2016-07-13



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.

Najma Heptullah and GM Siddeshwara resign; Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi given charge of Minority Affairs Ministry:

·        Minority Affairs Minister Dr Najma Heptulla and Minister of State for Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises G.M. Siddeshwara have resigned from the Union Council of Ministers.

·        Minister of State for Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi has been given the independent charge of the Ministry.

·        Babul Supriyo, Minister of State has been relieved of the charges of Minister of State in the Ministry of Urban Development and Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation.

Delhi government to set up 300 dengue clinics:

·        Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain said as many as 300 clinics will be set up across the capital to provide treatment for dengue this year.

·        These clinics will operate like the 'mohalla clinics', and nodal officers will be appointed for their supervision, officials stated.

·        Nearly 16,000 dengue cases were reported in the city in 2015.

Railways launch time-tabled Auto Express from Gurgaon to Nidvanda:

·        Targeting 25 per cent rail share in automobile traffic, railways launched time-tabled Auto Express from Gurgaon to Nidvanda to ensure faster delivery of cargo.

·        Like our ever-growing population, auto population is also increasing on a faster rate. In fact auto sector is a fastest growing economy.

·        Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu said after launching the first time-tabled auto car freight train service between Gurgaon and Nidvanda (Bangalore) from New Delhi through video-conferencing.

·        At present about 2000 cars move per month between Gurgaon and Nidavanda.

·        With launch of the time tabled run of the freight train for automobile traffic, the volume will go up and the number of trips are likely to increase resulting transportation of about 6000 cars a month.

Union Government notifies AADHAR Act giving UIDAI legal basis:

·        The Union Government has notified the UIDAI (Terms and Conditions of Service of Chairperson and Members) Rules, 2016 to give legal status to Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI).

·        These rules have been framed as per provisions of Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Act, 2016.

SC orders restoration of Congress Government in Arunachal Pradesh:

·        The Supreme Court has ordered the restoration of former Chief Minister Nabam Tuki’s Congress government in Arunachal Pradesh.

·        Verdict in this regard was given by a five-judge constitution bench headed by Justice JS Kehar on a bunch of petitions.

·        These petitions were dealing with discretionary powers of Governor Jyoti Prasad Rajkhowa to summon or advance the assembly session.

Indian Navy’s Marine Commandos’ base INS Karna commissioned:

·        Indian Navy has commissioned INS Karna, an independent base of Marine Commandos (MARCOS) at Bheemunipatanam Naval Base, Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh.

·        It was commissioned by Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Sunil Lanba at the commissioning ceremony held at Bheemunipatanam Naval Base.

·        The commissioning of a new base to the Special Forces of the Indian Navy will play important role to safeguard our nation’s vast maritime interests.

·        Captain Varun Singh will be the Commanding Officer of INS Karna.

Bangladesh, India sign agreement for joint coal fired power plant:

·        Bangladesh and India have signed an agreement for the construction of a 1,320 megawatt (MW) coal fired power plant near Sundarbans.

·        The agreement was signed between Bangladesh-India Friendship Power Company (Pvt) Limited (BIFPCL), the joint venture enterprise and Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL).

·        BHEL was selected under an open international tender for constructing the super thermal plant at Bangladesh’s southwestern Rampal near the Sundarbans.

Union Government launches Intensified Diarrhoea Control Fortnight:

·        The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has launched a nationwide Intensified Diarrhoea Control Fortnight (IDCF) to check child diarrhoeal deaths.

·        The IDCF drive was launched by Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare J P Nadda in New Delhi. It will be observed from 11th to 23rd July, 2016 across the country.

Pokhara-New Delhi direct bus service launched:

·        The first direct bus service between Pokhara (Nepal) and New Delhi (India) was launched to connect South Asia’s two important cities.

·        The bus service was flagged off by Nepal Home Minister Shakti Bahadur Basnet and India’s ambassador to Nepal Ranjit Rae from Pokhara (Nepal’s famous tourist spot).

INTERNATIONAL:

US announces to provide funding for Afghan Forces by 2020:

·        US Defence Secretary has announced to provide funding for the Afghan National Defence and Security Forces by 2020.

·        At a joint press conference with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani in Kabul, Mr Carter said, US and its allies intend to remain fully committed to the Resolute Support Mission in Afghanistan.

