Current Affairs Today – July 27 2016

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INDIAN AFFAIRS

Defence Ministry unveils statue of Dr APJ Abdul Kalam in Rameswaram
On commemorating the first death anniversary of the former president Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, the Ministry of Defence has unveiled a life-size statue of Dr APJ Abdul Kalam at his burial site in Peikarumbu, Rameswaram Island.
Statue for APJ:-
In order to remember APJ forever in our minds and hearts and his thoughts continue to be with us all the time Union Minister M Venkaiah Naidu and Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar Inaugurated the bronze statue of APJ Abdul Kalam.
Some of his writings are:-
♦ India 2020: A Vision for the New Millennium
♦ Wings of Fire: An Autobiography
♦ Ignited Minds: Unleashing the Power Within India
♦ Mission India
♦ Inspiring Thoughts
♦ You Are Born To Blossom: Take My Journey Beyond
♦ Turning Points: A journey through challenges
♦ A Manifesto for Change: A Sequel to India 2020
♦ Reignited: Scientific Pathways to a Brighter Future
♦ Transcendence: My Spiritual Experiences with Pramukh Swamiji
♦ Advantage India: From Challenge to Opportunity.

Lok Sabha passes Lokpal and Lokayukta (Amendment) Bill 2016
Lok Sabha passed the Lokpal and Lokayukta (Amendment) Bill, 2016 which allows extension of the time given to public servants, trustees and board members of NGOs receiving government funds of more than Rs. 1 crore or foreign funding of more than Rs 10 lakh to declare their assets and those of their spouses.
♦ The term Lokpal was coined in 1963 by Laxmi Mall Singhvi, a member of parliament Billduring a parliamentary debate aboutgrievance mechanisms. The word was derived from the Sanskrit words “Lok” (people) and “Pala” (protector/caretaker).
♦ Lokpal and Lokayukta Act is an anti-corruption Act of Indian Parliament in India which seeks for the establishment of the institution of Lokpal to inquire into allegations of corruption against certain public authorities and for matters relate with them.

The Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2016 passed by the Lok Shaba
Lok Sabha passed the amendments to the Child Labour Act, there by laying a complete framework for the absolute prohibition of employment of children below the age of 14 but allowing minors to work in family enterprises.
♦ The Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2016 was finally passed in the Lok Sabha after a heated discussion.
♦ A variety of Indian social scientists as well as the Non-Governmental Organization (NGOs) have done extensive research on the numeric figures of child labor in India and pathetically determined that India contributes to one-third of Asia’s child labor and one-fourth of the world’s child labor.

Centre approves construction of over 2.4 lakh houses for urban poor
i. Central government has approved construction of over 2.4 lakh houses for the poor under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban) at an estimated cost of Rs 16,600 crore.
ii. Central assistance of Rs 3,634 crore has been approved for construction of the houses under three segments of the urban housing mission are as follows
♦ Affordable Housing In Partnership – 1,24,642 houses
♦ Beneficiary Led Construction – 1,15,989
♦ In-Situ Slum Redevelopment – 3,636 houses
iii. Maharashtra has got approval for over one lakh houses followed by
♦ Tripura (42,896)
♦ Odisha (23,843)
♦ Bihar (21,474)
♦ Gujarat (17,838).
iv. The central government has approved an additional investment of Rs 16,641 crore for affordable housing for construction of 2,44,267 houses for urban poor under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban) during the first four months of this financial year.

Centre to distribute 8 lakh seed of pulses to farmers free of cost
i. The Central Government has decided to distribute eight lakh newer varieties of seed of pulses free of cost to the farmers by the end of this financial year in order to enhance the production of pulses,.
ii. According to Minister of State for Agriculture, S.S Ahluwalia Rs.20 crore have been approved for 12 ICAR institutes and State Agricultural Universities for this purpose.
iii. 534 Krishi Vigyan Kendras has been allotted with 31 thousand hectares of cluster frontline demonstrations of pulses for 2016-17.
iv. An incentive of 25 rupees per kg is being provided for pulses seed production.

