Current Affairs Today – August 24 2016

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INDIAN AFFAIRS

Union Cabinet Approvals – August 24 2016
i. On August 24th 2016, Union Cabinet headed by Narendra Modi has given its approval for MoUs with Myanmar, Cyprus, Fiji and South Africa in different fields.
ii. The Union cabinet approved an MoU with Myanmar for cooperation in the field of traditional systems of medicine.
iii. In another major step in fight against tax evasion, the Cabinet gave its approval to the revised DTAA between India and Cyprus that provides for source-based taxation of capital gains on transfer of shares instead of one based on residence.
iv. The Union Cabinet approved signing of a new air services agreement between India and Fiji that would allow Indian airlines to fly to any point in the island nation. 
v. The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has been approved of the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between India and South Africa to establish cooperation in Grassroots Innovation.

Shri J P Nadda commemorates a decade of Integrated Food Law in the country
India’s Food Regulator FSSAI organised a function commemorate 10 years of the enactment of Food Safety and Standard Act (FSSAI Act) on August 23rd 2016 in New Delhi.
♦ In the function various big heads were present also gave speech including Prime Minister Narendra Modi who in his congratulatory message emphasized the need for the Authority to focus on empowering the consumers so that the manufacturers and suppliers offood products become responsive to consumer needs, demands and expectations.
10@10 – 10th anniversary with 10 initiatives:
i. All these initiatives have been developed collaboratively over the past few months along with other stakeholders and partners.
ii. This bunch of 10 initiatives dedicated on safe and nutritious food at home, school, workplace, religious places, in trains and railway stations, in restaurants and other places.
iii. In the event Food Safety Display Boards was launched that would help to connect the consumers directly to food safety officers.

Maharashtra and Telegana joins hand for three inter-state Irrigation Projects in Godavari River
i. The governments of Maharashtra and Telangana signed a Memorandum of Understanding for construction of three inter-state irrigation projects. 
ii. Telangana and Maharashtra agreed to build irrigation projects on the Godavari river, benefitting farmers from both the states.
iii. The inter-state water board was constituted in March, following an in-principle agreement between the two states. The board has 23 members each from both the states including their respective chief ministers
iv. The MoU was signed between Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Telangana CMK Chandrasekhar Raoin the presence of chief secretaries and irrigation ministers of both the states.
v. The importance of water sharing and irrigation projects can be gauged from the fact that chief minister Rao visited Maharashtra in July 2014, a month after assuming power.
vi. Under the agreement, Telangana will take up the construction of Medigadda, an inter-state barrage proposed under Kaleshwaram lift irrigation project, at 100 meters full reservoir level (FRL). The barrage, located 20 kilometers downstream of Kaleshwaram in Warangal district will irrigate 1.64 million acres in Telangana and 50,000 acres in Maharashtra with the help of four small lift irrigation projects.

Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik unveils Odisha Startup Policy for youths
i. The Odisha state cabinet headed by chief minister Naveen Patnaik approved the Odisha startup policy to promote entrepreneurship among youths.
ii. The policy envisages ushering in an innovative start-up ecosystem through creation of world class incubation centres,funding and supporting incentives structure at par with other states. A Start-up Capital Infrastructure Fund (up to Rs 25 crore) would be provided by the state government to the Department of MSME through budgetary provision.
iii. The state government would participate in private state specific funds for start-ups to set up operations in the state, such as seed/VC funds, limited to 1/4th of the total size.
iv. Institutions like universities and colleges would be eligible for one time capital grant of 50 per cent of capital cost, excluding the cost of building, up to a maximum of Rs 1 crore to set up an incubation facility.
v. The policy would chart out a roadmap to place Odisha among the top three investment
destinations in the country by 2020. It envisages ushering in an innovation and startup ecosystem though creation of world class incubation centres, funding and supporting incentive structure at par with other States.
vi. It is noted that the Cabinet also approved a proposal for formation of the Odisha State Higher Education Council (OSHEC) with the Higher Education Minister as its chairperson a professor rank administrator as Vice-Chairperson. It would have 15 other members.