·        President Ghani said, an environment of trust had been created between Kabul and Washington and that they are on the same page in the fight terrorism.

7,500 musicians set record for largest orchestra:

·        Over 7,500 classical musicians  performed together at the Commerzbank football stadium in Frankfurt, breaking the world record for the largest orchestra, according to the German Institute for Records.

·        Conductor Wolf Kerschek led the 45-minute long musical performance of Beethoven’s 'Ode to Joy'. The previous record was set in Australia in 2013 when over 7,200 musicians played together.

APPOINTMENTS:

Raj Babbar named Uttar Pradesh Congress chief:

·        Former actor and Rajya Sabha MP Raj Babbar was appointed the new President of the Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee (UPCC) and Rajesh Mishra was named the committee's Vice President.

·        Making the announcement, party leader Ghulam Nabi Azad added that there will "surely" be a Chief Ministerial candidate from the party for the 2017 state assembly election.

K V R Murthy new chairman-cum-MD at Jute Corp of India:

·        K V R Murthy has been appointed as chairman-cum-managing director of the Jute Corporation of India Limited with the effect from this month beginning.

·        The appointment is valid for a period of five years or till the date of his superannuation, whichever is earlier.

·        Prior to this appointment Murthy was earlier associated with Eastern Railways in the capacity of Chief Commercial Manager.

Vijay Ghadge joins as COO of Snapdeal’s captive logistics unit Vulcan Express:

·        Vijay Ghadge, the former chief operating officer of ecommerce logistics company Go-Javas, has joined Vulcan Express, the captive logistics unit of Snapdeal, as its COO.

Sun Pharma brings back old hand Kalyanasundaram Subramanian from Taro Pharmaceutical Industries:

·        Kalyanasundaram Subramanian, or Kal Sundaram, an old hand at Sun Pharmaceutical Industries, is coming back home.

·        He will be leading the India and sub-continent business starting January 2017.

·        Post the acquisition of Ranbaxy, Sun has taken the top rank in India, with a market share of 8.7%.

‘Paperless SIP’ introduced by BSE for mutual fund investors:

·        ‘Paperless SIP’ (systematic investment plans) which allows mutual fund investors to make transactions through various modes of payments has been unveiled by the leading Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).

·        These investment plans also allows MF distributors to register SIPs for their clients, who can pay SIP amounts through different modes.

·        As per this Paperless SIP facility once the SIP has been registered, the investors would receive an e-mail for all the payment modes, including direct pay, nodal account, one time mandate and cheque.

·        Capital market regulator SEBI had allowed mutual fund distributors to use the stock exchange platform for non-demat transactions as well for sale or redemption of these financial products since 2014.

·        It is noted that this scheme is available only for non-demat transactions and for instalment of amount more than Rs 2 lakh.

IDFC Bank announces acquisition of Grama Vidiyal Microfinance:

·        IDFC Bank announced the acquisition of Grama Vidiyal Microfinance, a Trichy-based Microfinance company.

·        A person familiar with the transaction said the deal is estimated at nearly Rs 300 crore, adding that it will lead to a 20-fold surge in IDFC Bank’s customer base to more than a million.

·        IDFC Bank said it is the first time an Indian bank has acquired a microfinance institution.

ü  IDFC Bank CEO Rajiv Lall

ü  IDFC Bank HQ   Mumbai

IndusInd Bank opens international banking unit at GIFT City:

·        IndusInd Bank has opened international banking unit (IBU) at the International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) in the Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City) to meet the requirements of offshore banking operations from India.

·        The IBU will provide the bank access to international financial markets and will allow IndusInd Bank to deliver a complete range of products to its clients with foreign currency funding requirements.

ü  IndusInd Bank CEO Romesh Sobti

ü  IndusInd Bank HQ   Mumbai

ü  IndusInd Bank Slogan      We make you feel richer

SBI inks MoU with IIT Bombay to promote startups in financial sector:

·        The State Bank of India (SBI) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Society for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (SINE) at IIT Bombay to promote innovation by start-ups in the financial sector.

·        The SINE is IIT Bombay’s technology business incubator to promote innovation by startups in the financial sector.

AWARDS AND HONORS:

Emirates named World's Best Airline:

·        Dubai-based airline Emirates has been named the 'World's Best Airline' by consumer aviation website Skytrax.

