Current Affairs - 13th October 2016

1. Parmeshwar Godrej passes away at 70

 

After battling a prolonged illness in Mumbai, Godrej group chairman, Adi Godrej’s wife Parmeshwar Godrej passed away on Wednesday.  Very popular on Mumbai’s social circuit, she was renowned as a style diva.  Her philanthropic efforts included collaboration with actor Richard Gere, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Clinton Global Initiative to launch the ‘Heroes Project’ in 2004 for spreading awareness on combating AIDS.

2. Abdelilah Benkirane reappointed as PM of Morocco

 

Abdelilah Benkirane , the leader of Morocco’s Islamic Justice and Development Party (PJD) has been appointed as Morocco’s prime minister for the second term. Since November 2011, Benkirane has been serving as Prime Minister of Morocco in a coalition government.

3. Delhi witnesses the first BRICS Trade Fair & Exhibition

 

The first BRICS Trade Fair and Exhibition has begun in Delhi with the theme of the trade fair being Building BRICS – Innovation for Collaboration. All the BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) will come together to showcase advances made in industrial development and state-of-the-art technologies. The objective of the fair is to give a platform to BRICS countries to exhibit the innovative technologies available with them and utilize them to meet the development challenges these countries are facing. Young entrepreneurs will also come together for the event with the objective of promoting start-ups.

4. BRICS Science, technology and Innovation Ministerial Meeting held at Jaipur

 

With the aim of strengthening the collaboration amongst the BRICS countries in the fields of Technology, Science and innovation, the fourth ‘BRICS Science, Technology and Innovation Ministerial meeting’ commenced at Jaipur, Rajasthan. Dr. Harsh Vardhan, the Minister for Science & Technology and Earth Sciences, chaired the meeting which concentrated on five pillars namely, Integration, Implementation, Institution Building, Innovation, and Continuity.

5. UK Theatre Awards see Sir Ian McKellen getting honoured

 

The award for ‘Outstanding Contribution to British Theatre’ was given to 77-year old veteran actor Sir Ian McKellen at the UK Theatre Awards. With a distinguished career in theatre, spanning almost six decades, McKellen is most popular for his commendable performances in the “X-Men” and “Lord of the Rings” film series.

6. Bangladeshi cricketer Tamim Iqbal sets new record for the country

 

27-year old, Tamim Iqbal wrote a new page in the history of Bangladeshi cricket by hitting 5,000 runs in One Day International (ODI) cricket.  With this record, the left-handed batsman also became the top scorer across all three forms of the game, including highest total score as well as highest innings score for the country.

7. International Day for Disaster Reduction observed

 

13th October saw ‘International Day for Disaster Reduction (IDDR)’ being observed the world over, with its theme being ‘Live to Tell: Raising Awareness, Reducing Mortality. ‘
The day is celebrated with the motive of encouraging every citizen and government to make efforts towards creating more disaster resilient nations and communities.

8. Panipat oil refinery’s capacity to be raised by Union Government’s investment

 

In order to raise the capacity of Panipat refinery in Haryana, from existing 15 Million Tonnes to 25 Million Tonnes, the Union Government has taken a call to pump in 15,000 crores. In addition to this, Panipat will also see the establishment of a bio-ethanol plant by Indian Oil Corporation (IOC).  Being set up at an estimated cost of 500 crore rupees, the plant will be used to produce alternative fuel from agricultural residue, which would give a major boost to agriculture sector.

Daily Current Affairs - 29th August 2016

1. Allow women to enter sanctum sanctorum of Haji Ali Dargah, says Bombay High Court

The Dargah is named after the 15^th century Sufi Saint, Haji Ali Shah and is located in Southern Mumbai’s Worli area. The court said that the ban on women’s entry which was imposed by the trust of Haji Ali Dargah is in violation of the fundamental rights of the women and must be done away with. The Court also said that the trust has no right to bar the entry of women to a public place. The court did not accept the argument that women coming close to the grave of the male Sufi saint would account to a sin.

2. Indigenous Scramjet engine successfully tested by ISRO

Scramjet, also called the air breathing rocket is used during the rocket’s flight’s atmospheric phase. This would reduce the overall cost by doing away with the need to carry oxidizer along with the fuel in the rocket at the time of the launch.

