IMPORTANT CURRENT AFFAIRS OF JULY 8th, 2017

IMPORTANT CURRENT AFFAIRS OF JULY 8th, 2017

1. 12th G20 Summit held in Hamburg, Germany

i. Hamburg hosted the twelfth G20 Summit on the 7th and 8th of July, 2017. The G20, or group of 20, is an international meeting between heads of states, finance ministers and central bank governors from the world’s leading economies.

ii. German Chancellor Angela Merkel is hosting this year’s G20 Summit in Hamburg.
iii. Leaders of the G20 countries agreed to swift action and targeted exchange of information on terrorism and its financing. The leaders also decided that the private sector will also be involved in the global efforts to counter terror financing.

2. 122 countries adopt 'historic' UN treaty to ban nuclear weapons

i. 122 countries approved the first-ever treaty to ban nuclear weapons at the UN meeting boycotted by all nuclear-armed nations. One country the Netherlands voting against while Singapore abstained.

ii. None of the nine countries that possess nuclear weapons the United States, Russia, Britain, China, France, India, Pakistan, North Korea and Israel took part in the negotiations or the vote.
iii. Even Japan the only country to have suffered atomic attacks, in 1945 boycotted the talks as did most NATO countries.

3. Center launches GST Rates Finder app to verify accurate tax rate under GST regime

i. Centre has launched an app – GST Rates Finder to verify the accurate tax rate on commodity and services under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley launched the app in New Delhi.

ii. Through this app, user can determine GST rate by entering the name of the commodity or service. The search result will list all the Goods and Services containing the name which was typed in the search box. A taxpayer can search for applicable CGST, SGST, UTGST rate and Compensation Cess on a supply.

4. JIGYASA - Student-Scientist connect programme launched 

i. Jigyasa, a student- scientist connect program was officially launched in New Delhi recently. Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), has joined hands with Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan (KVS) to implement this program.

ii. MoU signing ceremony was held in the presence of Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Minister of Science & Technology and Shri Prakash Javadekar, Minister of HRD.
iii. “JIGYASA” is one of the major initiative taken up by CSIR at the national level, during its Platinum Jubilee Celebration Year.

5. MRP to be sole price decider from Jan 1, 2018

i. From January 1, 2018, the price of a packaged good would no longer depend on where you bought it- be it a local Kirana store, a mall, a five-star hotel or an airport. The Consumer Affairs Ministry has amended the rules that govern packaged commodities to this effect.

ii. As per the amended Legal Metrology rules for packaged commodities, the Centre has clarified that the retail sale price shall be the maximum retail price (MRP) inclusive of all taxes, with the provision to round off the price to the nearest rupee or 50 paise.