Current Affairs Today – July 17 2016

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  INDIAN AFFAIRS

Pema Khandu sworn in as Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh

• Pema Khandu was sworn in as the 10th Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh marking the culmination of fast-paced political developments in the State. In the sidelines Chowna Mein was sworn in as the Deputy Chief Minister.
• The 37-year-old Pema who became the youngest Chief Minister in the country, and Mein were administered the oath by Governor Tathagata Roy at the Rajbhavan in Itanagar.
• Ahead of the scheduled floor test in the Assembly the Congress Legislature Party elected Pema Khandu, in place of Nabam Tuki, who was restored as Chief Minister earlier this week after the apex court verdict.
• Pema claimed to power on the basis of the support of 45 party MLAs along with two independents that makes 47 supporters for CongressIn the 60-member House with an effective strength of 58.

Arunachal Pradesh:

• Capital: Itanagar
• Governor: Jyoti Prasad Rajkhowa
• Chief Minister: Pema Khandu

Commerce Ministry starts e-marketplace for goods procurement
i.Union Commerce Ministry has launched an e-marketplace for online purchase of goods and services by various central government ministries and departments that will help aggregate demand also lead to lower prices, better choices and faster procurement.
ii.The move is aimed at passing in more transparency and streamlining the government procurement of goods and services.
iii.The Directorate General of Supplies and Disposals (DGS&D) has developed the portal for the purpose. The department, which is under the Commerce Ministry, carries out the procurement.

Government unveils fourth tranche of Sovereign Gold Bonds

• Union Finance Ministry has launched the fourth Tranche of Sovereign Gold Bonds (SGB) for resident individuals and institutional investors. It will be open for investment from July 18 to 22.
• The issue price of the 4th tranche has been fixed at Rs. 3119 per gram of gold based on average of last week prices of physical gold.
• The first three tranches had attracted an investment of 1318 crore, equivalent to 4.9 metric tons of gold at the then prevailing prices.
• The government presented bonds are a physical gold plus since it also gives an interest of 2.75 percent per annum, payable every six months on initial investment.

Revised Norms:

• The investment in SGB is also eligible investment for Statutory Liquidity Ratio of Banks. The SGB is eligible to be converted into Demat form and can be used as collaterals for availing loans.
• The SGB shall be repayable on the expiration of eight years from the date of the issue and premature redemption is permitted after fifth, sixth and seventh years from the date of issue of SGB.
• The minimum subscription has been reduced to one gm, although the maximum remains at 500 gm per person/institution.
• The SGB is also exempt from capital gains tax on redemption. Indexation benefit will also be available to long-term capital gains on transfer of bond.
• Upon new norms the SGB can now be acquired from NSE and BSE, besides all Bank branches, select Post Offices and the Stock Holding Corporation of India Ltd. (SHCIL).

‘The Great India Run’ Marathon Flagged Off At India Gate
i.India’s first multi-city marathon The Great India Run was flagged off by Sports Minister Vijay Goel, Union Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju and former World Championship bronze medallist Anju Bobby George at the  at the Amar Jawan Jyoti India Gate in New Delhi.
ii.The 1,480 kilometres long ultra-marathon will feature 15 of the best ultra marathoners from Asia, Africa, US and Europe in its inaugural edition.
iii.It is being organised just ahead of the Rio Olympics, is an attempt at inspiring the people of the country to get fit.
iv.To motivate people to take up running as a consistent activity in life, the run will also see a five kilometre ‘Fun Run’ at every pit stop (Ghaziabad, Delhi, Gurgaon, Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Silvassa and Mumbai) for beginners.

Karnataka joins Andhra and Telangana, to tap NRIs for start-ups
i.Karnataka is mulling to tap non-resident Kannadigas to set up start-ups and technology units in its revised start-up policy, reflecting the efforts by rival states Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. The state capital is India’s start-up hub, with nearly a third of new firms being set up in the city.
ii.The move is also aimed at building a bridge with influential technology and business leaders from the community in the US and West Asia for more investments.
iii.The state government is focusing on incubating start-ups that use technology in agriculture, horticulture, housing and transport.