3. The world observes International Day against Nuclear Tests

Observed on 29^th August each year, this days aims to increase awareness among the people globally and prevent the occurrence of a nuclear catastrophe. It was first celebrated in the year 2010. A number of competitions, exhibits and other events take place on this day globally.

4. Juno probe of NASA executes first flyby

The solar powered aircraft passed about 4,200 km above the gigantic planet. This is the closest that any artificial probe has reached to the Jupiter. This was the first time that the complete suite of science instruments in the Juno got activated. The speeds at which Juno travelled were about 208,000 kilometres per hour.

5. Unified Payments Interface is now active

An announcement in this regard was made by the NPCI (National Payments Corporation of India). Using this platform, the customers can have real time payment transfers using just their smart phones. The platform became operational once the RBI permitted the banks to publish their UPI applications on Google Play Store. For the time being, it would include 21 banks and would only be available on Android smart phones.

6. Nico Rosberg of Mercedes wins Belgian Grand Prix

It was his 10^th win overall and 6^th in the 2016 season.  Before this, he had won Chinese Grand Prix, Bahrain Grand Prix, Russian Grand Prix and the Australian Grand Prix. The race took place on the Circuit de Spa – Francorchamps and a total of 11 teams participated.

7. Sania Mirza wins another title

She won the Connecticut Open doubles title along with her partner Monica Niculescu of Romania. He defeated the team of Taiwan’s Chuang Chia Jung and Ukraine’s Kateryna Bondarenko. The score in the final match was 7 – 5, 6 – 4.

8. Sharmila Tagore inducted into BCCC

Along with Tagore, Arundhati Nag and Ira Bhaskar were also appointed as members of the BCCC (Broadcasting Content Complaints Council) for three years. The appointments were officially approved by Uday Shankar, who heads the Board of Directors of IBF (Indian Broadcasting Federation).

9. Ambulance mobile app launched in Himachal Pradesh

Launched by the state’s Health Minister, it would be called ‘108 HP’. The total number of ambulances working under this scheme is now 199.

10. Surat to see India’s first textile University

Planned by the Gujarat government, it would be built on a land measuring about 250 acres and would become operational in the next 18 months.

Daily Current Affairs - 28th August 2016

1. Delhi Book Fair kicks starts in the National Capital

The 22nd edition of the fair would be a 9 day event and will be held at Delhi’s Pragati Maidan. Special focus would be on Government programs such as Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan, Make in India, Skill India, Startup India and Digital India. Organized by ITPO (Indian Trade Promotion Organization), the fair would give free of cost entry to the students in their uniform.

2. Very rare deep Earth tremor detected by a team of Japanese Scientists

These set of waves are called S waves (Secondary wave) microseism. The announcement regarding their successful detection of S waves was made by Japan’s National Research Institute for Earth Sciences and Disaster Prevention. Slow in propagation, the S waves can only travel through solids and not liquids.

3. Nairobi plays host to the Tokyo International Conference on African Development

The sixth edition of this conference would be a 2 day affair with the head of states from many African nations and other VIPs participating in the conference. The conference is being hosted by World Bank, United Nations, Japan Government and African Union.

4. KBL – SMARTz UPI mobile application launched by Karnataka Bank

The application is built on NPCI’s (National Payments Corporation of India) UPI (United Payments Interface) platform. Using this, the customers of UPI member banks would be able to send and receive money using their smart phone without the need of filling their Bank information.

5. First Compliance report submitted to the Lodha Panel

The report was submitted by Ajay Shirke, BCCI’s secretary and contains information regarding implementation of the reforms as suggested by the Supreme Court appointed Lodha Panel. The Panel has directed the BCCI to implement 11 reforms latest by 15th October. BCCI has also filed a review petition in this case.

Daily Current Affairs - 27th August 2016

Tilakaratne Dilshan retires from International Cricket

The star Sri Lankan cricketer would play his last One Day International match on 28th August in Dambulla against Australia. He is scheduled to play his last T20 International on 9th September in Colombo. Well known as the man behind the invention of Dilscoop, he retired from Test Cricket in 2013. He has played a total of 87 tests and scored 5492 runs.

