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  • Current Affairs 12th July 2017

    Updated : 12-Jul-2017

    Current Affairs 12th July 2017 - Important Points

    • President Pranab Mukherjee inaugurates Ashiana Annexe in Dehradun on - 10th July 2017
    • Ravi Shastri is new coach of Indian Cricket Team on -11th July 2017
    • Afghanistan batsman Shafiqullah Shafaq scores double century in T20 game on - 9th July 2017
    • Gopalkrishna Gandhi named as Opposition’s Candidate for Vice Presidential Election 2017 on - 11th July 2017
    • Syrian Observatory says Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has died on - 11th July 2017
    •  Significance and Benefits of PM Modi's visit to Israel to India on - 6th June 2017
    • Forensic expert Pakkiriswamy Chandra Sekharan passed away on - 11th July 2017
    • Complete ban on nylon and synthetic manja by - NGT
    • Rajasthan becomes first State to fix minimum education qualification for cooperative body poll on - 10th July 2017

    Current Affairs 12th July 2017 - Details

    President Pranab Mukherjee inaugurates Ashiana Annexe in Dehradun on - 10th July 2017

    Pranab Mukherjee, the President of India inaugurated the Ashiana Annexe in Dehradun, Uttarakhand on 10th July 2017.
    It comprises of twelve low cost dwelling units constructed to adjust officers and staff of Rashtrapati Bhavan during Presidential visits to the Retreat at ‘Ashiana’.
    On the other hand, an agreement between M/s Prashak Techno Enterprises and Central Building Research Institute was also signed to collaborate for effective proliferation of Habitech-NivaraTantra Technology solutions with a focus on low cost, disaster resilient housing, especially in the rural areas to enable vision of Housing for All with a special emphasis on housing for the economically weaker sections and low income group of communities.

    Key highlights

    • These dwelling units have been constructed using the Habitech-NivaraTantra - Onsite Sanitation Integrated Community Housing Technology Innovations developed at the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT).
    • The Technology innovations comprise unique blocks called as compacted inter meshing blocks,and these are made from local soil.
    • Their production is on site and is an entirely green process.
    • These blocks have novel cavities for vertical and horizontal enforcement using steel bars, that results in eliminating use of the conventional columns, beams and concrete lintel.
    • These cavities  will also be enabling  natural air curtain against temperature, noise pollution and water penetration.
    • These dwelling units are sustainable, disaster resilient and cost effective.
    • Scientific treatment of sanitation waste mitigation the risk of diseases and ensuring health and wellbeing of residents and the community.

    Ravi Shastri is new coach of Indian Cricket Team on -11th July 2017

    The BCCI named Ravi Shastri as the new chief coach of the Indian cricket team on 11th July 2017. He will be coordinating with the team as its head coach untill ICC World Cup 2019.
    Along with this, former fast bowler Zaheer Khan was also appointed as bowling coach for the tenure of two years.
    Former Indian Captain Rahul Dravid has been appointed as batting consultant for some overseas tours. Virat Kohli-led Indian cricket team has been without a head coach till now since Anil Kumble resigned from the post after the ICC Champions Trophy 2017.

    The appointments were made on the basis of recommendation of the Cricket Advisory Committee. The BCCI's three-member Cricket Advisory Committee includes of Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman.
    For Shastri, 55 years old, this will be his third time with the national team. Earlier, he has served the national team as a Cricket Manager during 2007 tour to Bangladesh, then as Team Director from 2014 August to 2016 June during which India won Test overseas series versus Sri Lanka. During his tenure as Team Director, the team also reached the semi-finals of 2015 World Cup and World T20 semi-finals in 2016.
    PTI has reported that that “It was learnt that it was a fight between Shastri and Virender Sehwag but it was skipper Virat Kohli's strong recommendation about Shastri's earlier tenure that turned the deal in favour of BCCI's 'Man of All Seasons'”.

    Zaheer Khan, who played international cricket in 2014 last, is considered to be one of finest exponents of swing bowling India has ever given.
    To be appointed as the Head Coach of the team, Ravi Shastri managed to beat a list of applicants that
    included former Indian opener Virendra Sehwag, Tom Moody,former Sri Lanka coach and current coach of IPL franchise Sunrisers Hyderabad, Lalchand Rajput, Serving Afghanistan Cricket team as its head coach and Richard Pybus, the former coach of Pakistan and Bangladesh cricket team and director of West Indies cricket Richard Pybus.

