Current Affairs July Capsule

Current Affairs Today – July 1 2015

Indian Affairs

Digital India Programme – An Overview

The Government of India has launched the Digital India programme with the vision to transform India into a digitally empowered society and knowledge economy.This will be done by transforming the entire ecosystem of public services through the use of information technology.

The project is intended for completion by 2019. The scheme will be monitored and controlled by the Digital India Advisory group which will be chaired by the Ministry of Communications and IT.

The vision of Digital India is keyed on three key areas –

1. Digital Infrastructure as a Utility to Every Citizen 2. Governance & Services on Demand 3. Digital Empowerment of Citizens

There are nine Pillars of Digital India –

1. Broadband Highways 2. Universal Access to Phones 3. Public Internet Access Programme 4. e-Governance – Reforming government through Technology 5. e-Kranti – Electronic delivery of services 6. Information for All 7. Electronics Manufacturing – Target NET ZERO Imports 8. IT for Jobs 9. Early Harvest Programmes

The government has launched some initiatives in line with these objectives

 Digital Locker System aims to minimize the usage of physical documents and enable sharing of e-documents across agencies. The sharing of the e-documents will be done through registered repositories thereby ensuring the authenticity of the documents online.

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 MyGov.in is a platform for citizen engagement in governance, through a “Discuss”, “Do” and “Disseminate” approach. The mobile app for MyGov would bring these features to users on a mobile phone.  Swachh Bharat App to be used by people and Government organizations for achieving the goals of Swachh Bharat Mission.  eSign framework which would allow citizens to digitally sign a document online using Aadhaar authentication.  Online Registration System (ORS) has been introduced to provides important services such as online registration, payment of fees and appointment, online diagnostic reports, enquiring availability of blood online etc.  National Scholarships Portal is a one stop solution for end to end scholarship process.  Digitize India Platform (DIP) for large scale digitization of records in the country that would facilitate efficient delivery of services to the citizens.  Bharat Net, a high speed digital highway to connect all 2.5 lakh Gram Panchayats of country. This would be the world’s largest rural broadband connectivity project using optical fibre  BSNL has undertaken large scale deployment of Wi-Fi hotspots throughout the country.

Literacy rate 71 percent in rural areas, 86 percent in urban areas: NSSO survey

 According to NSSO survey, the literacy rate in rural areas is 71% while it is 86% in urban areas.  Among the age group of seven years and above, male literacy rate was 83% while the female literacy rate was 67%.  The survey conducted by National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) covered entire country with samples taken from 36,479 households in rural areas and 29,447 in urban areas from 4,577 villages and 3,720 urban blocks.

Mobile portability number from July 3

 In a great news for mobile phone users in the country, DoT (Department of Telecommunications) has decided to implement nationwide mobile number portability from July 3.  Presently, MNP has been partially implemented, it allows subscribers to change mobile network while retaining their number in the same telecom circle. This has also led to an inflated mobile subscriber base in the country, as a person is forced to get a new number when they relocate.

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 From July 3, the full MNP will allow subscribers to retain their mobile number in any part of the country even when they change their operator or state.  Union Minister for Telecommunications: Ravi Shankar Prasad

Automatic refund if trail cancels

 Soon, passengers who book their railway tickets online will get automatic refund if their train gets cancelled. Already waitlisted e-tickets gets cancelled and passengers get refunded automatically.  There shall not be any requirement for cancellation/filing of ticket deposit receipt (TDR) for refund of e-tickets in case of cancellation of trains.  For those who book tickets at the passenger reservation system (PRS) counters shall continue to be refunded across the reservation counter as per the existing provisions.  Presently the systems needed for this facility are under upgradation.

International Affairs

Indian FM Sushma Swaraj’s visit to Thailand; Many agreements signed

On the last day of her three-day visit, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj co-chaired the 7th meeting of the India-Thailand Joint Commission for Bilateral Cooperation. Her counterpart is Thai Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister General Tanasak Patimapragorn.

Agreements signed

1. The double taxation avoidance treaty:

 It provides for the framework to avoid double taxation  And prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes  This agreement promotes bilateral economic cooperation as companies from both countries would find it easier to do business in other’s countries. And as the agreement tries to prevents tax evasion, trust between the companies and their host countries would increase.

2. Extradition treaty:

 The two countries inked the extradition treaty inked in 2013, now they exchanged instruments of ratification with each other

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 It provides for the legal framework for seeking extradition of fugitive offenders, including those involved in terrorism, transnational crimes, economic offences etc.  It applies to any person from either country who is wanted for trial or for the imposition or enforcement of any sentence concerning that person who found in the territory of the other country  This would strengthen the relationship between the security agencies of the two countries

3. Nalanda University

 The two sides have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the Establishment of Nalanda University  Thailand now joins other East Asian Summit countries in the establishment of Nalanda University in Bihar

4. Ayurveda Chair

 An MoU on the establishment of an Ayurveda Chair in one of the Thai Universities was signed between the Ministry of Ayush and Rangsit University of Thailand  Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences will set up a Chair at the Thai University to undertake academic and research activities in Ayurveda

Other important developments:

 India and Thailand discussed the possibilities of joint ventures in defence manufacturing  The discussion on defence would be taken forward when Thai defence minister Gen (Rtd) Prawit Wongsuwon would be visiting India this year  This move by both countries is significant in the context of China’s military might in the region is growing to a disproportionate level  The issue of the ambitious trilateral highway project between India and Thailand via Myanmar was also discussed during the meeting. Its completion is very important for India to have connectivity with ASEAN region. Presently under construction, it would be completed by 2018-19.

India-Thailand relationship:

 Thailand as an important pillar of India’s policy and a valued partner  In recent years, the relationship between the two countries has expanded to virtually all areas of bilateral cooperation

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 Our bilateral relations with Thailand are based on deep-rooted cultural, religious and neighbourly association between the people of our two nations.  Our common heritage of Buddhism and the philosophy of compassion, tolerance, non- violence and peace have laid strong foundations for this relationship  Thailand has a ‘Look West’ foreign policy since 1996 which complements perfectly with India’s ‘Look east policy’ adopted in 1993  The current defence cooperation between the two countries comprises regular joint exercises/joint maritime patrols near the international boundary to counter terrorism, piracy and smuggling, training of officers at each other’s armed forces training institutions and participation as observers in military exercises.

116 die as plane crashes in Sumatra, Indonesia

 An Indonesian military aeroplane, C-130 Hercules transporter has crashed in to the side of a building, minutes after taking off from an air force base in Sumatra, killing more than 116 people.  The crash killed all passengers on the plane (most of them are family members of servicemen and women) and at least three people on the ground.  Just 6 months ago, an AirAsia plane crashed into the Java Sea in Indonesia, killing all 162 people on board. The crashed C-130 Hercules was 51 years old.

Acquisitions

Ratan Tata buys stake in Ola

 Ratan Tata has bought a stake in online taxi-hiring firm Ola.  Ratan Tata had previously invested in start-ups like Snapdeal and Xiaomi.  Ola was founded in January 2011 by IIT Bombay alumni Aggarwal and Ankit Bhati. It is operating in over a 100 cities across India with 1.5 lakh vehicles registered on its platform.

Appointment

IDFC appoints former CAG Vinod Rai as independent director

 Infrastructure Development Finance Company Ltd (IDFC) has appointed former CAG Vinod Rai as independent director.

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 Vinod Rai was director on several boards including the State Bank of India, ICICI Bank, IDBI Bank and Life Insurance Corporation of India.  He was instrumental in setting up the IDFC and was also on the board of that company.

Housing.com fires CEO Rahul Yadav

 Rahul Yadav, CEO and co-founder of Housing.com has been fired by the company’s board.  He was removed with reference to his behaviour towards investors, ecosystem and the media, company said in a statement.  He was sacked because of the alleged leaking of information about Quicker hiring Housing.com to the media.

Business

RIL to invest Rs. 2.5 lakh crore in digital space: Ambani

 Reliance Industries will invest over Rs. 250,000 crore in the digital space, including rollout of wireless broadband infrastructure and manufacturing of mobile handsets.  Mukesh Ambani, chairman of Reliance Industries said Reliance will invest over Rs. 250,000 crore across the Digital India pillars and the firm’s investments in digital space will create employment for over 5 lakh people.

Reliance Group to invest Rs 10k cr in tech space: Anil Ambani

 Anil Ambani’s Reliance Group will invest about Rs 10,000 crore over the next few years to expand its presence across digital, cloud computing and telecom space.  The company plans to achieve full deployment of next generation content and Cloud Delivery Network by the end of the year.

Science & Technology

Cuba becomes first nation to eliminate mother-to-child HIV

 Cuba became the first country in the world to receive validation from WHO for eliminating mother-to-child transmission of HIV and syphilis.  Dr Margaret Chan, WHO Director-General said “Eliminating transmission of a virus is one of the greatest public health achievements possible.”  This is a major victory in fight against HIV and sexually transmitted infections, and an important step towards having an AIDS-free generation.

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Sports

Messi sparkles as Argentina thrash Paraguay

 Argentina’s star footballer Lionel Messi produced an outstanding performance to thrash Paraguay by 6-1 in the second semi-final of Copa America.  The Barcelona superstar mercilessly tore apart Paraguay and reached finals to face Chile on Saturday.

Abhijeet Gupta wins 19th Commonwealth Chess Championship

 Abhijeet Gupta, grandmaster and former world junior champion has won the 19th Commonwealth Chess Championship.  He won seven games against Arghyadip Das and was able to draw last two games.

Current Affairs Today – July 2 2015

Indian Affairs

India launches online system – eMigrate for foreign employers

 India has launched an online registration system for foreign employers who wants to recruit Indian workers.  All the foreign employers need to register in the eMigrate system. This will make compulsory for the employer to fill in a registration application which will then be inspected by the Indian mission.  Using this the employer can raise the demand for Indian workers in the eMigrate system and seek a permit to recruit either directly or through recruiting agents online.  According to the Indian embassy in Abu Dhabi, the system will be implemented in different phases.  The foreign employer will be required to declare the terms and conditions of employment of each category of the job at the time of applying for demand registration.  Foreign recruiters who wants to hire more than 150 Indian workers are required to register online with immediate effect in order to raise demand and seek a permit to recruit directly or select recruiting agents.  Those recruiting between 20-50 Indian workers are required to register online before the end of this month.

About eMigrate Project eMigrate project is a transformational initiative of the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs (MOIA), Government of India, to automate the current emigration processes and eco-system.

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About MOIA

 The Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs (MOIA) is dedicated to the large number of Indian Nationals settled abroad. Established in May 2004 as the Ministry of Non-Resident Indians’ Affairs, it was renamed as the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs (MOIA) in September 2004.  Driven by a mission of development through coalitions in a world without borders, MOIA seeks to connect the Indian Diaspora community with its motherland.

Kerala announces port development works worth Rs 850 crore

 Kerala government has announced port development project worth Rs 850 crore.  K Babu, Minister for Ports and Fisheries, said that a bunkering service would be introduced to enable refuelling, provide water and other items for big vessels passing through the sea off Kerala coast.  There are also plans to set up a sand purification plant at the port at a cost of Rs 20 crore.

Mumbai to get first rail, road double-decker bridge at CST

 Mumbai will get its first double-decker bridge on P D’Mello Road at CST that will have railway tracks and a motorway.  Railway tracks will be constructed at an elevated level and cars will run above that as the Eastern Freeway will be extended up from Orange Gate to GPO junction.  Platforms between CST and Dockyard Road station will be built at the elevated level and will be equipped with escalators.

Govt launches mob app; Twitter handle of Panchayati Raj Min

 Government has launched an online mobile application for better planning of Panchayat assets and the official Twitter handle of the Ministry of Panchayati Raj.  The mobile app “m-asset” can be used by citizens to capture photographs and geographical coordinates of various assets available at Gram Panchayat level.  It will enable these assets to be seen on a map and will be useful for planning by the Panchayats and the government.  The initiatives and programmes as well as important development of the ministry will be communicated through the Twitter handle“@MoPRInida”.

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International

BHEL commissions Sudan’s largest power plant

 Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) has commissioned Sudan’s largest power plant.  BHEL has executed this project on the basis of Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC). It has designed, manufactured, supplied and installed the complete power project which consists of 4 units of 125 MW each.  BHEL has commissioned the 500 MW Kosti Thermal Power Station (TPS) in Sudan which is now Sudan’s largest power plant.

Awards

Indian-American professor R Paul Singh named for 2015 World Agriculture Prize laureate

 Indian-American professor R. Paul Singh has been named as the 2015 Global Confederation for Higher Education Associations for Agriculture and Life Sciences World Agriculture Prize laureate.  This award was announced last week and will be formally presented on September 20.  R. Paul Singh got his bachelor’s degree in agricultural engineering from India’s Punjab Agricultural University, then a master’s degree and Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Michigan State University, respectively.  UC Davis Chancellor Linda P B Katehi said, “For over four decades, Professor Singh’s work as a pioneer in food engineering has been improving lives the world over.”  His research group created food-processing equipment for a manned mission to Mars, under a NASA contract.

Darshan Jain, an Indian-American teacher named for US Presidential Award

 Darshan Jain, an Indian-American teacher from Illinois, US in July 2015 was named for prestigious Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching by President Barack Obama.  Along with Jain, President named 108 Mathematics and Science teachers as recipients of the Award.  Jain has taught mathematics at Adlai E. Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire, Illinois for eight years. Right now, he is serving the school as the director of mathematics. He is

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a BA in mechanical engineering and a MS in secondary mathematics education from the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Indian student wins US fellowship for LGBT research

 An Indian girl student in the US has received a LGBT scholarship from the prestigious California University in Berkely to study how political issues brought new notions of sexual identity in India.  Shakthi Nataraj, who grew up in Chennai has been awarded with ‘The Philip Brett LGBT Studies Fellowship’ that honours the memory of Philip Brett who is considered a pioneer of lesbian and gay musicology.  The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Fellowship will help Nataraj study how political tensions brought new notions of sexual identity in Tamil Nadu.

Banking & Finance

RBI & Government in discussions for recapitalisation of banks

 The RBI and the government are in discussions overrecapitalisation of state-owned banks.  It would also allow banks to take some decisions which may imply that they would need to use some of that capital for cleaning of the balance sheet.  This year in the Budget, the government has allocated Rs 7,940 crore for capital infusion in state-owned banks but the government has vowed to provide more in the current fiscal.  RBI governor Raghuram Rajan said that there is a legitimate concern about whether banks have the capacity to do the right thing in cleaning up their balance sheet and some of that requires provisioning. So this is where capital infusion becomes important.

Recapitalisation of the Banks

Recapitalisation of banks is done with the aim of making its capital structure more stable. This could be done by issuing new shares or loan from a government. This improves the banks’ bank balance and prevents them from ruining.

Why Recapitalisation?

When the liabilities of banks are greater than their assets then they technically owe more to other people than assets they own.

Such situation arises when

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 People failed to pay loans  When banks lends money to a company and they loses it  Due to recession.  When value of an asset reduces like houses then by their repossession it will be difficult to get back the value of original loan.

Business

TATA’s JLR signs deal to manufacture cars in Austria

 Tata Motors owned Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has signed a contract manufacturing agreement with Austrian automotive firm Magna Steyr.  This collaboration is aimed at creating additional volumes needed to support the company’s plans to achieve further growth.

Science & Technology

India to become world’s second largest smartphone market

 Buoyed by growing sales, India will overtake the U.S. to become world’s second largest smartphone market by 2017.  According to international research firm Strategy Analytics, global smartphone sales are forecast to grow from 1.5 billion units in 2015 to a record 1.7 billion by 2017.  India will soon overtake the U.S. to become the world’s second largest smartphone market by 2017 behind China, selling an impressive 174 million units.

Sports

Sushil opts out of World Championships with injury

 Olympic-medallist Sushil Kumar has opted out of the World Championships after sustaining a shoulder injury.  The World championships which will be a ticket to Rio Olympics, is scheduled to be held in Las Vegas from September 7-12.

Indian Women’s Hockey team beats Italy, keep Olympic dreams alive

 India kept their Olympic qualification dreams alive by beating Italy in the shoot-out in the Women’s Hockey World League Semi-finals. 11 | P a g e Follow Us - FB.com/AffairsCloudOfficialPage Copyright 2015 @ AffairsCloud.Com

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 The Indian hockey eves, ranked 13 in the world defeated Italy by 5-4 in the shoot-out after both teams ended with one goal each in the designated 60 minutes.

BCCI Extends Best Wishes to Kanitkar, Ratra on Retirement

 The BCCI today congratulated Hrishikesh Kanitkar and Ajay Ratra on their India careers after the two announced retirement from the game.  Hrishikesh Kanitkar will be remembered for his contributions for India, at crucial stages in several limited-overs matches and tournaments in the late 1990s. It was under his captaincy that Rajasthan first won the Ranji Trophy, in 2010-11.  Ajay Ratra was a member of the under-19 team that brought us World Cup glory in 2000. His unbeaten 115 against the West Indies in Antigua in 2001-02 made him the youngest wicketkeeper-batsman to score a Test hundred.

Obituary

Matti Makkonen, Father of SMS technology passes away

 Matti Makkonen, known as the father of SMS has died. He is known for after developing the idea of sending messages via mobile networks.  Makkonen was an engineer from Finland and had worked with Nokia.

Interesting facts The first text message was sent via the Vodafone network from a computer to a mobile device in December 1992. In 1994, Nokia became first mobile manufacturer to introduce phone i.e. Nokia 2010 to write and send SMS.

Holocaust ‘Hero’ Sir Nicholas Winton Dies Aged 106

 Unassuming hero who to whom the second statue is dedicated died at the age of 106 in Slough on July 1, 2015,coincidently anniversary of the departure of a train in 1939 carrying the largest number of children-241.  Winton save more than 650 Jewish children from the Holocaust-Nazi tyranny and slaughter in Czechoslovakia-himself the label “Britain’s Schindler.”  Sir Nicholas organised foster families for Jewish children in Britain, placing adverts in newspapers.

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 Nicholas Winton won an International Emmy Award in 2002 and knighted by the British government in 2003 and also received the Order of the White Lion by the Czech government in 2014.

Current Affairs Today – July 3 2015

Indian Affairs

Army Launches Software to Digitise Data on Soldiers

 Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar launched a software to digitise records of over 12 lakh soldiers of the Indian Army.  The new automation software ARPAN 3.0. will provide easy access to pay, leave, transfer and posting details of the personnel and could be accessed both by the units as well as individuals.  ARPAN 3.0 – stands for Army Record Office Process Automation 3.0 was launched as a part of Digital India Week.  The Indian Army is targeting digitisation of its 45 Record Offices (ROs) across the country in a 1 year. It has already been test-bedded at seven ROs covering around 32 percent of the total soldiers.

CCEA approves Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana

 The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana.  The aim of this scheme is to reduce the farm sector’s dependence on monsoon. This scheme will provide irrigation facility to every village by converging the ongoing schemes being implemented by various Ministries.  The CCEA headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved the scheme in which the government will spend Rs 50000 crore in 5 years.  In India, 65% of the total 142 million hectare of cultivable farm land is still not covered by irrigation.

The major objectives of the PMKSY are:-

 Achieve convergence of investments in irrigation at the field level.  Expand cultivable area under assured irrigation (Har Khet ko pani).  Improve on-farm water use efficiency to reduce wastage of water.  Enhance the adoption of precision-irrigation and other water saving technologies (More crop per drop).

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 Enhance recharge of underground water.  Introduce sustainable water conservation practices.

The programme architecture of PMKSY aims at a ‘decentralized State level planning and execution’ structure, in order to allow States to draw up a District Irrigation Plan (DIP) and a State Irrigation Plan (SIP).

National level – The programme will be supervised and monitored by an Inter-Ministerial National Steering Committee (NSC) under the Chairmanship of the Prime Minister with Union Ministers of all concerned Ministries.

A National Executive Committee (NEC) is to be constituted to oversee programme implementation, allocation of resources, inter-ministerial coordination, monitoring and performance assessment, addressing administrative issues etc.

The Chairman of NEC will be the Vice Chairman of NITI Aayog.

State level – The scheme will be administered by a State Level Sanctioning Committee (SLSC) to be chaired by the Chief Secretary of the respective States.

District level – There will be a District level implementation committee for ensuring last mile coordination at the field level.

The other farmer friendly initiatives of the government are-

 Soil Health Card  Pramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana – for promoting organic farming  A dedicated Kisan Channel by Doordarshan

Punjab CM Launched ePMS Portal On July2,2015

 As a part of nationwide ‘Digital India’ week, the Punjab Chief Minister Mr.Parkash Singh Badal launched the state Portal ePMS(Electronic Projects Management System) here at his official residence.  This portal was developed and managed by the Cabinet Secretariat Informatics Division of National Informatics Centre (NIC),Rashtrapati Bhawan,New Delhi.  To fast track infrastructure investment stalled projects,both in the public and private sectors, involving investment between Rs.100crores and Rs 1,000 crores.

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 This project was started to enhance efficiency, bring transparency, boost the investor confidence, revive the investment cycle, eliminate the human interaction and improve the communication between industries to Government (B2G),State to Centre (G2G)or vice versa (G2B).

Airbus, Mahindra JV to make helicopters in India

 Airbus has partnered with Mahindra Group to establish a joint venture for manufacturing helicopters for the Indian Armed Forces.  The joint venture between Airbus Helicopters and Mahindra Defence aims to become the “first private Indian helicopter manufacturer under the ‘Make in India’ initiative.  This venture would produce helicopters to meet the country’s military requirements.  Airbus Helicopters President & CEO – Guillaume Faury  Mahindra Defence Systems Chairman – S P Shukla

International Affairs

UNHRC adopts resolution on Myanmar’s Rohingya Muslims

 United Nations Human Rights Commission (UNHRC) adopted a resolution on addressing the human rights situation of Rohingya Muslimsand other minorities in Myanmar.  This came after a regional crisis erupted with hundreds of migrants from the nation found adrift in the Bay of Bengal.  The resolution condemns the systematic gross violations of rights and abuses committed against all, including Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine State.  In recent years, tens of thousands of persecuted Rohingya Muslims have fled on boats across the Bay of Bengal in search of better prospects.

