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NATIONAL NEWS
MHA Sets Up T V S N Prasad Committee To Explore Possible Alternatives To Pellet Guns In Kashmir
(1) The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has setup a seven-member expert committee for exploring the other possible alternatives to pellet guns as non-lethal weapons.
(2) The Committee will be headed by T V S N Prasad, Joint Secretary in the MHA.
(3) It will submit its report within two months. Other members of the committee are: Atul Karwal (IG, CRPF), Rajeev Krishna, (IG Operations, BSF), Tushar Tripathy (DDG, Small Arms, Ordnance factory Board) and Naresh Bhatnagar (Professor at IIT, Delhi).
(4) Pellet guns are being used since 2010 in Kashmir to disperse and control crowd i.e as deterrence to antisocial elements.
(5) The use of pellet guns is blamed for causing fatal injuries and blindness among protestors in Kashmir.
Union Government Issues Notification For Implementation of 7th Pay Commission
(1) The Union Government has issued notification for the implementation of 7th Pay Commission.
(2) It was issued as per the Cabinet approval in June 2016. With this issuance, 4.8 million central government employees and 5.2 million pensioners will get the increased payout from their August 2016 salaries.
(3) Besides, Union Government has given CBSE chief Rajesh Kumar Chaturvedi an additional charge of Chief of the implementation cell of the Seventh Central Pay Commission.
(4) The 7th Pay Commission hike will result in increase in salaries of central government employees in the range of 7 thousand rupees to 18 thousand rupees per month.
(5) A fitment factor of 2.57 will also apply for pay revision of all employees and the rate of annual increment has been retained at 3%.
(6) There will be two dates for grant of increment i.e. on January 1 and July 1 every year – instead of the existing July 1 only.
(7) Employees will be entitled to only one annual increment on either of these two dates depending on the date of appointment, promotion or grant of financial upgradation.
Lok Sabha Passes Institutes of Technology (Amendment) Bill, 2016
(1) The Lok Sabha has passed Institutes of Technology (Amendment) Bill, 2016 or opening six new IITs.
(2) The Bill seeks to amend the Institutes of Technology Act, 1961 to add six new IITs as institutions of national importance.
(3) Key Features of the Bill are: Addition of six new IITs in Palakkad (Kerala), Tirupati (Andhra Pradesh), Goa, Dharwar (Karnataka), Bhilai (Chhattisgarh) and Jammu (Jammu and Kashmir); Bring the Indian School of Mines (ISM), Dhanbad (Jharkhand) within the ambit of the parent Act.
(4) All these institutions will be declared as institutions of national importance.
(5) Until the statutes in relation to IIT (ISM), Dhanbad are made under the parent Act, the statutes applicable to IIT Roorkee will apply to it.
(6) The Institutes of Technology Act, 1961 declares certain Institutes of Technology as institutions of national importance.
Union Government To Redraw Red Corridor
(1) The Union Government is planning to redraw Red Corridor by reducing the number of Maoist (LWE: Left wing extremism) affected districts by about a fifth.
(2) In this regard, approximately 20 of the 106 districts which have been described as being Maoist-affected and are part of the Red Corridor may be removed from the list.
(3) Once these districts are taken off the list of Red Corridor, the financial aid made available to these districts annually for various developmental works will dry up.
(4) The Red Corridor is a region in the eastern part of India that experiences considerable Naxalite–Maoist insurgency. There are 106 districts spanning across 10 States in the Red Corridor.
(5) Of these, 44 districts are worst-affected. These 10 states are Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Telangana, Odisha, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.
India’s First Green Rail Corridor Launched In Tamil Nadu
(1) India’s first Green Rail Corridor was inaugurated on the 114-km long Rameswaram-Manamadurai stretch in Tamil Nadu.
(2) It was inaugurated by Union Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu through video-conferencing from Chennai, Tamil Nadu.
(3) The Green Rail Corridor ensures zero toilet discharge on rail tracks as part of its commitment to clean environment under the ‘Swachh Rail-Swachh Bharat’ initiative.
(4) Trains in the section have been equipped with bio-toilets to ensure zero discharge of human waste on the rail tracks.
(5) Besides, Union Railways Minister also inaugurated high speed upgraded Wi-Fi facility, set up in association with Google, at Chennai Central Railway Station and Tiruchirappalli Railway Station.
(6) He also launched a traditional medicine centre under Ayush at Perambur Railway Hospital.
First Female Violinist To Get Sangita Kalanidhi Award
(1) Renowned violinist Avasarala Kanyakumari from south India was selected for the prestigious 2016 Sangita Kalanidhi Award.
(2) With this, she becomes first female violinist chosen in the history of this prestigious award. She will be bestowed with the award on January 1, 2017.
