Current Affairs Today – July 11 2016

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INDIAN AFFAIRS

Maharashtra Police Launches Four Apps To Strengthen Public Security System
i. In order to strengthen public security system, the Maharashtra police have launched four mobile apps for timely intervention into emergency situations.
ii. The four applications
♦ Pratisaad Ask,
♦ Police Mitra,
♦ Vahanchoritakrar,
♦ A Railway helpline app.
iii. These security apps were launched by chief minister Devendra Fadnavis in Nagpur, Maharashtra.
iv. These apps would also help establishing better coordination among the police force in the state as well as improve its own administration. The apps are currently supported on the Android platform but will soon be available on iOS as well.
v. Through Vahanchoritakrar, one can lodge complaint about stolen vehicles, while the Railway helpline app has been devised to offer help to railway passengers during emergencies.
vi. Through Police Mitra app, the official said, aims at improving police administration by assisting the police force in crime prevention and detection as well as ensuring safety of women, children and senior citizens.
vii. As a whole through the four apps, citizens can send complaints, photos of stolen vehicles, acting on which their nearby beat police station will respond immediately.

Govt imposes anti-dumping duty on chemical from 5 countries
i. Indian Revenue Department has slapped anti-dumping duty of up to USD 168.76 per tonne on import of a chemical used in textile industry from five countries, including China and Iran, to protect domestic manufacturers.
ii. The import restrictive tax has been imposed for five years by the Revenue Department on recommendations of the Directorate General of Anti-Dumping and Allied Duties (DGAD)
iii. The imports of the chemical from the five countries (China, Iran, Indonesia, Malaysia and Taiwan) will attract anti-dumping duty in the range of USD 83.08 per tonne to USD 168.76 per tonne.
iv. The DGAD, after an investigation, had found that the chemical ‘Purified Terephthalic Acid’ was being exported to India from the five countries below its normal value. Thus the chemical was being dumped into India.
v. Countries initiate anti-dumping probes to determine if the domestic industry has been hurt by a surge in below-cost imports. As a counter-measure, they impose duties under the multi-lateral WTO regime.

BANKING & FINANCE

Online bidding platform for gold bond issuance by NSE
i. To facilitate orderly trading in sovereign gold bonds, top stock exchange NSE has introduced online bid collection facility for such issuances.
ii. The bourse has received approval from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to act as a receiving office for sovereign gold bond (SGB) issuances.
iii. So far, three tranches of the bonds have been issued amounting to about Rs 1,322 crore and the fourth one is expected by July 18.
iv. Accordingly, the exchange will collect bids from its registered stock brokers for their clients for the gold bond issuance.
v. The bonds will carry an interest rate of 2.75 per cent (fixed rate) per annum on the amount of initial investment.
vi. Interest is to be paid half-yearly and the last interest will be payable on maturity, along with the principal.
About NSE:
♦ NSE – National Stock Exchange
♦ HQ – Mumbai
♦ Establishment – 1992,
♦ CEO – Chitra Ramakrishna

Credit of $290 million for Bihar’s JEEViKA II by World Bank
i. A USD 290-million credit agreement signed by Centre, Bihar government and World Bank to help improve livelihood opportunities for poor rural households across 300 blocks and 32 districts of the eastern state.
ii. Bihar Transformative Development Project, also known as Jeevika II, will mobilize rural population into self-help groups (SHG) and higher level federations and help them gain access to markets, public services and a range of financial services from formal financial institutions.
iii. In line with the emerging priorities and JEEViKA’s already significant experience, the new project will scale up farm and non-farm value chain interventions including setting up of women-owned farmer producer companies.
iv. The credit is from the International Development Association (IDA), the World Bank’s concessionary lending arm, with a maturity of 25 years, including a 5-year grace period.

BUSINESS

Bharti Airtel pips Corporate Transparency list
Bharti Airtel, a Leading telecom services provider with global operations in around 19 countries across Asia and Africa has been ranked first in a listing of 100 emerging market multinational companies as part of a study on corporate transparency and reporting by Transparency International.
According to a global anti-graft watchdog’s survey, India has the most transparent companies while Chinese firms are the most opaque.
Bharti Airtel topped the list with a score of 7.3.
It was followed by
♦ Tata communications
♦ Mahindra & Mahindra
♦ Tata Consultancy Services
♦ Tata Global Beverages
♦ Tata Motors and Tata Steel.