Appointments

Dr Anup K Pujari joins as Secretary, MSME

 Dr Anup K Pujari has been appointed Secretary of Ministry of Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME).  He succeeds Shri Madhav Lal whose tenure ended on 30 June 2015.  Previously Mr Pujari was holding the charge of Secretary, Mines.

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 He is an IAS of 1980 batch of Karnataka cadre. He is a post-graduate from the University of Boston, and a Doctorate in Economics. He has served the Central and Karnataka Government in various capacities.

Balaji appointed chief of ADA

 Cmde C D Balaji (Retd), Project Director, Light Combat Aircraft (Navy), today took over as the Director of Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADA) and Programme Director of LCA.  He succeeds P S Subramanyam who superannuated on June 30.  Balaji, commissioned into the Indian Navy in September 1978 in the Engineering Branch, has specialised in the Naval Aviation Arm, according to a Defence Research and Development Organisation release.

Awards

Prof. Sanjeev Galande selected for G D Birla Award for Scientific Research 2014

 Prof. Sanjeev Galande has won the prestigious G. D. Birla Award for Scientific Research for the year 2014.  Prof. Galande has been selected as the twenty fourth winner of this award for his contribution and his pioneering research in the field of Epigenetics and Molecular Cell Biology.  He is Professor and Team Leader at the Centre of Excellence in Epigenetics of the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Pune.  Epigenetics is an area of study about changes that influence gene function.  Prof Galande is also a recipient of Shantiswaroop Bhatnagar award.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar Conferred With Peru’s Highest Award  Spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar was honoured with Peru’s one of the highest awards ‘Grand Officer’ for social work and mission to deliver peace through his foundation The Art of Living.  The award titled “Medalla de la Integracion en el Grado de Gran Oficial” was conferred to Sri at Andean Parliament in Lima- The capital of Peru.

Fazle Hasan Abed, founder of Bangladesh-based poverty alleviation NGO wins World Food Prize 2015

 Fazle Hasan Abed who created a Bangladesh-based nonprofit organization for poverty alleviation was named the winner of the 2015 World Food Prize  Abed founded BRAC- Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee which has helped more than 150 million people out of poverty in Africa and Asia and is expanding efforts to 10 additional countries.

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 BRAC was created as a temporary relief organization to help with recovery from the 1970 typhoon and the subsequent war fought in 1971 to win independence from Pakistan

World Food Prize

 It is an international award recognizing the achievements of individuals who have advanced human development by improving the quality, quantity, or availability of food in the world.  The winners receive $250,000

Banking & Finance

SBI launches initiative to speed up home loan applications

 State Bank of India has launched an initiative ‘Project Tatkal’ to provide doorstep services and speed up home loans application process.  Project Tatkal will help get the loan within 10 days after receipt of application form and relevant supporting documents.  This project will be implemented at large centres with sizable home loan business.  The bank has also introduced an online customer acquisition solution (OCAS) for instant e-approval of home loan applications.

FIPB approves Kotak Mahindra Bank’s proposal to increase FDI to 55%

 Kotak Mahindra Bank has got a go-ahead from the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) for its proposal to increase foreign direct investment (FDI) in the bank to 55 per cent.  The FIPB, which takes up FDI proposals where approval is not automatic, gave a green signal to Kotak Mahindra’s proposal in its meeting on Friday, following approval from the Department of Financial Services and the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion. The proposal was deferred four times before.  India’s FDI policy allows 100 per cent foreign investment in banks. But Kotak Mahindra’s plan of launching a general insurance venture had made the matter complicated.  The Insurance Amendment Act passed in March 2015, which increased the FDI cap in the sector to 49 per cent, stated that an Indian insurance company must be ‘Indian owned and controlled’.

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President of India receives first copy of book ‘Uniki’

 The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee received the first copy of the book ‘Uniki’in Hyderabad today (July 3, 2015). The book has been written by Shri Ch Vidyasagar Rao, Governor of Maharashtra.  The President received the book from Shri K Chandrashekar Rao, Chief Minister of Telangana who formally released it.

Important Days

NATIONAL DOCTORS’ DAY – JULY 1

 1st July is celebrated as doctor’s day across India, which is very special for every medical practitioner.  This day is celebrating to honour the physician and the second Chief Minister of West Bengal,Dr.Bidhan Chandra Roy.He was born on July 1, and died on the same date,aged 80 years.  1st Doctor’s day in india celebrated in 1991. This day helps people get awareness about precious care of Doctors.  Doctor’s Day is celebrated in the US and other western countries on March 30-the day when Dr. Crawford W. Long first used ether anesthesia in surgery.

Obituary

Helsinki Olympics swimmer Adi Bharucha passes away

 Former Indian Olympic swimmer Adi Bharucha has died. He was 85 years old.  He took part in Helsinki Olympics and had the distinction of representing Maharashtra State for nearly three decades at the Senior Nationals.  He was the first recipient of the GMAAA Lifetime Achievement Award.

Keltron Founding Chairman K P P Nambiar Passed Away

 Kunnathu Puthiyaveettil Padmanabhan Nambiar aka K.P.P. Nambiar, founding chairman of Keltron,passed away on July 1st ,2015.  Nambiar was credited setting up India’s first state-run electronics venture Keltron and India’s first IT park Technopark,in Kerala.

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 He served as Secretary to the Department of Electronics during late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi’s tenure.  He started his career at Bharat Electronics, Nambiar worked with Texas Instruments in England and Tata in Mumbai.  He was awarded Padma Bhushan by Government of India for his contributions to the field of technology in 2006.

Current Affairs Today – July 4 2015

Indian Affairs

Cabinet clears central sector scheme for promotion of national agricultural

 Union Cabinet approved Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY) aiming at providing irrigation facilities to every village.  The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has given its approval to a Central Sector Scheme for Promotion of National Agricultural Market through Agri-Tech Infrastructure Fund (ATIF).  PMKSY will be monitored by National Steering Committee chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and concerned Union Ministers will be the members.  The Department of Agriculture & Cooperation (DAC) will set it up through the Small Farmers Agribusiness Consortium (SFAC) by creation of a common electronic Platform deployable in selected regulated markets across the country.  585 regulated markets including private markets across the country will be  integrated with the common e-platform to provide farmers and traders with access to opportunities for purchase/ sale of agri-commodities at optimal prices in a transparent manner across the country

Govt releases Socio-Economic and Caste census

Socio-Economic and Caste census (SECC)-2011 is a study of socio economic status of rural and urban households and allows ranking of households based on predefined parameters.

It has three census components which were conducted by three separate authorities –

Census in Rural Area – Department of Rural Development (DoRD).

Current Affairs July Capsule

Caste Census – Ministry of Home Affairs: Registrar General of India (RGI) and Census Commissioner of India.

About SECC

The Ministry of Rural Development Government of India, started the Socio Economic and Caste Census (SECC) 2011, in June 2011 through a comprehensive door to door enumeration across the country. This is the first time such a comprehensive exercise has been carried out for both rural and urban India.

Also this is the first paperless census conducted on hand-held electronic devices by the government

Objectives of SECC -2011 are:

 To enable households to be ranked based on their Socio- Economic status. State Governments can then prepare a list of families living below the poverty line.  To make available authentic information that will enable caste-wise population enumeration of the country.  To make available authentic information regarding the socio economic condition, and education status of various castes and sections of the population.

Key findings of the SECC-

The total households in the country are 24.39 crore, of which 17.91 crore live in villages. Out of which, 10.69 crore households are considered as deprived.

21.53%, or 3.86 crore, families living in villages belong to SC/ST categories.

Only 4.6% of all rural households in the country pay income tax.

For sources of household income 9.16 crore households (51.14%) depend on manual casual labour followed by cultivation (30.10%).

The data also reveals that 5.37 crore (29.97%) households in rural areas are “landless deriving a major part of their income from manual labour“.

Current Affairs July Capsule

There are 2.37 crore (13.25%) families in villages that live in houses of one room with ‘kaccha’ walls and roof.

Adani Group to set up solar park in TN for Rs 4,536cr

 Adani Group has proposed to set up a solar park in Tamil Nadu which is expected to be among world’s largest at an investment of Rs 4,536 crore.  The proposal is to set up five solar power generation centres with a total capacity of 648 MW in Ramanathapuram district of Tamil Nadu.  Adani Group MD Rajesh Adani said it will be one of the world’s largest solar parks and will be set up in Kamudhi, Ramanathapuram district.

Army launched Operation Shiva to secure Amarnath Yatra

 To provide security to those devotees taking part in the 59-day-long annual Amarnath Yatra in Jammu and Kashmir, Indian Army in first week of July 2015 launched Operation Shiva. The Yatra started on 2 July 2015.  The operation was launched on the basis of intelligence report suggesting that a group of 15 terrorists are likely to attempt a strike.  The operation will include Rashtriya Rifles unit, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) for surveillance of Yatra route and cave shrine, combing of forests located along the Yatra track, Infantry Unit of Army, companies of Paramilitary Forces, CRPF and BSF.

International Affairs

India abstains from UNHRC vote against Israel

 India has abstained from a vote against Israel at the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva.  The U.N. Human Rights Council report found evidence of “alleged war crimes” committed by both Israel and Hamas during the Gaza conflict in 2014.  During the UNHRC resolution in July 2014, India had voted against Israel after which this inquiry report was instituted for looking into the Gaza violence in which more than 2,300 had been killed in Israeli airstrikes on Gaza.  In the voting, 41 countries voted in favour of the resolution against Israel, while only the U.S. voted against it.  Five countries including India abstained from voting.

Current Affairs July Capsule

Acquisitions & Mergers

ABCIL to merge with Grasim

 Aditya Birla Chemicals (ABCIL) has received shareholders’ approval for merging the company with Grasim Industries.  Both the companies are of Aditya Birla Group and are being merged in order to consolidate similar businesses under one roof.  The Board of Grasim Industries had approved to give shareholders of ABCIL one share of Rs 10 each of Grasim for every 16 shares of Rs 10 each they hold in ABCIL.  This would issue 14.62 lakh new shares for Grasim, which will increase its share capital to Rs 93.31 crore.

Awards

4 Indian-Americans honoured with Great Immigrants award 2015 in United States

 Four Indian-Americans have been honoured with this year’s prestigious “Great Immigrants: The Pride of America” award.  There are 38 distinguished personalities from more than 30 countries who have been honoured with this year’s award.

The four Indian-Americans are

 Preet Bharara: US Attorney, Southern District of New York.  Rakesh Khurana: Dean of Harvard College and Marvin Bower Professor of Leadership and Development.  Madhulika Sikka: Vice President and Executive Editor of .Mic.  Abraham Verghese: Physician, Professor and Author.

About the award

This award is given by New York-based Carnegie Corporation to the immigrants for their significant contributions to the fabric of the nation and the strength of its democracy.

Guinness Book Recognises Madhya Pradesh’s World Record in Washing Hands

Current Affairs July Capsule

 The Guinness Book of World Records has acknowledged a record created in Madhya Pradesh on ‘World Hand washing Day’ on October 15, 2014.  A new world record was made by 12,76,425 students by washing their hands simultaneously at programmes held by panchayats and rural development departments on the World Hand washing Day at 13,196 different locations across 51 districts in Madhya Pradesh.  Previously this record was jointly held by Argentina, Peru and Mexico when 7,40,870 people washed their hands simultaneously at different locations on October 14, 2011.

Banking & Finance

Corp Bank launches MUDRA card on RuPay platform

 Corporation Bank has launched the MUDRA card based on the RuPay platform.  The card facilitates the withdrawal and use of the working capital finance by micro entrepreneurs.  The first MUDRA card was launched under the Pradhan Mantri MUDRA Yojana (PMMY).  Under PMMY there are three schemes for providing loans –

Shishu – loan up to Rs50,000. Kishore – loan up to Rs 5 lakh. Tarun – loan up to Rs 10 lakh.

HDFC Bank launches watch banking

 HDFC Bank became the first bank in India to launch Watch Banking for Apple Watch.  Watch banking aims to provide banking services through all wearable devices across platforms like iOS and Android.  HDFC Bank will provide a total of 10 banking transactions in the beginning like view account information, bill payments, recharges, hot listing facilities, locate nearest branch/ATM/offer, request statement and cheque book.  There is no need for customers to download a separate app, they can activate watch banking from an upgraded version of HDFC Bank’s mobile banking app itself.

Science & Technology

Current Affairs July Capsule

Russia launches supply ship Soyuz-U rocket to International Space Station

 A Russian booster rocket today successfully launched an unmanned cargo ship to the International Space Station, whose crew is anxiously awaiting it after the successive failures of two previous supply missions.  A Soyuz-U rocket blasted off flawlessly from Russia-leased Baikonur launch pad in Kazakhstan, placing the Progress M-28M ship into a designated orbit, safely en route to the station.  The ship is carrying 2.4 metric tons of fuel, oxygen, water, food and other supplies for the crew, the Russian space agency Roscosmos said.  The previous Progress launch in April ended in failure, and on Sunday a US supply mission failed too when SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket broke apart shortly after liftoff.

Sports

Australia fast bowler Harris retires on eve of Ashes

 Australia fast bowler Ryan Harris has announced his retirement from all forms of cricket. This decision came 4 days ahead of the Ashes.  The 35 year old pacer is suffering from knee injury.  He made his debut in 2010 and took 113 wickets in 27 Tests.

Obiituary

Ex-CJI Sabharwal passes away

 Former Chief Justice of India Yogesh Kumar Sabharwal has died. He was 73.  He was CJI from November 1, 2005 to January 13, 2007

Current Affairs Today – July 5 2015

Indian Affairs

Govt to convert 90,000 kms NH into green corridors

 The government is planning to convert 90,000 kms of country’s national highways into green corridors by creating 1000 contractors who will be responsible for planting trees. 24 | P a g e Follow Us - FB.com/AffairsCloudOfficialPage Copyright 2015 @ AffairsCloud.Com

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 The government decided that 1% of cost in construction will be for tree plantation and other things.  1,000 contractors in the country will be created and they will have their own nurseries and will plant new trees and create a green area on national highways.  The road network of India is 33 lakh kms which is the second largest in the world and consists of 92,851 kms of National Highways, which constitute only 1.7 per cent of the road network but carry about 40 per cent of the total road traffic.

Digital Guddi-Gudda Board adopted as Best Practice under BBBP scheme

Digital Guddi-Gudda Board is innovation of Jalgaon district Maharashtra was adopted as a best practice under Beti Bachao Beti Padhao(BBBP) scheme by the Union Ministry of Women and Child Development.

Features

 It is a scheme for spreading information education and communication material related to BBBP.  It is used to update monthly birth statistics.  It also displays audio video material as well as still frames for spreading information.

Awards

Indian biologist Kamal Bawa elected to Royal Society

 India’s noted biologist and ecologist, Kamal Bawa has been elected to the prestigious Royal Society in recognition of his pioneering contributions in the area of conservation science.  Bawa is a distinguished Biology professor at the University of Massachusetts in Boston.  He will join former and current fellows such as Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin, Albert Einstein, Stephen Hawking and about 80 Nobel laureates.  He is the second member of the University of Massachusetts faculty to be elected a fellow of the Royal Society after Roger Davis.

National Award for rag pickers

 Now, rag pickers’ services will be recognised by the government which has decided to give national award for their contribution to keep India clean.Rag pickers.  There are millions of rag pickers in the country. This informal sector has saved the country. They are doing a good job and I have decided to recognise their efforts

Current Affairs July Capsule

 In our country it generates 62 million tonnes of waste annually. “This is expected to increase to 165 million tonnes by 2030 and 450 million tonnes by 2050,  The national award, with a cash prize of Rs. 1.5 lakh, will be given to three best rag pickers and three associations involved in innovation of best practices.  From All india Level these three Rag pickers will Be Selected for Award.

Lord Karan Bilimoria among 8 NRIs awarded in UK

 Lord Karan Bilimoria, leading NRI entrepreneur, has been awarded as the International Indian of the Year for 2014-15 for his outstanding achievements in the fields of business and education.  Lord Bilimoria is the founder of Cobra Beer, Chairman of the Cobra Beer Partnership Limited.

Other award recipients are:

 Uma Wadhwani (International Indian Business Woman of the year)  Captain Nalin Pandey, Managing Director of Pentagon Marine Services (International Indian Lifetime Services to Maritime Trade India and the World 2014-15)  Ravinder Singh Gidar, Founder Golden Care Homes (International Indian Promoting Healthcare for elderly)  Pravinkant Amin (International Indian Promoting Community relations Worldwide)  Bajrang Bahadur Mathur, Architect and Town Planner (International Indian Promoting Tourism through writing and art)  Sanjay Wadhwani, Managing Director, Wanis (International Indian Young entrepreneur 2014-15)

Business

Blumberg Grain plans to invest USD 250 mn in India

 Blumberg Grain, US-based food storage technology provider is planning to enter the Indian market by investing about USD 250 million over next 5 years.  Currently the company is looking for setting up plant to manufacture components for scientific warehouses.  This proposed investment would be on manufacturing facility, upstream activities like disseminating best farm practices to farmers and downstream infrastructure like processing and packaging facilities.

Current Affairs July Capsule

Banking & Finance

Bandhan to start banking operations from Aug 23

 Micro-finance institution Bandhan Financial Services will formally start operations as a banker from August 23.  Bandhan chairman Chandra Sekhar Ghosh said “We will start banking operations under Bandhan Bank from August 23 with the inauguration of 600 branches in 27 states across the country along with 250 on-site ATMs.”  West Bengal will have 247 branches while other states having good share of branches are Odisha, Bihar and Assam.  65% of branches would be in rural areas while 35%would be opened in urban areas.  Bandhan got the in-principle approval from RBI for starting universal banking operations along with IDFC.

Sports

Netherlands beat South Korea 2-1 to win women’s HWL

 World and Olympic champions Netherlands lifted the Women’s Hockey World League trophy by defeating Asian games gold medallist South Korea by 2-1.  This was the semifinal round of the 2014–15 Women’s FIH Hockey World League and from here 7 highest placed teams apart from the five continental champions will qualify for 2016 Summer Olympics.

Chile beat Argentina 4-1 on penalties to win country’s first Copa America

 Chile finally won the Copa America for the first time in the country’s history by defeating Argentina by 4-1 on penalties.  The match started off with both teams pushing the limits and creating chances. Argentina came close in the opening minutes but couldn’t convert it into a goal. The game ended at 0-0 and the final result was decided by penalties in which Chile triumphed with final score of 4-1.

Important Days

International Day of Cooperatives – 4 July The United Nations General Assembly declared in a resolution in 1992 that the International Day of Cooperatives will be celebrated annually on the first Saturday of July. 27 | P a g e Follow Us - FB.com/AffairsCloudOfficialPage Copyright 2015 @ AffairsCloud.Com

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Theme 2015 – Choose co-operative, choose equality

The aim of this International Day is to:

 Increase awareness on cooperatives;  Highlight the complementarily of the goals and objectives of the United Nations and the international cooperative movement;  Underscore the contribution of the movement to the resolution of the major problems addressed by the United Nations;  Strengthen and extend partnerships between the international cooperative movement and other actors, including governments, at local, national and international levels.

Current Affairs Today – July 6th 2015 Indian Affairs Ravi Shankar Prasad Launches Four World-Class Broadband Products Developed by C- DOT  Union Minister for Communication and IT, Ravi Shankar Prasadlaunched four world class Broadband products developed byCentre for Development of Telematic (C- DOT).  He said that the NDA Government is committed to bring all 2.5 lakh villages under broadband services and enhance internet penetration from 300 million to 500 million within 2 and half years.  With this India has become at par with all other developed countries in the world in respect of quality telecommunication services and effective penetration of advanced broadband based services.

The four products launched by C-DOT are:  Long Distance Wi-Fi System – This system is capable of extending WiFi connectivity to the remote and inhospitable terrains of India. This is capable of providing 100Mbps broadband speed  Solar Powered Wi-Fi System – This solution is specifically designed for outdoor environments, inaccessible terrains, where there is no guarantee for continuous power. The system is designed to work in variable input voltages and in harsh conditions.  100Gbps Optical Fiber Cable Link – This system is designed to meet the ever increasing demand for superior bandwidth, high speed and power efficiency and is capable of serving multiple applications and protocols.  C-DOT Next Generation Network in MTNL Network – This solution addresses the need of the changing telecom scenario and enables TELCOs to make a smooth transition from legacy TDM ( Time Division Multiplexing) technology to advance VoIP Telecom technology.  These newly launched products will provide an advanced digital infrastructure for digital India initiative.

Compliance window enables declaration of overseas untaxed assets online

Current Affairs July Capsule

 Compliance window has given another chance to those who wants to utilize the recently notified one-time black money compliance window can also use the e-filing facility of the tax department.  They can declare their foreign-based untaxed assets online now instead of manually filing and committing of these stash properties.  According to the scheme under the window, “digital signature” of the individual is mandatory to validate the declaration.  According to the government recent notification the three-month compliance window has begun on July 1st.  The tax and penalty on such declared assets or funds can be paid till December 31st.  This facility is provided with an aim that anyone who wants to use the window for declaring unreported assets can do it with maximum secrecy and in quick time.

