Daily Current Affairs, 11th July 2018

1) World Population Day: 11 July

•World Population Day was established by the then-governing Council of the United Nations Development Programme in 1989. The theme of WPD 2018 is 'Family Planning is a Human Right'. This day seeks to focus attention on the urgency and importance of population issues. 

•This year marks the 50th anniversary of the 1968 International Conference on Human Rights, where family planning was, for the first time, globally affirmed to be a human right. 

2) M. Venkaiah Naidu Becomes 1st Chairman Of Rajya Sabha To Sign MOU

•Rajya Sabha has, for the first time in 76 years since it came into being, entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with a foreign counterpart for promoting inter-parliamentary dialogue. Venkaiah Naidu has become the first Chairman of Rajya Sabha to sign such an agreement when he inked an MOU with the visiting President of the Senate of the Republic of Rwanda, Bernard Makuza. 

•The MOU with 6 articles of cooperation seeks to promote Inter-Parliamentary dialogue, Capacity building of parliamentary staff, Organisation of conferences, forums, seminars, staff attachment programmes, workshops and exchanges, Collaboration in a mutual interest in regional and international multilateral parliamentary bodies in furtherance of bilateral relations and friendship between the two countries.

3) India-Korea Technology Exchange Centre Inaugurated

•The India-Korea Technology Exchange Centre was inaugurated by the Minister of State (I/C) MSME Giriraj Singh and Minister of SMEs and Start-ups of Republic of Korea, Hong Jong- hak in New Delhi.  

•The purpose of the Technology Exchange Centre is to create a platform for micro, small and medium enterprises of India and Korea where they can be assisted to identify and exchange latest technologies, share management expertise, product development and technology applications for product development.

•An MoU was signed between the Small Business Corporation (SBC) of Korea and the National Small Industries Corporation (NSIC) for cooperation in the field of MSME Sector. The India-Korea Technology Exchange Centre has been established at the NSIC premises in New Delhi.

4) India’s 1st Private UAV Factory To Come Up In Kota

•India’s first private sector unit for manufacturing Unmanned Air Vehicles (UAV) and light bullet proof vehicles (LBPV) will be set up by DCM Shriram Industries Group on the campus of Shriram Rayons in Kota, Rajasthan. 

•The new defence unit of Shriram Rayons in Kota is being set up under ‘Make in India’ initiative of the union government. 

5) Andhra Pradesh Tops Ease Of Doing Business Rankings

•For the second year in a row, Andhra Pradesh has been ranked as the easiest Indian state to do business in, according to a survey. The Chandrababu Naidu-led state took the pole position in the rankings for Ease of Doing Business that was released by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion and Ministry of Commerce and Industry in Delhi.

•Telangana came second followed by Haryana, Jharkhand and Gujarat. The north-eastern state of Meghalaya was ranked lowest at 36th. 

•Ease Of Doing Business Rankings: 

Sl. No.	STATE	SCORE
1.	Andhra Pradesh	98.4
2.	Telangana	98.3
3.	Haryana	98.1
4.	Jharkhand	98.0
5.	Gujarat	98.0

6) BSNL Launches India’s 1st Internet Telephony Service To Enable Making Calls Without SIM

•State-run telecom firm Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) unveiled the country’s first internet telephony service that will allow users to dial any telephone number in India through its mobile app. 

•Now BSNL customers will be able to make calls using the company’s mobile app “Wings” to any phone number in the country. Using this service, BSNL customers will be able to make calls on any network in the country even by using BSNL wi-fi or any other service provider. 

7) Global Innovation Index: Switzerland Tops, India Ranks 57th

•The Global Innovation Index (GII) has ranked India as the 57th most innovative nation in the world. The country has improved its ranking from 60th position in 2017. India has been improving steadily since it was ranked 81st in 2015. Meanwhile, China improved its ranking from 22 in 2017 to 17 this year. 

•The GII is being developed jointly by Cornell University, the Paris-based business school Insead and the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) in Geneva. GII ranks 126 economies based on 80 indicators.

•The Top 3 Countries in Global Innovation Index are: 
1. Switzerland, 
2. The Netherlands, 
3. Sweden. 

8) India Becomes World’s 6th Largest Economy: World Bank

•India has become the world's sixth-biggest economy, pushing France into seventh place, according to updated World Bank figures for 2017. 

•India's gross domestic product (GDP) amounted to $2.597 trillion at the end of 2017, against $2.582 trillion for France.

•The world's top 3 economies are:
1. The United States, 
2. China, 
3. Japan. 

9) T Latha Appointed New MD & CEO Of Dhanlaxmi Bank

•Dhanlaxmi Bank Limited has appointed T Latha as the Managing Director & CEO. She has taken over from G Sreeram, who has retired from the office on completion of his tenure. 

•Latha has 35 years of banking experience with Punjab National Bank across a host of roles and responsibilities including Branch Management, Regional Management and National Level Credit Management handling a portfolio of around Rs 400 billion. 

10) Indian Satyarup Siddhanta Scales World's Highest Volcano

•Satyarup Siddhanta has become the second Indian mountaineer after Malli Mastan Babu to climb Mt Ojos del Salado, the highest volcano in the world. Ojos del Salado is a stratovolcano (a volcano built up of alternate layers of lava and ash) in the Andes on the Argentina-Chile border and the highest active volcano in the world at 6,893 metres (22,615 ft). 

•Satyarup is also set to be the first Indian to climb Mt Sidley, the highest volcano of Antarctica, which will help him realise the dream of scaling seven summits and seven volcanic summits.