Odisha approves 3 investment projects worth Rs 874 cr
The Odisha government’s approved three projects after the State Level Single Window Clearance Authority (SLSWCA).These three projects with an investment of Rs 874 crore and employment potential of 630 persons.
♦ P & A Bottlers Limited– Rs 102 crore
♦ Coca-Cola Beverages Private Limited for expansion of its non-alcoholic plant– Rs 500 crore.
♦ Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited Common User Facility Centre–Rs 272 crore.

Centre approves Rs 1,601 crore for Himayat programme in J&K
i. Union government has approved a sum of Rs. 1601 crore for the skill development initiative named Himayat Programme.
ii. Under this programme 1.24 lakh local youths will undergo training in job-intensive vocational courses over the next three years.
iii. The designated Project Implementation Agencies will train the aspirants also it would be trained in and outside the state.

Manipur joins UDAY scheme, to get benefits worth Rs 263 crore
i. North Eastern state Manipur has joined the Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana (UDAY) scheme. It is the 14th state to join the UDAY.
ii. The state will get benefit of around Rs 263 crore upon joining and can improve the state efficiency of the Discoms. The state also the first in Northern states to join in Scheme.
iii. In this regard MoU was inked between Centre and Manipur and its discoms for the benefit of the Discom

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

16 Thiruvalluvar statues to be put up in Sri Lanka
i. Sixteen statues of Thiruvalluvar, the author of ‘Thirukkural’, will be installed across Sri Lanka.
ii. V. G. Santhosam, president of VGP International Tamil Association gifted 8ft long Thriuvalluvar statues to foster greater understanding between India and Sri Lanka.
iii. The statues, made in Tamil Nadu, were handed over to the Sri Lankan State Minister of Education, K.Radhakrishnan, at a simple ceremony.
iv. These statues would be kept at Mannar, Kilinochchi, Mullativu and Chavakachcheri (Jaffna), all in the northern province; Puttalam in the north west province; Colombo in the western province; Matale, Hatton and Nawalapitiya in the central province; and Rakwana (Sabaragamuwa), Kaddaiparichchan (Trincomalee), and Batticaloa and Thambiluvil (Ampara) in the Eastern province, among others.

World Health Organisation(WHO) declares Brazil free of measles
i. Brazil is free of measles after no new cases of the disease the World Health Organisation announced. WHO is set to issue a certification for the same.
Measles:
♦ Measles is also called rubeola  is a viral infection that’s serious for small children but is easily preventable by a vaccine. The first symptoms comes after 10 days with red spots on the skin.
♦ It can be transmitted orally, over mucus or saliva. It can be spread rapidly through the air due to sneezing or a cough.

Hillary makes history as first woman White House nominee
i. US presidential nominee Hillary Clinton wins Democratic nomination for US President; Clinton makes history as the first woman to become presidential nominee of a major US political party.
ii. She was formally made as the party nominee at the Democratic convention.
iii. Clinton is the former first lady, New York senator and secretary of state is set face Republican Donald Trump in the general election.

India’s CSIR ranked world’s 12th best government institute
i. The Council of Scientific Industrial Research (CSIR) has moved two places ahead to take 12th best government institution in the world. However in the overall list the Institute ranked 99.
ii. The list is topped by France’s National Centre for Scientific Research and Chinese Academy of Science, China follows it.
CSIR:
♦ The autonomous body and the largest research and development (R&D) organisation funded by Ministry of Science that runs 37 laboratories and 39 field stations or extension centres spread across the country.

BANIKING & FINANCE

A new Breakthrough – Cabinet approves the changes to GST Bill
Cabinet cleared changes in the GST Constitutional Amendment Bill, dropping 1 per cent manufacturing tax and providing guarantee to compensate states for any revenue loss in the first five years of roll out of the proposed indirect tax regime.
♦ Goods and Services Tax is a comprehensive indirect tax on manufacture, sale and consumption of goods and services throughout India, to replace taxes levied by the Central and State governments.
♦ The Goods and Services Tax Bill or GST Bill officially known as The Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-Second Amendment) Bill, 2014, proposes a national Value added Tax to be implemented in India from June 2016.