New railway line between Nandyala and Yerraguntla commissioned
i. Indian Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu commissioned a new railway line between Nandyala and Yerraguntla in the presence of Union Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu. This railway line  described as the “dream of (late Prime Minister) PV Narasimha Rao.”
ii. The Union Ministers and Chandrababu also flagged off a new passenger train between Nandyala and Kadapa on the occasion. 
iii. Thezse facilities are inaugurated through a remote video link from Vijayawada.
iv. The 123-km railway line was built at a cost of Rs 967 crore and connects Kurnool and Kadapa districts of Andhra Pradesh.
v. This will also directly connect the Rayalaseema region with the state’s new capital Amaravati.
vi. The new line will gave a fillip to industrial activity in Kurnool and Kadapa districts that have a large mineral base, particularly the cement industry. There will be eight stations between Nandyala and Yerraguntla with no unmanned level crossing for a length of 75 kms out of the entire stretch.

Union Cabinet approves the “Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, 2016”
i. The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has given its approval for introduction of the “Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, 2016” on August 24, 2016
ii. The Bill will regulate surrogacy in India by establishing National Surrogacy Board at the central level and State Surrogacy Boards and Appropriate Authorities in the State and Union Territories. The legislation will ensure effective regulation of surrogacy, prohibit commercial surrogacy and allow ethical surrogacy to the needy infertile couples.
iii. All infertile Indian married couple who want to avail ethical surrogacy will be benefited. Further the rights of surrogate mother and children born out of surrogacy will be protected. The Bill shall apply to whole of India, except the state of Jammu and Kashmir.
iv. The major benefits of the Act would be that it will regulate the surrogacy services in the country. While commercial surrogacy will be prohibited including sale and purchase of human embryo and gametes, ethical surrogacy to the needy infertile couples will be allowed on fulfillment of certain conditions and for specific purposes. As such, it will control the unethical practices in surrogacy, prevent commercialization of surrogacy and will prohibit potential exploitation of surrogate mothers and children born through surrogacy.
Salient features of the proposed Bill
1.The draft surrogacy Bill aims at regulating commissioning of surrogacy in the country in a proper manner.
2.As per the 2009 Law Commission Report, the artificial reproduction treatment industry is Rs. 25,000 crore industry
3.The Bill aims to prevent exploitation of women, especially those in rural and tribal areas.
4.The Bill promises to ensure parentage of children born out of surrogacy is “legal and transparent.”
The new Bill proposes complete ban on commercial surrogacy.
♦ As per the Bill, only legally—wedded Indian couples can have children through surrogacy, provided at least one of them have been proven to have fertility-related issues.
♦ Foreigners, even Overseas Indians, are barred from commissioning surrogacy.
♦ A woman will be allowed to become a surrogate mother only for altruistic purpose and under no circumstances money shall be paid to her, except for medical expenses.
♦ Unmarried couples, single parents, live—in partners and homosexuals cannot opt for surrogacy as per the new bill.
♦ Surrogacy regulation board will be set-up at Central and State-level.

South India’s first Children Court was inaugurated in Hyderabad
i. After Goa and Delhi, Telangana has become the third state to inaugurate south India’s first Children’s Court was inaugurated in Hyderabad. This court is a child friendly court and sixth in the country with features like separate waiting rooms for children and a video camera trial for the accused, mandated under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POSCO) Act-2012.
ii. The ‘child friendly’ courtroom was jointly inaugurated at the Nampally Criminal Courts Complex in Hyderabad by Acting Chief Justice Ramesh Ranganathan of High Court of Judicature at Hyderabad and Director General of Telangana Police Anurag Sharma.
iii. POCSO stipulates child-friendly court rooms be put in place across all states at the earliest in the interest of children in need of care.
iv. The judge and the police personnel will be in plain clothes in the children’s court and unlike a normal court set-up, the child will not be allowed to come face to face with the alleged offenders to make sure he is not intimidated while the court proceedings are on.
v. The child-friendly space for recording the witness and testimony of the child will aid in improving the conviction rates for the crimes against children.

