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  • Current Affairs 19th July 2017

    Updated : 19-Jul-2017

    Current Affairs 19th July 2017 - Important Points

    • Country’s first Bio-Methane Bus developed by - Tata Motors
    • New species of bird-like dinosaur identified in Canada by - Scientists
    • Cess on cigarettes increased by - GST Council
    • Who has been elected as 16th President of Ramakrishna Math ? - Swami Smarananandaji Maharaj
    • Who has been appointed as Team India’s new bowling coach? - Bharat Arun
    • Lewis Hamilton wins 2017 British Grand Prix on - 16th July 2017
    • TR Zeliang appointed as Chief Minister of Nagaland on - 19th July 2017
    • Shala Siddhi Prohatsan Yojana in 25000 government schools launched by - MP
    • Solar project to electrify remote village of Agaween in Egypt launched by - India
    • Cap on weight of school bags put by - Telangana State

    Current Affairs 19th July 2017 - Details

    Country’s first Bio-Methane Bus developed by - Tata Motors

    Auto Major Tata Motors rolled out the country’s first Bio-CNG (bio-methane) bus on 17th July 2017. The bus was rolled out at the Bio-energy program, called ‘Urja Utsav’, organised by the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas in the presence of Minister of Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan and Minister of State with Independent Charge for Power, Coal, New and Renewable Energy and Mines Piyush Goyal.
    More about country’s first Bio-Methane Bus

    • Tata Motors designed the bus, Tata Motors is the India’s largest Commercial Vehicles manufacturer and the number one bus brand across the country.
    • The bio-methane engines (5.7 SGI & 3.8 SGI) will going to be available for LCV, ICV & MCV buses.
    • Three engines were displayed at the event, along with the lead model; Tata LPO 1613 with 5.7 SGI NA BS-IV IOBD-II compliant bus. The Tata LPO 1613 is already  in operation by PMPML (Pune Mahanagar Parivahan Mahamandal Limited) and was showcased with bio-methane fuel at the event.

    New species of bird-like dinosaur identified in Canada by - Scientists


    A group of Canadian scientists have identified a new bird-like species of dinosaur that lived nearly 71 million years ago and were about the size of a person.
    The species have been named as the Albertavenator curriei, means Currie’s Alberta hunter.
    These species found in Alberta, have been named in honor of famous Canadian palaeontologist Philip J. Currie.
    It highlights the importance of finding and examining the skeletal material from these rare dinosaurs.
    This discovery of the species was published in the Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences.

     Key highlights

    • The bones were found in the badlands surrounding the Royal Tyrrell Museum in Canada.
    • This species shares a great resemblance with its close relative Troodon inequalis, which lived around 76 million years ago even around five million years before Albertavenator.
    • Albertavenator and Troodon used to walk on two legs and were covered in feathers and were about the size of a person.

    Cess on cigarettes increased by - GST Council

    The Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council increased the Compensation Cess rate on cigarettes on 17th July 2017 to make the total tax incidence on cigarettes in GST regime at par with the total tax incidence in pre-GST regime. The move will be raising the prices of cigarettes that fell under the GST regime.
    Important Highlights

    • As per the recommendations of the GST Council, the Compensation Cess rates under Section 8 (2) of the Goods and Services Tax (Compensation to States) Act, 2017, was notified on Intra-State or Inter-State supply of the specified goods including cigarettes.
    • With respect to cigarettes, the Fitment Committee recommended that in line with the weighted average VAT rate of 28.7 percent, the GST rate on cigarettes may be kept at 28 percent.
    • In addition to that, the Compensation Cess shall be levied on cigarettes at rate equal to 1.05 times the Specific Excise Duty Rates.
    • However, this method of calibrating the Compensation Cess was not taken into consideration of the cascade of taxes which eventually led the total tax incidence on cigarettes in GST regime to come down.
    • On this, GST Council said that it will be welcoming any reduction in tax incidence on items of mass consumption, but the same will be unacceptable in case of demerit goods like cigarettes.