(3) She will also preside over the 90th annual conference of the Music Academy scheduled from December 15, 2016 to January 1, 2017.
(4) So far eight male violinists have been bestowed with this award. They are M. Chandrasekaran (2005), M. S. Gopalakrishnan (1997), Papa KS Venkataramiah (1962), TK Jayarama Iyer (1960), T. Chowdiah (1957), Marungapuri Gopalakrishna Iyer (1955), Karur Chinnaswamy Iyer (1950) and Kumbakonam Rajamanickam Pillai (1948).
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Solar Impulse 2 Completes Historic Round-The-World Trip
(1) The Solar Impulse 2 has become the first aircraft to circle the globe using solar energy after landing in Abu Dhabi on the last leg of its journey.
(2) In its journey, the long-range solar-powered aircraft has travelled 26744 miles across four continents, three seas and two oceans since setting off from Abu Dhabi in March 2015.
(3) Solar Impulse 2 is a Swiss long-range solar-powered aircraft project. It is first aircraft to fly day and night without consuming conventional fuel in oder to promote renewable energy.
(4) Its construction was started in 2011. The first test flight of the aircraft was conducted in the United States in 2013. In its 17-leg voyage, the aircraft has racked up 558 hours of flight time.
(5) The aircraft was piloted in turns by Markus Scherdel, Andre Borschberg and Bertrand Piccard. It started its journey from Abu Dhabi (UAE). Its first halt was in Muscat (Oman). Later it halted in Ahmedabad and Varanasi in India. It had halted in Mandalay (Myanmar), Chongqing & Nanjing (China).
(6) It had made an unscheduled stop in Japan to await favourable weather over the Pacific. From Japan it crossed the Pacific Ocean via Hawaii (US) and flew across the United States, taking 3 stops at Phoenix, the Midwest and New York City. Then it crossed Atlantic Ocean and took halt in Seville, Spain in Europe. Later in its final leg it landed in Cairo, Egypt and completed its journey in Abu Dhabi.
BRICS Policy Planning Dialogue Concludes In Patna
(1) The BRICS Policy Planning Dialogue was successfully concluded in Patna, Bihar.
(2) Delegates of BRICS countries – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa had attended the meeting. (3) The two day (25-26 July 2016) dialogue provided a common platform to BRICS countries for sharing of best practices in foreign policy planning and assessment between the BRICS countries.
(4) It forwarded the Policy Planning talks initiated under the Chairmanship of Russia in 2015 in line with 2016 theme of “Building Responsive, Inclusive and Collective Solutions”.
(5) Discussions on exchanges on strategic assessments of international situation and regional situation of each country were held. They also discussed the role of BRICS in international governance, ongoing cooperation at BRICS Forum and reflected on areas of convergence among BRICS.
(6) They also discussed ways to enhance sharing of best practices in foreign policy planning and assessment between the BRICS countries.
Scientists Working Toward Storing Digital Information In DNA
(1) Scientists are working towards storing digital data in the base sequence of DNA (Deoxyribonucleic acid). (2) Thus they are seeking to make the genetic material capable to store data for long time in durable format as an archive data for the future.
(3) DNA is by its essence an information-storing molecule. It carries the genetic instructions used in the growth, development, functioning and reproduction of all known living.
(4) These genetic instructions are passed from generation to generation by the genes. It basically transmits the blueprints for creating the human body.
(5) DNA digital data storage technology has very long durability i.e. scientists can store digital information in DNA sequences for thousands of years. Information stored in DNA consumes very little space.
China Unveils World’s Largest Amphibious Aircraft
(1) China has completed the production of the world’s largest amphibious aircraft dubbed as the AG600. It was unveiled by the state-owned Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC) in the southern port city of Zhuhai.
(2) Key Features of this aircraft include - the massive seaplane is far larger than any other plane built for marine take-off and landing. The aircraft has a maximum take-off weight of 53.5 tonnes and is around the size of a commercial plane Boeing 737. It has a maximum range of 4,500 km and is intended for fighting forest fires and performing marine rescues.
(3) It will be used for fighting forest fires and performing marine rescues. Besides, it will wean off China’s dependence on foreign aviation firms for amphibious aircrafts.
(4) It could potentially be used to display China’s ability to conduct a variety of operations in the disputed South China Sea.
APPOINTMENT & RESIGN
Budha Rashmi Mani Appointed As Director General of National Museum
(1) Former Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) official Dr. Budha Rashmi Mani was appointed as Director General (DG) of National Museum.
(2) He was appointed by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) presided by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He will have tenure of 3 years or till attainment of age 70.