President Mukherjee launches Akashvani Maitree Channel in Kolkata
i. Indian President Pranab Mukherjee has launched the Akashvani Maitree – Bengal dedicated Channel at a function organised at Raj Bhawan in Kolkata to strengthen ties between India and Bangladesh.
ii. The Service is a venture of All India Radio which has unique features like sharing of content between Bangladesh Betar and Akashvani Maitree.
iii. This Channel launched from a State-of-the-art Super Power Transmitter of 1000kw with the frequency of 594 kHz/ 505 Meter installed at Chinsurah, West Bengal.
iv. The channel will work 16 hours a day in two phases which will cover whole of Bangladesh and most of South East Asia. The AIR also launched a multimedia website in Bangla airworldservice.org/bangla on the occasion.
The 3 Day Visit:
1.The President is on a three-day visit to West Bengal which he concluded on 24 August 2016.
2.During the course of visit he attended the 125th anniversary celebrations of Bangiya Sahitya Parisad.
3.The President inaugurated a CII-IIEST Conference on the theme ‘Enabling Make in India through Industry Academia Innovation Platform’ in Kolkata.
4.He also made his presence in the function ‘The Legacy to Humanity: Celebrating 150 years of Homeopathy’ organised by the Dr. Prasanta Banerji Homeopathic Research Foundation in the city.
President Mukherjee to inaugurate mega Food Park in Murshidabad
President Pranab Mukherjee is all set to inaugurate a mega food park at Murshidabad and to attend the convocation of Management Development Institute in Murshidabad at Jangipur on 24 August 2016.

BANKING & FINANCE

Mahindra AMC launches Mahindra Mutual Fund Kar Bachat Yojana
i. Mahindra Asset Management Company has announced the launch of open ended scheme
Mahindra Mutual Fund Kar Bachat Yojana to generate long-term capital appreciation through a diversified portfolio of equity and equity related securities.
ii. The Kar Bachat Yojana comes with a three year lock-in period. The New Fund Offer would close on October 7 and will reopen for continuous sale and repurchase from October 19, 2016.
iii. This move comes after the company has got after it received approval from SEBI, the Yojana will help people who not only want to save tax but also wish to create a tax-free corpus over long term investments.
iv. AMC Company registered with SEBI, which invests its clients’ pooled funds into securities that match declared financial objectives and manages the assets of the mutual fund

Bajaj Finance ties up with India Post to facilitate two-wheeler purchase
i. Pune based motorcycle finance firm Bajaj Finance Limited has joined hands with India Post to facilitate purchase of vehicles in Karnataka.
ii. The Bajaj Finance inked a MoU with India Post and also announced special arrangement that allows potential buyers to get information on various 2-wheeler loan schemes.
iii. Theses post offices will also hold special loan offers to the people including the installment collection set-up at the Post Offices. This arrangement shall initially be available at 208 E-Payment Post Offices across the state.
iv. The agreement also pave the way for customers to make repayments of their loans through the Post Offices by making the deposits.

AWARDS & RECOGNITIONS

Indian Star Deepika Padukone entered the Forbes top 10 Highest-Paid actress in the World
Forbes magazine ranked out the world’s highest paid actresses and Hunger games star Jennifer Lawrence has topped the list for the second time in a row. Indian star Deepika Padukone is also among the top 10 highest-paid actresses in the world.
The Top 5 List :-

Telangana Aarogyasri Trust bags FICCI award
i. The Telangana Aarogyasri Healthcare Trust bagged Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI)’s healthcare excellence award for 2016.
ii. This is the second award for the application having secured the Elite Smart Healthcare Conclave for being the most important mobile app in the nation.
iii. The will be presented by Union Health Minister J.P. Nadda to Aarogyasri CEO Dr. M. Chandrasekhar at a function to be held in Delhi on Aug.31.
Aarogyasri Trust App:
♦ The mobile app was launched by Laxma Reddy three months ago. It is GPS enabled mobile app which made by the project monitoring unit of the Trust which enables any patient to locate the network hospital within 10 km radius through a map.
♦  This has been of much help during emergencies and road accidents which facilitates various information pertaining to specialties available in each hospital district wise, phone numbers of the network hospitals, mail ids.

