1) Finance Minister Arun Jaitley Launches 'Aaykar Setu' To Enhance E-Access Of Taxpayers
•Finance Minister Arun Jaitley launched 'Aaykar Setu', an e-initiative for the Income tax Department to directly communicate with the taxpayers and aimed at providing information on useful tax services.
•To enhance mobile access experience, a mobile responsive Android version was also released along with the desktop version. The module compiles various tax tools, live chat facility, dynamic updates, and important links to various processes within the Income Tax Department in a single module.
2) Finance Ministry launched next gold bond tranche
•The next tranche of sovereign gold bond (SGB) scheme was launched recently by the Government. This time, providing a 2.5 percent annual interest to investors. The bonds will be available in banks, Stock Holding Corporation of India Limited (SHCIL), designated post offices and recognized stock exchanges namely National Stock Exchange of India Limited(NSE) and Bombay Stock Exchange(BSE).
•Finance Ministry has announced the sixth tranche of gold bonds applications for which will be accepted from July 10 to July 14, 2017, according to the finance ministry. The bonds will be issued to eligible applicants on July 28. The investors will get the interest payable semi-annually on the nominal value of the investment.
•The minimum investment will be 1 gram of gold. The maximum limit can be subscribed up to 500 grams per person per fiscal year. A self-declaration to this effect will be obtained. Payment options available are cash payment (up to a maximum of Rs 20,000) or demand draft or cheque or electronic banking.
3) MoHUA is the new name for urban development & housing ministry
•The government has merged the urban development and housing and urban poverty alleviation ministries. Now this will be known as Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA). This is third time the ministries have been merged.
•Venkaiah Naidu heads the ministries of urban development, and housing and urban poverty alleviation.
4) Khaltmaa Battulga elected as Mongolian president
•Mongolian Businessman and Martial Arts expert Khaltmaa Battulga was sworn in as president, vowing to revive the flagging economy and pursue relations with countries outside its giant neighbors Russia and China.
•Battulga replaces Tsakhia Elbegdorj after the outgoing president served the maximum four-year terms for two times. Battulga inherits a $5.5 billion International Monetary Fund-led bailout intended to stabilize the economy of the debt-laden country and lessen its dependence on China, which purchases 80 percent of Mongolia's exports.
5) P V Sindhu bags ‘Sportsperson of the Year’ award
•Rio Olympics silver medallist P V Sindhu was bestowed with the 'Sportsperson of the Year' award during the ‘Maruti Suzuki Sportsperson of the Year’ Charity Gala Awards.
•Sindhu’s coach P Gopichand received the Coach of the Year award while the Flying Sikh Milkha Singh was given the Living Legend of the Year award. Young India cricketer K L Rahul, who made a mark in the last Test series against Australia, was awarded Gamechanger of the Year award.
•The 2008 Beijing Olympics gold medallist and the country’s sole gold medal winner in individual events at Olympics, Abhinav Bindra was given the Lifetime Achievement Award.
6) Ravi Shastri named head coach of the Indian cricket team
•Ravi Shastri has pipped Virender Sehwag to become Indian cricket team’s new head coach. The appointment was confirmed by Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). Shastri will take charge from India’s upcoming three-Test series against Sri Lanka, starting July 26.
•Shastri, was chosen by the BCCI’s Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) that included former captains Sourav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar and veteran batting star VVS Laxman. He had initially not applied for the post but when the BCCI extended the deadline for acceptance of applications till July 9, the former skipper jumped into the fray and suddenly became the hot favourite.
