International News Affairs
- G20 Summit, the annual meeting of the G20(an international forum for the governments and central bank governors from 20 major economies), was recently held at Hamburg Messe, in the city of Hamburg, Germany during 7th and 8th July 2017.
Highlights:
- On the sidelines of this summit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi held bilateral meetings with his counterparts from Britain, Italy, South Korea and
- Addressing the G20 summit, PM said Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad “are equal to Islamic State and Al-Qaeda… their ideology is the same.”
- Modi, the lead speaker at the ‘fighting terrorism’ session, presented an 11-point Action Agenda calling for collective measures against terror.
- G20 countries agree for swift action and targeted exchange of information on terrorism and its financing.
- The United Nations today adopted a Global Draft Treaty banning nuclear weapons amid opposition from all nuclear-weapon states which boycotted the negotiations.
- Over 140 countries participated in negotiations on the legally-binding treaty that provides for a total ban on developing, stockpiling or threatening to use nuclear weapons.
- Note: The treaty needs to be ratified by 50 nations to take effect.
- To facilitate trade and to improve communication between the two countries, India and Bangladesh have decided to construct a bridge over Mizoram’s Khawthlangtuipui river (also known as Karnaphuli river).
- India is emerging as a front runner in the global fight against climate change, the World Bank has said, noting that the solar power is gradually displacing coal as an energy source in the Asian country.
- According to the World Bank, with its conscious choice to use significantly more clean energy to fuel its growth, India is contributing to global efforts to save the planet from the effects of climate change.
National News Affairs
- The Centre today notified that action would be taken against those who post videos and images of the protected Andaman and Nicobar Islands’ tribal communities on social media.
- The National Commission for Scheduled Tribes has said the tribes come under a regulation that protects them from outside interference, violation of which is punishable with imprisonment up to three years.
Banking, Business & Economic News
- Finance Ministry along with the Central Board of Excise and Customs today launched GST Rates Finder app for consumers to verify the accurate tax rates on commodity and services under the Goods and Services Tax.
- The app, which is currently available on Android platform, will soon be launched for IOS and can be used in offline mode once downloaded.
- Private lender Axis Bank has emerged as the front-runner to buy Snapdeal-owned digital wallet startup FreeCharge.
- The bank is currently conducting due diligence for the acquisition that could be valued at about ₹646 crore.
- China’s biggest banks, including Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) and Agricultural Bank of China, lost a combined $15 billion (nearly ₹97,000 crore) in value in a week.
- ICBC declined around 7.4% over the week, touching its lowest level versus the benchmark Hang Seng Index since January 2008.
- Moreover, China Construction Bank fell for a fifth consecutive week.
- RBI Deputy Governor Viral Acharya today said, that the Reserve Bank of India is considering setting up of Public Credit Registry (PCR), an extensive database of bank loans.
- Acharya suggested the registry would be managed by a public authority like the central bank, and reporting loan details should be mandatory.
- Note: Current database hosts credit information of those with loans above ₹5 crore.
- Vietnam has granted ONGC Videsh a two-year extension to explore oil block 128 in the South China Sea.
- Note: The permission was first granted in the year 2006 which is due to expire in mid-June.
Awards & Honours
- For the third consecutive year,Tata Steel Ltd has bagged Prime Minister’s trophy for ‘Best Performing Integrated Steel Plant’.
- Music composer AR Rahman has been nominated at the World Soundtrack Awards for his music in the film ‘Viceroy’s House‘.
Current Sports Affairs
- India’s Harinder Pal Sandhu has defeated Rhys Dowling of Australia to lift South Australian Open squash title.