International Japan joins US-Australian military exercise  The US and Australia started off a massive joint biyearly military exercise with Japan taking part for the first time.  The two-week “Talisman Sabre” exercise in the Northern Territory and Queensland involves 30,000 personnel from the US and Australia practising operations at sea, in the air and on land.  About 40 personnel from Japan’s army will join the American contingent apart from more than 500 troops from New Zealand involved in the exercise.

Champagne vineyards of France granted with World Heritage status by UNESCO  The Champagne Hillsides, Houses and Cellars of France were granted with the World Heritage Status by United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).  The decision to grant the status was given during the 39th session of the World Heritage Committee held in Bonn, Germany. The Committee was chaired by Maria Bohmer, Minister of State at Germany’s Federal Foreign Office  The Champagne World Heritage status covered the places where sparkling wine was developed using a second fermentation method in the bottle from the beginning of the 17th century until its early industrialisation in the 19th century.  It mentioned the historic vineyards of Hautvillers where the monk Dom Perignon invented the fermentation process that gives champagne its fizz.  Besides, another cultural site in France – The Climats, terroirs of Burgundy – was declared as World Heritage Site.

Business Chinese solar company Hareon enters India in tie-up with ReNew Power  Hareon Solar Technology Company based in Shanghai has tied up with ReNew Power which one of the larger renewable energy companies in India to set up a 72 MW solar power project in Andhra Pradesh.

Banking & Finance RBI Banned FDI in manufacturing of tobacco products

Current Affairs July Capsule

 RBI has issued a notification which states prohibition applies on the manufacturing of tobacco products activities such as wholesale cash and carry, retail trading as they fall under the sectorial restrictions.  It shall be governed by the sectorial restrictions laid down in the FDI policy framed by the Department Of Industrial Policy & Promotion, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India and in the Schedule 1 of Foreign Exchange Management (Transfer or Issue of Security by a Person Resident outside India) Regulations, 2000 as amended from time to time.  The notification have been issued under sections 10(4) and 11(1) of the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 (42 of 1999).  Manufacturing of cigars, cheroots, cigarillos and cigarettes, of tobacco or of tobacco substitutes have been prohibited by by FDI.

MasterCard phone app to verify online payments via selfies  MasterCard is trying out a smartphone app which allows people to confirm their identity and authenticate online transactions via a facial scan.  The users will have to download the MasterCard phone app and at checkout they will be asked to hold up their phone to stare and blink at it.  MasterCard is also experimenting with finger print and voice recognition.

Science & Technology ISRO is set to launch 5 UK Satellites in Orbit

 ISRO (Indian space research organization) with its commercial arm named Antrix is going to launch five British Satellites that will be carried by Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV ) on 10th july.  It will be launched from Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) in Sriharikota.  The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), in its thirtieth flight (PSLV-C28), will launch three identical DMC3 optical earth observation satellites which are built by Surrey Satellite Technology Limited (SSTL), United Kingdom(UK).  High-end version of PSLV (PSLV-XL) will be used in this launch. Also, the four stage PSLV rocket will start its venture around 10 p.m.  Apart from it, two other auxiliary satellites are going to be carried with PSVL-C28 which are built in UK.

Environment Surveys says Pong Dam wildlife sanctuary is nesting to 12314 bird species

 In addition to achievement of reverse climate change impacts, survey has revealed around 12,314 birds of various species were found at Pong Dam wild life sanctuary. 30 | P a g e Follow Us - FB.com/AffairsCloudOfficialPage Copyright 2015 @ AffairsCloud.Com

Current Affairs July Capsule

 The wild life sanctuary situated in Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh.  The reservoir is a popular wildlife sanctuary and is one of the 25 International wetland sites declared in India.  It has become the favorite places of various species that migrate from  Siberia and Central Asia, according to a report dated July 1, 2015.

Sports Lewis Hamilton wins British F1 GP  Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton won the British Grand Prix for the second year in a row.  His Mercedes team mate Nico Rosberg finished second while Germany’s Sebastian Vettel ended up at third spot for Ferrari.

USA crowned FIFA Women’s World Cup 2015 champions  USA has won the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2015 by beating Japan by 5-2 in the finals.  This is the third time USA has won the World Cup. The previous victories were in 1991 and 1999.  Carli Lloyd of USA broke multiple records by becoming the first player to score a hat trick in a Women’s World Cup’s Final, second in either men’s or women’s final and the fastest in either men’s or women’s World Cup tournament.

Pakistan hockey captain resigns  Pakistan Hockey captain Muhammad Imran stepped down after the national team’s loss in the World Hockey League to France.  Due to this defeat Pakistan failed to qualify for next year’s Rio Olympics Games.  There is a string of resignations as Chief selector, Islahuddin Siddiqui and two other selectors, Ayaz Mahmood and Khalid Bashir have also resigned after the team’s lost in World Hockey League.

India won 2015 South Asian Basketball Championship  India won the South Asian Basketball (SABA) Championship title. In the final played at the Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru, Karanataka, India defeated Sri Lanka 93-44.  It was 4th edition of the championships. India was the winner of third SABA Championship. With this win, India qualified for the FIBA Asia Championship in China. FIBA Asia Championship will be played in September 2015.  The winning team was given a cash prize of 35000 rupees as a personal gesture of Basketball Federation of India President K Govindraj.  Top three teams of the championships were India (gold), Sri Lanka (silver) and Nepal (bronze).

Obituary Former Maharashtra Minister Patil passes away  Former Maharashtra Minister Pratapsinh Mohite-Patil passed away. He was 60.  He was the Minister for Cooperation in the Shiv Sena-led state government in the mid-90s.  Also he was a member of the 13th Lok Sabha.

Pak’s renowned Urdu novelist Abdullah Hussain dead  Well known Pakistani Urdu novelist Abdullah Hussain passed away. He was 84. 31 | P a g e Follow Us - FB.com/AffairsCloudOfficialPage Copyright 2015 @ AffairsCloud.Com

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 He authored the bestseller and critically acclaimed ‘Udas Naslain’.  His real name was Mohammad Khan.  His other noted works includes famous novels – ‘Baagh’, ‘Nadaar Loag’ – and short stories ‘Faraib and Nashaib’.  Hussain was honoured with this year’s Prime Minister’s Lifetime Achievement Award.

Current Affairs Today – July 7 2015

Indian Affairs

SC notices Centre to get political parties under RTI

The Supreme Court on Tuesday sought response from centre, the Election Commission and all national political parties on why they should not be brought within RTI ambit to make them more accountable to public.

A bench comprising Chief Justice H L Dattu and Justices Arun Kumar Mishra and Amitava Royissued notice to all six national political parties including BJP, Congress, BSP, CPI and CPMseeking their response to declare them public authorities under the transparency law.

Earlier an NGO – Association for Democratic Reforms had approached SC seeking transparency and accountability in functioning of recognised national and regional political parties.

Advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for the NGO, contended that political parties were public authorities and hence amenable to the RTI Act.

He said ““Political parties do not have to pay the income tax on the donations and, moreover, the donations below Rs 20,000 are not to be disclosed under the law by them.”

The political parties received huge sums of money in form of donations and contributions from corporates, trusts and individuals but do not disclose complete information about the source of such donations.

With this plea the NGO had requested the apex court to direct all national and regional parties to mandatorily disclose details about their income as well as expenditure.

Current Affairs July Capsule

 Uttar Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (UPSRTC) has become the first State transport corporation to have a vehicle tracking system for inter-city buses.  This has reduced accidents and deaths as drivers are cautious of crossing the speed limits.  UPSRTC is planning to introduce common bus travel card for passengers travelling to Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh.

President Inaugurated “Nakshatra Vatika” At Rashtrapati Nilayam Gardens

 The President of India,Shri Pranab Mukherjee inaugurated a 2nd specialized garden ‘Nakshatra Vatika’ on July 07,2015 at Rashtrapati Nilayam Gardens,Bolarum, Secunderabad.  The layout of ‘Nakshatra Vatika’ has been developed in various geometrical combinations of Sree Chakra of Vedic astrology on a 0.91 acre plot.48 trees/plants representing 09 Navgrahs,12 Rashi and 27 Nakshatra are present in the Garden.  The formation is square-shaped accommodating 9 squares to represent 9 Planets First inner circular band is divided in 12 small circles at parts of 30º each corresponding to the 12 Rashi (zodiac sign).  Outer circular band consists of 27 parts of 13º- 20’ each with small circles which represents each a Nakshatra,

Bangalore ranks 12th in list of world’s top 20 tech-rich cities

 Bangalore has been ranked 12th in the list of top 20 technology-rich cities in the world, according to a survey conducted by global property consultant Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL).  Bangalore has helped India debut on the ‘City Momentum Index’ Top 20 list – an annual survey carried out by JLL globally. Reinforcing the city’s status of being one of India’s premier technology centres, Bangalore figures at No. 12 in the Top 20 technology-rich cities globally  London, San Jose and Beijing are top three cities on the list.

International Affairs

PM holds talks with Uzbekistan President

Prime Minister Narendra Modi who is on a 8 day visit to Central Asia and Russia arrived in the Tashkenton, the capital ofUzbekistan, on his first leg of the visit.

Current Affairs July Capsule

Key points of the talk

 India and Uzbekistan decided to boost ties in key areas of atomic energy, defence and trade. Both countries signed three pacts to boost cooperation between their foreign offices and in the field of culture and tourism.  Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Uzbek President Islam Karimov as they also shared concerns over rise in terrorism in their “extended neighbourhood”.  Both the leaders agreed to intensify security cooperation and exchanges. The bilateral Joint Working Group on Counter Terrorism will meet later this year. They also agreed to strengthen cooperation in defence and cyber security.  Last year India and Uzbekistan signed a contract for supply of uranium from mineral-rich Uzbekistan. The two leaders also discussed ways to implement the contract. The pact was signed for supply of 2,000 metric tonnes of the yellow cake.  PM Modi briefed his Uzbek counterpart about the International North South Transport Corridor and proposed that Uzbekistan consider becoming a member and sought his support for India joining the Ashgabat Agreement.  The two sides recognised tourism as an important area of bilateral cooperation.  The two countries called for comprehensive reforms of the UN structures specially Security Council, including expansion in both categories of membership.  Both sides agreed for joint investment projects in sectors such as pharmaceuticals, light industry, IT and communications.

USA, Brazil Joint Statement on Climate Change

 President of the United States of America Barack Obama and President of Brazil Dilma Rousseff issued a joint statement on climate change on 30 June 2015 in Washington, the USA.  Both the countries jointly committed to work on reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and to protect bilaterally the planet from the adverse effects of climate change.  Both the countries committed to increase the share of renewables (beyond hydropower) by 20 percent by 2030 in their electricity matrices.  This implies that the United States and Brazil will need to triple and double their share of renewable energy respectively, in the next 15 years.  US being the second and Brazil being the seventh top greenhouse gas (GHG) emitter, respectively, their commitments have significant implications on the global long-term transition to low-carbon economies.

Current Affairs July Capsule

An important step further:-

Three areas of cooperation except energy sector, take this relationship even further, including:-

1. Cooperation on sustainable land use, which includes the launching of a Binational Program on Forest and Land Sector; 2. Cooperation on clean energy, to expand research on renewable energy, energy efficiency, and deepening existing partnerships; and 3. Cooperation on adaptation to climate change to enhance collaboration related to adaptation planning and resilience, among others.

Disappointments:-

There are six key issues that were supposed to get discussed during this agreement but were not clarified. Those were actually related to

1. Brazil’s target for 20 percent non-hydro renewable energy electricity generation by 2030. 2. Brazil is not rolling out a full economy-wide target for emissions reductions. 3. A sector-specific target on transport is missing which is nearly half of Brazil’s energy sector emissions. 4. There was no zero net deforestation pledge. 5. Brazil’s huge offshore “Pre-Salt” fossil fuel reserves are turning the country into a major oil producer and exporter. 6. Any mention on target for emissions per person was entirely missing in discussion.

Chinese navy commissions anti-submarine patrol aircraft

 The Chinese navy has got a four-engine Gaoxin-6, anti- submarine aircraft developed and manufactured by Aviation Industry Corp of China based on the Y-8 transport plane.  It is China’s first large aircraft specifically designed for anti-submarine warfare, making the country the sixth nation that has the development capability for such a sophisticated plane till now developed by United States, Russia, Japan, the UK and France.

Solar impulse lands in Hawaii after flight from Japan

 Solar impulse, an aeroplane powered only by sun has landed in Hawaii after making an epic 7,200km flight across the Pacific from Japan.

Current Affairs July Capsule

 Solar impulse set records of manned solar powered flight for distance covered (7200km) and time(118 hrs).

About Solar Impulse

Solar Impulse is a Swiss long-range experimental solar-powered aircraft project which will circle the earth by a piloted fixed-wing aircraft using only solar power.

Meiji sites in Japan get world heritage status by UNESCO

 UNESCO has granted World Heritage status to more than 20 old industrial sites in Japan. These sites are considered as representative of Japan’s industrial revolution under Emperor Meiji (1868-1910).  This includes coalmines and shipyards that Japan says contributed to its transformation.  South Korea had opposed the world heritage status unless clear reference was made to the use of an estimated 60,000 labourers forced to work at seven of the sites during Japan’s 1910-1945 colonial rule over the Korean peninsula.

Appointments

Chinese ex-FM to be AIIB chief

 China on Monday nominated one of its former Finance Minister to head the Beijing- backed Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).  Former Finance Minister Jin Liqun has been formally nominated by China as its preferred candidate to head the $100 billion AIIB.  It has been seen as a rival to the U.S. and Europe-dominated banking institutions.

Awards

India leads submissions for Zayed Future Prize

 India is leading the submissions for UAE’s annual Zayed Future Energy Prize, of which largest share is formed by emerging markets.

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 The prize received 1,437 submissions and nominations this year. This is the highest number in the eight year history of this prize.

Submissions from various parts of the world are

 India – 67  China – 41.  Africa – 102  Latin America – 241  Mexico – 83  Columbia – 54

Worldwide 97 countries submitted their nominations, out of which 888 submissions were in Large Corporation, Small and Medium Enterprise, Non-Profit Organisation and Global High Schools categories and 549 nominations for the Lifetime Achievement award were received.

The winners of this award will be announced at the annual awards ceremony in Abu Dhabi on January 18 next year.

Sports

Junior National Aquatics in Pune

Venue:-

 The Karnataka Swimming Association on Saturday announced the 32nd sub junior and

42nd Junior National Aquatics Championship is going to be held at the Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex in Balewadi, Pune, from July 13-19.

Participants:-

 Over 1,400 participants are going to take part, representing 28 states in different disciplines like swimming, diving and water polo.

Criteria:–

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 In sub-junior level age will be under 12 and in junior level it will be under 18 age groups, according to media release issued on behalf of the Swimming Federation of India.  Hosts are Maharashtra, along with Karnataka .The largest contingents of over 120 participants each, belongs to these two states.  There is also a grand trophy for the state winning the maximum point.

Award and Trophy:-

 These championships would also get a chance for the selection trials for the Upcoming 8th Asian Age Group Swimming Championships which is going to be held at Bangkok, Thailand, from October 1-7 2015.  Around 100 races are going to be held in this championship and close to 300 medals are at stake.  Glen mark Aquatic Foundation would also award up to 10 scholarships to young age group swimmers who have the potential for future excellence.  The foundation also will reward the coaches of the winner with “Glen mark Swim Technique Awards – 2015″.

Mayweather stripped of WBO welterweight belt

 Floyd Mayweather Jr. has been stripped of the welterweight world title which he won after beating Filipino Manny Pacquiao in May.  The 38-year-old failed to pay the WBO a $200,000 (£128,000) fee to administer the fight by the 3 July deadline.  The World Boxing Organisation said it is against rules for boxers to hold world titles in multiple weight classes and that Mayweather had to indicate which weight division he would retain.

India Wins More Than 150 Medals At “World Police and Fire Games”

 India has won a record 156 medals, including 89 gold and 50 silvers, in the World Police and Fire games held in the suburb of the American Capital.  Topping the tally Richa Mishra and Kulwinder Kaur bagged a combined 11 gold medals at the 2015.50-member Indian delegation competed in 7 categories: Athletics,Wrestling,Boxing,Judo,Archery,Swimming,Shooting.

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 This is for the first time that the Indian contingent’s medal tally has crossed 100 and exceeding 3rd position holder Commonwealth Games. In 2013-India won 83 medals at Belfast,Northern Ireland.  US won by 1,777(700 golds),Canada finished second 430 medals.

Important Days

World Zoonosis Day observed on 6th July

 World Zoonoses Day is observed every year on July 6 to emphasize and bring the problem awareness amongst people, and teach them to take right action  Zoonoses means an animal disease that can be transmitted to humans.  About 150 zoonotic diseases are known to exist.

Obituary

Actress Amanda Peterson dies at 43

 Actress Amanda Peterson has died. She was 43.  She best known for her role in the romantic-comedy “Can’t Buy Me Love” opposite Patrick Dempsey in 1987.  She also appeared in films like Joe Dante’s “Explorers”, “The Lawless Land” (1988), and “Listen to Me” (1989).

Renowned Actress Diana Douglas passes away at 92

 Veteran actress Diana Douglas has died. She was 92 years old.  She appeared in dozens of films and TV shows including “Planes, Trains and Automobiles”, “ER” and “The West Wing”.  She was the mother of well-known actor Michael Douglas.

Current Affairs Today – July 8 2015

Indian Affairs

MGNREGA world’s largest public works programme: World Bank

According to World Bank report, India’s rural employment guarantee programme MNREGA has been ranked as the world’s largest public works programme. 39 | P a g e Follow Us - FB.com/AffairsCloudOfficialPage Copyright 2015 @ AffairsCloud.Com

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MGNREGA provides social security net to almost 15 per cent of the country’s population.

World Bank Group’s report ‘The State of Social Safety Nets 2015′, said India is among the five middle-income countries running the world’s largest social safety net programmes.

The world’s five largest social safety net programmes are in China, India, South Africa and Ethiopia reaching over 526 million people.

The Mid-day meal scheme of India has been classified as biggest school feeding programmebenefiting 105 million beneficiaries.

Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act has 182 million beneficiaries which covers 15% of India’s population.

Janani Suraksha Yojna with 78 million beneficiaries is ranked as the top-most social security programme with conditional cash transfers.

Also, the report ranked the Indira Gandhi National Old Age Pension Scheme as the second- largest unconditional cash transfer social security programme in the world.

Jim Yong Kim, World Bank Group President and Guy Ryder, Executive Director, ILO, in their joint statement said, “The World Bank Group and the International Labour Organisation share a vision of social protection for all, a world where anyone who needs social protection can access it at any time.”

About the Schemes

MGNREGA

 Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) is a social security measure that aims to guarantee the ‘right to work’.  To ensure livelihood security in rural areas it provides at least 100 days of wage employment in a financial year to every household.

Midday Meal Scheme

 It is a school meal programme designed to improve the nutritional status of school-age children nationwide.  The programme supplies free lunches on working days for children in Primary and Upper Primary Classes in Government schools.  It is the largest such programme in the world which serves 120,000,000 children in over 1,265,000 schools and Education Guarantee Scheme centres. 40 | P a g e Follow Us - FB.com/AffairsCloudOfficialPage Copyright 2015 @ AffairsCloud.Com

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Janani Suraksha Yojna

 Janani Suraksha Yojana is a scheme to decrease the neo-natal and maternal deaths happening in the country by promoting institutional delivery of babies under the National Rural Health Mission.  It is a 100% centrally sponsored scheme which integrates cash assistance with delivery and post-delivery car

Tata Group to sign 3 MOUs with Tripura government

A delegation of Tata executives led by its Chairman Emeritus Ratan Tata will sign three Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Tripura government.

The three MOUs are:

 First with the department of Industries and Commerce for providing higher technological knowhow to two Industrial Training Institutes (ITI) in West Tripura district and Dhalai district.  Second for setting up a dairy farm at Ambassa in Dhalai district.  Third for augmenting fish production in the state

MoU inked between ICRISAT and Telangana government to promote digital agriculture

 International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics [ ICRISAT ] and Telangana government have joined hands to implement Information and Communication Technology-based knowledge sharing platforms for farmers.  The MoU aims at promoting agricultural innovation initiatives to improve productivity and profitability of small-holder farmers.  The partnership will explore areas of collaboration in the field of digital agriculture which will give Information that would be precisely targeted towards individual farmers .This will help farmers to access agricultural-related and market-related information, which gives them an opportunity to sell their produce at fair prices  The MoU will enable the government to create new economic opportunities for rural populations through digital agriculture and enable consumers to create direct linkages to farmers

Centre approves Rs 3,500 cr for road projects in J-K

 The Centre has approved Rs 3,500 crore for two road projects in Jammu and Kashmir in a bid to boost road development infrastructure in the state.

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 Jammu and Kashmir Roads and Buildings Minister Altaf Bukhari said the accomplishment of these ambitious projects would go a long way towards decongestion of traffic movement in these cities.

World’s Oldest Active Aircraft Carrier INS Viraat Set to Be Museum Ship in India

 The oldest active aircraft carrier in the world will be converted into a docked museum when the ship, now in the Indian Navy, decommissions next year.  After 57 years of service life, the ship will decommission in 2016. Andhra Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (APTDC) authorities received an in-principle approval from the Ministry of Defence to convert the ship into a museum at the Kakinada port in the Bay of Bengal.

NDDB launches mobile app for dairy farmers

 The National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) on 7 July 2015 launched a mobile application named Pashu Poshan that will boost dairy farmers’ income by raising milk yield and cutting feed cost. The app will recommend a balanced diet for cows and buffaloes.  The mobile application was launched by the Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh. The application will be available on both web and android platforms. It can be accessed by registering on the INAPH portal http://inaph.Nddb.Coop.

