Current Affairs 4th July 2018

Current Affairs 4th July 2018 - Important Points

• 5th RCEP intersessional ministerial meeting held in - Tokyo, Japan
• Who has been appointed as UN Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan - Major General Jos Eladio Alcain of Uruguay
• Supreme Court upholds?RBI’s ban on which Currencies - Virtual Currencies

Current Affairs 4th July 2018 - Details

5th RCEP intersessional ministerial meeting held in - Tokyo, Japan

On 3rd July 2018, 5th Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) intersessional ministerial meeting was held in Tokyo Japan. This meeting was co-chaired by Singapore’s Minister of Trade and Industry Chan Chun Sing and his Japanese counterpart Hiroshige Seko.

RCEP is a free trade agreement between 10 ASEAN countries. These are Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. It also has six FTA partners, these are Australia, New Zealand, India, China, Japan and Korea.

Who has been appointed as UN Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan - Major General Jos Eladio Alcain of Uruguay

Among important appointments, Major General José Eladio Alcain of Uruguayan Army has been appointed as Head of Mission and Chief Military Observer for UN Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP). Before his appointment, Major General Per Gustaf Lodin of Sweden was serving at this position.

UNMOGIP was established by UN Security Council in 1949. Its main task it to monitor ceasefire line between India and Pakistan.  UNMOGIP is financed by United Nations regular budget. This group conducts investigations into alleged ceasefire violation complaints, which two parties (India and Pakistan) can submit to it.

As per Shimla accord, India and Pakistan had agreed to change ceasefire line to LoC and held that they will resolve their disputes bilaterally without third party interference. So as per India UNMOGIP is irrelevant after the Shimla (Accord) Agreement.

Supreme Court upholds?RBI’s ban on which Currencies - Virtual Currencies

Among Important Financial current affairs, On 3rd July 2018, Supreme Court upheld RBI’s ban on virtual Currencies. So all virtual currencies transactions ( like bitcoin ) through banks will be banned from 6th July 2018. This petition was filed by Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI).

Bench comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A.M. Khanwilkar and D.Y. Chandrachud was hearing this petition. Important to mention here that virtual Currencies were never a legal tender.