Daily Current Affairs, 03rd August 2019

1) President Kovind honoured with the highest award of Republic of Guinea

•President Ram Nath Kovind has been awarded the National Order of Merit by the President of Guinea for his exceptional contribution to the advancement of overall relations and development of mutual cooperation between India and Guinea and for promoting friendship and partnership between the people of both the countries. 

2) President Kovind inaugurates exhibitions on M. Gandhi and Khadi in Gambia

•President Ram Nath Kovind inaugurated exhibitions on Mahatma Gandhi and Khadi at the “Ebunjan Theatre” in the Gambia to commemorate the 150th birth anniversary of the Mahatma Gandhi.

3) Indian-origin doctor wins Miss England 2019

•Bhasha Mukherjee, a 23-year-old Indian origin doctor was crowned Miss England 2019. Bhasha holds two different medical degrees, has an IQ of 146 and is fluent in 5 different languages. As a winner of Miss England, she will be entered into the Miss World contest 2019.

4) India to conduct 1st National Time Release Study for efficient trade flow

•The Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance, as part of its strategic commitment to improving global trade, is conducting India’s first national Time Release Study (TRS). The exercise will be institutionalized on an annual basis.

•This initiative will help India maintain the upward trajectory on Ease of Doing Business, particularly on the Trading Across Borders indicator which measures the efficiency of the cross border trade ecosystem. The TRS is an internationally recognized tool advocated by the World Customs Organization to measure the efficiency and effectiveness of international trade flows.



5) Gujarat CM launches ‘Vhali Dikri Yojna’

•Gujarat Chief Minister has launched the ‘Vhali Dikri Yojna’ from his home town Rajkot, Gujarat. The scheme for the welfare of the girl child.

•According to the scheme, the State Government will pay Rs. 4,000 to every girl child at the time of admission to Standard 4th, Rs. 6,000 at the time of taking admission to Standard IX, Rs. 1-lakh at the time of taking admission for higher education at the age of 18 and another Rs. 1-lakh at the time of marriage. It is a statewide cash incentive scheme for every girl child born in Gujarat.

6) World Breastfeeding Week Has Observe

•The Food and Nutrition Board, Ministry of Women and Child Development, is organizing several activities on the theme “Empower Parents, Enable Breastfeeding”during the World Breastfeeding Week (WBW) being observed from 1st to 7th August 2019.

•World Breastfeeding Week, which is being observed till 7th of the month, aims to create awareness among parents about breastfeeding, the importance of initiation, exclusive breastfeeding, and adequate and appropriate complementary feeding.

7) Giriraj Prasad Gupta appointed as new CGA

•Giriraj Prasad Gupta, Indian Civil Accounts Service (ICAS) officer, took over as the Controller General of Accounts (CGA). Gupta has served in various positions in Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), ministry of rural development, and ministry of finance.

•Gupta also worked as the Director of National Institute of Financial Management (NIFM). Gupta succeeds Anthony Lianzuala as the new Controller General of Accounts (CGA) under the Finance Ministry.

8) RBI allows Bank of China to offer regular banking services in India

•The Reserve Bank of India (RBI)  allowed “Bank of China” to offer regular banking services in the country. Banks falling under this schedule have to adhere to the norms of the RBI. ‘Bank of China Limited’ has been included in the 2nd Schedule to the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934.

9) SBI, Shanghai becomes first Indian bank to link up with CNAPS

•The State Bank of India’s (SBI) Shanghai branch is now connected to China’s National Advance Payment System (CNAPS).

•SBI is the only Indian bank to have obtained the license to do business in local currency and also inducted to the CNAPS by the People’s Bank of China (PBOC). SBI Shanghai can also offer the real-time transfer of local funds within China by routing them through the PBOC. The CNAPS, launched in 2008 by People’s Bank of China (PBOC) provides real-time settlement services for all payments.