Daily Current Affairs Updates– 12th July 2016:
Daily Current affairs News Updates about the National and International events were listed here. Candidates those who are preparing for IBPS/SBI/PO/Clerk exam and all other competitive exams can use this.
IMPORTANT DAYS:
· International Malala Day
NABARD celebrates 35th foundation day:
· NABARD, the apex banking body of micro-financing and funding to the causes of rural development is celebrating its 35th foundation day today.
India, Kenya signed seven agreements to deepen cooperation:
· India and Kenya inked seven agreements to enhance cooperation and bilateral relations between the two countries.
· The agreements were inked during Prime Minister NarendraModi’s visit to Kenya from 10 July to 11 July 2016. He visited the country on an invitation of President Uhuru Kenyatta. This was the first at the level of Prime Minister in 35 years.
· Modi was on a four nation visit to Africa namely Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa and Mozambique from 7 July to 11 July 2016.
Government to set up panel to tackle shortage of pulses:
· Government has decided to set up a panel to chalk out a long-term strategy to tackle the shortage of pulses in the country.
· The committee, to be headed by Chief Economic Advisor, will consider reasonable hike in minimum support price of pulses and also bonus for the farmers. It will submit its report within two weeks.
· Food Minister Ram Vilas Paswan, who attended the meeting, offered more pulses to states. Tur will be given to states at 66 rupees per Kilogram and Urad 82 rupees per Kg to sold on retail not exceeding 120 rupees per Kg.
· The meeting was also attended by Information and Broadcasting Minister Venkaiah Naidu.
President to embark on three-day visit to Darjeeling:
· President Pranab Mukherjee will embark on a three-day visit to Darjeeling.
· The West Bengal government will host a state reception in honour of the President at Chowrasta (The Mall) today after his arrival.
· Mr Mukherjee will attend the birth anniversary celebrations of ‘ShriBhanubhaktaAcharya’, which will also be held at the Chowrasta.
· The President will address the annual general meeting of Darjeeling Tea Association.
Arunachal Pradesh to set up 21 women police stations:
· The state cabinet that met with chief minister KalikhoPul in the chair in Itanagar (Capital of Arunachal Pradesh) on July 11 also approved a proposal for resolving the long-pending issue related to promotion of Constables to Head Constables.
· Arunachal Pradesh will soon set up 21 women police stations across the state and create over 400 new posts to run these police stations.
UP creates world record by planting over 5crore trees:
· UP has created a world record for orchestrating the largest state-wide plantation drive in 24 hours.
· From 10 am on July 11 morning, the forest department in UP started a mission to plant 5 crore saplings. By 9 pm, the state claimed it had achieved the target and planted 5.01 crore saplings across the state.
Alappuzha, Panaji and Mysuru cleanest cities in India: CSE survey
· Alappuzha in Kerala, Panaji (Capital of Goa) and Mysuru in Karnataka are cleanest cities in India, a survey based on solid waste management practises in towns across the country today said even as it placed Delhi at the “bottom of the heap”.
India’s first smart grid to come up in Gurgaon:
· The Union government has set in motion the process of rewarding performing states under UDAY, the flagship programme in power sector.
· It would extend support to the country’s first smart grid project to be set up at Gurgaon in Haryana, which has been a performing state under the debt restructuring programme for state-owned power distribution companies.
Bihar signs MoU with Bangkok firm for disaster risk reduction:
· As part of programmes to implement the Roadmap for Disaster Risk Reduction in Bihar (2015-30), the state government signed anMoU with Bangkok-based Asian Disaster Preparedness Centre (ADPC).
Spa for transgenders opens in Tamil Nadu:
· A spa, likely to be India's first to offer its services to the transgender community, was launched in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu.
· Inaugurated by Formula One Driver NarainKarthikeyan and Tamil actor Sethuraman, the unisex salon also offers special luxury rooms for transgenders.
· Notably, Tamil Nadu was the first Indian state to get a transgender police officer in 2015.
INTERNATIONAL:
World’s tallest water coaster comes up in US:
· The 'MASSIV Monster Blaster' is the tallest water coaster in the world at 81 feet and 6.72 inches, as per the Guinness World Records.
· Located in the Schlitterbahn Galveston Island Water Park in Texas (US), the climb to the top takes 123 steps, and the ride is 2.5 football fields long.
· The coaster will be opened to public soon.
