NATIONAL NEWS
Kerala Government Launches First Ever Water Metro Project In The Country
(1) Kerala Government has launched Kochi Water Metro project, the first ever Water Metro project in the country.
(2) It was launched by Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan at Kochi.
(3) The project aims to provide water connectivity to people living between islands in the Kochi agglomeration area and the city.
(4) The project will implemented by the Kochi Metro Rail Limited (KMRL).
(5) It will be built at an estimated cost of seven hundred and forty seven crores Rupees.
(6) The project is funded by German Development Bank (Kfw). In this regard KMRL has signed agreement with Kfw.
(7) The project involves construction of jetties, roads and other basic facilities apart from boat services. It would make the urban water transport network in the city modern and safer.
Foundation Stone Laid For MSME Technology Center In Visakhapatnam
(1) Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, along with Union Ministers Kalraj Mishra and Venkaiah Naidu have laid the foundation stone for a Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises technology centre under Technology Centre Systems Programme (TCSP) at Pudi in Visakhapatnam district.
(2) Its main focus is to support industries, particularly MSMEs, through access to advanced manufacturing technologies, skilling manpower and providing technical and business advisory support to entrepreneurs.
(3) The programme is funded by the World Bank and the government of India.
PM To Flag Off 'Run for Rio' Event at India Gate in New Delhi on 31st July
(1) Prime Minister Narendra Modi will flag off 'Run for Rio' event on 31st of July at India Gate in New Delhi in order to create Olympic Fever in the country ahead of next month's multi-sporting spectacle in Brazil.
(2) Thousands of people will join the run to give their support to the Olympic athletes.
(3) Besides this, a giant screens will also be put up at the Central Park in New Delih starting 1st of August along with an exhibition containing information on Rio-bound Athletes.
(4) As India will be sending its strongest ever contingent of 120 athletes to the 2016 Rio Olympics to be held from August 5 to 21 in Brazil. With 36, the tack and field squad is the strongest, followed by hockey (32) and shooting (12).
Uttarakhand Govt Finalises Site For Installation of Thiruvalluvar’s Statue
(1) Uttarakhand government has decided to install the statue of Tamil saint-poet Thiruvalluvar in the lawns of Haridwar’s Mela Bhawan on the bank of the Ganga with Chief Minister Harish Rawat writing a reassuring letter to his TN counterpart in a bid to assuage hurt sentiments.
(2) In this regards, a team of senior IAS officials finalized a spot inside the Mela Bhawan lawns where a pedestal is being built to install the statue of the great poet.
(3) Thiruvalluvar is a celebrated Tamil poet and philosopher whose contribution to Tamil literature is the Thirukkural, a work on ethics. He was born either in Thiru Mylai (Mylapore) Chennai in Tamil Nadu or in ThirunayanarKuruchi, a village in Kanyakumari District of Tamil Nadu.
APPOINTMENT & RESIGN
Madhav Chitale Committee Constituted to Prepare Guidelines For Desiltation of River Ganga
(1) The Union Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation has constituted a committee to prepare guidelines for desiltation of Ganga River.
(2) The four member committee will be headed by Madhav Chitale (Expert Member of NGRBA). The tenure of the committee would be for a period of three months.
(3) Terms of Reference of Committee: Prepare guidelines for desiltation of Ganga River from Bhimgauda (Uttarakhand) to Farakka (West Bengal), Establish difference between desilting and sand mining, Establish need for desilting for ecology and e-flow of the river Ganga.
Dr. Sanjiv Misra Appointed as AD and NE (part time) Chairman at Axis Bank
(1) Mumbai-headquartered, Axis Bank has stated that the Reserve Bank of India has granted approval for appointment of Sanjiv Misra as Additional Director and the Non-Executive (Part-Time) Chairman of the bank for a period of three years with effect from July 18, 2016, up to July 17, 2019 (both days inclusive).
(2) Dr. Misra was a member of the Indian Administrative Service for over 35 years during which period he held a wide range of key positions in the Federal and state governments, including as Managing Director of the Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation and stints at senior levels in the Government of India in the Cabinet Office, the Ministry of Petroleum and the Ministry of Finance.
(3) He was a Secretary in the Ministry of Finance till his superannuation in 2008. Subsequently, he served as a Member of the 13th Finance Commission, a constitutional position with the rank of a Minister of State.
Ganesh Singh Appointed as Head of JPC For Land Acquisition Bill
(1) Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan has reformed the Joint Parliamentry Committe(JPC) for Land Acquistion Bill and appointed Ganesh Singh as the Chairperson of the Joint Committee of Parliament examining the Land Acquisition Bill.
(2) Mr. Ganesh is a member of parliament of BJP from Satna constituency of Madhya Pradesh. He is a member of the 16th Lok Sabha of India and this is the third term for him.
(3) Mr. Ganesh Singh replaced S S Ahluwalia, who became Minister of the State for Parliamentary Affairs in reshuffle of the council of ministers on 5 July 2016. After the appointment, Singh will have to move a resolution in the Lok Sabha seeking the seventh extension of the term of the panel.
