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INDIAN AFFAIRS
MHA launched ‘Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C)’ for 2018-2020
On July 17, 2019, Minister of State for Home Affairs, Shri G. Kishan Reddy informed that Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has launched a scheme ‘Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C)’ for the period 2018-2020. It is aimed to combat cyber crime in India in a coordinated and effective manner.
Key Points:
i. I4C has 7 components namely:
- National Cybercrime Threat Analytics Unit
- National Cybercrime Reporting Portal
- Platform for Joint Cybercrime Investigation Team
- National Cybercrime Forensic Laboratory Ecosystem
- National Cybercrime Training Centre
- Cybercrime Ecosystem Management Unit
- National Cyber Research and Innovation Centre
ii. Cybercrime Reporting Portal: It was launched to enable the citizens to report online content pertaining to Child Pornography (CP)/ Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) or sexually explicit content such as Rape/Gang Rape (CP/RGR).
About MHA:
♦ Headquarters: New Delhi
♦ Founded: 15 August 1947
♦ Minister In-charge: Amit Shah
Deeksharambh, a UGC Guide to Student Induction Programme released by HRD
On July 19, 2019, Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’, Union Minister of Human Resource Development (HRD) has released a UGC(University Grants Commission) Guide to Student Induction Programme called “Deeksharambh” in New Delhi.
Key points:
About Deeksharambh:
i. The guide: It helps new students adjust and feel comfortable in the new environment at higher education institutions & inculcate in them the ethos and culture of the institution. It also helps them build bonds with other students and faculty members and expose them to a sense of larger purpose and self-exploration.
ii. Motive: It empowers aspirant learners to face competitive world with confidence, open new life leading to character building based on universal human values such as truth, righteous conduct, non-violence, etc.
iii. Feature: It engages with the new students as soon as they come into the institution before regular classes start. It helps to learn about the institutional policies, processes, practices, culture, and values, and their mentor groups are formed.
About UGC:
Founded: 1956
Headquarters: New Delhi
It is a statutory body set up by the Indian Union government in accordance with the UGC Act 1956 under Ministry of Human Resource Development,
R K Singh reviews first-ever Draft Plan for Power Distribution Sector prepared by CEA
On July 16, 2019, R K Singh, Union Minister of State for Power and New & Renewable Energy has reviewed the first-ever Draft Distribution Perspective Plan for the power sector in India. The plan has been prepared by the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) under the guidance of the Ministry of Power.
Key points:
i. Aim: The plan is aimed at sustaining the goal of 24X7 uninterrupted power for all with the increasing demand of electricity by consumers.
ii. Attribution: The plan lays emphasis on 100% metering of all consumers and providing an electricity connection on demand & it also envisages frontier technology initiatives with an objective of providing reliable quality power supply to consumers.
iii. Conversion: In addition, the plan also envisages conversion of all electricity consumer meters into smart meters, which will help consumers in conserving energy and plan their electricity usage in an efficient manner in prepaid mode done within the next 3years.
iv. Anticipation: The plan expects an increase in Distribution substation capacity by 38%, Distribution transformation capacity by 32% and an increase in different types of feeder lengths by 27-38% till 2022.
v. Cooperative Federalism: Once the plan released, it will be operationalized along with States and their DISCOMs (Distribution Companies) under the spirit of cooperative and competitive federalism.
vi. Direction: The ministry also directed the officials to study the power reforms 2.0 which would be integrated with the plan.
Under PMRPY, 1.18 crore Employees benefited
On July 17, 2019, Minister of State (I/C) for Labour and Employment Shri Santosh Kumar Gangwar informed that the total number of employees benefited under Pradhan Mantri Rojgar Protsahan Yojana (PMRPY) from 01.04.2016 to 31.03.2019 were 1,18,05,003 and the amount paid during the same period was Rs. 4370.60 crore.