South Sudan’s President orders ceasefire after days of fighting:
· South Sudan's President SalvaKiir has ordered a ceasefire after days of intense fighting in capital Juba left number of people dead and many more injured.
· There was renewed fighting between government and former rebel forces since Thursday in Juba.
· The latest exchanges were apparently sparked by a shootout between President Kiir's and Vice President Machar's bodyguards.
British PM to tender his resignation tomorrow:
· British Prime Minister, David Cameron, will tender his resignation to the Queen tomorrow.
· Following this Theresa May will become the Prime Minister.
· 59 year old Mrs. May, who backed staying in the EU, has been the Home secretary since 2010.
· Mrs May had been expecting a nine-week Conservative leadership race, but her only rival Andrea Leadsom withdrew yesterday.
Theresa May to become UK's second female PM:
· Home Secretary Theresa May will become the second female Prime Minister to lead the United Kingdom.
· This comes after May's rival, Andrea Leadsom, withdrew her candidacy and current PM David Cameron announced that he will submit his resignation on Wednesday.
· Margaret Thatcher was the first female to become the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
Tokyo houses world's first Snoopy Museum:
· Japan's Tokyo has a ‘Snoopy Museum’ dedicated to the artwork of Charles M Schulz, the creator of the ‘Peanuts’ comic strip.
· It showcases large-scale works featuring popular characters like Snoopy and Woodstock, hosts new exhibitions every six months, and houses Peanuts memorabilia for sale.
· The satellite museum will shut down in September 2018.
APPOINTMENTS:
Utpal Bora appointed as Chairman of Oil India:
· The Union Government appointed Utpal Bora as the full-time chairman of Oil India Ltd.
· Bora's appointment was recommended by a three-member search-cum-selection committee headed by Cabinet Secretary P K Sinha.
· On the other hand, the Department Of Personnel And Training also announced the appointment of D Rajkumar as head of Bharat Petroleum.
· Rajkumar will take over the charge on or after 1 October 2016 after retirement of BPCL's current chief S Varadarajan in September 2016.
HDFC to become first issuer of 'masala bonds':
· Mortgage lender HDFC said that it plans to raise up to ₹3,000 crore through synthetic INR notes called 'masala bonds', a first for an Indian company.
· HDFC added that it has appointed Axis Bank, Credit Suisse, and Nomura as joint bookrunners and lead managers to the issue.
· 'Masala bonds' are rupee-denominated borrowings by Indian entities in overseas markets
AWARDS AND HONORS:
President confers 51st Jnanpith Award on Dr.RaghuveerChaudhari:
· President Pranab Mukherjee conferred the 51st Jnanpith Award on renowned Gujarati writer Dr.RaghuveerChaudhari at Parliament Library Building, New Delhi.
· He was awarded with the India's highest literary honour for the year 2015.
· He was given a cash prize, a citation plaque and a bronze replica of Goddess Saraswati.
· With this, he also became the fourth Gujarati literary artist to receive the prestigious award. The other Gujarati recipients of the award are poet Umashankar Joshi (1967), novelist Pannalal Patel (1985) and poet Rajendra Shah (2001).
Griezmann named Euro's Player of the Tournament:
· French forward Antoine Griezmann was named Euro 2016's Player of the Tournament, after UEFA announced the team of the tournament.
· The forward scored six goals in the tournament, the second most in a single edition of the European Championships, behind former France captain Michel Platini.
· Portugal's Renato Sanches was named Euro 2016's Young Player of the Tournament by the UEFA.
· Sanches became the youngest-ever winner of the award at 18 years and 328 days of age, besides being the youngest-ever finalist and the third-youngest player to participate in a European Championship.
Taylor Swift world's highest-paid celebrity: Forbes
· Singer Taylor Swift, 26, has been named the world's highest-paid celebrity of 2016 as part of the 'Celebrity 100' list by 'Forbes', having earned $170 million from June 2015 to June 2016.
· With earnings of $110 million, boy band 'One Direction' ranked second. Singer Adele and actors Kevin Hart and Jennifer Lawrence were among the top 50 in the list.
Man deadlifts 500 kg to set new record:
· British lifter Eddie Hall, nicknamed ‘The Beast’, deadlifted 500 kg to create a new record in strongman competitions.
· Hall is planning to compete in the World’s Strongest Man competition.
BUSINESS AND ECONOMY:
eBay acquires predictive analytics startup:
· E-commerce giant eBay announced the acquisition of Israel-based predictive analytics startupSalesPredict that leverages advanced analytics to predict customer buying behaviour and sales conversion.
