National News
1. Vice president M. Venkaiah Naidu inaugurated
Smart City Expo India-2018
M. Venkaiah Naidu |
i. Vice president M. Venkaiah Naidu inaugurated Smart
City Expo India-2018 in Jaipur. He stressed the need
for water harvesting. According to the Vice President, Smart Vision, Smart
execution and smart Implementation are essential to develop smart
cities and no city can become smart without the participation of the
public.
ii. The object of this three days long expo is to
have discussions among different experts and groups to utilize benefits
of new technology, town planning, capacity management, challenges before
socio-economic development and development of networking in the Smart
City sector. Near about 6000 delegates from MNC's of different
countries, researchers, CEO's of different Smart cities, Mayors and corporates
are participating in the expo.
2. Cabinet approves National Digital
Communications Policy
i.
The cabinet has approved the new telecom policy, now named National
Digital Communications Policy (NDCP) 2018, which aims to attract USD
100 billion investment and create 4 million jobs in the sector by 2022.
According to the draft of the policy, NDCP is focused on increasing high-speed
broadband penetration, with use of modern technologies like 5G and
optical fibres across the country at affordable rates.
ii. The draft promised to rationalise levies such as
spectrum charges to rejuvenate debt-ridden telecom sector, the proposed new
telecom policy seeks to provide broadband access to all with 50 megabit per
second speed, 5G services and create 40 lakh new jobs by 2022.
3.Aadhaar Linking Must For PAN and Filing
Income Tax Returns
i. The Supreme Court declared the Centre's flagship
Aadhaar scheme as Constitutionally valid. The Supreme Court
ruled that linking the Aadhaar card to PAN card is mandatory and
is needed for filing income tax returns. The apex court,
however, said Aadhaar is not mandatory for opening bank accounts and
linking with existing accounts.
ii. The Supreme Court also struck down Section
57 of the Aadhaar Act that allowed private companies to avail Aadhaar
data. Calling the section unconstitutional, the court asserted that
private companies cannot insist on having Aadhaar number of customers. Aadhaar
authentication records cannot be stored beyond six months, striking
down the current rule of five years.
Static/Current
Takeaways Important for Indian Bank PO Exam 2018-
·
Chairman, UIDAI- J.
Satyanarayana
·
CEO, UIDAI- Dr. Ajay Bhushan Pandey
4. Supreme Court Allows Live Streaming Of Cases of
Constitutional importance
i. The Supreme Court agreed to live-streaming and video
recording of court proceedings, saying “sunlight is the best disinfectant”. The
Supreme Court allowed live streaming of cases of Constitutional
importance that take place in the Court of the Chief Justice
of India.
ii. The bench said that they want to
implement the concept of 'open court' in a bid to decongest the
court. As per the court the public had a "right to know"
what happens inside the courtroom. The decision came on the back of a clutch of
petitions filed by senior lawyer Indira Jaisingh, law
student Snehil Tripathi and NGO Centre For Accountability and
Systemic Change.
International News
5.. UN
Declared Nelson Mandela Decade Of Peace 2019-2028
i. Unanimously adopting a political declaration at
the Nelson Mandela Peace Summit, nearly 100 Heads of State and
Government, Ministers, Member States and representatives of civil society
committed to redoubling efforts to build a just, peaceful, prosperous,
inclusive and fair world, as they paid tribute to the late South
African President’s (1994-99) celebrated qualities and service to
humanity.
ii. Recognizing the period from 2019 to
2028 as the Nelson Mandela Decade of Peace, the
Declaration saluted Mr Mandela for his humility, forgiveness and compassion,
acknowledging as well his contribution to the struggle for democracy and the
promotion of a culture of peace throughout the world.
