Current Affairs July 12, 2017

1. 22nd World Petroleum Congress:Istanbul

Minister of State (I/C) for Petroleum and Natural Gas, Shri Dharmendra Pradhan chaired a Ministerial Session on the subject “Current Economic Strategies in Indian Oil & Gas Sector”.

• He also chaired a Plenary Session on ‘Supply and Demand Challenges for Oil, Gas and Products’ at the 22nd World Petroleum Congress at Istanbul, Turkey.
• The Minister launched an event on Hydrocarbon Exploration & Licensing Policy (HELP) as a part of process of promoting the upcoming oil & gas bidding rounds in India.

2. Railways has launched  RailCloud

The Indian Railways has launched RailCloud, a virtual server with an inbuilt security system that will enable faster connectivity at a reduced cost.

• Developed by rail PSU RailTel at an estimated cost of about Rs 53 crore, RailCloud is aimed at optimising server resources and its management.
• RailCloud technology enables maximising the usage of available server and storage resulting in accommodation of bigger data and more applications within same server space. This makes the system suitable to meet higher demand.

3. Saint Teresa’s blue-bordered sari an Intellectual Property now

The famous blue-bordered sari of Mother Teresa, who has been canonized as Saint Teresa of Calcutta by the Vatican, has been recognized as an Intellectual Property of the Missionaries of Charity.

• The Trade Marks Registry, Government of India, has granted the registration of the trade mark for that pattern of blue border of sari.

4. Uttrakhand Government launches the Super 30 coaching

The Uttrakhand government has launched its own version of 'Super 30', which is an innovative educational programme. The aim is to improve the standard of higher education in the state.

• Another similar scheme, sponsored by the state government, is also being introduced for civil services aspirants,
• Announcing a third scheme for postgraduates, CM said 100 such meritorious students will also be selected every year for doing PhD and will be provided with financial assistance by the government.

5. Shri J P Nadda launches new family planning initiatives

Shri J P Nadda launches new family planning initiatives ‘Mission Parivar Vikas’ on World Population Day (11 July) to focus on 146 districts in 7 states with high TFR.

• Shri Nadda stated that Mission Parivar Vikas is a new initiative conceived by the Ministry with a strategic focus on improving access through provision of services, promotional schemes, commodity security, capacity building, enabling environment and intensive monitoring.

6. A.P., Telangana and Gujarat top in ease of doing business

Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Gujarat are the three best-performing states in "ease of doing business" NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant said.

• One the other hand, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Assam fare worst in the rankings.
• The World Bank, along with the Centre's Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP) was involved in the process of reviewing the evidence submitted by states/UTs regarding implementation of reforms for the rankings.

7. RBI amends order on bankruptcy action

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has amended its earlier order asking banks to initiate bankruptcy proceedings against 12 companies which have outstanding loans amounting to over Rs 5,000 crore as on March 2016.

• "The Internal Advisory Committee (IAC) noted that under the recommended criterion, 12 accounts totaling about 25 per cent of the current gross NPAs of the banking system would qualify for immediate reference under Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (IBC)”.

8. SEBI amends guidelines for eligible foreign investors

Markets regulator SEBI amended the guidelines for eligible foreign investors looking to operate at the International Financial Services Centre (IFSC).

• In case of participation of an EFI, not registered with SEBI as an FPI, but desirous of operating in IFSC, a trading member of the recognised stock exchange in IFSC may carry out the due diligence on its own or it may rely upon the due diligence carried out by a bank, which is permitted by RBI to operate in IFSC, during the account opening process of an EFI.

9. RuPay to tap renew deals with Visa, Mastercard

The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) is looking at increased uptake of its RuPay debit cards among premium customers, as deals signed between banks and its global competitors Visa and Mastercard expire over the next few years.

• Though RuPay controls 42 per cent of the Indian debit card market, the share of its cards is only 16 per cent of total Point of Sale (PoS) and e-commerce transactions.
• This is largely due to the fact that the majority of RuPay cards — around 220 million— are held by benefactors of the Jan Dhan Yojana scheme.

10. Maya wins Asia Pacific App of the Year award

Maya, a Bangalore-based mobile app won the Asia Pacific App of the Year at FbStart Apps of the Year awards announced by Facebook.

• Maya was founded in India in 2014. It's now available in 14 languages and has been downloaded across 190 countries.

11. Ravi Shastri named head coach, Zaheer Khan new bowling coach

On Cricket Advisory Committee's recommendation, BCCI have decided to appoint Ravi Shastri as the chief coach while Zaheer Khan will be appointed bowling coach for a period of two years.

• It will be third stint with the national team for 55- year-old Shastri, who was earlier a Cricket Manager during 2007 tour of Bangladesh and then Team Director from 2014 August to 2016 June during which India won Test overseas series versus Sri Lanka, reached the semi-finals of 2015 World Cup and World T20 semi-finals in 2016.

12. Forensic expert Prof P Chandra Sekharan passes away

Renowned forensic expert and Padma Bhushan awardee Prof Dr P Chandra Sekharan died following a brief illness.

• Chandrasekaran, 83, served for over three decades as director of the Department of Forensic Sciences, Government of Tamil Nadu, and played a key role in numerous sensational cases including the assassination case of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1991.
• He was the author of many books including "The first human bomb," based on the Rajiv Gandhi case and other scientific publications.