Daily Current affairs - July 15th, 2017 for all competitive exams
World Youth Skills Day has
become an official (UN Day) starting from 2015 and raises awareness about the
importance of youth skills development.
- The need to campaign and promote
World Youth Skills Day is more important than ever before. Despite the
youth employment rate increasing compared to the previous year, the number
of young people without a job remains over 10 per cent in many
countries.
- Theme: Skills for all
Centre to grant NIIF Rs.20,000 cr.
The Department of Economic Affairs has signed an agreement with the NIIF
for a Rs.20,000 crore contribution to the Fund.
- The National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF)
was proposed in Union Budget 2015. In the last week of December, the
government has set up this Rs. 40000 crore fund to provide long term
capital for infrastructure projects.
- The objective of NIIF is to maximise economic
impact through infrastructure development in viable projects
both greenfield and brownfield, including stalled projects, mainly in the
core infra sector.
Probe ‘extra-judicial’
killings in Manipur, SC tells CBI
In a resounding blow to
impunity for security and armed forces personnel in disturbed areas under the
grip of the controversial Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, the Supreme Court
ordered a time-bound CBI probe into the deaths of over 80 civilians, allegedly
killed by police and armed forces in the north-eastern State of Manipur during
the heights of insurgency.
- The Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act was enacted in
1958 to bring under control what the government of India considered
‘disturbed’ areas.
Web nod soon for dry ports,
cargo stations
The Centre will soon
announce a mechanism that will facilitate online submission and processing of
applications for setting up Inland Container Depots (ICD), Container Freight
Stations (CFS) and Air Freight Stations (AFS).
- ICDs (considered as dry ports), CFS and AFS provide
services for handling and temporary storage of import/export laden and
empty containers carried under customs control. Transhipment of cargo can
also take place from such stations.
- The proposed reform — with a view to boost India's
foreign trade — comes at a time when demands for setting up more ICDs,
CFSs and AFSs in India have risen following the Rs. 8 lakh crore Sagarmala
Programme on port-linked development as well as the Dedicated Freight
Corridors (DFC).
- The last reform of the ICD/CFS/AFS approval process
was carried out in 1992
- The objective is also to ensure greater transparency
and accountability in the IMC mechanism, the sources said, adding that the
web-based module is also expected to lower entry barriers and help more
players enter the field.
Raipur Airport ranks first in customer satisfaction:
Raipurs Swami Vivekananda Airport in Chhattisgarh has been ranked first in
customer satisfaction in a survey carried out by the AAI across 49 airports in
the country.
- The airport in the Chhattisgarh capital was followed
by those at Udaipur, Amritsar and Dehradun.
- The survey, which was carried out by an independent
agency appointed by AAI, covers a wide range of parameters like
transportation, parking, passenger facilities and cleanliness, among
others.
Setback for MP Minister as HC
upholds disqualification
In a blow to disqualified
Madhya Pradesh Minister Narottam Mishra, his last ditch effort to vote in the
Presidential election on July 17 was scuttled by the Delhi High Court upheld
his disqualification.
- A specially constituted single judge bench of
Justice Indermeet Kaur dismissed Mr Mishra’s plea challenging his
disqualification by the Election Commission and that he should be allowed
to vote in the Presidential poll.
India’s first solar-powered 1600 HP DEMU train launched:
Indian
Railways has launched the country’s first solar-powered local train with a
battery bank facility that ensures sufficient power even in the absence of
sunlight.
- The entire electrical need of the coaches, which
includes lights, fans and information display system, will be met by the
energy produced by solar panels fitted atop the coaches of the DEMU
(diesel electric multiple unit) train.
- The train was launched from Safdarjung railway
station.
Mahadayi: Goa open to out-of-tribunal settlement
Goa has said that it is open to talks with Karnataka and Maharashtra to
explore an out-of-tribunal settlement on Mahadayi issue.
- Mahadayi, also known as the Mandovi river, is known
as a lifeline in the northern parts of Karnataka.