AWARDS & RECOGNITIONS

T.M. Krishna and Bezwada Wilson win Ramon Magsaysay Award 2016
i. Bezwada Wilson, a renowned campaigner against manual scavenging, and Carnatic singer T.M. Krishna from Chennai were named for the prestigious Ramon Magsaysay Award 2016.
ii. Wilson has been named as an awardee for “asserting the inalienable right to a life of human dignity” while Mr. Krishna was chosen for the award for bringing “social inclusiveness in culture.”, under the category ‘Emergent Leadership’
iii. Apart from the two Indians, four others have been selected for the award. They are
♦ Conchita Carpio-Morales of the Philippines,
♦ Dompet Dhuafa of Indonesia,
♦ Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers
♦ ‘Vientiane Rescue’ of Laos.

East Bengal to honour Milkha Singh with Bharat Gaurav award
i. City football giants East Bengal announced that this year’s Bharat Gaurav award (Pride of India) will be conferred on legendary athlete Milkha Singh.
ii. Singh will be travelling to the city on the East Bengal Foundation Day (August 1) to attend the event.
iii. He will be received the Bharat Gaurav award and a cheque of Rs. 2 lakh. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will be the chief guest at the event.
iv. The trophy for the best footballer of the year will be given to South Korean midfielder Do Dong Hyun who will also receive Rs. 50,000.
v. Veteran sports reporter Debashish Dutta and photo journalist Rony Roy will be receiving awards too for their contribution over the years.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

NASA To Launch Spacecraft To Near-Earth Asteroid
i. NASA is set to launch a new spacecraft in the month of September that will travel to a near-Earth asteroid known as Bennu and bring back a sample of surface material which may contain building blocks of life.
ii. The team equipped the spacecraft with an instrument that will measure the spectral signatures of Bennu’s mineralogical and molecular components.
iii. OVIRS (OSIRIS-REx Visible and Infrared Spectrometer), the instrument will measure visible and near-infrared light reflected and emitted from the asteroid and split the light into its component wavelengths, much like a prism that splits sunlight into a rainbow.

SPORTS

Odisha announces Rs 60 lakh special incentive for Rio Olympic qualifiers
i. Six women from Odisha have qualified for the Rio Olympics.

ii. These Rio Qualified athletes will receive Rs 10 lakh each as a special incentive.
iii. Besides the Chief Minister of Odisha Navin Patnaik also increased to Rs 5 lakh for both group and individual events for Olympic qualified sportspersons.
iv. The Present cash incentive is Rs 50,000 for group event and Rs one lakh for individual event.

Parveen Rana to replace Narsingh Yadav for Rio Olympics
i. Parveen Rana will represent India in the Rio Olympics in place of Narsingh Yadav in the 74kg freestyle category after the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) has sent an official request to United World Wrestling (UWW).
ii. This comes after Narsingh Yadav have been tested Positive in a doping test as this replacement is placed.
However the Indian Wrestling Federation said Narsingh will be first choice if he exonerated from the case.
iii. This replacement of Rana comes as not to lose quota in the mega event.

Muttiah Muralitharan to be inducted into ICC Hall of Fame
i. Sri Lankan spin legend Muttiah Muralitharan has been officially inducted into the ICC Hall of fame. He becomes the first Sri Lankan player to be inducted
ii. The Sri Lankan was named by ICC along with three other cricketing legends viz two from Australia and one from England.
iii. The feat honors the achievements of the legends of cricket’s long and illustrious history in the game.
The Hall of Fame Inductees:

OBITUARY

Former diplomat Arundhati Ghose passes away
i. Former India’s ambassador to the UN Arundhati Ghose was passed away following a battle with cancer at her residence in Palam in New Delhi. She was 76 year old.
ii. In her extensive career she had served in Indian Missions in Austria, the Netherlands, Bangladesh, South Korea and Egypt and many other positions.
iii. Ghose was also the first Indian Permanent Representative to the United Nations Offices. She  had retired from diplomatic services in November 1997.