Daily Current Affairs,21st July 2018

1) 28th Meeting Of GST Council Held In New Delhi

•The 28th meeting of the GST Council chaired by interim finance minister Piyush Goyal was held in New Delhi. The Council was deliberated upon a number of key issues on its agenda which includes rate revision on a number of items, amendments to the GST law, simplification of return, and the setting up of a National Appellate Tribunal in Delhi. 

•The GST Council has exempted sanitary napkins from Goods and Services Tax. Earlier, there was a 12% levy of tax on sanitary napkins. It has also recommended reduction in the GST slab for lithium-ion batteries used in electronic items from the current 28% to 18% along with a slew of reductions in other items like bamboo flooring, ice making machines, vending machines, water coolers etc. 

2) Andhra Pradesh Launches E-Pragati Core Platform

•Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh N. Chandrababu Naidu launched ‘e-Pragati core platform’ at Undavalli. e-Pragati, a forward-looking digital initiative, is aimed at connecting the citizen to 34 departments, 336 autonomous organisations and 745-plus services.

•Through this project, the State government intends to realise the vision of ‘Sunrise AP 2022’. The e-Pragati authority will achieve the goals of the project by supporting the seven development missions launched in the areas of e-Governance, Social Empowerment, Skill Development, Urban Development, Infrastructure, Industrial Development and the Services sector.

3) 8th BRICS Health Ministers’ Meeting Held At Durban

•The 8th BRICS Health Ministers’ Meeting was held at Durban, South Africa.  Indian deligation was led by Mr J P Nadda, Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare. He stated that India is committed to eliminating TB by 2025.

•Highlighting the accomplishments of India in the health sector, he stated India's achievement in reducing the maternal mortality ratio (MMR) by 77%, from 556 per 1,00,000 live births in 1990 to 130 per 1,00,000 live births in 2016, was commended by the Regional Director of WHO South-East Asia Regional Office (SEARO). 

4) 4th BIMSTEC Summit To Be Held In Kathmandu

•The 4th BIMSTEC Summit will be held in Kathmandu, Nepal. The announcement in this regard was made by Nepal’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Pradeep Kumar Gyawali. The main focus of the summit will be to increase connectivity between the BIMSTEC nations including roads, airways and transmission lines. 

•The BIMSTEC is a regional economic bloc comprising seven member states lying in the littoral and adjacent areas of the Bay of Bengal constituting a contiguous regional unity. 

5) Facebook To Launch Satellite 'Athena' In 2019

•Facebook has confirmed it is working on a new satellite project, named Athena, that will provide broadband internet connections to rural and underserved areas.

•The company aims to launch satellite in early 2019. In 2016, Facebook's internet satellite for Africa was lost when SpaceX's rocket exploded.

6) Alisson Becker Becomes World's Most Expensive Goalkeeper

•Alisson Becker of Brazil has become the World's most expensive goalkeeper while transferring clubs from Italy's Roma to England's Liverpool for a world record £56 million. The 25-year-old Brazilian has beaten Ederson Moraes (£34.7 million, Benfica to Manchester City). 

•The deal could rise to as much as £65 million, with a further £10 million in add-ons, which are dependent on Liverpool's qualification for the UEFA Champions League and wins in various competitions in the future.