    Who has been elected as 16th President of Ramakrishna Math ? - Swami Smarananandaji Maharaj

    Swami Smarananandaji Maharaj was elected as the 16th President of Ramakrishna Math and  Ramakrishna Mission on 17th July 2017. The office of the President fell vacant following the death of Swami Atmasthanandaji Maharaj on 18th June 2017.

    More about Swami Smarananandaji Maharaj

    • He was born at village Andami in Tanjavur district of Tamil Nadu in 1929.
    • He was appointed as a Trustee of the Ramakrishna Math and member of the Governing Body of the Ramakrishna Mission in 1983.
    • He joined the headquarters of Ramakrishna Math as an Assistant Secretary in April 1995
    • He took charge as the General Secretary of the twin organisations later in 1997.
    • He steered the Ramakrishna Movement worldwide for 10 years until May 2007 as a General Secretary, when he was elected as the Vice President of the Order.

    Who has been appointed as Team India’s new bowling coach? - Bharat Arun

    Bharat Arun was appointed as the new bowling coach of Team India by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on 18th July 2017. Newly appointed Indian team coach Ravi Shastri after meeting the four-member BCCI panel made this announcement during a press briefing.

    Shastri also welcomed both Rahul Dravid and Zaheer Khan on board as batting and bowling consultants and said that the contracts of the duo will going to be finalised by the BCCI officials.
    He also stated that while he is happy to have the services of the former Indian cricketing legends,
    he wants full-time assistant coaches of his choice. He also stated that he needed someone like Arun to be around the team to see that Zaheer’s suggestions are being implemented.
    Important Highlights

    • Arun has been handed a full-time role, as bowling consultant Zaheer Khan will only be available for 150 days in a year.
    • Sanjay Bangar will going to continue as the assistant batting coach of the team while R Sridhar will be continuing as the fielding coach of the team.
    • All the three appointments have been made for a two-year period.
    • Bharat Arun has been reappointed to the role he fulfilled during Ravi Shastri's tenure as team director between August 2014 and April 2016.
    • The Indian cricket team was not having a bowling coach since Arun's contract expired in 2016.

    Lewis Hamilton wins 2017 British Grand Prix on - 16th July 2017

    Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton on 16th July 2017 claimed the 2017 British Grand Prix title of Formula One at the Silverstone Circuit in Silverstone, United Kingdom.
    It is Hamilton’s overall fifth British Grand Prix title after winning it in 2008, 2014, 2015 and 2016. He has also become the first driver to win the British Grand Prix four times in a row.
    Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas bagged the second place in the race. From Finland, Kimi Raikkonen stood third in the race.
    More about British Grand Prix

    • It is currently held at the Silverstone Circuit near the Silverstone village in Northamptonshire in England.
    • Italian Grands Prix and The British Prix are the oldest which are staged continuously Formula One World Championship Grands Prix.
    • It was designated the European Grand Prix five times from 1950 to 1977. This title was an honorary designation given to one Grand Prix race in Europe each year.

    TR Zeliang appointed as Chief Minister of Nagaland on - 19th July 2017

    TR Zeliang was appointed as the Chief Minister of Nagaland by Governor PB Acharya on 19th July 2017. This will be the second term for him before this, he served from 2014 to 2017.

    His appointment came after Nagaland Chief Minister Shurhozelie Liezietsu and nine ruling Naga People’s Front (NPF) legislators failed to appear for the floor test. He was asked to prove his majority on the floor of the House on or before 22nd July 2017 where he claimed the support of 43 MLAs including seven independents.
    Interesting Highlights

    • Nagaland has been undergoing a constitutional crisis since the formation of new government in the North-Eastern state.
    • The crisis outspread after Chief Minister Liezietsu was accused of nepotism by the opposition members when he appointed his son as an advisor with the rank of a cabinet minister and pay.
    • In order to calm down the situation on 18th July 2017, Governor PB Acharya directed the Speaker of Nagaland Legislative Assembly to conduct a floor test on 19th July 2017. Liezietsu was required to prove his majority in the house to continue as the head of the government.
    • Liezietsu was appointed as the Nagaland CM after the former Chief Minister TR Zeliang faced rigid resistance from local tribesover the introduction of 33 percent reservation for women candidates in the civic bodies.