International Affairs

PM Modi to attend BRICS and SCO summit in Ufa

 After successful visit of two central Asian countries Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan Prime minister Narendra Modi has reached Russia on his 3 days trip.  He is going to attend 7th BRICS summit and Shanghai Cooperation Organization summits in Ufa, Russia.  First he is going to attend the BRICS summit for 2 days where five nations- Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa are going to participate.

Main agenda on BRICS discussion:-

 Theme:-powerful factor for Global Development  To enhance the economic cooperation.

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 To create a currency pool under Contingent Reserve Arrangement (CRA) in order to reduce the monopoly of global transaction though western currencies.  CRA to handle all financial risk of the member countries.  Discussion on new development bank.(NDB)  Currency swap on member countries.  India plays as the most important country in BRICS  BRICS also has a very crucial role of maintaining world peace and security and ensuring leaving behind a better planet for the future generations.

Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Summits:-

 6 nations (China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan) membered SCO summit, along with India and Pakistan is going to be held on 9-10 July.  India’s membership along with Pakistan will be confirmed by next year as per the info given by Russia officials making SCO as 8-membered countries.  Modi expected to meet China president Xi Jinping and Pakistan counterpart Nawaz Sharif during the summit.  The meeting is expected to be regarding peaceful bilateral relationship, counterterrorism cooperation, cooperation in energy sector, enhancing trade and dealing with drug trafficking.  Apart from these India and Pakistan are expected to discuss about bilateral relations, releasing of fishermen on occasion of ramzan.  India and china too expected to have a meeting on bilateral ties and India’s unhappiness over Beijing constructing an economic corridor with Pakistan passing through PoK , although India has expressed concerns over China’s recent decision to block action against Pakistan in the UN over release of Mumbai attack mastermind Zaki-ur Rehman Lakhvi.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Kazakhstan – An Overview

PM Narendra Modi who is on a tour of Central Asia met withPresident of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev, on the second day.

Kazakhstan has vast natural resources and India has huge demand for these resources that is why both countries have a great potential for partnership.

Important Points

 India and Kazakhstan signed five key agreements including a defence pact to enhance military cooperation and a contract for supply of uranium.

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 PM Modi and his Kazakhstani counterpart shared views on international issues including regional peace, connectivity and integration; reforms in the United Nations and combating terrorism.  Emphasising on the defence and security cooperation as an important dimension of strategic partnership between the two countries.  Kazakhstan’s national atomic company Kazatomprom, signed a contract with Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) for long term supply of natural uranium to India.  India invested in a drilling operations launched for exploration oil field in Kazakhstan.  Another area of cooperation is the renewable energy sector which includes manufacturing of equipments.  Both leaders agreed on the need for reforms of the United Nations and its Security Council.  PM Modi thanked Kazakhstan for supporting India’s candidature for a permanent seat in UN Security Council.  PM Modi inaugurated the India-Kazakhstan Centre of Excellence in Information & Communication Technologies at the Eurasian National University. He also contributed a super computer from India.  Prime Minister called for enhanced investment from Kazakh companies in India, particularly in the areas of renewable energy, smart cities, housing, and railways.  The other agreements included Treaty on Transfer of Sentenced Persons, human resources, cultural exchanges and capacity building.

India, Kazakhstan Launch First Drilling at Satpayev Oil Block

 Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Kazakhstan President Karim Massimov launched the first exploratory drilling of theSatpayev oil block by India’s OVL and KazMunaiGaz.  ONGC Videsh Ltd. (OVL) which is the overseas arm of state-run ONGC, had acquired 25% stake in the Satpayev oil block in the North Caspian Sea in 2011.  OVL has committed to investing $400 million in exploration in the block. It will also pay $80 million to Kazakhstan’s KazMunaiGas as a one-time assignment fee.  India will conduct a feasibility study on importing crude oil and gas from Kazakhstan either through a pipeline or as liquid natural gas in ships.  Crude oil can be brought first to Iran via the Caspian Sea and transported across the country through a pipeline.

Oslo Education Summit 2015

Oslo education summit 2015 was held on 6th July hosted by Government of Norway in cooperation with UN Special Envoy for Global Education Gordon Brown. Theme:- Delivering Quality Education for All. Summit venue:-Radisson Blu Plaza Hotel, Oslo, Norway

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 Summit was opened by the Prime Minister of Norway HE Ms Erna Solberg, the Secretary- General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon and Laureate of the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize, Malala Yousafzai.  The Summit placed special focus on investment, girls’ education, quality and emergency situations.  It mainly aimed at mobilizing “strong and renewed political commitment” for children deprived of the right to education, and to improve learning outcomes for those who attend the school.  More than 58 million children throughout the world are out of education facility and most of them who gets education are not learning. Progress has been reduced, says a report.  The summit has initiated an international support to the children who are deprived of education through innovative partnership and well-coordinated development aid.

PM Narendra Modi released first Uzbek-Hindi dictionary in Tashkent

 Prime Minister Narendra Modi on July 7, 2015 released first Uzbek-Hindi dictionary in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.  He released the dictionary along with his Uzbek counterpart and Prime Minster of Uzbekistan Indologist Rakhmatov in the event in presence of Hindi language students and Indian community members. It was launched during his visit to central Asian Countries.

Banking & Finance

Union Bank takes digital initiatives with M-passbook & more

 Union bank on a press release announced the launch of digital services to his customers as to be a part of country’s growingDigital India mission, on 6th July.  Union bank of India has announced to provide following digital services as per customer convenience.

1. IMPS through branches for Retail and Corporate customers 2. Mobile Passbook ( M Passbook) 3. Missed call facility for Mobile Banking & Account balance 4. SMS based value added services

1. IMPS through branches for Retail and Corporate customers-

 Union Bank is the first Bank in the Industry to launch IMPS through Branches for instant fund transfer.  Under this service facility, a customer can transfer fund instantly from any of its branch and can transfer up to 2lacs per day to any other bank account.

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 Facility is available both for Retail and Corporate customers by integrating IMPS platform in its CBS (Core Banking Solution) .

2. Mobile Passbook ( M Passbook):-

 This feature will enable a customer to view the account statement through mobile.  This downloadable app will be available at mobile app store.

3. Missed call facility for Mobile Banking & Account balance (Missed call suvidha):-

 Customer can get info about his/her account balance and how to download the app procedure simply by giving a miss cal from their registered mobile number to 09223060000.

4. SMS based value added services (SMS based Suvidha):-

Customer can avail the following value added services by simply Sending SMS to a designated number (09223008486)

1. Blocking debit card 2. Balance enquiry of various accounts 3. Aadhaar ID seeding 4. Enable/Disable user id of internet banking 5. ATM and Branch Locator

Business

Infosys bags multi-million euro deal with Deutsche Bank

 Indian IT giant Infosys has signed a multi-million euro deal with Deutsche Bank.  According to the deal, Infosys will provide services like development, application maintenance, digital and mobility, package implementation and testing services across the Deutsche Bank Group.  Infosys will also be a strategic partner under Deutsche Bank’s Supplier Partnership Programme which was launched in June 2014 to concentrate the most strategic vendors based on business impact across all categories of the bank.

Appointments

Bharti Enterprises appoints Rahul Bhatnagar as MD

 Bharti Enterprises has appointed Rahul Bhatnagar as its new Managing Director and Chief Financial Officer.

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 He takes over from Manoj Kohli, who has assumed the role of Executive Chairman, SBG Cleantech – a JV between SoftBank, Bharti and Foxconn for renewable energy.  Previously Rahul Bhatnagar has woked with PepsiCo, where he worked for over 19 years in various senior-level positions across geographies.

Govt appoints Kalyanaraman as MD and CEO of NHB

 The government has appointed Sriram Kalyanaraman as Managing Director and CEO of National Housing Bank.  He has become the first person form the private sector to head a public sector financial institution.  Currently Kalyanaraman is Director-Business Development, Equifax Credit Information Services.  He is appointed for five years from the date of taking over the charge.

Sanjeev Nandan Sahai appointed as Delhi’s new Home Secretary

 Senior IAS officer S N Sahai is all set to be appointed as the new Home Secretary of Delhi, a move aimed at ending the row between Lt Governor Najeeb Jung and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal over the top post.  Mr. Kejriwal and Mr. Jung have agreed on Mr. Sahai’s name for the Home Secretary’s post following which a recommendation was sent to the Union Home Ministry.

Science & Technology

‘Rani Durgavati’ joins Indian Coast Guard as 3rd IPV

Chief of the Eastern Naval Command (ENC), vice-admiral Satish Soni, authorized ICGS Rani Durgavati at the Coast Guard district headquarters on 6th july.

ICGS Rani Durgavati:-

 It is the 3rd Inshore Patrol Vessel (IPV) of Indian Coast Guard (ICG)of  five fast patrol vessels .  Built by Hindustan Shipyard Limited.  It is propelled by 3 MTU 4000 series diesel engines which has 2720 KW capacity at 2100 RPM each coupled with three 7152 Rolls Royce kamewa jets.  This IPV of 51 meter is equipped with the most-advanced equipment and navigational communication sensors.  It has the capability of 1,500 nautical miles with a speed of 34 knots.  It is manned by a 34-member crew, including five officers.  Commandant S Zakir Hussain is to command the IPV.

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 Base is at Karaikal in Puducherry.

Environment

New Species of Songbird Evolving in Western Ghats

 Western ghat is well known as “Sky Islands” due to its higher altitude (1400m higher more than sea level) and deep valley peaks inside it spread over 700km.  A recent study says western ghat is a large migrants of various species of birds including 23 species of only song birds in tropical montane cloud shola forests.  2 species of those song birds are oldest among them inhabiting there since 6.78 million years ago in Palghat valley.  10 species have never crossed 40 km inside the valley since 1000years.  The National Centre for Biological Sciences researchers have told that they have found many of these songbirds have now become new species or sub-species with genetic evolution.  They have collected the data after a research over 350 individual birds for 3 years.  They said that different side of valley get diverge potentially into new species having different kind of genetically population.  At least two new species of shortwing and laughing thrust birds which have shown genetic diversity from their species.  Apart from genetic diversity aspect, birds do change their color and size in evolution.

Sports

Inderjeet clinches gold in World Universiade

 Star athlete Inderjeet Singh won the gold medal in shot put event for India in the World University Games at Gwangju, South Korea.  This year has been phenomenal for Indrajeet as he won five gold medals in all five international events he has participated so far in 2015.

Lord Patel Becomes First British-Asian to Join ECB Board of Directors

 Lord Patel of Bradford, who has been appointed by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) to its board of directors, has become the first British-Asian to be included to the 14-member strong body.

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 Patel, who has worked for the Yorkshire Cricket Academy as a part-time coach, will be replacing Lord Morris in the ECB.  Patel of Bradford, an OBE and a leading voice on health, social care and community cohesion in the UK.

Current Affairs Today – July 9 2015

Indian Affairs

India to beat China again as fastest-growing in 2016: IMF

 Recent report of IMF (International Monetary Fund) says India will be the fastest growing economy for the second consecutive year in 2016 at 7.5percent.  According to IMF, it forecast a growth projection of 5 percent for India in 2016 ,and for china 6.3 percent in its World Economic Outlook Update release.  Though India has lowered its current year global economy growth forecast to 3.3 per cent.  But the estimates of Indian Finance Ministry (IFM) and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has higher than IMF’s growth projection rate.  IFM expects GDP growth to be 8-8.5 per cent in 2015-16.  RBI expects it to be 7.6 percent.  IMF has retained its previous year estimate for India as well as china.  But report reveals that the global economy growth has reduced to 3.3percent from 3.5percent for India according to IMF early prediction in 2014.  But global economy growth has been retained 3.8 percent in 2016.  Slowdown of economic growths effects several factors in market such as lower commodity prices and tighter external financial conditions, structural bottlenecks, rebalancing in China, and economic distress related to geopolitical factors.  An increase in growth factor is expected in 2016.  Growth in developing economies has been estimated at 4.2 per cent in 2015, down 0.1 per cent from the projection made in April.  IMF releases its data following March as its financial ending year.

Union Government declares whole of Nagaland as ‘disturbed area’

 The Union home ministry has declared whole of Nagaland as a disturbed area for a further period of one year from June 30, 2015.  This declaration under Section 3 of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958 will give the armed forces powers to search, raid and arrest without a warrant. Also, it would

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allow use of force by the Army personnel even to the extent of causing death, against one who puts law and order in a ‘disturbed’ area, in peril.

MakeMyTrip, RBL Bank, IRCTC in Fortune India Next 500 list

 MakeMyTrip, RBL Bank, Inox wind and IRCTC are among the firms that have made it to the Fortune Next 500 list of Indian companies.  Redington India, iPhone distributor, has topped the list.  The companies featuring in the Next 500 list are mostly mid-sized and are capable of breaking into the Fortune India 500, the magazine noted.

Fortune India 500

It is a ranking of the top 500 corporations in India compiled on the basis of latest sales and gross revenue figures which is published by Fortune Magazine.

International Affairs

Russian cosmonaut Gennady Padalka entered Guinness World Records for spending 804 days on ISS

 Russian Cosmonaut Gennady Padalka has created world record in history by becoming the first man to spend longest time on International Space Station(ISS).  He has set the Guinness World record by spending 804 days by 1st July 2015.  He was supposed to come back to earth on September 2015 by which he would have spent 877 days almost two n half a year in space.  He beat the old record of another Russian cosmonaut Sergai Krikalev.  Segai is now retired and spent almost 803 days on 9 hrs. and 41 minutes in ISS during 1998 to 2005.  57 year old Padalka has served as commander of the crew member on ISS.  He has yet to set record for his nine space walks aiming to complete 1000 days in space.

India, Russia sign MoU for funding of hydro-generation projects

Russia’s Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) has signed a MoU with India’s Infrastructure Development Finance Company (IDFC) for funding of hydro-generation projects. This is an important step in economic cooperation between the two countries.

RDIF has signed a MoU with its partners in the BRICS member-states to work with sovereign funds, with the BRICS Bank and invest in the equity of infrastructure projects in these countries.

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RDIF Director General Kirill Dmitriev said,” We have signed an MoU with five funds from our five countries: the Russian Direct Investment Fund, the Silk Road Fund from China, the IDFC (Infrastructure Development Finance Company) from India, the Development Bank of South Africa and the Brazil BTG Pactual fund.”

Russia which has lot of expertise in hydro generation has discussed the projects with IDFC of India.

India in talks with Russia to lease new modern, world-class nuclear attack submarine

 India is in final talks with Russia to lease a newly built, customised submarine, unlike in the past when older vessels were refurbished and handed over.  This will give a much needed boost to India’s depleting underwater fleet.  Talks are in advanced stages for leasing a new submarine under the ‘Chakra 3′ project.  India has Chakra 2 nuclear submarine which was refurbished and taken on lease for 10 years from Russia in 2012.

UNESCO names 24 New World Heritage Sites

The World Heritage Committee has included 24 new sites onUNESCO’s World Heritage List and approved extensions to three existing sites. It also added three World Heritage sites to the List of World Heritage in Danger and took one off that List.

Now the number of sites on the World Heritage List are 1031 from 163 countries.

The 24 sites included in the list are:

 Blue and John Crow Mountains  Tusi sites (China)  Christiansfeld, a Moravian Church Settlement (Denmark)  The Par Force Hunting Landscape in North Zealand (Denmark)  The Climats, terroirs of Burgundy (France)  Champagne Hillsides, Houses and Cellars (France)  Speicherstadt and Kontorhaus District with Chilehaus (Germany)  Susa (Islamic Republic of Iran)  Cultural Landscape of Maymand (Islamic Republic of Iran)  Necropolis of Beth She’arim—a Landmark of Jewish Revival (Israel)  Arab-Norman Palermo and the Cathedral Churches of Cefalú and Monreale (Italy)  Sites of Japan’s Meiji Industrial Revolution: Iron and Steel, Shipbuilding and Coal Mining (Japan)  Baptism Site “Bethany Beyond the Jordan” (Al-Maghtas) (Jordan)

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 Baekje Historic Areas (Republic of Korea)  Aqueduct of Padre Tembleque Hydraulic System (Mexico)  Great Burkhan Khaldun Mountain and its surrounding sacred landscape (Mongolia)  Rjukan-Notodden Industrial Heritage Site (Norway)  Rock Art in the Hail Region of Saudi Arabia  Singapore Botanical Gardens (Singapore)  Sites of Japan’s Meiji Industrial Revolution: Iron and Steel, Shipbuilding and Coal Mining (Japan)  Ephesus (Turkey)  Diyarbakir Fortress and Hevsel Gardens Cultural Landscape (Turkey)  Fray Bentos Cultural-Industrial Landscape (Uruguay)  The Forth Bridge (United Kingdom)  San Antonio Missions (United States of America)

The World Heritage Committee approved extensions to three sites:

 Cape Floral Region Protected Areas (South Africa)  Routes of Santiago de Compostela: Camino Francés and Routes of Northern Spain [an extension of the “Routes of Santiago de Compostela”] (Spain)  Phong Nha – Ke Bang National Park (Viet Nam)

Sites added to the List of World Heritage in Danger

 Hatra (Iraq)  Old City of Sana’a (Yemen)  Old Walled City of Shibam (Yemen)

Los Katíos in Colombia was taken off the List of World Heritage in Danger, which was added in 2009.

Acquisitions

Practo Technologies acquires Genii

 Bengaluru based healthcare company Practo has acquired Mumbai based Genii Technologies, a technology services startup.  Practo has an app and web service for scheduling appointments with doctors. It lists over 8,000 hospitals on its platform aims to reach to 20,000 hospitals by the end of this year.  Previously Practo has acquired FithoWellness, a web and app-based fitness management platform, in April 2015.

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 Genii Technology is a services start-up focused on product design and development. It was founded in 2011 and has launched 30 products across multiple domains including retail, finance, real estate, travel and events over the last three years.

Banking

India to contribute $18 bn to BRICS forex reserves pool

India will contribute USD 18 billion to the forex reserves poolset up by BRICS nations. The USD 100 billion foreign-exchange reserves pool is set up by five nations of the BRICS grouping to help each other “in case of any problems with dollar liquidity“.

The contributions from all five nations are:

 Brazil – $18 billion  Russia – $18 billion  India – $18 billion  China – $41 billion  South Africa – $5 billion

1. On July 7, 2015, the central banks of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa have signed Operational Agreement in Moscow. 2. The Agreement outlines the terms of mutual support for member states in the framework of the Agreement on BRICS Pool of Conventional Currency Reserves. 3. This fund could be drawn by the member nations if they experience problems with their balance of payments and it will act as an insurance instrument. 4. This agreement will define the working procedure of the pool to be observed by central banks of BRICS nations. 5. The agreement to set up a currency reserve pool was signed during the last year’s BRICS summit in Brazil. 6. The Pool would help BRICS members to maintain financial stability in case of volatility in dollar exchange rate. 7. The BRICS nations account for nearly $16 trillion in GDP and 40 per cent of the world’s population.

Sports

Indian women’s cricket team winning agains New Zealand series

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 Indian women’s cricket team defeated New Zealand by 9 wickets and clinched the ODI series by 3-2.  Batting first New Zealand collapsed for 118 in 41 overs. In reply India achieved the target in 27.2 overs.  BCCI has announced a cash reward of Rs 21 Lakhs for the team.

Books & Authors

India Central Asia Relations authored by Amiya Chandra

 Book titled India Central Asia Relations: The Economic Dimension authored by Amiya Chandra came in news in second week of July 2015.  It came in news during the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to central Asian countries, namely Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan.

Current Affairs Today – July 10 2015

Indian Affairs

Uttarakhand gets India’s first earthquake early warning system

 Uttarakhad to be the first state in India to get earthquake early warning system  Uttarakhad belongs to seismic zone V i.e. High-Risk Seismic Zone.  It has been predicted that this area might get 8 or more magnitude of earthquake in future.

Earthquake early warning system:-

 The system has been made by Space Dynamics, an Italian firm.  All the system (sensor) that warn earthquakes normally detect P and S waves generated during an earthquake.  Usually the P wave is harmless and travels faster than the S wave,  The sensors for advance warning detects S wave generated during earth quake and warn before 1-40 seconds before earthquakes of magnitude , says Piyoosh Rautela, executive director of the State Disaster Mitigation and Management Centre.  This system has already been used worldwide countries like Japan, Italy and U.S. eMudhra launches first eSign services

Current Affairs July Capsule

 eMudhra Limited, a leading certifying firm in the country for digital signatures, has launched eSign services.  eSign can revolutionise the way business and governance is conducted in the country and pave the way for a digital transformation into a paperless environment.  eMudhra has also launched eMlocker which can be accessed at www.emlocker.com. It provides facility to store documents such as PAN cards, Aadhaar cards, electricity bills or any other documents electronically. eSign

 eSign is an online electronic signature service which can facilitate an Aadhaar holder to digitally sign a document within seconds.  The signatures generated by eSign are legally valid and secure under the Information Technology Act, 2000.  It was launched on by Prime Minister as a part of Digital India Vision.

About eMudhra

 eMudhra Limited is a licensed Certifying Authority under the IT Act of India issuing digital signature certificates in India since 2008.  It offers various solutions to Indian consumers, with a large user base among Individuals, Corporates, Banks, Government Organizations and several small and medium businesses.

Bharat Electronics-made Akash inducted into Indian Air Force

 Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) made Akash has been inducted into Indian Air Force.  BEL which is the nodal agency and supplies major sub-systems handed over the missile system at a ceremony held at Air Force Station, Gwalior.

About Akash Missile

 Akash is an indigenously developed Surface to Air Missile (SAM).  It has been jointly developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), Ordnance Factories Board and Bharat Electronics (BEL).  Range: 25km

Current Affairs July Capsule

 BHEL has commissioned the second 500 MW unit at Tuticorin Thermal Power Station (TPS) in Tamil Nadu.  The first 500 MW unit of the project was commissioned on March 10.  Tuticorin Thermal Power Station was set up by NLC Tamil Nadu Power Limited (NTPL), a joint venture of Neyveli Lignite Corporation (NLC) and Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (TANGEDCO).

