International News Affairs
- To combat rising pollution and climate change, China has officially started building the world’s first ‘Forest City’.
- The Liuzhou Forest Cityis expected to absorb nearly 10,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide annually and produce 900 tonnes of oxygen.
- Set to be completed in 2020, the energy self-sufficient city will house 30,000 people, 40,000 trees and nearly 1 million plants.
- US President Donald Trump has reaffirmed the support of the United States for India’s permanent membership on a reformed UN Security Council.
- The remarks were made following Modi and Trump’s meeting at the White House.
- India is drafting a policy to safeguard its interests in Antarcticaand is going to present it at the winter session of the Parliament.
- Note: Being a consultative member of the Antarctic Treaty, it is important for India to have clear directives to guide its activities in the region.
MOUs & Agreements
- India and the Netherlands have signed 3 MOUs after the meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Dutch counterpart Mark Rutte.
- The signed MOUS are :
- MOU on Amending Social Security Arrangement
- MOU on Cultural Cooperation
- MOU on Water Cooperation
- The signed MOUS are :
National News Affairs
- In a bid to cut down air pollution in the area, Amritsar’s Golden Temple will now use solar energy to prepare ‘langar’instead of LPG and wooden sticks. T
- Note: This is the Temple’s second eco-friendly move, after starting organic farming for grains.
Banking, Business & Economic News
- E-commerce major Flipkart has debuted on MIT Technology Review’s 50 Smartest Companies list for 2017.
- Important Note : Flipkart is the only Indian company on the list.
- The World Bank has cleared a $250-million (over ₹1,610 crore) loan for making Indians more employable through re-skilling, under the government’s Skill India mission.
- The programme is targetted at people between 15-59 years of age who are underemployed and unemployed.
- It also mandates the provision of entrepreneurship opportunities to women and to increase their exposure to skill training.
- Internet search giant Google was hit with a record $2.7 billion fineby European Union regulators for illegally favouring its shopping service in search results.
- This is the biggest fine for a company in an EU antitrust case.
People in News
- Brazilian prosecutors today filed corruption charges against President Michel Temer, accusing him of receiving over ₹97 lakh in bribes.
- Note: Termer is the Brazil’s first serving leader to face a criminal trial.
New Appointments
- Kaushik Basu has taken over as President of the International Economic Association (IEA).
- He will serve a three-year term as the President.
- Bollywood Actress Vidya Balan has been named the Ambassador of the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne.
- The festival, which will be held from August 10 to August 22, will showcase over 60 films.
- Dr Manoj Soni has taken Oath of Office and Secrecy as a Member of the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC).
Science & Technology News
- A month after WannaCry attacked systems worldwide, a new ransomware called ‘Petya‘ has hit computers in countries like Ukraine, Russia, India, and US.
- Petya differs from typical ransomware as it doesn’t just encrypt files; it also overwrites and encrypts the information in hard disks.
- According to a cyber security expert, the Petya ransomware attack infected as many as 5,000 systems within 10 minutes initially.
- Petya is based on the same Windows exploit as WannaCry, but uses a strengthened method to spread itself.
- Operations at one of the terminals of Mumbai’s Jawaharlal Nehru Port, India’s largest container port, were disrupted by this ransomware, marking the first reported case of the ransomware in India.
Obituary News
- Mustafa Dossa, a convict in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case, died of a heart attack today in Mumbai,.
- This comes a day after the CBI sought capital punishment for Dossa, claiming that his role in the blasts was more severe than that of hanged convict Yakub Memon.
Recent Committees in News
- The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has constituted a special 7-member committee to analyse the few contentious Lodha panel reformswhich are being opposed by the state units.
- Head of this Committee : Rajeev Shukla
- Members :
- Sourav Ganguly
- C. Mathew
- Naba Bhattacharjee
- Jay Shah
- Anirudh Chaudhary
- Amitabh Choudhary
Current Sports News
- Indian origin cricketer (Telangana) Sindhuja Reddy is set to be a part of the USA women’s cricket team in the World Twenty20 Qualifiers in Scotland.
- Kerala’s traditional snake boat racing, which is held during Onam, is set to become an IPL-like league-based sport with the inaugural edition of the Kerala Boat Race League scheduled to start in August this year.
- The league, comprising nine races, will feature snake boats, which are usually 100-foot long and require around a hundred rowers to ride.