Current Affairs Today: June 24 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 More Marks in Competitive Exam.

• Read Our Current Affairs Today 
• Try Our Daily Current Affairs Quiz 

Try Our Current Affairs Quiz – June 24 2015

Indian Affairs

• EPFO makes Universal Account Number mandatory for employers
• AP, Telangana battle over Section 8: Interstate relations
• Maharashtra tops in Patent filing in India: CGPDTM Report

Lucknow zoo renamed after last Nawab Wajid Ali Shah

• The Prince of Wales Zoological Gardens, popularly known as Lucknow Zoological Gardens, was established in the year 1921 to commemorate the visit of His Royal Highness, the Prince of Wales to Lucknow. The idea of establishing Zoological gardens at Lucknow emanated from Sir Harcourt Butler, the then Governor of the State
• Now Uttar Pradesh Government renamed the Lucknow Prani Udyan, popularly known as Lucknow zoo, as Nawab Wajid Ali Shah Prani Udyan, Lucknow.
• Shah was the last Nawab of Oudh under whom the province was annexed by the British under the policy of Doctrine of Lapse in 1856.
• Besides, the state government also renamed Nawabganj Bird Sanctuary of Unnao district as Shaheed Chandra Shekhar Azad Pakshi Vihar, Nawabganj.
• The sanctuary was named after revolutionary freedom fighter Chandra Shekhar Azad because of Azad’s parental ties with Unnao district.

Bhuvan Ganga Mobile Application launched to aid National Mission for Clean Ganga

• To aid National Mission for Clean Ganga, the Union Water Resources Minister Uma Bharti launched Bhuvan Ganga mobile application and a web portal.
• Bhuvan Ganga portal is an exclusive Web portal deployed in Isro Bhuvan’s geoportal with all geospatial layers related to river Ganga.
• The app will allow people to upload pictures of pollution sources of river Ganga for further action by the concerned authorities.
• The application and web portal was launched after a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the National Mission for Clean Ganga and the National Remote Sensing Centre (ISRO).

Cabinet Approves Jayaprakash Narayan Memorial In Bihar

• The Union Cabinet on June 24, 2015 approved a JayPrakash Narayan or JP National Memorial at his birth place Lala Ka Tola,Sitab Diara,district Chhapra in Bihar.
• The memorial will house a virtual museum and an institute to undertake study and research on democracy .It will also house the Lok Nayak Khadi Gaurav Samvardhan Kendra for making national flags by women clusters.
• He was an Indian independence activist, social reformer and political leader in mid 1970s.
• In 1965, he was awarded with Ramon Magsaysay Award for Public Service and in 1999 he was awarded Bharat Ratna (Posthmus) for Public Affairs. Bharat Ratna is the highest Civilian award given by Indian Government.

Rishikesh to host Yoga Maha Kumbh next year

• Rishikesh is seen as the “unofficial yoga capital of the world”, where people from around the world come to the holy place to learn Yoga and practice it among pristine mountains.
• Now Uttarakhand has decided to make its status official by hosting the first Yoga Maha Kumbh in Rishikesh next year. The Chief Minister Harish Rawat has decided to make it mandatory for star hotels to have yoga in their packages.
• Among other decisions, Fourteen places, including Haridwar and Rishikesh, would be developed by the Tourism Department as yoga centres. In these ‘zones’, the government will start a pilot project on yoga and wellness in 150 government schools by July-end.
• Sixty-eight Ayurvedic hospitals would start offering daily yoga workouts within 15 days. In 25 important tourist destinations, parks would be developed within a week with ‘yoga corners’ for the people to practise yoga.
• These moves will help further cement Rishikesh’s place as the destination for Yoga enthusiasts and will bring more tourism for Uttarakhand.

BHEL Commissions 250 MW Unit of NTPC’s Bongaigaon Power Plant

• State-run equipment maker BHEL today said that it has commissioned a 250 MW unit of NTPC’s Bongaigaon thermal power plant in Kokrajhar district in Assam.
• Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) has achieved one more milestone by successfully commissioning a 250 MW coal-based thermal plant in Assam. The unit has been commissioned at the upcoming Bongaigaon Thermal Power Station (TPS) in Assam.

International Affairs

• Russia and Saudi Arabia ink nuclear energy agreement pact for first time
• China blocks bid for UN action on Pak over Lakhvi

Appointments 

Boeing names Muilenburg as new CEO

• The world’s largest aerospace company Boeing Corp. has elected Dennis A. Muilenburg as its new chief executive officer (CEO).
• Muilenburg, 51, will succeed W.James McNerney as the new CEO as from July 1. McNerney continues as the chairman of the board.

