Daily Current Affairs 13 July 2019 for Banking/Insurance/SSC and other related exams.
NATIONAL NEWS
India and South Africa come together to host Gandhi-Mandela Peace Initiative
Believe Foundation in association with the Sunday Guardian Foundation and Dr Raman Bhai Patel Foundation (RBF) hosted the first edition of Gandhi-Mandela Peace Initiative at the Imperial, New Delhi.
- This initiative celebrated the victory of ‘Love over Hatred’ and celebrated 150 years of Mahatma Gandhi’s and 100 years of Mandela’s inspirational lives.
Meghalaya becomes first state to have water policy
Amid the water crisis in the country, the Meghalaya cabinet became the first state to approve a draft water policy to address water issues, conservation, and protection of water sources in the state.
- The committees will be formed at village level and the issue of groundwater will also be catered through this policy. Also, the department will also monitor the quality of the water to check if it has a high content of iron or if it’s acidic.
Agri-Business Incubation Centre started in Chhattisgarh
An Agri-Business Incubation Centre has started in Chhattisgarh. The centre is set up by the Union Agriculture Ministry in the Indira Gandhi Agriculture University of Raipur.
- The Agri-Business Incubation Centre is set up under the National Agriculture Development Scheme- RAFTAAR.
- The Agri-Business Incubation Centre in Raipur, with focus on innovations, skill building and entrepreneurs development in agriculture and allied sectors, will act as catalyst for developing an ecosystem conducive for the growth of agri-preneurship in the state and foster a start-up culture.
WB government to build 8.3 lakh rural houses for poor in 2019/20 fiscal
The West Bengal government has decided to build 8.3 lakh new houses under Bangla Abas Yojana for the poor across rural Bengal in this ongoing fiscal. About 5.86 lakh houses were handed out to the people under the scheme of Aamar Bari, a project partially funded by the Centre, in the last fiscal.
West Bengal govt observes Save Water Day on 12th July
‘Save Water Day’ was observed by the West Bengal government on 12th July and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee participated in a march in the city to raise awareness on conservation.
- She urged the people to take “precautionary measures” to save the natural resource as water scarcity has become a major issue in the world.
- She also stressed on conservation of rain water and said her government would observe July 12 as ‘Save Water Day’ in every year.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
UK hosts First Global Conference on Media Freedom
On 10 and 11 July, the first Global Conference on Media Freedom took place in London. The event, organised by the UK government and the government of Canada, is the first of its kind and over 60 ministers attended as well as over 1,000 reporters and members of civil society. The conference is part of an international campaign to shine a global spotlight on media freedom and increase the cost to those that are attempting to restrict it.
Tropical Storm Barry hits Louisiana in US
In the United States, Tropical Storm Barry has begun hitting Louisiana with wind and rain, building towards hurricane strength.
- With the storm expected to blow ashore as the first hurricane of the season, National Guard troops and rescue crews were posted around the State with boats, high-water vehicles and helicopters.
YouTube introduces ‘Learning Playlists’ for educational videos
Targeting teenagers, Google-owned content sharing app YouTube is bringing a new education feature called Learning Playlists with dedicated landing pages for educational videos on topics like math, science, music and language, free from algorithmic recommendations.
- The free-from-recommendations Playlists would have organisational features like chapters around key concepts, ordered from beginner to advanced lessons to help viewers’ focus on their lessons without distractions.
BANKING & FINANCE
L&T Finance arm gets $100m from AIIB for green energy funding
The Beijing-headquartered multi- lateral developmental lender Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) said it will provide USD 100 million in loans to L&T Infrastructure Finance Company for on-lending to wind and solar power infrastructure projects in the country.
- This deal with the arm of L&T Finance Holdings marks the bank’s first loan to a non-banking finance company.
BUSINESS & ECONOMY
Industrial production grows at 3.1 pc in May
Industrial production grew at 3.1 per cent in May, mainly on account of improvement in power generation, according to official data released by Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation.
Inflation rises marginally to 3.18% in June
Retail inflation increased marginally to 3.18 per cent in June over the previous month, mainly due to the rise in food prices according to the data released by the Central Statistics Office.
IBM completes $34 billion acquisition of Red Hat
International Business Machines (IBM) Corp said that it has closed its $34 billion acquisition of software company Red Hat Inc, as it looks to ramp up its cloud computing business.
- Underscoring the drive into high-margin businesses, IBM in October agreed to buy Red Hat, the company’s biggest acquisition in its more than 100-year history.
APPOINTMENTS
Anshula Kant appointed MD, CFO of World Bank Group
Indian banker Anshula Kant has been appointed as the World Bank Group’s Managing Director and Chief Financial Officer.
- Kant is presently serving as the Managing Director of the State Bank of India (SBI), where she previously served as Chief Financial Officer.
Michael Lobo resigns as Deputy Speaker of Goa
BJP leader Michael Lobo resigned from the post of Deputy Speaker amid reports that he will be inducted as minister in the reshuffled cabinet.
OBITUARIES
Former Secretary, BSFI, C. Kapur passed away
Former Billiards and Snooker Federation of India secretary C.Kapur passed away. Mr. Kapur served for the cue-sports for more than 40 years.
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