    Shala Siddhi Prohatsan Yojana in 25000 government schools launched by - MP

    Madhya Pradesh’s school education department is in the process of implementing programs such as 'Hamari Shala Kaisi Ho' and 'Shala Siddhi Karyakram' in all government schools of the state in order to deliver qualitative education to the students.
    The State Education Center has also started Shala Siddhi Prohatsan Yojana under the program in 25 thousand schools of the state in order to encourage best works. Also, a time table has been fixed for the award process.

    Important Highlights

    • Going by the time table, the district core committees would be needed to form block-level selection committees by 22nd July.
    • The selected schools will be needed to forward their applications for Shala Siddhi Karyakram to Sankul Principals by 28th July.
    • The selection committee will then be forwarding applications of 3 primary and 3 middle schools for awards to the District Institute for Education and Training (DIET).
    • The selected schools at block level will going to be awarded at District Head Quarters on the occasion of Independence Day Celebration program.
    • The District Core Committees will be selecting 3 primary and middle schools.
    • The chosen schools will be awarded on Teacher's Day on 5th September.
    • The Yojana would also help to encourage teachers working in the government schools by recognizing their best works.
    • The framework has been prepared for the evaluation and improvement of government schools by the National University of Education Planning  and Administration New Delhi under the Human Resources Development Ministry of Indian Government.

    Solar project to electrify remote village of Agaween in Egypt launched by - India

    India launched a solar project with state-of-the-art technology to electrify a remote village in Egyptian July 2017. This project is an off-grid system that is ideal for remote locations.

    It was launched at Agaween village in the Western Desert in Matrouh Governorate which is close to the Libyan border. India’s Ambassador inaugurated this to Egypt Sanjay Bhattacharyya and Major General Alla Fathi Abou Zeid who is Governor of Matrouh.
    Important highlights

    • To successfully launch the Solar Electrification Project, India is providing all the solar panels and their sub-systems, equipment, machinery, technical support as well as training to technicians.
    • The Egyptian Government has provided the location for implementation of the project.
    • The project is a demonstration of India’s technical capabilities, particularly in renewable energy and can be replicated at other locations of Egypt.
    • The total output of the project is 8.8 kilowatt which can electrify the entire Agaween village.
    • The Solar Electrification Project at Agaween will give electricity to 40 houses, a mosque, a school and a community center.
    • The project will be only providing electricity to Agaween village but also train workers  on how to manage and adjust the solar energy systems in order to help forming groups of well-trained workers in the governorate.

    Cap on weight of school bags put by - Telangana State

    The Telangana government has imposed a cap on the weight of bags carried by schoolchildren to prevent any resulting physical effect and anxiety disorder among students.
    The government issued an official order on 18th July 2017 detailing the allowed weight limit of school bags for students studying in the primary section to those in Class X.
    This order has been issued to all the school managements.
    Important Details

    • The maximum weight of a school bag with textbooks and notebooks should not exceed 1.5 kg for children in Class 1 and II and it should not go above 2-3 kg for children studying in III, IV and V standard.
    • The weight limit for students studying in Classes VI and VII is up to 4 kg, while for VIII and IX standard it is 4.5 kg.
    • For Class X, it should not exceed 5 kg.
    • The prescribed weight limit is several kilograms lesser than the weight children are carrying currently.
    • The school children were carrying bags weighing from 6 - 12 kg at primary level and up to 17 kg at high school level.