Current Affairs Update 23 July 2018

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Gst Council Recommends Gst Rates Reduction On Several Goods: Highlights

• The GST Council in its 28th meeting held under the Chairmanship of Shri Piyush Goyal , Union Minister for Railways , Coal , Finance & Corporate Affairs  took following decisions on GST Rate on Goods:

Item	Change
Refrigerators, freezers and other refrigerating, Washing Machines	28% to 18%
Sanitary Napkins, Rakhi, Circulation and commemorative coins, sold by Security Printing and Minting Corporation of India Ltd [SPMCIL] to Ministry of Finance.	18%12%/5% to Nil
Handmade carpets,Handmade lace,Hand-woven tapestries	12% to 5%
Supply of e-books	18% to 5%
5% GST is being extended to footwear having a retail sale price up to Rs. 1000 per pair Footwear having a retail sale price exceeding Rs. 1000 per pair will continue to attract 18%

PM Modi to Embark on 3-nation Visit to Rwanda, Uganda, South Africa

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi will leave for Rwandan capital Kigali on July 23 on the first leg of his five-day 3-nation visit to Africa. This will be first-ever visit by an Indian Prime Minister to Rwanda. 
• On the second leg, Mr Modi will visit Uganda which will be the first visit by an Indian Prime Minister to the country in over 20 years. 
• On the final leg, Mr Modi will reach Johannesburg, South Africa to attend the 10th BRICS Summit. 
• The core agenda of the Summit is inclusive growth, sustainable development, health and vaccine, peacekeeping among others. 

Proposed Total budget outlay of the ‘SevaBhojYojna’ scheme for the financial year 2018-19 and 2019-20 is Rs. 150.00 crores and Rs. 175.00 crores, respectively

• Dr. Mahesh Sharma, Minister of State (Independent charge) for culture announced that the proposed total budget outlay of the ‘SevaBhojYojna’ scheme for the financial year 2018-19 and 2019-20 is Rs. 150.00 crores and Rs. 175.00 crores respectively.
• The ‘SevaBhojYojna’ is a Central Sector Scheme under which Central Goods and Services Tax (CGST) and Central Government’s share of Integrated Goods and Services Tax (IGST) paid by Charitable Religious Institutions like Temples, Gurudwara, Dharmik Ashram, Mosques, Dargah, Church, Matth, Monastries etc. on purchase of specific raw food items shall be reimbursed to them as financial assistance by the Government of India.
• These Charitable Religious Institutions should have been distributing free food in the form of ‘prasad’, ‘langar’/bhandara (community kitchen) to at least 5000 persons in a calendar month for at least past 3 years.

Centre sets up panel to suggest steps to check lynchings headed by Rajiv Gauba

• The Centre has set up a high-level committee headed by Union Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba to formulate steps to check mob lynchings and directed it to submit the recommendations within four weeks.
• The Secretaries of the Departments of Justice, Legal Affairs, Legislative and Social Justice and Empowerment are members of the committee.
• The government also decided to constitute a Group of Ministers (GoM) headed by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh to consider the committee’s recommendations. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari, Minister for Law and Justice Ravi Shankar Prasad and Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment Thaawar Chand Gehlot are members of the GoM.
• The GoM will submit their recommendations to the Prime Minister.

1st Meeting of India-Bangladesh Joint Committee on Border Haats held in Agartala

• The first meeting of the India-Bangladesh Joint Committee on Border Haats was held on 22-23 July 2018 in Agartala, Tripura. 
• The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Border Haats between India and Bangladesh signed on 8th April 2017 provides for establishment of a Joint Committee to review the border haats operations, suggest modifications in the operational modalities and propose new locations of Border Haats.

Public Affairs Index (PAI) for 2018: Kerala Best, Bihar Worst

• Public Affairs Index 2018 released by the think tank Public Affairs Centre (PAC), Kerala stands as the best governed state in the country for the third consecutive year since 2016 . Bihar has been ranked last.

NASA to launch Car-Size Spacecraft to Study Sun

• The US space agency NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) is preparing to launch a probe in August 2018 to conduct deep study of the Sun for revealing multiple mysteries behind the star.
• The car-sized spacecraft called Parker Solar Probe will be first of its kind human made object ever developed for study of sun. It will have to face heat and radiation like no spacecraft has endured before.
• The Probe is slated to lift off in August 2018 on a United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy, which is one of the world’s most powerful rockets.

Amit Anand Apte appointed President of Institute of Cost Accountants of India

• Amit Anand Apte has been appointed as the President of Institute of Cost Accountants of India. Balwinder Singh has been elected as the institute’s Vice President
• The Institute of Cost Accountants of India, previously known as the Institute of Cost & Works Accountants of India, is a premier statutory professional accountancy body in India.

German Footballer Mesut Ozil announces retirement

• German footballer Mesut Ozil announced his retirement from the national team, in the wake of the controversy surrounding his recent meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
• Ozil was heavily criticised after he, along with his teammate, Ilkay Gundogan, who has Turkish ancestry, posed for a photograph with Erdogan at a charitable event in May.
• He also played for English club Arsenal.

Manu-Sumeeth win Lagos International Badminton title

• Mannu Attri and Sumeeth Reddy won the men’s doubles title at Lagos International Badminton held in Nigeria.
• Women’s doubles event- Kuhoo Garg and Ria Mukherjee defeated Krishma Wadekar and V Harika 
• Mixed doubles final-Indian pair Manu Attri and Manisha combined to beat Kuhoo Garg and Rohan Kapoor of India.
• Women’s singles event- Russia’s Ksenia Polikaprova defeated Indian shuttler Sree Krishina Priya.
• Men’s singles event- Misha Zilberman of Israel claimed the title after defeating Ramdam Misburn of Malaysia.

India’s Muhammed Anas Breaks Own National 400 Metres Record

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