Year-wise details are as follows:
| Year | Employees benefited |
| 2016-17 | 33,031 |
| 2017-18 | 30,25,084 |
| 2018-19 | 87,46,888 |
About PMRPY:
It is a scheme to incentivise employers registered with the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) for job creation by the Government paying the full contribution of employers to the Employee Pension Scheme (EPS) and Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) in respect of new employees having a new Universal Account Number (UAN). It will be in operation for a period of 3 years and the Government of India will continue to pay the full contribution to be made by the employer for the next 3 years. That is, all new eligible employees will be covered under the PMRPY Scheme till 2019-20.
India to be free of Tuberculosis by 2025
On July 16, 2019, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while addressing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Members of Parliament (MP) in New Delhi, asked the parliamentarians to take up a social cause or an issue of human sensitivity as a mission. India has fixed a deadline of 2025 for eradicating tuberculosis (TB) against the global deadline of 2030. He stressed on the need to eradicate them. The aim of the mission is “TB Harega Aur Desh Jeetega”.
MoU: Union Health Ministry signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Ministries of Defence, Railways and Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy (AYUSH) to eliminate TB from India by 2025 in the presence of Minister of State for Health Ashwini K Choubey and Minister of AYUSH Shripad Nayak.
About TB:
Tuberculosis (TB) is a potentially serious infectious disease that mainly affects lungs. The bacteria that cause tuberculosis are spread from one person to another through tiny droplets released into the air via coughs and sneezes.
Tamil Nadu Govt announces the creation of two new Districts
On July 18, 2019, The Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu(T.N), Edappadi K. Palaniswami stated that two new districts Tenkasi and Chengalpattu will be created for administrative convenience by bifurcating Tirunelveli and Kancheepuram districts respectively. With this, the total number of districts in the state will go up to 35.
Key points:
i. The State Government will appoint separate officials for these two new districts to take forward work related to the bifurcation of big districts.
ii. Sivagiri, Ambasamudram, Kadayanallur, and Sengottai regions are likely to fall under Tenkasi district, which had a population of 70,545 as per 2011 census. Chengalpattu is located about 55 km away from the Chennai, state capital.
iii. To address grievances of people in a rural and urban region, the state government also announced “ Chief Minister’s special grievances redressal scheme and the sanction of Rs.50 crore for up-gradation of amenities in Vellore municipality.
iv. The state government bifurcated Villupuram district to form Kallakurichi district, 33rd in the state in January 2019.
About Tamil Nadu:
Capital: Chennai
Governor: Banwarilal Purohit
National Parks: Guindy National Park, Gulf of Mannar Marine National Park,Indira Gandhi (Annamalai) National Park ,Mudumalai National Park ,Mukurthi National Park.
INS Sagardhwani starts on mission Sagar Maitri
The Marine Acoustic Research Ship (MARS), INS Sagardhwan started its two-month long second mission Sagar Maitri from Southern Naval Command in Kochi, Kerala. It was flagged off by Southern Naval commander Vice Admiral A.K. Chawla and Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) chairman G. Satheesh Reddy. It will be visiting Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia and would be initiating collaborative research programmes with selected institutes in these countries.
Key Points:
i. The aim of the mission is to collect data from the entire North Indian ocean with the focus on the Andaman Sea and adjoining seas and establish long term collaboration with Indian Ocean Ring countries in the field of ‘Ocean Research and Development’.
ii. The mission aligns with the broad objective of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s policy declaration ‘Safety And Growth for All in the Region’ (SAGAR).
iii. The first Sagar Maitri mission was held in April 2019 when INS Sagardhwani visited Myanmar.
INS Sagardhwani
It is an indigenously built Marine Acoustic Research Ship (MARS) which was commissioned in 1994. Owned by Naval Physical & Oceanographic Laboratory and operated by the Indian Navy, the ship has carried out intensive oceanographic observational programmes and research over the years. It will celebrate its silver jubilee on July 30, 2019.
INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS
Sri Lanka & IRCON International Ltd signed $91.26 mn agreement to upgrade rail track located between Colombo and Jaffna
On July 18, 2019, Government of Sri Lanka and IRCON (Indian Railway Construction Company) International Limited, under the Ministry of Railways, signed $91.26 million agreement for the up-gradation of 130 km rail track located between Colombo and Jaffna in Tamil -majority northern province of Sri Lanka. It was signed by Sunil Kumar Choudhury, Chairman & Managing Director, Ircon International Limited, and L.P Jayampathy, Secretary, Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation of Sri Lanka in the presence of Hon. Arjuna Ranatunga, Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation of Sri Lanka.
Key Points:
i. It will be upgraded under Indian concessional financing between Maho to Omanthai, Sri Lanka which is going to happen for the first time in 100 years.
ii. It includes 12 crossing stations, 7 halt stations and 78 level crossings.
iii. A new crossing station will be constructed between Medawachchiya to Vavuniya, Sri Lanka and 218 culverts and 90 bridges will be repaired or reconstructed as required. It will double the speed potential of the railway track from the current 60 km to 120 km per hour.
iv. Till now, India has committed Line of Credit (LoC) worth $1.3 billion for the development of the railway sector in Sri Lanka and has upgraded around 300 km of railway track and provided modern signaling and telecommunication system for around 330 km in Sri Lanka.
About Sri Lanka:
♦ Capital: Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte, Colombo
♦ Currency: Sri Lankan rupee
♦ Prime Minister: Ranil Wickremesinghe
About IRCON International Limited:
♦ Headquarters: New Delhi
♦ Established: April 27, 1976
WHO declares Congo Ebola outbreak a Health emergency of International Concern
On July 18, 2019, The World Health Organization (WHO) declared Ebola outbreak in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) a “Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC)” in the emergency committee meeting held in Geneva, Switzerland. This is for the 5th time WHO has invoked an emergency provision.
Key points:
i. Background: The DRC is in grip of its worst-ever Ebola outbreak, which is the 2nd deadliest Ebola epidemic in history, behind only the 2014 West Africa outbreak that killed more than 11,000 people.
Impact: This outbreak in Congo had begun in August 2018 and has mainly affected North Kivu and Ituri provinces in eastern DRC, an area wracked by conflict involving various armed groups.
Obstruction: Efforts to control the virus in DRC are hampered by violence from insurgent groups, including attacks on treatment centres.
WHO outlook: According to WHO figures, there have been over 2,400 confirmed and probable cases of Ebola, of which more than 1,600 people have died as of 7 July 2019.
About PHEIC: It is a rare designation only used for the gravest epidemics. It was declared in 2009H1N1 (swine flu) pandemic, polio declaration in 2014, and the 2015–16 Zika virus epidemic.
About Congo:
Capital: Kinshasa
Currencies: Congolese franc, Zairean Zaire
President: Felix Tshisekedi
Prime Minister: Sylvestre Ilunga
About WHO:
Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland
Director-General: Tedros Adhanom
BANKING & FINANCE
ADB lowers India’s FY2020 GDP growth forecast to 7%
On July 18, 2019, According to a recent Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) report titled ‘Asian Development Outlook 2019, India’s GDP (gross domestic product) growth expected to grow by 7% in 2019 (FY-Fiscal Year 2020) and 7.2% in 2020 (FY21). It revised downwards its outlook for FY20 due to unexpected weak FY2018 outturn.
Key points:
i. Reason: Growth is expected to increase again to 7.2% in FY21, helped by recent reforms to improve the business climate, strengthen banks and relieve agrarian distress.
ii.Quarter basis: In the 4th quarter of the fiscal year 2018-19, GDP growth in India declined to 5.8% year-on-year(Y-O-Y), down more than expected from 6.6% and it is the lowest in five years.
iii.SA region: ADB’s outlook for the South Asian(SA) region remains powerful with growth projected at 6.6 percent in 2019 and 6.7 percent in 2020.
iv.Previous forecast: In April 2019, the ADB had lowered India’s growth forecast for 2019-20 to 7.2% from 7.6% estimated earlier, due to moderation in global demand and likely shortfall in revenue on the domestic front.
v. Fitch Rating: Due to the manufacturing and agriculture sectors witnessed slowing down over the past year, Fitch also decreases India’s GDP growth forecast for FY20, to 6.6% from 6.8 %.
vi. Trade impact: On the impact of the US(United States) decision to end preferential trade treatment for India under its Generalised System of Preferences(GSP), it will have less effect as it benefited only 1.8 % of all Indian exports.
