July-28

TAMIL NADU NEWS PM Modi inaugurated Dr APJ Abdul Kalam memorial in Rameshwaram

 PM Modi inaugurated Dr APJ Abdul Kalam memorial in Rameshwaram. The memorial is situated at Pei Karumbu near Rameswaram, where the mortal remains of Kalam were laid to rest. The task of building the 15 crore worth of memorial was taken up by ’s Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).  A replica of India’s most powerful long-range missile, , has also been installed at the memorial site. Satellite models, more than 700 photographs of Dr.Kalam, and 91 paintings are exhibited at the memorial site. The memorial was inaugurated on the second death anniversary of Dr.A.P.J.Abdul Kalam.

NATIONAL NEWS formally named Wheeler Island after APJ Abdul Kalam

 Former President of India, A.P.J.Abdul Kalam’s Death Anniversary: July 27 Odisha government has formally named the Wheeler island in district as ‘APJ Abdul Kalam Island’. The revenue and disaster management department issued a gazette notification after obtaining no objection certificate from the Ministry of Home Affairs. Odisha government has named the island as a tribute to the former president on his second death anniversary.  Dr.Kalam had an emotional attachment with the interim test range at Chandipur in district and Wheeler Island in . He had spent most of his time in these two places as part of his efforts to develop missiles for the protection of the country.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS BRICS tax authorities inked landmark Taxation Cooperation Memorandum

 Tax authorities of the five BRICS countries signed a landmark document to establish a mechanism for taxation cooperation. The BRICS Taxation Cooperation Memorandum, signed at the fifth meeting of BRICS Heads of Tax Authorities, is the bloc's first document that elevates taxation cooperation to the institutional level.  The authorities also agreed to cooperate on taxation information exchange, improve consultation procedures efficiency, boost taxation capacities and plan paths for coordination of taxation policies and tax collection.  The meeting comes ahead of the 2017 BRICS Summit to be held in Fujian province's Xiamen city, China from September 3 to 5.  The BRICS countries - Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa - are home to 42 per cent of the world's population. Their total share in the global economy has risen from 12 per cent to 23 per cent in the past decade, while contributing more than half of global growth. BRICS Labour & Employment Ministers’ Meet in China

 Indian delegation led by Shri Bandaru Dattatreya, the Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Labour & Employment participated in the BRICS Labour & Employment Ministers’ Meet, held on 26-27th, July, 2017 at Chonqging, China. China is the chair for the BRICS Labour & Employment Ministers’ Meet for the year 2017.  The meeting concluded with the adoption of the BRICS Labour and Employment Ministerial Declaration by the BRICS Labour and Employment Ministers on 27th July 2017 in Chongqing, China. The Declaration covered a variety of areas that are of critical importance to all BRICS countries including India and called upon strengthening collaboration and cooperation on these through appropriate institutionalizations. These areas consisted of: “Governance in the Future of Work”, “Skills for development in BRICS”, “Universal and sustainable social security systems”, “BRICS Network of Labour Research Institutions”, “BRICS Social Security Cooperation Framework” and “BRICS entrepreneurship research”.

ENVIRONMENT Gates on border to allow Indian elephants to visit Bangladesh

 The government has decided to create 13 corridors by removing fences set up in the Indian-Bangladesh border, to facilitate migration of elephants. Officials of both nations agreed to construct gates along the border to allow ‘free and safe passage’ for wild elephant’s Trans-border migration of animals is a natural process.  Officials have identified 12 points in Meghalaya and one in Assam along the border, which are used by wild elephants to travel to Bangladesh, where the gates will be constructed.

PERSONALITIES, AWARDS AND EVENTS Ramon Magsaysay Award

 Gethsie Shanmugam is chosen for Ramon Magsaysay Awards, which is regarded as Asia’s version of the Nobel Prize.  Five other recipients, including Philippine theatre group is receiving the award for this year.  Ms. Gethsie Shanmugam is a teacher and psychological counsellor for Sri Lanka’s Tamil community in conflict zones. Ms.Gethsie Shanmugam counselled war widows, orphans and children traumatised by three decades of brutal civil war in Sri Lanka.

Other winners:

Name of S.No Country Purpose honorees (age) 1. Gethsie Srilanka Counselled war widows and Shanmugam (82) orphans to overcome their nightmares 2. Yoshiaki Ishizawa Japan Devoted 50 years of his life to help (79) preserve Cambodia’s Angkor Wat temple 3. Tony Tay (70) Singapore Leads the cooking of 6,000 meals a day for the destitute (elderly, migrant workers and low-income families) 4. Abdon Nababan Indonesia Effort to return state-controlled (53) forest land to indigenous communities 5. Lilia de Lima (76) Philippines Opening of hundreds of job- generating export processing zones across the country as head of the Philippine Economic Zone Authority 6. Philippine Philippines Artistic platform for protest when Educational dictator Ferdinand Marcos declared Theatre Association martial law

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