POSCO e – box launched by Maneka Gandhi

The POSCO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses) e – box was launched by the WCD (Women and Child Development) Minister on 26th August. It would act as a platform for the child victims of sexual abuse to register such cases online. It has been placed at the home page of the NCPCR (National Commission for Protection of Child Rights) website. Upon pushing the POSCO e – box, the visitor would be navigated to the page where he or she can register the complaint.

Task force to be constituted to come up with action plan for three Olympic games

The decision to set up the task force was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a recently held meeting of the Council of Ministers at the National capital. The task force would come up with a holistic plan for the next three Olympic Games. The task force would consist of experts in the field of sports training and other related procedures.

Mumbai – Nagpur Super Communication Expressway project unveiled by the Maharashtra Government

This 46,000 crore rupees worth infrastructure project would ensure top class road connectivity between the two major cities within a maximum duration of 3 years. The project would be implemented by MSRDC (Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation). It would develop a state of the art 750 km long highway which would connect 10 districts in the state.

A new committee formed by the Central Government to come up with ways to popularize card payments

This would be an 11 member committee and will be headed by Ratan P Watal, NITI’s Aayog’s principle advisor with respect to the social sector. It would suggest the possible tax incentives, cash backs or other measures to make card payments more rewarding for the users.

The largest protected marine area to come up near Hawaii

To be set up by the US government, the area would be named Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument. The current national monument situated off the coast of Hawaii would be expanded for this purpose. The expansion came after an order in this respect by the President.

19th edition of the SAARC summit will be held in Islamabad

The summit would be held on 9th and 10 November 2016 and would see participation from the head of the governments of 8 SAARC nations. The observer states of SAARC (nine) have also been duly invited to be a part of the event.

Singapore launches the first ever self driving taxi service in the world

This service was launched by nuTonomy which is a start up based out of Singapore with interest in autonomous vehicle software.

BRICS film festival to be held in India

To be held in New Delhi, the festival would begin on 2nd September. The festival would also have a competition sector where about 20 films would be screened.

Daily Current Affairs - 26th August 2016

1. UEFA awards best player of Europe award to Cristiano Ronaldo

He was conferred this award for the season 2015-16. In the past three years, he has won this award twice. The other players in contention were Antoine Griezmann and Gareth Bale. In this season, Ronaldo scored 16 goals in the Champions League and 35 in the La Liga competition. The award in the women’s category was won by Ada Hegerberg. This award last year was won by Lionel Messi.

2. First children court of South India opened in Hyderabad

Similar courts are currently operating in Delhi and Goa. Such courts have specific waiting rooms for children along with the option of a video camera trial. Also, the victim or the witness, if he or she is a child, would be allowed to have a direct interaction with the judge. The child witness would also be given the option to identify the accused via a camera.

3. The first ever IEI – IEEE award conferred upon G Satheesh Reddy

An aerospace scientist of India, G Satheesh Reddy was awarded for his engineering excellence. The award was given by IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) and IEI (Institute of Engineers India).

4. NRAI review committee headed by Abhinav Bindra would look into Rio debacle

A five member committee was constituted by NRAI (National Rifle Association of India) and given the duty of looking into the below par performance by the Indian shooters at Rio Olympics. A maximum of four weeks have been given to the committee to come up with the report. It would also suggest future course of action to ensure that such a dismal performance isn’t repeated.

5. Banks must give loans to women SHGs at 7%, says RBI

The RBI has directed all the banks in the country to extend loans to women SHGs (Self Help Groups) up to a maximum of Rs 3 lakh @ a rate of interest equivalent to 7%. Such loans would be processed under NRLM (National Rural Livelihoods Mission) – Aajeevika scheme. The SHGs which have already taken subsidy as part of the SGSY (Swarnjayanti Gram Swarojgar Yojana) in their current credit won’t be able to claim benefits under this scheme.

6. Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, 2016 would soon be introduced

The introduction of the bill which aims to regulate surrogacy in the country was approved by the Union Cabinet. This bill would lead to prohibition of commercial surrogacy and would permit ethical surrogacy for the infertile and needy.

7. New Air Force Aerospace Museum opened in Delhi

Aiming to highlight the country’s rich history in the field of aviation, the museum has come up near the International Airport in Delhi. It would be tourist ready in about 3 to 5 years. At present, there is an IAF museum close to the Palam Air Force Station which came up in the year 1967.