Late Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami selected for the Asian Filmmaker of the Year Award 
i. Late Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami has been selected for the Asian Filmmaker of the Year Award at the Busan International Film Festival beginning October 6.
ii. Abbas Kiarostami was an Iranian film director, screenwriter, photographer and film producer.An active film-maker from 1970, Kiarostami had been involved in over forty films, includingshorts and documentaries.
iii. Kiarostami attained critical acclaim for directing the Koker trilogy (1987–94), Close-Up (1990),Taste of Cherry (1997) – which was awarded the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival that year – and The Wind Will Carry Us(1999). In his later works, Certified Copy (2010) and Like Someone in Love (2012), he filmed for the first time outside Iran: in Italy and Japan, respectively.
iv. Kiarostami had worked extensively as a screen writer,film editor, art director and producer and had designed credit titles and publicity material. He was also a poet, photographer, painter, illustrator, and graphic designer. He was part of a generation of filmmakers in the Iranian New Wave, a Persian cinema movement that started in the late 1960s and includes pioneering directors such as Masoud Kimiai, Sohrab Shahid Saless, Dariush Mehrjui, Bahram Beyzai, Nasser Taghvai and Parviz Kimiavi.
v. These filmmakers share many common techniques including the use of poetic dialogue and allegorical storytelling dealing with political and philosophical issues
vi. The 21st Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) has selected Kiarostami, who passed away on July 4 at the age of 76, for the award which is given to Asian cineastes or organizations that have shown the most outstanding contribution to developing the Asian film industry and culture.

APPOINTMENTS & RESIGNS

Sakshi Malik – Haryana’s Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao Campaign Brand Ambassador
i. Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar announced Sakshi Malik, India’s bronze medalist at the Rio Olympics, as the brand ambassador of the Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao campaign in the state. The programme aims to empower the girl child and reduce rates of female foeticide in districts with low child sex ratio. Haryana particularly is a state that has a skewed gender ratio.
ii. Sakshi Malik(born 3 September 1992) is anIndian freestyle wrestler. At the 2016 Summer Olympics, she won the bronze medal in the 58 kg category, becoming the first Indian female wrestler to win a medal at the Olympics and the fourth female Olympic medalist from the country.
iii. She is a part of the JSW Sports Excellence Program, along with fellow female wresters Vinesh Phogat, Babita Kumari and Geeta Phogat.
iv. Malik had previously won the silver medal at the2014 Commonwealth Gamesin Glasgow, and the bronze medal at the 2015 Asian Wrestling Championships in Doha.
v. Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao(Save girl child, educate girl child)is a Government of v. India scheme that aims to generate awareness and improve the efficiency of welfare services meant for women. The scheme was launched with an initial corpus of ₹100 crore (US$15 million).
vi. According to census data, the child sex ratio (0–6 years) in India was 927 girls per 1,000 boys in 2001, which dropped drastically to 918girls for every 1,000 boys in 2011. A 2012UNICEF report ranked India 41st among 195 countries.
vii. The Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao (BBBP) Scheme was introduced in October, 2014 to address the issue of declining child sex ratio (CSR). This is implemented through a national campaign and focused multi-sector action in 100 selected districts with low CSR, covering all States and UTs. It is a joint initiative of the Ministry of Women and Child Development, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and the Ministry of Human Resource Development.

Deepika Padukone – Indian Psychiatric Society’s new Brand Ambassador
i. Bollywood actress Deepika Padukone, who herself battled depression, has joined hands with the Indian Psychiatric Society as its brand ambassador to spread awareness about mental health and help reduce the stigma associated with its ailments.
ii. Deepika Padukone is an Indian film actress. She is one of the highest-paid actresses in the world and is cited in the media as one of India’s most popular and attractive personalities. Padukone has established a career inHindi films, and is the recipient of several awards, including three Filmfare Awards.
iii. Padukone, the daughter of the badminton player Prakash Padukone, was born in Copenhagen and raised in Bangalore. As a teenager she played badminton in national level championships, but left her career in sport to become a fashion model. She soon received offers for film roles, and made her acting debut in 2006 as the title character of the Kannada film Aishwarya. Padukone then played dual roles in her first Bollywood release—the 2007 blockbuster Om Shanti Om—and won a Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut. 
iv. Indian Psychiatric Society(IPS) is the largest association of Indian Psychiatrists. It was founded in 1929 under the banner ofRoyal Medico Psychological Association. Its current president is Dr G. Prasad Rao.
v. One of the earlier iterations of the organisation holds its origins in 1929, when Berkeley Hillfounded the Indian Association for Mental Hygiene. In 1935, the Indian division of the Royal Medico Psychological Association was formed due to the efforts of Banarasi Das.
vi. In 1946, Dr. Nagendra Nath De consulted Major R. B. Davis of the Hospital for Mental Disease, Kanke, Ranchi and Brigadier T. A. Munro, Advisor in Psychiatry to the Indian Army and decided to revive the association. Due to their efforts, the Indian Psychiatric Society was inaugurated.

