Current Affairs 3rd July 2017

Current Affairs 3rd July 2017 - Important Points

• Historic indirect tax regime GST after 17 years of debate launched by - India
•  President Bashar Assad appears on Syrian Lira for first time on - 2nd July 2017
• Indian of the Year Award bagged by - Writer Preeti Shenoy
• €50 million fine on Facebook and Twitter over hate speech imposed by - Germany
• Germany beats Chile to win 2017 - FIFA Confederations Cup
• 65 MoUs signed at - Textiles India 2017
•  World's sharpest laser with a line-width of only 10 mHz developed by - Scientists
• Short range surface-to-air missile successfully test-fired by - India
•  140 years of Wimbledon Championship celebrated by - Google Doodle
• Same-sex marriage approved by - German Parliament

Current Affairs 3rd July 2017 - Details

Historic indirect tax regime GST after 17 years of debate launched by - India

The Goods and Services Tax (GST) was launched in India at the stroke of midnight on 1st July 2017, almost after 17 years of its conception. The launch was organized in the Central Hall of Parliament on the midnight of 30th June - 1st July 2017 in the presence of President, Vice President, Prime Minister, Lok Sabha Speaker and Union Finance Minister among other dignitaries.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave a speech on the launch of GST, who dubbed the tax regime as the ‘Good and Simple Tax’.

With effect from 1st July 2017, GST is expected to transform completely the Indirect Taxation landscape in the country involving both the Central and State levies as GST will be administered by the Center and States together.
Main Items with lower cost after GST - Soap, Hair Oil, Ice cream, Cheese, Packaged Tea and coffee, Corn Flakes, Toothpaste, Atta, Sweets, Packed Curd, Economy Class Air travel
Items without change after GST - Milk, Fresg vegetables and fruits, Bread, Basmati, Rice, Juices, Electricity,
Items with higher cost after GST - Cold drinks, chocolate, chewing gum, shampoo, face cream, TV, Fridge, AC, Washing Machine, Furniture, Gold, Watches, Banking services, professional services,
dry cleaning services, beauty parlour services, courier services, leasing services, restaurant services, legal services.

GST - Important Features

• A modern world-class information technology (IT) system will be administering GST.
• To implement GST, A special network called GSTN was created.
• Under this, section 25 private limited company with Strategic Control with the Union Government will be functioning as a common Pass-through portal for the taxpayers.
• GST envisions that all the transactions and processes to be done only through electronic mode to achieve non-intrusive administration.
• It will be providing the facility of auto-populated monthly returns and annual return.
• It facilitates the taxpayers by prescribing grant of refund within 60 days, and provisional release of 90 percent refund to exporters within next 7 days.

 President Bashar Assad appears on Syrian Lira for first time on - 2nd July 2017

The Syrian Central Bank put into circulation a new 2,000 Syrian Lira (3.9 USD) banknote that has the face of country’s current President Bashar Assad on 2nd July 2017. President Bashar Assad is being shown on the country’s currency for the first time since he took office 17 years ago. The move comes at a time when Assad’s government is boasting its military successes against the armed rebellion occurring all across the country.

The country’s currency used to carry images of historic icons or pictures of Assad’s father, Hafez Assad previosly.
The Syrian Central Bank Governor Duraid Durgham stated that the notes were printed years ago but the decision to put them into circulation was delayed due to the war circumstances and exchange rate fluctuations. Due to the wear and tear of the existing notes , new ones have been released. The new note is equal to around $4 as per the current exchange rates. Syria’s seven-year-long civil war that started in 2011 as a part of Arab Spring has contributed much to its currency’s rapid fall. Its currency has fallen from 47 pounds/lira to the dollar in 2010 to 500 pounds/ lira to the dollar at present.
Inflation has also soared in the country, reaching an all-time high in 2013 at over 120 percent.In 2016,the inflation rate is at 50 percent. The new note was put into circulation in Damascus and a number of other provinces.

Indian of the Year Award bagged by - Writer Preeti Shenoy

Writer Preeti Shenoy in the last week of June 2017 was honored with the Indian of the Year Award at a function organized in New Delhi. Shenoy was awarded by Brands Academy, one of the most reputed branding companies in India. The Award is given to recognize the achievements of personalities who have contributed towards building up the reputation of the country.
More about Preeti Shenoy

• She is one of India's top five highest selling women authors, alluding to the immense popularity of her books.
• She has also been consistently nominated for the Forbes List of the 100 most influential celebrities in India since 2013.
• She is a self-taught artist who paints with water colours and oils, and also works with mixed media.
• A few of her famous books are It's All in the Planets, Life Is What You Make It and It Happens For A Reason.

€50 million fine on Facebook and Twitter over hate speech imposed by - Germany

Germany has passed a controversial law under which social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube could face a hefty fine of €50 million if they fail to remove hate speech within 24 hours.
The Network Enforcement Act, commonly referred to as the ‘Facebook law’, was passed by Germany’s parliamentary body, Bundestag on 30th June 2017.  It will come into effect in October. This move is a part of a crackdown against abuse online.

Important Highlights

• The law would be requiring the social media giants to find and delete posts containing ‘evidently unlawful’ abusive material that includes hate speech, defamation and incitements to violence within 24 hours.
• It also mandates one week’s time to the web companies to decide on cases that aren’t clear cut law violation but yet contain hateful materials.
• Failure do so would result in an initial fine of €5 million that could be increased to about €50 million.
• The law also provides for fines of up to €5m for the person each company designates to deal with the complaints procedure if it doesn’t meet the requirements.
• The companies have been urged to publish a report every six months detailing how many complaints they received and how they dealt with them.
• The main driving force behind the bill, Germany’s Federal Minister of Justice and Consumer Protection Heiko Maas argued that it is necessary to stop the spreading of hate speech and with the experience it is proved that without political pressure, the large platform operators will not fulfill their obligations and therefore, this law is imperative.

