Daily Current Affairs Updates– 8th 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.
PM Modi holds talks with South African President in Pretoria to boost bilateral ties:
· The one to one talk between the Prime Minister NarendraModi and South African President Jacob Juma is being held in the Union Building, the Presidential Office of South Africa in Pretoria.
· Agreements on economic ties, Technology transfer and civil aviation are likely to be signed. The two leaders will then brief a joint press conference
· Prime Minister will also meet Deputy President of South Africa H.E. Cyril Ramaphosa.
· Mr Modi and Mr Zuma are also scheduled to address business leaders of the both countries in CSIR conference hall. Mr.Modi will also visit Nelson Mandela Foundation in Johannesburg.
India, Mozambique sign MoUs on drug trafficking, pulse trading and sports:
· India and Mozambique signed three Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) in areas of drug trafficking, pulse trading and sports.
· These MoUs were signed between two countries at Maputo, Mozambique during the visit of Prime Minister NarendraModi to Mozambique.
Nirmala Sitharaman to lead business delegation to Russia:
· Commerce and Industry Minister NirmalaSitharaman will lead a delegation of over 110 Indian companies that will showcase their engineering prowess at a trade fair in Russia.
· India is the partner country for'INNOPROM 2016', which is the largest annual international industrial trade fair of Russia.
· The 4-day fair starts from the coming sunday in Ekaterinburg.
· Russia is the first country to have agreed to invest under the 'Make in India' umbrella in two key strategic sectors - nuclear and defence.
· India and Russia have set a goal of boosting bilateral trade to 30 billion dollars and mutual investment to 15 billion dollars by 2025. The two-way trade stood at 6.18 billion dollars last year.
India sets up apparel training centre in Nigeria:
· India has set up an apparel training centre in Nigeria to support textiles industry of the west African country.
· This is a first of its kind centre in Nigeria, set up in partnership with their government. The Commerce and Industry Ministry said in a statement that the centre has been established in Kaduna, Nigeria under the Cotton Technical Assistance Programme for Africa. Nigeria is an important trading partner of India.
· Nigeria is Africa's biggest oil producer, and its major export to India is crude.
Uttar Pradesh government to plant 5 crore saplings in a single day:
· Under the 'Clean UP, Green UP' initiative, the Uttar Pradesh government has announced to plant a record five crore saplings across the state on July 11.
· Of these, 6.7 lakh saplings will be planted in Agra alone. Last year, the state had entered the Guinness Book of World Records for planting 10 lakh saplings within a span of eight hours.
Second phase of Haritha Haram programme launched in Telangana:
· The second phase of Haritha Haram programme of Telangana government was launched in the state .
· Chief Minister Chandrasekhar Rao participated in the plantation programme at Gundrampalli near Chityal in Nalgonda district by planting a Neem sapling.
· Ministers, legislators, officials besides a large number of school children and MGNREGA workers have been asked to take up similar plantations across the state.
NASSCOM unveils India’s first Centre of Excellence on Internet of Things:
· 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.
· The centre was launched in a bid to encourage start-ups to come up with tech solutions centred on Internet of Things (IoT).
Andhra Pradesh to conduct 'Smart Pulse Survey' of 1.48 crore households:
· Andhra Pradesh government will conduct a 'Smart Pulse Survey' for collecting socio-economic data of 1.48 crore households in the state beginning today.
· It will be from 8th to 30th July.
· The State Cabinet decided to conduct the survey to determine the socio-economic status and collect all other relevant details of each household in the state.
· Since the Aadhaar database does not reflect the socio-economic data such as caste, community education, income and livelihood details of a citizen, the smart pulse survey is planned to fill in the gaps related to socio-economic details. Citizens can provide their details over the Internet as well.
Uttarakhand a surprise leader in ease of doing business rankings:
· Uttarakhand has emerged the surprise leader of the ease of doing business ranking as per the position on the last day of submission of evidences of reforms by states.
· Uttarakhand, which was ranked 23 last year, is followed by Telangana that has improved from 13th spot, with several states becoming highly competitive even as the industrial states that get the bulk of investments languish.
Rajnath Singh to inaugurate BRICS drug control meeting:
· Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurates the second anti-drug working group meeting of heads of Drug Control Agencies of BRICS countries.
· The meeting is being organised by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) of India.
· India will host the 8th BRICS summit in October 2016 in Goa
10 inducted into Maha Council of Ministers:
· DevendraFadnavis-led Maharashtra government inducted 10 ministers into the state Council while promoting one existing minister to the Cabinet rank.
