Current Affairs Quick Recap – July Week Two

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July 15, 2016

Current Affairs July Week II

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Awards and Honours

Bollywood stars Shah Rukh Khan and Akshay Kumar are the two Indians to have made it to the ‘World’s 100 highest-Paid Celebrities‘list, released by Forbes.
South African writer, filmmaker and photographer Lidudumalingani Mqombothi has won the 17th edition of prestigious Caine Prize 2016 for his short story “Memories We Lost”.
The Advertising Club, Madras, has in its diamond jubilee year, conferred the Distinguished Service Award (DSA) to Srinivasan K Swamy,Chairman and Managing Director, RK SWAMY BBDO.
Nimi Sunil kumar, cookbook author and food blogger, has presented this repository of snacks to the world, and been rewarded with a Gourmand World Cookbook Award for 2015-16.
RadhikaMenon the first woman in the world to receive International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) Award for Exceptional Bravery at Sea for saving the lives of 7 fishermen .
The President of India, ShriPranab Mukherjee conferred the 51st Jnanpith Award on renowned writer, RaghuveerChaudhari at a function held at Parliament Library Building, New Delhi.

Appointments

Senior Indian Police Service (IPS) officer Ashok Patnaik was appointed as the CEO of National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID), an ambitious intelligence gathering mechanism conceived in the wake of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks.
The University of North Texas College of Information (UNT) has named Kinshuk, who former alumni of the University of Rajasthan, as its new dean.
V.R. Murthy has taken over as chairman-cum-managing director of the Jute Corporation of India Ltd.
SushilaKarki has become the 1^st woman Chief Justice of Nepal after taking oath of office and secrecy at a special programme organised at the Presidential Residence, Sheetal Niwas.
D Rajkumar has been appointed as the new Chairman and Managing Director at Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd, while Utpal Bora will be the head of Oil India Ltd.
Tripura Governor Tathagata Royhas sworn in as the acting Governor of Arunachal Pradesh, in the Darbar Hall of Raj Bhavan in Itanagar.
Costa Ricanominated former United Nations climate chief Christiana Figures to be the next U.N. Secretary-General to enter the race ahead of the first Security Council secret ballot.
Sanjay Gupta, who had been officiating as Chairman and Managing Director (CMD)of Konkan Railway Corporation Ltd. (KRCL), has been appointed as the CMD of the corporation.
Kevin Turner’s 11-year stint as Microsoft’s Chief Operating Officer (CEO)is about to come to an end. He would now be joining Citadel Securities as Chief Executive Officer.
Indian IT bellwether Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) stated that Phiroz Vandrevala has relinquished office of Non-Executive Director of the company.
Senior bureaucrat SK Kohli has been appointed as Controller General of Defence Accounts (CGDA).
IDFC Mutual Fund has appointed Vishal Kapoor, a senior executive from Standard Chartered Bank, as its chief executive officer.
Bharti Airtel’s Consumer Business Director India has quit the company and will join Deutsche Telekom on October 1st as a member of new board member for Europe business.

Banking and Economy

India’s top public sector bank SBI, has signed a MoU with the Indian Institute of Technology Society for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (SINE), to promote innovation by startups in the financial sector.
IDFC Bankhas signed a share purchase agreement with Tamil Nadu-headquartered microfinance institution Grama Vidiyal Micro Finance (GVMFL) is estimated at nearly Rs 300 crore.
The RBI removed the 7 year old restriction on fresh purchase of state-owned Punjab National Bank’s shares by foreign investors.
A MOU was signed between SIDBIand YES BANK under the partial risk sharing facility (PRSF) for financing energy efficiency projects programme sponsored by the World Bank.

India and the World

Ministry of External Affairs launches operation “sankatmochan” to evacuate Indian nationals from war torn South Sudan.
New Delhi and Nepal’s famous tourist spot Pokhara are now connected by road after a direct bus service was launched between the two cities.
Bangladesh-India Friendship Power Company (Pvt) Limited (BIFPCL) signed the agreement for Main Plant EPC (Turnkey) Package with Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL).
As part of programmes to implement the Roadmap for Disaster Risk Reduction in Bihar (2015-30), the state government signed a MoU with Bangkok-based Asian Disaster Preparedness Centre (ADPC).
Commerce and Industry Minister, NirmalaSitharaman, held a bilateral meeting with Mr. SajidJavid, Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, UK, in New Delhi.
Bangladesh has released photos of ten suspected terrorists and has shared the photos with the Indian government.
Indiaand South Africa announced MoUs and Programme in four areas of bilateral cooperation. The MoUs are in the area of Information and Communication technology, Tourism, Grass root innovation and ‘art and culture’.
India has handed over 30 Mahindra SUVsto Mozambique, completing the delivery of $4.5 million grant assistance.
Indiahas set up an apparel training centre in Nigeria to promote skill development in the textiles sector of the West African nation.
Commerce & Industry Minister, NirmalaSitharaman to lead the delegation of over 110 Indian companies which showcase India’s engineering prowess at the Russian engineering and technology event under the Brand India Engineering campaign.
India is the partner country for ‘INNOPROM 2016. INNOPROM,one of the largest annual international industrial trade fair of Russia, organized to showcase engineering innovations from across the world
To promote India among travellers, the ministry of external affairs is holding the country’s first SAARC Tourism Summit in Aurangabad, which is also considered the tourism capital of Maharashtra, in the second week of October.
Prime Minister NarendraModi signed a second MoU with South African country Mozambique. India and Mozambique have signed three agreements in the area of drug trafficking, pulse trading and youth affairs & sports.
Home Minister Rajnath Singhwill inaugurate the second Anti-drug Working Group meeting of Heads of Drug Control Agencies of BRICS countries in New Delhi.