8. Earth sized planet discovered orbiting Sun’s nearest star

As per the European scientists, this planet named Proxima b is at a distance of 4 light years from the Earth. This planet could fall in the habitable zone, with an appropriate life sustaining temperature.

9. FICCI award given to Telangana Aarogyasri

The healthcare excellence award of FICCI was given to the mobile application of Telangana Aarogyasri healthcare trust. After the “Elite Smart Healthcare Conclave” award, this is the second award for this application.

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Daily Current Affairs - 25th August 2016

Akhlaq Ur Rahman Kidwai, former Governor, is no more

1. He served as the governor of multiple states, viz. Haryana, West Bengal and Bihar.
2. He breathed his last at the age of 96 years.
3. Kidwai was a member of the Rajya Sabha between the years 2000 and 2004.

Forever Stamp released by US Postal to honour Diwali

1. USPS (United States Postal Service) announced the launching of Forever stamp in order to commemorate the Diwali festival.
2. The ceremony for the event would be held at the New York situated Consulate General of India on 5th October 2016. Diwali is celebrated in the US by more than 3 million Indian – Americans each year.
3. The Forever Stamp issued would have a value equal to the present First Class Mail 1 – ounce price.

Deepika Padukone features in Forbes’ world’s highest paid actresses list

1. The list has been topped by Jennifer Lawrence for a second consecutive year with estimated earnings of 46 million dollars. Melissa McCarthy of Ghostbusters was at the second position with $33 in earning.
2. Deepika is the only newcomer to the list, apart from being the only Indian.

Revised DTAA between India and Cyprus approved by Cabinet

1. The agreement meant for the avoidance of double taxation and fiscal evasion has been duly approved by the Central cabinet.
2. This would assist India in its efforts to stop round tripping, base erosion or profit shifting and tax evasion.
3. The DTAA was originally signed between the two countries in 1994. Post the revision, the capital gains would be taxed in India for all the entities residing in Cyprus.

Peace agreement signed between FARC rebel group and the government of Colombia

1. The peace agreement would bring an end to the conflict that had lasted for over 5 decades. According to the agreement, FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) would enter into the political process in the country and suspend its armed struggle.
2. The deal would need to be approved by a referendum which would take place on 2nd October 2016.

Haryana government names Sakshi Malik the brand ambassador of ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padao’ campaign

1. The wrestler had won the bronze medal in the recently concluded Rio Olympics in the 58 kg category.
2. With this, Sakshi became the first woman in the country to win an Olympic medal in the sport of wrestling.
3. Sakshi was also awarded 2.5 crore rupees in recognition of her stunning achievement.

The India – Fiji Air Services Agreement approved by Cabinet

1. This is an update over the original agreement signed between the two nations in the year 1974.
2. The aim behind this agreement is to give a boost to the air connectivity between the two countries. As per the agreement, both India and Fiji would designate at least one airline for flying into the other country.

Haryana government launches Pink colour envelops to expedite Judicial process

1. This special envelop as part of the speed post was launched by Justice Virender Singh, Chief Justice of the state’s High Court.
2. Any summon or notice from the High Court would be served using this envelop, thus forming a special Speed Post category.
3. The complete process can also be tracked online.

Agreement signed between JNPT and SBI, Bank of Singapore

1. A $400 million ECB (External Commercial Borrowing) agreement was signed between the Jawaharlal Nehru Port and SBI and Development Bank of India.
2. The JNPT would aim at doubling its capacity using this financial help.

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Daily Current Affairs - 24th August 2016

Khel Ratna award to be conferred upon 4 athletes

1. The Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award would be conferred upon 4 athletes this year, viz. Dipa Karmakar (Gymnast), P V Sindhu (Badminton), Jitu Rai (Shooter) and Sakshi Malik (Wrestler).
2. Additionally, 15 sportspersons would be awarded the prestigious Arjuna award. These include Boxer Shiva Thapa, Cricketer Ajinkya Rahane, Runner Lalita Babar and wrestler Vinesh Phogat.
3. The Dronacharya Award would be conferred upon Rowing coach Rajendra Pralhad, Hockey coach Sylvanus Dung Dung and Athletics coach Satti Geetha.

