No annual pay hike for PSB managers failing Mudra target, says Hansraj Ahir` 

• The scheme was begun in 2015, to give unsecured loans of up to Rs 1 million to small enterprises, with the objective of boosting self-employment.
• The rate of interest of loans under Mudra is relatively low. A borrower is not required to submit collateral to a bank in taking the loan.
• The government has set an ambitious target for banks to disburse loans worth Rs 3 trillion to small entrepreneurs in 2018-19.
• Action needs to be taken against those banks that are showing poor performance in implementing government programmes, especially those of crop loans and small loans under Mudra
• Stop the annual salary increment of managers at state-owned banks which have failed to meet the loan target under the central government’s Mudra (Pradhan Manti Mudra Yojana) scheme

 

Council may consider bringing jet fuel, natural gas under GST ambit

•  GST Council may this week consider bringing jet fuel (ATF) and                                                                                  natrualgas  under GST ambit but tax slab is acting as a deterrent
• When Goods and Services Tax (GST) was introduced on July 1 last year, five commodities – crude oil, natural gas, petrol, diesel, and aviation turbine fuel (ATF) – were kept out of its purview for the time being.
• fitting the two products in the 5, 12, 18 and 28 per cent GST tax slabs is proving to be difficult.
• The Centre currently charges 14 per cent excise duty on ATF. On top of this, states charge up to 30 per cent sales tax or VAT – Odisha and Chhattisgarh have 5 per cent VAT while Tamil Nadu taxes ATF at 29 per cent, Maharashtra and Delhi at 25 per cent and Karnataka at 28 per cent.

 

Farmers’ agitation to hit milk supply to Maharashtra cities from Monday

• Farmers’ bodies led by the Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana  headed by the Member of Parliament (MP) Raju Shetti has appealed to all farmer leaders to stop milk supply to major cities including Mumba
• i and Pune from July 16 demanding Rs 5 per litre subsidy to be transferred to farmers’ account directly. Members of this Sanghatana have, thus, decided to halt all milk carrying vans headed for Mumbai and Pune at Nashik. All such vans heading for other cities either from farmlands or dairy Companies-owned collection centres would be stopped outside their respective cities across Maharashtra.
• farmers are not going to pour thousands of litres of milk on roads, unlike past protests. But, they are planning to stop supply to bulk and retail consumers including organised dairies and chilling centres
• Hovering between Rs 19 – 23 a litre (farmers’ actual realisation) across Maharashtra, the cost of cow milk production is estimated at Rs 30 a litre. Hence, milk farmers have been demanding Rs 30 litre as minimum selling price to be fixed by the government as done in the case of sugar by the Centre recently. Being seasonal in nature, cow milk prices sometimes go up to Rs 26-27 a litre also during lean supply season of the year i.e. summer months.
• According to an estimate, the direct subsidy transfer would cost the Maharashtra government Rs 4 billion annually.

Kerala in a spot over UDAN

• Kerala is in a spot over the decision of the Kannur Inter-national Airport Limited (KIAL) to pull out of the bandwagon of regional flights under the Central government’s Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik (UDAN) scheme after inking the agreement.
• The advertisement titled “New Aviation Horizon in Kerala under UDAN”, highlighting the salient features of the scheme, is a pointer to the State that the road to wriggle out from the agreement is not going to be a smooth affair. The MoU was signed in January this year between the Centre and the State government and the Airports Authority of India for inter and intra-State services from Kannur
• IndiGo and Spicejet announced flghts in Kannur-Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hubballi, Goa, Delhi and back after completing the bid formalities. Aviation sources said the pressure from the two domestic airlines that were in the process of procuring aircraft for the flight operations and fear of more airports opting out were before the Ministry. Shirdi airport in Maharashtra was the first to withdraw from UDAN.

 

Angela Ponce becomes first transgender model to be crowned Miss Spain; to compete in Miss Universe 2018

• Angela Ponce has become the first-ever transgender woman to be crowned Miss Universe Spain. She will be seen competing in the coveted Miss Universe pageant later this year. Ponce’s crowning can be deemed iconic, especially since it comes six years after the Miss Universe organisation put an end to the ban on transgender contestants in the competition.

 

 

 

France win 4-2 thriller against Croatia to lift World Cup after 20 years

• Top 4 team rankings: France (1st, Winner), Croatia (2nd, Croatia), Belgium (3rd) and England (4th).
• Golden Ball award: Luka Modric (Croatia).
• Golden Boot award: Harry Kane (England captain) for scoring six goals across six games
• Golden Glove award: Thibaut Courtois (Belgium)
• FIFA Young Player award: 19-year-old Kylian Mbappe (France).
• FIFA Fair Play Award: Spain for superb disciplinary record.
• Next World Cup: Qatar will be hosting next FIFA World Cup in 2022. It will be the first Arab country to host World Cup and it will also for first time.

 

2018 Wimbledon Championships

• Men’s Single: Novak Djokovic (winner) Kevin Anderson (runner)
• Women’s Single: Angelique Kerber (winner) Serena Williams (runner)
• Men’s Double: Jack Sock and Mike Bryan(winner), MichaelVenus and RavenKlaasen (runner)
• Women Double: Barbora Krejčíková and KateřinaSiniaková(winner), Nicole Melichar and KvětaPeschke(runner)
• Mixed double : Alexander Peya and Nicole Melichar(winner), VictoriaAzarenka and Jamie Murray (runner)

World u­20 athletics: India finishes 18th

• Kenya topped the medal table at the IAAF World under-20 athletics championships in Tampere (Finland) on Sunday with six golds, four silvers and one bronze.
• India, which won a lone gold through quartermiler Hima Das, finished 18th.
• Japan was the best Asian nation in the table with six medals, including two golds and two silvers.