Current Affairs - July 31, 2017 Current Affairs

Yoshiaki Ishizawa, a Japanese historian who helped Cambodians preserve the Angkor temples, and Gethsie Shanmugam, a Sri Lankan teacher who counselled war widows and orphans to overcome their nightmares, are among the six winners of this year's Ramon Magsaysay Awards.

The world's longest pedestrian suspension bridge opened in Switzerland, a ribbon-thin span nearly a third of a mile long that challenges hikers to proceed in places at nearly 28 stories above ground.

The sixth edition of Big Zee Entertainment Awards 2017 was held in Mumbai. Alia Bhatt and Shahid Kapoor won the Best Actor, Actress Award for their brilliant performance in Udta Punjab.

Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has developed an unmanned, remotely operated tank which has three variants - surveillance, mine detection and reconnaissance in areas with nuclear and bio threats. It is called Muntra. The vehicle has been tested and validated at Mahajan field firing range in Rajasthan under dusty desert conditions where temperatures touched 52 C.

SBI has introduced a new two-tier savings account interest rate system from July 31, 2017. On balances below Rs. 1 crore, the interest rate has been brought down to 3.5 per cent from 4 per cent. On balances above Rs. 1 crore, the bank will continue to offer 4 per cent. It had cut the MCLR (marginal cost of funds based lending rate) or its key lending rate, by 90 basis points effective January 1, 2017, on the strength of large inflows in savings and current accounts after demonetisation.

Ravi Mittal has joined as an additional secretary in the Ministry of Finance in place of Anil Khachi, is now a part-time member of the IRDAI (Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India) board. Mittal has replaced N S Rao at Irdai, who is a joint secretary level officer.

China has successfully produced natural gas from methane hydrate, also known as "flammable ice", in an experimental project in the South China Sea, the land and resources ministry.

Aditya Patil and Suhaani Lohia have clinched bronze medals at the 13th edition of Asian Schools Chess Championship (ASCC) 2017 in Panjin, China. Aditya won bronze in the Under-7 rapid championship, while Suhaani Lohia won the bronze in the Under-9 girls blitz championships. Both these prodigious talents are products of the South Mumbai Chess Academy (SMCA).

India has bagged a rich haul of 24 medals at the Jordan Junior and Cadet Open table tennis tournament. The tally includes seven Gold, seven Silver and 10 Bronze medals. In the event held at Amman, India ended as the second best finishers.

As per the OECD-FAO Agricultural Outlook 2017-2026 report, Brazil is the world's largest exporter of beef, followed by Australia and India. As per report, India exported 1.56 million tonnes of beef in 2016. It is expected to maintain its position as the third-largest exporter of the meat till 2026 by exporting 1.93 tonnes that year. According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), the total world beef exports in 2016 was 10.95 million tonnes and was expected to increase to 12.43 million tonnes by 2026.

Public sector Indian Overseas Bank has offered Bharat Bill Payment System, introduced by the National Payments Corporation of India, for its customers. BBPS is an integrated bill payment system that offers inter-operable online bill payments to customers. It include online payments of electricity, telecommunication, DTH, water and gas bills, the Chennai headquartered bank said in a statement.

Sebastian Vettel of Ferrari wins Hungarian Grand Prix won his fourth victory of the season. As Sebastian Vettel took the chequered flag at the Hungaroring to claim his fourth victory of the season, his chief title rival was selflessly surrendering the final spot on the podium to his Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas.