INTERNATIONAL
Russia asks 755 US diplomats to leave country following American sanctions
Russian President Vladmir Putin has asked 755 US diplomats to leave the country. The action was taken three days after the US Congress approved sanctions against Russia. Earlier, the US Senate approved a bill to toughen sanctions on Russia for allegedly meddling in the 2016 US Presidential election and for its annexation of Crimea in 2014. Putin in an interview to a Russian TV channel said, more than 1000 people are working at the US embassy and consulates in Russia. He said 755 of them should stop their activities and return.
Four Arab States ready for dialogue with Qatar
The four Arab nations boycotting Qatar have announced willngness to initiate a dialogue with the country, bringing the hope of some sort of resolution to the gulf crisis. The foriegn ministers of Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain and Egypt have expressed readiness to engage in a dialogue with Doha if it agrees to some of their demands including showing genuine willingness to stop funding terrorism. The same was revealed by Bahrain’s foreign minister, after a two-meet with his counterparts from the other three nations.
7th edition of SAARC Artists Camp & Paintings Exhibition begins in Nepal
The 7th edition of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Artists Camp and Exhibition of Paintings has begun at Kathmandu. Minister of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation of Nepal, Jitendra Narayan Devhas inaugurated the event. These events provide platform to artists for exchanging ideas with fellow artists and helping in creating special bonding among them and 40 artists from SAARC member countries except Afghanistan taking part in the 4 day camp. The event is organised by Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, Nepal and SAARC Cultural Centre, Colombo, Sri Lanka.
US tests missile-defence system after North Korea missile launch
The United States (US) has tested the Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) system in Alaska by launching a ballistic missile over the Pacific Ocean. The missile-defence system test came after North Korea conducted an Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) test. A medium-range target ballistic missile (MRBM) was launched by US Air Force C-17 over the Pacific Ocean and the THAAD weapon system detected, tracked and intercepted the target. This was the 15th successful intercept out of the 15 tests carried out for the THAAD weapon system. The THAAD interceptors are meant to help guard the US against a missile attack from a country such as North Korea.
China produces natural gas from flammable ice
China successfully produced natural gas from flammable ice, also known as methane hydrate, in an experimental project conducted in the South China Sea. As a part of the experiment, a drilling platform was deployed off the coast of the south-eastern Chinese city of Zhuhai for 60 days. It produced around 309,000 cubic metres of natural gas, which is a record extraction volume from gas hydrate. According to China’s Ministry of Land and resources, China has made a historic breakthrough. The ministry stated that the country has achieved theoretical, technological, engineering and equipment innovations after nearly 20 years of unremitting efforts.
Amazon’s Jeff Bezos overtakes Gates to become world’s richest
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos briefly became the world’s richest man in Forbes magazine’s tracking of wealth, as stock in his e-commerce company hit an all-time high. Mr Bezos, who is also chairman and chief executive of the Seattle-based company, was worth almost $91bn (£70bn) after Amazon’s share price rose more than 1 per cent in morning trading in New York. That put his fortune ahead of Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates’. The latter has a net worth of around $90.7bn and has been at the top of Bloomberg’s rich list since 2013. But Mr Bezos slipped back into second place later in the day.
BRICS nations sign memorandum to facilitate taxation cooperation
Tax authorities of the five BRICS countries have signed a landmark document to establish a mechanism for taxation cooperation. The BRICS Taxation Cooperation Memorandum, signed at the fifth meeting of BRICS Heads of Tax Authorities, is the bloc’s first document that elevates taxation cooperation to the institutional level. The authorities also agreed to cooperate on taxation information exchange, improve consultation procedures efficiency, boost taxation capacities and plan paths for coordination of taxation policies and tax collection. The meeting comes ahead of the 2017 BRICS Summit to be held in Fujian province’s Xiamen city from September 3 to 5.
