Current Affairs - July 2, 2018 Current Affairs

The Odisha government signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Regional Integrated Multi-Hazard Early Warning System (RIMES), an intergovernmental body registered under United Nations, for enhancing early warning system for effective management of all kinds of disaster in the state, including flood, drought, heat wave, lightning, and road accidents. It will be in force for 5 years with cost involvement of about Rs.8 crore. The government also signed three more MoUs that would benefit the farmers and enhance their production. This agreement will enable the development and pilot implementation of decision support systems for automating risk assessment, advisory generation, and dissemination.

36 year-old Sathyasri Sharmila from Paramakudi in Ramanathapuram district, Tamil Nadu has become the first transgender lawyer to enroll herself with the Bar Council of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry (BCTNP). On a related note, Rajasthan's Ganga Kumari was appointed as the first transgender woman constable after Justice Dinesh Mehta issued the order. Meanwhile, West Bengal's Joyita Mondal was appointed the Lok Adalat judge of Islampur in North Dinajpur district, thus giving India its first transgender judge.

As per US State Department's 2018 Trafficking in Persons Report, North Korea has been tagged "worst human trafficking nation" for the 16th straight year, citing the use of forced labour. North Korea has been included in the Tier 3 category, which is the lowest ranking, along with China, Russia and Iran. The report stated that the North Korean government does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so. It is continued to use forced labour in prison camps and labour training centres. In a stark contrast, South Korea has been ranked at the highest category, that is, in the list of Tier 1 countries for the 16th consecutive year, along with US, UK, France and Canada.

The first-ever International Day of Parliamentarism is celebrated across the world on 30th June 2018 to recognize the importance of parliaments and their responsibility of representing the people. The day is not only an occasion to stress the critical importance of parliaments in any democratic society but also to reinforce the call for a global parliament. It is also an opportunity for parliaments to take stock, identify challenges, and ways to address them effectively. This date was chosen by the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in a resolution 72/278 adopted on May 22nd as it coincides with the day in 1889, on which the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) - the global umbrella organization of parliaments - was founded. The parliamentary systems fall into two categories: bicameral and unicameral. Out of 193 countries, 79 are bicameral and 114 are unicameral, making a total of 272 chambers of parliament with over 46,000 members of parliament.

While addressing the 'Karigar Panchayat' organized by the Khadi Board at the Tana Bhagat Indoor Stadium, Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das announced that, within 15 days, land in the Heavy Engineering Corporation (HEC) campus will be made available to the Khadi Board to develop the country's first Khadi mall. People in the Jharkhand villages are talented and so far 1.13 lakh artisans have been registered to be trained to make goods as per the needs of the market.

Indian Government celebrated the 1st Anniversary of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) as GST day. GST was launched on the 1st July 2017 at a grand ceremony in the Central Hall of Parliament. Union Minister for Railways, Coal, Finance & Corporate Affairs Piyush Goyal presided over as the Chief Guest of the event. Minister of State for Finance, Shiv Pratap Shukla was the Guest of Honour. The GST Council consists of the Union Finance Minister as Chairman, the Minister of State (Revenue) and the State Finance/Taxation Ministers as members.

Rajat Sharma, who is the Chairman and Chief Editor of Hindi news channel INDIA TV, has become the new president of Delhi and Districts Cricket Association (DDCA) for a period of 3 years. He beat former cricketer Madan Lal by 517 votes in the DDCA election 2018. The results of the DDCA polls were announced on 2nd July 2018 and Sharma's group swept the elections winning all 12 seats. Sharma's team will consist of Rakesh Kumar Bansal, who has been elected as the vice-president with 48.87% votes in his favour.

Janardan Singh Gehlot, an Indian sports administrator, was elected as the president of the International Kabaddi Federation (IKF) for the next four years. The result was announced after the Annual General Congress (AGC) of the federation, conducted in Dubai, the UAE. Observer and Director of International Affairs Olympic Council of Asia Vinod Tiwari was also present in the AGC of the IKF where 22 member countries participated.

In a 747-page response to the US government, Mark Zuckerberg-led social media giant Facebook has admitted it shared its users' data with 52 technology companies including Alibaba, Huawei, Lenovo and Oppo. Facebook's data-sharing partnerships with Apple, Amazon and eye-tracking technology company Tobii are due to continue beyond October 2018.

Australian hockey team has won the 2018 Men's Hockey Champions Trophy by defeating India in the final via penalty shoot-off at Breda, the Netherlands on July 1, 2018. It was Australia's record 15th Champions Trophy title. While India won their second consecutive silver medal, hosts the Netherlands bagged the bronze beating Olympic champions Argentina 2-0 in the third-fourth place match. The 2018 Hockey tournament was the 37th and the last edition of the prestigious Hockey Champions Trophy for men. It will be replaced by the Hockey Pro League (HPL) in 2019.

After winning the two-match T20I series against Ireland, Indian team reached the second spot in the ICC T20I team rankings. Pakistan are still at the top of the table with 131 points, which is an eight-point lead over India. Australia lost four points and have now slipped to the third position with 122 points. India will next face England in a three-match T20I series. India squad for England T20 Series: Virat Kohli (Captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Suresh Raina, Manish Pandey, MS Dhoni (Wicketkeeper), Dinesh Karthik, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Washington Sundar, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, Siddarth Kaul, Umesh Yadav.

Former Team India captain Rahul Dravid (45-year-old) has become the fifth Indian cricketer after Anil Kumble, Sunil Gavaskar, Bishan Singh Bedi and Kapil Dev to be inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame. He scored 24,208 runs in 509 international matches in his nearly 16-year-long playing career. Australia captain Ricky Ponting and retired England woman wicketkeeper-batter Claire Taylor are also inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame.

Chennai-based United India Insurance Company announced the appointment of K B Vijay Srinivas as its Director and General Manager. Prior to taking up the new role, he was serving National Insurance Company Ltd as its Chief Marketing Officer and General Manager.

Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has been elected as Mexico's President with over 53% of the vote, according to the country's electoral commission. Obrador, who has won the presidency at the third attempt, promised to tackle violence and wipe out corruption.