Current Affairs Today – July 31 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 

India ranks 14th out of 22 countries on TB prevalence

  • India by accounting 2.6 million cases of Tuberculosis as per the latest count ranked 14th among 22 high TB burden globally .
  • Accroding to WHO Global tuberculosis Report 2014,in India, the estimated prevalence of TB is 2.6 million cases.
  • The action already taken by India is in consonance with the resolution of anti-microbial resistance passed by the World Health Assembly in May 2015.
  • “Due to the large population of our country,the same translates into the large number of cases” health minister JP Nadda said.

“TATA Group” remains India’s most valuable brand: Brand Finance India 100 Report

  • According to the Brand Finance consultancy study, the value of TATA Brand grew 4 percent from 2014 and hence TATA Group remains the INDIA’S MOST VALUABLE BRAND at more than $ 15 billion for the second consecutive year.
  • Globally, Tata Group was ranked 65th in the Global 500 list according to the brand valuation consultancy study in February.
  • The top 10 brands includes Tata Group is in the No. 1 position with brand value $15,378 million and followed by State Bank of India with brand value $6,563 million , LIC ($4,927 m), Airtel ($4,524 m), Reliance ($3,663 m), Indian Oil ($3,493 m), Infosys ($3,414m),L&T($3,235m),HCL($3,148m),ONGC($2,899m).

Film Talvar to be premiered at Toronto International Film Festival

  • Bollywood veteran actors Tabu and Irfan Khan’s upcoming movie Talvar,which is based on 2008 mysterious Arushi Talwar Noida double murder case to be showed as premier at 2015 40th Toronto International Film Festival.
  • It will be presented in ‘Special Presentations’ section selected by Toronto International Film Festival(TIFF) that takes place between September 10-20 2015.
  • Talvar is directed by Meghna Gulzar is daughter of acclaimed lyricist Gulzar and veteran actress Raakhee.Talvar is produced by Junglee pictures and VB pictures .
  • Talwar music director is Vishal Bhardwaj and cinematography by Pankaj Kumar.
  • TIFF film festival shows around 300 films of all genres from more than sixty countries.

ISRO and NASA jointly working on NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) mission

  • ISRO and NASA are jointly working on the NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) mission to codevelop and launch a dual frequency synthetic aperture radar satellite.
  • NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) mission is a dual frequency (L & S Band) Radar Imaging Satellite. In this joint mission, JPL/ NASA will be responsible for design & development of L-band SAR, 12m unfurlable antenna, GPS system and data recorder.
  • ISRO will be responsible for design & development of S-band SAR, Spacecraft Bus, data transmission system, Spacecraft integration & testing, launch using GSLV and on-orbit operations.

International Affairs 

Gates Foundation world’s wealthiest private charitable organisation: Report

  • The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has topped the list of the world’s wealthiest private foundations established by living ultrahigh net worth (UHNW) individuals, according to a Wealth-X report.
  • With total assets of USD 43.4 billion, the Gates Foundation accounts for more than half of the combined assets of the 10 charitable foundations on the list, the global wealth intelligence and prospecting firm has said.
  • Li Ka Shing Foundation, founded in 1980 by Hong Kong business magnate Li Ka-Shing, ranked second with USD 8.1 billion in assets followed by Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation (USD 6.4 billion) and Bloomberg Philanthropies (USD 5.4 billion) in the third and fourth place, respectively.
  • Collectively, the 10 foundations have total assets of USD 83.1 billion, equivalent to 29.7 per cent of combined net worth of the UHNW individuals who established them.

Awards

Acquisitions & Mergers

Japan’s Nikkei buys Financial Times in $1.3-bn deal

  • Japanese media group Nikkei agreed to buy the Financial Times from Britain’s Pearson in a $1.3 billion deal that makes two leading financial new operations together from Asia and Europe.
  • Nikkei newspaper ,which has a circulation surpassing three million for its morning edition.171 year old person had finally decided to sell the pink paged business daily.
  • In the sale of Financial times group it does not include 50% stake in The Economist magazine or The London headquartes of the news paper on the banks of river Thames.
  • Nikkkei chairman and group CEO is Tsuneo kita.