About ADB:
Headquarters: Mandaluyong, Philippines
President: Takehiko Nakao
Founded: 19 December 1966
Andhra Bank rolls-out Al chatbot “ABHi” in Telangana
On July 15, 2019, A medium-sized public sector bank in India, Andhra Bank launched its AI (Artificial Intelligence) interactive assistant called “ABHi” at a function in Hyderabad, Telangana.
Key points:
i. ABHi: It uses new-age technologies include to understand the customer query and fetch the relevant information from the possible knowledge base in a matter of milliseconds.
ii.Creation: ABHi is powered by AI startup Floatbot.ai (Bangalore) in partnership with IT(Information Technology) company Netxcell Limited(Hyderabad).
iii.Benefits: Customers will be able to get the information instantaneously 24×7, anytime by using ABHi & can also connect and know details from ABHi through (www.andhrabank.in) over Mobile/Desktop browser, Facebook Messenger and over voice using Google Assistant .it would also converse with customers on Whatsapp.
iv. Queries: Andhra bank customers can ask details on digital banking, loans, banking services, govt. schemes, insurance, senior citizen, RuPay Offers, Aadhaar services, payment mode, lodge a customer complaint, know nearest Branch / ATM on Google map, recharge prepaid mobile, etc., on chat anytime.
v. ABHi would also enable banking services such as balance check, ordering a cheque book, view mini statement, recent transactions in future.
About Andhra Bank:
Headquarters: Hyderabad
Founded: 20 November 1923
MD& CEO: J Packirisamy
Tagline: Where India Banks
BUSINESS & ECONOMY
India’s current account balance deficit shoots up to $68 billion in 2018-19: IMF
According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), India’s current account (CA) balance deficit rose to $68 billion in 2018-19 from $49 billion in 2017-18.
Key points:
i. The External Sector Report of the IMF stated that India’s Net International Investment Position has marginally improved with the deficit comes down from $438 billion in 2017-18 to $431 billion in 2018-19.
ii. India’s overall international reserves stood at $411.9 billion at the end of March 2019 from $12.5 billion in March 2018.
iii. India’s low per capita income, favorable growth prospects, demographic trends, and development are the reason for CA deficits.
iv. India’s economic risks developed from volatility in global financial conditions and an oil price surge, as well as a retreat from cross-border integration.
v. In order to attract FDI (Foreign Direct Investment)for India, IMF suggested improving the business climate, easing domestic supply bottlenecks, and liberalizing trade and investment which would help “improve the CA financing mix, and contain external vulnerabilities”.
About IMF:
Headquarters: Washington, D.C., United States
Chief Economist: Gita Gopinath
Bangladesh-India bilateral trade in FY 2017-18 was $9.5 billion
The Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industries (FBCCI) President Sheikh Fazle Fahim stated that the bilateral trade between India and Bangladesh accounted to $9.5 billion for 2017-18. Exports to India accounted at $0.87 billion and imports were $8.6 billion. This was announced on the sidelines of a two-day B2B (Business to Business) trade summit held in Kolkata, West Bengal.
Key Points:
i. Potential opportunities to increase trade relationships between the countries were in the areas like joint high tech research, development and innovation incubators, Joint Ventures(JV) on light, medium and heavy industries, knowledge transfer to transition from 3rd IR to 4th IR including service sector cooperation in Information and Communications Technology (ICT), nanotechnology, robotics, Internet of Things (IOT), cyber security, Artificial Intelligence (AI), quantum computing, quantum internet among others.
ii. Knowledge transfer for trade, investment & revenue regulatory framework, policy planning, business process re-engineering of MSMEs (Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises), joint exploration and joint ventures on blue economy, knowledge transfer for industry academia HR (Human Resource) skill gap are some of the other areas of cooperation between the two nations.
iii. High potential and sunrise sectors in the economy of Bangladesh include leather goods, pharmaceuticals, shipbuilding, frozen seafood, ceramics, jute products, ICT, Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG), home appliances, agro processing and fisheries.
