Daily Current Affairs,17th July 2018

1) President Gives Nod To Assam's Anti-Witch Hunting Bill

•President Ram Nath Kovind has approved the Assam Witch Hunting (Prohibition, Prevention and Protection) Bill, 2015, converting it to an Act, almost three years after it was passed by the state Assembly. 

•The Act, aimed at eliminating the superstition from the society, imposes a punishment of up to seven years and a fine of up to Rs. 5 lakh. Branding people, mostly women, as witches and killing them is an old practice in Assam. 

2) Odisha To Get Country’s 1st Skill Training Centre

•Union Minister for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Dharmendra Pradhan announced that the Centre is planning to set up one National Skill Training Institute (NSTI) in every State to meet the rising demand for skilled manpower in the country. He laid the foundation stone of country’s first such skill training institute in Bhubaneswar, Odisha. 

•The Centre’s endeavour is yet another step to empower the youth of the State and make them job ready for industries. This will also help in addressing the issue of migration. 

3) Gautam Kaul Won Prestigious Post In Federations' Executive Committee Elections

•India has been elected new President of Asian Tug of War Federation. India's Gautam Kaul won the prestigious post in the Federations' Executive Committee elections held in Kathmandu, Nepal. 

•This is the first time when India has been elected to lead the organisation. The post of Secretary-General has also gone to India, while Nepal has got Treasurer's post. Pakistan and Cambodia have won posts of Vice Presidents. The tenure of newly elected office bearers will be for 3 years. 

4) T-Hub To Host Country’s 1st Defence Incubator

•One of the country’s first Defence incubators will come up in Hyderabad, which is India’s missile development centre and fast emerging the hub for aerospace industries. The incubator will be housed at T-Hub. The Telangana State government proposes to accommodate the Defence incubator in the upcoming Phase-2 of the T-Hub. 

•The incubator will be funded through the Ministry’s Innovation for Defence Excellence (iDEX) scheme. Under the scheme research in the fields of Aerospace & Defence by MSMEs, start-ups, research institutions, educational institutions are to be funded. The iDEX will be funded and managed by a Defence Innovation Organisation (DIO). 

5) Forbes Releases 2018 'Celebrity 100' List Of World's Highest-Paid Entertainers

•The Forbes has Released the 'Celebrity 100' list of World's Highest-Paid Entertainers. The world’s 100 top-earning celebrities pulled in a combined $6.3 billion pretax over the past 12 months, up 22% from last year. Boxer Floyd Mayweather captures the top spot on Forbes’ 20th annual Celebrity 100 ranking of the world’s highest-paid celebrities.

•Few of the famous names on the list are Leonel Messi 8th, Cristiano Ronaldo 10th. From India, Akshay Kumar (40.5 million dollars) is ranked 76th while Salman Khan (37.7 million dollars) is on the 82nd spot.

•The top 3 celebrities on the list are: 
1. Floyd Mayweather (Athlete, Boxing, $285M)
2 George Clooney (British liquor giant, $239M)
3. Kylie Jenner (Founder, Kylie Cosmetics, $166.5M)

6) IMF Cuts India’s GDP Growth Forecast To 7.3% In 2018

•The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has cut India’s GDP growth forecast by 10 basis points to 7.3% in the year 2018 and by 30 basis points to 7.5% in 2019, as the international body expects the central bank to tighten the monetary policy faster. 

•The IMF announced that India remains a key driver of global growth and India will still retain its top spot in the global growth league. 

7) Vinesh Phogat Wins Gold At Spanish Grand Prix

•Wrestler Vinesh Phogat won gold at the Spanish Grand Prix in Madrid, conceding just one point in five bouts en route to the title victory in the women's 50kg freestyle category. The 23-year-old outclassed Canada's Natasha Fox 10-0 in the final. 

•Vinesh began her campaign by beating Mariana Diaz on technical superiority and then thumped Erin Golston 12-1 and Valeria Chepsarakova 5-0.

8) Marc Marquez Wins German Grand Prix

•Honda's Marc Marquez (of Spain) cruised to his ninth consecutive German Grand Prix victory to extend his MotoGP lead. He has now won in the top category at Sachsenring for the past six years and three times in the smaller classes before that. 

•Seven-time world champion Valentino Rossi finished second with his Yamaha team-mate Maverick Vinales third. 

9) Thailand Open 2018: Nozomi Okuhara Beats PV Sindhu Win Maiden Title

•India's star shuttler PV Sindhu (seeded second) suffered a defeat to fourth seed Nozomi Okuhara of Japan in straight games inside 50 minutes to settle for runners-up spot in the Thailand Open at the Nimibutr Stadium in Bangkok. 

•In men's singles, Kanta Tsuneyama (Japan) was the winner and Tommy Sugiarto (Indonesia) was runner up.