Today’s Current Affairs 18th – July- 2018 – MyProgressCard

Important Days

1. Nelson Mandela Day

Image Credit: Askideas.com

• Nelson Mandela International Day (or Mandela Day) is an annual international day in honour of Nelson Mandela, celebrated each year on 18 July, Mandela’s birthday.
• The day was officially declared by the United Nations in November 2009.
• Mandela Day is a day to honour the legacy of Nelson Mandela, South Africa’s former President.

International News

2. Walmart, Microsoft team up to take on Amazon

Image Credit: arabnews.com

• Walmart and Microsoft announced a new 5 year partnership to take on Amazon in both technology and retail.
• This announcement was made by Walmart at the Microsoft’s Inspire partner conference in Las Vegas.
• Walmart said that it is partnering with Microsoft to use its cloud services.
• New projects focused on machine learning, artificial intelligence, and data platforms will be taken up.

3. EU and Japan signed major trade deal

Image Credit: Yahoo News Singapore

• Japan and the EU signed a trade deal in Tokyo, as an act against protectionism, as Washington puts up barriers and threatens a trade war.
• The deal which is aimed at creating a massive free trade zone, eliminating tariffs for everything from Japanese cars to French cheese.
• The agreement is expected to enter into force in 2019.

Static/Current Implications:

• Capital of Japan – Tokyo
• Currency – Japanese Yen
• Prime Minister – Shinzo Abe

4. UNEP partners with Google for monitoring impact of human activity on global ecosystem

Image Credit: The Financial Express

• UN Environment Programme (UNEP) has partnered with Google to monitor impacts of human activity on global ecosystems by using sophisticated online tools.
• The partnership was launched during High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development at United Nations (UN) headquarters in New York.
• The aim of the partnership is to develop platform to enable governments, NGO’s and public to track specific environment-related development targets with user-friendly Google front-end.
• Its’ initial focus will be on freshwater ecosystems including mountains, forests, wetlands, rivers, aquifers and lakes.

National News

5. Five PSBs to get Rs.11,337 crore fund infusion

• The government is going to infuse Rs 11,337 crore within next few days in five state-owned banks.
• The capital infusion will be made in Punjab National Bank (PNB), Allahabad Bank, Andhra Bank, Corporation Bank and India Overseas Bank (IOB).
• The latest round of infusion is aimed at helping the banks meet the regulatory capital requirement.

6. Committee set up to synergise NCC and NSS

Image Credit: The Economic Times

• Government has decided to set up a committee under the Chairmanship of Shri Anil Swarup, former Secretary, School Education, with suitable representations from NCC, M/o Youth Affairs and Ministry of HRD to suggest measures to strengthen National Cadet Corps (NCC) and National Service Scheme (NSS).
• The Committee will deal with on issues like expansion, strengthening training infrastructure, rationalizing resources, reducing manpower deficiency affecting NCC and NSS.
• The Committee will also submit recommend for building synergies between these two institutions viz. NCC and NSS and further strengthen them for empowering the youth.

7. 7th Defence Technology and Trade Initiative: Indo-US delegation meeting on Defence Cooperation held in New Delhi

Image Credit: Indiawest.com

• The ministry of Defence announced that Indo-US Bilateral Defence Cooperation, the 7th Defence Technology and Trade Initiative (DTTI) meeting was held between India and the US delegation in New Delhi.
• It aims to bring focus on the bilateral defence trade relationship and for co-production and co-development of defence equipment.

8. National Conference of State/UT Ministers-in-charge of Women & Child development

Image Credit: Healthy India Chronicle

• A high level National Conference of State/UT Ministers-in-charge of Women & Child development was held in New Delhi with the objective to discuss issues pertaining to safety of women and children as well as Poshan Abhiyan with the purpose to direct and seek the support of State Governments to further their effective implementation.
• The meeting was chaired by the Union Minister of Women and Child development, Smt. Maneka Sanjay Gandhi.

9. BSES Yamuna Power Limited (BYPL) signs agreement to source 100 MW wind power

Image Credit: Hindustan Times

• Power discom BSES Yamuna Power Limited (BYPL) signed an agreement to source 100MW wind power that will help to meet its renewable power necessities.
• The power would be available to BYPL from the 3rd week of November 2019, for a period of 25 years at a competitive tariff of Rs.2.52 per unit.
  With this agreement, the two BSES discoms in Delhi will bring in 400 MW of wind power.