    Afghanistan batsman Shafiqullah Shafaq scores double century in T20 game on - 9th July 2017

    Afghanistan's Wicketkeeper-batsman Shafiqullah Shafaq smashed a laudable 214 innings off just 71 balls including 21 sixes and 16 fours in the Paragon Nangarhar Champion Trophy Twenty20,
    a local tournament of Afghanistan on 9th July 2017.

    Shafaq broke all the records with his swashbuckling right-handed batting, striking a double century in the local T20 match. His run carnage helped his team Khateez Cricket Academy in achieving a massive score of 351 runs in 20 overs. While, the opposition Kabul Star Cricket Club could gather 107 runs only.

    Shafaq is one of the few players from Afghanistan who has played in the last three editions of the ICC World T20 in 2012, 2014 and 2016. Shafaq made his T20 debut in 2010 against Ireland and has played 35 T20s for Afghanistan with the scores 392 runs till date.

    Gopalkrishna Gandhi named as Opposition’s Candidate for Vice Presidential Election 2017 on - 11th July 2017

    Mahatma Gandhi’s grandson Gopalkrishna Gandhi was named as the Opposition candidate for the 2017 Vice-Presidential Election on 11th July 2017.

    Congress president Sonia Gandhi announced his name after eighteen parties jointly approved him as their vice presidential candidate during a meeting. Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Manmohan Singh as well as senior leaders of Trinamool Congress, Left parties, Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagham were the participants of the meeting.

    The 2017 Vice-Presidential Elections are scheduled to be held on 5th August 2017 as outgoing Vice-President Hamid Ansari is about to complete his term on 10th August 2017. The total electoral college for the Vice-Presidential Elections is 790, which includes members from both the houses of Parliament. There are 233 members along with 12 nominated members in the Rajya Sabha and 543 members along with two nominated members from the Lok Sabha, who are eligible for voting.
    The BJP-led NDA accounts for nearly two-thirds of the electoral college votes at present.

     Do you know?

    • Gopal Krishna Gandhi served Indian Administrative Service officer from 1968 to 1992, was born to Devdas Gandhi and C Rajagopalachari’s daughter Lakshmi in April 1945.
    • He was also appointed as Governor of West Bengal in later 2004 and there he served till 2009.

    Syrian Observatory says Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has died on - 11th July 2017

    The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) on 11th July 2017 said that it has confirmed
    information that Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the chief of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) is no more.
    Rami Abdel Rahman, the director of the monitoring group, has told to the news agency that they got to know about the death today only. Pertinently, Baghdadi's death had been announced many a times before but the Observatory has a track record of credible reporting on Syria's civil war.
    In the meantime, an American multimedia news source quoted Pentagon officials as saying they have no information to confirm reports that Baghdadi is not anymore.

    There have been continuous rumors of Baghdadi's death in recent months. Last month, Russia's army said that it was seeking to verify whether it had killed the IS chief in an airstrike in the Syrian city of Raqqa in the war held last May.

    Baghdadi was the leader of the Sunni Salafi-jihadist militant which is a jihadist organisation known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
    He is the same person who was declared a caliphate governed Islamic law from a Mosul's medieval al-Nuri mosque on 4th July 2014. The United States put up a $25 million reward to capture him.

     Significance and Benefits of PM Modi's visit to Israel to India on - 6th June 2017

    Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi concluded the historic three-day long visit to Israel on 6th June 2017. Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave the red-carpet welcome and had personally accompanied and overseen all the official engagements of Modi in Israel.

    During the Modi’s visit, New Delhi and Tel Aviv signed seven bilateral agreements that cover a range of bilateral relations –  space, science, water conservation and technology and agriculture.
    Most importantly, both the leaders announced the stepping up of the bilateral relations to the level of strategic partnership status.

    Modi’s visit to Israel is of much importance apart from the signing of formal agreements and public display of solidarity with the host due to the following reasons –

    • It was his first visit to Israel.
    • Although, the stand-alone visit to Israel is also symbolic in nature as it has indicated India’s clear intention to DE-hyphenate Indo-Israel bilateral relationship with Palestine issue and with the larger Arab World and Iran.
    • Secondly, though less in substance, the visit marks 25 years of full diplomatic relations between both the nations.
    • It is during this visit, both the countries explicitly announced their intent to expand their relations from the conventional defense and security related areas to the emerging and developing areas like innovation, agriculture, space and science and technology.