Delhi CM launches live interactive programme
i.Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal launched a live interactive programme named  TalkToAK, to make directly engaging with the Delhiites.
ii.The first programme lasted for two hours, in which the Chief Minister answered a wide-ranging questions based on education, youth and city administration.
iii.During the trial run of the programme he said his government has planned 100 new schools, which would be better than private players owned one.

APPOINTMENTS & RESIGNS

HCL Tech appoints Vijay Kumar as COO

i.IT services company HCL Technologies Ltd on July 16 said its president, infrastructure services, C. Vijay Kumar will take on additional responsibility as chief operating officer.
ii.A role of Chief Operating Officer has been established to accelerate growth in the core business. C Vijay Kumar, currently President, Infrastructure Services will take on this additional responsibility and continue to report to Anant Gupta, President & CEO,” HCL Tech

HCL Technologies

• Founded: August 11, 1976
• Headquarters: Noida
• CEO: Anant Gupta

BANKING & FINANCE 

International exchange to be set-up in Gift City
i.The Mumbai based BSE is planning to trade currency, metals and energy at its upcoming international commodity exchange at the International Finance Tec-City (Gift City) which will power the global growth story for the Indian Banking Financial Services (BFSI) sector in Gandhinagar.
ii.The exchange is in process will be a trading platform for globally traded things like energy, currency and metals etc.
iii.BSE has also decided to form isolated company for the purpose that will be its full-time subsidiary. The process of the new company is going on.

BUSINESS

Ashok Leyland to set up bus assembly unit in Kenya
i.Hinduja Group’s Ashok Leyland to set up a bus assembly plant in Kenya with an investment of Rs 70 crore as part of its global expansion plans. This plant will have an annual capacity of 1,200 buses.
ii.The plant will begin this quarter itself in Kenya will serve at least three neighboring countries, besides catering to local demand.
iii.This plant will also serve as an export hub for three neighboring countries, in addition meeting local demand in Kenya.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Scientists developed a new robot – with human sized feet

• US Scientists have developed a new robot that can imitates the walking motion of humans, making it more energy-efficient and better at navigating uneven terrain.
• The bipedal robot- with human sized feet fastened up in a pair of sneakers steps with a heel-toe motion that copies human locomotion more closely than flat-footed robot walkers can.
• The humanoid robot DURUS was designed collaboratively by the research firm SRI International and Georgia Tech’s Advanced Mechanical Bipedal Experimental Robotics (AMBER) Lab.

SPORTS

Vijender Singh beats Kerry Hope to clinch WBO Asia Pacific title

i.Indian Pro boxer Vijender Singh clinched the WBO Asia Pacific Super Middleweight title with a dominating win over former WBC European champion Kerry Hope in New Delhi.
ii.Vijender took all 10 rounds to systematically dismantle the Australian and record his seventh straight win in the circuit, a year after turning professional. The Haryana man scored 98-92, 98-92, 100-90 to be the unanimous winner.
iii.The victory pushed him to the 15th spot in the WBO rankings, however he will have to defend his title in the next two months. Also this was his 7th straight pro-career win.

India jumps 11 places to 152nd in football rankings

i.Indian football team has climbed 11 places in the latest FIFA rankings and reached 152nd spot. This progress comes after two successive win over Laos in the AFC Asian Cup qualification playoffs.
ii.The Ranking is topped by Argentina in fact, India is the fourth best positive mover among the Asian countries.
iii.Overall Belgium, Colombia, Germany and Chile retained their places at second, third, fourth and fifth while UEFA Euro 2016 champions Portugal moved up two places to be at sixth.
Federation Internationale de Football Association

• Inception: 21 May 1904.
• HQ – Zürich, Switzerland.
• Moto: For the Game. For the World.