SHANMUGAM IAS ACADEMY

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TNPSC DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS – July 18, 2019

NATIONAL:

❖ Maharashtra increases aid to kin of martyred jawans The State government on Tuesday increased

financial aid to families of jawans martyred in war

or war-like situations or conflict related to

national security from ₹25 lakh to ₹1 crore. Personnel wounded in conflict will get monetary

compensation ranging from ₹20 lakh to ₹ 60 lakh

each, depending on the severity of their injury. A decision to this effect was taken at the Cabinet

meeting here on Tuesday. As per a government resolution dated March 27, 2018, the family of

martyred jawans were given ₹25 lakh as one-time aid. Also, those

with 1% to25% injuries were granted ₹5 lakh, 26% to 50% injuries

₹8.50 lakh and 51% to 100% injuries ₹15 lakh.

This amount has now increased to ₹20 lakh, ₹34 lakh and ₹60 lakh

respectively.

The rule will be applicable retrospectively from January 1, 2019.

❖ Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh Get New Governors Sitting Rajya Sabha member Anusuiya

Uikey and senior BJP leader Biswa Bushan

Harichandan were appointed as governors of

Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh

respectively. The files of their appointment were

cleared by President Ram Nath Kovind after

which a formal order was issued by the

Rashtrapati Bhavan.

The post of Chhattisgarh governor was

under the additional charge of Madhya Pradesh Governor Anandiben

Patel since August after the demise of Balram Das Tandon.

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TNPSC DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS – July 18, 2019

Hailing from Chhindwara, Mr. Uikey, 62, whose Rajya Sabha term

was to end in 2022, has taken special interest in the delivery of

justice to women, especially tribal women and solution of their

problems.

She has also worked for awareness of rights of tribal women leading

to their empowerment, her bio-data on the Rajya Sabha website

says.

In his early 80s, Mr Harichandan will be the 23rd governor of Andhra

Pradesh and will succeed ESL Narasimhan, who had held the

gubernatorial post in various states for last 13 years which includes

10 years in Andhra Pradesh.

❖ Kiren Rijiju lauds athletes for securing top spot in

Commonwealth Weightlifting Championship Union Sports and Youth Affairs Minister

Kiren Rijiju lauded Indian weightlifters for

securing the first position in the

Commonwealth Weightlifting Championship. Rijiju took to Twitter to write: "India secured

1st position and gave the best ever

performance in Championship.

In another tweet, Rijiju assured athletes that

all possible care will be taken and best training facilities will be

provided to them.

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TNPSC DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS – July 18, 2019

❖ Rajya Sabha passes Airports Economic Regulatory

Authority of India (Amendment) Bill The Rajya Sabha on July 16 passed a Bill

allowing the Airports Economic Regulatory Authority

of India (AERA) to bid out any new airport at a pre-

determined tariff structure. Replying to the discussion on the Bill, Civil

Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said, “As many

as 16 airports will be in the purview of AERA.

All other airports continue to be looked after

by the Civil Aviation Ministry.

Currently, major airports with an annual capacity to handle one-and-

a-half million passengers come under the purview of Airports

Economic Regulatory Authority of India (AERA).

If the amendment is passed by Parliament, the definition of major

airports would be changed to any aerodrome which has or is

designated to have annual passenger capacity of three-and-a-half

million.

❖ Govt clears 7 amendments to IBC, extends Finance

Commission's term The government Wednesday cleared

seven amendments to the insolvency law,

seeking to speed up resolution and fix

loopholes. The Cabinet has approved the changes to

the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code

(IBC). The amendments would enable the

government to ensure maximisation of

value of a corporate debtor as a going concern while simultaneously

adhering to strict timelines

The Cabinet extended the 15th Finance Commission's term by a

month till November 30, and broadened the ambit of its

recommendation to include funds for defence and internal security.