Lafarge to sell India assets to Nirma for $1.4 billion
i. World’s largest cement producer Lafarge Holcim has entered into an agreement with Nirma Ltd to sell its entire 100% holding in cement maker Lafarge India for an enterprise value of $1.4 billion.
ii. The deal is subjected to approval from the Competition Commission of India (CCI) also the proceeds from the divestment will be used to reduce debt.
iii. Lafarge India operates three cement plants and two grinding stations with a total capacity of around 11 million tonnes. The company also markets aggregates and is one of India’s leading ready-mix concrete manufacturers.
iv. Karsanbhai Patel established Nirma is valued $1.1-billion is one of India’s diversified conglomerates with businesses across industrial and consumer products ranging from soaps, detergents, cement, packaging and other household products.

AWARDS & RECOGNITIONS

Gourmand World Cookbook Award bagged by Nimi Sunilkumar
Cookbook author and food blogger Nimi Sunilkumar has bagged the Gourmand World Cookbook Award for 2015-16.
♦ She was conferred with this award for her cookbook “4 o’clock Temptations of Kerala”.
♦ It was chosen for the award in the ‘Best Indian Cuisine Cookbook’ section.
♦ Nimi Sunilkumar has won award for the second time and earlier in 2013, her Lip-smacking Dishes of Kerala was selected third ‘Best Local Cuisine Book in the World’ category.
♦ It is famously known as the Oscar award in the field of cookery. This is the only international award in this particular field. The award is organized to honour the best food and wine books either printed or digital.

Srinivasan K. Swamy to be conferred with AAAI Lifetime Achievement Award
i. Srinivasan K. Swamy. The Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) will, on 29th July, present him with the Lifetime Achievement Award in Mumbai.
ii. This award is the highest honor to be given to an individual in India for their outstanding contribution to the advertising industry.
iii. This award was instituted in 1988 by AAAI and so far 23% have been bestowed with this honor earlier.
iv. Swamy is the chairman of R.K. Swamy Hansa, a diversified marketing communications group. Since inception in 1973 as an advertising agency, the group interests currently include creative and media, interactive and digital, health care communications, social and rural sector, communication, human resources communication, marketing analytics, market research, events and activation, retail identity, public relations, among other things.
v. It is noted that he stands to win the same award his father, R.K. Swamy, a doyen of the Indian advertising industry, received several years ago. Making them the only father and son in the industry to win this prestigious accolade.

Government plans awards for corporate social responsibility activities 
i. Government plans to institute awards for corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities across sectors as part of efforts to incentivise companies to take up work towards social welfare.
ii. The Corporate Affairs Ministry, which is implementing the Companies Act, is working on the idea of having such awards.
iii. Under the Act, a certain class of profitable companies is required to shell out at least 2 per cent of their 3-year average annual net profit towards CSR works.
iv. The awards for CSR activities across eight sectors, including education, health & environment.
v. The private companies will be classified on the basis of annual profit — those having Rs 5 crore or more and entities having less than that level.
vi. Eight sectors will be chosen and there be three awards for each of them. One will be for public sector companies and two for private firms.

Aditya Puri named best banking CEO in Asia
i. Aditya Puri, the chief executive and managing director of the second largest private sector lender HDFC Bank has been named as the best banking CEO in Asia by the investor community.
ii. The research reflects feedback from both buy and sell-side analysts, with an unparalleled level of detail on the IR efforts of companies across the region.
iii. Citing HDFC Bank as an example, the publication highlighted its use of technology as a key trend this year, particularly in semi-urban areas.
iv. The bank’s chief financial officer Sashi Jagdishan has been ranked the best CFO. HDFC Bank was also ranked the best IR Company; thereby making it the most honored one in the Institutional Investor magazine.
HDFC
♦ HDFC – Housing Development Finance Corporation
♦ HEADQUARTERS – Mumbai
♦ Establishment – 1994

APPOINTMENTS

D Rajkumar appointed CMD of BPCL; Utpal Bora to head Oil India
i. D Rajkumar and Utpal Bora were appointed as Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) and Oil India Ltd, respectively. They have been appointed to the posts for five-year term.
ii. Currently Rajkumar is working as Managing Director of Bharat Petro Resources Ltd, a unit of BPCL focused on exploration and production. On the other hand Bora is Executive Director in Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) Limited.
iii. Rajkumar will take over the charge on or after October this year after retirement of BPCL’s current chief S Varadarajan in September.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Sun Pharma introduces anti-cancer product in Europe
i. Pharmacy Major Sun Pharma introduced anti-cancer product named Gemcitabine InfuSMART, used in treatment of cancer, in Europe to build a meaningful and differentiating presence in global oncology therapy
ii. With the introduction of Gemcitabine InfuSMART, Sun Pharma become the world’s first pharmaceutical company to manufacture and launch a licensed RTA oncology product.
iii. InfuSMART is a technology in which oncology products are developed in a ready-to-administer (RTA) bag after the company has received regulatory approval to produce InfuSMART in eight key SKUs (stock keeping units).