About Bangladesh:
♦ Capital: Dhaka
♦ Currency: Bangladeshi taka
♦ Prime Minister: Sheikh Hasina
US not to sell F-35 fighter jets to Turkey after it bought S-400 missile defense system from Russia
The President of the United States (US) Donald Trump informed that the US would not sell the F-35 fighter jets to Turkey after Ankara, capital of Turkey, purchased the S-400 missile defense system from Russia.
Key Points:
i. F-35 is a stealth, fifth-generation, multirole combat aircraft, designed for ground-attack and air-superiority missions.
ii. As per current US laws, any country purchasing major defence equipment from Russia could be subject to American sanctions. The US Congress has made amendments in the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) for a presidential waiver.
MSME Pulse Report: Gujarat tops
According to TransUnion Credit Information Bureau (India) Limited (CIBIL) – Small Industries Development Bank of India’s (SIDBI) Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSME) Pulse Report, Gujarat was ranked first in terms of performance and credit growth potential for MSME Corporate Lending in India. It has maintained the top position since the past 4 years. MSME corporate entities are borrowers with aggregate credit exposure of up to Rs 50 crore. The market size of this category is Rs 17.6 lakh crore as of March 31, 2019.
Key Points:
i. Other Rankings: Gujarat was followed by Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Karnataka and Delhi. Maharashtra, one among the most industrialized states, was ranked 9th.
ii. States with high potential: Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir are the other states with high potential in MSME corporate lending.
iii. Market Growth: Andhra Pradesh was ranked highest in market growth in FY19. Haryana and Karnataka got equal scores in MSME Ranking, but Haryana fared better in delinquency and score quality of consumers while Karnataka was positioned well in market size and market growth.
iv. Debt: Total debt in India increased at a Compounded Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 13.3% to reach Rs 253 lakh crore in the five-year period from March 31, 2015 to March 31, 2019. The growth in aggregate debt in the past four years was powered by a 22% CAGR growth on lending to individuals, 13.4% CAGR of lending to commercial entities and a 10.6% of government debt.
v. NPAs: The Non Performing Assets (NPAs) registered a decline accounting to 16% in March 31, 2019 from 17.2% in March 31, 2018.
AWARDS & RECOGNITIONS
SAARC Film Festival 2019 held at the National Film Corporation Cinema Hall, Colombo, Sri Lanka
The 9th Edition of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Film Festival for the year 2019 was held at the National Film Corporation Cinema Hall, Colombo, Sri Lanka from July 2-7, 2019. It was conducted by the SAARC Cultural Centre. It screened 34 films which consisted of 15 feature films, 13 short films and 6 master films from the SAARC Member states of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.
Key Points:
i. Indian entries bagged 6 awards.
ii. Nagarkirtan, a Bengali film, was awarded the Best Feature Film.
iii. Best Director Award was conferred to Kaushik Ganguly for Nagarkirtan.
iv. Riddhi Sen won the best actor award and Prabuddha Bannerjee bagged Best Original Score for Nagarkirtan.
v. Best Short Film Award was conferred to Na Bole Wo Haram directed by Nitish Patan.
vi. Special Jury Award for Direction and Story was conferred to ‘Walking with the Wind’, by Praveen Morchhale.
About SAARC:
♦ Founded: 8 December 1985
♦ Headquarters: Kathmandu, Nepal
“Tata” becomes India’s most valuable brand for 2019: Brand Finance India 100 2019 report
According to the London-based consultancy Brand Finance annual report , “Brand Finance India 100 2019”, “Tata” has become India’s most valuable brand for the second straight year in 2019 with the brand value of $19.6 billion followed by LIC(Life Insurance Corporation) (2nd )with $7.3 billion and Infosys (3rd )$6.5 billion.