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TNPSC DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS – July 18, 2019

❖ Zakir Hussain, Sonal Mansingh selected as 2018

Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellows

Tabla maestro Zakir Hussain, classical dancer

Sonal Mansingh, dancer Jatin Goswami and

scientist K Kalyanasundaram Pillai have been

selected as Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellows. The General Council of the Sangeet Natak

Akademi, the national academy of music, dance

and drama, made the selections at a meeting

held on June 26 in Guwahati.

The General Council also selected 44 artists from the field of music,

dance, theatre, puppetry and overall contribution in performing arts

for the Sangeet Natak Akademi Awards or Akademi Puraskar for the

year 2018. These 44 artists include three joint awardees.

❖ Cabinet approves eight amendments to IBC for easier

resolution The Union cabinet on Wednesday cleared

major changes to the bankruptcy law that will

enforce a strict 330-day timeline for the

insolvency resolution process, including any

legal challenges, and uphold secured

creditors’ priority right on the sale or

liquidation proceeds of bankrupt companies. The eight amendments to the Insolvency and

Bankruptcy Code(IBC) will also aid decision-making in the case of

bankrupt entities such as property developers, which have a large

number of creditors, including homebuyers.

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TNPSC DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS – July 18, 2019

INTERNATIONAL:

❖ Palau becomes 76th country to join International Solar

Alliance Palau, an archipelago of over 500 islands in

Oceania, on Tuesday became the 76th signatory

country to join the International Solar Alliance.

President of the Republic of Palau H.E. Tommy E.

Remengesau, Jr. signed the Framework Agreement

of the Int'l Solar Alliance becomes the 76th

signatory country. Indian Embassy, Manila is

working towards taking India-Palau ties to new heights, Nagaraj

Naidu, the Deputy Permanent Representative at India's Mission to

the United Nations, wrote on Twitter.

❖ United Airlines to resume India flights from September

as Pakistan reopens airspace United Airlines Holdings Inc said on

Wednesday it would restart daily nonstop

service between New York/Newark, New

Delhi and Mumbai from September 6,

after Pakistan lifted airspace restrictions.

The company will also start a new daily

service between San Francisco and New

Delhi beginning December 5, a

spokesman said.

Pakistan reopened its airspace to

international civil aviation after months of restrictions imposed

because of clashes with India, which forced long detours that cost

airlines millions of dollars.

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TNPSC DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS – July 18, 2019

APPOINMENTS:

❖ Coca-Cola India rejigs top deck, appoints Sarvita Sethi

as V-P M&A Coca-Cola India has made two key changes

at its top management. Keeping with developing business needs and

investment in talent development, the Gurugram-

headquartered firm has replaced its chief financial

officer and appointed a new head for its incubation

project. Sarvita Sethi, who in 2016 had become the

first woman to head the company’s finances for the

region, would now be vice-president, merger and

acquisitions (M&A) and new ventures, for Coke’s

India and Southwest Asia region.

Her appointment in a newly created position is of significance. In her

new position, she will be responsible for the firm’s crucial incubator,

which involves conceptualising, developing and launching new

products relevant to the market, besides scaling up these new brands

or products until they can be managed by general marketing and

sales teams.

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY:

❖ U.S. Senate Approves Long-Delayed International Tax

Treaties The Senate approved amended tax treaties

with four U.S. trading partners that had been

stalled for years over taxpayer privacy

concerns. The treaties and supplemental protocols with

Spain, Switzerland, Japan and Luxembourg

reduce withholding taxes on transactions

between U.S. companies and foreign

corporations.

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TNPSC DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS – July 18, 2019

The treaties spell out which country has the authority to tax which

income to avoid having individual and corporate taxpayers from

paying taxes both in the country where they are working and their

home country.

❖ India And Italy Set Up Fast Track Mechanism to

Facilitate Investors and Companies In order to facilitate Italian companies

and investors in India and Indian companies

and investors in Italy, it has been decided to

establish fast-track system for companies and

investors of both the countries. The key objectives of the fast - track

system in India will be to pave the way for and

identify and solve problems faced by Italian

companies and investors with their operations

in India. The system will also serve as a platform for discussing general

suggestions from the point of view of Italian companies and investors

with regard to ease of doing business in India.