Bolivian President declares ‘Total Independence’ from World Bank & IMF
Bolivia’s President Eva Morales has declared that his nation has achieved “total independence” form the IMF and the World Bank. President Morales declared the news on his official twitter account. The socialist leader published his comments following a meeting with his peers at a gathering in Argentina of the Mercosur, a sub-regional economic bloc.
Trump administration urges NSG members to support India’s application
Donald Trump’s administration has urged other members of the Nuclear Suppiers Group to support India’s membership bid to the elite grouping. The NSG controls international nuclear trade. The US Department of Defence and Department of State said in a report that the United States welcomed India’s application to join the NSG and it continues to re-affirm that India is ready for membership. It also added that the US has called upon other NSG members to support India’s application.
BRICS Youth Forum opens in Beijing
The 2017 BRICS Youth Forum opened in Beijing, China to discuss the development of the youth in the countries of the grouping. The theme of three-day forum is ‘Enhance BRICS Partnership, Promote Youth Development’. It gathered 50 youth representatives working as civil servants, scholars, entrepreneurs, artists and journalists from the BRICS countries. The five BRICS countries – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – first came up with the idea of establishing a dialogue mechanism for BRICS youth in 2014 during a meeting between BRICS leaders in South Africa.
World’s first floating wind farm emerges off coast of Scotland
The world’s first floating windfarm has taken to the seas in a sign that a technology once confined to research and development drawing boards is finally ready to unlock expanses of ocean for generating renewable power in Scotland. The £200m Hywind project is unusual not just because of the pioneering technology involved, which uses a 78-metre-tall underwater ballast and three mooring lines that will be attached to the seabed to keep the turbines upright. It will bring power to 20,000 homes.
World’s largest supercarrier USS Gerald R Ford commissioned in USA
US Navy commissioned world’s largest aircraft carrier, USS Gerald R Ford into the fleet. The commissioning ceremony was held at Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia in presence of US President Donald Trump. USS Gerald R. Ford is the first ship in this new class of nuclear-powered aircraft carriers for the U.S. Navy. The ship is named after the 38th President of the United States Gerald Ford and has been built by Newport News Ship Building Company. The massive 1,106-foot-long carrier displaces a staggering 100,000 tons fully loaded and is powered by two new generation nuclear reactors.
UAE Minister tops most powerful Arab women: Forbes
Sheikha Lubna Al Qasimi, the UAE Minister of State for Tolerance has topped a poll of the most powerful Arab women in government for 2017, according to Forbes Middle East. Ms. Qasimi was followed by two women from Egypt – Sahar Nasr, the country’s minister of investment and international cooperation and Ghada Wali, the minister of social solidarity. Forbes has also released a list of the top 100 most powerful Arab business women for 2017, and the UAE represents the highest number of women, with 18, followed by Egypt, with 16. Saudi Arabia’s Lubna Olayan, who runs Saudi conglomerate the Olayan Group, tops the businesswoman list. The rankings were compiled by taking into account scope of the role or ministry, years of experience and company revenues, or GDP in the case of government.
Indonesia bans Islamic organization Hizb-ut-Tahrir
Indonesia has banned Islamic organization Hizb-ut Tahrir Indonesia under a contraversial presidential decree. The step has been taken to safeguard the existence of the Island nation’s pluralist state ideology Pancasila and the 1945 Constitution. The legal status of Hizb ut-Tahrir, which compaigns for the country to adopt Islamic law and become a caliphate, was revoked to protect Indonesia’s unity. On the other hand, the Islamic organization condemned the ban and said it “will not remain silent”, vowing to challenge the decision in court.
Google introduces recruiting app ‘Hire’ for business
Google launched ‘Hire, a recruiting app for small and medium sized businesses that integrates seamlessly with G Suite. The launch of Hire app is seen an apparent move to compete with Microsoft-owned LinkedIn. Hire makes it easy to identify talent, build strong candidate relationships and efficiently manage the interview process end-to-end. It integrates seamlessly with G Suite apps like Gmail and Google Calender that are being used by over three million businesses to drive recruiting efforts.
