IMPORTANT CURRENT AFFAIRS OF 19th and 20TH JULY, 2017

IMPORTANT CURRENT AFFAIRS OF 19th and 20th JULY, 2017

1. TR Zeliang appointed as Chief Minister of Nagaland by Governor

i. TR Zeliang has been appointed as the Chief Minister of Nagaland by Governor PB Acharya. This will be the second term for Zeliang, his earlier term was from 2014 to 2017.
ii. Zeliang's appointment came after Nagaland Chief Minister Shurhozelie Liezietsu and nine ruling Naga People’s Front (NPF) legislators failed to appear for the floor test.

2. Maharashtra government approved revised policy of scheme to improve girl child ratio

i.    The Maharashtra government has approved a revised policy of the 'Majhi Kanya Bhagyashree' scheme, according to which families who have a yearly income of up to Rs 7.5 lakh will be benefited. The scheme was launched by the state government on April 1, 2016, in place of 'Sukanya' scheme.
ii. It is aimed at improving the skewed girl child ratio, prevent sex determination and female foeticide, and support female education.
iii. Earlier provision: The 'Majhi Kanya Bhagyashree' scheme catered to girls from Below Poverty Line (BPL) families and those whose annual income was up to Rs 1 lakh.
iv. Revised provisions: Families having an income up to Rs 7.5 lakh will be eligible for the scheme. After bearing the first girl child, if the mother or the father undergoes a family planning operation, a sum of Rs 50,000 shall be deposited in a bank in the name of the girl child. The scheme will be valid only if there are a maximum of two girl children born. In case a third child is born, the scheme shall become invalid for the first two as well.

3. India & Sri Lanka sign MoU to develop village in Anuradhapura District

i. India and Sri Lanka have signed a MoU to develop a village in Anuradhapura District (in Sri Lanka) at a cost of 30 crores Sri Lankan rupees. The village in the name of a famous Buddhist monk Sobitha Thero, envisages construction of 153 new houses, a multi-purpose community building, internal water supply system and renovation of monk’s quarters & library.

ii. The project is in line with Government of Sri Lanka’s policy of rehabilitation of rural villages for economic development. It will benefit 153 families residing in the village.

4. Indians among top asylum-seekers, according to the International Migration Outlook 2017

i.  According to the International Migration Outlook 2017 report on Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) member countries, Indians are among top asylum-seekers in other countries such as New Zealand, Australia, Finland, Japan, and the United States of America.
ii. According to the report on OECD member-nations, top asylum-seekers to New Zealand between 2012 and 2016 were from China, India, Fiji, and Iraq. Among these, India and China were the largest source countries of asylum-seekers (11% and 9%), followed by Fiji (8%), Iraq (7%) and Pakistan (6%).

5. Venkaiah Naidu, Vice Presidential Candidate, Quits BJP And Government

i. M Venkaiah Naidu, the vice presidential candidate of the BJP-led ruling coalition, quit the government and BJP. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, top ministers, and allies were by Mr. Naidu as he completed the formalities for joining the vice presidential contest.

ii. In preparation for his new role, 68-year-old Mr. Naidu quit his ministries. Smriti Irani will take additional charge of the Information and Broadcasting Ministry and Narendra Tomar will take charge of Urban Development.

6. Australia and US jointly launched multimillion hypersonic missile – HIFiRE

i. The US and Australia have jointly test-fired a hypersonic missile capable of moving at a speed eight times faster than sound as part of a $54-million research project.

ii. The test was part of a project called the Hypersonic International Flight Research Experimentation Program (HIFiRE) involving the US and Australian militaries, Queensland University, Australia’s Defence Science and Technology Group.
iii. A hypersonic glider capable of moving at a speed eight times faster than sound has launched from a rocket range in the town of Woomera, South Australia.

7. US Navy tests world’s first Laser Weapons System

i. The U.S. Navy recently tested the world's first-ever active laser weapons system, which is now deployed and ready for war. The system has special materials that release photons and at the speed of light, it silently hits an object, burning it to a temperature of thousands of degrees.

ii. Each strike travels 50,000 times the speed of an incoming intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).

8. Bharat Arun appointed Team India bowling coach

i. Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has appointed Bharat Arun as the Indian Cricket team’s bowling coach.
ii. BCCI’s acting Secretary Amitabh Chaudhary announced that the cricket body has also decided to retain Sanjay Bangar as an assistant coach and R Sridhar as fielding coach till the 2019 ODI World Cup.

9. FIFA has lifted their ban on the Sudan Football Association

i. World football's governing body FIFA lifted the ban on the Sudan Football Association (SFA) imposed on it for the failure to abide by agreements mentioned in articles 14 and 19 of the FIFA statute.

ii. The SFA and its member officials are now eligible to benefit from the FIFA development program, course or training.

10. UK’s first woman Sikh MP Preet Kaur Gill elected to key Parliament panel
i.Britain’s first woman Sikh MP Preet Kaur Gill has been elected to an influential cross-party panel in the UK Parliament that examines the workings of the Home Office.
ii. The Labour MP, who won the Birmingham Edgbaston seat in the UK elections 2017, will be one of 11 MPs on the cross-party home affairs committee, which investigates the spending, policy and administration of the ministerial department.

