18th July Current Affairs: Special Days 1. Nelson Mandela International Day • Nelson Mandela International Day (or Mandela Day) is an annual international day in honor of Nelson Mandela, celebrated each 18 July (on Mandelas birthday). The day was officially declared by the United Nations in November 2009, with the first UN Mandela Day held on 18 July 2010 Persons in News 1. The Supreme Court relieved legendary cricketer Sunil Gavaskar as the interim president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) in charge of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2014 and said that he was free to take up any assignment. • The apex court bench headed by Justice T.S. Thakur relieved Gavaskar noting that the IPL 2014 for which he was appointed interim president had concluded June 1. Banking 1. The RBI has relaxed norms governing import of rough, cut and polished diamonds by doubling the credit time period to 180 days. • Earlier, the time frame was of 90 days. • As per new norms the Clean Credit i.e., Credit given by a foreign supplier to its Indian customer/ buyer, without any Letter of Credit (Suppliers Credit)/Letter of Undertaking (Buyers Credit)/Fixed Deposits from any Indian financial institution for import of rough, cut and polished diamonds, may be permitted for a period not exceeding 180 days from the date of shipment. Letter of Credit: • A letter from a bank guaranteeing that a buyers payment to a seller will be received on time and for the correct amount. In return for these documents, the beneficiary receives payment from the financial institution that issued the letter on discount. • In the event that the buyer is unable to make payment on the purchase, the bank will be required to cover the full or remaining amount of the purchase. • Given by : Bank • Given to : Seller • Here, bank needs to take confirmation from Buyer before giving credit to seller. Letter of Undertaking: • It is opposite of Letter of credit. • Letter of undertaking means an agreement by which a ship-owner undertakes the following: a) To employ security on the ship; b) To enter an appearance acknowledge ownership; and c) To pay any final decree entered against the vessel whether it is lost or not. • The main purpose behind creating a letter of undertaking is to avoid the creditors from seizing the ship and releasing it on bond. • Given by : Bank • Given to : Buyer • Here, bank needs to take confirmation from Seller before giving credit to buyer. International 1. Bolivia legalises child labour • While most of the world is trying to diminish child labour, Bolivia has become the first nation to legalise it from age 10. • The bill’s sponsors say lowering the minimum work age from 14 simply acknowledges a reality: Many poor families in Bolivia have no other choice than for their kids to work. The bill offers working children safeguards, they say. 2. Fortaleza Declaration issued at the 6th BRICS Summit • 6th BRICS Summit was held in Fortaleza, Brazil in July, 2014. The theme of the Summit was Inclusive Growth: Sustainable Solutions. • The participating countries Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa jointly issued the Fortaleza Declaration. Main Highlights of the Fortaleza Declaration: • Russia will host the Seventh BRICS Summit in 2015 in the city of Ufa • South Africa to host the 4th Meeting of BRICS Competition Authorities in 2015 to improve competition policy and enforcement • Proposed to establish the BRICS Network University recognizing the strategic importance of education for sustainable development and inclusive economic growth. • agreement for establishing the New Development Bank (NDB) • Treaty for the establishment of the BRICS Contingent Reserve Arrangement (CRA) with an initial size of 100 billion US dollars to forestall short-term liquidity pressures. National 1. President rejected mercy petitions of Nithari killer Surrender Koli and 5 others. • Pranab Mukherjee, the President of India rejected the mercy petitions of Nithari serial killer Surinder Koli and five other death row convicts. These five death row convicts are Renukabai and Seema (Maharashtra), Koli (Uttar Pradesh), Rajendra Pralhadrao Wasnik (Maharashtra), Jagdish (Madhya Pradesh) and Holiram Bordoloi (Assam). • The President rejected the mercy petitions of the six death row convicts on the advice of the Union Home Ministry which rejected the mercy petitions of all the convicts. 2. Rebels set deadline to replace Gogoi. • Congress MLAs in Assam gave the party high command time till Saturday to replace Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi with a new leader, holding out the threat of a split again, central leaders began fresh confabulations with party general secretary C.P. Joshi in charge of the State meeting senior MPs from the State to discuss the issue over the past few days. • Five dissident legislators told reporters that they claimed the support of 55 of the party’s 77 MLAs in the 126-member Assam Assembly. They said they would announce their next course of action on Monday if the party high command did not respond. Places in News 1. Typhoon Rammasun batters southern China • A powerful typhoon hit southern China on Friday, where over two million people had already been affected by persistent heavy rains, Xinhua reported. • Rain-triggered landslides and floods claimed the lives of 10 people on Friday, according to Xinhua. Science & Technology 1. Scientists from ICAR, Punjab Agriculture University and Delhi University as part of a global consortium IWGSC have unveiled a draft sequence of bread wheat genome -- a move that may help develop new and better varieties at a faster pace. • ICAR said Scientists from ICARs National Research Centre on Plant Biotechnology, New Delhi, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, and Delhi University South Campus in collaboration with International Wheat Genome Sequencing Consortium (IWGSC) have published a chromosome based draft sequence of the bread wheat genome in top international journal Science. Sports 1. Two-wheeler manufacturer Hero MotoCorp Ltd was named as the title sponsor of the much-anticipated Indian Super League -- the first-of-its-kind franchise-based football league in the country. • Hero has signed a three-year deal with ISL. With this sponsorship, the much-awaited new football league, promoted by IMG-Reliance and Star India, will be called the ‘Hero Indian Super League’. • Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Hero MotoCorp Ltd.: Pawan Munjal. Surveys 1. Global Innovation Index 2014 released. • The Global Innovation Index 2014 (GII) was released at the B20 Australia Summit held in Sydney . The 2014 Index was released by the Australia’s industry minister Ian Macfarlane. • GII 2014 in its 9th edition covers 143 countries around the world and uses 81 indicators across a range of theme. • The theme of the GII 2014 is Human Factor in Innovation and the main authors of the GII 2014 are Soumitra Dutta, Bruno Lanvin, and Sacha Wunsch-Vincent. State 1. The pensioners under various welfare schemes may not get their pension if they don’t have the Aadhaar card by August. And, also there is a talk among gas dealers that the Central government is likely to make Aadhaar linkage compulsory for subsidised gas supply. • Their fears gain credence as the State government has set target to complete linking of Aadhaar cards for pensions and MNREGS job card and ration cards etc before August 15.
Posted on: Thu, 24 Jul 2014 16:52:11 +0000
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