NSE Revamps Board Appoints Three New Public Directors
(1) The National Stock Exchange (NSE) has revamped its board, appointing three new public interest directors including chairman of Manipal Global Education Services and Infosys' former director Mohandas Pai, former secretary at the Ministry of Corporate Affairs Naved Masood and KPMG India's former deputy chief executive Dinesh Kanabar on the NSE's board as public interest directors.
(2) The board of the National Stock Exchange of India has 10 directors with Ashok Chawla, former chief of Competition Commission of India, as its chairman till January. He took charge from S B Mathur as NSE board chairman in May.
BUSINESS & ECONOMY
IRCTC, SBI Sign MoU on Promotion of Rail Ticketing Activities
(1) Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), is a subsidiary of the Indian Railways Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation and the country's largest public sector bank(PSB) State Bank of India (SBI) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to hammer out a detailed plan for promotion of rail ticketing activities, including internet ticketing and unreserved ticketing system.
(2) Under the MoU, the signatories will jointly explore areas of cooperation and draw up a detailed plan for promotion of rail ticketing activities.
(3) SBI will also undertake development of Unreserved Ticketing System and "such other services which can be jointly undertaken.
Mydala Partners Viacom 18 for Star Trek Beyond
(1) India's leading local services marketing platform, Mydala.com has joined forces with Viacom 18 as the media partner for 'Star Trek Beyond', the third installment of the iconic Star Trek Reboot Series.
(2) Mydala is giving its users a sci-fi thrill with a StarTrekBeyond contest where its 400 million consumers across 209 cities in India can win movie tickets as well as official merchandise.
(3) Mydala is also the largest mobile commerce platform in the country doing over 6.6 million transactions per month with 85% of these from mobile platforms.
HDFC ERGO Enters Into Bancassurance Tie-up With SVC Bank
(1) HDFC ERGO General Insurance Company and Shamrao Vithal Co-operative (SVC) Bank have announced their bancassurance agency partnership to provide a range of non-life insurance offerings to the customers of the bank.
(2) New Delhi-headquartered SVC Bank has 194 branches in 10 States including Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Goa, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Haryana.
(3) While HDFC ERGO has headquartered in Mumbai, India.
(4) HDFC ERGO is a joint venture between HDFC Ltd. and ERGO International AG, a Germany-based company.
(5) ERGO is a part of the Munich Re Group that stands among the largest insurance companies of the world with an asset share of over Rs. 9,00,000 crores. It operates in 89 Indian cities with over 109 branches and 1,900 staff members across the country.
OBITUARY
Legendary Modern Artist S H Raza Passed Away
(1) Legendary modern Indian artist Syed Haider Raza has passed away in New Delhi following a prolonged illness. He was 94 years old.
(2) He was best known for popularizing Indian concepts of art and iconography globally and was also building a towering legacy of modern art.
(3) His work was recognized with the introduction of ‘Bindu’ released in 1980, which is a closer look at the Indian culture. It gave an Indian vision all his work and a deeper aspect of art.
(4) Artist Saiyed Haider Raza was honoured with the highest french award- The Legion of Honour in 2015. He was also received Padma Vibhushan in 2013 and Padma Bhushan in 2007 and Fellowship of the Lalit Kala Akademi (1981) for his artistic contributions.
SPORTS
Neeraj Chopra Becomes 1st Indian to Set World Record in Jr Athletics Championship
(1) Javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra (18) has created history by becoming first Indian Junior athlete to create a World Record in Junior athletics Championship.
(2) He achieved this feat, by throwing javelin at a record distance of 86.48 m in his second attempt in the IAAF Under-20 World Athletics Championship held in Bydgoszcz, Poland.
(3) He won gold medal in this event. Besides, South African Johan Grobler (80.59m) won the silver medal and Anderson Peters (79.65m) of Granada won the bronze medal.
(4) With this, Neeraj Chopra broke the previous record of 84.69 metres held by Latvian Zigismunds Sirmais by nearly two metres.
Virat Kohli Becomes First Indian Captain to Score Double Century Outside India
(1) India test team captain Virat Kohli has become the first Indian captain to score a double century outside India.
(2) He scored 200 runs against West Indies on day two of the first Test at the Sir Vivian Richards stadium in North Sound, West Indies.
(3) With his double century, Kohli entered the list of visiting captains with highest scores in West Indies.
(4) Kohli is the fifth Indian captain to score a double century in a Test match after Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi (201 vs England), Sunil Gavaskar (205 vs West Indies), Sachin Tendulkar (217 vs New Zealand) and MS Dhoni (224 vs Australia).
(5) It is the highest score by an Indian skipper away from home. Mohammad Azharuddin had scored 192 against New Zealand in Auckland in 1990.
Sachin Tendulkar to Launch New Game Sachin SaGa
(1) Cricket legend Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar is all set to make his debut in the world of digital gaming with the proposed launch of his official game, Sachin Saga.
(2) The games will relive Sachin’s cricketing journey. The game will be developed by PlayIzzOn Technologies at its studios in Pune and US.
(3) PlayIzzOn is a gaming arm of JetSynthesys. The partnership has been initiated in association with Fluence, a celebrity digital network in India.
(4) ‘Sachin Saga’ would be made available on Android, iOS, Windows.
(5) The final version of the game is expected to come in the next five to six months while the prequel of the game would be introduced in next three months.
Regards!
Team BM.
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