Current Affairs Today – July 31 2016

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INDIAN AFFAIRS

Javadekar Inaugurates IIT Goa Temporary Campus – HRD Minister inaugurates IIT Goa Campus
i. Union Minister of Human Resource Development Prakash Javdekar inaugurated the newly announced Goa Indian Institute of Technology’s temporary Campus.
ii. The temporary campus is set to function from temporary campus at Goa Engineering College Farmagudi and will be mentored by IIT Mumbai. 
iii. The Proposed IIT to be established at Loliem located about 88 km from Goa capital Panaji in south. The 300 acre campus is expected to come up in a couple of years.
iv. The temporary campus at GEC is fully equipped with class rooms, laboratories and modern hostel buildings.
Indian Institute of Technology:
♦ The Union HRD Minister is the ex-officio Chairperson of IIT Council.
♦ The IITs are governed by the Institutes of Technology Act, 1961.
♦ There are 23 IITs functioning in the country as on date.

India to host international summit on tobacco-control
i. India will host a crucial global summit 7th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP7) to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO-FCTC) in November this year. The Health Minister of State Anupriya Patel announced in the Lok Shaba.
ii. The Summit aimed to eliminate the illicit trade of tobacco products in which delegates from 180 countries will take part at the Indian Exposition Mart in Noida.
iii. The Minister also said Delegations who is presiding the event is not been decided by India also urged generating awareness on harmful effects of tobacco use is the key.

PM Modi Flags Off ‘Run For Rio’ in Delhi
i. Prime Minister Narendra Modi flags off the Run for Rio also released the brochure of the Indian History at Olympics so far at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium in New Delhi
ii. Over 20,000 schoolchildren took part in the event from Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium till Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium.
iii. The Run aiming to demonstrate to the athletes that the country is proud Rio and to connect public at large, particularly among Children and youth, with the Olympic spirit and power of sports
Rio Contingent:
♦ 119 Indian Athletes is set to contest in nearly 15 games in the Rio Olympics. This is highest in the Indian history ever crossing two digit mark.
♦ The Event Rules mandates that players are taken to the venue two days before the start of every Games.

Centre to organise ‘Make in India’ conference in Bhubaneswar
i. Union government is set to host the Make in India Conference in the Odisha’s Capital Bhubaneswar in the month of December this year.
ii. The Commerce Ministry controlled Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion is organising the mega event to attract the investors to invest in the State.
Make in India:
♦ The Initiative Make in India is to attract investments in various Industrial sector to boost the economy. It was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi September 2014.
♦ India received US$63 billion in FDI last year.
♦ The main aim of this programme is to focus on job creation and skill enhancement in 25 sectors of the economy.

Railway Minister inaugurates maiden broad gage train service from Agartala to Delhi
i. Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu inaugurated the first broad gage train service from Agartala to Delhi also laid foundation stone for Agartala-Akhaura international rail Project.
ii. The new Broad gauge train named Tripura Sundari Express’ will ply weekly between Agartala and New Delhi will halt at 16 stations and cover a distance of 2461 kms in 46 hours and 50 minutes.
iii. The Minister laid the foundation of the Rail project accompanied by Bangladesh Railway Minister Mazibul Hoque in New Delhi.
iv. The Rail Minister also pledge that IRCTC would be advised to bring new tourist packages for North East & Bangladesh for wider connectivity of the region.

Madhubabu Pension Scheme extended to 50 lakh beneficiaries with the latest addition of 3 lakh people
i. On the mark of Independence Day celebrations, ‘Madhubabu Pension Scheme‘ is going to be extended to three lakh more beneficiaries from August 15.
ii. Odisha Chief MinisterNaveen Patnaik  directed the district collectors to extend this pension scheme in order to ensure social security for all the people on time.
iii. On the addition of these 3 lakh beneficiaries on 15 august, this scheme covers 50 lakh beneficiaries marking a strategic mark in building the social security of the normal people of Odisha.
iv. The eligible people below poverty line (BPL) category would be covered under this Madhu Babu Pension Yojana. Under the old-age pension scheme, a person receives Rs 300 per month after attaining 60 years.
v. Beneficiaries beyond the age of 80 receive Rs 500 per month. While the state government provides Rs 100 under the scheme, the remaining amount is provided by the Centre.
About Odisha :
♦ Capital – Bhubhaneshwar
♦ CM – Naveen Patnaik
♦ Governor – S. C. Jamir.

