Current Affairs Today – July 4 2015

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Indian Affairs 

• Cabinet clears central sector scheme for promotion of national agricultural
• Govt releases Socio-Economic and Caste census
• Govt clears policy for skill development, entrepreneurship

Adani Group to set up solar park in TN for Rs 4,536cr

• Adani Group has proposed to set up a solar park in Tamil Nadu which is expected to be among world’s largest at an investment of Rs 4,536 crore.
• The proposal is to set up five solar power generation centres with a total capacity of 648 MW in Ramanathapuram district of Tamil Nadu.
• Adani Group MD Rajesh Adani said it will be one of the world’s largest solar parks and will be set up in Kamudhi, Ramanathapuram district.

Army launched Operation Shiva to secure Amarnath Yatra

• To provide security to those devotees taking part in the 59-day-long annual Amarnath Yatra in Jammu and Kashmir, Indian Army in first week of July 2015 launched Operation Shiva. The Yatra started on 2 July 2015.
• The operation was launched on the basis of intelligence report suggesting that a group of 15 terrorists are likely to attempt a strike.
• The operation will include Rashtriya Rifles unit, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) for surveillance of Yatra route and cave shrine, combing of forests located along the Yatra track, Infantry Unit of Army, companies of Paramilitary Forces, CRPF and BSF.

International Affairs 

India abstains from UNHRC vote against Israel

• India has abstained from a vote against Israel at the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva.
• The U.N. Human Rights Council report found evidence of “alleged war crimes” committed by both Israel and Hamas during the Gaza conflict in 2014.
• During the UNHRC resolution in July 2014, India had voted against Israel after which this inquiry report was instituted for looking into the Gaza violence in which more than 2,300 had been killed in Israeli airstrikes on Gaza.
• In the voting, 41 countries voted in favour of the resolution against Israel, while only the U.S. voted against it.
• Five countries including India abstained from voting.

Acquisitions & Mergers 

ABCIL to merge with Grasim

• Aditya Birla Chemicals (ABCIL) has received shareholders’ approval for merging the company with Grasim Industries.
• Both the companies are of Aditya Birla Group and are being merged in order to consolidate similar businesses under one roof.
• The Board of Grasim Industries had approved to give shareholders of ABCIL one share of Rs 10 each of Grasim for every 16 shares of Rs 10 each they hold in ABCIL.
• This would issue 14.62 lakh new shares for Grasim, which will increase its share capital to Rs 93.31 crore.

Awards

4 Indian-Americans honoured with Great Immigrants award 2015 in United States

• Four Indian-Americans have been honoured with this year’s prestigious “Great Immigrants: The Pride of America” award.
• There are 38 distinguished personalities from more than 30 countries who have been honoured with this year’s award.

The four Indian-Americans are

• Preet Bharara: US Attorney, Southern District of New York.
• Rakesh Khurana: Dean of Harvard College and Marvin Bower Professor of Leadership and Development.
• Madhulika Sikka: Vice President and Executive Editor of .Mic.
• Abraham Verghese: Physician, Professor and Author.

About the award

This award is given by New York-based Carnegie Corporation to the immigrants for their significant contributions to the fabric of the nation and the strength of its democracy.

Guinness Book Recognises Madhya Pradesh’s World Record in Washing Hands

• The Guinness Book of World Records has acknowledged a record created in Madhya Pradesh on ‘World Hand washing Day’ on October 15, 2014.
• A new world record was made by 12,76,425 students by washing their hands simultaneously at programmes held by panchayats and rural development departments on the World Hand washing Day at 13,196 different locations across 51 districts in Madhya Pradesh.
• Previously this record was jointly held by Argentina, Peru and Mexico when 7,40,870 people washed their hands simultaneously at different locations on October 14, 2011.

Banking & Finance 

Corp Bank launches MUDRA card on RuPay platform

• Corporation Bank has launched the MUDRA card based on the RuPay platform.
• The card facilitates the withdrawal and use of the working capital finance by micro entrepreneurs.
• The first MUDRA card was launched under the Pradhan Mantri MUDRA Yojana (PMMY).
• Under PMMY there are three schemes for providing loans –

                   Shishu – loan up to Rs50,000.
                  Kishore – loan up to Rs 5 lakh.
                  Tarun – loan up to Rs 10 lakh.

HDFC Bank launches watch banking

• HDFC Bank became the first bank in India to launch Watch Banking for Apple Watch.
• Watch banking aims to provide banking services through all wearable devices across platforms like iOS and Android.
• HDFC Bank will provide a total of 10 banking transactions in the beginning like view account information, bill payments, recharges, hot listing facilities, locate nearest branch/ATM/offer, request statement and cheque book.
• There is no need for customers to download a separate app, they can activate watch banking from an upgraded version of HDFC Bank’s mobile banking app itself.

Science & Technology 

Russia launches supply ship Soyuz-U rocket to International Space Station

• A Russian booster rocket today successfully launched an unmanned cargo ship to the International Space Station, whose crew is anxiously awaiting it after the successive failures of two previous supply missions.
• A Soyuz-U rocket blasted off flawlessly from Russia-leased Baikonur launch pad in Kazakhstan, placing the Progress M-28M ship into a designated orbit, safely en route to the station.
• The ship is carrying 2.4 metric tons of fuel, oxygen, water, food and other supplies for the crew, the Russian space agency Roscosmos said.
• The previous Progress launch in April ended in failure, and on Sunday a US supply mission failed too when SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket broke apart shortly after liftoff.

Sports

Australia fast bowler Harris retires on eve of Ashes

• Australia fast bowler Ryan Harris has announced his retirement from all forms of cricket. This decision came 4 days ahead of the Ashes.
• The 35 year old pacer is suffering from knee injury.
• He made his debut in 2010 and took 113 wickets in 27 Tests.

 Obiituary

Ex-CJI Sabharwal passes away

• Former Chief Justice of India Yogesh Kumar Sabharwal has died. He was 73.
• He was CJI from November 1, 2005 to January 13, 2007