1. Cabinet
Approves Revamped Khelo India Program
i. The
Union Cabinet has approved the revamped Khelo India program at
a cost of Rs.1,756 crore for the period 2017-18 to 2019-20.
ii. The Programme aims at mainstreaming sport as a tool for
individual development, community development, economic development and
national development.
iii.
Important features of the Program include:
- An unprecedented Pan Indian Sports Scholarship scheme, which would cover 1,000 most talented young athletes.
- Each athlete selected under the scheme shall receive an annual scholarship worth Rs. 5.00 lakh for 8 consecutive years.
- This is the first time ever that a long-term athlete development pathway would be made available to gifted and talented youngsters to excel in competitive sports.
- The Program aims to promote 20 universities across the country as hubs of sporting excellence, which would enable talented sportspersons to pursue the dual pathway of education and competitive sports.
- The Programme would cover about 200 million children in the age group of 10-18 under a massive national physical fitness drive.
2. WHO
Grants $175,000 for 'Vulnerable Population' of Bangladesh
i. The
World Health Organization (WHO) has released its first tranche
of emergency funding of $175,000 to provide life-saving healthcare to
the "vulnerable population" in Bangladesh's Cox's Bazar.
ii. The
WHO South-East Asia Regional Health Emergency Fund (SEARHEF) grant will support
20 mobile medical teams to provide essential services for at least two months.
3. World
Trade to Grow at Higher 3.6% in 2017: WTO
i. World
trade in goods is estimated to grow at a higher 3.6 percent in 2017
compared to 1.6 percent increase in 2016, according to revised estimates
circulated by the World Trade Organisation.
ii. Growth
in global trade was earlier projected at 2.4 percent in 2017 by the WTO, which
attributed the improved outlook to a resurgence of Asian trade flows. This was
mainly due to intra-regional shipments picking up and a recovery in import
demand in North America.
4. World’s
Fastest Commercial Bullet Train in China
i. China restored
the maximum speed of bullet trains on the Beijing-Shanghai high-speed
railway line to 350 kilometers per hour, making it the fastest
commercially run train, six years after it reduced the speed due to a
fatal accident.
ii. The
speed was reduced to 300 kilometers per hour following the deadly
accident in July 2011 that killed 40 people.
5. 50
Nations Ink UN Nuclear Ban Treaty
i. Fifty
countries have signed a treaty to ban nuclear weapons, a pact that the
world’s nuclear powers spurned but supporters hailed as a historic agreement
nonetheless.
ii. More
than 120 countries approved the new nuclear weapons ban treaty in July 2017
over opposition from nuclear-armed countries and their allies, who boycotted
negotiations.
6. Peer-to-peer
Lending Platforms to be Treated as NBFCs]
i. After
a year or more of due-diligence, the RBI has notified that peer-to-peer
(P2P) lending platforms need to be regulated and treated on
par with non-banking financial companies (NBFCs).
ii. The
final regulatory framework for P2P lenders is still awaited. Few important P2P
lending platforms in India are LenDen Club, Faircent, Qbera, Lendbox,
Rupaiya Exchange and Monexo.
7. Fino
Payments Bank Launches Mobile Banking App
i. Fino
Payments Bank has launched its mobile banking app called BPay.
Fino aims to make banking easy for millions of underbanked people in India. The
upgraded BPay app is available on Android at present.
ii. An
interesting feature of the mobile app is that it allows customers to seamlessly
access wallet as well as savings account, with a single login and
interface.
8. B
Sambamurthy Appointed as NPCI Interim Chairman
i.
National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has appointed B
Sambamurthy as interim Chairman of the board. He will replace M
Balachandran, who was Non-Executive Chairman of NPCI.
ii. Sambamurthy
was formerly Director and CEO of the Institute for Development and Research in
Banking Technology (IDRBT) and Chairman and Managing Director of Corporation
Bank prior to that.
9. India
replaces China as Top Retail Destination in 2017
i. India
has replaced China as the top retail destination in 2017 as part of
the global retail development index. The change in ranking was an outcome of
four factors including increased consumer spending beyond essentials, rising
mobile and internet penetration, favorable foreign investment climate and bold
action on cashless transaction and GST.
ii. In
addition to the bigger retailers and brands, the mid-size brands from across
the world are also looking to cash on the relaxed retail policy in India.
10. Zannah
Mustapha Wins UNHCR Nansen Refugee Award
i. A
Nigerian, Zannah Mustapha has won the UN High Commission for
Refugees (UNHCR) 2017 Nansen Refugees Award. He is the Director of Future
Prowess Islamic Foundation School. Mr. Mustapha is the first Nigerian recipient
of the award.
ii. Mr.
Mustapha was chosen as the winner of the award for his humanitarian work in
championing the rights of children.
11. Official
Slogan and Emblem of FIFA Women’s World Cup France 2019 launched
i. The official
emblem and slogan for FIFA Women's World Cup France 2019 were unveiled
in Paris, France. The emblem features the competition trophy wrapped in blue
and white, with eight shards of light around football at the top of the trophy
symbolizing the eighth edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup.
ii. The
slogan of the tournament "Dare To Shine" reflects
the development of football, especially women's football.
12. Asian
Indoor Games: Chitra, Lakshmanan Win Gold
i. Asian
champions G. Lakshmanan and P. U. Chitra won gold medals in
the athletics events of the fifth Asian Indoor and Martial
Arts Games in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan.
ii. Tamil
Nadu’s Lakshmanan won the men’s 3000m while Kerala’s Chitra, who was not
cleared by the national body Athletics Federation of India for the recent World
Championships in London despite making the cut, took the women’s 1500m title.
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