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IMPORTANT CURRENT AFFAIRS OF JULY 5^th, 2018

 IMPORTANT CURRENT AFFAIRS OF JULY 5^th, 2018

1.  Policy think tank of the Government of India, NITI Aayog, in collaboration with various ministries and industry partners, is organising ‘MOVE: Global Mobility Summit’ in New Delhi on 7th and 8th September, 2018. 

a.   This Summit will help drive Government’s goals for vehicle electrification, renewable energy integration and job growth and also speed up India’s transition to a clean energy economy.

b.   This will be the first Global Mobility Summit of its kind, with over 1,200 expected participants from across the world.

c.   This summit will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

2.  Union Minister Nitin Gadkari today flagged off India's first taxi ambulance services in Delhi, a service by a Gurugram-based startup Wagon Cab. 

a.   These cabs are equipped with medical supplies and medically trained drivers. 

3.  The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) has come into an agreement with the Andhra Pradesh government to set up a 'Design University for Gaming' in Visakhapatnam.

4.  Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh has ordered a mandatory dope test for all government employees, including police personnel, from the time of their recruitment through every stage of their service. 

a.   Drug screening will be mandatory in cases of promotions, and also be a part of annual medical examinations. 

5.  The standing committee of National Board for Wildlife (NBWL) has recently added four species into Centre’s Recovery Programme for Critically Endangered Species.

a.   They are :

i)    Northern River Terrapin

ii)  Clouded Leopard

iii) Arabian Sea Humpback Whale 

iv) Red Panda

  6.  The Kerala government has set up a panel of eminent writers and language experts to choose a 'Kerala Ganam', an official song for the state. 

a.    The panel will choose a suitable song from amongst the entries received and shortlisted by the Kerala Sahitya Akademi.

b.     The Akademi will seek suggestions and entries from poets, lyricists, cultural leaders, and the general public.

c.    Head of this Panel : Rani George  

d.    Members : 

i.     M Leelavathi

v)  Ezhachery Ramachandran

vi) M M Basheer

vii)        M R Raghava Warrier 

viii)      K P Mohanan

  7.  The Union Cabinet has approved The DNA Technology (Use and Application) Regulation Bill 2018. 

a.   The Bill aims at expanding application of DNA-based forensic technologies to support and strengthen justice delivery system of the country.

  8.  The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has issued a licence to Bank of China to operate in India. 

a.   The decision was based on the commitment made by PM Narendra Modi to Chinese leadership during the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit.

b.   Note : Bank of China is one of China's four major state-owned banks and has a market capitalisation of $153 billion.

9.  Russia is going to build two Nuclear Power Units in China which are expected to be operational by 2026 and 2027 respectively. 

a.   Russia's state nuclear power corporation Rosatom and China's National Energy Administration signed a deal to build the two 1,200-megawatt units at the Tianwan nuclear power plant. 

b.   Note : Russia has built 35 nuclear power units around the world under intergovernmental agreements.

10. Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy today presented the 1st budget of his Janata Dal (Secular)-Congress coalition government in the Vidhana Soudha.

a.   Presenting this budget, he announced a farm loan waiver of ₹34,000 crore. 

b.   Loans of up to ₹2 lakh for each farmer will be waived. 

c.   Farmers who repaid the loan within time will be credited the repaid loan amount or ₹25000 whichever is less.

11. Homegrown e-commerce startup Flipkart is set to enter financial services business and has applied for an NBFC (Non-Banking Financial Company) license to focus on consumer lending. 

a.   The startup will start its services with microlending and micro-insurance for e-commerce purchases on its website. 

12. Union Cabinet has approved extension of scheme of recapitalization of Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) for next three years (upto 2019-20). 

a.   "This will enable the RRBs to maintain the minimum prescribed capital to risk weighted assets ratio (CRAR) of 9 per cent," the Cabinet said in a statement. 

b.   Note : Currently, there are 56 RRBs in the country. 

  13.              Bollywood Actress Priyanka Chopra has reached the 25 million follower mark on Instagram.

a.   With this, she became the most followed Indian on the photo-sharing platform. 

14. Angela Ponce, who has been crowned Miss Universe Spain, will be the first ever transgender model competing at the Miss Universe pageant 2018. 

a.   Important Note : This comes six years after the Miss Universe organisation put an end to the ban on transgender contestants in the competition.

   15.              Uttam Dhillon, an Indian-American lawyer has been appointed the Acting Administrator of the US Drug Enforcement Administration. 

16. Indian origin online transportation network company Ola today announced that it has appointed Simon Smith as the Managing Director for its Australia operations. 

  17.              More than 34 years after coming into existence, the Sports Authority of India (SAI) is set to be renamed as Sports India, Union Sports Minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore announced this today.

18. P. Karthikeyan beat former National champion G. Akash to become the Commonwealth chess champion 2018 held in New Delhi. 

a.   Tania Sachdev won the Women's title by defeating Shantanu Bhambure.