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Click here to try Current Affairs Quiz : July 6 2016
INDIAN AFFAIRS
Cabinet approved the setting up of a new major port in Tamil Nadu
i. The Union Cabinet has given its in – essence approval to setting up of a major port at Enayam near Colachal in South Tamilnadu.
ii. Chennai port trust, Kamarajar port trust, V.O.C Chidambaram port trust altogether sponsored a Special Purpose Vehicle to develop the port infrastructure including dredging and construction, reclamation of backwaters, ensuring connectivity etc.
iii. Instituting this Major port at Enayam will not only act as a major gateway container port for Indian cargo that is presently trans-shipped outside the country, but also become a trans-shipment hub for the global East-West trade route.
RAJASTHAN – A forerunner in introducing minimum wages for part time workers
i. Rajasthan State Government Labour Department has introduced a new system of introducing minimum wages to the part time workers
ii. Part time workers fall under the jurisdiction of the Minimum Wages Act, 1948
iii. As per this notification, it is compulsory to pay 50 percent of a day minimum wage to a person who works less than four hours a day.
World’s largest charkha unveiled at Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi.
i. BJP President Amit Shah unveiled the World’s Largest “chakra (spinning wheel)” at 
the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi.
ii. The ‘charka’ has been installed by the Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC)
iii. The installation of the charkha also commemorates the centenary year of Mahatma Gandhi’s arrival from South Africa.
iv. The installation of the four-tonne teakwood charkha began in May. Installed between departure gates number 3 and 4, it was built in Ahmedabad by 42 carpenters over 50 days.
Union Cabinet approves The High Courts (Alteration of Names) Bill, 2016
i. The Union Cabinet in its meeting on Tuesday with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the chair approved the introduction of a bill to rename High Courts named after cities they are located in, consequent to cities name being changed.
ii. The High Courts (Alteration of Names) Bill, 2016 will facilitate the changing of the names of Bombay High Court to Mumbai High Court and Madras High Court to Chennai High Court respectively
iii. It is noted that at present, there is no central law under which the proposal for change of names of these High Courts can be addressed.
World famous Rath Yatra of Lord Jagannath begins at Puri
i. This is the only time in the entire year that the devotees will see Lord Jagannath leaving the Puri Jagannath temple with his brother Balram and sister Subhadra. Devotees from all over gather in Puri, Odisha for the annual Jagannath Puri Rath Yatra, which begun on july 6th
ii. They visit their aunt for nine days and are taken in a procession which what the Hindu festival is all about.
iii. The Rath Yatra marks their journey from and to their aunt’s house at Shri Gundicha Temple.
iv. The deities and Sudarshan Chakra or celestial wheel are taken out from the temple on their chariots or Rath – from where it gets the name Rath Yatra
v. The Puri Jagannath Yatra is also known by variety of other names like Gundicha Jatra, Navadina Jatra, Dasavatara Jatra and Ghosa Jatra among others.
NATIONAL APPRENTICESHIP PROMOTION SCHEME – got its ground clear by Cabinet.
i. With a massive target of training 50 lakh apprentices, The Union Cabinet presided over by Mr. Narendra Modi approved the National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme on July 5th 2016.
ii. This scheme has a disbursal of about 10,000 crores in order to achieve its vast target of training 50 lakh apprentices.
iii. Apprenticeship Training is considered to be one of the most efficient ways to develop skilled manpower for the country. It provides for an industry led, practice oriented, effective and efficient mode of formal training.
iv. This scheme acts as an inducer for the employers to employ apprentices. This scheme will catalyze the entire apprenticeship ecosystem in the country and it will offer a win-win situation for all stakeholders. It is expected to become one of the most powerful skill-delivery forums in the country.
v. This scheme will be implemented by Director General of Training (DGT) under Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE).
vi. Being a first attempt in offering financial assistance to the apprentices, Central Government will share 25% of the total stipend payable to the employee directly with employers.
INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS
India’s ranking falls down to 91 on Readiness for Digitized Economy
Steeping down into the bottom of the table, India ranked 91 among the rest of the countries in terms of their readiness for transition to a digitised economy and society.
♦ Among the major emerging markets, Singapore ranks first and India ranks last. Other significant rankings are Finland at 2, Russia at 41, China at 59, South Africa 65, Brazil at 72 positions.
♦ India’s position on the list has come down for the fourth year in a row, from 89th in 2015, 83rd in 2014 and 68th in 2013.
Cabinet approval of MoU between INDIA AND TANZANIA
i. The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has approved signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between India and Tanzania in the field of Traditional Systems of Medicine and Homeopathy.
ii. Tanzania is an important East African country with historical ties with India and with substantial population of around 70 thousand Indian diaspora. Tanzania and India have traditionally enjoyed close, friendly and co-operative relations.
iii. Traditional Medicine is an important element of life of Tanzanian people and Traditional medicines are used as first aid or stop-gap measure before the patient is referred to modern health facilities.
iv. The MoU will provide integrated structured frame work for the cooperation between the two countries for the promotion and propagation of Indian Traditional Systems of Medicine & Homeopathy in Tanzania.
v. The key aims are to conduct research, training courses, conferences / meetings will be met from the existing allocated budget and existing plan schemes of Ministry of AYUSH. It is noted that AYUSH ministry has already signed several MoU with countries like China, Malaysia, Hungary, Bangladesh and Nepal.