·        It was presented with the award on Tuesday at a ceremony during the 2016 Farnborough Air Show.

·        The award was won by Qatar Airways last year. Notably, Emirates has won the top spot for the fourth time since its first win in 2001.

Philippines' Palawan voted World's Best Island:

·        The Philippines' Palawan province has been voted the World's Best Island in a survey by Travel + Leisure magazine for the second time after winning in 2013.

·        Three beaches from the Philippines have made it to the top ten list this year - Palawan, Boracay, and Cebu. Santorini in Greece and Ischia in Italy were also included on the list.

Ronaldo world’s highest-earning sportsman: Forbes

·        Portuguese footballer Cristiano Ronaldo is the world’s highest-paid sportsman, with $88 million yearly earnings, as per Forbes’ Celeb 100, a list of the top-earning celebrities worldwide.

·        Argentina and Barcelona forward Lionel Messi is the second on the list with yearly earnings of $81.5 million.

·        Notably, no Indian sportsperson or cricketer features in the list.

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY:

T-Hub ties up with Israel’s Pears Foundation to hold bi-nation Med4Dev hackathon:

·        T-Hub, the start-up incubator, has tied up with Pears Foundation of Israel to conduct a ‘bination hackathon’.

·        The 36-hour Med4Dev hackathon will focus on affordable healthcare. It will be held across four cities – Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Mumbai and Tel Aviv.

·        The Hyderabad hackathon will be conducted by T-Hub at Gachibowli.

Dewan Housing launches corporate deposit scheme:

·        Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Ltd has launched a short-term corporate deposit scheme, which offers interest rates ranging from 7.55 per cent to 8.40 per cent, depending on the tenure.

·        The minimum deposit under the scheme, which is targeted to meet the short-term investment requirements of corporate customers and is available only to public and private limited companies registered under the Companies Act, is ₹10 lakh.

Mahindra Aerostructures bags supply contract from Airbus:

·        Mahindra Aerostructures, a subsidiary of Mahindra & Mahindra have bagged a Tier 1 supplier contract to supply airframe parts for Airbus’s AS565 MBe Panther helicopter.

·        With this, Mahindra Aerostructures becomes the first Indian company to receive a direct manufacturing contract from Airbus (European aviation major) as a Tier 1 supplier.

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY:

Juno sends back 1st photo from Jupiter's orbit:

·        NASA's Juno spacecraft has sent back the first image since entering Jupiter's orbit on July 4.

·        The image shows a sunlit portion of the planet and its three moons. At that time, the spacecraft was 2.7 million miles from the planet and beginning its 53.5-day orbit.

·        Juno had also captured a time-lapse video of Jupiter's moons over a two-week period.

Microsoft debuts 'Surface as a Service' program:

·        Microsoft announced "Surface as a Service" program, a new initiative that will allow businesses to lease Surface devices, alongside subscriptions to its Office 365 and Windows 10 products.

·        The company said that this move will help in expanding Surface's footprint in the enterprise and will also allow its customers to benefit from access to the latest hardware.

Google to add hotel, flight details to Search:

·        Google announced a series of updates for its search results that will help its users find best deals on flights and accommodations.

·        It will highlight deals when certain hotels are cheaper than normal, and will suggest tweaking the dates of the stay to get cheaper deals.

·        The new features will also include price tracking for flights

India’s Junior men’s hockey team wins EurAsia Cup:

·        The Indian men’s junior hockey team beat Russian club Dynamo Stroitel 3-2 in Yekaterinburg, Russia, to win the 2016 EurAsia Hockey Cup .

·        Goals from Gurjant Singh, Varun Kumar, and Parvinder Singh helped India win the tournament. The Indian team had earlier defeated the Russian club 3-1 on Saturday in the tournament opener.

India, Ashwin placed second in ICC Test rankings:

·        India held the second position with third-placed Pakistan breathing down its neck, while Ravichandran Ashwin topped the all-rounders list besides being placed second in bowling in the latest ICC Test rankings released on July 12.

Prize-winning world historian William H McNeill dies at 98:

·        William H McNeill, the prize-winning scholar who wove the stories of civilizations worldwide into the landmark “The Rise of the West” and helped pioneer the history of disease and epidemics in “Plagues and People,” has died at age 98





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