Daily Current Affairs For Competitive Exam - 3rd July 2016

International Affairs

Today (1st Saturday of July) is International Co-operative Day / International Day of Co-operatives.

Aim : To increase awareness on co-operatives and promote the movement's successes and ideals of international solidarity, economic efficiency, equality, and world peace.

Theme of the year 2016 : Co-operatives: The power to act for a sustainable future

Today (2nd July) is World Sports Journalists Day.

This day was established by the International Sports Press Association (AIPS) in 1994 to mark the 70th anniversary of its foundation.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be on 4 African Nation visit (Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania, and Kenya) from 7th to 11th July 2016. 

During this visit, Modi will meet the Presidents of the four countries and strengthen bilateral ties during the visit. 

Note : South Africa is one of the few countries that didn't favour India’s entry into the NSG.

National Affairs

The government has changed the tagline of Aadhaar from ‘Aam Aadmi ka Adhikar’ to ‘Mera Aadhaar, Meri Pehchaan’. 

The 1st Women's University of India is celebrating 100 years.

The Shreemati Nathibai Damodar Thackersey Women's University, the 1st Women's University in India, started on July 2, 1916, with the enrollment of five students. 

It was established by Dr Dhondo Keshav Karve, with the objective of educating more women. 

Around 15,000 women graduated from the university this year, which has campuses in both Mumbai and Pune.

The Maharashtra government today planted two crore saplings across the state with the help of public participation. 

Places in News

India's first Commercial Court and Commercial Disputes Resolution Centre has been inaugurated today at Raipur, the capital of Chhattisgarh.

Chief Minister Dr. Raman Singh along with Supreme Court judge Madan B. Lokur dedicated to the people the Commercial Court complex in Naya Raipur.

Awards & Honors

President Pranab Mukherjee today presented the Dr BC Roy national awards for the years 2008, 2009 and 2010 at Rashtrapati Bhavan. 

These awards were presented on the occasion of National Doctors’ Day observed on July 1 to pay honour and tribute to India’s most famous physician Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy.

Award Winners for the year 2010 : 

·        Nikhil C. Munshi, 

·        O.P. Kalra, 

·        Tejinder Singh, 

·        Subash Gupta, 

·        Amrinder Jit Kanwar, 

·        Rajendra Prasad 

·        Glory Alexander. 

Award Winners for the year 2009 :

·        H. Sancheti, 

·        Renu Saxena, 

·        Atul Kumar, 

·        A.K. Kriplani, 

·        Kanan A. 

·        Yelikar, 

·        H.S. Bhanushali, 

·        G.V. Rao, 

·        Moti Lal Singh, 

·        C.N. Purandare 

·        C.V. Hari Narayan. 

Award Winners for the year 2008  :

·        Rajeshwar Dayal, 

·        Mammen Chandy,

·        Neelam Mohan, 

·        Rohit V. Bhatt, 

·        Mohan Kameswaran, 

·        Harsha Jauhari, 

·        Gopal H. Badlani 

·        Yash Gulati

Business & Economy

India ranked 35th among 160 countries in the recently released bi-annual Logistics Performance Index (LPI) 2016 of World Bank Group. 

The index was published in the World Bank bi-annual report ‘Connecting to Compete 2016: Trade Logistics in the Global Economy’. 

German has topped the list for the 3rd time.

Top 5 countries in the list are

·        Germany

·        Luxembourg

·        Sweden

·        Netherlands

·        Singapore

Today is 61st State Bank Day(formation day of SBI). 

SBI was founded on this day (2nd July) in the year 1806 [The initial name was Bank of Calcutta]

The government is set to sign a new Tax Treaty with Cyprus, a prominent low-tax jurisdiction, aimed at preventing investors from defaulting on paying taxes in India. 

The Double Taxation Avoidance agreement will allow the government to prevent treaty abuse, tax evasion, and round-tripping of funds. 

It will also remove Cyprus from the government's blacklist for not providing information.

New Appointments

Veteran economist Indrajit Coomara Swamy has been appointed as the new Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL).

He is going to replace Arjuna Mahendran, whose tenure, marked by controversies on the issuance of bonds, came to an end.

Recent MOUs & Agreements

Telecom-to-energy conglomerate Reliance Industries (RIL) and India’s largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) have signed Subscription and Shareholders’ Agreement to set up payments bank. 

As per the agreement, RIL will be the promoter with a 70 per cent equity contribution in the payments bank and SBI as joint venture will have 30 per cent equity contribution. 

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has inked a MoU with Advertising Standard Council of India (ASCI) to check misleading advertisements in the food and beverages sector. 

This partnership between FSSAI and ASCI will put in place a mechanism to monitor misleading advertisements. 

It will also lead to streamlining advertisements effectively through structured guidelines and appropriate action.

Sports

Indian footballer  Gurpreet Singh Sandhu became the first Indian to start in a Europa League match, when he appeared for Stabæk against Wales’ Gap Connah’s Quay in the first qualifying round in Wales yesterday. 

Indian dairy cooperative, Amul is going to sponsor the Indian contingent for the Rio Olympics, with the company paying ₹1 crore to the Indian Olympic Association as sponsorship fee. 

The dairy brand released an ad announcing the sponsorship, captioned "Breakfaster. Higher. Stronger." 

Important Note : Amul had sponsored the Indian contingents at the 2012 London Olympics and the 2014 Asian and Commonwealth Games.