National Round-Up

Minority Affairs Minister NajmaHeptulla and GM Siddeswara, Minister of State for Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises,who had crossed 75 years,have been dropped from the Union council of ministers.
The Navy’s dedicated base for its Special Operation Forces –MARCOS (Marine Commandos) – INS Karna was commissioned here by Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Sunil Lanba.
Union Government launched Intensified Diarrhoea Control Fortnight (IDCF)it will be observed from 11th to 23rd July across the country has been planned including visits by ASHA workers to all such households which have children under the age of five.
Swiss cement giant Lafarge Holcim has announced agreement for sale of its assets in Lafarge India to soaps and chemicals maker Nirma ltd for $1.4 billion (about Rs.9,400 crore).
Revenue Department has slapped anti-dumping duty of up to USD 168.76 per tonne on import of a chemical used in textile industry from five countries, including China, Iran, Indonesia, Malaysia and Taiwan, to protect domestic manufacturers.
The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO)has signed Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) with IIT-Bombay and Madras to establish a bi-nodal ‘Centre of Propulsion Technology’ (CoPT) at the two institutions.
The Union Minister for Drinking Water and Sanitation Narendra Singh Tomarhas stated that government will carry out a drive to clean 10 iconic places in the country as part of a pilot project under the Swachh Bharat mission.

Snippets from the States

Kerala is all set to introduce the first ever ‘fat tax’ to be levied on junk and fast food items.
The West Bengal Governmenthas taken up a project to set up three biotechnology hubs across the state to bring in more biotechnology innovations to the State.
Vice- President Hamid Ansari would inaugurate the new building of Uttar Pradesh State Information Commission (UPSIC) in Gomtinagar area of the state capital.
The state government plans to plant 5 crore saplings across the state to set a Guinness World Record. The initiative gives boost to the UP government’s ‘Clean UP, Green UP’ Mission.
Maharashtra policehas launched 4 mobile apps for timely intervention into emergency situations PratisaadAsk, Police Mitra, Vahanchoritakrar and Railway helpline app were launched by Chief Minister DevendraFadnavis a fortnight ago in Nagpur.
The Hemis festival will be held between July 14 and July 15 at the Hemis Monastery in Ladakh.
The Centre and the Bihar government have signed a $290 million credit agreement with the World Bankunder the state’s rural development project ‘JEEViKA-II’.
The National Research Centre for Banana would be set up at Goraul in Bihar’s Vaishali district. While inaugurating a two-day ‘Horti-Sangam’ 2016 organised by National Horticulture Board at Hajipur, the district headquarters of Vaishali.
The government launched the ‘NamamiGange’ project from Haridwarin Uttarakhand. To clean the Ganga throughout its route from Gangotri in Uttarakhand to Ganga Sagar in West Bengal.
The West Bengal Governmenthas taken up a project to set up three biotechnology hubs across the state to bring in more biotechnology innovations to the State. The three proposed biotechnology hubs will come in Bardhaman, Kalimpong and Medinipur districts.
Telangana governmenthas launched Haritha Haram programme aimed to plant 46 crore plants to improve green belt.
Maharashtra Chief Minister DevendraFadnavisexpanded his council of ministers, inducting 11 ministers, including 10 new faces.

International Round-Up

China’s navy has conducted a routine combat drill in waters off the Hainan and Xisha Islands.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abehas declared victory in election, with his ruling coalition winning a majority of seats in Japan’s upper house.
TheObama administration has slapped sanctions on North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and 10 other regime officials for their alleged complicity in human rights abuses against the North Korean people.

Science and Technology

Airtel has entered into an agreement with Aircel to acquire rights to use 4G spectrum of Aircel in 8 telecom circles these circles are Tamil Nadu, Bihar, Jammu and Kashmir, West Bengal, Assam, the North-East, Andhra Pradesh and Odisha.
Tech giant Googlelaunched the ‘Android Skilling’ program in India that will aim to train 2 million Android app developers over the next 3 years to cash in on the high-quality talent pool in the
The National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM)unveiled India’s first Centre of Excellence focused on Internet of Things (CoE- IoT) at its Startup Warehouse in Bengaluru.

Sports Point

Portugalhas won the 2016 UEFA European football championship (Euro Cup 2016) at Saint-Denis in Paris by defeating France by 1-0 goal score. It is Portugal’s 1^st UEFA European Championship title.
Mercedes’Lewis Hamilton won the British Grand Prix for the third year in a row. It is his overall 4th British Grand Prix title after winning it in 2008, 2014 and 2015.
Great Britain’s Gordon Reid landed his Second Wimbledon title of the weekend with a brilliant victory in the tournament’s first wheelchair singles event.
Andy Murraythrew his racket into the crowd and punched the air in delight after demolishing Milos Raonic to secure his second Wimbledon title.
World number one Serena Williamsbeat German fourth seed Angelique Kerber to win a seventh Wimbledon and 22nd Grand Slam title.
Bengaluru para-swimmer NiranjanMukundan has won eight medals including 3 gold medals, at the International Wheelchair and Amputee Sports (IWAS) U-23 World Games in Prague, Czech Republic.
Indian Gymnast DipaKarmakar has scripted history by becoming the first Indian to be named as ‘World Class Gymnast’ by the Federation International de Gymnastique (FIG).

Obituary

William H McNeill, an award-winning world historian and author, has died.
Edhi Foundation Chairman, Pakistani philanthropist, social activist, ascetic and humanitarian Abdul SattarEdhipassed away.
Veteran music director Om PrakashSonik, popularly known as Omi passed away due to brief illness, in a private hospital in Mumbai.

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