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IMPORTANT CURRENT AFFAIRS OF JULY  1^st, 2019

              IMPORTANT CURRENT AFFAIRS OF JULY 1^st,  2019

1.      New Zealand has officially banned single-use plastic shopping bagstoday. 

a.       Under the new rules, thin plastic single-use shopping bags can no longer be supplied, but reusable carriers are allowed. 

b.       Companies that break the ban will face heavy penalties, including fines of up to 100,000 New Zealand dollars (USD 67,000). 

2.      Bangladesh is observing the 3rd anniversary of the deadliest terror attack in its history at the Holey Artisan Bakery in Dhaka on this day in 2016.

a.       The attackers took hostage 40 people before brutally killing 20 of them most of whom were foreigners including one from India.

b.       According to the charge sheet filed by police, a faction of banned militant outfit Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) was involved in the planning and execution of the terrorist attack in 2016.

3.      Representatives of 50 law enforcement agencies of the International Security Alliance (ISA) are taking part in the 1st joint security exercise in Abu Dhabi beginning today.

a.       The participants include representatives from tactical teams, rapid intervention units, communications, civil defence, and explosive ordnance disposal, teams.

b.       About ISA :

(a)     The International Security Alliance, launched in 2017 in Abu Dhabi, is an international working group to confront organised, transnational and extremist crimes.

(b)     The alliance now comprises 9 countries. They are : United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco, France, Italy, Spain, Senegal, Singapore, and the Slovak Republic.

National Current Affairs

4.      Today (1st July 2018) is National Doctors' Day.

a.       This day is observed in India to honour the contributions of Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy (1st July 1882 – 1st July 1962), former West Bengal Chief Minister who was also a physician.

b.       Born in 1882, the legendary physician, who was also honoured with the Bharat Ratna in 1961, died on his birthday in 1962.

5.      The Lok Sabha has passed the Central Educational Institutions (Reservations in Teachers’ Cadre) Bill-2019. 

a.       The bill seeks to provide for the reservation of posts in appointments by direct recruitment of persons belonging to Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Educationally Backward Classes and Economically Weaker Sections to Teachers cadre in Central Educational Institutions. 

b.       The bill will replace the Ordinance promulgated in this regard.

6.      A pre-test of the Census 2021 will be carried out across the country from 12th of August to 30th of September this year.

a.       The reference date for the census is 1st October 2020 for Jammu and Kashmir and snowbound areas of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. 

b.       The reference date for the rest of the country is 1st March, 2021.

c.       This time, data is proposed to be collected through a mobile app and enumerators would be encouraged to use their own phone. 

d.       The census 2021 will be one of the world's largest enumeration exercise.

7.      To create awareness on the benefits of water conservation and declining sources of water in the country, Union Government has launched Jal Shakti Abhiyan.

a.       The Jal Shakti Abhiyan has been launched in two phases.

b.       The first phase is 1st July to 15th September and is for all participating States and the second phase will be between 1st October to 30th November for States with retreating monsoon.

c.       Under Jal Shakti Abhiyan, focus will be on 256 water stressed districts and 1,592 water stressed blocks. 

d.       Jal Shakti Minister : Gajendra Singh Shekhawat

8.      Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Ashwani Kumar Choubey has said that the Centre will launch Evening meal scheme among children in Acute Encephalitis Syndrome affected districts of Bihar on the line of midday meal scheme.

9.      The state government of Goa recently approved an amendment to Factories Act 1948 which will allow deployment of women in night shifts (from 7pm to 6 am) in industries.

10. 1st July 2019 is being celebrated as GST (Goods & Services Tax) Day. 

a.       This year marks the 2nd anniversary of implementation of historic tax reform of Goods & Services Tax.

b.       GST is an Indirect Tax levied on the supply of goods and services and which has replaced many Indirect Taxes that previously existed in India. 

c.       On 29th March 2017, Goods and Service Tax Act was passed in Parliament and the Act came into effect on 1st July 2017. 

11. India's largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) is observing 64th Bank Day today.

On this day (1st July) in the year 1955, the Imperial Bank of India, the oldest and largest commercial bank of the Indian subcontinent, was transformed into the State Bank of India (SBI). 

12. Union Minister of State for Finance Anurag Thakur today announced that No bank has the power to employ bouncers for forceful recovery of loans from customers. 

a.       He added that there's a clear directive of the RBI to appoint recovery agents only after police verification and certain formalities are fulfilled. 

13. The Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) has imposed a fine on regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) for an adjudicating officer's order that resulted in litigation and harassment for a former official of BGIL Films and Technologies. 

a.       Note : It is a rare instance wherein the SAT has penalized the regulator for alleged lapses.

14. India has signed Rs.200 crore deal with Russia for acquiring Strum Ataka anti-tank missile for its fleet of Mi-35 attack choppers of Indian Air Force (IAF). 

a.       This deal comes in wake of IAF’s attempt to keep itself battle-ready in situations like post-Balakot aerial strikes.

15. One of the pioneers in women’s empowerment initiatives in post-Independent India and former vice president of the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC), Dr Jaya Arunachalam (87) passed away.

a.       Founder of the Working Women’s Forum (WWF) and a significant contributor to the women’s self-help group movement, Dr Jaya Arunachalam is best known for her social service contributions through WWF which she initiated in 1978.

16. NS Vishwanathan has been re-appointed as Deputy governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for one more year with effect from July 4 this year.

a.       His existing tenure was to end Wednesday, July 3.

b.       Note : Vishwanathan is one of the 3 deputy governors, besides B P Kanungo and M K Jain, working at the central bank.

17. Apple has appointed Sabih Khan, who has worked with Apple for the last 24 years, to lead its global supply chain as its Senior Vice President of Operations. 

18. The Haryana government has appointed 1983-batch IAS officer Keshni Anand Arora as the new Chief Secretary of the state. 

a.       Note : She's the 3rd sister of her family to hold the top administrative post of the state after her sisters, MA Chaudhary (2005-06) and Urvashi Gulati (2009-12). 

19. Indian pro boxer Vaibhav Yadav became the World Boxing Council (WBC) Asia silver welterweight champion after defeating Thailand's Fahpetch Singmanassak in the title bout held in Pattaya, Thailand.

20. Spain claimed the Under-21 European Championship title after beating Germany 2-1 in Italy today. 

21. Red Bull's Max Verstappen won the Austrian Grand Prix 2019, beating Ferrari's Charles Leclerc.

22. In Tennis, the iconic tennis championships Wimbledon 2019 started in London today.

23. In Squash, India won a gold today as Veer Chotrani beat compatriot Yash Fadte to win the Under-19 title at the Asian Junior Championship in Macau, China.

a.       With this victory, Veer became the 3rd Indian to win the Asian trophy after Ravi Dixit and Vela Senthilkumar.