CURRENT AFFAIRS JULY 18, 2011

14th yearly Meet of Asia Pacific Group on Money Laundering

14th yearly Meet of the Asia Pacific Group on Money Laundering begins in

Kochi, Kerala on July 18, 2011

350 delegates from 40 member countries and international organizations

participating in the five-day meet

India is currently the Co-Chair of the Asia Pacific Group on Money

Laundering, along with Australia

Joint Working Group of India and Pakistan meets in New Delhi

India Pakistan Joint Working Group meeting in New Delhi

The meeting between officials of the External Affairs and Home Ministries and

Pakistan foreign ministry is the first engagement after the Mumbai triple blasts on

July 13, 2011

Pakistan’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar to visit India later

in July 2011 for talks with External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna

The Foreign Ministers’ meeting will be preceded by introductory talks between

Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao and her Pakistani counterpart Salman

Bashir on the July 25, 2011

Agenda of the Meeting:

Discussions being held as a part of Confidence Building Measure (CBM) on

Cross -Line of Control- LoC

To recommend measures for strengthening and streamlining the existing cross-

LOC trade and travel arrangements and propose modalities for introducing

additional Cross-LoC CBMs

“Ulchi Freedom Guardian”

“Ulchi Freedom Guardian”- 10-day drill between USA and South

Korea from August 16, 2011

South Korea and the U.S. Combined Forces Command to hold a key

yearly military exercise from August 16, 2011

10-day drill, called Ulchi Freedom Guardian, is a computer-assisted

simulation exercise intended to develop the ability to defend South Korea

North Korea has been informed about the exercise and has been assured that the drills are defense-oriented only

Indian Army’s 2nd OTA (essentially for SSC) begins functioning at Gaya

An Officers Training Academy (OTA) of the Indian Army began functioning Gaya,

Bihar

With the establishment of the OTA, the Indian Army will be able to overcome the

acute shortage of officers

As per the General Officer Commanding in Chief of Army Training Command, Lt.

General K. Surendra Nath at present, the Army needs around 14,000 more Officers

The Officers Training Academy (OTA) has started training for 130 officers

In the next two years, the Academy would become fully operational and engage

the full strength of over 750 Short Service Commission (SSC) officers

Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Modi elected GST panel head

Bihar’s Deputy Chief Minister and State Finance Minister Sushil

Kumar Modi unanimously elected as the new chairman of the

Empowered Committee of State Finance Ministers on

Goods and Services Tax, GST

Mr.Modi was elected in the State Finance Ministers’ meeting chaired

by the Union Finance Minister Mr.Pranab Mukherjee

Mr. Modi replaces Mr. Asim Dasgupta, who had served the post over

a decade since formation of the body

The Empowered Committee to out a detailed programme later

The Committee had earlier overseen the implementation of Value Added Tax

system across the states.

Tourism in India grows by over 24% in 2010

24%+ growth registered by the Tourism Sector in India

10.7% growth in Domestic Tourist visits

Maharashtra, Tamilnadu, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh are among the top

ten States where maximum number of foreign tourist visited

WHO, UNICEF caution Pakistan to stamp out polio by 2012 or

face action

UNICEF and WHO (World Health Organization) cautioned Pakistan to eradicate

polio by 2012 or face action

In a memo, WHO and UNICEF, censured Pakistan for not uprooting the threat of

polio

The two World bodies also conveyed their reservations on the way the anti-polio

drives are carried in Pakistan

If the situation demands, WHO could penalize Pakistan by enforcing various

limitations, which could even include ban of Pakistan nationals from entry into the

foreign countries