(3) Budha Rashmi Mani is retired as Additional Director General (ADG) of the ASI in 2015. He is BHU (Banaras Hindu University) alumnus and holds PhD on the Kushanas.
(4) During his 30 archaeological career, he led excavations in Haryana, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir. Earlier in 2003, he had led the excavation team in the disputed Ramjanmabhoomi-Babri Masjid site in Ayodhya.
(5) He is also serving as the General Secretary of the Indian Archaeological Society (IAS). He edits the journal Puratattva of IAS.
(6) The National Museum was established in 1949 and is located at Janpath and Maulana Azad Road, New Delhi.
(7) It holds variety of articles ranging from pre-historic era to modern works of art. It has around 200,000 works of art, both of Indian and foreign origin, covering over 5,000 years.
Tetsuya Tekano Resigns As Ricoh India Chairman
(1) Tetsuya Tekano has resigned as director/chairman of Ricoh India with effect from July 25, 2016.
(2) The company has appointed Ian Peter Winham as its Director/Chairman with immediate effect.
(3) Winham joined the Ricoh Group in Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) in 2002 as CFO and was appointed Executive Vice President, CIO and CFO of Ricoh Europe in 2007.
(4) In 2014, he took on a global role as head of Global Capital Management. In April 2016, he was appointed Corporate Vice President of Ricoh Company, Ltd.
BUSINESS & ECONOMY
Flipkart Acquires Jabong Through Fashion Portal Myntra
(1) Homegrown e-commerce giant Flipkart acquired online fashion portal Jabong through its fashion unit Myntra.
(2) It is said that Jabong was acquired by Flipkart in a cut-price deal that values the online fashion store at 70 million dollars.
(3) This acquisition will help Flipkart to strengthen its position in Fashion and Lifestyle e-commerce segment in order to compete with Amazon Fashion in India.
(4) In September 2014, Jabong was merged with four online fashion retailers in Latin America, Russia, South-east Asia, Middle East to create GFG by its investor Rocket Internet.
G-20 Finance Ministers Pledge To Boost Global Economy
(1) The Finance Ministers from the Group of 20 (G-20) major economies have pledged to boost the global economy, which is showing a weak recovery.
(2) This announcement was made at the end of the two-day meeting of G-20 Finance ministers and Central Bank Governors meeting held in the Chinese city of Chengdu.
(3) G-20 Finance ministers expressed concern about Britain’s plan to leave the European Union and how Brexit will affect the world’s economy.
(4) They vowed to reject trade protectionism, which became a prominent issue at the meeting.
(5) They expressed the importance of reducing the excess production of steel that has led to a glut on the global market.
RBI slaps penalty on BoB, HDFC Bank & PNB
(1) The Reserve Bank of India has imposed a penalty of Rs 5 crore on Bank of Baroda (BoB) in connection with the Rs 6,100-crore foreign exchange fraud exposed last year.
(2) The RBI has imposed penalties of Rs 2 crore on HDFC Bank.
(3) Delhi-based public sector lender Punjab National Bank also in notice to exchanges.
(4) RBI has imposed an aggregate penalty of Rs 3 crore. It has taken necessary preventive measures/ comprehensive action plan to avoid its recurrence.
(5) Last year, a Rs 6,000-crore foreign exchange scam was unearthed at BoB. However, later these accounts were traced to HDFC Bank where the fraud was believed to have started.
(6) As part of this scam, funds were transferred to accounts in Hong Kong for certain import transactions that were not carried out.
ICICI, Axis Bank Join Swift's Global Payments Initiative
(1) ICICI Bank and Axis Bank are the first Indian banks to sign up for Swift’s global payments innovation initiative.
(2) The initiative already has over 70 other leading banks globally which aims to “enhance” cross-border payments by using its messaging platform.
(3) The Belgium-based Swift is a global member-owned cooperative and a leading provider of secure financial messaging services.
(4) It provides its members a platform for messaging and standards for communicating, apart from offering products and services to facilitate access and integration, identification, analysis and financial crime compliance to over 11,000 banking and securities companies, market infrastructure and corporates in over 200 countries.
Vodafone M-Pesa Ties Up With Punjab Power Utility
(1) Vodafone M-Pesa, a mobile phone-based money transfer service, has tied up with Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) to enable consumers pay their electricity bills instantly.
(2) Vodafone M-Pesa offers customers a cashless, secure platform for electricity bill payments with the largest network of agents (or CashIn Points) to enable digitisation of money for cash holding population.
(3) M-Pesa is a mobile phone-based money transfer, financing and microfinancing service, launched in 2007 by Vodafone for Safaricom and Vodacom, the largest mobile network operators in Kenya and Tanzania.
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