ACQUISITIONS & MERGERS

Accenture to acquire Australian security firm
i. Chicago based Global professional services company Accenture is set to acquire Australia­ based security company Redcore. The Deal size is not disclosed.
ii. The Purchase will expand Accenture’s security offerings and presence in the Asia­Pacific region. Further it will to expand existing IAM services and Security­as­a­Service (SaaS) capabilities along with other critical cyber defense services in the region.
iii. The Australian firm Redcore develops holistic authentication, authorisation and administration services across a range of Cloud, web, mobile and adaptive accessmanagement technologies.
Accenture
♦ CEO: Pierre Nanterme
♦ Headquarters: Chicago, United State

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Sugamaya Pustakalaya – Online Library for Persons with print Disabilities
i. An online library for persons with visual disabilities Sugamya Pustakalaya was launched by Ravi Shankar Prasad, Minister for Law & Justice and Electronics & Information Technology at a function organized by Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities, on 24 Aug. 16 in New Delhi.
ii. This is a step towards government’s Digital India Program, the online Library that makes accessible content available to print-disabled people which is available in various publications across diverse subjects and languages and multiple accessible formats.
iii. The Platform was developed by Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (Divyangjan), Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment in collaboration with member organizations of Daisy Forum of India and powered by TCS Access.
iv. The Library has Over 2 lakhs books in various languages which are available in Accessible formats for people with visual impairment and other print disabilities.
v. In this Public Platform Universities, School Library, Public Libraries or any such institution can become a member of DFI or subscribe to the online library to offer the entire collection of the platform.

China Launches First Tibetan-Language Search Engine
i. China has launched its first Tibetan-language search engine which will serve as a unified portal for all the Tibetan-language websites in China.
ii. The Search Engine named Yongzin is the first search engine of Tibetan language on the world, Yongzin means master or teacher in the Tibetan language.
iii. It has has eight sections for news, websites, images, videos, music, encyclopedia, literature and forums which can facilitates the need of the Tibetan-speaking population and can built of Tibetan digital archives.
iv. The search engine is developed by the Tibetan Language Information Technology Research Center of Hainan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture.
v. The project of search engine Yongzin began on the project in April 2013 that costs 57 million yuan (about USD 8.7 million), is supported as part of the 12th five-year plan by the government.

Punjab CM launched mobile app ‘Kisan Suvidha’ for Farmers
i. Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal launched a mobile app, Kisan Suvidha (farmer’s service), in the state. The app developed by the Union government’s agriculture department will provide basic information on weather updates, crop prices and expert advice.
ii. The app is likely to have many takers as India is second largest Smartphone market in the world with 87 million mobile Internet users in rural areas.
iii. The app has a simple interface and provides information on five critical parameters—weather, input dealers, market price, plant protection and expert advisories. An additional tab directly connects the farmer with the Kisan call centre where technical graduates answer their queries.
iv. The design is simple and neat. To begin with, a farmer has to register the mobile number, choose a language—at present limited to Hindi and English—and enter details of the state, district and block or sub-district.
v. A tap on the weather button shows details of temperature, humidity, wind and rainfall for the current day and the forecast for the next five days. Additionally, a farmer can get extreme weather alerts like hailstorms or unseasonal rains—a useful tool for farmers. For instance, after harvesting, farmers often leave their cereal crops in the field to dry. Prior information on freak rains can help them save their crop.
vi. The market price button shows latest price of all crops traded in amandior registered agriculture market of the particular district a farmer belongs to. Additionally, he gets to see the maximum price in the district, state and the entire country on a particular day.