    Forensic expert Pakkiriswamy Chandra Sekharan passed away on - 11th July 2017

    Renowned forensic expert Pakkiriswamy Chandra Sekharan passed away on 11th July 2017 following a brief illness. Sekharan helped investigators to crack the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case and also played an influential role in getting back the stolen 1500-year-old Pathur Nataraja idol from the United Kingdom.

    More about Pakkiriswamy Chandra Sekharan

    • He was an acknowledged expert as well as a pioneer in some forensic techniques, he deconstructed the suicide bomb attack on Rajiv Gandhi in May 1991.
    • He disclosed that the killer was a woman who acted as a human bomb.
    • Sekharan also served as the Director of the Tamil Nadu Forensic Sciences department.
    • He was a much sought-after expert witness, appearing in courts across India, the United Kingdom, Singapore and Sri Lanka for prosecution and defense both.
    • Sekharan was awarded with the Padma Bhushan award in the year 2000.

    Complete ban on nylon and synthetic manja by - NGT

    The National Green Tribunal (NGT) banned the use of 'Chinese' kite strings, made of nylon or any synthetic material, which is non-biodegradable on 11th July 2017 with immediate effect.
    All state governments are directed by NGT to stop the manufacturing, storage, purchase, sale,use of synthetic manja and nylon threads including all other synthetic strings used for flying kites with an immediate effect.
    The judgement of Tribunal passed on a plea filed by animal rights body People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) and others.
    The green panel went on to state that “Although kite flying with 'manja' has been a sport and recreational activity in India, but the strings endanger the lives of animals, birds and human beings and damage the environment too.
    These Chinese manja also led to a many fatal accidents. The petition filed by PETA and others had contended that manja poses a grave threat to human beings and animals as a number of deaths are caused by it every year. It has also alleged that sometimes these strings coated with sharp metals and traps , thath kill migratory birds.
    Small children engaged by the cottage industry to manufacture of nylon threads,suffer from respiratory problems as they inhale harmful substances.

    More about National Green Tribunal

    • It was established for effective and expeditious disposal of cases relating to environmental protection and conservation of forests and other natural resources in 2010 under the National Green Tribunal Act 2010.
    • It is a specialized body equipped with the necessary expertise to handle environment related disputes involving multi-disciplinary issues.
    • The Tribunal is not bound by the procedure laid down under the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, but is guided by principles of natural justice.

    United states reported Living conditions in Gaza - More wretched in July 2017

    As per a new report titled Gaza – 10 years after the release in July 2017 by the United Nations (UN),
    the living conditions for approximately two million people in the Palestinian enclave are deteriorating faster than it was forecasted in 2012 that the enclave would become “unlivable” by 2020.
    The UN country team has compiled by the report in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, took stock of some key indicators identified in an earlier 2012 UN report that predicted Gaza would be “unlivable” by 2020 unless underlying trends were reversed.

    Important highlights of the new report

    • The new report stated that the real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita had reduced and the provision of health services continued to decrease in Gaza, where average Palestinians are trapped in a sad reality and their daily lives are getting more and more unfortunate and unhappy.
    • Electricity supply is as low as at 90 megawatts in recent days against the requirement of 450 megawatts.

    Rajasthan becomes first State to fix minimum education qualification for cooperative body poll on - 10th July 2017

    Rajasthan in July 2017 laid down the minimum educational qualifications for contesting elections to village cooperative societies and various other cooperative bodies. With this, Rajasthan became India’s first state to fix minimum education qualification for cooperative body poll.
    In this regard, the Rajasthan Government amended State Cooperative Societies Rules, 2003. The new rules would benefit about 10000 cooperative and agricultural credit societies. Moreover, the benefit of education will accrue to the societies as their management will go to expert hands.
    The State Cooperative Societies Rules, 2003, were amended for the purpose and notification was issued on 10th July 2017.

    Important highlights

    • The educational qualification will be ranging from Class V to Class VIII for election as members of governing boards of primary land development banks,dairy societies, housing construction societies, consumer societies,urban banks, credit societies, salary earners' societies and cooperative unions.
    • The minimum qualifications for the primary committee members will be class 8th and metric will be for district-level committees and the education level will be graduation for the state level committee.
    • Elections to various posts in the societies would be conducted through the State Cooperative Election Authority after a certain level. Rajasthan will also be the first state in the country to establish Recruitment Board by the Cooperative Committees, which will be recruiting personnel for the cooperative committees.
    • This move will be ensuring more employment in the field of cooperatives. It will also be ensuring competent and talented personnel are selected in a transparent way.
    • A new poll calendar will be issued to facilitate the elections holding under the new rules.