IPCI Info

13 July

International News Affairs

  • The Roman Catholic Mediterranean island Malta today became the 24th country in the worldto legalise same-sex marriage.
  • Ships carrying Chinese troops are headed to Djibouti to set up China’s first overseas military base in an effort to enhance its global reach.
    • The base will be used for peacekeeping and humanitarian aid in Africa and West Asia, China said.
    • However, India believes the base would become another of China’s “string of pearls” of military alliances and assets.
  • Public schools in Saudi Arabia will start offering physical education for girls from the next academic year, in the government’s latest reform to open opportunities for women.
    • Note: Physical education for women is controversial in Saudi Arabia where conservatives consider it immodest.

 

National News Affairs

  • Delhi Police will be the first state police to get ‘super cop’ beltswhich are widely used by the police in the UK, USA, and Russia.
    • The belt will help the cops carry wireless sets, pistols, and cartridges easily.
  • The union cabinet has approved the establishment of the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI)South Asia Regional Center (ISARC) at campus of National Seed Research and Training Center (NSRTC) in Varanasi.
  • The Maharashtra government has launched a scheme to cover medical insurance of up to ₹10 lakh for legislators and their families.
    • This scheme is aimed at curbing the use of fake bills in the medical reimbursement scheme the legislators were covered under earlier.
  • Delhi civic agencies are going to launch a mobile app within the next two months to help locate all the 1800 public toilets run by Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD).
    • The app will allow users to give feedback on the condition of the toilets and will have a rating scale of Happy, Not Happy and Satisfied.
  • The National Green Tribunal (NGT) today ordered that a penalty of ₹50,000 will be imposed for dumping waste in river Ganga on the stretch between Haridwar and Unnao.
    • Directing the authorities that no waste dumping should be allowed within 500 metres of Ganga, the NGT said that 100 metres from the edge of Ganga should be declared a no-development zone.

 

New Appointments

  • Farzaneh Sharafbani today appointed as the CEO of Iran National Airline.
    • With this she became the 1st female to lead the organizaation.

Banking, Business & Economic Affairs

  • The State Bank of India (SBI) has waived charges for fund transfer of up to ₹1,000 through its Immediate Payment Service (IMPS) to promote small transactions.
    • The charge will be ₹5 along with GST for fund transfer of ₹1,000-1 lakh, and up to ₹15 for transactions of ₹1-2 lakh.
    • Note : SBI was earlier charging ₹5 along with service tax for such transfers of up to ₹1,000.
  • Microsoft has ended support for Windows Phone 8.1 just over 3 years after its April 2014 debut, marking the end of the Windows Phone OS.

 

MOUs & Agreements 

  • American multinational retailer Walmart today signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Maharashtra government to invest ₹900 crorefor opening up of fifteen stores.
    • Note: Walmart already has two pilot stores in the state in Aurangabad and Amravati.

 

Science & Technology

  • The Indian Railways has launched RailCloud, a virtual server with an inbuilt security system that will enable faster connectivity at a reduced cost.
  • Scientists from University of Cambridge, UK have discovered the smallest star in the universe.
    • It has been named as EBLM J0555-57Ab.
    • The star was identified by a planet-finding experiment run by several universities titled SuperWASP.

 

Books & Authors

  • RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat today releaed a coffee-table book “Narendra Damodardas Modi: The Making of a Legend”.
    • This book has been authored by Bindeshwar Pathak (Chief of Sulabh International)

 

Current Sports Affairs

  • The Indian cricket team has played its first ODI 43 years ago on this day (13th July) in the year 1974.
    • India has played 917 ODIs till date, winning 465 at a success rate of 53.4%.
    • Important Note: India has played the most ODIs in cricket history.