Weekly Current Affairs (22nd July 2019 – 27th July 2019)
National
• Deen Dayal Antyodaya Yojana (DAY) with an aim to uplift the urban poor folks by enhancing sustainable livelihood opportunities through skill development.
• On July 25, 2019, The Union Minister for MSMEs(Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises), Nitin Gadkari stated that a panel of RBI(Reserve Bank of India) has recommended an increase in the collateral-free lending limit to Rs 20 lakh for MSMEs and self-help groups(SHG).
• PM Modi has released the book on former Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar in New Delhi.
• The Union Health Ministry has banned colistin, which is an antibiotic used in the poultry industry for producing animals, aqua farming, etc.
• The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Amendment) Bill, 2019 has been passed by Rajya Sabha.
International
• G7 Finance Ministers meeting in France today agreed a plan for taxing digital companies such as Facebook and Google that will set a minimum level of taxation for them.
• India improved its ranking in the global innovation index by five places to 52nd in 2019.
• Boris Johnson, the public face of the Brexit campaign, won the contest to succeed Theresa May as British prime minister, taking over a country in crisis and a government on the brink of breaking apart.
Economy and Business
• In less than 18 months after its commencement, Aditya Birla Payments Bank announced that it will shut down operations.
• The GST Council has decided to reduce the tax rate on electric vehicles (EVs) to 5 per cent from the existing 12 per cent, a move aimed at accelerating the adoption of eco-friendly mobility solutions.
• The Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) delivered one Chetak helicopter to the Indian Navy ahead of its scheduled month of august.
• India’s central bank had assigned deputy governor B.P. Kanungo to run the monetary policy portfolio after the resignation of fellow deputy governor Viral Acharya.
• India will be the first recipient of local currency financing by the Asian Infrastructure and Investment Bank (AIIB).
Sports
• Four-time Asian medallist Shiva Thapa became India’s first gold-medallist in the new 63-kg category at the President’s Cup boxing tournament in Astana, Kazakhstan.
• Federation of International Football Federation has awarded FIFA Women under 20 World Cup hosting right to Nigeria after 10 years in 2020.
• PV Sindhu’s hopes of breaking a seven-month title drought came crashing down as the Indian lost in straight games to Akane Yamaguchi in the final of Indonesia Open BWF Tour Super 1000 tournament.
• Sri Lanka pacer, Kulasekara Mudiyanselage Dinesh Nuwan Kulasekara aged 37 announced retirement from international cricket.
• On July 20, 2019, Hima Das won her fifth gold of the month after she won the 400m race in Prague, Czech Republic.
Awards
• A noted Carnatic vocalist, S Sowmya has won the Sangita Kalanidhi award.
• Two-time Olympic gold medallist Keshav Dutt & former India Football Captain Prasun Banerjee will be conferred the ‘Mohun Bagan Ratna’.
• Hilary Swank, a two-time Oscar winner, will be conferred with the Leopard Club Award at the 2019 Locarno International Film Festival which will be held from August 7- 17, 2019.
Appointments
• Benjamin Netanyahu(69), who has spent 4,876 days (more than 13 years) in office has become Israel‘s longest-serving prime minister, surpassing the record of David Ben-Gurion, country’s founding father, and first leader.
• Bandhan Bank Ltd has appointed State Bank of India’s Sanjeev Naryani as its head of the business.
• Ajay Kumar Bhalla has been appointed as Officer on Special Duty in the Ministry of Home Affairs.
• On July 18, 2019, India’s Kishen Mangaldas Narsi (Mumbai) has been appointed as the Chairman of Asian Boxing Confederation’s (ASBC) competitions commission.
• On July 20, 2019, The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) approved the appointment of Ajay Bhadoo as the Joint Secretary to President Ram Nath Kovind for a tenure co-terminus with the President.
Important Days
Kargil Vijay Diwas to be celebrated on July 26
Science and Tech
• On July 19, 2019, According to the China Space Agency, China’s experimental space lab “Tiangong-2” was destroyed upon its controlled re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean.
• On July 23, 2019, The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has announced that it will launch its first solar mission Aditya-L1 in the first half of 2020.
• The 3,850-kg Chandrayaan-2 was launched on Monday after a technical snag forced the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to abort the planned July 15 mission.
• Students at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras have developed a “smart agricopter” to eliminate manual spraying of pesticides in agricultural fields and help identify crop health by using a imaging camera.
Defence
• The three armed forces of India (Army, Navy, and Air Force) conducted 1st ever simulated space warfare exercise called “IndSpaceEx” on July 25, 26, 2019.
• Current General Officer Commanding in-Chief, Eastern Army Command, Lieutenant General Manoj Mukund Naravane has been appointed as the next vice chief of the army staff in the Indian Army.
Obituaries
• Lok Janshakti Party Member of Parliament Ramchandra Paswan died due to cardiac arrest.
• On 25th July 2019, The President of Tunisia and the North African country’s first democratically elected leader, Beji Caid Essebsi passed away at the age of 92 in Tunis, Tunisia after suffering from a severe health crisis.
• Former Chinese Premier Li Peng has died at the age of 90.
• Former Japanese diplomat & International Atomic Energy Agency Chief Yukiya Amano died.
• Dutch actor Rutger Hauer, who specialized in menacing roles, including a memorable turn as a murderous android in ‘Blade Runner’ opposite Harrison Ford, has died.
States
• On 26th July 2019, Karnataka’s Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP) state President Bookanakere Siddalingapp (BS) Yediyurappa was sworn in as the 19th Chief Minister of Karnataka.
• The Chief Minister (CM) of Karnataka H D Kumaraswamy of Janata Dal (Secular) submitted the resignation to the Governor Vajubhai Vala after the Congress-Janata Dal (Secular) coalition government lost majority in Karnataka Assembly.
• Uttar Pradesh has become No.1 in implementation of PM Suraksha Bima Yojana.
• A three-member research team led by Assam forest officer Jatindra Sarma has discovered Dracaena cambodiana, a dragon tree species in Dongka Sarpo area of West Karbi Anglong district in Assam.
Miscellaneous
• National award-winning filmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar’s ‘Indu Sarkar,’ that released on July 28, 2017, became a part of National Film Archives of India.
• Varun Dhawan was appointed as the Indian Brand Ambassador of leading fitness brand Reebok.
• On July 18, 2019, The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) added Scaly-Foot Snail to its updated Red List of Endangered Species.
Agreements
• NTPC has signed a pact with BHEL to set up an 800 MW technology demonstration plant (TDP) at its power plant in Chhattisgarh.
• The Noida Authority has entered into a pact with Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) for setting up infrastructure for mobility based on clean energy.