Tata Motors bags order for 1,200 trucks from Indian Army

 Tata Motors has bagged an order worth over Rs 900 crore to supply 1,200 multi- axle trucks to the Indian Army.  This is the single largest order by Indian Army to an Indian Company in land systems.  The order is for 1,200 units of high-mobility 6X6 multi-axle trucks which will be used for loading-unloading and transportation of ammunition pallets, spares and other operational equipment.

IAS topper to be brand ambassador for disability

 Ira Singhal, who topped this year’s UPSC examination, could be the brand ambassador for the programmes of department of empowerment of persons with disabilities.  Social justice minister Thaawar Chand Gehlot said the young topper would be an appropriate brand ambassador for the disability department. Her achievement shall inspire a whole generation of youth to come forward and achieve glorious heights.

International Affairs

India, US sign FATCA to fight tax evasion

India and US signed the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) to check offshore tax evasion. This will facilitate exchange of information between the two countries from October 1.The FATCA was signed by Revenue Secretary Shaktikanta Das and US Ambassador Richard Verma in New Delhi.

Features of FACTA

 Indian financial institutions would have to reveal information about US tax payers to the revenue department which would be passed on to the US tax authorities.  US will also share financial information with India.

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 If a financial institution does not comply to FATCA, it will have to pay 30% penalty taxon all its US revenues, including dividend, interest, fees and sales.  FATCA will help India deal with the black money menace.  India will start receiving information from other countries under automatic exchange of information (AEOI) route from 2017 onwards.  This initiative will mark a significant improvement in mutual cooperation to combat offshore tax evasion and will benefit both the countries.

What is FATCA?

 FATCA is an acronym for the United States Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA).  FATCA is aimed at ensuring that US persons with financial assets outside of the US are pay US tax.  Under FATCA, Foreign Financial Institutions (FFIs) have to report accounts of US persons to the US Inland Revenue Service (IRS) either directly or indirectly. They have the option of entering into agreements directly with IRS, or through the Inter-Governmental Agreements (IGA’s) signed by their home countries.  In order to implement FATCA norms in India, the Government of India has reached an “in substance” Agreement to sign an Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA) with the U.S.A.

What is the impact of FATCA in India?

 The Government of India has concluded an ‘In Substance’ agreement with the Government of USA for entering into an Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA) for implementation of FATCA.  In view of this all banks and other financial institutions in India will be required to identify, establish and report information on financial accounts held directly or indirectly by US persons.

India gets full membership of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation

 Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) has decided to include India as a full member.  India will work with the SCO to enhance connectivity, combat terror and create an environment for boosting trade by easing barriers.

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 India was an observer for the past 10 years and now it will become member by next year after completion of certain procedures.  Apart from India, Pakistan is also included as the member.  India was observer nation since 2005 and it applied for full membership last year.  Belarus has obtained observer status, joining Afghanistan, Iran and Mongolia.

Shanghai Cooperation Organisation is a Eurasian political, economic and military organisation which was founded on 26 April 1996 in Shanghai by the leaders of China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan.

 Headquarters: Beijing, China  Members: China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Pakistan, India  Observers: Afghanistan, Belarus, Iran, Mongolia

Activities

 The SCO is primarily focused on its member nations’ Central Asian security-related concerns.  It has been active in the area of social development of its member states.  It has increased activities in military cooperation, intelligence sharing, and counterterrorism.  The other areas where SCO is active are in economic and cultural operations.

Raising goverment tobacco taxes can have control over tobacco Epidemic:WHO

WHO (World Health Organization):-

 WHO has released the Global Tobacco Epidemic 2015 Report.  There has been a steady progress on global Tobacco control in 10years time since the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHOFCTC) came into force.  So called MPOWER was introduced to assist WHOFCTC for having control over tobacco over the countries.

Mpower:-

 It is Strategies to support the implementation WHOFCTC.  It stands for –

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Offer- Offer to help to quit tobacco use Warn -Warn about the dangers of tobacco Enforce-Enforce bans on tobacco advertising, promotion Raising- raising tobacco taxes

 Today half of world’s country have at least implemented one of the measures of MPOWER.  R measure in MPOWER i.e. raising tobacco taxes is the main area of attention of WHO Global Tobacco Epidemic 2015 Report.  Raising taxes is the most cost effective and most effective way to reduce the consumption of tobacco.  Almost 80% of countries have not implemented the R measure so far.  WHOFCTC has made specific commitments and strong control policies as per people’s health is concerned.

Modi meets Afghan President Ghani; discusses bilateral ties

Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit in Ufa, Russia. This was the second time when Modi and Ghani had met in three months.

Important points of the meet:

 Both leaders discussed Afghanistan’s security situation and India’s assistance in reconstruction efforts in the war-torn country.  They discussed the security situation in Afghanistan, particularly in the context of post- 2014 when America pulled out most of its forces from there.  They reviewed the status of Indian assistance which confines to humanitarian and social areas.  So far India has invested over USD 2 billion in several projects including in infrastructure and social sectors for reconstruction of Afghanistan.

Afghanistan–India relations

 Relations between the people of Afghanistan and India traces to the Indus Valley Civilisation.  In 1999, India became one of the key supporters of the anti-Taliban Northern Alliance.

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 India’s support and collaboration extends to rebuilding of air links, power plants and investing in health and education sectors as well as helping to train Afghan civil servants, diplomats and police.  In 2005, India proposed Afghanistan’s membership in the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC).  During the 15th SAARC summit in Colombo, India pledged another $450 million alongside a further $750 million already pledged for ongoing and forthcoming projects.

PM’s Gift to President Nursultan Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan

 The Prime Minister today presented President Nursultan Nazarbayev a set of books relating to religions born in India. President Nazarbayev has held the Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions every three years at the Palace of Peace and Accord in Astana since 2003.  The presentation set includes an English translation of Guru Granth Sahib, as also specially commissioned reproductions from the manuscripts collection of National Museum, Delhi.  The reproductions include one of Jainism’s most revered texts, Bhadrabahu’s Kalpasutra (15th century AD) in Prakrit; one of Buddhism’s most important scriptures Ashtasahasrika Prajnaparamita (12th century AD) in Sanskrit; and a Persian translation of Valmiki’s Ramayana (18th century AD) in nastaliq script.

Appointments

CIBIL appoints Satish Pillai as MD and CEO

 Credit Information Bureau India Ltd (CIBIL) has appointed Satish Pilai as its  new Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer.  He succeeds Arun Thukral who served CIBIL for 10 years.

Credit Information Bureau India Ltd (CIBIL):-

 India’s first Credit Information Company (CIC).  It houses credit of 220 million trades across individuals and businesses and maintains credit information on more than 406 million consumer accounts.

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 The records are submitted to CIBIL by member banks and credit institutions, on a monthly basis.  This information is then used to create Credit Information Reports (CIR) to get the complete history of a credit applicant.

Housing.com appoints Rishabh Gupta as interim CEO

 Housing.com has appointed Rishabh Gupta as interim CEO, after it fired co-founder and ex-CEO Rahul Yadav last week.  Rishabh Gupta is currently working as Chief Operating Officer (COO) in the Housing.com.  Last week the company’s board sacked the CEO Rahul Yadav stating that his behaviour towards investors and media was not befitting of a CEO.

Bandhan Bank appoints Ashok Lahiri as Chairman

 Bandhan Bank, the first bank to be set up in West Bengal after Independence, plans to go for an IPO in 2018,inaugurated by President Pranab Mukherjee on August 23, 2015.  Bandhan Bank has appointed former chief economic advisor to the finance ministry Ashok Kumar Lahiri to head its 10-member board.  The bank would start its journey with a Rs 3200-crore strong loan book but now nearly Rs.10000 core and company has 67 lakh micro finance borrowers.  The logo of the bank was designed by O&M and adding the number of branches would go up to 1,000 in two years’ time.

Banking & Finance

RBI released Final Guidelines on PPI for Mass Transit System (PPI-MTS)

Payment Instruments for Mass Transit System

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) placed the final guidelines on Prepaid Payment Instruments for Mass Transit System (PPI-MTS) enabling the issuance of a separate category of semi-closed prepaid payment instruments for mass transit systems. The PPI-MTS will enhance commuter convenience and will also facilitate the migration to electronic payments in line with the country’s vision of moving to a less-cash society.

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The PPI-MTS can be used within the mass transit systems and will have a minimum validity of six months from date of issue. Such PPIs will be reloadable instruments subject to an outstanding limit of ₹ 2,000/- at any point of time. Apart from the mass transit system, such PPI-MTS can be used at other merchants whose activities are allied to or are carried on within the premises of the transit system.

It may be recalled that the Reserve Bank had placed on its website the draft circular on “Prepaid Payment Instruments (PPI) for Mass Transit System (PPI-MTS)” on May 28, 2015 for public comments till June 15, 2015. This new category of semi-closed PPIs has been introduced taking into account the requests received from various segments, including providers of mass transit services, such as, metro train and road transport services, indicating the need for PPIs catering to the requirements of this segment to enhance commuter convenience.

Background

The Reserve Bank of India has been receiving requests from various segments, including providers of mass transit services, such as, metro train and road transport services, indicating the need for PPIs catering to the requirements of this segment to enhance commuter convenience. It was felt that a separate category of semi-closed PPI for mass transit systems which handle a large number of small value cash payments will facilitate the migration to electronic payments in line with the country’s vision of moving to a less-cash society.

Policy Guidelines on Issuance and Operation of Pre-paid Payment Instruments in India

As you are aware, the Reserve Bank of India has, from time to time, issued a number of circulars containing policy guidelines on Issuance and Operation of Pre-paid Payment Instruments in India. This Master Circular has been prepared to facilitate the Prepaid Payment Instrument Issuers, System Providers, System Participants and all other Prospective Prepaid Payment Instrument Issuers to have all the extant instructions on the subject at one place.

Exim, BRICS member development banks ink MoU with NDB

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Export-Import Bank of India (Exim Bank) has signed a multilateral agreement to cooperate with New Development Bank (NDB) along with other member development banks of BRICS nations.

Aims of the MoU:

 Sharing of knowledge, information and best practices.  Capacity building of personnel, including project development skills.  Promotion of joint events, research and programmes.  Development of effective and sustainable financing solutions for projects of mutual interest.

Exim Bank also signed a cooperation agreement with Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES).

Business

Essar Oil signs pact to sell 49% stake to Russia’s Rosneft

 Russian oil firm Rosneft will buy 49 per cent stake in Essar Oil, the firm that owns India’s second biggest oil refinery, for an undisclosed amount, the Ruia-owned firm said on Thursday.  The proposed transaction is conditional upon various factors such as due diligence, determination of the transaction price, execution of definitive transaction documents and receipt of requisite approvals  Also, a Long Term Crude Oil Supply Agreement by the two firms in was signed in Ufa, Russia for import of 10 million tonnes a year of crude oil for a period of 10 years.  This contract has been signed in pursuance to the Key Terms executed between the two companies in December 2014 at New Delhi.

Environment

1,000-year-old corn cobs, kernels found at US site

 1000 year old corn, cobs ,kernels found near Thomsen Center Archeodome at the Mitchell Prehistoric Indian Village, which has been the place of research for Archaeologists .  The place has been considered as National Register and National Historic Landmark site.

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 Students from the University of Exeter in England and Augustana College in Sioux Falls work on this site every year.  According to Augustana archaeology Professor Adrien Hannus research says people belonging to this place weren’t exactly primitive. It was a successful village of farmers, hunters and foragers and had a diverse diet.  The discovery was made through cache pits, which were large holes used to store things like food and tools found inside soil.

Sports

India drop 15 spots to 156th in latest FIFA rankings

 India dropped 15 places to be 156th in the latest FIFA rankings.  The list has been topped by Copa America’s runner up Argentina, followed by Germany and Belgium.  After two consecutive defeats in the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, India went down from 141st to 156th position in the latest FIFA rankings.

Top 5 teams are:

1. Argentina 2. Germany 3. Belgium 4. Columbia 5. Netherlands

Obituary

Pulitzer Prize-Winning Poet James Tate Dies At 71

 The poet and longtime English professor James Tate at the University of Massachusetts- Amherst, has died at71.  Tate was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for poetry in 1992 for “Selected Poems”, National Book Award for the 1994 Worshipful Company of Fletchers and a National Institute of Arts and Letters award for poetry.  A celebration of Tate’s life and his poetry would be held in New York City in the fall, said Jennifer Jacobson, associate director of the university’s MFA program

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 Noted Urdu poet and critic Bashar Navaaz passed away on 9 July 2015 Maharashtra. He was 80. He was known as an Indo Pak shayar as his poetry is popular in India as well as in Pakistan.  Books Rayagan, Ajanabee samandar were amazing and popular books.His famous gazal is Jaane vafaa, Bazaar, Tere Shahar me and so on.

He received the following awards

 Maharashtra State Urdu Academy Award.  Galib Award of Galib Academy New Delhi.  Iftekhaar E Adab Award.  Prestigious “Pulotsav Samman” for his amazing contribution to the Urdu literature.

Legendary Actor Omar Sharif Dies At 83

 Omar Sharif,Egyptian-born actor has died on July 11 at 83 due to heart attack in Cairo.He soared to international stardom in two classics,”Lawrence of Arabia” and “Doctor Zhivago”.  He won international fame and an Oscar-nomination for best supporting actor for his role in the 1962 film “Lawrence of Arabia” with Peter O’Toole.  Sharif became a Hollywood heartthrob and played a variety of roles, including a Spanish priest in Behold a Pale Horse (1964), a Yugoslav wartime patriot in The Yellow Rolls- Royce (1964) and the Mongolian conqueror in Genghis Khan (1965).

Current Affairs Today – July 11 2015

Indian Affairs

Telangana to set up power projects totalling 25,000 MW

 Telangana government will set up power projects totalling 25,000 MW by investing over Rs 90,000 crore in the next four years.  Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao asserted that Telangana would become a power surplus state and suffer no power cuts in future.

Current Affairs July Capsule

Country’s first community skill park opens in Kerala

 India’s first Community Skill Park today opened at Chavara with Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy all praise for the ‘new-generation approach’ to developing skills and increasing the employability of the youth of the state.  ‘Kaushal Kendra’, set up at a cost of Rs 1.5 crore with world- -class facilities, works on four fronts: the Assessment and Career Guidance Cell helps rural, educated youth realise their career aptitude through the best global assessment tools and provides guidelines to choose through the course that is best suited for them with regard to their socio-economic and educational background.

International Affairs

PM Modi in Turkmenistan – An Overview

Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Ashgabat, capital ofTurkmenistan after his three days visit to Ufa, Russia.

He attended BRICS and SCO summit and had bilateral talks with the leaders of China, Russia Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Key points of the visit:

 PM Modi emphasized the need to implement the TAPI Gas Pipeline project quickly.  He welcomed the decision by ONGC Videsh Limited to open an office in Ashgabat.  The MoU in the fertilizer sector to enable long term arrangements for supply of fertilizers.  Both the leaders welcomed the Indian proposal to set up a urea production facility in Turkmenistan.  PM Modi proposed that Turkmenistan becomes a member of the International North South Transport Corridor.  India will enhance its training scholarship programme and Turkmen India Industrial Training Institute in Ashgabat will be upgraded.  The agreements on sports and tourism to deepen the contacts between people of both the nations.  The agreement on cooperation in the field of Defence. This would provide a framework for intensifying bilateral defence and security cooperation through exchanges of high

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and mid-level visits, training and dialogue between the Ministries of Defence and other relevant organisations.  The MoU for cooperation in Science and Technology was signed.  PM Narendra Modi inaugurated a Traditional Medicine and Yoga Centre in Ashgabat.  PM Modi also unveiled a bust of Mahatma Gandhi.  In the joint statement both the leaders acknowledged the urgent need for reform of the UN Security Council in the context of strengthening and expanding the role of the United Nations in addressing the pressing contemporary challenges.

India inks seven pacts with Turkmenistan

Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with Turkmenistan President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov and showed India’s interest in long-term investment in the energy sector in Turkmenistan.

The agreements are:

1. Memorandum of Understanding on supply of Chemical Products between the Indian Public Sector Undertaking ‘Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilizers Limited’ and the Turkmen State concern ‘Turkmenhimiya.’ 2. Memorandum of Understanding between the Foreign Service Institute of the Ministry of External Affairs of the Republic of India and the Institute of International Relations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan. 3. Agreement between the Ministry of Youth Affairs and sports of the Republic Of India and the State Committee for sport of Turkmenistan on Cooperation in the field Of sports. 4. Programme of Cooperation in Science and Technology between the Government of the Republic of India and the Government of Turkmenistan for the Period of 2015-2017. 5. Memorandum of Understanding between the Government of the Republic of India and the Government of Turkmenistan on Cooperation in Yoga and Traditional Medicine. 6. Memorandum of Understanding between the Government of the Republic of India and the Government of Turkmenistan on Cooperation in the field of Tourism. 7. Agreement between the Government of the Republic of India and the Government of the Republic of Turkmenistan on Cooperation in the field of Defence.

Greek lawmakers back bailout reform plan

 Greece’s parliament supported the government’s reform plan containing austerity measures to win a third bailout.

Current Affairs July Capsule

 In the 300-member parliament, the bailout reform plan was passed with 251 votes in favour, 32 against and 8 voting ‘present’ -? (a form of abstention -?).  This motion is tried to authorise the government to use the proposal as a basis for negotiation with international creditors.  The proposed measures are certain to inflict more pain on a Greek public who just days ago voted overwhelmingly against a similar plan.  This will result in tax hikes, cuts in pension spending and unemployment.  If the international creditors approves the new proposal, it will provide longer-term financial support for a nation that has endured six years of recession.  Greece faces the immediate prospect of crashing out of Europe’s joint currency, the euro, if no deal is made.  Greece in on the verge of becoming first nation to exit Eurozone.  If the proposal is approved, Greece would get a three-year loan package worth nearly USD 60 billion (53.5 billion euros) as well as some form of debt relief.  That is far more than the 7.2 billion euros left over from Greece’s previous bailout that had been at stake in the country’s five-month negotiations until last month.

Sunita Williams among four astronauts chosen by NASA to fly first commercial space vehicle

 Indian-origin Sunita Williams is among four “veteran” astronauts picked by NASAto fly the first commercial space vehicles, a part of the space agency’s ambitious plan of human landing on Mars by 2030.  According to NASA, Williams, accompanied by Robert Behnken, Eric Boe andDouglas Hurley, will train and prepare for commercial space flights that will open up low-Earth orbit transportation to the private sector.

Appointments

Lord Bilimoria appointed as president of UKCISA

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 Lord Karan Bilimoria, a NRI entrepreneur, has been appointed as the President of theUK Council for International Student Affairs (UKCISA).  He will replace Usha Prashar who stepped down after serving the maximum term of nine years.

Who is Lord Bilmoria?

 He is the founder of Cobra Beer and the Chancellor of the University of Birmingham.  Also he is a Member of the Advisory Boards of the Judge Business School at the University of Cambridge as well as the Cranfield School of Management

About UKCISA

The UK Council for International Student Affairs (UKCISA) is the UK’s national advisory body serving the interests of international students and those who work with them.

Environment

New horned dinosaur found in Canada

 Scientists from the Royal Ontario Museum have discovered a striking new species ofhorned dinosaur in southern Alberta, Canada.  Fossils were found of the dinosaur named Wendiceratops pinhornensis which is about20-feet long and weighs more than a tonne.  The dinosaur lived about 79 million years ago, making it one of the oldest known members of the family of large-bodied horned dinosaurs that includes the famous Triceratops.

New butterfly species named ‘Banded Tit’ found in Arunachal Pradesh

 A new tiny butterfly species christened Banded Tit (Hypolycaena Narada) has been discovered in Arunachal Pradesh.  It was discovered and is denizen of low-lying evergreen forests of the Changlang district of the state which is part of the one of the biodiversity hotspot of World.  Interesting life cycle: The adult butterflies of this species live only for approximately 2 weeks in month of March every year. Remaining year, they spend in a dormant state in the form of larval or pupal stages.

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 It feed primarily on bird-droppings along cool streams in the forests. However, much of its biology such as its larval host plants, breeding behaviour and precise habitat requirements are still unknown.

Sports

Serena Williams Wins 6th Wimbledon Title

 World number one Serena Williams claimed a 6th Wimbledon title and fourth successive grand slam crown by suppressing the spirited attacking instincts of 20th - seeded defeated Spaniard Garbine Muguruza 6-4,6-4 in southwest London to complete the “Serena Slam”.  Williams hasn’t lost in a Grand Slam since falling in the third round to Alize Cornet at Wimbledon last year.  Williams would become the first player since Steffi Graf in 1988 to achieve the calendar- year grand slam.Shealso won the U.S,Australian and French Open titles.  Veteran American has now set the stage for a shot at history in her own backyard when she returns to New York for next month’s US Open where she will look to become just the fourth female player to win all four grand slams in a year.

Obituary

Prince Saud al-Faisal, World’s longest serving Foreign Minister passes away

 Former Saudi foreign minister Prince Saud al-Faisal has died at the age of 75.  He was the world’s longest serving foreign minister for 40 years.  Prince Saud was appointed in 1975 and served under four Saudi kings, advancing the kingdom’s foreign policy.

Former TN minister Chendur Pandian passes away

 Former Tamil Nadu minister and AIADMK MLA P Chendur Pandian died here today following prolonged illness.  Pandian (64), representing Kadayanallur Assembly constituency.