Key points:
i. The brand value of Tata increased to 37% with $19.6 billion, the highest in the top 25 compared to $14.23 billion in 2018.
ii.TATA group’s brand present across autos, IT services, steel, and chemicals.
iii. Brand Finance, calculates the value of brands based on the ‘royalty relief approach’, which estimates likely future sales that are attributable to a brand based on the royalty rate.It also ranks brands based on its strength & performance with its competitors.
About TATA group:
Founder: Jamsetji Tata
Headquarters: Mumbai, Maharashtra,
Chairman : Natarajan Chandrasekaran
Repco MFI wins an award from NABARD for SHG linkage in TN for 2018-19
Repco Micro Finance, a Non-Banking Financial Company (NBFC)-Micro Finance Institution (MFI) promoted by Repco Bank, was awarded for outstanding performance in terms of Self-Help Group (SHG) linkage in Tamil Nadu for 2018-19 from National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD).
Key Points:
i. It operates from 90 branches in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry and has an employee strength of about 600 people.
ii. It has provided SHG loans worth Rs 3,600 crore to over 12 lakh individual beneficiaries through 60,000 SHGs.
About Repco Micro Finance:
♦ Headquarters: Chennai, Tamil Nadu
♦ Founded: 2007
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SPORTS
Commonwealth Weightlifting Championship 2019- Overview, India topped the medal tally in the Championship
From 9th July to 15th July 2019, Commonwealth Weightlifting Championships held in Apia, Samoa. The championship were held across three categories — senior, junior and youth.
i. India topped the medal tally by winning 35 medals across three categories viz 22 golds, 10 silvers and 3 bronze medals in all categories. India also broke a total of 22 records in all 3 age groups in World, Asian, Commonwealth and National level as well as set a new junior record at Commonwealth and National level.
ii. Indian weightlifter Ajay Singh created a new Commonwealth record in the clean and jerk category by lifting more than double his body weight (190kg)………………………….Click here to Read more
Sachin Tendulkar became the 6th Indian to be inducted into ICC Hall of Fame
Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar was inducted into International Cricket Council’s (ICC) Hall of Fame along with South African pace legend Allan Donald and Australian woman cricketer Cathryn Fitzpatrick. With this, Tendulkar became the 6th Indian cricketer to be inducted into ICC’s Hall of Fame after Bishen Singh Bedi, Kapil Dev, Sunil Gavaskar, Anil Kumble, and Rahul Dravid.
Hima Das bags her 4th gold at in the Tabor Athletics Meet 2019
Star Indian sprinter Hima Das (19) from Assam clinched her 4th international gold in women’s 200m race with a time of 23.25 seconds and Muhammed Anas Yahiya (Kerala) also won gold in the men’s 400m with the time of 45.40s at the Tabor Athletics Meet 2019 in the Czech Republic.
Key points:
i. She won her 3rd international gold in women’s 200m race at the Kladno Memorial Athletics Meet 2019 in the Czech Republic on July 15, 2019.
ii. Hima won 2nd 200m gold in women’s 200m race with a time of 23.97 seconds at the Kutno Athletics Meet 2019 in Poland on July 8, 2019, & won the 1st 200m race gold at the Poznan Athletics Grand Prix with the time of 23.65 sec in Poland on July 2, 2019.
ii. Other Indian winners at the Tabor Athletics Meet are:
In Men’s 400m race, Nirmal Noah Tom came second with 45.59s, K.S. Jeevan came third with 46.60s & M.P. Jabir finished fourth with 47.16s.
In women’s 200m race, V.K. Vismaya came second with 23.43s.
About the Czech Republic:
Capital: Prague
President: Miloš Zeman
Prime Minister: Andrej Babiš
21st Commonwealth Table Tennis Championship commenced at the Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium, Cuttack, Odisha
The 21st Commonwealth Table Tennis Championship (CTTC) for the year 2019 began at the Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium, Cuttack, Odisha. It will be held from July 17- 22, 2019 and it was inaugurated by the Governor of Odisha, Professor Ganeshi Lal. 12 nations are participating in the tournament. This is for the 7th time, India is hosting the event. The 21st edition also marks the 50th anniversary of the championship.