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

India ranks first in the Pathetic Global Stunted Growth Children List
With a whooping population of 48 million children, India became the destination of largest number of stunted – malnutrition children in world in terms of volume of the living population. This pathetic face is revealed by the international charity organization called Water Aid
♦ India ranks at first position followed by Nigeria, Pakistan and China. The hall of shame list as follows:-

Joint Indo-Thailand Military Exercise ‘Maitree’ culminates
i. The Two Week long Indo-Thailand Military Exercise Maitree–2016 is came to end at Krabi, Thailand. The exercise had commenced on 15 July 2016.
ii. The Royal Thailand Army hosted the Exercise along with Indian Army where 90 Soldiers from India took part.
iii. In the two week exercise there was extensive training to expand inter- operability between the sides that covers various areas apart from the these.
♦ Familiarization with weapons & equipment used by both the sides,
♦ Analyzing groupings,
♦ Drills and tactics while operating in counter terrorism environment and
♦ Modalities for conduct of Area Domination operations in urban environment.

BUSINESS

Hetero Healthcare to set up units in three states
i. Hyderabad based Hetero Healthcare has announced that the company will set up three units in Andhra Pradesh, Sikkim and Telangana to expand the business.
ii. The proposed units will come up in the coming months that will manufacture injectables at the Andhra unit and tablets and capsules in Guwahati units.
iii. However the Telangana unit is not in the pipeline for the near soon operations, the expanded band of the business turnover will go up by 25 % with these new proposals.
iv. The Pharmaceutical major company has 25 plants in India and has global marketing presence in over 100 countries. The company was founded in 1993.

AWARDS & RECOGNITIONS

Sikkim’s Khangchendzonga National Park Now In UNESCO ‘Heritage’ List
i. Sikkim’s Khangchendzonga National Park has been announced as the India’s first “mixed world heritage site by the Paris based UNESCO that will help the state to attract the tourists to the eco spot.
ii. With this the list of UNESCO heritage sites in India moves 35 as on date.
iii. The Mountains Park site has been given this recognition for outstanding universal values both in terms of its natural and cultural significance.
iv. The park is at an altitude of 8,586 meters and is third highest mountain of the world and is the highest in the country is a home animals such as red panda, snow leopard, great Tibetan sheep and musk deer.
Khangchendzonga National Park:
The Park is in eastern Himalaya was set up in 850 sq km area in 1977 and was later extended to 1,784 sq km  later month of 1997 by for the purpose of protecting, propagating or developing wildlife or its habitat.

APPOINTMENTS & RESIGNS

Tokyo gets it first Woman Governor – Yuriko Koike
Japanese people elected Yuriko Koike as the first woman governor of Tokyo on July 31. It is noted that she is a former defense minister of Japan. This appointment will play a key in the preparations of the Olympics 2020 which is going to be held in Tokyo.
i. Ms Koike received more than 2.9 million votes in election, which lead to the defeat of her opponents by a wide margin. The election which was contested by a record field of 21 candidates.
ii. Yuriko Koike was announced the winner by Japanese media as soon as voting ended, based on her definitive lead in exit polls. She will take charge of a sprawling Tokyo with a population of more than 13 million.
iii. It is noted that the former governor Yoichi Masuzoe, resigned in June after an exorbitant, though not illegal, spending of taxpayers’ money, including for hotel suites and expensive artwork. The governor before him also resigned in disgrace

Justice Dilip Babasaheb Bhosale sworn in as new CJ of Allahabad HC
i. Justice Dilip Babasaheb Bhosale was sworn in as the Chief Justice of the Allahabad High Court.
ii. He was administered the oath by Uttar Pradesh Governor Ram Naik in presence of High Court judges, and other dignitaries.
iii. Justice Bhosale belongs to a family of freedom fighters and his father Babasaheb Bhosale had served as Chief Minister of Maharashtra.

Vishvas Vidu Sapkal concurrently accredited as the High Commissioner of India to the Cook Islands
i. Vishvas Vidu Sapkal, a 1998 batch IFS Oficer presently High Commissioner of India to the Republic of Fiji, has been concurrently accredited as the High Commissioner of India to the Cook Islands, with residence in Suva (Fiji).
ii. He is expected to take up this position shortly.
Cook Islands:
The Cook Islands, the South Pacific archipelago nation, lies southwest of Tahiti.
Capital: Avarua
Currencies: New Zealand dollar, Cook Islands dollar

B N Reddy concurrently accredited as the High Commissioner of India to the Republic of Cameroon
Current High Commissioner of India to the Federal Republic Of Nigeria B N Reddy has appointed as the High Commissioner of India to the Republic of Cameroon.
Cameroon:
♦ Capital: Yaoundé
♦ Currency: Central African
♦ CFA franc President: Paul Biya