BANKING & FINANCE
India’s first SME Bank opened by HDFC Bank
i. HDFC bank launched a full-fledged digital banking service for small and medium enterprises (SME).
ii. This will help the customers to utilize a complete set of services on their choice at anytime and at anywhere in India.
iii. The main thing is the technology is leveraged here to do away with the need of calling relationship manager or even visiting the branch to carry out banking operation thus saving a considerable amount of time
iv. SME Bank is the second leg of the ‘Bank Aapki Mutthi Mein’ campaign that was launched for the Bank’s retail customers in December 2014 at Varanasi.
3% extension in Interest Subvention on Crop Loans
i. In order to boost the fast growing Indian economy several schemes have been introduced by the Central Government. One among that is the extension of 3% interest subvention on crop loans.
ii. As per this scheme, now Farmers can avail loan up to 3 lakh rupees at 4 % rate of interest,
iii. The interest subvention rate has slashed from 5% to 3% up to one year for loan amount upto 3lakh rupees.
iv. According to this scheme, In case if farmers do not repay the short term crop loan in time they would be eligible for interest subvention of 2 per cent as against 5 per cent available above i.e 7% rate of interest.
BUSINESS
Google buys French startup ‘Moodstocks’ that helps machines see
i. Google has acquired Paris-based Moodstocks, a startup that has developed machine learning technology to bolster the image recognition features on smartphones.
ii. Moodstocks team, a small group of researchers and engineers, will join a Google research and development center in Paris.
iii. Google and its parent Alphabet are expected to integrate the image search team in artificial intelligence efforts.
Google:
♦ Parent Organization: Alphabet Inc
♦ Headquarters: Mountain View, California, US
♦ Founders: Larry Page, Sergey Bin
♦ CEO: Sundar Pichai
Hero MotoCorp inked 3-year wage agreement with Gurgaon workers
i. Hero MotoCorp Ltd. (HMCL) has inked a wage settlement pact with its permanent workers at Gurgaon Plant
ii. As per the settlement, the permanent workers of the Gurgaon facility have been given a hike of Rs.12,500 spread over the next three years
iii. This three-year agreement will be implemented with retrospective effect starting from August 1, 2015 till July 31, 2018.
iv. The previous settlement was effective from August 1, 2012, to July 31, 2015.
AWARDS & RECOGNITIONS
South African writer Lidudumalingani Mqombothi wins 2016 Caine Prize
i. SA writer Lidudumalingani Wins 17th Caine Prize for African Writing for African Writing for his short story Memories We Lost, published in Incredible Journey: Stories That Move You.
ii. He received the prestigious award at Oxford’s Bodleian Library.
iii. The Eastern Cape-born author is also a filmmaker and producer.
APPOINTMENTS
Centre appoints Thiruppathi Venkatasamy as new Tamil Nadu AG
i. Centre announced the appointment of R Thiruppathi Venkatasamy, as Accountant General(AG), economic and revenue sector audit, of Tamil Nadu.
ii. Prior to this appointment, Venkatasamy a 2000 batch officer of Indian Audit and Accounts Service, was serving as the Senior Deputy Accountant General in Agartala, Tripura.
iii. He hails from Virudhunagar district of Tamil Nadu .
iv. He is an alumni of University of Minnesota(US).
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
NASA’S JUNO SPACE PROBE – embraced yet another milestone in space exploration!
Juno spacecraft followed by The Galileo is a key mission endeavoured to explore and study the biggest planet of the solar system “The Jupiter”. It was launched on 2011 from Cape Canaveral station, Florida. This craft is designed in a special way to study the
♦ composition,
♦ gravity field,
♦ magnetic field, and
♦ polar magnetosphere of Jupiter.
This Juno spacecraft is designed with Solar Arrays instead of radioisotope thermoelectric generators, which were being used in ordinary outer orbit missions.
Researchers Develop Electronic Nose To Sniff Out Pesticides and Nerve Gas
i. An international team of researchers led by Ivo Stassen and Rob Ameloot from KU Leuven, Belgium has developed an Electronic nose that smells pesticides and nerve gas.
ii. It is a very sensitive electronic nose with metal-organic frameworks (MOFs).
iii. MOFs are like microscopic sponges which can absorb quite a lot of gas into their minuscule pores.
iv. MOFs can measure very low concentrations, so it can be very easy to identify the diseases like lung cancer at an earlier stage.
SPORTS
Javeline thrower Annu Rani sets national mark at National Inter-state Athletics Championships
i. Javeline thrower Annu Rani, the Incheon Asian Games bronze medalist, sets national mark at National Inter-state Athletics Championships.
ii. She has snapped her own national record with a massive 59.87m throw at the recently-concluded 56th National inter-state Senior Athletics Championships.
iii. Her previous mark was 59.06m at G.M.C. Balayogi Stadium
OBITUARY
Noel Neill, first actress to play Lois Lane in ‘Superman,’ dies at 95
i. US actor Noel Neill, the first actress to play the role Lois Lane on the Adventures of 
Superman television series passed away, She was 95.
ii. Neill first took on the role as the Daily Planet reporter in the 1948 Columbia movie serial, “Superman.”
iii. She would reprise the part alongside George Reeves as the Man of Steel in the 1950’s TV series, “The Adventures of Superman.”
iv. The city of Metropolis, Illinois, unveiled a statue of Lois Lane modeled after Neill in 2010.