Important Days

World Population Day July – 11

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 World Population Day is observed on July 11 every year, which seeks to raise awareness of global population issues.  Theme 2015 – Vulnerable Populations in Emergencies  In 1989 it was decided by the Governing Council of United Nations Development Programme that every year 11 July should be observed as World Population Day.  This decision was made in order to focus attention on the urgency and importance of population issues in the context of overall development plans and programmes and the need to find solutions for these issues.

Current Affairs Today – July 12 2015

Indian Affairs

Dr Harsh Vardhan Inaugurates The 12th International Symposium on Antarctic Earth Sciences (ISAES) at Goa

 Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister of Science and Technology and the minister for the Ministry of Earth Science (MOES), inaugurated the 12th International Symposium on Antarctic Earth Sciences (ISAES) on 13th July 2015 at Goa where scientific sessions have been scheduled for five days from 13-17th July 2015.  It has been organised by National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research (NCAOR), Ministry of Earth Sciences, and Government of India.  Nearly 40 countries of around 400 scientists will be participating in ISAES symposium at Goa.  Prof. Jeronimo Lopez-Martinez, President, Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR), is the guest of honour.

The themes for the symposium are

 Antarctica and Supercontinent Evolution  Antarctic Surface Processes, Landscapes, and Links with Cryosphere and Climate  Antarctic Solid Earth Structure and Interactions with the Cryosphere: Antarctica, the Southern Ocean, and Evolution of Climate and the Global Cryosphere, amongst others.

Nabard aims Rs. 30,000 cr farm credit for irrigation

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 National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) has set a target of providing Rs. 30,000 crore as credit to farmers for irrigation over the next three years.  So far NABARD has already sanctioned Rs. 1,000 crore and intends to provide Rs 10,000 crore of loans in this year.  These funds will be additional to the recently launched Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana (PMKSY) by the Government of India which will provide loans up to Rs 50,000 crore to the farmers.

India’s longest road tunnel to open for traffic next year

 India’s longest road tunnel, being built on Jammu-Srinagar National Highway, will be opened for general traffic in July next year and would reduce the distance between the two cities by 30 kms.  The 9.2 km tunnel is part of 286 km-long four-laning project of the Jammu-Srinagar national highway.  Once this tunnel becomes operational it will reduce the traffic jams on National Highway-1A that occur due to snowfall and avalanche in winter at Patnitop.

FSSAI sets 12,000 standards for food additives, ingredients

 Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has finalised 12,000 standards for food additives and ingredients in line with global safety standards Codex.  If food companies comply with these standards then they would not require to seek product approval from FSSAI. This will save them from lengthy process of approval.  Presently, there are 375 FSSAI safety standards for food items but none for food additives and ingredients.  The new FSSAI standards are compatible with the global food standards of Codex Alimentarius Commission.

International Affairs

India and Kyrgyzstan signs four agreements

Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Kyrgyzstani President Almazbek Atambayev in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan signed four agreements including one on bolstering defence cooperation and holding annual joint military exercises.

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The agreements signed are:

1. Agreement on Defence Cooperation

To deepen cooperation between India and Kyrgyzstan in matters relating to defence, security, military education and training, conduct of joint military exercises, exchange of experience and information, exchange of military instructors and observers etc.

2. Memorandum of Mutual Understanding and Cooperation in the field of Elections

To deepen cooperation in matters relating to legislation on elections and referendums, modern systems and technologies, rights of elections process stakeholders as well as other issues of election administration.

3. MoU between Ministry of Economy of Kyrgyzstan and Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) on cooperation in the sphere of Standards –

This MoU will strengthen and enhance technical cooperation in the fields of standardization, conformity assessment and sharing of expertise on mutual trade with the aim of exchanging necessary information and expertise between the two parties, which would be mutually beneficial and also lead to a strengthening of bilateral ties between India and Kyrgyz Republic.

4. Agreement on Cooperation in Culture –

To deepen cultural cooperation between India and Kyrgyzstan in areas such as preservation of cultural heritage, organisation of folk arts, theatre, youth festivals and cooperation in of publishing and translation of literature, sports and physical culture, exchange of archival materials, history, geography etc.

Euro zone summit aims to keep Greece in single currency

 European Council President Donald Tusk has cancelled a planned summit of all 28 European Union leaders.  Euro zone leaders will try their best to keep the nearly bankrupt Greece in the euro zone.  Many countries supported a German government paper that recommended Greece take a five-year “time-out” from the euro zone unless it accepted and implemented swiftly

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much tougher conditions, notably by locking state assets to be privatised in an independent trust to pay down debt.

US confirms Tunisia’s Major Non-NATO ally status

 United States has approved Major Non-NATO Ally (MNNA) status of Tunisia.  This step will pave way for enhanced military cooperation between the two countries.  Tunisia is the 16th country to become a Major Non-NATO Ally of the United States.

About Major Non-NATO ally

Major non-NATO ally (MNNA) is a designation given by the US government to close allies who have strategic working relationships with U.S. Armed Forces but are not members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

Members: Afghanistan, Argentina, Australia, Bahrain, Egypt, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Kuwait, Morocco, New Zealand, Pakistan, Philippines, South Korea, Thailand and Tunisia

ISRO’s commercial arm ‘Antrix’ website hacked

 The website of Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) commercial arm Antrix was hacked on Sunday.  The PRO of ISRO said there was some problem with the homepage of the Antrix website.  Antrix Corporation Limited is the marketing arm of ISRO for promotion and commercialization of space products, technical consultancy services and transfer of technologies developed by ISRO.

Banking & Finance

Indirect tax collections pace up, grows 37.5%

 Chief Economic Advisor Arvind Subramaniam revealed that Indirect tax collections have grown up by 37.5% during the first quarter of current fiscal year, i.e. April-June 2015 as compared to the last corresponding period (April-June 2014).  These increases are across all three tax categories—customs, central excise, and service tax.

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 He said “Given that GDP growth is the tax base, what it suggests is that the underlying nominal GDP growth is growing at a healthy pace”.  Also Indirect tax collections increased by 10.8 percent in June 2015 over June 2014. These increased collections indicate that the economy is improving across all sectors, including manufacturing, reflected in healthy excise tax collections.

Business

BigBazaar ties up with MobiKwik for mobile wallet service

 BigBazaar has tied up with MobiKwik to allow its customers to pay for purchases using mobile wallet facility.  MobiKwik wallet users can pay through their mobile at any BigBazaar payment counter by sharing their registered MobiKwik mobile number and an one-time-password (OTP) for verification of the transaction.  This facility will be extended to other Future Group entities like Central, Brand Factory, Home Town and e-Zone in the coming quarter.  MobiKwik which is a mobile payments platform, claims to have over 17 million mobile wallet users and 50,000 merchants on board.

Sports

Sania seals historic Wimbledon crown with Hingis

 Indian tennis star Sania Mirza with her Swiss partner Martina Hingis has won the Wimbeldon Women’s double title 2015.  This is a historic victory as Sania Mirza became the first female player from India to win a women’s doubles Grand Slam trophy.  The duo of Sania Mirza and Martina Hinges defeated the Russian pair Makarova-Vesnina by 5-7 7-6 7-5 in the finals.  Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Pranab Mukherjee congratulated Sania for her achievement.

Paes wins 16th Grand Slam title at Wimbledon

 Indian tennis star Leander Paes along with his Swiss partner Martina Hingis has won the Wimbledon Mixed Doubles on 12 July 2015 at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London.

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 The pair defeated Alexander Peya and Timea Babos (Austrian-Hungarian team) by 6-1 6-1.  It was Paes’ eighth mixed doubles title and second with Hingis.  After his remarkable win, Paes dedicated his trophy to India.

Djokovic beats Federer to win third Wimbledon title

 Novak Djokovic from Serbia defeated Roger Federer from Switzerland for the second successive year on 12 July 2015 at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London.  Djokovic defeated Roger Federer by 7-6 6-7 6-4 6-3.  With this win he captured his third Wimbledon title and ninth Grand Slam of his career and also equaled the number of Wimbledon titles won by his current coach Boris Becker.

Current Affairs Today – July 13 2015

Indian Affairs

Hartek Power commissions 3 substations worth Rs 220 cr

 Hartek Power, an engineering firm, has commissioned three substations for solar power projects worth about Rs 220 crore in Punjab and Chhattisgarh during April-June this year.  Also, the company has so far been able to commission substations for 130-MW solar power projects worth about Rs 700 crore.  Hartek Power is operating projects in 17 states across the country and have constructed more than 100 substations in the past seven years.

International Affairs

Greece accepts bailout plan to avoid euro exit

 Greece signed a historic agreement on bailout deal with the Eurozone. This deal was much needed for Greece to be a part of euro.  Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras agreed to harsh reforms after long negotiations in return for a 3 year bailout worth up to 86 billion euros (USD 96 billion).  This is Greece’s third bailout programme in 5 years. 76 | P a g e Follow Us - FB.com/AffairsCloudOfficialPage Copyright 2015 @ AffairsCloud.Com

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 Greek banks have been closed for nearly two weeks and there were fears they were about to run dry due to a lack of extra funding by the European Central Bank.  In the absence of bailout Greece would have had to print its own currency and effectively leave the single currency.

Previous Bailouts

1. 2010 – 110 billion euros 2. 2012 – 130 billion euros

Miss Oklahoma Olivia Jordan crowned Miss USA 2015

 Miss Oklahoma, Olivia Jordan, won big at the 2015 Miss USA pageant on Sunday, July 12, beating out 50 women to win the crown.  Jordan, 26, made it through the fierce rounds of the competition, sliding into the Top 15 after preliminary events and captivating viewers as she worked it in the live show’s bikini and evening gown rounds.  The Oklahoma native impressed during the question portion of the competition, which was held in Baton Rouge, La. She spoke first on the issue of race relations in the United States, stressing the need for improved dynamics, and later went on to name Oprah and Harriet Tubman as two women she would like to see on the $10 bill.  Jordan was followed in the top five by first runner-up Miss Texas Ylianna Guerra, second runner-up Miss Rhode Island Anea Garcia, third runner-up Miss Nevada Brittany McGowan, and fourth runner-up Miss Maryland Mamé Adjei.

Awards

Tata Steel’s West Bokaro Division conferred with Golden Peacock Environment Management Award 2015

Golden Peacock Environment Management Award (GPEMA) 2015 was organized in New Delhi on 11 July 2015.

 Tata Steel’s West Bokaro Division has been awarded with the Golden Peacock Environment Management Award (GPEMA) for the year 2015. Tata Steel has done a

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recommendable job for responsible environment practices and resource management and also training the employees with new technologies.  GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd is also been selected for the Golden Peacock Environment Management Award (GPEMA) for the year 2015 for achievements in the field of environment management at Rajiv Gandhi International Airport.  Krishnapatnam Port in Andhra Pradesh has received the GPEMA for its initiatives and achievements in the field of environment.  Prakash Javadekar, Union Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minister gave away the prizes to the teams at the function.

Buddha In A Traffic Jam’ wins best original screenplay award at the Madrid Film Festival

 Vivek Agnihotri’s political irony “Buddha In A Traffic Jam” won the Best Original Screenplay in a foreign language award at the Madrid International Film Festival.  This film was also nominated for two categories viz Best Foreign Language Film and Best Lead Actress in a foreign language film for actress Mahie Gill.

Appointments

Viacom18 launches digital biz, appoints Gaurav Gandhi as COO

 Viacom18 has launched its new digital business Viacom18 Digital Ventures.  This will bridge traditional broadcasting and digital innovation.  The company has named Gaurav Gandhi as its Chief Operating Officer. He has earlier worked as Group Chief Operating Officer at IndiaCast Media Distribution (a TV18 & Viacom18 venture).

Lt Gen MMS Rai to be next Vice-Chief of Army

 Lt Gen Man Mohan Singh Rai has been appointed as the next Vice-Chief of the Indian Army.  He is presently posted as the Eastern Army Commander at Kolkata.  He will replace Lt Gen Philip Campose who will retire on 31 July.

Banking & Finance

SBI partners with bankbazaar.com

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 State Bank of India (SBI), the largest bank in India, has partnered online financial product aggregator ‘bankbazaar.com’ along with the bank’s subsidiary SBI CAP Securities.  Under this arrangement, the bank will be able to display its home loan products on bankbazaar.com, generate leads and provide door-step delivery, thus improving the response time. Bankbazaar.com offers end to end solutions to the home loan seekers from getting the customised quotes, comparison of the offers and submission of online application to SBI  This partnership will help the bank to provide yet another online platform to the prospective tech savvy home loan borrowers to apply for SBI Home Loans online. iv. The tie up with bankbazaar.com also highlights SBI’s strategy to augment its Home Loan portfolio by leveraging digital channels and increasing its presence in the digital/online space, it added.

Science & Technology

Isro’s Gagan Satellite-Based Navigation System Launched

ISRO (headquartered at Bangalore) has launched the GPS-Aided Geo Augmented Navigation (GAGAN) system on 13 July 2015. GAGAN is a satellite-based air navigation system which will make airline operations more efficient and in turn it will reduce costs also. Also it will reduce workloads for flight crews.

GAGAN will provide its services from Bay of Bengal, South East Asia and Middle East expanding up to Africa.

After the US, Japan and European Union (EU), India have developed such augmented navigational system. It took over 15 years to develop this system.

The new system has been developed jointly by ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) and Airports Authority of India (AAI) at a cost of about Rs.774 crore.

Ashok Gajapati Raju, Civil Aviation Minister dedicated the services to the nation in a function in New Delhi. It is left upon the Airline Industry whether to use this system or not as there might be some compatibility issues.

Some developments include:

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 GAGAN will correct distortion in GPS signals, providing very accurate information.  GAGAN will reduce the error margin to 3.5 meters which is more than 50 meters at present.  GAGAN will predict the ground obstacles and thereby suggest shorter routes. Shorter routes would mean a saving on fuel costs.  The system is now operational but to use it, receivers are needed to be installed on board.  Every movement of an aircraft will be mapped not just over the Indian airspace but also SAARC countries.  To discuss GAGAN, a meeting will be held in September.

India has test-fired its indigenously developed anti-tank guided missile NAG

 The test-fire of India’s indigenously developed Nag anti-tank guided missile was successful from a helicopter at a firing range in Jaisalmer in Rajasthan.  Three-round trial of helicopter-launched Nag (HeliNa) missile were conducted at the Chandhan firing range.  HeliNa is a helicopter-launched version of Nag and can hit a target up to 7 km.  It has been developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) under the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP).

Sports

WBA offers membership to IBC

 World Boxing Association (WBA) offered membership to the recently launched Indian Boxing Council (IBC). This will boost its aim to promote the professional boxing in India.  The IBC which was launched last week, has received a letter of support and an offer of membership from the World Boxing Association (WBA) besides an invite to the annual convention of the World Boxing Organisation (WBO).  Also, the IBC has been extended an invite for the WBO convention to be from October 26 to 30 in Orlando.

Indian wrestlers win 16 medals at Junior Asian championship

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Indian wrestlers have won 16 medals, including 3 gold, at the Junior Asian Freestyle, Greeco- Roman and Female Wrestling championshipat Nay Pyi Taw in Myanmar.

Men’s Freestyle category: The Indians claimed a total of eight medals with bagging the

 Gold: Ravi Kumar in 55kg division.  Silver: Bharat Patil (50kg) and Vikas (66kg)  Bronze: Amit (60kg), Dinesh (74kg), Parveen (84kg), Rubal Jeet (96kg) and Manjeet (120kg)

Greco-Roman category:

 Gold: Ravinder (60kg) and Mehar Singh (120kg)  Silver: Manish (55kg)  Bronze: Rahul (84kg)

Female Wrestling category:

 Silver – Sarita (59kg)  Bronze – Manisha (63kg), Divya Kakran (67kg) and Pooja (72kg).

BCCI suspends Mumbai player Hiken Shah for corruption in IPL

 BCCI has suspended Hiken Shah from playing cricket for violating the BCCI’s Anti- Corruption Code for participants.  The left hander has played 32 Ranji Trophy matches for Mumbai, four for Jammu & Kashmir and one for West Zone.  Stating the reason for suspension, BCCI said that Hiken Shah made a corrupt approach to one of his colleagues from first-class cricket, who is also a member of one of the IPL teams.

Obituary

Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata dies

 Japanese videogame maker Nintendo Co Ltd’s CEO and President, Satoru Iwata has died. He was 55.  Iwata has been a director at Nintendo since 2000, and was appointed president in 2002. He has also acted as CEO of the U.S. unit since 2013. 81 | P a g e Follow Us - FB.com/AffairsCloudOfficialPage Copyright 2015 @ AffairsCloud.Com

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Current Affairs Today – July 14 2015

Indian Affairs

Government to set up Trade Facilitation Council to promote exports

The government will soon set up a Trade Facilitation Councilcomprising members of Centre and states to promote India’s overseas shipments.

Important points are:

 The council will be headed by Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharamanand secretaries of key ministries and state ministers will be the members.  The aim of the council will be facilitating trade from states in a bid to boost the country’s exports.  Also, the aim is to achieve the USD 900 billion exports target by 2019-20.  Commerce Secretary Rita Teaotia will hold meetings with officials from the states tomorrow to discuss the issue. They will discuss problems related with infrastructure and governance; local tax issues and its refund; and states’ regulatory environment.  The commerce ministry is working on measures for separating exports data state wise.  It will encourage every states for a State Trade Policy in order to streamline procedures and increase exports.  The commerce ministry has asked states to appoint commissioners and prepare export strategy.  So far 21 states have appointed export commissioners while 14 states including Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat have framed strategies for outward shipments.

India stands second on trust in national government: survey

 India has secured second position amongst 40 countries in a survey of trust in national governments for 2014 conducted by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Switzerland has emerged at the top with Norway coming in third.  An impressive 73 per cent of Indians polled in the survey answered ‘yes’ to the question ‘Do you have confidence in the national government?’  For the purpose of the survey, trust represents the confidence of citizens and businesses in government to do what is right and perceived as fair, according to the OECD ‘Government at a Glance 2015’ report.

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Centre to unveil programme to develop new highways

 The central government will soon unveil a programme to develop new national highways with focus likely to be on connecting border areas.  Union Minister for Transport, Roads and Highways Nitin Gadkari said,”We are going to announce ‘Rashtriya Mahamarghs’ (national highways)under the ‘Bharat Mala’ programme soon.”

Bharat Mala programme

 Under the programme the government wants to connect each district of the country with national highway besides the backward areas.  The focus is on the setting up roads in border districts.

There is 96000-km length of national highway in the country and there are 48000 kms of other roads and government wants to add 30000 kms to this road length.

The government also wants to develop tourism and religious tourism related roads apart from port connectivity.

12-day Godavari Maha Pushkaram was began in – Telangana and Andhra Pradesh

 Godavari Maha Pushkaram began on the banks of River Godavari in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. It is a 12 days long event so it will be going on till 25th July 2015. Unique things about this is that it happens once in 144 years.  Godavari Pushkaram, a 12-day festival of worshipping the river is held once in 12 years. Every 12th year Jupiter’s entry into the constellation Leo marks the Pushkaram for Godavari. The celebrations include reverence of ancestors, spiritual discourses, devotional music and cultural programmes.

India and Georgia Sign MoU on Electoral Cooperation

MoU was inked between India and Georgia for cooperation in the field of election management and administration which was signed by Chief Election Commissioner of India Nasim Zaidi and Tamar Zhvania, Chairperson, Central Election Commission, Georgia.

Major highlights of the MoU between India and Georgia: • Promotion of exchanges of knowledge and experience in electoral processes

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• Exchange of information, materials, expertise and training of personnel • Production and distribution of materials pertaining to electoral systems, voting technology, voters’ education and awareness • Participation of women and minorities in electoral process

International Affairs

Iran, major powers strike historic nuclear deal

Iran and six world powers P5+1 (United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany) have signed a historic nuclear deal.

Key points are:

 The aim of the deal is to ensure that Iran does not develop nuclear weapons, in return for relief from crippling sanctions.  This deal would assure Iran’s right to enrich nuclear fuel for civilian purposes under the third pillar of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.  The agreement was concluded on the 18th day of marathon talks in Vienna between Iran and P5+1.  The head of the UN atomic watchdog had signed a “roadmap” with Iran for probing suspected efforts to develop nuclear weapons, a key part of an overall accord.  This deal would allow U.N. inspectors to press for visits to Iranian military sites as part of their monitoring duties  Iran would have the right to challenge the U.N request.

What happens now?

 This agreement is expected to sharply curb Iran’s nuclear programme and impose strict UN inspections in order to make any drive to make nuclear weapons impossible and easily detectable.  This deal would impose restrictions on Tehran’s nuclear programme for at least a decade and some longer.  In return, UN and Western restrictions on Iranian oil exports and the economy of the country of 78 million people would be progressively lifted.

China sets up world’s largest cancer registry

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 China has established the world’s largest cancer registry system that will cover over 300 million people.  In China at least 3 million people develop cancer each year, and the registry is expected to expand to include 40 per cent of the nation’s population of 1.36 billion by 2020.

Cancer Registry

A cancer registry is a systematic collection of data about cancer and tumour diseases. Cancer registry records complete summary of patient history, diagnosis, treatment and status of every cancer patient.

Awards and Recognition

Noted artist Sayed Haider Raza conferred with France’s de la Lgion dHonneur

 Well known painter Sayed Haider Raza was conferred with highest French Civilian Award Commandeur de la Lgion dHonneur (the Legion of Honour).  Raza was honoured with this award for his matchless achievements in transcending all boundaries, forging ties between France and India and for continuing artistic quest straddling nations, religions, cultures and philosophies.  He was given this award on the occasion of the French National Day (14 July) celebrations by Ambassador of France to India Franois Richier on behalf of the French President.