- The river originates and flows in Karnataka and goes
through Goa before meeting the Arabian Sea. The Mahadayi catchment area
covers around 2,032 km and includes some parts of Maharashtra near the
Maharashtra-Karnataka border region.
- The Karnataka government and Goa government are
fighting on sharing of waters of the Mahadayi river (called Mandovi in
Goa).
Saraswati, a supercluster of
galaxies
A group of Indian
astronomers have discovered a massive supercluster of galaxies, and have named
it Saraswati. The supercluster is about 4 billion light years away and spreads
over a “great wall” about 600 million light years across. This makes it one of
the largest superclusters to be discovered and also the furthest.
- The astronomers belong to Inter-University Centre
for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA) and Indian Institutes of Science
Education and Research (IISER) in Pune, besides NIT, Jamshedpur and Newman
College, Thodupuzha.
- The first supercluster of galaxies, the Shapley
Supercluster, was discovered in 1989, and the second, the Sloan Great Wall
in 2003. The Milky Way galaxy is part of the Laniakea Supercluster, which
was discovered in 2014.
EU, India set up fund for investments
The European Union (EU) and India have announced the establishment of an Investment Facilitation
Mechanism (IFM) for EU investments in India.
- The IFM has been established with the key
objectives of paving the way for identifying and solving problems faced by
EU companies and investors with regard to their operations in India.
- The mechanism will allow for a close coordination
between the European Union and the Government of India with an aim to
promote and facilitate EU investment in India. The IFM will cover new
investors as well as those already established in India.
- The IFM builds on the Joint Statement of the 13th
EU-India Summit held in Brussels in March 2016
APG meet on money laundering
in Colombo
The APG meeting is scheduled
to be held from July 17 to 21 in Colombo.
- Policy frameworks on checking terror financing will
be one of the issues to be taken at the Asia Pacific Group (APG) on Money
Laundering meet, in which representatives of 41 countries, including
India, are expected to participate in Colombo the next week.
- Among the participating member countries are
Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar, Nepal, Singapore, Maldives,
United States, Australia, Canada, China and Pakistan.
US House passes Bill for strengthening defence ties with
India
The US House of Representatives has passed a $621.5 billion defence policy
bill that proposes to advance defence cooperation with India.
- An amendment in this regard was adopted by a voice
vote by the House as part of the National Defense
Authorisation Act (NDAA) 2018, beginning 1 October this
year. NDAA-2018 was passed by the House 344-81.
- As passed by the House, NDAA-2018 asks the State
Department and the Pentagon to develop a strategy that addresses common security challenges, the role of
American partners and allies in India-US defence relationship, and role of
the defence technology and trade initiative.
BSNL unveils tech for 1 Gbps download speed
Telecom Minister Manoj Sinha
unveiled a next generation optical fibre-based technology on the BSNL network
that will enable the state-owned firm to provide broadband connection with
download speed, of up to 1,000 mbps.
- Bharat Sanchar Nigam currently offers broadband
facility with a top download speed of 100 megabit per second on its
fibre-to-home network.
WPI inflation slows to
11-month low of 0.9%
Wholesale price inflation
slowed to a 11-month low of 0.9% in June due to subdued food inflation and weak
manufacturing prices, according to data released by the Ministry of Commerce.
- This comes at a time when retail inflation for June
slowed to 1.54%, below the lower tolerance level set by the Reserve Bank
of India.
- Growth in the Wholesale Price Index slowed for the
fourth consecutive month in June from the 5.51% registered in February.
- The last time it was below 1% was in July 2016, when
it was at 0.63%.
Trade deficit widens to $13 bn
According to data released
by the commerce ministry, With goods imports outpacing exports in June, trade
deficit for the month widened to $12.95 billion. In June 2016, the goods trade
deficit was only $8.1 billion.
- Continuing with growth indicated since September
2016, goods exports in June 2017 rose 4.39% year-on-year to $23.56
billion.
- However, imports in June jumped 19% to $36.5 billion.