· Of the 10, six belonged to the ruling BJP, two to ally Shiv Sena, and one each to the SwabhimaniShetkariSanghatana and the RashtriyaSamajPaksha.
· Five of the 10 were inducted as ministers of Cabinet rank.
International:
UK poised to have first woman PM since Margaret Thatcher:
· Britain is all set to have a woman Prime Minister after more than 25 years since Margaret Thatcher as the race to succeed David Cameron narrowed down to Theresa May and Andrea Leadsom.
· May and Leadsom will now begin their campaigns to convince 150,000 Conservative party membership around the country for a final round of voting with the winner set to be declared on September 9.
· The outcome means Britain is set to have its second female prime minister. Margaret Thatcher was the first, holding office from 1979 to 1990.
NATO Summit begins in Warsaw; Afghan forces, IS militants on agenda:
· The NATO summit begins today in Warsaw, Poland.
· In the two day Summit, the leaders of the 28 NATO Allies and many partner nations will deliberate and take decisions to enhance the Alliance’s security by strengthening its deterrence and defence, and projecting stability beyond its borders.
· On the heels of a U.S. announcement to keep 8,400 U.S. troops in Afghanistan, NATO leaders will discuss key security topics.
Russian leader Putin signs ‘Big Brother’ law:
· Russian President Vladimir Putin signed the “anti-terrorist” legislation adopted by the lower and upper houses of parliament in June 2016.
· This anti-terror amendment is dubbed as Big Brother by US intelligence contractor turned privacy activist Edward Snowden.
· Critics say that the measures may cost billions to the internet and telecom companies.
Sweden pays students to attend secondary school:
· The Swedish government pays a grant of about $120 to every student in the age group 16-20 years to attend secondary school classes.
· While these grants are automatically available to Swedish students, foreign students need to apply for the same. Students can also avail a need based supplementary boarding grant in the range of $140 to $230.
Obama to travel to Poland, Spain to attend NATO Summit:
· US President Barack Obama heads to Europe this week, possibly his last European visit as the President that would take him to Poland and Spain where he would attend the NATO summit and hold meetings with top European leaders following Britain’s exit from the EU.
Appointments:
NCP leader RamrajeNaikNimbalkar re-elected as Maharashtra Council Chairman:
· Current Chairman of Maharashtra Legislative Council and NCP leader, RamrajeNaikNimbalkar was re-elected unopposed as the chairman of Maharashtra Legislative Council ,during a special one-day session convened at the VidhanBhavan.
· The newly appointed council of ministers too were sworn-in at this session and later Chief Minister DevendraFadnavis introduced the new faces to the house.
· The post of Deputy Chairman of the House is lying vacant, election for which was not held.
Home First Finance Company is looking to sell 30% stake for Rs 250 crore to fund operations:
· Mumbai-based private lender Home First Finance Company is looking to sell 30% stake for Rs 250 crore to fund operations, valuing the company at Rs 850 crore.
· Founded by former Mphasis chairman JaithirthRao and Bank of Baroda managing director PS Jayakumar, the Mumbai-based company provides loans of Rs 1-30 lakh, mostly to firsthome buyers.
Five private equities in race for 10% stake in Hero FinCorp for Rs 800 crore:
· Private equity firms Multiples, ChrysCapital, Creador Capital, Baring Asia and Partners Group are in race to buy a 10% stake in Hero FinCorp, the vehicle finance arm of top two wheeler maker Hero Moto-Corp, four people with direct knowledge of the matter said.
· All the five PE firms have submitted their non-binding bids for the stake about a week back, they said.
HDFC Bank Launches SME Bank:
· The private sector lender has launched an SME Bank which will provide full-fledged digital banking service to small and medium sector enterprises.
· There are over 3.6 crore SMEs in the country which contribute over 8% to India’s GDP.
ü HDFC Bank CEO AdityaPuri
ü HDFC Bank HQ Mumbai
ü HDFC Bank Slogan We Understand Your World
ICICI arm tops IPO rankings:
· ICICI Securities has topped the initial public offering (IPO) league table in the first half of 2016.
· According to data provided by Bloomberg, ICICI Securities has managed five IPOs to help rise around Rs 1,216 crore for companies getting listed.
· Kotak Investment Banking, which was in pole position last year, is currently second, with four deals worth Rs 1,036 crore.
· The overall equity league table for the first half of 2016 is topped by US-based Citibank, which has handled a total of six deals worth nearly Rs 7,000 crore.
· In the overall equity league table, ICICI Securities is second, with nine deals worth Rs 4,053 crore.