Static/Current
Takeaways Important for RRB PO/ Clerk Mains 2018-
·
Nelson Mandela International Day- July
18
·
UN Headquarters- New York, US
Banking News
6. Finance Ministry Launched Mobile App
“Jan Dhan Darshak"
i. Department of Financial Services (DFS),
Ministry of Finance and National Informatics Centre (NIC) have
jointly developed a mobile app called Jan Dhan Darshak as a
part of financial inclusion (FI) initiative. This app will act as a guide
for the common people in locating a financial service touch point at a
given location in the country.
ii. While
over 5 lakh FI touch points (Bank branches, ATMs, Post
Offices) have been mapped on this App, approx. 1.35 lakh Bank
Mitras would be on-boarded by 01.12.2018. Phone number of bank branches are
available in the app, with the facility of call button for integrated
dialling.
Static/Current
Takeaways Important for IBPS PO 2018-
·
The NIC was established in 1976.
·
Present Director General of NIC-
Neeta Verma
Science and Technology News
7. Japan
Landed Rovers On Asteroid In Historic Mission
i. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency
(JAXA) landed a pair of rovers on an asteroid, marking the world's
first moving, robotic observation of an asteroid surface. The two rovers Hayabusa2 managed
to land on the asteroid are expected to take advantage of the low gravity and
jump around the surface, reaching heights of up to 15 meters.
ii. The small
compact MINERVA-II1(MIcro Nano Experimental Robot Vehicle for
Asteroid, the second generation) rovers separated from the Hayabusa2
spacecraft. The MINERVA-II 1 consists of two
rovers, Rover-1A and Rover-1B. The Hayabusa2 probe was launched
in December 2014 to explore the surface of the asteroid known
as Ryugu. If all goes well, the Hayabusa2 will return to earth with
soil and rock samples in 2020
Defence News
8. DAC approves procurement of one thousand
engines for T-72 tanks
i. The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) has
approved procurement of 1,000 engines for fitment in T-72
tanks of the Army at an approximate cost of over 2,300 crore rupees.
According to the Defence Ministry, the engines will enhance mobility, agility
and acceleration of T-72 tanks making them more versatile and
effective in the battlefield.
ii. Post-transfer
of technology, most of these engines will be manufactured by Ordnance
Factories Board. The DAC has also approved several amendments
to Defence Procurement Procedure 2016, the manual governing the
defence procurements.
Static/Current
Takeaways Important for Indian Bank PO Exam 2018-
·
DAC was
set up in 2001.
·
DAC Chairperson- Union Defence
Minister (Current Chairperson- Mrs. Nirmala Sitharaman)
Ranks and Reports News
9. Finland Topped In ‘Human Capital’ Score,
India Ranked 158th
i. India ranks 158th in
the world for its investments in education and health care, according to the
first-ever scientific study ranking countries for their levels of human
capital. The nation is placed behind Sudan (ranked 157th) and ahead of
Namibia (ranked 159th) in the list.
ii. The study, published
in journal The Lancet, says that India is ranked at 158 out
of 195 countries, an improvement from its position of 162 in
1990. The U.S. is ranked 27th, while China is at 44th and
Pakistan at 164th.
Static/Current
Takeaways Important for IBPS PO 2018-
·
Finland topped
the list, followed by Iceland and Denmark.
10.Mukesh
Ambani Toped Barclays Hurun Rich List For 7th Time In A Row
i. Billionaire Mukesh Ambani, chairman
of India’s second-most valued firm ‘Reliance Industries’, has topped the
‘Barclays Hurun India Rich List 2018’ for the seventh consecutive year,
with the total net worth of INR 371,000 crore. Barclays Hurun India Rich List
2018, a compilation of the individuals in India having a net worth of INR
1,000 crore or more, featured 831 Indians compared
to 617 last year.
ii. Mr Ambani is followed by
London-based S.P. Hinduja, with the net worth of INR
1,59,000 crore; and L.N. Mittal, with a net worth of
INR 1,14,500 crore. Azim Premji, with the wealth of INR 96,100
crore, is fourth in the list. The cumulative wealth of the 831 individuals
featured in the list stood at $719 billion, amounting to a
quarter of India’s GDP of $2,848 billion.