Rani Nair set to be new CBDT Chairperson
Rani Singh Nair has appointed as the new CBDT Chairperson with incumbent Atulesh Jindal who retired on july 31^st 2016.
i. Nair will be in office till October 31 during which she will be looking to achieve maximum success under the one-time domestic black money disclosure scheme being run by the government also called the Income Declaration Scheme (IDS).It will close on September 30.
ii. Nair has been instrumental in framing the procedures and protocols that led to the roll-out of the IDS on June 1 this year. IDS aims to fish out black funds from the domestic arena.
About CBDT:
♦ Members: Chairperson & Six members
♦ Responsibility :  Framing policy and administrative issues related to direct taxes and the Income-Tax Department

Ashok Leyland non-exec vice chairman R Seshasayee resigns
Non-Executive Vice-Chairman of Ashok Leyland, R Seshasayee has resigned from the board of directors with effect from July 28.
i. He was the President of Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) till September 2003,
ii. He was also the Chairman of the International Trade Committee in SIAM.
iii. He has even served as a director in ICICI Bank, EID Parry India, and Sundaram Asset Management.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

World’s lightest electric paraglider trike developed
i. National University of Singapore Scientists, including Indian origin have designed and built the worlds lightest electric paraglider trike, that can take off and land with wheels. It operates on battery also can reach 6 Km.
ii. The aircraft named Delta, has two propellers that mounted on the tail. The Motors are the prime movers for the propellers is powered by lithium polymer batteries.
The Delta:
♦ The Delta made of a frame from aluminium with carbon fibre connections – materials for their strength and lightweight nature weighs 49 kilogrammes, and is capable of carrying one person up to 75kg. In its current prototype.
♦ It can fly up to a speed of 36 km per hour under normal wind conditions, and for a typical flight time of 10 minutes on fully-charged batteries. This allows it to cover up to a distance of 6 km.
♦ The aircraft was specially made for the National Geographic Channels new series Machine Impossible.

SPORTS

India To Host Kabaddi World Cup In October
International Kabaddi Federation (IKF) announced that India will host the Kabaddi World Cup this year, featuring 12 countries. The mega Event will be hosted this October the regulator added.
i. The Kabaddi World Cup-2016 will have participation from USA, Canada, UK, Australia, Iran, Poland, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Korea, Japan and Kenya apart from the hosts. Star Sports will be the official broadcaster of the Event.
ii. The game became included in Asian Games in the year 1990 since then India have won all the gold medals.
International Kabaddi Federation:
♦ Formation: 2004
♦ President: Janardan Singh Gehlot
♦ Membership: 31 Countries

Luke Aikins created a new record by diving from 25, 000 feet without parachute
i. Luke Aikins became the first skydiver to leapt into the sky from an airplane at 25,000 in a operation named Heaven Sent, without any parachute or wingsuit and landed safely on the ground in a net. He leapt in free fall using only the air currents around him to land safely on a high-tech 10,000-square-foot net.
ii. He prepared him to jump out of a plane at 25,000ft and him successfully done with this unusual record by landing in a Californian desert.
iii. Out of the three skydivers who tried this diving, only aikins accomplished this without any aid to glide in the air.
iv. He practiced this stunt for about two years and made this historical adventurous event successful.
v. It is noted that, Aikins is a ace skydiver who holds the record of 18,000 parachute jumps across the globe.

BOOKS & AUTHORS

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child book launched
i. JK Rowling’s eighth Harry Potter story,“Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” has been released in bookstores across the globe.
ii. “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child”, a script rather than a narrative novel, is set 19 years after the seventh novel in the series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — which came out back in 2007.
iii. The script is written by Jack Thorne, from an original story JK Rowling.

IMPORTANT DAYS

136th Birth Anniversary of eminent writer Munshi Premchand being celebrated
i. Eminent Hindi-Urdu literature writer Lamhi, Munshi Premchand’s 136th birthday anniversary is celebrated on July 31. His last novel Godaan is recognized as the one of the finest Hindi novel.
ii. Prem Chand’s wrote about 300 short stories and several novels, essays and letters. His penning’s were unique styled intense story-telling and use of simple language also emphasized on the problems of the rural peasant classes.
Munshi Premchand:
♦ He was born Dhanpat Rai in 1880 at Lamhi village in Uttar Pradesh.
♦ He breathed his last in 1936 at the age of 55.
♦ His Simple writings of the famous author keep him immortal in the memory of book lovers.
♦ Google doodle celebrates 136th birth anniversary paying tributes.