Awards and Honours:
South African writer LidudumalinganiMqombothi wins 2016 Caine Prize:
· South African writer, filmmaker and photographer LidudumalinganiMqombothi won the 17th edition of prestigious Caine Prize 2016 for his short story Memories We Lost.
· With this, Lidudumalingani was awarded with 10000 Euros and a month at Georgetown University in the US as a writer-in-residence.
· The winning story explores a difficult subject of tackling schizophrenia. This is a troubling piece, depicting the great love between two young siblings in a beautifully drawn Eastern Cape.
About Caine Prize
· The Caine Prize is an annual literature prize awarded to an African writer of a short story published in the English language.
· It was established in 2010 in the United Kingdom and was named in memory of Sir Michael Harris Caine, former Chairman of Booker Group plc.
· The award carrying 10000 Euros prize seeks to encourage and highlight the richness and diversity of African writing by bringing it to a wider audience internationally.
· It is famously referred as the African Booker.
Business and Economy:
Zydus, Medicines Patent Pool inks agreement for Bristol-Myers Squibb's daclatasvir tablets:
· ZydusCadila, a leading global healthcare firm, inked a non-exclusive, royalty free agreement with the Medicines Patent Pool (MPP).
· Under the pact they will be manufacturing global pharma major Bristol-Myers Squibb’s daclatasvir tablets used for the treatment of Hepatitis C Virus (HCV).
· Bristol-Myers Squibb’s daclatasvir is a novel direct-acting antiviral (DAA) that is proven to help cure multiple genotypes of HCV.
· The agreement sub-licences Zydus to produce and sell daclatasvir in 112 low and middle income countries. Between 130 and 150 million people worldwide are estimated to have HCV.
· The MPP licence allows generic manufacturers to develop fixed-dose combinations that offer the potential to treat all of the six major genotypes of HCV.
· Daclatasvir, in combination with other DAAs, for example sofosbuvir, produces high cure rates after 12 weeks of treatment, with recent Phase III studies demonstrating that the regimen could cure up to 100% of HCV patients depending on genotype and stage of liver disease.
Science and Technology:
Harvard team builds living robot from rat hearts:
· Harvard University researchers have used 200,000 genetically-engineered rat cells to develop a robot that looks like a stingray.
· The team used silicone for the robot's body and also to insulate its skleton, which was made of gold wire.
· The cells were designed to contract when exposed to a specific wavelength of light, helping the robot to mimic a stingray's movement.
Instagram introduces 'Comment Moderation' option:
· Facebook-owned Instagram has introduced a new 'Comment Moderation' option, that will help business users cut down on the amount of spam and abuse in comments.
· It essentially blocks comments with words or phrases often reported as offensive. The new feature, which can be turned on from the account settings, was rolled out only for business pages for now.
Exoplanet orbiting three stars discovered:
· Researchers using European Southern Observatory's 'Very Large Telescope' have discovered a rare exoplanet orbiting three different stars located around 340 light-years from Earth.
· Named 'HD 131399Ab', the planet is four times heavier than Jupiter and has a surface temperature of over 576ºC. In the triple star system, two stars are orbiting each other while also going around the third star.
RohanPrem, Kerala Cricket Association’s cricketer of the year:
· Batsman RohanPrem was adjudged the cricketer of the year by the Kerala Cricket Association as it announced the annual awards for the 2015-16 season at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Kochi.
Other Awardees:
ü Best batsman – Captain Sachin Baby
ü Best fast bowler’s award – SandeepWarrier
ü Best spinner award – KS Monish
ü Women cricketer of the year award – A Akshaya of Kannur
ü GV Raja Lifetime Achievement award – Madan Mohan and NS Krishan (posthumous)
ü Best curator prize – Hamsakunju
ü Special honours – Sanju Samson, KN Ananthapadmanabhan
Noted music director Omi passes away:
· Noted music director Om PrakashSonik, also known as Omi, part of the Sonik-Omi duo, died in Mumbai. He was 77.
· Sonik–Omi was an Indian composer working in duo consisting of Master Sonik (a blind music director) and his nephew Omi.
· The duo was known for their work on Hindi film soundtracks. Some of their best-known works are Bhakti Mein Shakti, Dharma, Dil Ne PhirYaadKiya, SawanBhadon, Aabroo, and Raftaar.
· Born in Sialkot (now in Pakistan), he along with his family had moved to India after Partition in 1947. The Sonik-Omi team gave music to over 100 Hindi films in the 1950-1980s period.
· The duo were known for their work on Hindi film soundtracks. Some of their best-known works are Bhakti Mein Shakti, Dharma, Dil Ne PhirYaadKiya, SawanBhadon, Aabroo, and Raftaar.
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