Bengaluru-based Startup Launches India’s First Smart Glucometer for Diabetics
i. Bengaluru based start-up Cooey Technologies has released India’s first IOT glucometer that wirelessly syncs data with a smartphone by combining user-centric design and smart technology.
ii. The Smart Glucometer is compact also pocket-sized device that is portable, connects to a smartphone using the 3.5mm headphone jack and transfers the readings automatically into the Cooey application.
iii. The company offers three smart devices, which are available on Flipkart and Amazon -Smart Glucometer, Blood Pressure Monitors and Body Fat Analyzer – all of which connect seamlessly with the app.
iv. In the Device blood glucose levels are measured through a drop of blood on a strip in the smart glucometer and the data is automatically logged.

Government to set up National Banana Research Centre in Bihar
i. Union Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Minister Radha Mohan Singh announced that centre is mulling to set up National Research Centre for Banana would at Goraul in BIHAR’s Vaishali district.
ii. The land for this purpose was allotted when Jitan Ram Manjhi was the Chief Minister. This announcement came while inaugurating a two­day HortiSangam-2016 organised by National Horticulture Board at Hajipur.
iii. The Minister also announced that food processing industry would be set up in Hajipur or its adjoining area, provided the state government cooperates on this.

2nd unit of the Kudankulam nuclear power plant achieves criticality
i. Nuclear Power Corporation of India Chairman and Managing Director S K Sharma announced that the second unit of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant attained criticality.
ii. Criticality means a controlled and sustained fission chain reaction to produce a consistent and steady stream of energy.
iii. This will add 1000 MWe electricity to the southern grid and raise the contribution of nuclear power in the country to 6780 MWe.
iv. Also second unit would achieve the maximum capacity of 100 % power generation within three months and its synchronization would be attained within a month.
iv. Initially, the second unit would yield 300 MW. Tamil Nadu’s share of power generated by Unit-II would be 562 MW.

SPORTS

Wimbledon 2016 Championships – Overview
This year £28 million has been granted for Winners. The winners of the men’s and women’s singles pocketed £2 million each and singles runners-up took £1 million each.

Lewis Hamilton wins 2016 British Grand Prix
i. Lewis Hamilton of Britain finished with a dominant victory in a British Grand Prix to cut team-mate Nico Rosberg’s championship lead to one point.
ii. Dutchman Verstappen who drive Red Bull finished with second despite making his pit stop for dry-weather ‘slick’ Tyres a lap later than the Mercedes drivers, and another Mercedes Driver ico Rosberg finished third in the contest.
iii. Hamilton drove impressively throughout on a track made treacherous by a heavy downpour before the start of the game.

Portugal win Euro 2016 football championship
i. Portugal were crowned as Euro 2016 champions by defeating France in the title clash held in Paris. It was the 15 the edition of the major tournament. Also Portugal win the trophy for the first time
ii. Portugal had a bad start as Cristiano Ronaldo was subbed in the 25th minute due to injury. But Eder scored in extra-time by the end 1-0 was the result in the final at the Stade de France to clinch their first major football title.
iii. The team will get money award for participating: €8 million while Champions get €8 million and the Runners-up pocketed €5 million.
Facts to be noted:
♦ Teams Participated: 24
♦ Venue(s) 10 (in 10 host cities)
♦ Runners-up France
♦ Top scorer(s): France Antoine Griezmann (6 goals)
♦ Best young player: Portugal Renato Sanches.

OBITUARY

Legendary football coach Amal Dutta passes away
i. Former India footballer and the country’s first full time ‘diamond’ coach Amal Dutta has passed away at his residence following age related illness in Kolkata. He was 86 year old.
ii. Dutta was a midfielder, who represented India at the 1954 Asian Games, the former Mohun Bagan and East Bengal footballer later made a name for himself as a tactical genius as he forged professional coaching in India.
iii. He managed the club till 1964 after that left that to become a full-time coach, thus becoming India’s first professional coach and was the technical director of Indian team for the Nehru Cup in 1987.

IMPORTANT DAYS

World Population Day – July 11
World Population Day is a great event being celebrated all through the world annually on 11th of July. It is celebrated to increase the awareness of the people towards the worldwide population issues.
Aim: The Day aims at increase people’s awareness on various population issues such as the importance of family planning, gender equality, poverty, maternal health and human rights.
Theme 2016: ‘Investing in teenage girls’