· Although the terms of the deal were not revealed, eBay stated that the move is an effort to make itself better understand how to reach those looking to buy from its online marketplace.
Myntraacquihires Bengaluru-based Cubeit:
· In its third technology focused acquisition, online fashion retailer Myntraacquired Bengaluru-based content aggregation app Cubeit.
· As a part of the deal, Cubeit's team has been inducted into Myntra's technology team.
· Founded in 2014 by four IIT Gandhinagar alumni, Cubeit allows users to aggregate content from anywhere, and organise, view, and share it from one place.
Ibibo buys majority stake in Peru-based Busportal:
· Online travel company Ibibo Group acquired a majority stake in Peru-based bus ticketing platform Busportal for an undisclosed amount.
· The investment in Busportal will give Ibibo Group’s bus ticketing platform redBus an entry into Latin American markets including Peru, Colombia and Chile.
· In June 2013, Ibibo acquired a controlling stake in redBus, valuing it at around $140 million.
Paytm offers loans to auto drivers, kirana shops:
· Online payment platform Paytm on Monday announced that it has started offering working capital loans of ₹10,000- ₹1,00,000 to kirana stores, auto and taxi drivers, milk cooperatives and other merchants who accept payments through Paytm.
· The merchants' credit profiles based on their transaction histories will be shared with third-party financial institutions like Capital Float for risk assessment.
Qualcomm unveils its fastest mobile processor:
· Qualcomm unveiled the Snapdragon 821, the fastest mobile processor made by the company so far.
· The new processor is 10% faster than the Snapdragon 820 processor and can reach speeds of up to 2.4 GHz.
· Devices including smartphones, tablets and virtual reality headsets equipped with the new processor are expected to launch in the second half of 2016.
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY:
MIT researchers develop new anonymity network:
· A team of MIT researchers has developed an anonymity network, called Riffle, following the revelation of vulnerabilities in the widely-popular anonymity network 'Tor'.
· Apart from the existing techniques being used by Tor, Riffle adds two more layers of security – making every server permute the order of messages it receives and keeping any malicious server from leaking the incoming data.
Six more Indians qualify for Rio Olympics:
· Six Indians qualified for the Rio Olympics. These are RenjithMaheswary, AnirbanLahiri, Dharambir Singh, Jinson Johnson, Shiv Shankar Prasad Chawrasia and Aditi Ashok. Rio Olympics will be held from 5 August to 21 August 2016.
ü RenjithMaheswary: The triple jumper leaped with a national record of 17.30 meters bettering the Rio qualification mark of 16.85 metres at the Indian Grand Prix in Bengaluru.
ü Dharambir Singh: He in 200 meter race shattered national records by clocking 20.45 seconds to make the cut for Rio and become the first Indian to run in an Olympics 200m race after 36 years.
ü Jinson Johnson: He ran the second fastest ever 800 metres race to qualify.
ü AnirbanLahiri, Shiv Shankar Prasad Chawrasia and Aditi Ashok: They qualified for Rio after the crossing the mark of rank 60 in world rankings.
Football World Cup for homeless kicks off:
· The 14th edition of the Homeless World Cup kicked off in Scotland.
· The tournament will feature 48 male and 16 female teams from 52 countries, including a male and female team from India.
· The Indian teams' participation in the tournament was confirmed after a crowdsourcing campaign was launched for them in June.
Jerome Taylor quits Test cricket:
· Jerome Taylor, the West Indies fast bowler, has retired from Test cricket and has informed the selectors of his decision, the West Indies Cricket Board said.
· The 32-year-old will still be available to play One-Day Internationals and Twenty20 Internationals.
Indian men’s relay team second fastest in 2016:
· The Indian men’s 4x400 metre relay team posted 2016's second fastest timing by clocking 3:00.91 seconds, a new national record, at the 4th Indian Grand Prix in Bangalore.
· The Indian men and women teams are expected to qualify for Rio based on their rankings, which are 13th and 12th respectively.
Tim Duncan announces retirement from NBA:
· San Antonio Spurs power forward Tim Duncan has announced his retirement from the NBA after a 19-year long career in the basketball league.
· The 40-year-old, who was picked by the franchise as the first overall pick of the draft in 1997, won five NBA titles with the team and was awarded the NBA MVP in 2002 and 2003.
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