11. UIDAI launches mAadhaar app on Android

i. UIDAI, which issues Aadhaar numbers, has launched mAadhaar app for mobile users that will allow users to carry unique identification profile on mobile.

ii. It allows users to carry their Aadhaar demographic information, i.e. name, date of birth, gender, address and the photograph linked with their Aadhaar number, on their smartphones

i. The NDA candidate Ram Nath Kovind has been declared by the Secretary General of Lok Sabha Anoop Mishra as elected President of India. Mr. Kovind got 7,02,044 votes while his opponent, the joint Opposition candidate Meira Kumar, got 3,67,314 out of a total of 10,69,358.

ii. Succeeding Pranab Mukherjee, Kovind will be sworn in as the 14th president of India on July 25. Kovind will be the seventh youngest person to be anointed to the coveted post. He is also the second Dalit after KR Narayanan to adorn the coveted post. He is the first President from Uttar Pradesh.

12. Important Cabinet Approvals: 19th July 2017

i. The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has approved following agreements and MoUs on different fields.

The Cabinet has approved- 

1. MOC in respect of tax matters between India and BRICS countries - Brazil, Russia, China and South Africa.
2. MoU between India and Netherlands on cooperation in space technology.
3. IRDAI's admission as a signatory to International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS), Multilateral Memorandum of Understanding (MMoU).
4.  Central Goods and Services Tax (Amendment) Bill, 2017.
5.  Integrated Goods and Services Tax (Amendment) Bill, 2017. 
6.  Revision of Indian Community Welfare Fund guidelines.
7.  Cadre Review of Indian Defence Accounts Service, IDAS  

13. Patnaik dedicates to Nation Odisha’s longest bridge

i. Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik dedicated to the nation the state's longest bridge and named it after Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose.

ii. The 2.88 km bridge over the river Kathajodi will connect the state capital of Bhubaneswar with Cuttack reducing the distance between the two cities by 12 km.

14. MoU Signed Between Department of Defence Production and GSL

i. Goa Shipyard Limited (GSL), a Miniratna Defence Public Sector Undertaking (DPSU) signed an MoU for the financial year 2017-18 with Ministry of Defence.

ii. This year’s MoU target for ‘Revenue from Operations’ has been set at Rs1150 crore, which is 43 percent higher than the financial year 2016-17 target of Rs800 crore.
iii. Notably, in the financial year 2016-17, the Shipyard achieved historical high VoP of Rs1030 crore and PBT of Rs177 crore. GSL was adjudged as ‘Best Performing Shipyard’ by MoD.

15. L K Advani receives Lifetime Achievement Award for contributions in Lok Sabha

i. Veteran BJP leader L.K. Advani received the Lifetime Achievement Award for his contributions as a parliamentarian in the Lok Sabha. JD-U leader Sharad Yadav also received the Lifetime Achievement Award as a Rajya Sabha representative from Vice President Hamid Ansari at a function organized by the Lokmat Media Group to honor distinguished Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha members.
ii. The other awardees from the Lok Sabha-

• Best Parliamentarian- Revolutionary Socialist Party MP N.K. Premachandran,
• Best Woman Parliamentarian- Congress leader Kumari Sushmita Dev and 
• Best Debut Woman Parliamentarian- BJP leader Meenakshi Lekhi.

iii. The awardees from the Rajya Sabha-

• Best Parliamentarian- CPI-M leader Sitaram Yechury, 
• Best Woman Parliamentarian- Samajwadi Party MP Jaya Bachchan and 
• Best Debut Woman Parliamentarian- Congress MP Rajni Patil.

16. Sheikha Lubna Al Qasimi tops poll of most powerful Arab women: Forbes

i. Sheikha Lubna Al Qasimi, the UAE Minister of State for Tolerance has topped a poll of the most powerful Arab women in government for 2017, according to Forbes Middle East.

ii. Ms. Qasimi was followed by two women from Egypt - Sahar Nasr, the country’s minister of investment and international cooperation and Ghada Wali, the minister of social solidarity.
iii. Forbes has also released a list of the top 100 most powerful Arab business women for 2017, and the UAE represents the highest number of women, with 18, followed by Egypt, with 16.

17. Australia joins International Solar Alliance led by India and France

i. Australia became the 35th country to join the International Solar Alliance (ISA), an initiative launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in November 2015 in Paris. It is co-led by India and France.

ii. The aim of ISA is to support developing countries to boost their solar production capacity. India on its part through the Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA) and Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) is contributing $1 million to the ISA fund.

18. India on track to grow at 7.4 per cent in 2017: ADB report

i. According, to Asian Development Bank supplement report India is expected to achieve the projected growth rate of 7.4 per cent in 2017 and further up to 7.6 per cent next year on strong consumption demand, with South Asia leading the growth chart in Asia and the Pacific.

ii. According to the report, South Asia will be the fastest growing of all sub-regions in Asia and the Pacific, with growth on track to meet original projections of 7 per cent in 2017 and 7.2 per cent in 2018.

19. Google introduces recruiting app 'Hire' for businesses

i. Google has launched 'Hire', a recruiting app for small- and medium-sized businesses that also integrates seamlessly with G Suite.  It is a move to compete with Microsoft-owned LinkedIn.

ii. Hire makes it easy to identify talent, build strong candidate relationships and efficiently manage the interview process end-to-end"