National & International Appointment
1. Pema Khandu sworn in as Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister
- Pema Khandu (37-year) son of late chief minister Dorjee Khandu has sworn in as the chief minister of north-eastern state Arunachal Pradesh
- Chowna Mein was sworn in as the deputy chief minister.
- Pema became the youngest chief minister in the country
- Earlier, hours ahead of the scheduled floor test in the Assembly on Saturday which chief minister Nabam Tuki was directed by the governor to take
- In a volte-face, ousted chief minister Khaliko Pul, also returned to the party fold with 30 dissident MLAs.
Note:-
- The Indian National Congress emerged as the single largest party with 42 seats in the 60-seat legislature and Nabam Tuki became the Chief Minister.
- The assembly was suspended and the government was dissolved by the President Pranab Mukherjee on 26 January 2016.
- Congress Government lost its 30 leaders as 30 MLAs defected to regional party People’s Party of Arunachal.
- All of the 30 MLAs returned to Congress on 16 July and Mr. Pema Khandu was sworn in as the Chief Minister.
2. Navjot Singh Sidhu resigns from Rajya Sabha
- BJP leader and Rajya Sabha member Navjot Singh Sidhu has resigned from house.
- Earlier,Cricketer-turned-politician Sindhu was nominated to the Rajya Sabha in April this year.
- Sidhu was MP from Amritsar from 2004 to 2014.
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In the 2014 Lok Sabha election, finance minister Arun Jaitley had contested from Amritsar in place of Navjot Singh Sidhu.
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Dr. Navjot Kaur, BJP MLA from Amritsar (East) and Chief Parliamentary Secretary (CPS) in the SAD-BJP government, has also reportedly resigned from the post of CPS.
Important Dates
3. 18th July : Nelson Mandela International Day
Nelson Mandela International Day is an annual international day in honour of Nelson Mandela, celebrated each year on 18 July ( Mandela’s birthday).
- The day was officially declared by the United Nations in November 2009, with the first UN Mandela Day held on 18 July 2010.
- The Day recognized Nelson Mandela’s values and his dedication to the service of humanity, in the fields of conflict resolution, race relations, the promotion and protection of human rights.
- Mandela Day is a global call to action that celebrates the idea that each individual has the power to transform the world, the ability to make an impact.
Note:-
- The Nobel Peace Prize 1993 was awarded jointly to Nelson Mandela and Frederik Willem de Klerk for their work for the peaceful termination of the apartheid regime and for laying the foundations for a new democratic South Africa.
Banking & Finance
4. RBI sets up an Inter-regulatory Working Group on Fin Tech and Digital Banking
- The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has constituted an inter-regulatory Working Group to study the entire gamut of regulatory issues relating to Financial Technology and Digital Banking in India.
- 12 members Working Group will be headed by Sudarshan Sen,Executive Director of RBI.
- The group has been set up in view of the growing significance of Fintech innovations, and their interactions with the financial sector as well as financial sector entities.
- It has been asked to submit its report within six months from the date of its first meeting.
5. Sovereign Gold Bond scheme opened for subscription
- Today, the fourth tranche of the Sovereign Gold Bonds scheme opened for subscription .
- The bond can be purchased from the National Stock Exchange and Bombay Stock Exchange, besides all Bank branches, select Post Offices and the Stock Holding Corporation of India Limited.
- The government had fixed 3,119 rupees per gram as the issue price for the bond.
- India imports about 1,000 tonnes of gold every year and it is the second-biggest constituent of the import bill after crude oil.
- The scheme will be open till Friday.
National Affairs
6. Coimbatore-based Air Carnival commences operations
- Low cost airline with pink and white themed Air Carnival has been launched its operations with its maiden flight from Coimbatore to Chennai.
- Air Carnival is the subsidiary of Coimbatore Marine College Group of Institutions, which was established in 2002 in Coimbatore.
- The airline will focus on short-haul services with ATR72-500 aircraft.
- It plans to keep the tariff at Rs. 999 for the first three months. It will focus on South Indian market for a year and then it plans to expand to other parts of the country.
- The airline has started operations using only one aircraft. It would add its second aircraft by end of September and a third one by the end of October.
7. NGT asks Delhi Transport Authority to de-register 10 year old diesel vehicles
- The National Green Tribunal (NGT) ordered immediate banning of diesel vehicles more than 10 years old in Delhi to deal with pollution in the national capital.
- Earlier, the tribunal had asked Delhi to ban such vehicles saying that pollution levels are at alarming levels.
- Vehicles coming from other states should also not be allowed to enter Delhi.
- Over 15 years old vehicles are already banned in the national capital.
Note:-
- National Green Tribunal Act, 2010 (NGT) is an Act of the Parliament of India which enables creation of a special tribunal to handle the expeditious disposal of the cases pertaining to environmental issues.
- It draws inspiration from the India’s constitutional provision of Article 21, which assures the citizens of India the right to a healthy environment.
8. Over 14 lakh LPG connections released under PMUY
- Over fourteen lakh LPG connections have been released to the women of BPL families under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY).
- According to the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, the scheme is currently under operation in 487 districts of 17 states.
- The scheme, launched in May this year, aims at providing LPG connections to five crore below-poverty-line beneficiaries over the next three years.
9. Dabur and DRDO unit tie up for high altitude medicinal plants
- Dabut has tied up with the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO’s) unit Defense Institute of High Altitude Research (DIHAR), Leh for sustainable cultivation of high-altitude medicinal plants in Ladakh.
- As per this deal, both organizations will educate farmers and help enhance livelihood opportunities in the cold desert area.
- This is the first step towards the goal of implementing conservation & environmental development benefits in Leh-Ladakh.
- Under this tie-up with the unit of DRDO, Dabur will also impart training to the villagers on sustainable cultivation of herbs.
Sports
10. India beat South Korea 4-1 in Davis Cup
- India has defeated South Korea 4-1 in the Davis Cup Asia-Oceania Group-I in Chandigarh.
- Playing his first Davis Cup singles match in four years, Rohan Bopanna edged past Hong Chung in a tough match.
- India will now make its third attempt to qualify for the elite 16-nation World Group.
- They await the results of the World Group matches to know the rival in the play-offs to be held in September.
- India last played in World Group in 2011 when it lost the first round against Serbia.
- After that, they have lost play-offs twice – against Serbia (in 2014, Bangalore) and Czech Republic (in 2015, New Delhi).
11. Dipika and Saurav Ghosal clinch National Squash tittles
- Dipika Pallikal Karthik dethroned defending champion Joshna Chinappa to regain the women’s title in the 73rd Senior National Squash Championship in Mumbai.
- The men’s crown was captured by title holder and top seed Saurav Ghosal, who created history by winning it for the 11th times.
- He beat fourth seed Harinderpal Singh Sandhu (11-7 7-11 3-11 11-8 14-12) in five hard-fought games.
- Dipika,made it to the tops once again by beating arch-rival Joshna(4-11 11-6 11-2 11-8).
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