Kolkata Akashvani Kendra’s Moitree Service in Bangla language launched by President Mukherjee

1. This service has been launched for the listeners in Bangladesh.
2. This service, in the future, can turn into a significant communication platform between the two countries.
3. This newly launched channel would cover entire Bangladesh and many parts of South East Asia.

2015 edition of Vyas Samman conferred upon Sunita Jain

1. This was the 25th edition of the Vyas Samman.
2. Sunita Jain was bestowed upon this prestigious award in recognition of “Kshama”, which is a collection of her poetry.
3. Most of her poetries depict the emotions between Tulsidas and his beloved wife, Ratnavalli.

17 new districts would come into being in Telangana

1. The state government of Telangana has passed a notification meant for the creation of 17 new districts in the state.
2. At present, the state has 10 districts which would be reorganized and converted in 17 districts. This reorganization would take place on the basis of population, administrative convenience, development and ease of people in reaching the headquarters of the district.
3. The names of the 17 districts would be Shamshabad, Mahabubabad, Jagtial, Acharya Jayashankar, Hanamkonda, Suryapet, Yadadri, Wanaparthy, Kamareddy, Komaram Bheem, Malkajgiri, Kothagudem, Nagarkurnool, Siddipet, Nirmal, Sangareddy and Peddapally.

Ambedkar memorial to have a new Bronze statue of B R Ambedkar

1. The 350 feet tall Bronze statue would be installed at Mumbai’s Indu Mill land where his memorial is located.
2. The statue has been given the name ‘Statue of Equality’.
3. In October 2015, Prime Minister had performed ‘Bhoomi Pooja’ at this venue.

Tennis Star Sania Mirza climbs to be top of WTA doubles rankings alone

1. The 29 year old champion player teamed up with Barbora Strycova to beat the team of Coco Vandeweghe and Martina Hingis and move atop the WTA double rankings.
2. Last month, the successful pair of Hingis and Mirza separated ways after winning 14 titles which included 3 Grand Slams.
3. The WTA tour Championship in Singapore would see them playing together again in October.

10 new airports to come up in Maharashtra

1. A new MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) was signed in this regard between Maharashtra and centre and the AAI.
2. These airports would come up at Nanded, Amravati, Shirdi, Sindhudurg, Kolhapur, Ratnagiri, Jalgaon, Gondia, Nashik and Solapur.
3. The funds for these airports’ development would be provided by the Centre.

2016 Kabaddi world cup would be held in Gujarat

1. The World Cup would be held in Ahmedabad from 7th to 22nd October 2016.
2. 12 teams from across the world would participate in the World Cup. These include Pakistan, Iran, United Kingdom, Australia, USA, Canada, India, Poland, Japan, Korea, Bangladesh and Kenya.

Sugamya Pustakalaya, an accessible E-library launched by the Union Government

1. This library has been launched by Ravi Shankar Prasad, Prakash Javadekar and Thawar Chand Gehlot under the Prime Minister’s Sugamya Bharat Abhiyan.
2. An online library meant for Divyang, it houses publications spreading across a wide range of subjects, fields and formats.
3. The library has been created by NIVH (National Institute of Visually Handicapped) in association with TCS Access.

Udaipur Declaration on Disaster adopted by BRICS

1. The adoption came at the conclusion of the two day BRICS MDM (Ministers of Disaster Management) meeting at Udaipur.
2. This would lead to the setting up of Joint Task Force for Disaster which would ensure the implementation of a 3 year joint action plan.

Sellapan Ramanathan, longest serving President of Singapore passes away

1. He breathed his last on 22nd August at the age of 92 years.
2. He was of Indian origin and served as the sixth President of Singapore. He was known to be close to the founding leader of Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew.

DNA profiling of criminals launched by Andhra Pradesh

1. With this, Andhra Pradesh became the first state in the country to launch DNA (Deoxyribonucleic acid) and DIS (DNA Index System) profiling of the criminals. It makes use of the technology developed by the USA’s IntegenX.
2. As compared to the current technology which takes two or more days to create reliable DNA profiles, this technology prepares the required profile in 90 to 120 minutes.

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