Shri Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi Launches Hindi Website and Revamped English Website of Minority Affairs Ministry 
i. The Union Minister of State for Minority Affairs (Independent Charge) & Parliamentary Affairs Shri Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi launched new Hindi website and updated and revamped English website of the Minority Affairs Ministry. The new improved and revamped website http://www.minorityaffairs.gov.inis very user friendly and provides easy navigation. The website is also adaptive to other devices such as iPads and mobiles.
ii. The information about the Ministry of Minority Affairs can be accessed online in Hindi too as its new website in the language was launched here by Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi.
iii. The website was also adaptive to other devices such as iPads and mobiles. The Minority Affairs Ministry was committed to serving the people through all means which also include use of technology, social media and others.   
iv. The Ministry has also been planning a mobile app for scholarships to provide an easier platform to the students to apply through their mobile phones.Mr Naqvi said the new revamped website of the Ministry had details of various welfare schemes, aimed at socio-economic-educational empowerment of the Minority communities.

ENVIRONMENT

Awards for Nine New Germplasm of Indigenous Farm Animals Registered as Breeds by ICAR
Dr. Trilochan Mohapatra, Secretary DARE & DG, ICAR chaired over a ceremony held at Krishi Bhawan, New Delhi for awarding certificates to the applicants of breed registration.
i. Dr P.S. Bhandari, Chief Veterinary Officer, Department of Animal Husbandry, Champawat, Uttarakhand – registration of Badri cattle of Uttarakhand.
ii. Dr S. Jeyakumar, Senior Scientist along with 7 others form ICAR-CIARI, Port Blair – Teressa goat of A&N Islands;
iii. Dr T.J. Harikrishnan and Dr T. Ravimurugan – Kodi Adu goat and Chevaadu sheep of Tamil Nadu respectively;
iv. Dr Susanta Kumar Dash, Professor, OUAT, Bhubaneswar – Kendrapada sheep of Odisha
v. Dr (Ms) M. Catherine Rutsa, Assistant Professor, Nagaland University – Tenyi Vo pig of Nagaland
vi. Dr S. Jeyakumar, Senior Scientist along with 8 others- Nicobari pig of A&N Islands
vii. Dr Galib Uz Zaman and Dr Subimal Laskar, Professor, AAU, Khanapara – Doom pig of Assam
viii. Dr Th. Ranadhir Singh from CAU Imphal, Dr P.K. Vij and Dr M.S. Tantia from ICAR-NBAGR Karnal – Kaunayen chicken of Manipur

Rare Endangered Primate Spotted In Vietnam
i. A team of scientists from Fauna and Flora International spotted a new group of critically endangered primates in Vietnam.
ii. The Delacour’s langur also called Delacour’s lutung, black and white with a full face of whiskers, is indigenous to Vietnam. It is named after French-American ornithologist Jean Théodore Delacour.
iii. Scientists spotted about 40 of the primates, mostly juveniles and infants, bringing their total population to less than 250 but their numbers have dwindled as a result of poaching and mining activity in the country’s northern forests.
iv. The primates are critically endangered species which was discovered in the 1930s by French scientist Jean Theodore Delacour, and are only found in Vietnam.
Vietnam
♦ Capital: Hanoi
♦ Currency: Vietnamese dong

Amatrice, Italy, devastated by earthquake
i. A powerful earthquake hit the Central Italy Amatrice overnight with a magnitude 6.2 that remain relatively rare that killed at least 73 people.
ii. The Central town was devastated by the strong quake 6.2 registered 100km (65 miles) north-east of Rome, not far from Perugia, actually the country is one of the most seismically active spots in Europe and has seen many.
iii. According to the US Geological Survey it was the largest earthquake in Italy since 2009 when a 6.3-magnitude earthquake hit when at least 295 people and injured several hundred people.

OBITUARY

Former Governor of Bihar, West Bengal and Haryana A R Kidwai Dies
Former Governor of Bihar, West Bengal and Haryana, A R Kidwai passed away on August 24, 2016 in New Delhi. He was 96.
i. Born on July 1, 1920, in Baragaon in UP. He started his career as a professor of Chemistry, and became Dean of Faculty of Science at Aligarh Muslim University. He also served as Chairman of Union Public Service Commission from 1974 to 1977. He was Chancellor of AMU between 1983 to 1992.
ii. He served as Governor of Bihar twice, from 1979 to 1985 and 1993 to 1998 and he served as Governor of Bengal between 1998 and 1999.
iii. Later he served as Governor of Rajasthan and Haryana till 2009 and he was member of Rajya Sabha between 2000 and 2004.