Indonesia Renames its portion of the South China Sea
Indonesia has named waters in its exclusive economic zone that overlap with China’s expansive claim to the South China Sea as the North Natuna Sea. The part of the renamed area falls in China’s “nine-dash line” waters extending hundreds of miles to the south and east of China’s island province Hainan. Several South-East Asian states dispute China’s territorial claims and are competing with China to exploit the South China Sea’s abundant hydrocarbon and fishing resources.
Japan’s men only island gets UNESCO Heritage tag
Japan’s Okinoshima island, an ancient religious site where women are banned, has been declared a World Heritage site by the UN’s cultural body Unesco. Okinoshima is home to the Okitsu shrine, built in the 17th century to pray for the safety of sailors. Before setting foot on the island, men must take off their clothes and undergo a cleansing ritual. When they leave they are not allowed to take away any souvenirs, or disclose details of their visit. Okinoshima, which is a part of the city of Munakata, Fukuoka, Japan, is located in south-west Japan between the main island of kyushu and the Korean Peninsula. Referred as the men only island, the island is permanently manned by a Shinto priest who prays to the island’s goddess, in a tradition that has been kept up for centuries.
Govt to organise global food fair in Nov to boost food sector
The government of India will organize a global food fair in November 2017 to provide a platform to Indian farmers and manufacturers to showcase their products and explore partnerships with foreign companies. The three-day international level fair ‘World Food India 2017′ is being organized on November 3-5 by the Food Processing Ministry, where industry body CII will be an event partner. The World Food India is a step aimed at creating India a ‘Global Food Factory’ and ‘Global Food Retail Market’. The food processing sector received USD 5.76 billion in FDI equity inflows from 2010-11 to 2015-16. In 2016-17 (April-December), the food processing sector in the country has received USD 663.23 million worth of FDI.
Brazil’s Archaeological Site added to UNESCO’s World Heritage List
The World Heritage Committee of UNESCO added Valongo Wharf Archaeological Site in the World Heritage List. The committee, during its meeting in Krakow, Poland, stated that Valongo is the most important physical trace of the arrival of African slaves on the American continent. It is located in central Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and encompasses the whole of Jornal do Comercio Square.
122 Countries adopts historic global treaty to ban Nuclear Weapons
The United Nations has adopted a historic global treaty banning nuclear weapons. The treaty was adopted by a vote of 122 members in favour. The Netherlands was the only country who voted against the treaty. Singapore abstained from voting. Costa Rica’s ambassador, Elayne Whyte Gomez, was the president of the UN conference that negotiated the treaty. Nearly 129 countries signed up to take part in the drafting of the treaty which represents two-thirds of the UN’s193 member states. Nearly 141 countries led by Austria, Brazil, Mexico, South Africa and New Zealand drafted the treaty in a hope that the treaty would increase pressure on the nuclear powers to take disarmament more seriously. The treaty would be opened for signature on September 20. It will enter into force once 50 countries ratified it. All of the ratifying countries should never under any circumstances develop, test, produce, manufacture, otherwise acquire, possess or stockpile nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices. The treaty also bans any transfer or use of nuclear weapons or nuclear explosive devices.
European Parliament approves first ever EU-Cuba agreement
The European Parliament overwhelmingly approved a first-ever cooperation deal between the European Union and Cuba. MEPs in the eastern French city of Strasbourg approved the Political Dialogue and Cooperation Agreement which was signed in December 2016. With the deal, Cuba joins other Latin American countries with similar agreements with the EU, whose relations with the island had previously been conducted in the so-called Common Position that linked ties to improvements in human rights.
Read more: Current Affairs July 2017 Study Material | FreeJobAlert.com http://currentaffairs.freejobalert.com/july-2017-current-affairs-study-material/22892/#ixzz5TsrPPSgq
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