Daily Current Affairs For Competitive Exam - 9th July

International Affairs

Prime Minister Narendra Modi reaches South African capital Pretoria.

He is holding talks with African President Jacob Zuma.

Several agreements and MoUs are signed.

The United Kingdom is going to have 1st female Prune Minister since Margaret Thatcher

Britain's ruling Conservative Party MPs have chosen two female leaders Home Secretary Theresa May and Junior Energy Minister Andrea Leadsom as the final candidates to become the country's Prime Minister.

Conservative Party members will now decide between them to lead the party and the country. 

Award-winning summer music festival Exit begins today at the Petrovarad in Fortress in the Serbian city of Novi Sad.

The festival will be held from July 7 to July 10, and its line-up this year includes artists Wiz Khalifa, David Guetta and Ellie Goulding. 

Note : Exit originated in 2000 as a student movement for democracy and freedom in Serbia​ and the Balkans.

The United States has imposed sanctions against North Korean leader Kim Jong-un for the first time, along with 10 other senior officials, citing "abuses of human rights." 

Many of the abuses are reported in prison camps, which hold approximately 100,000 people including children, as per a US government report. 

Note : North Korea is already under sanctions over its nuclear activities.

India has set up an apparel training centre in Kaduna, Nigeria to support textiles industry of the West African country. 

This is a first of its kind centre in Nigeria which has been set up by India in partnership with their government.

Note : The training centre was established under the Cotton Technical Assistance Programme for Africa which is being implemented by the Department of Commerce.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh today inaugurated the BRICS Heads of Drug Control Agencies Working Group Meeting, in New Delhi.

The Minister stresses on international cooperation to curb and stop the menace of drugs.

This meeting has been organised by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) of India.

MOUs

India and South Africa have signed Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) and agreements in four areas of bilateral co-operation.

They are, 

MoU on Information and Communication technology (ICT) 

MoU on Grass root innovation (Science and Technology) 

MoU on Tourism

Programme of Cooperation in Arts and Culture.

National Affairs

Under the 'Clean UP, Green UP' initiative, the Uttar Pradesh government has announced to plant a record five crore saplings across the state on 11th July 2016. 

Of these, 6.7 lakh saplings will be planted in Agra alone. 

Note : Last year, the state had entered the Guinness Book of World Records for planting 10 lakh saplings within a span of eight hours.

Devendra Fadnavis-led Maharashtra government today inducted 10 ministers into the state Council while promoting one existing minister to the Cabinet rank. 

Of the 10, six belonged to the ruling BJP, two to ally Shiv Sena, and one each to the Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana and the Rashtriya Samaj Paksha. 

Five of the 10 were inducted as ministers of Cabinet rank.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will meet all Chief Ministers of the country on July 16 at the 11th meeting of the Inter-State Council (ISC) in Delhi. 

Issues like inter-state relations, internal security, school education, Aadhaar card, and economic planning will be discussed in the meeting. 

Note : The last ISC meeting was held in 2006 during the previous UPA regime.

Banking & Economy

The newly-elected Left Democratic Front government in Kerala has imposed a‘fat tax’ of 14.5% on branded restaurants that sell junk food like burgers, pizzas, and pasta. 

This is the first such tax in India and is expected to help the government raise ₹10 crore annually. 

Note : A similar tax was imposed in Denmark and Hungary to fight obesity.

The private sector lender HDFC bank has launched an SME Bank which will provide full-fledged digital banking service to small and medium sector enterprises.

Books & Authors

Indian tennis player Sania Mirza’s autobiography ‘Ace Against Odds’ has been released by its publishers. 

The book has been co-authored by Sania's father Imran Mirza, and features anecdotes from her professional and personal life.

New Appointments

Current Chairman of Maharashtra Legislative Council and NCP leader, Ramraje Naik Nimbalkar was re-elected unopposed as the Chairman of Maharashtra Legislative Council.

Awards & Honors

Waterfront resort Nihiwatu, which is on the Indonesian island of Sumba, has been voted the World's Best Hotel in a survey by the Travel + Leisure magazine.

The Spectator Hotel in United States' Charleston and the Huka Lodge in New Zealand were ranked second and third respectively.

Five Indian hotels have made it to the Best Hotels list, 

The Oberoi Udaivilas in Udaipur ranked 22nd.

The Oberoi Vanyavilas (Ranthambhore) was ranked 28th, 

The Oberoi Rajvilas (Jaipur) was 59th. 

The list also included The Leela Palace New Delhi and the Taj Lake Palace (Udaipur).

Deaths

Noted music director Om Prakash Sonik (77) passed away.

He was composer part of the Sonik-Omi duo consisting of Master Sonik (a blind music director) and his nephew Omi.

Sports

The top-seeded Indo-Swiss pair of Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis was ousted from Wimbledon after losing to fifth seeds Yaroslava Shvedova and Timea Babos 2-6, 4-6 in the quarter-finals. 

Note : The duo were the defending champions at Wimbledon. 

This is the second consecutive Grand Slam where the pair have been eliminated before the semi-finals.