1. India makes the first contribution to UN Trust Fund
i. India has contributed USD 100,000 to a trust fund set up for victims of sexual exploitation and abuse by peacekeepers. The fund was established at the end of March and continues to seek funds to support services for victims and address gaps in services.
ii. This is the first contribution to the Trust Fund the Secretariat has received.
iii. India has historically been one of the largest troop-contributing countries in peacekeeping operations and is currently ranked as the second largest contributor of military and police personnel.
2. Suresh Prabhu inaugurates passenger amenities at Yasvantpur station
i. Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu has inaugurated a host of passengers services and other amenities at the Yasvantpur station, one of the three railways stations that serve Bengaluru, Karnataka.
ii. He inaugurated the new entry, concourse, and escalators at platform number one of Yesvantpur station.
iii. He also dedicated to the nation the electrification of the Yelahanka-Dhramavarma section and doubling of electrification of Yesvantpur -Yelahanka and Yelahank-Channasandra sections.
3. Startup India States Conference has held today
i. The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) has organized a day-long conference on Startup India in New Delhi today with an aim to give impetus to start up India initiative.
ii. During this conference, all stakeholders, particularly states have discussed the progress, and policies they have made on the Startup India initiative. The conference has presided over by commerce minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
iii. During the conference, the State Governments of Telangana, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Kerala and Karnataka have been presenting the initiatives undertaken by them to promote Startups. While the Startups have share their growth stories and expectations from the government.
4. ICICI Bank organises Coin Exchange Mela during the ‘Ratha Yatra’ festival in Puri
i. ICICI Bank Ltd has organised a coin exchange mela during the ‘Rath Yatra’ festival at the RBI financial literacy camp in Bholanath Vidyapith.
ii. The mela took place under the guidance of the Reserve Bank of India. S. P. Mohanty, General Manager, Issue Department of RBI, inaugurated the event. The Bank periodically organises exchange melas to offer free facility of exchanging acceptable soiled and mutilated currency notes with fresh currency and coins to the general public.
iii. The coin mela saw participation of over 52000 people, where they exchanged coins worth Rs. 6.34 lakh in the denomination of Rs.10, Rs.5, Rs.2 and Re.1. The Bank also exchanged fresh currency worth Rs 6.25 lakh in denominations of Rs.100, Rs.50, Rs.20 and Rs.10 during the mela.
5. Karnataka Bank’s solar initiative for rural students
i. Karnataka Bank Ltd has initiated a programme to provide solar lights in the non-electrified houses of students in rural areas.
ii. The initiative has been launched in association with the Manipal-based non-governmental organization Bharatiya Vikas Trust (BVT) under its corporate social responsibility (CSR) programme.
iii. The initiative has been termed as a ‘solar light scholarship’ for rural students as those students lacking electricity connection at their house have been given this facility. While the school authorities identify the beneficiaries, BVT screens them. The total cost of a unit is Rs. 9,500. While the beneficiary’s family pays Rs. 4,500, the bank bears the remaining cost. Till now, 100 houses of the students from remote rural areas of Udupi district have been provided solar lights under this programme.
6. HDFC ERGO enters into bancassurance tie-up with SVC Bank
i. HDFC ERGO General Insurance Company and Shamrao Vithal Co-operative (SVC) Bank have announced their bancassurance agency partnership to provide a range of non-life insurance offerings to the customers of the bank.
ii. The partnership combines HDFC ERGO’s experience in introducing innovative non-life insurance products with SVC Bank’s customer base across various States.
iii. New Delhi-headquartered SVC Bank has 194 branches in 10 States including Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Goa, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Haryana. While HDFC ERGO has headquartered in Mumbai, India and operates in 89 Indian cities with over 109 branches and 1,900 staff members across the country.
7. Snapdeal joins hand with BookMyShow
i. Online marketplace Snapdeal has announced its partnership with e-ticketing platform BookMyShow and extended its service offerings.
ii. With the help of this partnership, customers can now book tickets for movies on Snapdeal.
iii. The Snapdeal is an online marketplace, based in New Delhi, India. Snapdeal currently has 275,000 sellers, over 30 million products and a reach of 6,000 towns and cities across the country.