4 Indians among Young Leaders of Asia Society in NY

 Four Indians-Mishi Choudhary, Manish Dahiya, Sanjay Vijayakumar and Aarti Wig- were figured in the Asia 21 Young Leaders Class of 2015 list that was released on 8 July 2015 in New York, the USA.  The selected leaders will be part of the Asia 21 Network where they will find mentors, potential collaborators, who are devoted to find solutions to most vexing socio-economic problems in the Asia-Pacific region.

Four Indians who make to this list were :

Mishi Choudhary – She is a technology lawyer and an online civil liberties activist, is the founding executive director of SFLC.in, a pro-bono legal services organization based in New Delhi. Manish Dahiya – He is the executive director and Global Head of Energy Complex at Noble Group Limited. Sanjay Vijayakumar – He is the CEO of MobME Wireless Solutions, one of India’s most exciting and innovative mobile value-added service companies. 85 | P a g e Follow Us - FB.com/AffairsCloudOfficialPage Copyright 2015 @ AffairsCloud.Com

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Aarti Wig – She is co-founder of the Indian arm of the Yunus Social Business (YSB), which was founded by Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Muhammad Yunus to create selfless businesses that tackle social problems

Appointments

Rakesh Sahni appointed chairman of NVDA

 Former Chief Secretary Rakesh Sahni has been appointed as the Chairman of Narmada Valley Development Authority (NVDA) by Madhya Pradesh government.  Rakesh Sahni is a 1972 batch IAS officer who has also served as the Chairman of MP Electricity Regulatory Commission after his retirement from the post of chief secretary.

Banking & Finance

YES Bank gets RBI nod to open unit in GIFT city

 YES Bank has received approval from the Reserve Bank of India to set up IFSC Banking Units (IBUs) in Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT).  Setting up the IBU will propel YES Bank’s growth plans further by providing it access to International financial markets.  It will also provide a comprehensive product suite to its corporate clients requiring Foreign Currency (FCY) funding.

Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT)

 GIFT city aspires to cater to India’s large financial services potential by offering global firms a world-class infrastructure and facilities.  It aims to attract the top talent in the country by providing the finest quality of life all with integrated townships, IFSC and multi-speciality special economic zone (SEZ).  The site is 12 Km from the Ahmedabad International Airport and 8 KM from Gandhinagar

Business

India-based firm wins Microsoft Country Partner of Year Award

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 An India-based software products and technology services company is among the winners of the prestigious Microsoft Country Partner of the Year Award for 2015, a recognition that honours the technology giant’s partner achievements across the globe.  Comparex India Pvt. Ltd, headquartered in New Delhi, was honoured, along with 110 awardees in the category by Microsoft, at its Worldwide Partner Conference 2015.  Another India-based IT company Quadrasystems.net was the finalist in the Cloud Productivity Partner of the Year category, Microsoft announced.

Sports

CSK, Royals suspended for two years from IPL

Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals were suspended from the Indian Premier League for 2 years for the betting activities of their key officials Gurunath Meiyappan and Raj Kundra during the 2013 season.

Meiyappan was the former Team Principal of CSK and Raj Kundra is the co-owner of the Rajasthan Royals were suspended for life for involving in betting and bringing the IPL and the game into disrepute.

The Supreme Court of India appointed a three member committee headed by former Chief Justice of India R M Lodha on January 22, 2015, gave the punishment.

The verdict given by the Lodha Panel is:

 Both are declared ineligible for participation in the sport of cricket as explained in the anti-corruption code for a maximum period of five years under article 2.2.1.  Both are suspended for life from activities as explained in article 7.5 under level 4.  Both are suspended for life from being involved in any type of cricket matches under section 6, rule 4.2.

India beats Zimbabwe in 3rd ODI, completes 3-0 clean sweep

 India thrashed Zimbabwe by 83 runs in the third and final cricket ODI to complete a 3-0 series whitewash.

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 Kedar Jhadav’s maiden international hundred of 105 runs in 87 balls helped India to post a score of 276/5 in 50 overs.  In return Zimbabwe collapsed for 193 in 42.4 overs.

Obituary

Legendary Music Composer MS Viswanathan dies at 87

 MS Viswanathan, a popular music composer of South Indian cinema passed away on 14 July 2015 in Chennai. He was 87.  He was being treated for geriatric disorders i.e. old-age related ailments. Also he had lost his memory. He was somewhat recovering but from past few days his situation was not good.  M S Viswanathan (fondly called MSV) was born in Palakkad in Kerala and composed songs for more than 1,200 films in Tamil, Malayalam and Telugu. He was popularly known as ‘king of light music’ (Mellisai Mannar). “Sonnathu Needhana” (Nenjil Oru Alayam), “Viswanathan Velai Vendum” (Kadalikka Neram Illai), “Kettavarellam Padalam” (Thangai) are among MSV’s all time favourites that are still popular in Tamil Nadu.  He composed music for 86 Tamil films with fellow composer T K Ramamurthy. He also worked with legendary filmmaker K Balachander and produced hit music for his films.  He also worked in some Malayalam films. But he could not make a good career in acting.  He has received many music awards including Kakamamani award and the Thirai Isai Chakravarthy (Tamil for “The Emperor of Cine Music”) by Tamil Nadu Government.  His wife died in 2012 and he is survived by four sons and three daughters.  The Tamil cinema industry has described MSV’s death as an irreparable loss.

Former BSFI president Pashupatinath Roy died

 Former Billiards and Snooker Federation of India(BSFI) President Pashupatinath Roy passed away. He was 76 years old.  He served BSFI in various capacities. Apart from this he was also the president of West Bengal Badminton Association for more than five decades.

Current Affairs Today – July 15 2015

Indian Affairs

PM Modi launches ‘Skill India’ Campaign

On the occasion of the first ever World Youth Skills Day on 15th July 2015, the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) will launch the SKILL INDIA Campaign. On this

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historic occasion, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has consented to be the Chief Guest for the event to be held at Vigyan Bhawan.

The Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Shri Rajiv Pratap Rudy has said that during the function, the Prime Minister will formally launch the “National Skill Development Mission”, unveil the new “National Policy for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship 2015”, and roll out on all-India basis the Ministry’s flagship scheme, “Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikash Yojana – PMKVY” – the pilot phase of which has already begun.

Key Highlights

 If China has this identity of being world’s manufacturing factory, then India can become world’s human resource Capital  Our training institutions must become dynamic, Look at the way technology is changing things  We want opportunities to increase. That is why we have not restricted ourselves to skills, we have focussed on entrepreneurship  Parents from middle-class,lower middle-class & poor families ask their children to learn some skill so that they can stand on their feet  Skill India Mission is not just a prog to fill stomachs,but to instill self confidence in poor families & bring a new energy to nation  And I will form an army of poor, every poor is my soldier, we will win this war against poverty on behalf of their strength  We have strategically opened a war against poverty, and we must win this fight Through a policy driven approach we have waged a war against poverty and we have to win this war

New HIV infections down by 20 per cent in India: UN

According to a UN report, India has been able to achieve a more than 20 per cent decline in new HIV infections between 2000 and 2014.

The report that was released in Addis Ababa- Ethiopia by the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS).

Highlights of the report:

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 The report titled “How AIDS changed everything – MDG 6: 15 years, 15 lesson of hope from the AIDS response”, says the world has exceeded the targets contained in the Millennium Development Goals (MGD) to halt and reverse the spread of HIV.  New HIV infections have fallen by 35% and AIDS-related deaths by 41%, while the global response to HIV has averted 30 million new infections and nearly 8 million AIDS- related deaths since 2000.  UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said, “The measure of success for the United Nations is not what we promise, but what we deliver for those who need us most. When it comes to halting and beginning to reverse the AIDS epidemic, the world has delivered.”  India has changed the course of its national HIV epidemic through the use of strategic information that guided its focus to the locations and population approach.  HIV treatment coverage for people living with HIV and TB has also increased and in terms of numbers of patients.  The largest increases in antiretroviral therapy among people living with both HIV and TB have occurred in India, South Africa, Tanzania and Zambia.  India accounts for more than 60% of the Asia Pacific region’s people living with HIV- associated TB.  At present nearly 85% of the antiretroviral medicines for HIV treatment come from India.

India’s first railway-line built under PPP model inaugurated in Gujarat

 Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu inaugurated the broad-gauge railway-line betweenGandhidham and Tuna-Tekra Port in Gujarat.  This is India’s first railway-line built with private sector participation under Non- Government Railway (NGR) Policy 2012 of Indian Railways.

Nashik-Trimbakeshwar Simhastha Kumbh Mela 2015 begins

 It is a mega religious congregation, which is held every 12 years in Nashik on the banks of the Godavari River. This year it will continue for over two months.  Kumbh Mela is known as one of the biggest peaceful gatherings on the Earth and is held in Allahabad, Nashik, Haridwar & Ujjain.

Maharashtra assembly passed Guarantee of Public Services Bill, 2015

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 Maharashtra legislative assembly on 14 July 2015 passed the Maharashtra Guarantee of Public Services Bill, 2015. The bill was unanimously passed by the assembly in the absence of Congress and NCP members.  Features of the Bill • It empowers citizens to avail their rights in stipulated time with less efforts and cost. • It will pave way for curbing corruption, bringing transparency and empowering citizens. • It ensures essential services are delivered in a time-bound manner and at nominal charges. • In case of failure in delivery in the stipulated time, the government employee will be penalized for default, which ranges between 500 rupees to 5000 rupees.  It provides for three-tier Appellate Authorities with first two being Government Officials or Designated Officers and third will be a Right to Service Commission.

Awards

Make in India wins the 2015- Economic Development Innovation Award

Make in India initiative has won the 2015- Economic Development Innovation Award for Policy and Program Implementation Excellence. The award was presented by Frost and Sullivan, US based Growth Partnership Company.

The award is given to Make in India program in recognition of the outstanding contribution of its vision and implementation excellence to simplify the regulatory framework, reinforce connectivity and incentivize investments.

Frost and Sullivan arrived at the GIL-100 Index after a detailed 10 step process. The Make in India program has scored the highest in this data driven GIL Index on vision and implementation, among 100 Countries.

The two principles of evaluation are:

 Enabling Vision: Vision for Development Strategy and Vision Congruence, Role of Agency in Policy Design, Industry Focus and Funding and Innovative Programs  Implementation Excellence: Effective Channelization of Resources, Effective Program Coordination and Execution, Program Reach and Accessibility, Infrastructure Development and Implementation Success

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The award acknowledges that Make in India has promoted India’s booming domestic manufacturing sector.

The Make in India initiative has facilitated the government’s persistent efforts to attract investments from around the world.

The award is a mark of recognition for the initiative’s outstanding contributions to help develop the country’s economic and industrial transformation, and for steering the country towards an environment conducive to domestic and global manufacturing and investment.

IOC bags top honour at Petrofed Awards

 Indian Oil Corporation bagged the Leading Oil & Gas Corporate of the Year award for the fourth time in eight years at Petro Awards.  IOC also clinched the Oil & Gas Marketing Company of the Year and the Human Resources Management Company of the Year award.

The other awards winning companies are:

 Innovator of the Year – Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL)  Exploration & Production Company of the Year and Project Management Award – Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC)  Oil & Gas Pipeline Transportation Company of the Year award – Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL)  Environmental Sustainability Company of the Year – Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL)

Jamia professor bags IEEE award for developing curriculum, lab

 Dr Mini Shaji Thomas, Honorary Director, Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, and Professor, Department of Electrical Engineering, Jamia has been selected for IEEE Educational Activities Board (EAB) Continuing Education Award.  Dr Thomas won this award for his design and development of curriculum and laboratory facilities for professionals and students in the electric utility industry.

About IEEE Educational Activities Board (EAB) Continuing Education Award

 This award recognize and honour individuals and companies for major contributions to engineering and technical education.

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 It was instituted in 1984 by IEEE, recognizes academician’s contribution to the design, delivery, and support of continuing education courses and programs in the fields of interest to IEEE members.

Krishnapatnam Port bags Golden Peacock award for environment management

 Krishnapatnam Port in Andhra Pradesh has received the Golden Peacock environment management award for its initiatives and achievements in the field of environment.  The award was presented by Union Minister of State for Environment Prakash Javadekar to C Sasidhar, Managing Director (Krishnapatnam Port) on Saturday at the17th World Congress on Environment Management.

Acquisitions

Andromeda acquires apnapaisa.com in stock and cash deal

 Andromeda, loan distributor, has acquired the apnapaisa.com, an online loan solutions space in a stock and cash deal.  Andromeda which is present in more than 30 cities across the country along with a 1,000-strong staff, is the largest loan distributor, distributing around ₹ 8,000 crore a year.  Apnapaisa.com which was started 8 years ago, is an internet platform to help customers find best possible loans.

Banking & Finance

Karnataka gets its first skin bank

 Karnataka gets its first skin bank at Victoria Hospital, Bengaluru, the first in the state.  It works like an eye bank.The skin bank team goes to a donor’s house when it receives word that he has passed away, and harvests the skin within six hours of death.  This skin taken out from thighs can enhance quality of life for those suffering with 50%- 60% burns.  This will enable faster healing and help the burns patients.  Currently, there are skin banks in Chennai, Delhi and Mumbai.

Business

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 Boeing and Tata Advanced Systems Ltd have signed an aerospace and defence manufacturing pact.  Both the companies will jointly manufacture aero-structures and collaborate on developing integrated systems, including unmanned aerial vehicles.  TASL is already manufacturing aero-structures for Boeing’s CH-47 Chinook and AH-6i helicopters.

Science & Technology

New Horizons space probe ready to make history at Pluto

As NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft is approaching near to Pluto and as it zoomz past Pluto new things are coming up, the dwarf planet isn’t quite as dwarfish as the scientist thought in fact, it’s the largest known solar system object beyond Neptune.

 Based on New Horizons imagery, its diameter is 2,370 kilometers (1,473 miles), plus or minus 20 kilometers (12.4 miles) which makes it almost 30 miles wider than Eris, the dwarf planet whose discovery led to Pluto’s downfall as the “ninth planet” back in 2006 and it was considered no more as a planet  Eris’ diameter has been measured to be 2,326 kilometers (1,445 miles), plus or minus 12 kilometers (7.5 miles )  New Horizons’ measurements confirmed that Charon, Pluto’s largest moon, is 751 miles (1,208 kilometers) across and that the smaller icy moons Nix and Hydra are 20 and 30 miles (35 and 45 kilometers) wide, respectively.

Sports

IPL verdict effect, Champions League T20 discontinued

 After the Supreme Court suspended CSK and and Rajasthan Royals for two years, cricket authorities have decided to scrap the Champions League T20 tournament with immediate effect.  The Governing Council of the CLT20 which comprising representatives of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), Cricket South Africa (CSA) and Cricket Australia (CA) made the decision unanimously.

Bangladesh register historic ODI series win over SA

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 Bangladesh registered historic ODI series win by beating South Africa by nine wickets in the third and final ODI to take the three-match series 2-1.  After whitewashing Pakistan and defeating India in the series, this is Bangladesh’s third continuous series victory over the world cricket heavyweights.  In a rain hit game, Bangladesh restricted proteas to 168/9 and in return with the help of Soumya Sarkar’s 90 and Tamim Iqbal’s 61 they score 170 runs for the loss of 1 wicket only.

Obituary

Iconic musician Joan Sebastian passed away

 Iconic musician Joan Sebastian from Mexico has died after battling bone cancer for more than 15 years. He was 64.  He was a five-time Grammy Award winner and released more than 50 albums during his career which spanned over 40 years.  He was best known for his sentimental love songs such as “Secreto de Amor” and “Tatuajes”

Important Days

World Youth Skills Day July – 15

The United Nations General Assembly has decided to celebrate the first World Youth Skills Day (WYSD) on 15 July 2015 to raise awareness about the importance of investing in youth skills development.

Theme for 2015: Youth skills for work and life in the post-2015 agenda

This day is in line with the upcoming Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for 2030, which propose two goals on education and skills for employment:

 Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.  Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all.

Current Affairs July Capsule

Current Affairs Today – July 16 2015

Indian Affairs

Cabinet approves Rs 8,548 Cr power project

 The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved a power transmission project worth Rs 8,548.68 covering seven states.  The states covered in the project are Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Rajasthan.  The project will have contribution of Rs 3,419.47 crore from National Clean Energy Fund (NCEF) which is 40 per cent of the total estimated cost of project.  The project includes establishment of 48 new Grid sub-stations of different voltage levels with total transformation capacity around 17,100 MVA (Mega Volt Ampere) by installing over 7,800 Circuit Kilometers of transmission lines in these seven states.  Estimated completion time of the project is 3-5 years.  NCEF will contribute 40% of the cost, other 40% will be met through KfW loan and the remaining 20% will be the state contribution.  Creation of an intra-state transmission system will facilitate evacuation of renewable power from generation stations to load centres.  The government’s plan is to have 175 GW of power generation from renewable energy sources by 2022, which includes 100 GW from solar, 60 GW from wind, 10 GW from bio- power and 5 GW from small hydro power.

Government sanctions Rs 700 cr additional fund for Regional Rural Banks capitalisation

The government has sanctioned an additional Rs 700 crore for the recapitalisation of weak regional rural banks (RRBs)

The validity period for the fund infusion has been extended to2016-17.

RRBs are unable to maintain their minimum Capital to Risk weighted Assets Ratio (CRAR) of 9% so this decision will help them improve this ratio.

A strong capital structure and minimum required level of CRAR will ensure financial stability of RRBs which will enable them to play a greater role in financial inclusion and meeting the credit requirements of rural areas.

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In this year’s budget funds of Rs 15 crore were allotted for recapitalisation of RRBs.

About Regional Rural Banks

RRBs were established under Regional Rural Banks Act, 1976 to create an alternative channel to the ‘cooperative credit structure’ and to ensure sufficient institutional credit for the rural and agriculture sector.

RRBs are jointly owned by the Centre, state governments and sponsor banks. The issued capitals are in proportion:

 Centre: 50%  State: 15%  Sponsor Banks: 35%

Functions of RRBs

 Providing banking facilities to rural and semi-urban areas.  Carrying out government operations like disbursement of wages of MGNREGA workers, distribution of pensions etc.  Providing Para-Banking facilities like locker facilities, debit and credit cards.

What is Capital Adequacy Ratio?

 Capital Adequacy Ratio also known as Capital to Risk weighted Assets Ratio (CRAR) is the measure of a bank’s financial strength expressed by the ratio of its capital to its risk-weighted credit exposure (loans).  Minimum CAR prescribed by RBI is 9%  A bank with a higher capital adequacy is considered safer because if its loans go bad, it can make up for it from its net worth.

Varanasi chosen as ‘city of music’ by UNESCO

 Varanasi has joined the list of UNESCO “Cities of Music” under the Creative Cities Network.  It has been chosen in the music category under UNESCO’s field of excellence plan.  The fields of excellence are classified into categories of literature, film, music, craft and folk art, design, media arts and gastronomy.

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About Creative Cities Network

The UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN) was created in 2004 to promote cooperation with and among cities that have identified creativity as a strategic factor for sustainable urban development.

Nine cities under UNESCO Cities of Music are:

Glasgow in the UK, Hanover and Mannheim in Germany, Ghent in Belgium, Hamamatsu in Japan, Brazzaville in the Republic of Congo, Bogota in Columbia, Seville in Spain and Bologna in Italy.

FM Arun Jaitley launches HRIDAY for 12 cities in Amritsar

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley choose Amritsar to launch the “National Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana ” ( HRIDAY)for 12 cities in the country.

About HRIDAY

 The National Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana (HRIDAY) is a scheme of Ministry of Urban Development.  The aim is to preserve and revitalise soul of the heritage city to reflect the city’s unique character by encouraging aesthetically appealing, accessible, informative & secured environment.  The Scheme with an outlay of Rs 500 Crores is being implemented in 12 identified Cities namely, Ajmer, Amaravati, Amritsar, Badami, Dwarka, Gaya, Kanchipuram, Mathura, Puri, Varanasi, Velankanni and Warangal.

Union Agriculture Minister launched PGS-India, Soil Health Card and FQCS Web Portals

Union Agriculture Minister, Radha Mohan Singh has launched 3 web portals namely, Soil Health Card portal, Fertiliser Quality Control System portal and Participatory Guarantee System.

Soil Health Card portal

It has been developed for registration of soil samples, recording test results of soil samples and generation of Soil Health Card (SHC) along with fertilizer recommendations to create a national database on soil health for future use in research. 98 | P a g e Follow Us - FB.com/AffairsCloudOfficialPage Copyright 2015 @ AffairsCloud.Com

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Participatory Guarantee System portal

It will help small and marginal farmers engaged in organic farming to secure certification after checks for compliance to standards are carried out.

Fertiliser Quality Control System portal

It will compare results of drawn samples of imported fertilisers helping both consumers and importers with analysis reports.

Home Ministry gives nod to Huawei to set up unit in Tamil Nadu

 The Home Ministry has given nod to the Chinese telecom giant Huawei to set up a manufacturing unit in Tamil Nadu.  But the catch is that Huawei will have to appoint Indians in key posts like chief of technical operations and chief security officer.  At a cost of Rs 25 crore, Huawei wants to set up a unit for electronics and telecom hardware and support services, including trading and logistics activities, at the Special Economic Zone, Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu.

Remnants of India’s one of the oldest port discovered in Goa

 Scientists have discovered remnants of a historically important port on Goa’s Zuari river which is expected to be one of the oldest port and may be contemporary to Dwarka in Gujarat.  The discovered dockyard is similar in structure to Lothal dockyard which is 4500 years old and was discovered by Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) in Gujarat in 1954.  The old port is expected to be existed between 1,000 and 3,500 AD.

Awards

Four Indian scientists receive William Harvey Award 2015

 Four Indian scientists from the Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College, Aligarh Muslim University, have jointly been awarded the prestigious William Harvey Award for 2015.