Germany beats Chile to win 2017 - FIFA Confederations Cup

Germany defeated Chile 1-0 in the final to clinch the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup on 2nd July 2017 in the tournament held in Russia as a prelude to the 2018 FIFA World Cup. After this win, Germany took home their first Confederations Cup. The defending champions, Brazil, who won the previous three Confederation Cups is failed to qualify for the first time since 1995 following their loss on penalties to Paraguay in the quarter-finals of the 2015 Copa America.

More about Confederations Cup

• It is an international association football tournament for national teams held every four years by FIFA.
• Holders of each of the six (UEFA, CONMEBOL, CONCACAF, CAF, AFC, OFC) regional championships, along with the current FIFA World Cup holder and the host nation contest it to bring the number of teams up to eight.

65 MoUs signed at - Textiles India 2017

65 Memorandum of Understandings have been signed on the second day of the Textile India 2017 in Gandhinagar, Gujarat on 1st July 2017. Out of these 65 MoUs, 62 were signed by the Union textiles ministry and remaining three MoUs were signed by Gujarat government on textile sector.
The Textile Ministry includes agreements with China, Bangladesh for silk research, fashion technologies and knowledge transfer.

Union Textiles Minister Smriti Irani and Union Minister of State for Textiles Ajay Tamta presided the signing ceremony. On this occasion, Union Textile Minister Smriti Irani has said that it is the era of the development of the textile industry. MoUs were signed between various domestic and international organizations, both government-owned and private.

Three government-to-government (G2G) MoUs were also signed as well. These were signed between the central silk board and department of agriculture of the Gyangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China for the development of improved silkworm breeds and mulberry varieties by the exchange of sericulture genetic materials.

 World's sharpest laser with a line-width of only 10 mHz developed by - Scientists

A team of researchers have developed the world’s sharpest laser costing 44 million euros.
Named as 'Super Laser', it is 10 times more powerful than any other on earth and has the potential to revolutionize engineering in power , aeronautics and automotive industries. The Physical Review Letters journal published about the development of Super Laser on 29th June 2017.

This laser was developed within the scope of a nearly 10-year-long joint project with researchers from Physikalisch Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) and JILA, Technology and the University of Colorado Boulder in the USA and a joint institute of the National Institute of Standards. The new laser is now being used both at JILA in Boulder and at PTB to further improve the quality of optical atomic clocks and to carry out new precision measurements on ultra-cold atoms.

Important Highlights

• Theoretically, laser light has only one frequency, color or wavelength. However, there is always a certain line-width.
• This laser with a line-width of only 10 miliHertz (mHz) is closer to the ideal laser than used ever before.
• It has an average power output of 1000 watts which is a benchmark in sustained high energy pulses and is greater than the world’s other high-power beams in Texas and Osaka.
• This laser can help making optical atomic clocks more precise as well as can test Einstein’s theory of relativity.

Short range surface-to-air missile successfully test-fired by - India

India successfully test-fired indigenously developed quick reaction surface-to-air missile (QR-SAM) off the Odisha coast on 3rd July 2017. This short range missile with a strike range of 25km to 30 km was test fired from a truck-mounted canister launcher from the Integrated Test Range at Chandipur.

After the first developmental trial of the missile, carried out on 4th June 2017 from the same base,it was the second developmental trial of the state-of-the-art missile with an aerial target. Designed to be a quick reaction missile, it is capable of involving an all-weather weapon system and engaging multiple targets, plus capable of tracking and firing. Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and other establishments jointly developed it.

 140 years of Wimbledon Championship celebrated by - Google Doodle

Google rolled out a new doodle commemorating the 140th anniversary of the world’s oldest tennis tournament, Wimbledon Championship on 3rd July 2017.
The first championship took place in 1877 and since then it has been the most desired tournament to be held every year. This year's tournament will run between 3rd - 16th July 2017.
Britain's Andy Murray, also the defending men’s champion will play the first match at Center Court against Kazakhstan's Alexander Bublik.
World champion and the defending women’s champion, Serena Williams, will not be playing this year, as she awaits the birth of her first child.

 Interesting Facts about Wimbledon

• Wimbledon is one among the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments, played on grass courts, the others being the Australian Open, the French Open and the US Open.
• The US Open shifted to hard-court from grass court in 1975 and the Australian Open did it in 1988.
• This tournament has only been interrupted twice, during World War I and World War II.
• This 14-day long tournament always begins on a Monday and ends on a Sunday.
• Novak Djokovic is the only man to have beaten Roger Federer three times in the Wimbledon final and he celebrated each of his victories by eating blades of grass Martina Navratilova with 9 wins has won the women’s singles title the maximum number of times in the tournament.
  Do you know?
  The only player to reach 10 consecutive finals at the tournament is Roger Federer.

Same-sex marriage approved by - German Parliament

The Parliament of Germany voted by a wide margin to legalise same-sex marriage in June 2017.
The parliament voted by 393 to 226 in favour of same-sex marriage on 30th June 2017.
The decision came after Chancellor Angela Merkel changed her mind and stated that members of her ruling conservative bloc should follow their personal conscience rather than the party line.
The legislation allowing same-sex marriage in Germany passed the Bundestag on 30th June 2017 and is expected to go into effect in late 2017.
The reform gives full marital rights to the same-sex couples and allows them to adopt children too.