8. IRCTC, SBI sign MoU on promotion of rail ticketing activities
i. Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), is a subsidiary of the Indian Railways Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation and the country’s largest public sector bank(PSB) State Bank of India (SBI) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to hammer out a detailed plan for promotion of rail ticketing activities, including internet ticketing and unreserved ticketing system.
ii. Under the MoU, both will jointly explore areas of cooperation and draw up a detailed plan for promotion of rail ticketing activities.
iii. The SBI will also undertake development of Unreserved Ticketing System and such other services which can be jointly undertaken.
9. Ganesh Singh appointed as Head of JPC for Land Acquisition Bill
i. Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan has reformed the Joint Parliamentary Committee(JPC) for Land Acquisition Bill and appointed Ganesh Singh as the Chairperson of the Joint Committee of Parliament examining the Land Acquisition Bill.
ii. Mr. Ganesh is a member of parliament of BJP from Satna constituency of Madhya Pradesh. He is a member of the 16th Lok Sabha of India and this is the third term for him.
iii. Mr. Ganesh Singh replaced S S Ahluwalia, who became Minister of the State for Parliamentary Affairs in reshuffle of the council of ministers on 5 July 2016.
10. Dr. Sanjiv Misra appointed as AD and NE (part time) Chairman at Axis Bank
i. Mumbai-headquartered, Axis Bank has stated that the Reserve Bank of India has granted approval for appointment of Sanjiv Misra as Additional Director and the Non-Executive (Part-Time) Chairman of the bank for a period of three years with effect from July 18, 2016, up to July 17, 2019 (both days inclusive).
ii. Mr. Misra has a Master’s degree in Economics from the Delhi School of Economics, a Master’s degree in Public Administration from the Harvard Kennedy School, USA, and a Ph. D from the Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.
iii. Dr. Misra was a member of the Indian Administrative Service for over 35 years during which period he held a wide range of key positions in the Federal and state governments, including as Managing Director of the Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation and stints at senior levels in the Government of India in the Cabinet Office, the Ministry of Petroleum and the Ministry of Finance.
11. DD News correspondent Sanjiv Thomas passes away
i. Eminent Journalist and Doordarshan News Correspondent in Hyderabad, Sanjiv Thomas has passed away. He was 59 years old.
ii. He quite his carrier as Research Associate in the ISRO, Ahmedabad in 1985 to join Doordarshan Hyderabad Kendra initially as a Research Officer. He began serving the Public Broadcaster as a News Correspondent since 1986.
iii. During his long stint with Doordarshan, he gave insights into it viewers about innumerable political, social and economic developments of International, national and regional importance. He is well known for his objective stand and unparalleled comment over the political and social developments of the region which he served for over 3 decades.
12. Legendary artist S H Raza passes away
i. Modern Indian artist S H Raza has passed away following a prolonged illness.
ii. He was 94 years old and was suffering from old-age related ailments and was in the ICU of a private hospital for the last two months.
iii. He is an internationally acclaimed painter and was also honoured with the Padma Shri. He was elected as a fellow of the Lalit Kala Akademi in 1983.
13. Keni Harrison breaks 28-year-old world hurdles
i. American hurdler, Keni Harrison broke a 28-year-old world record in the 100m hurdles, clocking 12.20 seconds at the London Anniversary Games.
ii. She beat the previous record of 12.21sec set by Bulgaria’s Yordanka Donkova in 1988.
iii. She represented the United States at the 2015 World Championships in Athletics and the 2016 IAAF World Indoor Championships.
14. Virat Kohli becomes first Indian captain to score double century outside India
i. India test team captain Virat Kohli has become the first Indian captain to score a double century outside India.
ii. He scored 200 runs against West Indies on day two of the first Test at the Sir Vivian Richards stadium in North Sound. With his double century, Kohli entered the list of visiting captains with highest scores in West Indies.
iii. He is the fifth Indian captain to score a double century in a Test match after Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi (201 vs England), Sunil Gavaskar (205 vs West Indies), Sachin Tendulkar (217 vs New Zealand) and MS Dhoni (224 vs Australia).
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