Important Current Affairs 8th July

NATIONAL:

Union Budget Highlights 2019 - 2020

•  Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented a union budget for the financial year 2019 - 2020. The main aim is to boost investment at a time when the economy shows signs of a slowdown.

•  It is the Bharatiya Janata Party, which is led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The key highlights of union Budget 2019 are  given below :

A 10-point Vision for the decade

1.         Building Team India with Jan Bhagidari Minimum Government Maximum Governance.

2.         To Achieve green Mother Earth and Blue Skies through a pollution-free India.

3.         Making Digital India reach every sector of the economy.

4.         Launching Gaganyan, Chandrayan, other Space and Satellite programs.

5.         Building physical and social infrastructure.

6.         Water, water management, clean rivers.

7.         Blue Economy.

8.         Self-sufficiency and export of food-grains, pulses, oilseeds, fruits and vegetables.

9.         Achieving a healthy society via Ayushman Bharat, well-nourished women & children, the safety of citizens.

10.       Emphasis on MSMEs, Start-ups, defence manufacturing, automobiles, electronics, fabs and batteries, and medical devices under Make in India.

DRDO carries out three successful Nag missile tests in one day in Pokhran

• Moving closer toward the induction of the Nag anti-tank guided missiles into the Army, Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) on Sunday carried out three successful test firings of the missiles in the Pokhran.

• Government sources said the missile is in the final stages of being inducted into the Army which will use it by mounting them on the modified armoured vehicles.

• The Defence Acquisition Council has last year approved the procurement of DRDO’s designed and developed NAG Missile System (NAMIS) at the cost of Rs 524 crore.

• The system includes a third generation Anti-Tank Guided Missile, the NAG, along with the Missile Carrier Vehicle (NAMICA). The NAG missile is a third generation anti-tank guided missile, which has top attack capabilities that can effectively engage and destroy all known enemy tanks during day and night.

• The successful induction of the NAG missile into the Army is expected to give a quantum boost to the Army’s capability against enemy armour.

• The Army and DRDO are supposed to carry out more tests of the missiles on Monday also to further validate the missile’s capabilities.

• Nag was one of the first five strategic missiles planned to be developed under the Integrated Missile Development Programme initiated in the 1980s.The other missiles developed under the project include the Agni, Prithvi and Akash and all three of them have been successfully developed and inducted into the armed forces.

• The Trishul project was shut down after being developed as a technology demonstrator.

India’s first cow sanctuary in Madhya Pradesh to be privatised

• India’s first cow sanctuary, set up by the previous BJP-led Madhya Pradesh government in September 2017, will be privatised by the Congress-led government, an official said.

• Kamdhenu Gau Abhyaranya in Agar Malwa, 190 km north west of Bhopal, was developed by the MP Gau Samvardhan Board by spending about Rs 32 crore. Around 4,000 cows are living in the sanctuary which is spread across 472 hectares. The decision of privatisation is being taken due to financial crises. Soon, the department will issue a notification to invite interested organisations, said a higher officer of the Animal Husbandry department.

• “The issues of poor management and regular deaths of cow in the sanctuary have been raised many times. The government tried to improve the facilities but it was getting hard to manage it. Some renowned NGOs like Akshaypatra showed interest in managing the sanctuary at no profit no loss basis. But we will hand over the sanctuary according to rules,” said the official.

• According to officials in the sanctuary, in last over one year more than 600 cows died due to extreme weather condition. Akshay Patra also runs Jaipur Municipal Corporation’s Hingonia cow shelter in outskirts of the pink city.

INTERNATIONAL:

Deutsche Bank announced its exit from Global Equities and trading Business

• Deutsche Bank, the  German bank, announced that it is to pull out of global equities sales and trading, scale back investment banking. It plans to reduce adjusted costs by a quarter to 17 billion euros ($19 billion) over the next several years. The decision of the bank will cut down 18,000 jobs for a global headcount of around 74,000 employees by 2022. The move comes after the departure of the chief Garth Ritchie by mutual agreement.

Reason:

• The restructuring plan of the has been estimated with 7.4 billion euros by the end of 2022. Because of this, the German bank may report a net loss of 2.8 billion euros in the second quarter of 2019. On July 25, the bank will release its second quarter results.

• The bank plans to downsize its investment bank, revamp management and cut costs while investing in controls. Also, it expects technology could open the most promising path yet to boosting profitability after years of piecemeal changes that failed to deliver.

AGREEMENTS AND Mou’S:

Indian Army & NeGD signed MOU to develop revamped app

• Indian Army and the National eGovernance Division (NeGD) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)to develop a revamped application.

They are the part of Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY)

They will maintain the centralised database for personnel, equipment and major stores to provide management-related information to Integrated Headquarters of Ministry of Defence (Army).

• Anil Kapoor, Director General of Information Systems and M S Rao, President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), National E-governance Division signed the MOU in the presence of Shri TP Singh, Director, Bhaskaracharya Institute for Space Applications and Geo-informatics (BISAG). The Management Information Systems Organisation (MISO) of the Indian Army is the nodal agency.

• They are under the Directorate General of Information Systems (DGIS).

The development work started at Bhaskaracharya Institute of Space Applications and Geo-lnformatics (BISAG), Gandhinagar.

SPORTS:

Zhang Shuai first Chinese into Wimbledon last-eight since 2013

• Zhang Shuai on Monday became the first Chinese woman since Li Na in 2013 to reach the Wimbledon quarter-finals.World number 50 Zhang defeated Ukraine teenage Dayana Yastremska 6-4, 1-6, 6-2.

• The 30-year-old will face either 15-year-old Coco Gauff or former world number one Simona Halep for a place in the semi-finals.

• Strycova beats Mertens

Czech veteran Barbora Strycova, who is pondering retirement, marched into the quarter-finals at Wimbledon on Monday beating 21st seed Belgian Elise Mertens 4-6, 7-5, 6-2.

It is the second time the unseeded 33-year-old, who beat fourth-seeded Kiki Bertens in the previous round, has reached the quarter-final stage, the previous occasion in 2014.

Strycova will play either compatriot and two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova or Britain’s French Open semi-finalist Johanna Konta in Tuesday’s quarter-finals.

U.S. womens national soccer team won the FIFA Womens World Cup 2019

• The U.S. women’s national soccer team (USWNT) won the FIFA Women’s World Cup for a record-extending fourth time on July 7 in Lyon, France.The team defeated the Netherlands and secured 2-0 to win the women’s World Cup.

•  This win is a record-extending fourth time for the U.S. women’s national soccer team.The dignitaries which included FIFA’s president, Gianni Infantino, and France’s president, Emmanuel Macron presented the winners' medal and trophy.

The Head coach of USWNT is Jill Ellis.

The captains of the team are Carli Lloyd, Alex Morgan and  Megan Rapinoe. USWNT won its first World Cup in 1991 in China.

 Arinjeeta Dey won a silver medal for India in World Youth Cup 2019

• Karate girl, Arinjeeta Dey (Barasat, West Bengal) won a silver medal under the 12 category in the World Youth Cup 2019 .The competition was held in Umag, Croatia(from July 1 to July 5, 2019). It was organized by World Karate Federation affiliated to the International Olympic Association.

• A total of 35 countries participated in this competition. He won 3 times in national championship junior level category (2017 KAI SUB Junior National gold medalist, 2018 KAI SUB Junior National gold medalist,2019 KAI SUB Junior National Gold and Silver Medalist). She belongs from Barasat in West Bengal. She has been a student of Hanshi Premjit Sen.She is the president of Premjit Sen Martial Art Academy in West Bengal.