❖ Japan’s fashion retailer Uniqlo to open 3 stores in India Japanese fashion brand Uniqlo will open three

stores in India, in the Delhi-NCR region, starting

with its maiden store in October. The store launch in India will help fuel the

retailer’s global strategy as it tries to beat

Spain’s Zara and Swedish retailer H&M to sell

more apparel globally.

Two more stores will subsequently be opened in

the Delhi’s Saket, and Gurgugram’s CyberHub

area.

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TNPSC DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS – July 18, 2019

SCIENCE ANDTECHNOLOGY:

❖ Scientists who broke the gender barrier This book consists of short profiles of ten

extraordinary scientists who happened to be

women. Each in their own individual way broke

through glass ceilings and all of them changed the

world. The authors decided that they would focus on

people who were dead, perhaps because it is

easier to place a completed life in context. In other respects, their

choice of subjects range across different fields.

❖ WHO declares Ebola outbreak international health

emergency The World Health Organisation has declared

the Ebola outbreak in eastern Democratic

Republic of the Congo a public health

emergency of international concern, eleven

months after it first began. More than 1,600 people have died from the

virus, making it the second biggest Ebola

outbreak in recorded history. Cases have now

reached Goma, a busy city on the Rwandan

border, and neighbouring Uganda.

This is only the fifth time the WHO has made this declaration: the

others were for swine flu in 2009, a 2014 polio outbreak, the

west Africa Ebola outbreak in 2014 and the Zika virus epidemic in

2016.

Making the announcement, chairman of the WHO’s emergency

committee Robert Steffen said it was dealing with a “tremendously

complex situation

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TNPSC DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS – July 18, 2019

IMPORTANT DAYS:

❖ Nelson mandela birthday-JULY 18 Mandela was born on 18 July 1918 in the

village of Mvezo in Umtata, then part of South

Africa's Cape Province. Given the forename

Rolihlahla, a Xhosa term colloquially meaning

"troublemaker", in later years he became known

by his clan name, Madiba.

❖ NASA's Gemini spacecraft launched on the day-July 18

1966 Project Gemini was NASA's second human

spaceflight program. Conducted between

projects Mercury and Apollo, Gemini started

in 1961 and concluded in 1966. The Gemini

spacecraft carried a two-astronaut crew. Ten

Gemini crews flew low Earth orbit (LEO)

missions during 1965 and 1966, putting

the United States in the lead during the Cold

War Space Race against the Soviet Union.

❖ Get to Know Your Customers Day-July 18 Get to Know Your Customers Day reminds

businesses to reach out to patrons and get to

know them better. The day is observed annually on the third

Thursday of each quarter (January, April, July,

October). When businesses get to know your

customers, you also get to know more about what

you need to grow.

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TNPSC DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS – July 18, 2019

Remember when Main Street businesses were locally owned and

operated? The owners knew you by name and knew your shopping

habits.

Additionally, they typically knew what you wanted to buy. Not

surprisingly, if they didn’t have it, they were willing to get it in for you.

❖ National Caviar Day-July 18

The day also raises awareness about the

survival of the sturgeon. In simple terms, caviar is Sturgeon fish

eggs. There are several species of Sturgeon

fish. As a result, the caviar produced varies in

colors depending on the species. Caviar is full of

protein and vitamins making the delicacy a healthy meal.

The United States led distribution at 600 tons per year until around

1900. However, due to the over-harvesting of Sturgeon fish for the

caviar, the U.S. banned harvesting for a time to protect the sturgeon

fish from becoming extinct.

The population has never recovered sufficiently since the ban,

resulting in caviar’s continued status as a luxury item. Since then,

harvesting, import, and export are restricted.