Current Affairs Today – August 7 2015

Dear Readers, We cover some important news in Current Affairs Today Section, which are not covered in Daily Detailed News, More Current Affairs coverage will help you to Score Good Marks in Competitive Exam.

**Blue Heading are Detailed News, Click the News to Read More**

Indian Affairs 

• PM Modi inaugurates first National Handloom Day in Chennai
• Rajasthan signs 12 MoUs at the investment meet in New Delhi

Government to Allow Aadhaar Enrolments of NRIs, PIOs, OICs

• Government has decided that Aadhaar enrolment of Non-Resident Indians,from now all residents including Indian national and foreigners with valid visas can be enrolled and provided Aadhaar number by the UIDAI.
• It was announced by Planning Minister Rao Inderjit Singh in Lok Sabha.
• UIDAI is working on the policy for Aadhaar enrolment of NRIs, PIOs and OICs after receiving a direction from the government on the issue.
• Aadhaar Number should be eventually allowed to help them authenticate their identity digitally.
• It is a valid know your customers (KYC) document for various services including banking, telecom, cooking gas subsidy, vehicle registration driving licence, government scholarships, pension and public distribution system.
• The UIDAI was set up in January 2009 to issue Aadhaar numbers. It has generated 89.43 Aadhaar numbers so far .

International Affairs

• India and Myanmar inked agreement to set up CESDT in Myanmar
• 48th ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ meet held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Egypt launches Suez Canal expansion

• Abdelfattah el-sisi has inaugurated a major extension of the suez canal in stage-managed ceremony celebrating his government’s “gift to the world”.
• This expansion aims to increase the traffic handled by the canal
• Expansion brings the Suez Canal’s length to 120 miles and depth to 78 feet .
• The canal is one of Egypt’s top foreign currency earners, with around 10 per cent of the world’s trade passing through it.

Azim Premji and Shiv Nadar are Top 20 Tech Billionaires in the world

• Azim premji who is founder of wipro has been awarded 11th place with cash prize of Rs 1.12 lakh crore.
• Shiv nadir who is founder and chairman of HCL Technologies got rank 15^thwith Rs 94.3 crore.
• Bill Gates got rank 1 with net worth $79.6bn. Larry Ellison founder of oracle got rank 2 with net worth of $50bn.

Bank & Finance

• SBI Life Insurance launched “Smart Humsafar Plan”
• RBI allows banks to merge, shift or close branches in urban areas.

Rupee reference rate against USD sets by RBI

• The Reserve Bank of India fixed the reference rate of rupee at 63.9315 against the US dollar and 70.0497 for the euro as against 63.9623 and 70.1602.
• According to a RBI, the exchange rates for the pound and the yen against the rupee were quoted at 99.8226 and 51.59 per 100 yen, based on reference rates for the dollar and cross-currency quotes .

 Business 

Amitava Ghosh appointed as Vice President-engineering of Snapdeal

• E-commerce major Snapdeal has appointed Amitava Ghosh  formerTaxiForSure Chief Technology Officer (CTO) as Vice President Engineering who will lead the development of intuitive technology solutions at the Delhi-based online marketplace.
• Ghosh, having 17 years of experience, acted as the chief technology officer at TaxiForSure before Ola Cabs acquired the company.
• He headed the India engineering team of Tribune Digital Ventures earlier.
• Ghosh will work out of the Snapdeal’s technology innovation centre in Bangalore. Currently, a 200-people team works out of the Bangalore office.
• He holds an M.Tech degree in biochemical engineering and biotechnology from Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi.

India extended anti-dumping duty on Vitamin-C imports from China

• India today extended anti-dumping duty on import of all forms ,grades of vitamin-C at 3.74USD perkg  from china for next 5 years.
• “The anti-dumping duty Shall be applicable to all synonyms of Vitamin-C, including…Ascorbic Acid, L-Xyloascorbic Acid, 3-Oxo-L-gulofuranolactone (enol form), L-3-Ketothreohexuronic Acid Lactone, etc.
• The Government had earlier imposed the anti-dumping duty on import of Vitamin-C from China in 2009 and later extended it by one year till June 2015.

Awards

Goa Tourism Minister Dilip Parulekar to be honoured with PATWA award

• Dilip Parulekar who is Goa Tourism minister  has been awarded with PATWA-safari India south Asia travel award for the year 2015.
• PATWA(Pacific Area Travel Writers Association) is an affiliate of United nations WTO.Parulekar is the first tourism minister of Goa to receive this PATWA award
• This PATWA award will be presented to him at a ceremony in New delhi on August 7^th2015.

Appointments

Rekha Menon appointed as Accenture’s India chairman

• Accenture appointed Rekha Menon as its new India chairman to succeed Avinash Vashistha who resigned in July.
• Menon, who has over 24 years of industry experience, currently is the head of human resources for growth markets at Accenture.She was Accenture’s first woman head in India.
• Accenture also appointed Anindya Basu as its new country managing director for India. Both the appointments will be effective August 21.
• Basu will continue his role working with Accenture’s products clients in India, as well as serving as the APAC regional lead of the company’s automotive, industrial, infrastructure and travel & transportation industry practice.

Sports

Indian Athletes won 173 medals at the Special Olympics

• India won 173 medals at the special Olympic world Summer games 2015 in Los Angeles.US first lady  Michelle obama joined opening ceremony held on 25^th july 2015.
• The 275-member Indians  won 47 gold, 54 silver and 72 bronze in 14 disciplines during the nine-day event that ended August 2. India had won 156 medals — 56 gold, 48 silver and 52 bronze — in the last edition of the games held in Athens, Greece.
• Phoolan Devi won the first gold for India in power-lifting,  maximum Golds (47) came from the athletes.

Obituary

Hollywood Actor George Cole passed away

• Veteran actor George Cole,best known as loveable rogue Arthur Daley from the TV series Minder has died at 90
• He spanned more than 70 years. He was known for playingArthur Daley in the long-running ITV drama show Minder and Flash Harry in the early St Trinian’s
• His best remembered television role was as the crooked used-car dealer Arthur Daley in the Thames Television series Minder, which he played from 1979 to the show’s conclusion in 1994

Fashion designer Arnold Scaasi passed away

• Arnold Scaasi, the Canadian-born designer died at 85.His custom gowns graced celebrities such as Barbra Streisand and Elizabeth Taylor as well as a number of American first ladies.
• Arnold had won the Coty American Fashion Critics Award for best designer of the year.
• Scaasi published several books including a 2004 memoir titled “Women I Have Dressed (And Undressed).”
• His prolific designs were celebrated in a 2011 exhibition at Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts entitled,”Scaasi: American Couturier.”
• His work was also featured at the Museum of Lifestyle & Fashion History in Florida.

Click here to view: Current Affairs August 2015