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Current Affairs July 18, 2011
2011-07-18 23:07:27 GKToday

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 Pakistans 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 crossLOC 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 Armys 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 Bihars 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