Current Affairs - July 24, 2018 Current Affairs

Bajaj Auto Ltd. has appointed Rakesh Sharma as its first Chief Commercial Officer (CCO). Rajiv Bajaj, Bajaj Auto MD, said that the post of CCO was created to complement the offices of the Executive Director (ED) and Chief Technology Officer (CTO) and informed all heads of departments to report to the CCO. He also said that the CCO would be responsible for product harmonisation leading to 'one world, one product' marketing synergies, creating 'one brand, one position,' customer focus resulting in 'one company, one quality' and corporate alignment facilitating 'one stakeholder, one message.

The Lok Sabha passed the Negotiable Instruments (Amendment) Bill, 2017 which has the provision of allowing a court trying an offence related to cheque bouncing, to direct the drawer to pay interim compensation to the complainant. According to the Minister of State for Finance Shiv Pratap Shukla, 16 lakh cheque bouncing cases are lying in the subordinate courts and 35 thousand cases are in the higher judiciary. The interim compensation will not exceed 20% of the cheque amount and will have to be paid by the drawer within 60 days of the trial court's order to pay such a compensation.

Fakhar Zaman became the first Pakistan cricketer to score a double century in one-day internationals. Fakhar Zaman achieved the feat during the fourth ODI against Zimbabwe at Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo on Friday. The Pakistan left-hander is the sixth international cricketer to cross the 200-run mark in ODIs. Apart from Fakhar Zaman, India's Rohit Sharma, New Zealand's Martin Guptill, India's Virender Sehwag, West Indies' Chris Gayle and India batting legend Sachin Tendulkar have reached the landmark score.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has visited all 75 districts of the state in just 16 months. He created a record on July 23 during his Hathras visit by becoming the first-ever CM to cover the entire state within first 16 months of his rule. At Hathras he laid the foundation stone of 34 development and welfare schemes worth Rs 155 crore. His visits intended to ensure that the benefits of the schemes launched by the Centre and his government reached the last person and to speed up the overall development of Uttar Pradesh.

The Men's team event of the World Junior Squash Championships has begun in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. A total of 24 countries, divided into eight groups, are taking part. India, placed in Group-E alongside Switzerland and Saudi Arabia, is seeded fifth. Egypt has been given the top billing and is in Group-A. Canada has been seeded second and England third. Pakistan has been placed 11th.

Deshna Jain (20), who is from Tikamgarh in Madhya Pradesh, has been crowned the 2018 Miss Asia (Deaf) title and was the 3rd runner-up in the 2018 Miss International (Deaf) contest held in Taipei, Taiwan, from July 8-July 16. At 20, she is also the youngest contestant to take part in the event. It's the first time since 2009 that an Indian has won any title in the much coveted Miss and Mister Deaf International pageants. Earlier, Deshna became the Miss India (Deaf) 2018 in Jaipur, Rajasthan and represented the country at international platform.

The Lok Sabha passed the National Council for Teacher Education (Amendment) Bill to post-facto approval to Central/State institutions that are conducting teacher education courses without NCTE approval. HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar said that it has been done as a one-time measure to ensure the benefit of the students who have appeared for B.Ed, M.Ed and various other exams in institutes that are not recognised. He also said that there are also plans to start an integrated four-year B.A.-B.Ed, B.Sc.-B.Ed and B.Com-B.Ed courses to benefit the students.

Power Grid Corporation of India signed an MOU with Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation (UPPCL) for energy efficiency. This includes replacement of agriculture pump sets in East and South DISCOMs of UP. Investment of about Rs 2,200 to 2,500 crore in these projects by POWERGRID. Thus POWERGRID will act as an investor and a Project Management Consultant (PMC) to this project.

The first meeting of the India-Bangladesh Joint Committee on Border Haats concluded in Agartala, Tripura. During the two day meeting, both sides noted the positive impact of Border Haats on the livelihoods of the people living in areas adjoining the Haats. Extensive discussions were held on issues related to review of operations of the four functional Border Haats and suggestions for improvement, timeline for setting up the six additional Border Haats that had earlier been agreed to by both sides and the roadmap for further expansion of Border Haats.

Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari launched development projects worth over 5400 crore rupees in Guna district of Madhya Pradesh. He addressed the gathering during Vikas Parv and farmers' convention in the district. The minister also laid the foundation stones of five national highway projects stretching 226 km at an investment of Rs 3,583 crore.

Justice Tahira Safdar (61 years old) was named as the Chief Justice of the Balochistan High Court by Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar. She replacing Mohammad Noor Muskanzai. She made history in 1982 when she became the first woman civil judge in Balochistan.

Iran has overtaken Saudi Arabia to be the second largest supplier of crude oil to Indian public sector firms during April-June quarter. Iraq remains India's No:1 supplier of crude. State firms that buy oil from Iran include Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd (MRPL), Indian Oil Corp (IOC) and Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL). New Delhi shipped in 7.27 million tonnes of oil from Iraq, while shipments from Saudi Arabia totalled 5.22 million tonnes.

India has become a popular hub of medical tourism, attracting a large number of foreign patients every year. The reason behind such happening is a rare combination of advanced facilities, skilled doctors, and low cost of treatment. India currently has around 18% of the global medical tourism market. It has been estimated that by 2020, it could be worth $9 billion, and account for 20% of the global market share. Minister of State for Tourism, K.J. Alphons said that around 4.95 lakh medical visitors have made their trip to India in 2017. He also said that in curative care, India was the preferred destination for cardiology, orthopaedics, transplants, and ophthalmology. India also enjoyed high credibility in wellness, preventive, and alternative medicine.

Pakistan has got its first-ever woman Chief Justice of a high court. Justice Tahira Safdar was named as the Chief Justice of the Balochistan High Court by Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar. Justice Safdar had made history in 1982 when she became the first woman civil judge in Balochistan. She is currently a member of the three-judge special court conducting the trial of former President Pervez Musharraf for committing treason by proclaiming a state of emergency in November 2007.

The government has slashed the minimum annual deposit requirement for accounts under the Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana (SSY) to Rs 250 from Rs 1,000. The maximum amount that can be deposited in a year is Rs 1.5 lakh. Sukanya Samriddhi scheme was launched in January 2015, under which a parent or legal guardian can open an account in the name of the girl child until she attains the age of ten years. The account opened under the scheme will be valid for 21 years from the date of opening, after which it will mature and the money will be paid to the girl child in whose name the account is opened.