17 July

International News Affairs

• Today (17th July) is World Day for International Justice (International Justice Day).
  • This day is celebrated throughout the world as part of an effort to recognize the emerging system of international criminal justice.
  • Important Note: July 17 was chosen to celebrate this day, because it is the anniversary of the adoption of the Rome Statute, the treaty that created the International Criminal Court (ICC).
  • Theme of International Justice Day 2017 : “Preventing conflict and sustaining peace through decent work”
• Today (17 July) is ‘World Emoji Day’.
  • Emoji enthusiasts around the world have been celebrating this day since 2014.
  • The date was kept after Apple’s emoji artwork for calendar, which displays July 17.
• Pakistan has launched a military operation in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA)targeting the Islamic State.
  • Note: ISIS has claimed to have carried out several attacks in Pakistan over the past two years.

National News Affairs

• Voting to choose the 14th President of India began at the Parliament and State Legislative Assemblies at 10 am today.
  • A total of 4,120 MLAs and 776 MPs will cast their vote to choose between NDA’s Ram Nath Kovind and Opposition’s Meira Kumar.
• President Pranab Mukherjee today gave his assent to Maharashtra government’s ‘Prohibition of Social Boycott Bill’, making Maharashtra the first Indian state to enact an anti-social boycott Bill.
  • It aims to prevent atrocities carried out by extra-judicial courts and panchayats and, will include religious rituals, inter-caste marriage, dress or vocation as reasons for social boycott.
• Shivraj Singh Chouhan-led Madhya Pradesh government is setting up ‘astro-OPDs‘ in Bhopal where astrologers and such soothsayers will provide consultation to patients facing diverse problems.
• The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Monday issued instructions to all states to stop using bouquets during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s tours within India.
  • Instead of bouquets, states can offer PM Modi a flower along with a Khadi handkerchief or a book to welcome him.
• The Union Minister of Health and Family WelfareJ P Nadda today launched the National Strategic Plan for Malaria Elimination (2017-22).
  • This Strategic Plan gives year wise elimination targets in various parts of the country depending upon the endemicity of malaria in the next 5 years.

Places in News

• A museum in honour of late President Dr APJ Abdul Kalam will be inaugurated on July 27 in Tamil Nadu’s Rameshwaram.
  • The museum will come up on a 3.45-acre site and will also house a planetarium.
  • Note: Earlier, another museum in memory of Dr Kalam was opened in Kerala’s Thiruvananthapuram.

Obituary

• Oscar-winning Hollywood actor Martin Landau (89) passed away.
  • He won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in 1995 for the film ‘Ed Wood’.
  • He is known for his role in the television series ‘Mission: Impossible’ for which he received numerous Emmy nominations and a Golden Globe award.

Awards & Honours

• Actress Taapsee Pannu was named the Woman of the Year at the 18th edition of the IIFA Awards held in New York.
  • Note: Actress Alia Bhatt was given the Style Icon of the Year Award for 2017.

Banking, Business & Economic News

• Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries today crossed ₹5 lakh crorein market capitalisation for the first time in its trading history, making it the second Indian company to do so after TCS.
• According to new regulations, the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) has powers to start probe against service providers registered with it without intimating them, .
  • IBBI, which is implementing the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), has notified the regulations for inspection and investigation of service providers registered with it.