Daily Current affairs - July 10th, 2017 for all competitive exams
President of India Shri Pranab Mukherjee recently launched the SWAYAM, the
portal that takes high quality education to the doorstep of everyone and the
SWAYAM Prabha – the 32 DTH channels operationalised for telecasting high
quality educational content free of charge using the GSAT-15 satellite
transponders.
- With the launch of SWAYAM, India has become one of
the few countries in the World which has its own online interactive
learning platform that provides, not only video lectures, reading material
but also assignments/quizzes that could end up in securing credits after
completing the assessment system.
New drugs needed against hard-to-treat gonorrhoea: UN
Antibiotic resistance is making gonorrhea harder and sometimes even
impossible to treat, according to a new warning from the World Health
Organization (WHO). Therefore, a new drug may be urgently needed to treat the
disease.
- Gonorrhea, also called “the clap“, is a disease caused by bacteria. Untreated, it can cause
painful pelvic inflammation in women, and infertility in both genders.
- Gonorrhea resistance to penicillin and tetracycline,
a common broad-spectrum antibiotic, first emerged in the 1970s in Asia,
spreading to the rest of the world during the early 1980s, according to
the WHO.
Ahmedabad gets World Heritage City tag:
The 606-year-old walled city of Ahmedabad, which was founded by Sultan Ahmed Shah, has become India’s first World Heritage City.
- The World Heritage Committee (WHC) of UNESCO
announced this. Ahmedaba is recognized the city as the cradle of India’s
non-violent freedom struggle led by Mahatma Gandhi.
G-20 leaders propose Hamburg Action Plan at summit
conclusion
The two-day G-20 summit that took place in Germany’s Hamburg city ended
with the leaders proposing the Hamburg Action Plan to address major global challenges, including
climate change, harnessing digitalisation, and to contribute to prosperity and
well-being.
- The leaders pledged to progress towards their joint
objective in the G20, which is strong, sustainable, balanced and inclusive
growth.
- They resolved to tackle common challenges to the
global community, including terrorism, displacement, poverty, hunger and
health threats, job creation, climate change, energy security, and
inequality including gender inequality, as a basis for sustainable
development and stability.
122 countries adopt global treaty banning nuclear weapons
A global treaty banning nuclear weapons was recently adopted at the United
Nations. The treaty was adopted by a vote of 122 in favour with one country —
NATO member The Netherlands voting against —while Singapore abstained.
- Led by Austria, Brazil, Mexico, South Africa and New
Zealand, 141 countries joined in drafting the treaty that they hope will
increase pressure on nuclear states to take disarmament more seriously.
- The treaty prohibits a full range of nuclear-weapon
related activities, such as undertaking to develop, test, produce,
manufacture, acquire, possess or stockpile nuclear weapons or other
nuclear explosive devices, as well as the use or threat of use of these
weapons.
- 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.
- Even Japan — the only country to have suffered
atomic attacks, in 1945 — boycotted the talks as did most NATO countries.
World Petroleum Congress at Istanbul, Turkey
The 22nd World Petroleum
Congress (WPC) International Conference has begun at Istanbul, Turkey. India is also taking part in the conference.
- The tri-annual WPC Conference is widely
recognized as the `Olympics` of the oil and gas industry.
- It attracts Ministers, CEOs of Oil and Gas MNCs,
experts and academics from the hydrocarbon sectors and provides an ideal
forum to showcase potential of countries’ hydrocarbon sector.
Iraq Prime Minister declares
victory in ‘liberated’ Mosul
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider
al-Abadi declared victory in the “liberated” city of Mosul, in the biggest
defeat yet for the Islamic State (IS).
- The declared victory in Mosul marks an epic
milestone for the Iraqi security forces, who had crumbled in the face of
an IS onslaught across Iraq in 2014.
- IS swept across much of Iraq’s Sunni Arab heartland
in a lightning offensive that year, proclaiming a self-styled “caliphate”
straddling Iraq and neighbouring Syria.
S. Sudan marks grim 6th
independence day
For the second year in a
row, the world’s youngest nation will not have any official celebrations to
mark the anniversary of its birth because of the widespread suffering caused by
its ongoing civil war.
- Six years after South Sudan gained independence, the
country is ravaged by fighting, severe hunger, mass displacement and
accusations of war crimes by government and opposition forces.
EPFO adds one crore members
since Jan. 1
More than one crore workers
have come under the fold of the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO)
in its first ever enrolment campaign rolled out on January 1.
- The EPFO enrolled 1.01 crore workers through its
Employees’ Enrolment Campaign which ended on June 30.
- It provided an opportunity to all employers to
voluntarily declare details of all such employees who were entitled to PF
membership between April 2009 and December 2016 but could not be enrolled
for any reason.
India ranks 23rd in second Global Cybersecurity Index
(GCI) 2017
The UN telecommunications
agency, International Telecommunication Union (ITU), recently released its second
edition of the Global Cybersecurity Index (CGI) which ranks countries of the world depending on their
national policy against cybercrime — which ascertains there cybersecurity
commitment.
- The Global Cybersecurity Index (GCI) is a
multi-stakeholder initiative to measure the commitment of countries to cybersecurity.
- The index has placed India at a high 23rd
position. India is ranked 23rd on the index with a score of 0.683 and
has been listed in the “maturing” category.
Saint Mother Teresa’s blue-bordered sari an Intellectual
Property:
The famous blue-bordered sari of Mother Teresa, who has been canonised as
Saint Teresa of Calcutta by the Vatican, has been recognised as an Intellectual
Property of the Missionaries of Charity.
- The Trade Marks Registry, Government of India, has
granted the registration of the trade mark for that pattern of blue border
of sari.
Dr. Spencer Johnson, author of
self-help bestseller, dies
Dr. Spencer Johnson, whose
book Who Moved My Cheese? sold 25 million copies and became a
business and self-help phenomenon, has died.
- Johnson was a medical doctor-turned children’s
author when he wrote his first hit book The
One Minute Manager in 1982, with co-author Ken Blanchard.
Water expert Mohanakrishnan
dead
Veteran water expert A.
Mohanakrishnan, whose knowledge and expertise on issues relating to irrigation,
water bodies and inter-State water disputes guided Tamil Nadu in taking
informed decisions on water-related issues for more than two decades,
died .
- Mohanakrishnan served as the Chairman of the Cauvery Technical Cell (CTC) since its formation in 1990 till December 2012, and continued to be an Advisor for the Water Resources Department thereafter.