10. Tata Capital appoints Anil Kaul as Managing Director of Tata Capital Housing Finance

Image Credit: Business Standard

• Tata Capital has appointed Anil Kaul as the Managing Director of Tata Capital Housing Finance
• Anil Kaul succeeds R Vaithianathan.
• He has more than 20 years of experience in the financial services sector and retail lending business.
• He has held senior management positions at ICICI Bank, ICICI Lombard, Citibank, Standard Chartered Plc.

11. Central government renews appointment of Prof Sahasrabudhe as AICTE chairman

Image Credit: Times of India

• The central government has renewed the appointment of Prof D Sahasrabudhe as the chairman of the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE).

• He was appointed as AICTE Chairman in July 2015. He has held various important academic, research and administrative positions.

Sports News

12. Neeraj Chopra strikes gold at Sotteville Athletics Meet in France

Image Credit: The Financial Express

• Indian javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra won gold medal at the Sotteville Athletics Meet in France.
• Neeraj Chopra made a throw of 85.17m and won the gold medal.
• Moldova’s Andrian Mardare with a throw of 81.48m secured second position.
• Neeraj Chopra had won gold medal in the 2016 World Junior Championship with a record throw of 86.48m. He had also won gold medal at the Commonwealth Games 2018 in Gold Coast, Australia.

13. Sajan Clinches gold in Junior Asian Wrestling Championships

Image Credit: The Indian Express

• Indian wrestler Sajan clinched India’s first gold on the opening day of the Junior Asian Wrestling Championships.
• Sajan outplayed Iranian Shayan Hossein Afifi in the title clash of the 77kg category Greco-Roman bout 3-0.
• The first point was scored after the opponent was penalized for passivity and Sajan managed to throw Afifi out of the mat for two more in the first round.

Ranks/Indices

14. India ranks 109th, stands behind Pakistan in 4G speeds

Image Credit: Valley Express News

• According to data speed tester Ookla, India ranks 109th in overall 4G mobile internet speeds with an average download speed of 9.12 Mbps which is less than Pakistan (14.03 Mbps).
• Out of the list comprising 124 countries, Qatar ranked first in the list with 63.22 Mbps average download speed.
• Norway stood second in the list with 62.14 Mbps download speed.

Expected questions from the above current affairs

1. What is India’s rank in 4G speeds?

A. 95th                                                               C. 109th
B. 56th                                                               D. 72nd

2. Who clinched gold in Junior Asian Wrestling Championship at Bishkek?

A. Sajan Bhanwal                                            C. Divya Kakran
B. Karuna                                                           D. Reena

3. Indian javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra won gold medal at the Sotteville Athletics Meet. Where is it held?

A. France                                                          C. Italy
B. Russia                                                           D. China

4. Who has been appointed the new chairman of AICTE?

A. Prof Sahasrabudhe                                       C. Prof Janat Shah
B. Dr. Arup Raychaudhari                                   D. Ms. Mallika Srinivasan

5. Who has been appointed the Managing Director of Tata Capital Housing Finance?

A. Ram Kapoor                                                    C. Anil Kaul
B. Srijit Sharma                                                   D. Aman Manjit

6. BSES Yamuna Power Limited (BYPL) signed agreement to source how much wind power?

A. 200MW                                                            C. 300 MW
B. 400 MW                                                           D. 100 MW

7. Who chaired the National Conference of State/UT Ministers-in-charge of Women & Child development held in New Delhi?

A. Narendra Modi                                                C. Menaka Gandhi
B. Piyush Goel                                                     D. J P Nadda

8. Where is the 7th Defence Technology and Trade Initiative: Indo-US delegation meeting on Defence Cooperation held?

A. Mumbai                                                           C. Bengaluru
B. New Delhi                                                       D. Chennai

9. Who chaired the Committee set up to synergise NCC and NSS?

A. Anil Swarup                                                   C. Prakash Jevadekar
B. Piyush Goel                                                     D. Bipin Rawat

10. The Finance Ministry has approved capital infusion of how many crores in 5 public sector banks: Punjab National Bank (PNB), Andhra Bank, Corporation Bank, Indian Overseas Bank and Allahabad Bank?

A. Rs.11,337 crore                                           C. Rs 14,456 crore
B. Rs.12,567 crore                                             D. Rs 17,598 crore

11. UNEP partnered with which company for monitoring impact of human activity on global ecosystem

A. Google                                                           C. Microsoft
B. Infosys                                                            D. TCS

12. Walmart and which software firm announced a new 5 year partnership to take on Amazon in both technology and retail?

A. Google                                                            C. Cognizant
B. Microsoft                                                       D. Infosys

13. When is Nelson Mandela International Day celebrated?

A. 16th July                                                         C. 17th July
B. 15th July                                                         D. 18th July