About CCTC:
♦ First held: 1969
Arjun Bhati of India won Junior World Golf Championship 2019
Arjun Bhati of India won Future Champions Golf (FCG) Callaway Junior World Golf Championship 2019 by defeating Taiwan’s Jeremy Chen with 199 strokes in Palm Desert, California. He finished at 17-under-par for three rounds and made the best score among 13-18 age category.
i.He was followed by Jeremy Chen and New Zealand’s Joshua Bai at second and third positions with 202 and 207 strokes respectively.
Archer Deepika Kumari won silver in Tokyo Olympic test event
Indian archer Deepika Kumari won silver at the Ready Steady Tokyo test event for the 2020 Olympic Games held in Tokyo, Japan. She lost to Korean An San in straight sets 6-0. She was ranked 4th in the qualification round.
About 2020 Tokyo Olympics:
♦ Schedule: 24 July- 9 August 2020
♦ Host: Tokyo, Japan
Zimbabwe Cricket suspended by ICC with immediate effect
On July 19, 2019, Zimbabwe cricket has been suspended by the International Cricket Council (ICC) with immediate effect after it breached the ICC Constitution by failing to provide free and democratic elections and ensuring that there is no government interference in its administration.
Key points:
i. The decision was taken by the ICC board during the ICC Annual Conference in London.
ii. With this suspension, Zimbabwe Cricket will be frozen and representative teams from Zimbabwe will not be allowed to participate in any ICC tournaments.
iii. ICC also decided to introduce concussion replacements following successful trials in domestic cricket from August 1, 2019.
iv. It also altered the punishment for maintaining a slow over-rate. Both the captain & the players will face fine as both held equal responsibility.
About ICC:
Chairperson: Shashank Manohar
Headquarters: Dubai, United Arab Emirates
CEO: Manu Sawhney
IMPORTANT DAYS
International Shark Awareness Day 2019 observed on July 14
International Shark Awareness Day was observed on July 14, 2019. The objective of the day is to spread awareness about the dangers of sharks. The theme for the year 2019 is “The sharks in crisis: a call to action for the Mediterranean.”
Key Points:
i. On this occasion, The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), headquartered in Gland, Switzerland, released a report highlighting the risks to Sharks in the Mediterranean region.
ii. Overfishing and plastic pollution were the threats highlighted by the report.
iii. Libya and Tunisia were the worst culprits, with each country’s fishery hauling in about 4,200 tonnes of sharks a year.
STATE NEWS
P Rajagopal, Saravana Bhavan founder passed away in Chennai
On July 18, 2019, Founder of popular South Indian food chain Saravana Bhavan, P Rajagopal, who convicted in a murder case passed away due to a Heart attack in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. He was 72.
Key points:
i. He was born in Punnaiyadi, Tuticorin District of Tamil Nadu.
ii. He had surrendered before a local court to serve a life sentence in a murder case and had been shifted to Vijaya Hospital after the Madras High Court passed an interim order.
iii. For murdering an employee in October 2001, he had surrendered along with another accused earlier to serve life term after the Supreme Court rejected his plea seeking more time on grounds of ill-health.
Haryana Govt & BSE ink pact to facilitate MSMEs raise capital
On July 18, 2019, The state Government of Haryana and India’s leading Bombay stock exchange (BSE) have signed a pact to encourage and support state’s micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to raise capital.
Key points:
i. The tie-up will enable SMEs (Small and medium-sized enterprises) to raise funds through the platform “BSE SME”, where small companies can list and raise productive capital, gain visibility and credibility.
ii. The small enterprises will get equity financing opportunities for their growth from expansion to acquisition by getting listed on the platform.
iii. In addition, the listing increase the investor base, which helps in getting secondary equity financing, including private placement, among others.
iv. The partnership will create MSMEs as major employment providing sectors in the Haryana state.
About BSE:
Founded: 9 July 1875
Headquarters: Mumbai, Maharashtra
Chairman: Vikramajit Sen
MD & CEO: Ashishkumar Chauhan
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