Paytm adds Ruchi Sanghvi, Neeraj Arora, Naveen Tewari to board

• Mobile payments platform provider Paytm has roped in Ruchi Sanghvi, Facebook’s first woman engineer, ex-WhatsApp global business head Neeraj Arora and InMobi founder Naveen Tewari to its Board.

Steffi Graf is Kerala’s Ayurveda brand ambassador

• In a surprising move, Kerala has roped in Tennis legend Steffi Graf as the Ayurveda brand ambassador of Kerala. According to Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, this move is part of Kerala Tourist department’s ‘Visit Kerala Scheme’.
• Kerala has already been on the world tourist map for long, the state is hoping to attract medical tourists with the Ayurveda campaign.

About Steffi:

• Known for as much for her good looks as for her talent in tennis, she won 22 Grand Slam singles titles altogether in her career, which is the second highest number of titles won, just behind Margaret Court’s 24 titles. She is from Germany and is a former world No: 1 female tennis player.
• She has the record for most Major wins by a tennis player (male or female) since the introduction of the Open Era in 1968
• She retired in 1999 and married former World No. 1 men’s tennis player Andre Agassi in October 2001.

Banking & Finance 

• SEBI relaxes the IPO norms for technological start-ups to raise funds from capital market
• RBI in discussion to implement the Report of the Committee on Capacity Building in Banks and non-Banks

Sebi bans three firms from raising money from public

• Three firms -Matribhumi Projects, Jugantor Realty and Waris Finance and Investment- and their directors were banned by SEBI from mobilising money from investors through the issuance of securities. SEBI banned them for allegedly violating public issue norms.
• SEBI received many complaints from investors about these companies regarding non-repayment of amount in respect of Non-Convertible Secured Redeemable Debentures (NCDs).
• The charges include, going for a public issue, without fulfilling the requirement of compulsory listing on a recognised stock exchange. And they have also not filed prospectus, among others, violating SEBI norms
• This shows the intent of the capital market regulator in dealing with violators without any leniency.

India emerges as UK’s 3rd largest FDI source in 2014-2015

• India has emerged as the 3rd largest source of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) for United Kingdom (UK) after United States (US) and France in terms of number of projects.
• It is the Inward Investment Report 2014-15 of UK Trade and Industry (UKTI).
• US has remained as 1st source of UK -564 projects , followed by France -124 projects and India -122 projects.

Foreign direct investment (FDI):

• FDI is an investment in a business by an investor from another country. The Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) defines control as owning 10% or more of the business.

Science & Technology

• Indian Mars orbiter scores 100 rounds

Sports

US Open 2015: Jordan Spieth wins historic title for second major

• Jordan Spieth won the US Open at Chambers Bay on 21 June 2015.
• The win was his second straight major title of 2015 after he won the Masters Tournament at Augusta National, US in April 2015.
• He closed with a 69 for a five­ under total of 275, one shot ahead of fellow American Dustin Johnson (70) and South African Louis Oosthuizen (67).
• He is also the youngest champion of the US Open since the legendary Bobby Jones in 1923 and the youngest player to win two career majors since Gene Sarazen in 1922.

Books & Authors

PM’s Remarks at the release of the book: Red Tape to Red Carpet… and then some

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi today highlighted the importance of changing mindsets, saying the ”industry of red tape” thrives on doubt, while the ”road with red carpet” is built on trust.
• This remarks came at the book release of this book held in NewDelhi.
• This book was written by Mrs.Gina Rinehart the chairperson of Australian mining company Hancock Prospecting Group.

Obituary

Veteran Journalist Praful Bidwai Passes Away

• Senior journalist and well-known columnist Praful Bidwai has died at the age of 66 due to cardiac arrest in Amsterdam on Tuesday evening(23 june)- during a visit to the Netherlands.
• He was born in Nagpur, Bidwai had been a Professorial Fellow at the Centre for Social Development a Senior Fellow at the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library.
• He was a regular contributor to magazines and newspapers and also wrote a number of books, including the 1999 New Nukes: India, Pakistan and Global Nuclear Disarmament.
• He received the Sean MacBride International Peace Prize 2000.
• He working as a senior editor for the Times of India for a number of years,after that he was a staunch critic of the Narendra Modi-led ruling NDA government.

BJP MP from Madhya Pradesh Dileep Singh Bhuria passes away

• Senior Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) leader and Lok Sabha MP Dileep Singh Bhuria passed away in Gurgaon, Haryana after a brief illness. He was 71.
• He was Lok Sabha MP from Ratlam-Jhabua constituency of Madhya Pradesh. Bhuria was born on June 19, 1944. He was first elected in 1972 as MLA of state legislative assembly from Petlawad seat.