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 Hasan Arif, Kafeel Akhtar, Shagufta Qadri and Suhailur Rahman are the recipients of the prestigious award in the field of Hematology.  They have been awarded for their work in Hemoglobin C disease (Hb C) which is predominant in West African and Mediterranean countries

About William Harvey Award

 The award is named after scientist William Harvey (1578- 1657).  He developed the first accurate account of how the heart and circulatory system operated.  It is given by the American Society of Hypertension

Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya, Churachandpur of Manipur won 18th National Youth Parliament Competition

Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya, Churachandpur (Manipur) has won the 18th Youth Parliament Competition for Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas.

About National Youth Parliament Competition

 National Youth Parliament Competition for school children is organised by Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs.  The aim of the competition is to inculcate the spirit of self-discipline, tolerance of diverse opinion, righteous expression of views and other virtues of a democratic way of life.  It covers 1200 schools in NCT of Delhi, 1200 Kendriya Vidyalayas, 600 Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalays and 300 Universities/Colleges all over the country.

Banking & Finance

RBI constitutes committee on financial inclusion

The Reserve Bank of India has constituted a committee with the objective of working out a 5 year measurable action plan for financial inclusion.

The committee will be headed by RBI Executive Director Deepak Mohanty.

Aims of the committee

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 It will review the existing policy of financial inclusion, including supportive payment system and customer protection framework.  It will study the cross-country experience in financial inclusion to identify key learnings, particularly in the area of technology-based delivery models that could inform policies and practices.  It will suggest a monitorable medium-term action plan for financial inclusion in terms of its various components like payments, deposit, credit, social security transfers, pension and insurance.  It will develop the underlying policy and institutional framework, covering consumer protection and financial literacy, as well as delivery mechanism of the financial inclusion.  It will encompass both households and small businesses, with more emphasis on rural inclusion including group-based credit delivery mechanisms.

The Committee is expected to submit its report in four months from the date of its first meeting.

Current Affairs Today – July 17 2015

Indian Affairs

India inks $250-million loan pact with World Bank for Andhra Pradesh Disaster Recovery project

India and World Bank have signed a $250 million credit agreement for the Andhra Pradesh Disaster Recovery Project. It is a loan for an implementation period of 5 years which will be implemented by the Government of Andhra Pradesh.

Key points about the project:

 This project will help to restore, improve and enhance the resilience of public services and livelihoods of communities affected by cyclone Hudhud in Andhra Pradesh.  It will also increase the capacity of the state to respond promptly and effectively to an emergency.  The project will specifically benefit over 13 million people in the four severely affected districts of Srikakulam, Vizianagaram, Visakhapatnam and East Godavari.

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 Through this project the state will restore the damages caused to roads, public infrastructure including environmental services and facilities and increase the resilience of the power infrastructure as well as that of its communities from impacts of future disasters.  The Project will also help reconstruct the severely damaged zoological park at Visakhapatnam and ecological park at Kambalakonda.  It will help in restoring the lost shelterbelts, windbreaks and mangroves along the coast and support livelihoods opportunities of poor vulnerable coastal families by building nurseries that would supply saplings for farm forestry.

The project will have seven components which are:

1. Resilient electrical network. 2. Restoration of connectivity and shelter infrastructure. 3. Restoration and protection of beach front. 4. Restoration of environmental services and facilities and livelihood support. 5. Capacity building and technical support for disaster risk management. 6. Project implementation support. 7. Contingency Emergency Response.

DoT released A K Bhargava committee report on Net Neutrality

The Department of Telecommunications has released A K Bhargava committee report on Net Neutrality to.

Its recommendations broadly contain technical, regulatory and public policy related measures required with respect to Net Neutrality issue.

The Committee has recommended sticking to core principles of Net Neutrality. User rights on the Internet need to be ensured so that Telecom Service Providers/ Internet Service Providers (TSPs/ISPs) do not restrict the ability of the user to send, receive, display, use, post any legal content, application or service on the Internet, or restrict any kind of lawful Internet activity or use.

The recommendations of committee are:

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 The primary goals of public policy in the context of Net Neutrality should be directed towards achievement of developmental aims of the country by facilitating “Affordable Broadband”, “Quality Broadband” and “Universal Broadband” for its citizen.

 Over-The-Top (OTT) application services should be actively encouraged and any impediments in expansion and growth of OTT application services should be removed.

 Specific OTT communication services dealing with messaging should not be interfered with through regulatory instruments. For OTT application services, there is no case for prescribing regulatory oversight similar to conventional communication services.

 In case of Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) OTT communication services, there exists a regulatory arbitrage, wherein such services also bypass the existing licensing and regulatory regime creating a non-level playing field between TSPs and OTT providers both competing for the same service provision.

 Under existing telecom licensing conditions, Internet Telephony is permitted under restricted conditions. The key public policy requiring action is to manage the transition from voice-centric to data-centric networks with the concomitant change in technology

 In case of OTT VoIP international calling services, a liberal approach may be adopted. However, in case of domestic calls (local and national), communication services by TSPs and OTT communication services may be treated similarly from a regulatory angle for the present.

 Legitimate traffic management practices may be allowed but should be “tested” against the core principles of net neutrality.

 Tariff plans offered by TSPs/ISPs must conform to the principles of Net Neutrality set forth in guidelines issued by the Government as Licensor. TRAI may examine the tariff filings made by TSPs/ISPs to determine whether the tariff plan conforms to the principles of Net Neutrality.

 A clause, requiring licensee to adhere to the core principles of Net Neutrality, as specified by guidelines issued by the licensor from time to time, should be incorporated in the license conditions of TSP/ISPs. The guidelines can describe the principles and conditions of Net Neutrality in detail and provide applicable criteria to test any violation of the principles of Net Neutrality.

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 National security is paramount, regardless of treatment of Net Neutrality. The measures to ensure compliance of security related requirements from OTT service providers, need to be worked out through inter-ministerial consultations.

Union Government brings 39 more Pharmaceutical drugs under price control

 The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) has brought 39 more Pharmaceutical drugs under price control.  The drugs brought under this price control includes the drugs which can be used to treat diseases such as diabetes and digestive disorders.  Now, 652 drugs are under the price control list of Pharmaceutical drugs.

India and Canada sign MoU in the field of Civil Aviation

 India and Canada have signed a Memorandum of Understanding in the field of Civil Aviation.  This will help in deepening the bilateral cooperation and enhancing the experience and technical knowledge in the field of Civil Aviation between India and Canada.

Features of the MoU are:

 An appropriate platform shall be formalized for exchange of views on the possibilities of fostering greater commercial/economic cooperation between the two countries in the areas of civil aviation.  The two countries shall have a cooperation programme in the areas of safety of aircraft operations and related issues.  Indian firms could also be benefited from the exchange of technical knowhow with Canadian companies as the aviation industry

INS Astravahini decommissioned after 31 years of service

 Indigenously built Torpedo launch and recovery vessel (TLRV) ‘INS Astravahini’ has been decommissioned after almost 31 years in service to the nation.  ‘INS Astravahini’ was decommissioned at a ceremony presided over by Commodore K A Bopanna, Naval Officer-in-Charge ( Andhra Pradesh Division) at the Ship Building Centre. The vessel was developed by Naval Science and Technological Laboratory (NSTL)  Astravahini was auxiliary vessel of TLRV class, the ship was commissioned on November 5, 1984 at Visakhapatnam, the headquarters of Eastern Naval Command 104 | P a g e Follow Us - FB.com/AffairsCloudOfficialPage Copyright 2015 @ AffairsCloud.Com

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 The only one of its class the ship was extensively used by NSTL as a test platform to launch and recover experimental torpedoes prior to their induction into the Navy.

Union Cabinet approved redevelopment of 400 railway stations through Swiss Challenge method.

 Union cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved a proposal to redevelop 400 railway stations using a contract method called the “Swiss challenge”.  Under this model, interested parties coming through open bids would develop the stations with their designs and business ideas while commercial development of real estate would be allowed by the Zonal Railways  These 400 stations are to be developed by leveraging real estate development of land and air space in and around the stations  These categories of stations are generally located in metros, major cities, pilgrimage centres and important tourist destinations across the country

What is Swiss Challenge ?

Any person with credentials can submit a development proposal to the government for the development of classified railway stations. That proposal will be put on the Internet and a second person can give suggestions to improve or beat that proposal. An expert committee will accept the best proposal and the original proposer will get a chance to accept it if it is an improvement on his own proposal.The Swiss method, however, is already in use in states such as Karnataka, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat for road and housing projects.

Awards

Indian-American woman Sunita Viswanath honoured with ‘Champion of Change’ award

 Indian-American woman Sunita Viswanath is one of the tewlve eminent persons who has been honoured with ‘Champions of Change’ award by the White House for her effort in protecting environment and communities from the effect of climate change.  Sunita Viswanath was the only Indian American to figure in the list, and was selected for her work in encouraging Hindus to take care of the environment  Viswanath, has worked in women’s and human rights organisations for almost three decades she is the co-founder and active board member of the 14-year-old front-line women’s human rights organisation, Women for Afghan Women.She is also the co- founder and board member of ‘Sadhana: Coalition of Progressive Hindus’.

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 Sunita Viswanath was born in Chennai , currently she lives in Brooklyn in New York with her husband Stephan Shaw and their three sons Gautama, Akash and Satya.  Viswanath was a 2011 recipient of the “Feminist Majority Foundation’s Global Women’s Rights Award” for her work with WAW.  One of the project of Sadhana is Project Prithvi, a grassroots green project as part of Project Prithvi, Sadhana is involved with cleaning up a beach in Jamaica Bay, Queens which is a place of worship for Hindus.

Appointments

Prashant Pathrabe appointed as FTII director

 Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (I&B) has appointed Prashant Pathrabe, as the new director of the prestigious Film and Television Institute of India (FTII).  He was former head of the National Film Archives of India (NFAI).  He is an IIS officer of 1990 batch and was formerly Director of the Press Information Bureau in Pune before taking over as Director, NFAI.  He is an IIT Kharagur and IIM-Ahmedabad alumnus is also a member of the rock-pop band ‘The Aryans’.

Neeraj Kumar appointed chief security advisor for ICC World T20 2016

 BCCI has appointed Neeraj Kumar as the Chief Advisor of Security and Anti- Corruption Unit (ACSU) for next year’s T20 World Cup.  He was former Delhi Police Commissioner.

FlipKart appointed Eric Lange as Vice President of Product Management

 Flipkart has appointed former Yahoo Inc. executive Eric Lange as Vice- President of Product Management for its customer experience division.  Previously Lange has worked as the Vice President of Product Management in the Ads division for Yahoo and spearheaded Yahoo’s acquisitions of the mobile advertising and analytics company.  He also spent seven years at Google, where from 2010 to 2012 he was Head of Monetization for Asia Pacific, leading product development and strategy for the company’s advertising business.

Banking & Finance

Current Affairs July Capsule

RBI inks pact with Sri Lanka’s Central Bank

 The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) signed a currency swap agreement with the Central Bank of Sri Lanka.  This agreement assist countries during periods of tight liquidity or balance of payments and liquidity crises. According to which Sri Lanka can draw a maximum of $1.1 billion for a period of up to six months.  There is an existing framework on currency swap arrangement for the SAARC member countries by which SAARC members can draw currency$100 million-  $400 million, with a total limit of $2 billion, from an RBI financing facility set up for this purpose.  In in March 2015, India and Sri Lanka’s central banks signed a currency swap agreement under the SAARC Framework.

Ottappalam in Kerala to have India’s first Defence Industrial Park

 The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) has approved a proposal from the Kerala Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (Kinfra) to set up the country’s first defence industrial park at Ottappalam.  The park will be developed as a part of Make in India and will have modern common infrastructure facilities aimed at attracting component manufacturers in the defence industry.  The Union government has agreed to bring it under the Modified Industrial Infrastructure Upgradation Scheme (MIIUS).

Environment

New species of bird-like dinosaur discovered in China

 A newly identified species of feathered dinosaur in China, is a close cousin of ‘Velociraptor’ made famous by the Jurassic Park films and is the largest ever discovered to have a well-preserved set of bird-like wings, scientists say.  Paleontologists working in China unearthed the fossil remains of the winged dinosaur named Zhenyuanlong suni, a close cousin of Velociraptor.  Researchers said its wings, which are very short compared with other dinosaurs in the same family, consisted of multiple layers of large feathers.  They found that the species’ feathers were complex structures made up of fine branches stemming from a central shaft.

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Sports

Mohammad Hafeez fails ICC bowling test, banned for a year

 Pakistani All Rounder Mohammad Hafeez has been banned from bowling in international cricket for 12 months by ICC.  He failed an independent assessment of his suspect action was carried out at the Sri Ramachandra University in Chennai.  His bowling action came under question by the match officials during Pakistan’s first Test victory over Sri Lanka.

ICC ODI Rankings: India retain 2nd spot after clean sweep over Zimbabwe

After a clean sweep victory by 3-0 over Zimbabwe, India have retained their 2nd spot in the ICC ODI team rankings.

Top 5 teams are:

1. Australia 129 2. India 115 3. New Zealand 112 4. South Africa 109 5. Sri Lanka 105

Top 5 ODI Batsman are:

1. AB de Villiers – South Africa 2. Kumar Sangakkara – Sri Lanka 3. Hashim Amla – South Africa 4. Virat Kohli – India 5. Tillakaratne Dilshan – Sri Lanka

Top 5 Bowlers are:

1. Mitchell Starc – Australia 2. Trent Boult – New Zealand

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3. Sunil Narine – West Indies 4. Dale Steyn – South Africa 5. Imran Tahir – South Africa

Obituary

Veteran Telugu playback singer V Ramakrishna died

 Veteran Telugu playback singer V Ramakrishna passed away on 15 July 2015 after battling cancer. He was 68. He is survived by wife, a daughter and a son.  Born in 1947, Ramakrishna sang about 5000 songs in a career spanning nearly four decades. He had done huge hit songs in films like Andala Ramudu, Alluri Sitarama Raju and Mutyala Muggu.

Current Affairs Today – July 19 & 20 2015

Indian Affairs

Plastic-made national flags to be banned soon

 A senior Home Ministry has announced that the government is on the track to ban the use, sale and purchase of plastic-made national flags in the country soon.  The decision has been taken after lots of flags are found lying on roads and gutters. A proposal to ban manufacture of national flags made of plastic was pending, so the central government has also informed the court about it.  Earlier in March, the Bombay High Court had asked Maharashtra Government to come up with a policy to ensure a ban on use, sale and purchase of national flags made of plastic and also create public awareness.

Prasanna Kumar Suryadevara new Secretary of Delhi Assembly

 Prasanna Kumar Suryadevara, who served as Officer on Special Duty (OSD) to Somnath Chatterjee when he was Lok Sabha Speaker, has been selected as the new secretary of Delhi Legislative Assembly by Delhi Assembly Speaker Ram Niwas Goel.  Before moving to Delhi Assembly, Suryadevara served Lok Sabha for five years and Rajya Sabha for over six years.

Current Affairs July Capsule

Government Raises Daily Minimum Wage to Rs 160 Per Day

 The Government raised the daily minimum wage from Rs. 137 to Rs. 160. This goes into effect from this month and is the first time in 2 yearsthat the minimum wage has been altered.  In a statement, the Minister of State for Labour & Employment Bandaru Dattatraya said that the decision to raise the minimum wage had been taken in view of the recent increase in retail inflation for industrial workers. He wrote to all the Chief Ministers and lieutenant governors to take all measures to ensure the implementation of the raised minimum wage.

Raising the minimum wage has numerous advantages: • The cost of living is rising. • It helps cope with inflation. • It narrows the wealth gap. • It provides a new lease of life for impoverished Indians.

International Affairs

India, Russia to jointly build 200 military choppers

 India will manufacture 200 helicopter in collaboration withRussia.  This move is move aimed at boosting India’s defence sector and is a part of intensification and diversification of both nation’s strategic ties.  The joint manufacture of 200 helicopters in India with the transfer of technology, and licence production, then this is a big thing.  India has decades old defence cooperation with Russia and despite of defence deals with other countries like decision to buy 36 Rafale fighter aircraft from France, the relations remains vibrant.  This could possibly be the first defence project under ‘Make in India’ initiative.

Awards

Indian-origin doc receives honorary fellowship in UK

British university, The University of Central Lancashire has honored Indian-origin 77-year-old doctor Shiv Pande in recognition of his contribution to the community as a general practitioner and medical educator.

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Pande was born and did his education in India and obtained his MBBS degree. He shifted to the UK in 1971.

He worked as National Health Service General Practitioner, Justice of Peace, Broadcaster, charity worker all these years living in the UK.

“Rarely has a medical doctor achieved so much in so many areas, not only within his own profession, but also in our broader community. As a dedicated medical practitioner, tireless charity campaigner, accomplished broadcaster and distinguished academic, Shiv Pande MBE represents a superb role model for any citizen of multicultural Britain,” said Michael Thomas, University’s Vice Chancellor.

He was also presented with a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) by the Queen in 1989 for his community work.

Appointments

Swati Maliwal took charge as the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) chief

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Swati Maliwal took charge as the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) chief. Maliwal, who is an RTI Activist, and also the youngest member of India Against Corruption succeeded Barkha Shukla whose tenure ended in July 2015 Swati Maliwal, the wife of AAP leader Navin Jaihind, before this assignment, she was Advisor (Public Grievances) to the Chief Minister of Delhi

Hero Motors Group elevates Pankaj Munjal as CMD

 Hero Motors Group, which includes flagship company Hero Cycles, on Monday, said it has elevated Pankaj Munjal as its Chairman and Managing Director (CMD).  Pankaj Munjal has taken over from O P Munjal, who led the Ludhiana-based company for more than 60 years.  O P Munjal has now been elevated to the position of Chairman Emeritus.

Banking & Finance

RBI tightens norms for credit card billing

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A credit card is a payment card which allows the cardholders to pay for their goods and services few times after they have purchased anything.

In credit card accounts, the amount spent is billed to the card users through a monthly statement with a definite due date for repayment. Customers have the option of either to pay full payment or a fraction of it and roll over the balance to the subsequent month’s billing cycle.

Different companies give their customers different time periods to pay their amount after using their credit card based on the credit card policy taken by the customer.

Now RBI has tightened norms for credit card holders. It has asked banks to levy any late payment penalty on credit card customers or report that credit card account as ‘past due’ to credit information companies, if the payment has been due for more than 3 days.

The number of ‘days past due’ and late payment charges will be computed from payment due date mentioned in the credit card statement.

Also, account corresponding to that credit card holder will be treated as non-performing asset if the ‘minimum amount due’ has not been paid within 90 days from the due date.

A non-performing asset is one when it ceases to generate income for the bank. And in this case, the cardholder’s account will become non-performing i.e. the customer will not be able to credit into or debit from the bank

Environment

Two 4,000-year-old reliefs discovered in Egypt

 Egyptian Antiquities Minister Mamdouh el-Damaty announced that two 4,000-year-old reliefs, belonging to Ptolemaic Queen Berenice, were found by Polish archaeologists in the temple of Serapis, on the coast of the Red Sea.  The pieces date to Ancient Egypt’s so-called Middle Kingdom (2050-1750 BC) and the Second Intermediate Period (1650-1550 BC), epochs long before the temple’s construction date, EFE news agency quoted el-Damaty as saying on Sunday.

Sports

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 Shubham Jaglan, a 10-year-old son of a milkman from Israna village in Panipat, Haryana has won at the Junior World Golf Championships being played at Welk Resort Fountain Course in California.  His competition was from a total of 114 other young golfers competing in the tournament and he had a total of 7-under 179 in three days of competition.  Shubham had missed out last year and came second.  He thanked his family and coach, Nonita Lall Qureshi for his remarkable achievement.

France’s Amelie Mauresmo inducted in International Tennis Hall of Fame

Amelie Mauresmo, the two-time Grand Slam winner and former number one tennis player of France, was on 18 July 2015 inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame.

About Amelie Mauresmo

 Amelie Mauresmo is a two-time Grand Slam winner which i.e, Australian Open (2006) and Wimbledon (2006).  Amelie Mauresmo is a former world number one and had spent a total of 39 weeks atop in the rankings in 2004 and 2006.  Mauresmo has won 25 singles titles and was a silver medalist at the 2004 Athens Olympics. Mauresmo is one of three French women to win a Grand Slam title in the Open Era, along with Mary Pierce and Marion Bartoli.  She was the fifteenth World No. 1 in women’s tennis since the computer rankings began She officially retired from professional tennis on 3 December 2009 , ending a career of fifteen years. Mauresmo has coached Andy Murray since June 2014.

Obituary

Godfather actor Alex Rocco dies at 79

 Alex Rocco, the US actor best known for his role in crime drama The Godfather, has died of cancer aged 79.  Rocco played Moe Greene, the casino boss who angrily resisted a takeover attempt from rising mafia boss Michael Corleone and paid for it with a bullet through his eye.  In a career spanning half a century, Rocco won an Emmy for his role in 1990s sitcom The Famous Teddy Z. He also voiced the studio boss behind Itchy and Scratchy in The Simpsons.

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 Rocco made his debut in cult director Russ Meyer’s 1965 film Motor Psycho.  Six years later, he won a part in what was to become regarded as one of the best films ever made.

Noted Urdu writer Dr Bisheshar Pradeep died

 Noted Urdu fiction writer Dr Bisheshar Pradeep died in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh on 19 July 2015. He was 80.  Pradeep was a prolific writer who penned more than a dozen fiction books in Urdu and was best known for his ‘Afsana Nigari’, the fiction writing form in Urdu.  Retired as director from state PWD of Uttar Pradesh, he was a native of a place near Pakistan’s Faisalabad and migrated to India after partition.  He was awarded with ‘Urdu Hindi Sahitya Akademi Award’ in 1996 and also won a national level award for his children’s book ‘Surkh Gulab’.

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