News

6. Centre decides to extend the ESI Act to the entire country by 2022

• The Union Government has decided to extend the ESI Act to the entire country by 2022.
• Labour and Employment Minister Santosh Kumar Gangwar said out of the total 722 districts, the ESI scheme has been extended to 541 districts.
• Under the ESIC 2.0 programme, ESI scheme was extended in newly implemented areas.
• The Minister informed the House that around 3 crores 60 lakh employees across the country are likely to be benefited by the measure.
• The Minister said this step has reduced the burden on the employees and employers and improved the coverage as well as compliance of the ESI scheme.

Source: AIR News

Banking & Finance

7. Sovereign Gold Bond Scheme 2019-20 Series-II issue starts

• The Sovereign Gold Bond Scheme 2019-20 Series-II is now open for the issue (from July 08 to July 12, 2019).
• Government of India has decided to offer a discount of Rs 50 per gram less than the nominal value to those investors applying online and the payment against the application is made through digital mode.
• For such investors, the issue price of Gold Bond will be Rs 3,393/-per gram of gold.

Note:

• The minimum investment in the Bonds shall be one gram with a maximum limit of subscription per fiscal year of 4 kg for individuals, 4 kg for Hindu Undivided Family (HUF) and 20 kg for trusts.
• The tenor of these Bonds will be for a period of 8 years (exit option after the 5th year).
• The Bonds can be bought from Commercial banks, designated post offices and recognized stock exchanges, for instance – Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), National Stock Exchange of India Limited (NSE), either directly or through agents, and Stock Holding Corporation of India Limited (SHCIL),
• Interest rate: A fixed rate of 2.50%.

Source: Business Standard

Obituaries

8. Brazilian bossa nova pioneer Joao Gilberto passes away

• Brazilian singer, guitarist and songwriter Joao Gilberto (88-years) passed away.
• He was considered one of the fathers of the bossa nova genre that gained global popularity in the 1960s and became an iconic sound of the South American nation.
• Bossa nova is a fusion of samba and jazz that emerged in the late 1950s and gained a worldwide in the 1960s.
• Self-taught, Gilberto has discovered music at age 14 years when he held a guitar in his hands for the first time.
• With his unique playing style and modern jazz influences, he created the beat that defined bossa nova, helping launch the genre with his song "Bim-Bom."

Note:

• Over his career, he won two Grammy awards and was nominated for six, and the US jazz magazine Down Beat in 2009 named him one of the 75 great guitarists in history and one of the five top jazz singers.

Source: Telegraph

Science & Defence

9. India successfully tests vertical steep dive version of Brahmos missile

• India has successfully tested the vertical steep dive version of the Brahmos supersonic cruise missile that changes the dynamics of conventional warfare.
• The upgraded version of the world’s fastest supersonic cruise missile with an enhanced range of up to 500 km is also ready.
• Brahmos missile, which cruises at almost three times the speed of sound at Mach 2.8, is the heaviest weapon to be deployed on the Su-30 fighters.

Note:

• The BrahMos is a medium-range ramjet supersonic cruise missile that can be launched from submarine, ships, aircraft, or land.
• It is a joint venture between the Russian Federation's NPO Mashinostroyeniya and India's Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) who together have formed BrahMos Aerospace.
• The name BrahMos is a portmanteau formed from the names of two rivers, the Brahmaputra of India and the Moskva of Russia.

Source: The Times Of India

10. Two new heavy-lift Chinook helicopters for IAF arrive in Gujarat

• American aerospace major Boeing has announced the arrival of two new heavy-lift Chinook helicopters for the Indian Air Force at the Mundra port in Gujarat.
• The Indian Air Force has ordered 15 Chinooks and the first four helicopters arrived in February.
• The IAF had placed the order in 2015 along with 22 Apache attack helicopters.
• According to Boeing India, the advanced multi-mission helicopter will provide the armed forces unmatched strategic airlift capability.
• The CH-47 Chinook is an advanced multi-mission helicopter and has unsurpassed ability to deliver heavy payloads to high altitudes.

Source: AIR News

Books & Author

11. VP Naidu launches book authored by Himachal Chief Secy

• Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu has released a book titled 'Land Registration, Global Practices and Lessons for India' in New Delhi.
• The book has been written by the B.K. Agarwal (Chief Secretary of Himachal Pradesh).
• The Vice President in the book launch event called for a comprehensive model to make land deeds, transfers and registrations litigation free.

Source: Business Standard

Sports

12. Arinjeeta Dey wins a silver medal in World Youth Cup

• Arinjeeta Dey (10-year-old girl) has won the silver medal in the World Youth Cup, in the under-12 age group category.
• The tournament was held in Umag, Croatia and a total of 35 countries participated in this competition.
• The tournament was organised by World Karate Federation affiliated to the International Olympic Association.

13. The United States beat the Netherlands to win women’s World Cup 2019

• United States women’s soccer team successfully claimed the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup, beating the Netherlands (2-0) in Lyon, France.
• This is the record fourth title for the United States (1991, 1999, 2015 and 2019).
• The other winners are Germany, with two titles; and Japan and Norway with one title each.

Note:

• The FIFA Women's World Cup is an international football competition contested by the senior women's national teams of the members of FIFA, the sport's international governing body.
• The competition has been held every four years (since 1991), when the inaugural tournament (then called the FIFA Women's World Championship) was held in China.
• Golden Boot (top scorer): Megan Rapinoe (6 goals)
• Golden Ball (best overall player): Megan Rapinoe (USA)
• Golden Glove (best goalkeeper): Sari van Veenendaal (Netherlands)

Hosts and results

Edition/ Years	Hosts	Champions	Runners-up
1st - 1991	China	United States	Norway
2nd -1995	Sweden	Norway	Germany
3rd -1999	United States	United States	China PR
4th -2003	United States	Germany	Sweden
5th -2007	China	Germany	Brazil
6th -2011	Germany	Japan	United States
7th -2015	Canada	United States	Japan
8th -2019	France	United States	Netherlands

Source: BBC