Appointments 

L&T appoints Subramanian Sarma as CEO for hydrocarbon arm

  • Larsen & Toubro has appointed Subramanian Sarma as non-executive director and made him the head of its hydrocarbon business with effect from August 19.
  • Sarma has been appointed as the chief executive officer and managing director of L&T’s subsidiary L&T Hydrocarbon Engineering,
  • The subsidiary is currently headed by L&T CEO K. Venkataramanan & retiring in September.

Banking & Finance 

India got $185 mn FDI in insurance from Mar-May

  • As informed by parliament India received USD 184.97 million(about Rs 1,186 cr) Foreign Direct Investment(FDI) in the insurance sector during from March to May 2015
  • Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said FDI inflow was USD 47.14 million in the similar period last year(2014)
  • As per the guidelines,FDI of upto 26 percent comes under the automatic route,while for inflows beyond that and up to 49 percent,government approval is needed.
  • Overall foreign inflows in the country rose by 27 per cent to USD 30.93 billion during the previous fiscal. The amount was USD 24.29 billion in 2013-14.

Business 

Science & Technology 

Lamp that runs for 8 hours on water and salt

salt-ph-lamp

  • A start-up in Philippines in July 2015 developed a lamp named SALt (Sustainable Alternative Lighting) that runs on a glass of water and two tablespoons of salt.
  • The lamp is named after the company SALt that was founded by Aisa Mijeno and Raphael Mijeno.
  • This cost effective lamp burns for eight hours at a time to lighten a room and will also be able to generate enough energy to charge a smart-phone through a USB cable.
  • The lamp can also be lit by using ocean water and would be of great help for people living along the coastline.
  • The start-up hopes that the lamp will be in the market by 2016.

Sports 

Beijing (China) selected to host 2022 Winter Olympics.

  • Beijing is set to become the first city to have hosted both the Summer and Winter Olympics after it was chosen to stage the 2022 Winter Games.
  • International Olympic President Thomas Bach confirmed Beijing, which hosted the Summer Games in 2008, had been chosen ahead of Almaty in Kazakshtan at the 128th IOC session in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Books & Authors

Vice President Presented with the Books ‘Journey of A Curious Mind’ & ‘Lord Jagnnath’

  • The Vice President of India Shri M. Hamid Ansari was presented with two books entitled “Journey of a Curious Mind” authored by Dr. Jagannath Patnaik and another one entitled “Lord Jagannath” authored by Shri Prasnna Kumar Patsani, Member of Parliament (Lok Sabha)

Vice President Releases the Book ‘Kashmir the Vajpayee Years’

  • The Vice President of India Shri M. Hamid Ansari released a book entitled “Kashmir The Vajpayee Years” authored by Shri A.S. Dulat, former Head of R&AW with Shri Aditya Sinha, Senior Journalist. Addressing on the occasion, the Vice President said that an occasion like this is rare and it does signal health rather than ill health of the Republic.

VICE PRESIDENT RELEASES THE BOOK ‘LOCALE, EVERYDAY ISLAM AND MODERNITY’

  • The Vice President of India Shri M. Hamid Ansari released a book entitled “Locale, Everyday Islam and Modernity” authored by Shri M. Raisur Rahman.Addressing on the occasion, the Vice President said that he is fully delighted to read such a valuable book which is in fact a chapter of North Indian history on Qasbahs.

PM’s remarks at the release of the book “Early Hindu Temples of Gujarat”

  • The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, today urged both greater awareness, and greater pride, in India’s heritage. He was speaking after releasing a book “Early Hindu Temples of Gujarat,” by Varun Maira, in New Delhi.
  • He said efforts such as this book would help us rediscover this heritage. The Prime Minister said heritage and history go together, and heritage buildings are not just stone, but “living history.”

Vice President Releases the Book ‘Swatantrata Senani Raja Mahendra Pratap”

  • The Vice President of India Shri M. Hamid Ansari released a book entitled “Swatantrata Senani Raja Mahendra Pratap” edited by Shri Raghuvir Singh ‘Arvind’.
  • Addressing on the occasion the Vice President said that Raja Mahendra Prarap was a true nationalist and his ideas were far ahead of their time. He opined that his Memoir should be made available in book and documentary forms for wider reach among the masses so that people may learn from his great contribution in freedom struggle.

Important Days

 





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