GUJARAT
- 46% Gujarat villages are verified as open defecation free now
- Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) seemed to have got good response at Mahatma Gandhi’s home state- Gujarat in terms of open defecation free villages. As per the figures of union ministry of drinking water and sanitation, 92.46% villages have been verified as open defecation free (ODF) villages.
- Last year, all the cities of Gujarat were declared as open defecation free by the then Union Urban Development Minister Venkaiah Naidu.
- Porbandar, the birthplace of Mahatma Gandhi, and all the 180 cities and towns in Gujarat were declared Open Defection Free (ODF) on the birth anniversary of the ‘Father of the Nation’.
- It needs mention that the Clean India Mission or Swachh Bharat Abhiyan was initiated on October 2, 2014 with a view to gift a clean country on the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.
- Gujarat government begins crop damage survey.
- The state government claimed that it has rescued 20,000 people stranded in floods and moved 80,000 people to safer places during heavy rains that lashed north Gujarat last week.
- The chief minister said that Rs 1.92 lakh ex-gratia has been given to 34 families and Rs 6.74 in cash doles have been given to 859 people after a survey of 21 villages in Suigam taluka. Some 18,000 food packets, 16,000 water pouches and 2,500 kits of grain have also been distributed to flood-affected people informed the CM.
- Centre plans to set up petrochemical clusters in Gujarat.
- The Centre is planning to set up petrochemical clusters in eastern, western and southern India, to spur growth of the sector amid increasing demand.
- Global per capita consumption of polymers is 34 kg and India at 10 kg will see manifold growth by 2030, spurring the growth of the industry.
INTERNATIONAL
· China opens its first overseas Military base in Djibouti
ð China formally launched its first overseas naval facility in Djibouti, an East African nation.
ð Five Chinese formations and Djibouti’s Three Services HonorGuard took part in the launch ceremony on 1 of August 2017.
ð The event marked the 90th anniversary of the Chinese military Services.
ð Djibouti is a tiny East African nation of around 887,000 people, is between Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Somalia.
ð Dijbouti is known as horn of Africa.
· Peter O’Neill re-elected as Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea.
- Peter O’Neill has been reappointed as Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea.
- The election has been widely criticized because thousands of voters were excluded and there were blazing abuses of the electoral process.
- He is the leader of the People’s National Congress and represents the constituency of Ialibu-Pangia.
· World breastfeeding week is observed from August 1st to August 7th.
- World breastfeeding weekis being celebrated from 1st to 7th August every year.
- The theme for the year 2017 is “Sustaining Breastfeeding Together”.
- It was first celebrated in 1992 by World Alliance for Breastfeeding World Breastfeeding WeekAction (WABA)and is now observed in over 120 countries by United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), World Health Organization (WHO)and their partners including individuals, organizations, and governments.
National
- e-RaKAM portal has been launched by Government.
- The government launched a portal, e-Rashtriya Kisan Agri Mandi(e-RaKAM), to provide a platform to sell agricultural produce. The portal is a joint initiative by state-run-auctioneer MSTC and Central Warehousing Corporation arm CRWC.
- E-RaKAM is a first-of-its-kind initiative that leverages technology to connect farmers of the smallest villages to the biggest markets of the world through internet and e-RaKAM centres.
- Under this initiative, e-RaKAM centres are being developed in a phased manner throughout the country to facilitate farmers for online sale of their produce.
- Farmers would be paid through e-Payment directly into their bank accounts.
- Reliance Jio launches world’s longest 100Gbps submarine-cable-system.
- Reliance Jio Infocomm has launched the Asia-Africa-Europe (AAE-1) submarine cable system. It is claimed to be world’s longest 100Gbps technology-based.
- Third Bi-Monthly Monetary Policy declared.
- Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced Third Bi-Monthly Monetary Policy Statement for current fiscal.2017-18 on August 2, 2017. This time, RBI has cut the policy repo rate by 25 basis points (bps) to 6 percent.
Repo Rate – 6.00%
Reverse Repo Rate – 5.75%
Marginal Standing Facility Rate – 6.25%
Bank Rate – 6.25%
Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) – 4.00%
Statutory Liquidity Ratio (SLR) – 20.00%
· Union Parliament passes Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Amendment Bill.
- The Union Parliament passed the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education(Amendment) Bill, 2017 with Rajya Sabha approving it Lok Sabha
- The Bill amends the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act (RTE), 2009 by extending the deadline for teachers to acquire the prescribed minimum qualifications for appointment.
· SBI and Samsung collaborate to advance Digital India initiative.
- The State Bank of India (SBI)and Samsung India announced the availability of Samsung Pay for higher variants of SBI debit card to advance Digital India.
- It is currently available on Samsung smartphones. It enables consumers to make offline payments without the need for a physical Card.
- It works on 2.5 million Point of Sale (POS) Card machines across the country through its Magnetic SecureTransmission (MST) technology.
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